mma
NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
3 3433 08182544 4
EX-GOV. L. U. HUMPHREY.
HISTORY
O F
ONTGOMER Y
CO
T Y,
KANSAS.
By Its Own People
ILLUSTRATED.
Containing- Sketches of Our Pioneers — Revealing their Trials and Hardships in
Planting Civilization in this County — Biographies of their Worthy
Successors, and Containing Other Information of a
Character Valuable as Reference to the
Citizens of the County.
PUBLISHED BY
L. WALLACE DUNCAN,
lOLA, KANSAS:
PRESS OF lOLA REGISTER,
1903.
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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1903, by L. Wallace Duncan,
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
Preface
The history of Moutgoinery county reveals this locality as the spot
where the Osage Indian made his last stand before the white man's
advance in spreading civilization over the plains of Kansas. It was here
that he Avas crowded off of the reserve traded him by the "Great Father'' in
1825, but which he had really occupied from the first years of the nine-
teenth centnrv. For at least fiftv years he had been master of this domain
and here much of the tangible history of the several bands of the tribe
was made.
From the era of ''squatter" settlement, the final treaty with the Bed
Man and the legitimate settlement by the white man, doAvn through the
organization and development of the county, the pages of this book are
replete with events and incidents which mark the stages of advancement
toward the splendid civilization of the jjresent day.
The publisher of this volume and those who have rendered valuable
assistance in the jtrejiaration of its descriptive part have realized the
impoitance of the work and have, therefore, labored assiduously toward
an accurate and reliable j)roduction, and one which shall not only be full
and thorough as to substantial facts, but which shall serve as the basis
of future publications touching the history of Montgomery count}'.
For the jirejiaration of valuable articles for this volume we acknowl-
edge our obligation to the following citizens of the county and commend
their efforts to the c(mfidence of the generations to come: Ex-Senator H.
W. Young. Hon. William Dunkin and Hon. W. T. Yoe, of Independence;
T. F. Andress, M. I)., of Liberty; Dr. T. C. Frazier, of Coffeyville; Hon.
J. R. Charlton, of Caney ; and Miss Josie H. Carl, of Cherryvale. To the
many citizens who have furnished information and extended other favors
to the writers hereof we desire to express our appreciation and hereb}^
extend to them the <'omi)liments of the literary board.
Tc John S. (tilmore. of Fredonia, are we indebted for an important
article for this work. pro})erly placed to his credit, and we wish, publicly,
to make acknowledgement of the same.
In the biogra]>hi(iil dejjartment of the work are represented wortliy
citizens from every honoraltlc walk of life. It was our wish that every
distinguished citizen of the county participate in the space alloted to this
depaitinent. and while hosts of them have done so. some of them have
denied us not only their story, but their substantial co-operation; yet the
merits of the book have not thus been inii»aired. Our accompanying
illustrations represent pioneers, viorthy people of a later day, and well
known and historic objects of the county. These add interest and
attractiveness to the book, on the whole, making the biographical and
pictorial department by no means the least important features of the
work
li this volume shall meet the expectations of its patrons and shall,
in some measure, render them an eqtiivalent for the confidence bestowed
upon the enterprise, then shall we feel that our efforts have not been in
vain. THE rUBLISHER.
HISTORY
OF
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
KANSAS
CHAPTER I.
Organization, Location and Land Titles
Dnriiis; the earlier history of Kansas the territory which now consti-
tutes Montgomery county formed a part of Wilson county. The latter
county was created by act of the territorial legislature in 1855, but it was
not organized until t^epteniber 1864, at which time it extended from
Woodson county to the south line of the state. Montgomery county was
created by act of the legislature in 1867, a little more than half of the
southern part of Wilson county being taken for the purpose. By the act
of the legislature which created the county, its boundaries were fixed as
follows:
"Commencing at the southeast corner of W^ilson county; thence south
with the west line of Labette county to the thirty-seyenth parallel of
north latitude; thence west with said parallel twenty-four miles; thence
north to the southwest corner of Wilson county; thence east with the
south line of Wilson county to the place of beginning."
This description depended entirely on the bounding of Wilson county,
and, in 1870 the statute was changed to read as follows :
''Commencing at the southeast corner of Wilson county ; thence south
to the south line of the state of Kansas; thence west along the south lino
of Kansas twenty-four miles; thence north to the sixth standard
l^araliel; thence east along the said sixth standard parallel to the place
of beginning."
This description seems to haye meant exactly the same thing as the
other, and yet neither of them is accurate, as the width of the county east
and west, owing to the botchwork made in fitting together the suryeys of
the ceded lands and Diminished Reserye, is considerably more than half a
mile aboye the twenty-four mentioned.
^^'hile all of the county except the three mile strip of ceded lands on
the east side was still Indian land, and there was no treaty eyen pending
6 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
for their cession to the United [States, saving the t^turgis abomination,
which was never ratified, the county Avas organized by prochimation of
Governor James M. Harvey, on June 3d. 18()9. It was claimed that at
this time the county had the requisite population of 600. and v\heTlier this
was true or not. the progress of events soon made it an accurate
statement. Verdigris City was designated as the temporary county seat,
and a board of county commissioners was aj^pointed. For further details
as to the early history of the county and the story of the struggle which
resulted in tlie selection of Independence as the county seat, the reader is
referred to the chapter on tlie jjolitical history of the county.
Location
^.iontgomery county now ranks as the seventh Kansas county in pop-
ulation and, as shown by the United iStates census of 1000. forms a part
of tilt largest contiguous area west of the Mississippi river, having a
population in excess of forty-five to the square mile. It is between
tAveniy four and twenty-five miles in width east and west, and between
twenty-seven and twenty -eight miles in length north and south. It is the
third county west from the Missouri line, on the southern tier, and adjoins
the Indian Territory on the south. Labette county forms its entire east-
ern boundary and Wilson its northern, while on the west it adjoins
Chauiauqua and a portion of Elk. Neosho county corners with it on the
norti'east.
its physical features and soil are extremely varied. The Verdigris
is the principal river, entering its northern boundary and meandering
acros-< to its southern. The Elk enters the west line of the county and
foruis another winding valley, emptying into the Verdigris about four
miles northeast of the center of the county. The Caney cuts across the
southwest corner of the county. Besides these rivers there are dozens
of creeks and runs with much fine alluvial land adjoining them, in
addition to the bottom lands of the rivers. Eetween the streams there are
here and there rock-capped mounds and much high, thin, stony land, fit
for little but pasture. T"se is, however, now being found for the limestone
that caps some of the mounds and outcrops along the streams in the man
ufacture of cement, while the shale that is abundant in the hills is
extensively employed in tlie manufacture of vitrified brick. Taking her
agricultural resources in connection with the abundant deposits of nat-
ural gas and petroleum oil found in the earth hundreds of feet below the
surface, and remembering that Montgomery is the only county on the
south line of the state that lies wholly within the gas and oil belt, we are
certainly justified in saying that nature has done more for her than for
any other equal area in the state.
The section of which this county of such boundless resources and
possiliilities fcn-ms a j)art. was first a ])ortion of the French donmin in
HISTORV OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 7
America, having been taken possession of by the Canadians, who drifted
down the Mississippi to the gulf in 1682. Eighty years later it w^as ceded
to Spain, by whom it wns retained until ISOO, when it was retroceded to
France. In common with the entire area of Kansas, except a small frac-
tion in the southwest corner, it formed a part of the Louisiana purchase
made by Jefferson in 1803, and has ever since been American territory,
though little was knoAvn about it during the first half of the 18th century.
' The first legislation in regard to this section appears to have been
enacted in 18ol. when all the territory west of the Mississippi and Arkan-
sas was declared "Indian country," with the laws of the United States
in force; and the country of the Osages was attached to Arkansas
territory. In 18.51 the territory of Kansas was organized and, in 1861, the
territory became a state.
The country from which the present county was to be made still re-
mained Indian territory, however. The Osage Indians were first found
on the Missouri river, and, later, were forced down to the Arkansas. In
1808 they ceded their lands in Missouri and Arkansas to the United
States government and went west. In 1825 they relinquished their lauds
in Kansas ,except a strip fifty miles wide along the south line of the state,
beginning twenty-five miles west of the Missouri line, near the present
eastern boundary of Labette county, and reaching west to an indefinite
line extended from the head waters of the Kansas river, southerly, through
the Rock Saline. This was the Osage reservation, which comprised the
largest body of good land in Kansas, remaining unsettled when the civil
war closed in 1865.
Land Titles
The white men wanted these lands and were bound to get them soon
In any event, but the return of the soldiers of the Union to civil life in
1865 no doubt hastened the movement to send the Indians westward again
and make homes and farms out of these fertile Southern Kansas valleys
to which they held title. At Canville trading post in Neosho county on
September 29th, 1865, a treaty was negotiated which became operative
January 21st, 1867, by whose terms the Osages sold a thirty-mile strip off
from the east side of their lands for |300,000. This strip embraced the
counties of Neosho and Labette, and a fraction about three miles wide
along the east sides of Wilson and Montgomery counties. The contest
between the settlers and the Missouri, Kansas &: Texas and the Leaven-
worth. Lawrence & Galveston railroad comi)anies for the title to these
lands forms one of the most interesting chapters in Ihe history of Labette
county. This contest also involved the three-mile strip on the east side
of Montgomery county and interested a considerable })er centage of its
population. It was finally decided in favor of the United States, under
wiiom a portion of the settlers claimed title, leaving those who had bought
8 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
their lands from the railroad companies to seek to perfect their titles
anew.
These ceded lands were eventually entered under the pre-emption
laws and paid for to the credit of the Osage fund in the government
treasury.
The same treaty which cut off these Osage lands on the east also
sliced off a twenty-mile strip on the north, leaving the ''Diminished Re-
serve'" but thirty miles in width, and as the territory narrowed the eager-
ness to i)ossess it became greater. The corporations had an eye upon it, as
w^ell as the settlers, and on May 27th, 1868, a little more than a year
before the rush of immigrants began to till the county, there was negotiat-
ed on Drum Creek a treaty which for downright infamy outranks any
other transaction in the history of the opening of the west to settlement
and civilization. This treaty was known as the "Sturgis Treaty," and is
liberally treated under the head of "Drum Creek Treaty" in this volume.
Owing to a discrepancy between the southern boundary line of the
state of Kansas and the south line of the Osage Diminished Reserve, there
was a strip of land along the south line of Montgomery county, varying
between two and three miles in width, which was claimed by the Cherokee
Indians, and which was eventually sold for their benefit several years
later. Actual settlers were given a i)reference in the purchase of these
lands, but those which remained were disposed of in any desired quantity,
and at a price somewhat higher than the settlers were asked to pay.
Land titles in the county were thus of four different kinds. The land-
holder may find his chain running back to a government patent originat-
ing In a purchase from the Cherokees or the Osages. and if the latter, it
may be either of "Ceded" or "Diminished Reserve"' lands. Or he nmy hold
by virtue of a purchase from the state school fund commissioners. It
was fortunate for the settlers, though, that for all except a small fraction
of the area of the county, the contest between the corporations and the
jjeople was fought out before the lands were entered. They were thus
freed from the long period of strife, the expense and the uncertaint}' which
were the fate of their neighbors in Labette county and on the "Ceded"
strip. The titles which they obtained when they paid the })urchase price
to the government and received their final receipts from the land otfice of-
ficials, have never been called in question, and the courts have been resort-
ed to only to settle individual and isolated cases of rival claims to
proprietorship.
The original government surveys of the lands in the county, however,
were made in a very careless manner, the section and quarter section
corners often being many rods from where they should have been, and
the surveys of the "Ceded" and "Diminished"' lands were so loosely con-
nected that in many cases there are quarter sections on the line between
that have as much as forty acres more than the government deeds call for.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
CHAPTER II.
Important Events
The Drum Creek Treaty, The Elk River Valley Floods, The Volcanic Up-
heaval at Coffeyville iu 1894, the Reed Family Tragedy, Why Did
Pomeroy Trust York ?, The County High School, and the Dalton Raid
at Coffeyville.
The Drum Creek Treaty
BY JNO. S. GILMORE.
On May 27th, 1868, a treaty with the Osages was concluded on Drum
Creek, Montgomery county, for the disposition of the Diminished Reserve,
or thirty-mile strip. This was popularly called the Drum Creek treaty
or the "Sturgis treaty." Wm. Sturgis was the controlling spirit in its
negotiation. By its terms the entire Diminished Reserve, comprising
8,003,<'00 acres was to be sold to the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston
Railroad Co. for |1, 600,000, or a fraction under 20 cents per acre. It was
understood that Sturgis would be the indirect beneficiary of this stupen-
dous wrong. The treaty was a premeditated, thoroughly planned and
successfully executed fraud from its incipiency up to the stage of its
submission to the United States Senate for ratification. It was even
more — a brazen steal, so extensive as to be infamous — and the officials,
politicians and leading men who approved or aided and abetted in the
attempt to carry it out deserved to be buried so deep under popular
obloquy that they would never again publically show their heads. The
Indians were no doubt unduly influenced by the promoters and retainers
of the L. L. & G. railroad company. The treaty commission, with special
interpreters, Indian agents, and advocates of the scheme had gone into
the Indian country accompanied by a detatchment of the Seventh U. S.
cavalry commanded by Capt. Geo. W. Yates. (Yates and his troop went
down to death with General Custer on the Rosebud, June 25th, 1876.)
The commission composed N. G. Taylor, President ; Thos. Murphy, Geo. C.
Snow, Albert G. Boone and A. N. Blacklidge, Secretary ; with three inter-
preters. Those signing the treaty by way of attesting the signatures (X
marks) of the Osage chiefs and their adherents were Alex. R. Banks,
special U. S. Indian agent; Geo. W. Yates, Captain Seventh cavjilry;
M. W. Reynolds, reporter for commission ; Charles Robinson, I. S.
Kalloch, Moses Neal, W. P. Murphy, Wm. Babcock and the interpreters,
Alex Beyett, Lewis P. Chouteau and Augustus Captain. The first Osage
X mark was under the title of Josejth Paw-ne-uo-pashe, White Hair, prin-
cipal chief, followed by the Indian names of 106 other chiefs, councilors
lO HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
and braves of the Big and Little Osage tribes. Of Indians signing the
document who were known by many Montgomery county pioneers were
BlacL: Dog, Little Beaver. Xopawalla. Strike Ax, Wyoliake. Chetopah,
Hard Robe. Watisanka and Melotnnmni ( TAvelve O'clock.) Little Bear
was dead.
By the time this treaty reached the Senate the settlers on the reserve
were aroused and their friends throughout the State and many newspap-
ers shared openly their feeling and espoused their cause. A determined
fight was made against the ratification of the treaty, led by Hon. Sidney
Clarke, Kansas" sole Congressman. Both Senators were silently for the
robber measure. Senator E. G. Ross, a year later, reported it to the Senate
so amended as to divide up the lands with other railroad companies,
without adding to the price or making any i>rovision for the interests or
rights of the settlers. But Congressman Clarke did not relax in his bitter
opposition. He brought to light the objectionable and unjust features of
the treaty, stood for the opening of the reserve to actual settlers as the
Trust Lands had been opened, and as a result of his protests and efforts
and at his request General Grant, soon after becoming President, on
March 4th, 1869, withdrew the treaty from the Senate.
Sidney Clarke framed and offered in the House the section in the an-
nual Indian appropriation bill, approved July loth. 1870, which opened
the Diminished Reserve to actual settlers only at $1.2.5 per acre, excepting
the 16th and 36th sections, which were reserved to the State of Kansas for
school purj)oses. After a two years' contest he had prevented the con-
summation of the greatest swindle on Indians and settlers alike ever con-
cocted in Kansas. The railroads, losing the rich prize which seemed
almost securely within their grasp, combined in the campaign of 1870
against Clarke and defeated him for renomination for Congress.
At a council held on Drum Creek in September, 1870. arrangements
were effected for the final removal of the remaining Osages to their new
home in the Indian Territory, just south of the Kansas line. By the act
approved July 15th of that year the President had been directed to make
such removal as soon as the Indians would agree thereto. They went.
* * * *
The Elfc Valley Flood of 1885
After the grasshopper plague of 1871-5 jn'obably the worst calamity
that has befallen Montgomerv countv since its settlement was the flood
which swept down the valleys of the Elk and Verdigris on Friday. Sat-
urdav and Sunday, May loth, 16th. and 17th, 1885. Perhaps the most
compj-ehensive account of this disaster was the one published by the Star
and Kansan, at Inde})endence. on the Friday following; and it is from
this account that the facts for this sketch are gleaned.
That fateful Friday was noted at Indeiiendence as a day of clouds
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. II
and showers with heavy banks of cloud along the western horizon
Toward night news came of a great storm in Elk county and that the
railroad track had been washed away in the neighborhood of Elk Falls.
Xo more trains were able to get through on the Southern Kansas line of
the Santa Fe railroad in either direction, and on Saturday morning a re-
pair train loaded with material for bridge building had gone out to the
neighborhood of the bridge over the Elk at Table Mound. About half
past ten o'clock a telegram was received from this train stating that lives
were in danger and help was needed. All the available boats in the city
were taken to the depot, and a little after noon the repair train, which had
returijed to Independence, started for the scene of danger with about a
hundred and fifty men on board. A few minutes run brought the train to
the locality of the flood, and at the southwest corner of Table Mound the
boats were unloaded and started out over the waste of waters on their
errand of mercy. Among those who risked their lives in these frail crafts,
to rescue those in peril, were Eugene B. White, Milton Gregory, Lewis
Bowman and Elisha ^Nlills.
During the morning the waters had risen so high as to touch the sills
of the iron railroad bridge over the Elk, and a gang of men were at work
on the bridge dislodging the mass of corn stalks which had lodged against
it on the upper side. Beyond the bridge, to the west, the railroad track
was out of water as far as the trestle over the slough, and this strip was
the only bit of dr^ land visible in the entire valley from bluff to blufl:. On
it were gathered a few cattle and hogs which had fled to it for their lives,
and to which the waters were bringing the scattered ears of corn they had
gathered. To the left of the railroad, chickens were seen roosting in the
trees near a deserted house, and still nearer a bunch of them had gath-
ered on the upper ends of a pile of posts which projected a little above
the surface of the Avater; and awav to the north of the railroad were a
number of horses which had been tied on the highest ground in the vicin-
ity, but were still nearly covered by the waters.
Tt vras not, however, until the writer climbed the slope of Table
Mound and stood upon the rocky ledge that marks its outlines that he
realized the extent of the calamity which had befallen the residents of
these fertile valley lands. Up and down the river basin, as far as the eye
could reach, there was water everywhere. Only a small fragment of a
single wheat field showed above the flood in this entire rich valley district.
Still the waters were dotted with trees and groves, while a fringe of
timber marked the windings of the channel of the Elk; and houses and
barns could be seen here and there, the highest of them with apparently
not less than three feet of water on their first floors, and the lowest sub-
merged to the eaves. Probably the watery area in sight from this point
was not less than ten square miles in extent; and at one place the widtli
of the vallev is scarcelv less than five miles.
12 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
In one instance a family refused to leave the house when the rescu-
ing boat appeared, but when a second downpour came later in the after-
noon they were fain to seek the shore. Some of the dwellers in the valley
were lauded on the west shore, having made one portage across the rail-
road during the trip. There they were warmly welcomed by the neighbors
gathered on the opposite mound, who could be seen from our side running
across the grassy slope to meet them. And all this while the sullen roar
of the angry waters rang in our ears and we had only to close our eyes to
imagine we stood on the ocean's beach listening to its endless refrain.
About us were the most lovely of our wild flowers, the graceful, nodding
columbines and the crimson hued verbenas ; but above us the heavens were
again gathering blackness and the inky pall of cloud along the western
horizon was ever and anon illuminated by a vivid flash that left it blacker
and more ominous than before ; while below, in dozens of swift currents,
the thick and noisome waters rushed onward unresting to the sea. Prob-
ably no one who gazed in fascinated awe upon those thousands of acres
which at dawn had been covered with luxuriant fields of wheat, promising
within a month a harvest of golden grain, and which were now buried
from five to fifteen feet in depth beneath a swiftly flowing volume of water
wider than the Mississippi, will ever forget the scene.
Meanwhile the panorama was not without an exciting and, what
threatened to be, a tragic interlude. One of the boats — Bowman's it was
said — ventured into the swift current setting under the trestle west of
the iron railroad bridge . In a flash it w^as sucked under and upset, one of
its occupants clutching the timbers of the trestle and being drawn out
from above, while the other appeared on the bottom of the upturned boat
as it drifted down stream. Fortunately he reached the fringing grove of
the river channel unharmed, and was able to halt the boat there until
another came to its rescue.
During the afternoon, the iron wagon bridge, two and a half miles
north of Independence on the Neosho road, was swept down stream and,
shortly after, the one on the Radical City road, a couple of miles farther
west; went to keep it company. Sunday morning the flood was at its
height in the Verdigris in the neighborhood of Independence, and the
water to the northeast of the city had backed up as far as Pennsylvania
avenue, just south of the railroad trestle. Eock creek on the south was
also full and almost impassable, while the entire valley from the bluff at
the east side of the city to the hills a mile away to the northeast, was one
vast sheet of water. The railroad was washed away at a small trestle
near the east side of the valley, and that afternoon the passengers coming
in from the north were ferried over to the city by boat, among them being
some returning visitors from the New Orleans exposition.
I'ntil Sunday no loss of life had been reported in the county, but dur-
ing the forenoon came the melancholy tidings of a pathetic fatality at the
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 1 3
mouth of Card creek iu Rutland township. Saturday morning Dr. I. H.
McCoy, of tliat neighborhood, who had recently been engaged in business
in Independence, with Mr. Greer, a neighbor, had hastily constructed a
square box boat which could have been little more than a raft, as the work
on it is said to have taken them but forty minutes. With this they rescued
the family of a Mr. Wallace, living in the path of the flood, in whose house
the water had risen to the ceiling of the first story, and brought them safe-
ly to land. Finding no more people in danger in their neighborhood, they
next ferried a cow out of the flood, one of them holding her by the horns
while the other paddled. About noon John E. Rice, an unmarried young
man 28 years of age, took INIr. Greer's place, but Dr. McCoy, though a man
of family, refused to permit anyone to become a substitute for him.
Manned by McCoy and Rice, the boat put oft" to a knoll lying a little to the
west of the mouth of (^ard creek and south of the river, where a number
of people were to be seen. Here were found Mrs. Eliza Woods, a widow
who had resided in the county from the date of its first settlement, and
several other people, among whom were John McCarty and Maurice and
George Heritage. The two latter were at work upon an old and heavy
boat with which they had been engaged during the morning in rescuing
those who were in danger, but which had si)rung aleak. The story of the
fatal accident which followed is as told the writer by IMaurice Heritage.
When he went to the AMdow Woods' residence to take her away, he found
her nearly beside herself with fright and excitement, and engaged in con-
struciing a raft with which to start for the shore. When McCoy came to
the knoll, she eagerly assented to his pro])Osal to take her to the mainland,
though the water had already fallen a foot and a half and all danger was
past.
With her youngest child, Tommy, a boy six or seven years of age, and
another little boy about the same age, the son of Ira VanDuzen, a neigh-
bor. Mrs. Woods got into the box boat with McCoy and Rice. It was only
sixty rods to the shore, but they had not gone more than three before they
were in a strong current, and their boat, which Avas evidently overloaded,
became unmanageable and was sucked through an opening in a hedge
wher-3 this current was setting most strongly. Seeing their peril Mr. Her-
itage and ^li. McCarty rushed toward them, thinking they could make a
sort of living chain of themselves, and while one of them held to the
hedge, the other holding fast to the first could reach the boat and swinjj
it out of the current and into safety. By the time Heritage had got with-
in twenty-five feet of the boat it went under and he Avas sucked in after it
just where the boat had disappeared, the water being eight or nine feet
deep. Here Heritage says he lost consciousness, until when he came to
the surface ten vards away, he was recalled to a knowledge of his peril
by McCarty calling to him, and swam out of the current.
Mr. Rice,though an expert swimmer, did not arise again, and it is
14 HISTORY OF MOXTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
thought that he was stunned by a blow across the bridge of the nose
which left a bruise perceptible when the body was recovered. The boat
was afterward seen floating down stream with McCoy and Mrs. Woods
both tlinging to it, but it kept rolling over in the waves so that they soon
lost their hold. As McCoy was also a good swimmer, it is inferred that
but for an attempt to rescue Mrs. Woods he would have saved himself.
The boat did not upset until its occupants attempted to jump from it as
it was going down ; it simply foundered from overloading. The bodies
were found about seven o'clock the next morning, from seventy-five to a
hundred yards from where they disappeared, having lodged in a hedge, at
right angles to the one through which they were passing when the boat
sank.
In this county no other fatalities were rei)orted, though the losses in
the destruction of growing crops were almost beyond computation. On
Sundnv W. H. Linton's flouring mill, three miles southwest of Libertv,
fell into the river, entailing a loss of -13.000. McTaggart's mill, northwest
of Liberty, and near the sight of the original town of that name, was
flooded to a depth of thirty-three inches, which was sixteen more than had
been observed there since its erection in the pioneer days. At Elk
City the water was three feet deep in the depot, and many residences were
damaged by the flood, but the business quarter was not inundated. The
railroad was overflowed three miles north of Cofl'eyville at Kalloch
station, and during the first of the week that city was cut oft' from mail
communication with the outside world, except by hack to Independence.
The "cloudburst" which caused this flood originated in Chautauqua
county, and in that county the loss of life was greater than in Montgom-
ery, no less than eleven fatalities being reported. Two bodies ^^ere re-
covered at Matanzas and three in the neighborhood of Caney; while six
deaths occurred in the vicinity of Sedan. The following vivid and strik-
ing story of the storm and its work in that county is from the columns of
the Sedan Graphic of the next week :
"Last Friday commenced like a balmy spring morning, with soutlierly
winds, and it bade fair to be the most pleasant day of the week ; but be-
fore neon dark clouds had begun to rise in the north, and by half past
eleven the northern part of the county was the center of one of the most
disastrous rainstorms ever recorded in the annals of the state. The rain
and hail, accompanied at times by winds of a cyclonic nature, fell for
eight consecutive hours. The water stood on the level prairie at times
nearly tAvo feet deep. The clouds from this place looked as if they were
rising and moving ofl', when other clouds, if anything of a more fearful
chararter. would revolve around and take the place of the one which had
just spent its fury. The northern sky all the afternoon wa.s a dark mass
of revolving clouds. The clouds would a}»pear in the northeast, and fol-
lowing the circle, disappear in the northwest with terrible regularity.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 1 5
At about live o'clock in the evening the first approach of the storm was
announced here by the dark circling clouds overhead, accompanied by a
deluge of rain, which converted our strets and water ways into boiling
torrents. A few minutes after the rain had commenced to fall it was re-
ported that the river was out of its banks, and in less than half an hour
from the time of the first indications of the rise, the river was fifteen feet
higher than it had ever been before since the first settlement of the county,
and our people, for the first time, began to realize that those farmers liv-
ing in the low river bottoms had either escaped by marvelous exertion or
been carried to destruction. Horses, cattle, hogs, wagons and farming im-
plements were driven past by the mad torrents at a frightful rate. The
water came down in walls four feet high, crushing and carrying away
everything that opposed its forces; fences and farm improvements disap-
peared in an instant, and great trees that had stood the test of ages were
uprooted and leveled to the earth ; while the roar and swish of the waters
made the bravest stand back and shudder as he contemplated the awful
consequences that must inevitably follow. People began to move out o%
the lower part of town to the high points. Night coming on and the rain
still falling, nothing could be done till morning to relieve the sufferers
on the bottoms.
"Next morning the cries of the sufferers in tree tops were heard, and
rafts and boats were speedily constructed to render assistance. One raft
was made out of the side of a house and set afloat by William Harbert
and others, and rescued Ben Adams, his wife and two children out of the
tree tops, where they had taken refuge the night before. Their house
started off about six o'clock. The woman caught in a tree top and lifted
her two children on to the sam.e limb, her husband going still farther and
catching to another tree. The plucky little woman sheltering her children
all night and fighting the drift wood and everything, to keep from being
dragged oft' their only hope of safety. Just above them, and four miles
from t^edan. Mr. Witt, his wife and one child, also Mr. Green, seeing the
flood connng, tried to make their escape to the highlands in their wagon,
but were carried down with the flood. Mr. Witt making his escape, and
the child, woman, and Mr. Green being drowned. Their bodies have all
been recovered. Ed. Chadburn. a freighter from this cit3-, was on the
road to ^loline, and was drowned in a small rivulet north of town. His
body was discovered early Saturday morning, and was brought home and
interred Sunday evening. Two children of Mr. Rogers, on North Caney,
east of Sedan, were drowned; their bodies were recovered. ^Ir. and Mrs.
Rogers escai)ed after a i)erilous sAvim of a mile."
The next great flood in the "N^rdigris came in September. 189.J, but
was unaccompanied by loss of life, and while it ruined most of the corn
fields in the valley only injured wheat in the stack.
In the latter i.)art of May. IflOo. the highest water since the settle-
16 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
ment of the county swept throiigli both the Elk and Verdigris valleys,
and at midnight on Friday, May 22d, it reached its maximum at Indepen-
dence, three feet above the high Avater mark of 1895. The wheat crop in
all of the valley lauds of the county was ruined by this flood, but the only
loss of life reported was in the upper part of Sycamore valley, where J.
W. Burke was drowned by the upsetting of his buggy in the rajjidly flow-
ing stream, which was not more than three feet deep at the ford where
he attempted to cross. His wife, who was in the carriage with him, was
rescued. He was a pioneer and a well known citizen and had been prom-
inent for years in the councils of the Populist party.
The Voleanic Upheaval of 1894 at Coffeyville
Viewed from the standpoint of the geologist and the student of physi-
cal phenomena, in the entire history of the state of Kansas, from the days
of Coronado to these opening years of the Twentieth century, there ha^
been no more interesting spectacle than was witnessed by those who vis-
ited Major Osborn's pasture adjoining the city of Coff"eyville in the
summer of 1894. The location of the volcanic upheaval which occurred
there on the night of Sunday, July 22d, was only about four blocks north
of the Eldridge House and the business centre of the city, and not more
than seventy-five yards west of Ninth street, which there marks the west-
ern limit of the town. Had the upheaval occurred fifteen hundred feet
south of where it did, it would have made utter wreck of most of the
business buildings of that city.
As compared with the underground disturbance on that July night,
the Dalton raid which brought Cofl'eyville so much unenviable notoriety,
was but a ripple on the surface of events. That afl:air was transitory and
left no such abiding scars on the earth's surface as did the elemental up-
heaval that occurred two vears later. Aside from events which are of
interest because they aff'ect those of our own race, there has been no other
happening in Ihe entire history of Kansas so far out of the usual order of
things, nor so significant in its suggestions. Elemental commotion above
!:he earth's surface we are accustomed to, and the violence and destruction
wrought by cyclones and tornadoes do not excite our special wonder, as
they would if they were new to our ex})erience. But when the solid earth
itself begins to rock and vomits forth stones by the ton from depths that
have not seen the light for unnumbered aeons, people have reason to pause
and question whether there is anything stable, anything abiding in
this oh] world of ours.
The writer of this article visited Coffeyville two days after the ex-
plosion, and this is what he saw as he then recorded his observations :
The main crater extends in a northwesterly and southeasterly di-
Tection about a hundred feet. It is oblong in shape and varies in width
from thirty to fifty feet. The pile of stone and earth that surrounds it
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY/ KANSAS. 1 7
is ten or twelve feet high at the southeast corner, but the crater is scarcely
lower on the inside of this pile than the ground just south of it, so that
the bowl-shaped or crater-like appearance is due in large measure to the
piling up of earth and stone around the region of upheaval. Most of the
central depression, as well as the surrounding elevation, is covered with
jagged and irregular stones of various sizes, giving the scene a slight
resemblance to some of the stone gardens among the Rocky mountains.
These stones are principally frngmeuts of sandstone, but among them is
some bluish soapstone. The gas men who have drilled here say that the
latter is not found nearer the surface than thirty or forty feet. And yet
right in the center of the crater is a great mass of this stone, consisting of
four or five layers, all tilted up on edge, about six feet in thickness and
fifteen feet long, with their lower edges concealed by the debris about
them. This is the mass which has been repeatedly described as "•about
Ihe size of a wagon box." As a matter of fact there is stone enough in
that mass to fill a good sized wagon train and to weigh from fifty to one
hundred tons.
The force required to tear this stone loose from the horizontal strata
in which it lay so quietly imbedded a week ago, as it had been ever since
it was mud and ooze in the bed of a great inland sea, to break up and lift
all the layers of sandstone that lay above it, and to instantly raise the
thousands on thousands of tons of rock and soil between it and the sur-
face, is beyond all computation. It must have been something titanic
— something compared with which the charges of dynamite used
in shooting oil wells are as toy pistols to the great Krupp gun we saw at
the Chicago Exposition. That an explosion of gas in a pocket scores of
feet below the surface might have stirred the bosom of the sleeping earth
and opened a seam to ease the pressure would be credible; but what kind
of a force, how sudden the explosion, and how beyond measure the pres-
sure, the force, required to produce so stupendous a result !
Yet this one minature crater, where a bit of smooth, grass-grown
Kansas prairie had been, in the twinkling of an eye, transformed into
such a scene of stony desolation, by no means told all the story. Running
thence southwest for nearly fifty yards were great cracks from six to eight
feet deep and a foot or more in width. They terminated in another small-
er crater where the eruption seemed to have been much less violent, the
soil merely boiling up from the effects of the blow-out by the pent-up forces
below. Still farther to the southwest, traces of the explosion and smaller
fissures could be perceived for a thousand feet or more out into the
pasture.
The main crater could have been little short of a full-fledged volcano
at the time of the explosion. Eye witnesses say that stones and earth
were thrown to a vast height — some think as much as four hundred feet,
which T am inclined to believe is more nearlv correct than the conservative
l8 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS.
estimate of one Imudred and fifty feet. The gronnd from the center of the
crater east to Walnut street, a distance of seventy-five yards, is thickly
strewn with stones varying in size from the smallest particle up to broken
pieces of rock weighing two hundred ponnds or more ; and there is hardly
a bit of ground large enough to place your hand upon that is not covered
with this crumbled stone. There are plenty of pieces in the street, too;
and so heavy were the rocks falling along its east side that a wooden
sidewalk, not less than a hundred yards from the crater, built of j)lank
two inches thick, was broken in several places by the falling fragments.
For a block farther, more or less of the stony rain fell, some of the pieces
of blue soapstone here being large enough for building slabs. In the lot
directly east of the crater is a two-story residence probably twenty-five
feet square. Here the window glass was all broken on the exposed side^.
and in one place the weather boarding had been crushed by the bombard-
ment. Mr. R. P. Kercheval occupied the upper story of this residence,
and hi-* bedroom window was shattered and stones thrown over on to
the bed, fortunately without injuring any one.
At the northeast corner of this house is a small cistern about six feet
deep and eight feet in diameter. It is of the shape of an inverted bowl,
and the native rock formed the bottom and a portion of the east side.
Here the effects of still another explosion were perceptible, the rock in
the center of the floor being torn loose and thrown up with such force
as to crush the arch at the top, leaving a hole in the bottom where the
firmest possible foundation had been before.. Of course the cistern was^
drained, the water disappearing down the hole. Why the onlj^ break in
the surface observable east of the main crater should have been made
right in the bottom of this cistern is one of the many curious and inex-
plicable facts connected with this exi»losion.
Looking for something to throw light on the causes of such an up-
upheaval, I note that a gas well had been drilled just northeast of the
crater in the pasture and not more than fifty yards distant. That this
Avell had something to do with the explosion is an almost universal con-
clu.siou. Indeed, Major Osborne, the owner of the property, is talking of
suing the gas company which drilled the well, for damages. Again, two
wells in the vicinity are reported to have behaved strangely before the
explosion. One of them, only about a hundred yards to the southeast, is
thiriy feet deep and usually has six or eight feet of water in it. Here,
before the explosion, the water is said to have risen to within four feet
of the surface, a fact difficult to explain at such a dry season as had been
prevailing. The wat(^r has subsided to the normal level since the explo-
sion. Another well, a block farther away. h;id been bubbling with gas for
two or three weeks, but since has become quiescent. The day after the
explosion, while a hundred people were viewing the scene, one of those
small boys who are never happy except when doing something unexpect-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. I9
ed that tliev have no business to, struck a match and ignited gas enough
to cause an explosion and some trembling of the earth.
All these facts tit in very nicelv with the theory that the gas well
had been leaking into some fissures comparatiyely near the surface, and
crowded them with gas until the pressure became very great, when the
stuff ex])loded in some unaccountable way. In that case, though, it is
naturally questioned why some of the force and effects of the explosion
were not manifest in the well itself. That seems to be uninjured, and
the gas escapes from it now with considerable roaring, burning at night
with a great mass of Ihime and a noise that may be heard blocks away.
Peo])le who were awake at the time of the explosion say that it was
preceded by a heavy rumlding and roaring that seemed to come from
the southwest; that the earth rocked and then the dirt and stones were
thrown high into the air. At the same time people living three miles to
the northeast re])ort that disiies were thrown from a table by the tremb-
ling of the earth.
The explosion occurred at two o'clock Monday morning. A few
minutes before one o'clock Tuesday afternoon, the sound of a heavy ex-
plosion was heard at Caney, twenty miles to the west; dishes rattled,
buildings rocked, and there were all the phenomena of an earthquake
shock. The same afternoon several people from the neighborhood of
Independence, who were attending a sale two miles north of Jefferson
tind about twelve miles northwest of Cotfeyville, report having heard a
loud explosion. Threshers in Rutland township observed the same thing,
and I heir machine was shaken as if by a rolling of the earth's surface.
Where this explosion heard by so many people in such widely separated
localities actually took place, no one ever learned; and it seems hardly
possible that it could have all been the work of the Coffeyville boy with
his little parlor match, as the noise he made could not have been heard
at so great a distance.
That the gas which exploded was far above the deep veins from
which the gas wells draw their supply seems prol)able. That electrical
or other conditions which accompany earthquakes could ignite subter-
ranean gasses is well known. Why an ui)per vein should be exploded (jnd
the lower ones remain undisturbed by the effects of an eartlniuake,
whose tremblings are supi)osed to originate hundreds or thousands of
feet below the surface, is hard to understand on the theory suggested.
That the gasses which filled the fissures com]»aratively near the surface
could have been exploded by any other agency than one originating deep
in the bowels of the earth seems unreasonable — the more especially as
there was no thunder or lightning on that eventful night.
The years that have passed since the occurrence whose effects are
detailed above have witnessed no other like ])henomena anywhere in the
gas belt; nor have they thrown any addifional light on the cause which
20 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUXTY. KANSAS.
produced that blow-out. And I am still inclined to believe that it could
only have been the frictional or electrical effects of a slight earthquake
shock that could have exploded the gas in its underground chambers and
produced the resulting volcanic upheaval.
The Reed Family Tragfedy
Many terrible tragedies have darkened the annals of Montgomery
county, but among them all there has been no other that has so profound-
ly moved the people as that of the suffocation of the family of George W.
Eeed, at Independence, on the night of Saturday. December 31st. 1893.
The calamity was due to the imperfect consumption of natural gas, on
account of the entire stoppage of the flue of a chimney, resulting in the
formation of that deadly product of combustion, carbonic oxide gas. This
fact, however, was not learned until days after the tragedy, and
meanwhile the mystery and the horror which surrounded the affair so
impressed the public mind that the people of the city could neither think
nor talk of anvthing else, and for a time business was almost at a stand-
still.
The Reed family at the time consisted of Mr. Reed, who was manager
of the Long-Bell Lumber Com])any. his wife. Ella, who vras a sister of
E. P. Allen, president of the First National Bank, their sou Allen, a boy
of five years, and Miss Eda Scott, a young lady 22 years of age who had
been in their employ for several mouths. On the night mentioned Mr.
Reed had gone for a doctor for a neighbor's child, about nine o'clock in
the evening, which was the last seen of him alive. On the Sundav follow-
ing, at least six or seven times attempts were made to obtain entrance to
the house, but every one who came found the doors locked and received
no response to rejteated knocks. Tom Foster, who was a step-son of a
married daughter of Mr. Reed, had been invited to take dinner there on
that day. and not only came at the appointed time but when he found the
door locked, the curtains drawn and everything still about the house, sat
down on the porch in the warm sunshine of that New Year's day and
waited for an hour before going away. J. A. Sparks, then turn-key at the
jail, was the affianced husband of the girl. Eda, and he not only went
there once but rejieatedly, in fulfillment of an engagement to take her for
a buggy ride that afternoon, without learning why it was that no re-
sponse came to his knocking.
Everyone of course concluded that the family had gone out and sa
no attempt was made to break into the house. When, however, the next
morning came and Mr. Reed did not appear at the lumber yard, his
friends, and Mr. Sparks as well felt that it was time to make an investi-
gation. Accordingly a i)arty was formed, consisting of Allen Brown,
whose first wife was ]Mr. Reed's daughter. Rev. J. E. Pershing, Charles
Yoe, of the Tribune, Justice G, E. Gilmore, J. A. Sparks, H. J. Fairleigh,
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 21-
and Geo. L. Remington, which proceeded to the residence and obtained
entrance tlirongh an unfastened kitchen window. Mr. Brown went first,
followed by Mr. Yoe. The kitchen fire was burning brightly, but the air
was hot and foul, and ]Mr. Yoe stopi)ed to turn oft" the gas. Passing on
into the sitting room Br. Brown was heard to exclaim "My God, what a
sight I'' Seated within two feet of the stove was the body of Mr. Reed,
already so far decomposed in that over-heated atmosphere that long lines
of blood and corruption were stealing down his clothing to the floor
forming a pool on the carpet and soaking through into the pine floor be-
neath.
Haste was made to throw o])en doors and windows and change the
stifling and pestilential air which was charged with the odors of death
and decay. Had not this been done, the cause of the calamity would
have been sooner discovered in the asphyxiation of some of the party.
Further search disclosed that the wife and child, who were in the bed-
room most distant from the fire, were still alive, though unconscious.
The girl upstairs had been stricken while at her toilet and had fallen to
the floor and died many hours before, as was indicated by the stage of
decomposition that had been reached.
The efl'orts to resuscitate Mrs. Reed proved successful, but the child
lingered only until Monday evening, when his young life went out. Mrs.
Reed could throw no light on the cause of the awful tragedy, though she
remembered that Mr. Reed had complained of feeling chilly after re-
tiring and had got up and lighted the fires, which had been turned out.
It was later that he had responded to the call to go for a doctor for the
neighbor's child, after which, she said he had retired again.
Autopsies of the victims of this tragedy were held, and it was an-
nounced that nothing inhaled into the lungs was responsible for it, and
that ni neither case was death due to asphyxiation. This was the dictum
of a Kansas City expert v.-ho has never explained his blunder. The local
physicians. Doctors McCulley, Masterman and Davis agreed that death
was due to poisoning, and two of them said the symptoms were those of
strychnine. From this, however, Masterman dissented. No people stood
higher in the community than Mr. and ]\Irs. Reed, and so far as was
knovrn they had not an enemy in the world. How or why they could have
been poisoned was a mystery that baffled every attempt at solution. And
yet, that they had been poisoned by something other than gas from the
stove, every one was forced to believe. It was more than a nine days'
wonder. It was a horror which was inexplicable. Speculation ran riot,
and everything imaginable was surmised. To solve the problem, if pos-
sible, it was decided to have a chemical analysis of the contents of the
stomnchs of the two adults and of Mr. Reed's brain as well. Dr. Davis
accordingly took them up to Kansas City and the incpiest was adjourned
to await the result. When word came on Saturdav, a week after the'
22 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
fatal evening, that no trace of poison could be discovered the mystery
seemed deeper than ever. Many people were demanding that a test be
made by subjecting dogs to the same conditions that prevailed in the house
when the victims were found. The idea was that in some way the heated
air had proved fatal. Scouting this suggestion, one of the physicians
had asserted that a dog would live for a month in just such an atmos-
phere as those fires had produced.
Unintentionally a test was made, however, in a way that set all
doubt, as to the calamity being due to the fires in the stove, completely
at rest, Mr. Keeds' married daughters, Mrs. E. L. Foster and Mrs. K. G.
Barbee, had been summoned from New ^l;exico and Kentucky to attend
the funeral. On the following Tuesday, ^fr. E. P. Allen accompanied
his wife and Mrs. Foster to the Reed house and lighted the fires to warm
the rooms for them while they proceeded to look over the clothing in the
bureaus and closets. Fortunately the outer door was left open. Each
noticed that her eyes were smarting, but as the articles they were
handling had become saturated with foul odors, they remarked that it
would not do to rub them. Mrs. Foster soon complained of a smarting
sensation in her throat also. A moment more and there was a strong
twitching sensation in each side of her neck, and she felt her head drawn
backward. She started for the open door and had barely reached it
when she staggered, reeled and fell backAvard on the porch. Her head
struck a post as she fell, and sutfering from a terrible nausea she vomited
profusely and became insensible where she fell. Subsequently there was
observed frothing at the mouth and the same convulsive symptoms that
had been manifested in Mrs. Reed's case, as she was being slowly brought
back to life. Not only that, Init in her case her hands had remained
clasped for twenty-four hours, and her jaws were set so that it was with
the utmost difficulty they were forced ajjart to permit the administration
of nourishment.
There was of course no longer any doubt that, whatever had been
the Cause of the tragedy, it was still potent and might easily prove fatal
to any one who should venture to enter that charnel house. One fact like
this was v.orth a million theories in solving the problem of that awful
calamity. The proposed experiment with living animals confined in the
places in which the people had been found was now undertaken. On
Wednesday, January 10th, Marshall Griffey got together three dogs and
a cat, and under the superintendence of the sheriff and several physicians,
they were locked up in the house with the fires burning. The dogs were
in crates or cages, and in addition to i)lacing them where the bodies had
been found, a cat was fastened at the foot of the stairway.
An interested crowd lingered about the house all day watching the
experiment. Some climbed to the roof of the kitchen from which the dog
in the girl's room up stairs conld be closely observed. It ivas noticed
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 23
that the fire in the sitting room was acting qiieerly, the bhize from the
gas coming ont of the door for several inches and showing a reversed
draft. Step by step the mystery was being cleared np. On the roof it
was finally noted that while a large volume of heated air was coming
from the kitchen chimney, the one from the sitting room remained cool,
and no draft of any kind was perceptible. The chimney had been choked
up by the mortar which had fallen in when it was repaired and pieces
had continued to fall until there was no longer any vent.
By half past two in the afternoon the dog in the sitting room was in
convulsions and the one up stains had begun to show signs of distress
and was frothing at the mouth. From this time on the crowd of inter-
ested sight-seers increased, and there was a constant concourse of bug-
gies and wagons in the street. The dogs were not rendered suddenly un-
conscious, as Mrs. Foster had been the day before, but suffered one spasm
after another, each of them exceedingly severe. In the intervals between
the convulsions the animals lay panting, the one near the stove with his
tongue itrotruding and very rapid respiration. At half past seven this
dog died, and just before midnight the last signs of life were observed in
the one up stairs. When the animals were taken out on Thursday morn-
ing, the dog in the bed room was still living, but it lay sprawled and
stiffened with convulsions so that its recovery was deemed impossible
and it was shot. The cat alone survived and with its proverbial hardi-
hood ran away as «oon as liberated and plunged its head repeatedly into
a vessel of water, as if to free itself from the poisonous effects of the air
it had been breathing for twenty-four hours.
An autopsy of the dead animals was made by Doctors MeCulley,
Cha ney and Davis, which resulted in disclosing the cherry-red api>earance
of the blood that is noted as one of the marked indications of poisoning
by carbonic oxide, a gas that is formed in large quantity wherever there
is imperfect combustion of fuel in a stove. This gas is not immediately
fatal and its evil effects consist chietiy in shutting out oxygen, though it
has a positive deleterious quality also.
The mystery was at last fully solved, and in the ten years since there
has never been another fatality in the county from poisonous gasses de-
veloped by natural gas stoves. Though learned at such a terrible cost,
the lesson proved effective beyond expectation.
A further demonstration of the deadly character of this carbonic
oxide gas was made at the office of the Independence Gas Company the
same week, which will prove both interesting and instructiAe in this con-
nection. In the plumbing shop stood a stove with no pipe, the products
of combiistion being allowed to pass off" into the air of the room. Placing
a board over the hole for the pii)e, at the top of the drum, the products
of combustion were confined in the drum. In a short time, Avith the stove
door open, the flames would project two or three feet and burn with the
24 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
reddish hue of imperfect combustion. If then the stove door was closed,
the fire would soon go out entirely, there being no oxygen to support
comb)istion. Had the stove in Mv. Reed's sitting room been of this sort,
the only result of the stopi)age of the flue would have been to put out
the fire; but with the mica panels in its door broken, the flames came
out as v>"hen the stove door at the shop was open, and the air grew more
deadly every moment.
Visitors at Mr. Reed's a day or two previous to the tragedy had no-
ticed that the air was bad; but it did not become deadly until the vent in
the chimney was entirely closed, and lie was such a sufferer from catarrh
that he did not detect the changed character of the air as the fatal gas
began to poison it.
Why Did Pomeroy Tr tjst York ?
BY H. W. YOUNG.
That ''truth is stranger than fiction'' is among the most trite of prov-
erbs. And vet, that it is the facts of human life rather than the wildest
vagaries of the romancer that appeal to us more powerfully as weird,
strange, wonderful, or inexplicable, is evidence of the infinite versatility
of nalure. The materials that go to make the warp and woof of events
are often the most unexpected, and are ever blended in any way that
sets at naught the greatest foresight and the wisest predictions. Indeed,
the more one reads and studies the lore of the past and the fiction of the
present, the more fully will he be convinced that all there is of interest
or value in the creations of the novelist is the truth they contain.
During the first five vears of Montgomerv couutv's historv, the most
striking events, seen with the clear perspective of almost a third of a cen-
tury's distance are the Bender tragedy and the exposure by Senator A. M.
York of the attempt made to purchase his vote by United States Senator
S. C. Pomeroy, who was a candidate for re-election. Another less im-
portant, but still remarkable event, was the location of the Osage District
land ofiice at Independence. That there could be any connection between
events so entirely disisimilar, or that one of them should stand to another
in the relation of cause and efl'ect, would seem to be especially unlikely.
And yet not only was this the case, but we find one name — and that of ci
man who was unquestionably the foremost citizen of Montgomery county
in those early days — coming to the front in all three of those events. It
was only the fact that Dr. William York was the best known of the Ben-
ders' victims, and that it was his disappearance which led to the search
that brought their crimes to light that connected Senator York with that
tragedy in 1873. What an eventful period that was for our Senator be-
tween January 1872 and July 1873. How much of thrilling personal
experience was crowded into it.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 25
^Yhen iu the early winter of 1872 the mayor and council of the city
of Independence decided to leave no stone nntiirned to secure the removal
of the United States land office from Neodesha to their own town, they
raised |o,000 for the purpose and sent Senator York to Washington to
engineer the deal. What he did there he shall tell in his own language,
as it is recorded in the report of a legislative investigating committee at
Topeka, testifying before vrhich on January 31st, 1873. the Senator said:
"I Avas authorized as an attorney or agent of the town of Indepen-
dence, by the mayor and council of that place to visit Washington last
winter and to do all I could to get the land office located at Indepen-
dence. I think I left for Washington in January, 1872; anyhow I knew
Mr. Caldwell was at home, being absent through the holiday recess. I
took with me a letter of introduction from Mayor Wilson to General
McEwen. I visited Messrs. Pomeroy and Lowe frequently with reference
to the land office removal, and had consultations with the Kansas dele-
gates in Congress separately and collectively, and could do nothing for a
long while. I also called on Secretary Delano and ascertained from him
that Mr. Pomeroy had the control of such orders. I then saw Mr. Pome-
roy again and wanted him to promise that the office should be removed
when the "strip bill" passed, but he told me it could not be done, and
advised me to return home. This conversation I think was in February.
However, I have a record of all my conversations with the delegation and
with every member thereof. I recorded the conversations immediately
after the respective interviews occurred. Thereafter I called on General
McEwen and presented my letter of introduction, and as our companion-
ship grew he made me acquainted with the details of the Alice Caton
scandal and showed me the original affidavits, similar in every respect to
the printed affidavits circulated in this city recently. And now let me
say here that I did not countenance the circulation of these affidavits
during the late Senatorial canvass, but did remark to a friend that they
were word for word of the original affidavits which 1 had then and have
now in my trunk. After reading these affidavits in General Mc-
Ewen's presence, I received permission to keep them, and the following
evening called to see Senator Pomeroy at his private residence in Wash-
ington. I found him in the middle parlor. I think there were three
parlors or reception rooms in his house, communicating with each other
by folding doors. Senator Caldwell was there that evening and other
gentlemen, and, I think, several ladies. Seeing Senator Pomeroy occu-
pied, I requested the i)rivilege of an interview at liis committee room
early the following morning, and the Senator said he guessed the com-
pany would then excuse us. and he invited me into the back jtarlor. We
went to the further side of the room and sat down close together, mv
chair facing him. I said: 'Senator, you have all this time failed to ap-
preciate the earnestne-ss of my demands for the removal of the land office
26 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
to Independence, and now I want to show you some documents that will,
I think, appeal very forcibly to you.' And thereupon I took from my
pocket the affidavits referred to and showed them to him. He commenced
reading and soon his face began to change color. I leaned forward and
put the question direct to him: 'Did you go to Baltimore (naming the
day) ; did you stop at Barnum's hotel?' He said he did. I then asked
him if Alice Caton went to the same city the same day and stopped at
the same hotel. He said she did go to Baltimore that day. and he
thought she stopped at Barnum's hotel. I asked him if he did not room
iu No. . He said he could not recollect. I asked him if there was not a
door directly communicating between his and her room. He denied that
there was, and said he slept with a young man that night whose name
he did not remember. At length he agreed to have the land office re-
moved on the first of April, preferring that the scandal should not be
revived as coming from a respectable source; and the land office was
removed to Independence according to agreement."
In reply to a question by a member of the investigating committee
as to the means he employed, ('ob)nel York said he thought "the}' were
questionable, but the people of Indepjeiidence sent me to Washington to get
the land office and I got it.''
It has always been a wonder how so astute and experienced a pol-
itician as Senator Pomeroy could put himself so entirely in the power of
a political enemy as he did when he placed those packages of bills in
York's hands to buy his vote, especially in view of the fact that York was
made secretary of the anti-Pomeroy organization in the legislature, of
which ^V. A. Johnson, afterwards Justice of the Supreme Court, was
chairman. The story told above by York throws a flood of light on this
question. York was not a stranger to Pomeroy. The latter naturally had
concluded that the Montgomery county man was as unscrupulous as he
was himself, and that he would employ any means, no matter how ''ques-
tioniible" to accomplish the purposes he had in view. York had black-
mailed him into locating the Osage land office at Independence, and he
had evidently set him down as a bird of his own feather. That the man
who Avould extort a favor for his town by a threat to expose Pomeroy's
moral corrui>tion to his constituents, would be any too good to pocket
18,000 as the i)rice of a vote for the same reprobate in the joint convention
never seems to have occured to that statesman. He would not have
trusted a stranger in any such way, but a peddler of scandal 1 Why not
count him safe?
So it is that but for the removal of the land office to Independence
it is entirely imjirobable that York would ever have been in a position to
^'expose" Pomeroy's corrni»tion. Thus 'strangely are events linked to-
rgether That York was an honest man is attested by his civil war record.
He was made captain in a negro regiment and offered an oi)portunity to
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 27
line his pockets by putting fictitious names on the pay roll, and defraud-
ing the ignorant negroes of their pay. This he \sternly refused to do, and
he was in consequence promoted to be lieutenant colonel, whence his
title.
It was in the same year. 1873, and only three months later, that
York was again brought into prominence in an entirely different way,
by the discovery of his brother's body in that well-plowed garden of the
Benders'.
The Montgfomery County High School
During the fall and early winter of 1800 there was some talk about
the establishment of a county high school at Independence, and mention
was made of the matter in the newspapers, as one which might come be-
fore the legislature. On the 3d of February. 181)7, a bill was introduced
in the Senate by Senator Young, providing that a high school for Mont-
eomerv countv should be established at Inde]»endence, to be carried on
under the provisions of the general high school law of 1886. The same
bill was introduced in the House by Representative Fulton, February
4th, 1897. Immediately on the introduction of this bill in the Senate,
the people of the county were notified of the fact tlirough the columns of
the Star and Kansan, and invited to express their t>pinion in regard to
it in the following words, which will be found in "The Editor's Letter,"
written from Topeka by the Senator from this county, and published on
February 5th, 1897 :
A bill to establish a county high school at Independence was intro-
duced in the Senate this morning. I should like to hear a general ex-
pression from the people of the county as to the desirability of providing
facilities for higher education at home, thus saving a portion of the large
sums now paid to send young men and women of our county to distant
institutions of learning.
Both the Senator and Representative from this county received a
large number of letters urging the passage of this special act, and favor-
ing the establishment of the school, while neither one of them received
a communication oi)posing it. The bill was held u}) for a time in the
Senate committee, but when it became apparent that the people inter-
ested were making no opposition to the proposed school, it received a fav-
orable report. It j)assed the Senate on February 20th, 1897, without a
dissenting voice, by a vote of 22 to 0. In the House there Avas some op-
position to the bill in committee of the whole. Representative Weilep, of
Cherokee county, speaking against it, but it was recommended for pas-
sage February 27th, 1897, and on March 2d, 1897, it passed that body by
a vote of 97 to 1, the Senate bill in the meantime having been substituted
for the House bill. It was signed by the governor March .'ith, 1897, and
â– 28
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
became a law by publication in the official state paper on Miarch 12th, of
the same year.
Just as soon as the bill had been passed, however, considerable
oi)positiou to the school was developed in certain sections of the county,
noTK^'y in Sycamore, Cherry, Drum Creek, Louisburg and Cherokee
townships. Meetings were held to protest against the establishment of
the school, and petitions were widely circulated requesting the county
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
commissioners to appoint as trustees men known to be hostile to the
school, and who would, it was thought, take no action to carry out the
provisions of the law.
When the commissioners met in April, 1897, they took the matter
up. and it was agreed among them that as there were six trustees to be
selected, there should be two appointed from each commissioner dis-
trict. The board of commissioners at that time consisted of P. S. Moore,
of Independence; Jchn Givens, of West Cherry; and David A. Cline,
of Parker townshii». The two latter felt that the sentiment in their dis-
jtiicts was against the school, but were unwilling to attempt to nullify
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 29
the law bv making the appoiutmeuts petitioned for. From the northern
district Revilo Newton, a banker of Cherryvale, and M. L. Stei^hens, a
farmer of Louisburg- township, were named, neither of whom were
thonglit to heartily favor the school at the time of their appointment.
For the middle district William Dnnkin, of Independence, a lawyer
and capitalist, and Thomas Hayden. a farmer of Liberty township, were
selected. From the sonthern district, J. A. Moore, a farmer of Caney
tovrnship, and E. A. Osborn, a stockman, of Coffeyville, were chosen.
Both Dnnkin and Hayden were enthusiastically in favor of the school.
Moore also favored it, while Osborn was not onl}- opposed to it, but took
little interest in the matter, attended but a few of the meetings, and de-
clined to be a candidate at the following election.
So far as the six trustees were concerned, the Board was equally
divided between the friends of the school and those who were less fav-
orably disposed toward it, but the law making the county superinten-
dent •! member of the board cx-officio and its chairman, prevented a dead-
lock at any time. The board met for the first time on April 22d, 1897,
and organized by electing Kevilo Newton secretary and Wm. Dunkin
treasurer.
Under the general high school law, a site for the building was re-
quired to be furnished without expense to the county. On May 28th the
board accepted the offer of the city of Independence to furnish a piece of
ground 300 feet s(]uare, comprising a block of land in the southwest
corner of out-lot 5 for this purpose. It was also stipulated in the con-
tract with the city, that a sewer connection should be furnished without
expense to the county. On the following day it was voted to make to the
county commissioners a certified estimate of six mills on the dollar as the
amount of tax needed to erect a suitable building. On this proposition
the six trustees were tied, three of them, namely: Messrs. Osborne, New-
ton and Stephens, being in favor of making the levy two mills a year for
three years. The six-mil! pro|)osition was, however, adopted by the decid-
ing vote of President Dollison. At this meeting H. M. Hadley, of Topeka,
was elected architect of the board.
On September 7th the plans and specifications prepared by Mr.
Hadley were accepted and the board advertised for bids for the construc-
tion of the building in a.ccordance therewith.
At a meeting held on October 28th, ten bids were submitted for the
whole or part of the work, and on the following day the bid of M. V. T.
Ecret to erect the building for |19,547 was accepted; also the bid of
W. A. Myrick, to furnish the heating and ventilating ap])ratus and to do
the plumbing for gas and water, for .f 3,530. This made the total contract
price for the building .|!23,077.
Meanwhile the oitponents of the school had not been idle. They had
^employed Hon. T. J. Iludson, of Fredonia, as their attorney, and on Sep-
30 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS.
tember 14tli. 1897. they filed in the district court of the county, a petition
asking' for a restraining order to prevent the levying or collection of the
tax for the building, and to forbid the trustees from doing anything
further looking toward its erection, or tlie establishment of the school.
Lewis Billings, of Drum Creek, and seventeen others, were named as
plaintiff's in this petition.
The case came on for hearing at the Novend^er term of court, and on
the L'9th day of that month Judge Skidmore granted the injunction
prayed for. fortifying his action by an extended opinion. The ground
on which this order was asked and granted was the claim that the special
act establif^hing the school was unconstitutional, for the reason that a
general law was ap})licable. This point had been raised in the supreme
court and overruled when the Labette county high school was established
by a similar special law ; and two of the three judges who concurred in
that o]>inion were still on the bench, so that the chance of winning the
case in the final outcome did not seem especially promising. Neverthe-
less. Judge Skidmore reversed the supreme court with a great deal of
alacrity, and the work of the trustees came to a standstill, while the case
was (^arried up to the supreme court.
By the terms of the injunction, the county commissioners were for-
bidden to make a levy of the tax for the building, the county clerk was
forbidden to extend this levy on the tax books, and the county treasurer
was forbidden to collect it. The original petitioa for a restraining order
had been made in the probate court; but as it had been refused there, by
the time the case was decided in the district court, the tax had been
levied and extended on the books. J. K. Blair, who was county treas-
urer, therefore refused to accept any portion of any tax unless the county
high school tax was paid, so that the collection of the money for the
building fund went right on. in spite of the injunction. Nor was any at-
tempt made to punish Mr. Blair for contempt of court in doing what the
law compelled him to do. in making the collection.
"While this case was; j sending, the opponents of the school lioi)ed to
elect a board of trustees at the November election who were opposed to
the school. The Eepublican convention, which was held Sei»tend^er ISth,
renominated Messrs. Dunkin, Hayden and Moore who were friendly to
the school, and three more candidates who were thought to be unfriendly.
The Populists and Democratic conventions, held September 2!)th, agreed
in conference committee to nominate the old board Avith the exceif^ion of
Major Osborne, who positively declined to jiermit his name to be used.
In his place Adam Beatty, of Cherokee township, was named. The elec-
tion of either the Kepublican or the fusion candidates would have insured
a majority favorable to the school. So the i>lan adopted to defeat it was
to vote for the three unfavorable candidates on the I\ei»ublican ticket and
the most lukewarm members of the old board. Circulars were distributed
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 3 1
at most of the polling places advising that this be done. The result was
the election of the old board, with Mr. Beatty, by overwhelming major-
ities. The totals ranging from 3,459 votes for Thomas Hayden to 2,93G
for Revilo Newton while the largest vote cast for an avowedly opposing
candidate was 2,f)22. This vote effectually settled the question as to the
feeling of the people, and also as to the possibility of defeating the school
by electing an unfriendly board.
On January 11th, 1898, the new board organized by electing William
Dunkin secretary and Revilo Newton treasurer. The question how long
each trustee should serve was decided by lot, Hayden and Newton draw-
ing the three-vear term, Dunkin and Moore the two-vear term and
Stevens and Beatty the one-year.
After various postponements and delays the case in the supreme court
was decided May 7th, and the judgment of the lower court reversed. This
dissolved the injunction and left the trustees free to proceed with the
erection of the building. On June 11th the contract with M. P. T. Ecret
was changed so as to include H. A. Brewster & Co. with him. W. A. My-
rick at the same time transferred his contract for plumbing to E. A.
Chaney, of Topeka.
Ground Avas broken for the building Monday, June 20th, 1898; and
on June 29th W. H. Hack was appointed superintendent of construction.
From that time the work was pushed rapidly all through the summer and
fall, so that by Thanksgiving the walls were up and the work of roofing
was in progress.
It was on Monday, November 2Sth, that a very pleasant impromptu
affair occured at the building. The tower was already in place, and noth-
ing renmined to finish it excex>t to paint the tin of the roof. A portion of
the s<-affolding the builders had used still surrounded this tower. Miss
Mena Jones, a young lady of Sycamore township, and a daughter of
William Jones, had expressed a willingness to raise the American flag
upon a staff' at one corner of this tower. She j)roved her grit and the
steadiness of her nerves by climbing the tower, walking erect and unat-
tended along a narrow ])lank near the top, at the same time waving her
hands to acquaintances in the street a hundred feet below, as coolly as if
she were standing on the firm earth. She attached the flag to the stafl",
and it was greeted with a ringing cheer from the group gathered on the
roof, followed by another for the plucky girl who had performed the dar-
ing feat.
The work of plastering and inside finishing ]n'oceeded through the
winter of 1898-99, and by the first of April the building was practically
completed, though some minor details ]»revented its formal acceptance
by tlie trustees at the hands of the contractors until June Oth, 1899. On
August 1st, 1808, the trustees made a.n estimate fixing 1% mills as the
amount of tax levy needed to raise a sum sutficient to furnish the build-
22 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
ing, pay for all further improvements, and run the school until the close
of 1899. 1 ^ I ^
At the November election of 1898, Adam Beatty was re-elected trus-
tee and P. H. Fox, of Fawn Creek township, was elected to take the place
of M. L. Stephens.
March 20th, 1899, the board elected Samuel M. Nees, who had for nine
years previous been at the head of the Independence city schools, as
principal.
A contract for furniture for the building was made with O. C. Clark
& Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, on April 11th. This included 500 opera chairs,
300 single desks, 9 teachers' desks, and 1327 feet of solid rock slate for
black-boards. The contract price was |1,721.82. and the next highest bid
was about |1,200 more.
It was decided on April 2.5th to elect three gentlemen and two ladies,
who, with the principal, should constitute the faculty, at salaries of |750
per annum each, for the former, and $600 for the latter. T. B. Henry, W.
E. Ringle, Richard Allen, Georgia Cubine and Lura Bellamy were elected
to these positions.
At the meeting on June 6th, after the building had been received
from the contractors, a course of study was agreed upon and a set of by-
laws for the government of the school adopted.
At the meeting on June 28th the tax levy for 1899 was fixed at 2
mills. Rules and regulations were adoj)ted and a list of text books
agreed upon July 18th.
On Monday, September 4th, 1899, the school was opened with very
simple ceremonies. After prayer by Rev. S. S. Estey, short addresses
were made by President Dollison of the board of trustees, Mr. Estey,
Principal Nees, and other members of the faculty. The enrollment of
pupils during the first week of school exceeded 200, and the school,
which had been so long in preparation and so bitterly fought over, was
fairly launched among the institutions of the state devoted to the higher
education.
Classes in the following subjects were organized for the first term :
Beginning Latin, Caesar, Cicero, Algebra, Geometry, Psychology, Greek,
Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, General History, Bookkei)ing, Vocal Music,
German, Rhetoric, English Literature, Arithmetic and Physical Geog-
raphy.
At this point it is fitting to bear testimony to the fidelity and de-
votion with which the members of the original board of trustees per-
formed their duties, and the intelligence and zeal with which they labored
to provide a home for and build up a school which would be a credit not
only to all connected with its esta])]ishment. but to the county and the
state as well. It mattered not at all that some of them had been at first
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 33
opposed to the inuleitakiiig; no sooner did they put their hands to the
Avork than it began to grow broader and higlier in their minds, and they
became inspired with tlie ambition to make everything the best. The im-
mense possibilities of good, not only for the young people of today, but
for the generations to come, loomed up before them as they became inter-
ested in the work, and they gave to it time without stint, and their best
energies. As a result they could rejoice in having been instrumental in
providing for Montgomery county a High School that admittedly ranks
at the head of schools of its class in the state, both in its material equip-
ment and in the character of the work it is doing.
At the November election of 181)9, E. P. Allen and Wilson Kincaid,
both business men of Independence, though candidates on opposing tick-
ets, were elected trustees. At the meeting held January 8th, 1900, the
new board organized by electing Thomas Hayden, Vice-President; P. H.
Fox, Secretary; and Revilo Newton, Treasurer.
The Dalton Raid at Coffeyville
In all the annals of crime in our country, few if any events have fur-
nished more dramatic incidents or created more of a sensation than the
raid cf the Daltons at Coffeyville, on the morning of Wednesday, October
5th, 11)02. There have been other bank robberies where larger amounts
of money have been at stake, and some in which better known bandits
and outlaws have participated, but in the sanguinary nature of the strug-
gle, the number of shots fired, and the victims on both sides, the Coffey-
ville affair must stand preeminent.
The "Dalton Gang," whose leaders organized alnd perpetrated this
raid had already acquired an unenviable rej>utation as outlaws and train
roblsers, and were ready for any crime if the stakes were large enough.
Three of the Dalton brothers, with tAvo ordinary' criminals of the sort
that could be jticked up almost anywhere in the Indian Territory, con-
stituted the p.arty. The Dalton family originally consisted of Lewis Dal-
ton and his wife, whose maiden name was Adaline Lee Younger, and who
was born in Cass county, Missouri, in the neighborhood whence came
other Youngers, who achieved notoriety as bank robbers. They were the
parents of thirteen children, of whom two died in infancy. The family
were not strangers at Coffeyville, having settled in that vicinity in 1882
and remained there until the ojtening of Oklahoma in 1881). In fact,
Lewis Dalton remained in this county until his death, at Dearing, in
1890. The rest of the family went to Oklahoma and took u]) claims. The
old people seem to have been ](eaceable and law-abiding, but three of the
boys became dejmty Ignited States marshals in the Indian Territory, one
of them also serving for a shori tinie us chief <»f police of the Osage Na-
tion. Familiarity with crime and acquaintance with outlaws in these
34 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS.
positions seems to have developed a passion for criminal adventure, which
may Lave been also, to some extent, a matter of heredity on their mother's
side. Gratton, Enmiet and Robert were the Daltons in the gang, and the
two other members of the quintette who raided the Cofteyville banks were
known as Bill Powers and Dick Broadwell. Robert, the leader of the
gang, was only 22 years of age, while Emmet was a mere boy two years
Younuer. Gratton was 31.
The Daltons are credited with having stolen a herd of cattle in the
territory about two years previous to the events to be here narrated, and
so far as know n, they took the first degree in outlawry at that time. In
the early part of 1891, Gratton. William and Emmet Dalton were arrest-
ed for train robbery in Tulare county. California. Emmet escaped, Wil-
liam was ac(piitted. and Gratton was convicted and sentenced to twenty
years in the penitentiary. He escaped from the county jail before being
taken to Folsom, and there was a standing reward of |6.000 otfered for
Gratton and Emmet by the Southern Pacific Railway at the time these
men met their fate at Coffeyville. In May 1801 there vras a train robbery
by masked men at Wharton, Indian Territory, on the Santa Fe Railroad;
and in July of the same year another at Adair, on the Missouri, Kansas &
Texas, both of which were credited to the Daltons.
On the morning of the Cofteyville raid, the five men mentioned v.'ere
seen by several people riding toward that city, and they were taken, in
every instance, for a United States Deputy Marshal and his posse. They
came in on the main road from the west, turned south one block from the
business part of town and hitched their horses in the alley running
back from Slossen's drug store, which has since become famous as ''the
Alley of Death." They then started down the alley, (yratton. with Pow-
ers and Broadwell in front, and Emmet and Bob following. As they
crossed the sidewalk, on emerging from the alley, they pas.sed within
five feet of a citizen who was acquainted with them well enough to recog-
nize them in spite of the disguises they had assumed on coming into a
locality where they were so well known. A moment later he saw the three
men who were in front enter C. M. Condon & Go.'s bank and present a
Winchester at the cashier's counter. He raised the alarm at once.
Meantime the other two had crossed Unic'n street and entered the
First National bank. They were followed by some citizens who suspected
their object and the alarm was speedily raised on the east side of the
plaza, also. Immediately half a dozen men rushed to the hardware stores
of Isham Bros. & Mansur and A. P. Boswell & Co., on the east side of
Union street, and proceeded to provide themselves with rifles and ammu-
nition, determined that the bank robbers should not get away if it was
j)0ssible to prevent it.
In Condon & Co.'s bank were C. T. Cari)enter, one of the proprietors,
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 35
Chas M. Ball, the cashier, and T. C. Babb, the bookkeeper. The leader of
the raiders. Grat. Dalton, ordered the men behind the counter to throw
up their hands; and on looking- up from his work at the desk, Mr. Car-
penter saw three Winchesters aimed at his head, and heard such reassur-
ing words as these :
''We have got tou. G d you ! Hold u]) your hands "
As soon as Dalton had i»assed around into the inside of the enclosure
at the l)ank. he ordered Mr. Ball to hold a grain sack he had brought with
him. while Carpenter was told to put the monej* in the canvas sacks in the
safe into it. There was .f3,00(> in silver in the three sacks, and when he
had got that Dalton ordered Mr. Ball to open the burglar proof chest in
the vault. Ball replied:
''It is not time for it to open."
"What time does it open?"' asked Gratton.
"Half }»ast nine." answered Ball, guessing what o'clock it might be,
sparring for time.
"What time is it now?"" queried the bandit.
"Twenty minutes past nine." glibly answered Ball, looking at his
watch.
As a matter of fact, it Avas twenty minutes of ten, but Dalton did
not know this and calmly propof^ed to wait until the chest could be
opened. In a moment or two he began to suspect the truth and turned on
Ball and cursed him and threatened to put a bullet through him. With
the money from the counter the robberis now had |4,000, but the firing
which had begun from the outside was getting so hot that the robbers
ordered the sack carried into the back room, where the currency was
sorted out and the silver left. The bankers and two customers who hap-
pened to be in when the raid was made, were lying on the floor now to
escape the rain of bullets that came crashing through the plate glass.
Broadwell had already received a bullet in the arm that disabled him,
and the robbers made haste to get out into the street whence they had
come.
MeauAvhile, a good deal had been happening at the First National
across the street. Bob Dalton and Emmet entered here about the same
time the other three men went into Condon's. They covered the cashier,
Thomas G. Ayers, and the teller, W. H. Bhepard, with their guns and
ordered everyone present to hold ui> his hands. The men in the bank in
front of the counter at the time were J. H. Brewster, the well known con-
tractor, who built the county court house. A. W. Knotts, who was after-
ward deputy sheriff, and C. L. Hollingsworth. Leaving Emmet on guard
in front. Bob went around to the rear and entered the private room, where
he found Bert S. Ayres, the bookkeei>er. and ordered him to go to the
front and get the money on the counter. He then ordered the cashier to
3$ HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS.
bring liiiii the money that was in the safe, and not satisfied with what he
got weint into tlie vanlt himself and took two ])ackages of currency con-
taining five thousand dollars each, and added them to the collection in his
sack, which now amounted to .§20.0(10. Ordering the bank force and cus-
tomers out before them, the bandits started to go out the front door, but
some shots drove them back and they then retreated by a back door.
Right at this time the murderous work began, t^o far, only two men
had been wounded, Broad well, on the inside of Condon's bank, and
Charles T. Gump, who had taken a })osition outside of the First National
with a gun ready to shoot at the robbers when they started out. Bob
JL o.lton fired a shot which sruck him in the hand and disabled him.
When the two robbers emerged from the rear door of the First National,
having the teller, M'r. Shepard with them, they came across Lucius M.
Bakhvin, a clerk from Reed Brothers' store. He was holding a revolver
at his side and coming forward as if to join the others. Both the Daltons
leveled their Winchesters at him and commanded him to stop. For some
reason he failed 1o obey and kept moving toward them. Bob remarked,
"I'll have to get that man," and pulled the trigger which sent a bullet
through Baldwin's breast near the heart. He was onlv about fiftv feet
away at the time. He was picked up by friends and carried away but
onlv survived for about three hours.
The Daltons ran north up the alley to Eighth street and turned west
when they reached that street. When they got as far as Union street on
the east side of the Plaza, they looked down that street to the south and
tired a couple of shots, apparently for the purpose of frightening their
assailants away. By the time they had reached the middle of the street
on their way across to the "Little block"' in the center of the Plaza, they
discerned George Cubine standing in the doorway of Rammel Brothers'
drug store, Avhich adjoined the First National bank building on the north.
He had a Winchester in his hand and was looki'ng the other way, toward
the door of the bank from which he was expecting to see the outlaws
emerge. They each fired twice at him. and as the four shots rang out. he
fell to the pavement lifeless, with one bullet through his heart, another
through his left thigh and a third through his ankle. The fourth ball
went astray and crashed through the plate glass window of the store
behind him. Charles BroAvn, an old man whose place of business was
next north of the drug store, rushed out to assist the fallen man ; but see-
ing that he was dead, seized the Winchester Cubine had and turned it
on his slayers. Four more deadly shots rang out from the bandits' guns,
and Brown fell bleeding and dying. He survived three hours in dreadful
agony and then passed away.
These three murders had been committed in less time than it has
taken to tell it. By this time the Daltons caught sight of another man
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 37
who was watching the entrance of the bank, ready to fire when they
should emerge. When turned out of the bank at the time the outlaws
started to come out the front way, Cashier Ayre s ran into Isham's hard-
ware store, just to the south, and procured a Winchester, with which he
took a position in the doorway, where he could command the entrance
to the bank. As they were stepping up on to the sidewalk on the west
side of Union street, and across the street from the Eldridge House, Bob
took deliberate aim at Ayres, who was about seventy-five yards distant,
and fired a bullet which struck him in the cheek, just below his left eye
aind came out at the back of his head near the base of the skull. He fell
bleeding and unconscious and for days hung between life and death, but
finally recovered.
Just at this time, (iratton and his companions had reached the alley
adjoining Slosson's store, up which they had left their horses, and before
the prostrate form of Mr. Ayres could be removed they fired nine shots
into the front of the building where he lay. Bob and Emmet proceeded
west on Eighth street and were not noticed again until they reappeared
near the junction of the two alleys, having come down back of Wells
Brothers' store. Their escape would have been comparatively easy, had
they not returned to that spot, but made a break for the open country and
taken the first horse they came across.
As it was, the whole force of the bandit band was now gathered in
what has since been known as "the Alley of Death," and there they all
fell beneath the bullets of the volunteers for law and order, though not
until another good citizen lost his life. For the facts thus far published
we are indebted to the painstaking and carefully written work published
by Colonel I). Stewart Elliott, of the Cofteyville Journal, entitled: "Last
Raid of the Daltons ;" and for the story of the concluding scenes of that
raid we can do no better than to reproduce the chapter of that work ou
"The Alley of Death" almost verbatim.
AVhen the alarm was first given that the banks were being robbed,
Henry Hi. Isham, the senior member of the firm of Isham Brothers &
Ma USUI', was busy with a customer, as were two clerks in the store, Lewis
T. Dietz and T. Arthur Reynolds. This store not only adjoined the First
National bank on the south, but from its front a clear view is to be had
across the Plaza and up the alley at the west side to which the Daltons
first came and to which they finally retreated. Mr. Isham dismissed his
customer, closed his safe, and, grasping a Winchester, stationed himself
near a steel range in the front of the store where he could see all that was
going on in the front part of Condon's bank. Dietz snatched a revolver
and stationed himself close to Isham, while Reynolds, having observed
the robbers enter the banks, was so eager to prevent their escape that he
iseized a Winchester, ran out upon the sidewalk and commenced tiring
38 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
upon the robber who was stationed near the southeastern door of the
Condon bank. A shot from the latter's rifle struck some intervening ob-
ject and glanced and hit Reynolds on the right foot at the base of the
little toe, coming out at the instep. He was the third man wounded in
the store, and was now forced to leave the field. Indeed, with its blood-
bespat teded floor, the store now began to look like a slaughter house or
a section of a battle field. M. X. Anderson, a carpenter, who had been at
work a couple of blocks away, now arrived and took the Winchester Rey-
nolds had dropped and stationed himself beside Isham, where he per-
formed valiant service until the close of the engagement. Charles K.
Smith, a young man from a barber shop near Isham's store, also procured
a 'SA'in Chester and joined the forces in the hardware store in time to help
exterminate the gang.
From five to nine shots were fired by each man who handled a Win-
chester- at this point. The principal credit, however, for the successful
and fatal work done at the store was due to Mr. Isham. Cool and col-
lected, he gave directions to his companions and at the same time kept his
own gun at work.
The moment that Grat. Dalton and his companions. Dick Broadwell
and Bill Powers, left the Condon bank after looting it. they came under
the guns of the men in Isham's store. Grat. Dalton and Bill Powers each
received mortal wounds before they had gone twenty steps. The dust
was i-een to fly from their clothing, and Powers in his desperation at-
tem]>ted to take refuge in the doorway of an adjoining store, but the door
was locked and no one answered his request to be let in. He kept his feet
and clung to his Winchester until he reached his horse, when another ball
struck him in the back and he fell dead at its feet. Grat. Dalton, getting
under cover of an oil tank which had been driven into the alley just about
the time the raid was made, managed to reach the side of a barn on the
south side of the alley, about two hr.fudred feet from Walnut street. The
point where he stopped was out of the range of the guns at Isham's on
account of an intervening outside stairway. He stood here for a few
minutes firing wild shots down the alley toward the Plaza.
About this time John J. Kloehr, a liveryman, Carey Seaman, and the
City ^larshal, Charles T. Connelly, Avho were at the south end of tho
Plaza, near Reeds' store, started up Xinth street so as to intercept the
gang before they could reach their horses. Connelly ran across a vacant
lot to an opening in the fence at the alley, right at the corner of the barn
where Grat. Dalton was still standing. There he sprang ilnto the alley,
facing the west where the horses were hitched. This movement brought
him with his back toward the murderous Dalton, who was seen to raise
his V.'inchester to his side and, without taking aim. fired a shot into the
back of the brave officer. Connelly fell forward on his face, within
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS. 39
twenty feet of where his murderer stood. He breathed his last just as the
fight ended.
Dick Broadwell, in the meantime, had reached cover in the Long-
Bell Lumber Com]>any's yards, where he lay down for a few moments.
He was wounded in the back. A lull occurred in the firing after Grat
Dalton and Bill I'owers had fallen. Broadwell food advantage of this
and crawled out of his hiding place, mounted his horse and rode away.
A bail from- Kloehr's rifle, and a load of shot from a gun in the hands of
Carey Seaman, overtook him before he had ridden twenty feet. Bleeding
and dying he clung to his horse and passed out of the city over a portion
of the road by which the party entered it not more than twenty minutes
befoi-:. His body was subsequently found by the roadside half a mile
west of the city, and his horse with its trappings was captured near
where he fell.
Almost at the same moment that Marshal Connelly went dowm be-
fore the deadly rifle of Grat. Dalton, Bob and Emmet emerged from the
alley by which they had left Eighth street in their effort to rejoin the rest
of the party where their horses had been left. They had not met with
any resistence in passing from where they had shot Cubfee, Brown and
Ayres, as the firing toward the south end of the Plaza had attracted gen-
eral attention in another direction. The north and south alley through
which they reached ''the Alley of Death," has its terminus opposite the
rear end of Slosson's store. When they reached the junction of the al-
leys, they discovered F. D. Benson climbing through a rear window with
a gun in his hand. Divining his object. Bob fired at him point blank, at a
distance of not over thirty feet. The shot missed. Bob then stepped into
the alley and glanced up at the tops of the buildings as if he suspected
the fusilade that was pouring into the alley came from that direction.
As he did so, the men at Isham's took deliberate aim from their positions
in the store and fired at him. The notorious leader of the Dalton gang
evidently received a severe if not fatal wound at this time. He stagger-
ed across the alley and sat down on a pile of dressed curbstones near the
city jail. Still true to his desperate nature, he kept his rifle in action and
fired several shots from where he was sitting. His aim, though, was un-
steady and the bullets went wild. While sitting on the rocks he espied
John Kloehr on the inside of the fence near Slosson's store. He tried to
raise his Winchester to his shoulder, but could not, and the shot intendt^d
for Kloehr struck the side of an outhouse and failed in its mission. Bob
Dalton then made his supreme effort. He arose to his feet and sought
refuge alongside of an old barn west of the city jail, and, learning against
the southwest corner of the building he brought his rifle into action again
and fired two shots in the direction of his pursuers. They were his last
shots. A ball from Kloehr's rifle struck him full in the breast and he fell
40 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
over backward among the stones which covered the ground there, and
which were reddened with his life blood.
After shooting Marshal Connelly. Grat. Dalton made another at-
tempt to reach his horse. He passed by his fallen victim, alud had ad-
vanced probably twenty feet from where he was standing when he fired
the fatal shot; then turning his face to his pursuers he again at-
tempted to use his Winchester. John Kloehr's rifle blazed out again
now. and the oldest member of the band dro|»ped with a bullet in his
throat and a broken neck. He fell within a few feet of the dying marshal.
Up to this time Emmet Dalton had managed to escape untouched.
He kept under shelter after he reached the alley until he attempted to
mount his horse. A half dozen rifles were then fired in his direction, as
he undertook to get into the saddle. The two intervening horses belong-
ing to Bob Dalton and Bill I'oAvers were killed bv some of the shots in-
tended for Emmet; and the two horses attached to the oil tank-wagon
being directly in range received fatal wounds. Emmet succeeded in get-
ting into the saddle, but not until he had received a shot through the
right arm and another through the left hip and groin. During all this
time he had clung to the sack containing the money he had taken from
the First National bank. And then, instead of riding off, as he might
have done, Emmet boldly and courageously rode back to what he must
have known was almost certain death and came up beside where Bob
was lying and attempted to lift his dying brother onto the horse with
him. "It's no use," faintly whispered the fallen bandit, and just then
Carey Seaman fired the contents of both barrels of his shot-gun into
Emmet's back, as he was leaning over the prostrate form of his leader
and tutor in crime. The youthful desperado dropped from his horse and
the last of the Dalton gang was helpless. In falling, the sack containing
the tv/enty thousand dollars he had perilled his soul and body to get went
down with him, and he hinded at the feet of his brother. Bob, who breath-
ed his last a moment later.
Citizens who had followed close after the robbers, and some of whom
were close at hand when they fell, immediately surrounded their bodies.
Emmet responded to the command to hold up his hands by raising his
uninjured arm and making a pathetic appeal for mercy. Lyn<-hing was
suggested, but better councils i»revailed and he was taken to the office of
a surgeon, who dressed his wounds. He recovered with the quick elasti-
city of youth and was taken to the jail at Independence, where, in the
following March, he pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree and
was sentenced to a ninety-nine years' term in the penitentiary, ten of
which he has already served. His aged mother is untiring in her
efforts to secure pardon and freedom for her wayward boy, but no
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 4I
governor has yet dared to brave the indignation of the friends of the vic-
tims of the raid by granting her prayer.
Less than fifteen minutes had ehipsed from the time the raiders en-
tered the banks until four of tliem were dead and the others helpless with
wounds. And it was only twelve minutes from the firing of the first shot
until tlie last one sounded the knell of the Dalton gang.
Summarizing the reports, it appears that eighty bullet marks and
numerous evidences of the impact of small shot were visible on the south
front of Condon's bank when the battle ended. Not more than fifteen
guns were actively engaged iu the fight on both sides; and yet eight peo-
ple were killed and three wounded. While all the citizens who were
killea or wounded were armed. George Cubine was the only one of them
who had fired a shot before being struck down. Amcfng the scores of by-
standers and onlookers about the Plaza, including manv girls and little
chidren, not one was struck by a short or bullet. It was war, an^d very
sanguinary war, Avhile it lasted, the percentage of victims to combatants
being greater than in ivny battle that was not a massacre; but no wild
shooting was done.
While the people of Coffeyville wiped out the outlaw gang at a terri-
ble cost of valuable lives, they insured their city against any more such
visitations during the lifetime of the present generation, and conferred a
service u}»on the state and upon society by demonstratiUig how risky and
unprofitable such raids are likely to prove.
CHAPTER III. :
* The Press of Montgfomery County
BY H. W. YOUNG.
There is a fascination about the newspnper business which even
those who have spent their lives in the editor's chair would find it hard
to explain. Certainly it must have been this fascination, rather than the
pecuniary rewards in sight, which have induced three score and ten men
to establish newspapers in nine different localities in Montgomerv countv.
i^or of all the seventy or more i>ul)lications which have been started in
this county as local newspapers, there is only one which has as yet placed
its pro])rietors in independent circumstances, given them any bank ac-
count to speak of, or enabled them to become landowners on any but the
most limited scale. And the success which has attended this exceptional
venture, is without question, attributable to the public patronage it has
enjoyed rather than to profits from the sources of income accessible to all
-newspapers alike, as the rewards of industry, energy and perseverance.
Before attemi»ting even the briefest mention of the scores of news-
papers v.'hich have l>een born and lived their short lives Avithin our bor-
ders, it is fitting to refer a liUie more in detail to the men and the papers
42 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
whioli have kept their places longest on the slippery surface where fall^
have been so frequent.
The only newspaper in the county which has ever reached its ma-
jority under the same ownership and management is the one referred to
above as the one instance of financial success. The South Kansas
Tribune, of Independence, was established in March, 1871, W. T. Yoe, one
of the present proprietors, being a half owner, and the other half being
the property of the law firm of York & Humphrey ; though Humphrey's
name alone appeared as representing this interest and York was a silent
partner. This partnership continued only about a year, when George W.
Burt'bard purchased York & Humphrey's interest, and became editor of
the paper, with W, T. Yoe as local or associate editor. At this time the
Tribune was the best edited paper in the county, and perhaps in this sec-
tion of the state. This arrangement continued until 1874, when Mr. Burch-
ard's Republicanism became so attenuated that the only way to preserve
the political integrity of the jjaper was to remove him from his position.
Mr. Yoe accordingly bought him out. aind his interest was transferred to
Charles Yoe who has ever since been associated in its publication. For
the twenty-nine years since, this paper has kept the even tenor of its way,
as a defender of the Republican faith; and its unwavering adherence to
that organization has made it one of the landmarks of journalism in
Soutlieastern Kansas. Its publishers have become comparatively weal
thy; and while it has never reached the highest levels of journalism, it
has never sunk to the lowest depths. It has been careful and conserva-
tive, and it is usually found on the popular side of public questions. It
has not only enjoyed a lucrative income from the county printing almost
uniuierruptedly for the past twenty years, but its senior editor has held
such paying official positions as member of the State Board of Trustees
of Charitable Institutions, and postmaster of the City of Independence,
while the junior member was until recently secretary of the same board.
]Sext to the Yoes, the second oldest editor and ]»ublisher. in the time
spen^ on Montgomery county newspapers, is H. W. Young, now of the
Kansas Poimlist, but heretofore publisher of the Coffeyville Star, the In-
dependence Star and the Star and Kansan. Mr. Young rekons nineteen
vears devoted to editorial work in Montgomerv countv and has held the
offices of Receiver of the United States Land Office at Independence and
State Senator for the Montgomery county district. By his frequent
changes and his impulsive — some would say erratic — methods of con-
ducting a newspaper Mr. Y^oung has illustrated the old adage that "a roll-
ing si one gathers no moss;" and while friends have often commended his
newspaper as "'the best in the county." he has never demonstrated any
special ability as a money-getter.
T. X. Sickels, of the Daily Reporter, of Independence, comes third.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 43.
in length of service, having become i^roprietor of that paper iln May,
1885, and having published it uninterruptedly since, with the exception
of three or four years spent in the pension office at Topeka during Presi-
dent Harrison's administration, when it was in charge of his son, Walter.
Mr. Sickels is one of the few men who have been able to make a local
daily self-supporting in towns like Independence, and now rejoices in a
subscription and advertising patronage in keeping with the growth of a
prosperous city in the gas and oil belt.
C. E. Moore, of the Cherryvale Keijublican, has also been a long time
in the harness, having become connected with the Globe of that city in
1881, and having been engaged in the printing business there for nearly
all the time since.
Although Montgomery is a comparatively young county, hav-
ing been organized in 18(59, and is not in the first rank in population,
there are only four counties in the state which can boast larger newspa-
per graveyards. Untimely deaths of publications which have started out
with bright hopes and boundless ambitions have occurred at the rate of
about two a year during the thirty-four years of our county's existence,
and we now have but twelve living.
When a company of Oswego men in the summer of 1869 determined
to locate a county seat on the A>rdigris fJud get in "on the ground floor"
in the new county to the west, one of the first things they did was to pro-
vide for the publication of a newspaper; and so we find the first paper is-
sued in M'outgomery county to have been the Independence Pioneer. The
first number bore date of September 5th, of that year. It was published
by E. R. Trask. of the Oswego Register, and printed at that place until
March. 1870, when it was provided with an outfit of its own, and David
Steel became its editor. In December, 1870, it was sold to Thos. H. Can-
field, who changed its name to the Republican. The paper remained at
the county seat for about two years longer, changing proprietors every
few months, and in the spring of 1873 again went west "to grow up" with
some other county.
The second paper established in the county was the Westralia
Yidette, by McConnell & :McIntyre. in the spring of 1870. It lived only
three months and two days, succumbing to lack of nourishment. Follow-
ing it came the Record, founded by G. D. Baker at the new town of Par-
ker. It is said to have been an excellent paper, but when Parker faded
away it had to give up the ghost.
The first paper on record as being avowedly in opposition to the dom-
inant Rei»ublican party in the county was the Kansas Democrat, which
the well known Martin VanBuren Bennett removed from Oswego to In-
dependence in December, 1870. "Van" is sui)i)osed to have intended to
jise this publication as a lever to boost him into congress; but his paper
44 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
was sensational and not as popular as he hoped, and in 1872 he sold it to
Peacock & t^ons who, a year or two afterward, removed it to the state
capital.
In casting; about for something- to do, after the sands of his official
life had run out, ex-United States Senator E. G. Ross concluded to try his
fortunes in the new county just opened down on the south line of the
state ; and in the fall of 1871 established Ross' Paper at Coffeyville. Mis-
fortune still pursued the man who had saved Andy Johnson from im-
peachment, however, and in March. 1872, his office was destroyed by a
tornado. He did not re-establish it but removed to Lawrence.
Following this came the Circular, by H W. Perry; atnd in the
spring of 1873, the Courier, by Chatham & Scurr. Jim Chatham was one
of the best local itemizers who ever struck Montgomery county, but his
abilities as a business man were not adequate to the strain, and bad luck
compelled him to suspend in July 1875. His office Avas put on wheels
and taken to Independence, where he published the Independence Courier
for a time, to be succeeded bv the Dailv Courier, and the Workingman's
Courier, which was published by Frank C. Scott until 1879.
The Independence Kansan was established in the fall of 1875 by W.
H. Watkins. The paper was Democratic, though Watkins was known to
be a Republican. While the Tribune, started in the spring of 1871, still
lives under one of its original publishers, the. Kansan has seen changes
and vicissitudes Avithout end. Will H. Warner took it off of Watkins'
hand in December 1870, and ran it at high pressure for a little more
than two years, vastly increasing its subscription list, getting the county
printing, and filling it with live local news; giving, however, too much
space to salacious gossip. Finding the income of the paper insufficient to
enable him to "sit in" on poker games at Kansas City as frequently as he
wished, he sold it in January 1879, to George AA'. Burchard. the only ma^n
in Montgomery county who has edited both the Republican and Demo-
cratic organs of the county. In less than a year Burchard disposed of
the paper to Frank C. Scott, of the Courier, who merged the tAvo papers
into one. Scott sold the Kansan to II. W. Young of the Star in February
1882, but at the same time transferred the good Avill and business to A,
A. Stewart, who published a new paper with the old name. Independence
Kansan until January 1885, when he also sold out to Mr. Young, who.
has bought more Montgomery county newspapers than any other man
living. The Kansan and the Star Avere then consolidated as the Star and
Kansan. The Star Avas originally established at Coffeyville by Mr. Young
i!n April 1881, as the Coffeyville Star, but Avas removed to Independence
in October of the same year and published as The Star until the merger
just mentioned. The Star and Kansan Avas published by Mr. Young until
June 1890, Avhen he removed to Colorado, leaving Charles T. Errett in
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 45
charge of the jiaper. It was published in Mr. Young's name until Sep-
tember 1892, when Errett became proprietor. In January 1893, Mr.
Young returned and repurchased the paper, again becoming its editor
and publisher. In November 189G, he sold a half interest to A, T. Cox^
but the partnership was uncongenial and lasted not much over a year.
Indeed, the partners were unable to even agree as to the method of get-
tign unhitched, and the courts had to be resorted to to divorce them.
Walter S. Sickles was appointed receiver in January, 1898, and ran the
paper until May 1st when it was sold by the sheriff and purchased by Mr.
Cox, who has since conducted it. A couple of years later Mr. Cox began
the issue of the Daily Evening Star, which he still publishes.
In June 1898. Mr. Young, deciding to continue in the newspaper
business in Independence, purchased the name and list of the Kansas
Poi)ulist from Mr. Ritchie at Cherryvale. He has published the paper
since that time, having recently associated his son, H. A. Young, with
him in the business, under the firm name of H. W. Young & Son.
The Daily Reporter was established at Independence in August, 1881,
by Harjier & AA'assam. They published it only a year or two, when it was
taken in hand by O'Cdnner c^ McCulley. who held claims upon the ma-
terial. Subsecpiently, for a time, it was published by Charles H. Harper^
a son of one of the founders, and then in 1885 it was sold to T. N. Sickles,
in whose ownership it still remains.
Of short lived papers published at Independence, mention may be
made of the following:
The Osage Chief, by Ed. Van Gundv and A. M. Clark, in the spring
of 1874.
The Itemizer, triweekly, by J. E. Stinson. in 1879.
The Living Age. by V. B. Castle, in 1881.
The Montgmnery Monitor by Vick Jennings, in December 1885, and
January 1886. Jennings vras the only newspaper publisher who has died
in the harness in Independence.
The Indep'endence News, dailv and weeklv, bv Cleveland J. Revnolds,
in 1880.
The M.'ontgomery Argus, by Sullivan & Levan, in 1886-87.
United Labor, by A. J. Millei', was an Alliance organ established in
1892 and published until 1894. John Callahan, who was then deputy
sheriff, christened this sheet "The Dehorner." and it came to be much bet-
ter known by that ai»pellati(;n than by the name printed at its head.
The Weekly Call and the Daily Evening Call, by Rev. J. A. Smith,
in 1896.
Turning again to Coft'eyville, we find that Hon. W. A. Reffer, who
subsequftntly became United States Senator, established the Coffey vi lie
Journal in the fall of 187.5. After four or live years he removed to Topeka
46 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
and left the paper in the hands of his son, W. A. Peffer, Jr., better known
as ''Jake," who continued its management until Capt. D. Stewart Elliott
assumed control in 1885. Elliott was subsequently elected to the legis-
lature, but owing to financial reverses was compelled to sell the paper in
1896, when it went into the hands of a comi)any, with W. G. Weaverling
and I. R. Arbogast as editors. They have conducted it very successfully
since that date, and have for several years been publishing a daily edition,
which is the newsiest pai)er of the kind now ])ublished in the county.
The Gate City Independent was established at Coffeyville in the
early nineties, and for the past ten years has been published by C. W.
Kent. Sometimes it has been a weekly, but most of the time a twice-a-
week ; and often, as now, it has had a daily edition.
In 1895 or 1890, John Vedder established the Montgomery County
Democrat, which he published for several years, to be succeeded by J. P.
Easterly. Still more recently the paper has had a number of editors and
publishers ; but about a year ago its name was changed to the Record, and
it has been made a daily by the Coffeyville Publishing Company, with
Will Felker as editor.
Another weekly published for about the same length of time is the
Coffeyville Gaslight, established in 1898, by W. A. Bradford. It now car-
ries the name of Fred R. Howard as editor.
Cherryvale's first paper was the Herald, which was established in
1873, but pined away after a sickly existence of but six weeks. Following
it came the Leader, which flourished for a while in 1877. The Cherryvale
Globe was established in 1879, the Cherryvale News in 1881 and the Cher-
ryvale Torch in 1882. The Globe and News were consolidated in 1882
and the Torch joined the same combination in 1885. The Cherryvale
Bulletin, the only Democratic newspaper Cherryvale has ever had, was
established by Major E. W. Lyon in 1884 and continued until 1888. The
Cherryvale Champion ran from 1887 until 1895. Other short lived Cherry-
vale papers are the Southern Kansas Farmer and the Kansas Common-
wealth, 1891; the Morning Telegram. 1892; the Cherryvale Republic and
the Republican-Plaindealer, 1893.
The Cherryvale Republican was established in 1886 and is still pub-
lished by C. E. Moore.
The Kansas Populist was started by J. H. Ritchie in 1894 as a weekly.
In connection with it lie has ]»ublished the Daily News, and since 1898 the
weekly has also been known as the News. The publishers are J. H. Ritchie
& Son.
The Cherryvale Clarion, daily and weekly, was estaldished in 1898,
and is now published by L. I. Purcell.
Elk City has had the Times, established in the fall of 1880, which
turned up its toes when only ten weeks old; the Globe, from 1882 to 1887;
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 47
the Star in 1884-85; the Democrat, 1885-86; the Eagle, 1886-r890; and
the Entei'pri.se from 1889 to the present time, with W. E. Wortman as edi-
tor and publisher.
Cauej has the Chronicle, which was established in 1885, and is still
published by Harry E. Brighton.
Other papers that have been published there are the Times and the
Phoenix. The Times was established in 1889 and ran until the later nine-
ties, having had Cleveland J. Reynolds, Hon. J. R. Charlton and A. M.
Parsons as editors.
Havana has been without a newspaper for the past ten years, but had
at various times the Vidette, the Weekly Herald, the Recorder and the
Press and Torch, none of which survived to reach the mature age of three
years.
Liberty has had the Light, published for a short time in 1886, and the
Review from 1887 until 1892.
All sorts of newspapers have been published by all sorts of men in
Montgomery county; but the local conditions have never been favorable
for the building up of a great county newspaper of universal circulation.
The railroads have not all centered at the county seat, but have run all
around the edges of the county. This has resulted in the development of
towns at the four corners of the county, two of which have come to be
cities rivaling the county's capital, and all of which are newspaper
towns. h?o instead of being concentrated, the neAvspaper business has been
split up, and no newspaper, no matter how well edited, nor how accu-
rate and enterprising a purveyor of news, has yet been able to command
the patronage that would make it or give it a commanding position, fnor
the three or four thousand circulation which is sometimes found in
counties the size and pupulation of ours.
CHAPTER IV.
Gas and Oil Devlopments in Montgomery County
BY H. W. YOUNG.
Until the later eighties no one suspected the existence of natural gas
in Montgomery county in sufficient quantities to be of any use. Indeed,
during the early history of the county, and uj) to 1885, or later, the exis-
tence of vast reservoirs of natural gas beneath us Avas unsuspected and
undreamed of. I'eople would have listened to predictions of gold mines
to be opened here on the prairies much more readily than to suggestions
that the time would come when our fuel would flow out of the earth in
iron pip'es nil ready to burn, and transitort itself to our doors. It was
ditferent, though, about petroleum. The pioneer settlers in plowing up
the sod in some of the ravines near the Verdigris had noticed an oily
48 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
scum standing in the furrows if they were left uudisturted for a time.
And as long ago as April 28th, 18.S1, we find the following item in the
local columns of the Coffeyville Star:
"Last Friday morning we found a grouj) of men in eager consultation
in front of Isham's store. A couple of old tin cans tilled with water and
covered with a brownish coat, looking a little like varnish, were the centre
of attraction. Tested by the nose, there was no doubt that the greasy
scum on the water atnd the coating of the cans was crude petroleum, of
the heavy or lubricating grade. They had been filled from the contents of
a well that Mr. D. Davis was sinking at his residence on Ninth street ; and
the incontestible evidence they afforded that there was a reservoir of kero-
sene beneath us naturally caused considerable interest. It seems that Mr.
Davis had struck a vein of fair water previously, but the quantity being
deemed insufticieut had gone down to the depth of twenty-five feet,
where, much to his disgust, he "struck oil." Whether this development
indicates the existence of oil in paying quantities in our section, we do
not presume to say, though the matter is certainly worthy of further in-
vestigation. We learn that oil has heretofore been observed on the surface
of the'water flowing from springs in this vicinity, and it is possible that
we may yet be shipping petroleum, little as such a jiroduct would be ex-
pected from a country with the physical characteristics of ours."
It Avas almost twenty -two years later before petroleum began to be
shipped in any considerable (juantities from the county, but the forecast
was correct. Six years later, in the early spring of 1887, we began to
hear about the curious phenomena to be observed in an abandoned shaft
over at Liberty. It was on the farm of Benjamin Grubb, adjoining that
place on the north. Finding indications of coal he had sunk a shaft six
or eight feet square. After getting down some distance a vein of gas was
struck which came out of a crevice in the rock in such quantity that the
men at work in the shaft lighted it to furnish illumination for their work.
On quitting they unwisely fanned it out with their jackets. One day they
went down and struck a match with the most surprising results. The gas
exploded, tliroAving off the covering at the surface and blazing up as high
as the tallest trees in the neighborhood — fifty to one hundred feet.
The diggers, who were below the crevice, escaped with their lives, 'though
terribly burned. The vein of coal was found to be only 8 inches thick,
but in connection Avith it Avas 32 inches of slate so thoroughly saturated
with oil that it Avould blaze up on being thrown into the stove. So here
were found together coal, gas and oil.
Prior to that time, Thonuis G. Ayres, in digging a well at Coffeyville,
had found a pocket of oil c<hitaining several gallons. C. M. Ralstin, at
his farm three miles southwest of Indei)endence, reported that in a well
.in his cellar (55 feet deep the gas kept biiblding up in such volume that it
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 49
conld be heard all tliuoujih the house at night. And in drilling
for coal, where the mineral bath is now, here in Independence,
it was reported that there had been an explosion of some
kind which threw mud over the top of the derrick, and that the drill
passed through 150 feet of gas-bearing strata. By this time everyone was
satisfied that there was some natural gas here, but whether in paying
quantities was a problem that remained to be solved.
Gas was first found, in quantity to be worth utilizing, at Cherryvale,
November 20th, ISOO, in a well drilled by J. McSweeney, at a depth of 600
feet. It threw the water about fifty feet high, and was pronounced at once
"the strongest flow in the state." Within a week this well was piped and
tested and gave a blaze 2.5 feet high. By the next year the people of
Cherryvale, or a portion of them, were enjoying natural gas fires, though
the quantity available was small at first.
Cofl'eyville came next, and her resources began to be developed in 1891
and 1892. Her first wells were sunk, like those of Cherryvale, right in
town. By tlie winter of 1892-3 she not only had gas to burn but in such
quantity that with the full pressure of the wells, there was talk of their
being danger that the stoves would melt down. About the same time
William Mills, who had been the first to bring in an oil well at Neodesha,
found both gas and oil in the neighborhood of Elk City, but neither of
them were utilized.
At Inde]>endence, the first well drilled for gas was put dowtn in the
summer of 1892 by J. I). Xickerson, with the assistence of th? i^eople of
the city. It was located down near Rock Creek, at Barnes' Garden, south-
west of the city. A little gas was found — about enough to supply one
stove. In the fall of the same year Mr. Nickerson drilled another well
on the farm of Capt. L. C. Mason, just east of Independence. Although no
gas Avas found here, there was such a body of gas sand that this inde-
fatigable prospector was convinced that he was on the right track. The
next drilling he did was on the J. H. Brewster place five miles southeast
of the city, in the early spring of 1893. April 6th, at tlie depth of a thous-
and feet a very strong flow was struck, and from this and other wells in
this vicinity gas was piped into Independence late that year. By the
time cold Aveather came in earnest, a year later, in the winter 1894, how-
ever, the supply from this field was found entirely inadequate, and it was
not ulntil wells were developed on the Barr and Greer ])laces, a couple of
miles west of the city, that confidence in gas as a fuel was restored in the
mind of the Independence citizen.
Before gas was piped into the city, Mr. Nickerson had associated with
himself A. P. McBride and C L. Bloom, exprienced prospectors and drill-
ers from Miami county, and from this partnership was evolved the Inde-
pendence Gas Company, which has ever since sui>plied the city with gas
50 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
and wLich holds leases on most of the lands tributary to the city. A»
drawn at first, these leases provided that if drilling was not begun within
a limited period, the farmer should be paid a royalty of 25 cents per acre
until development work was begun. Then he was to have a tenth of the
oil. and a rental of $50 a year for a gas well, with gas for household pur-
pose? in addition, fc^ince then the company has deemed it more econom-
ical to furnish gas to all its lessors, in lieu of paying a cash royalty, in
order to hold the lands on Avhich it was not prepared to drill. To do this,
it has laid pipe to some two hundred farm houses, at an expense of tens
of thousands of dollars. The same plan has been ado])ted by the Coffey-
ville Gas Company, and it is probable that nearly five hundred farm
houses in the county are now supplied with this ideal fuel.
Although petroleum was found in considerable quantity in the first
wells drilled on the ]>rewster place in 1893. there was no market for oil
and no attempt was made to develop that branch of the mining industr^^
in the county until nearly ten years later. It was in 1893, however, that
Wm. H. ]Mil]s drilled a couple of wells at Xeodesha, just over the line in
Wilson county, and found oil in such quanty as to convince him that
southern Kansas Avas going to become an oil field. The rumors that cir-
culated in regard to his wells, and the stories about oil from them shoot-
ing out over the top of the derrick and saturating the soil so that it was
necessary to cover it with fresh earth to conceal the strike. \.fere listened
to as fairy tales, and no credence given them. And yet Mr. Mills suc-
ceede-1 in making such a showing as to induce James H. Guft'ey and John
H. Oaley, two wealthy and experienced oil operators in the Perlnsylvania
and Ohio fields, to come out here and begin leasing land in this county,
as well as Wilson and others adjoining. During the summer of 1893 these
gentlemen drilled 15 wells in the immediate vicinity of Neodesha, all of
which were oil producers with the exception of two gas wells. In 1894
they were pumping large quantities of oil and drilling new wells. In July
of that year they had forty wells and not less than 3,000 barrels of oil
were stored in the tanks in the field, and a 35.000 barrel storage tank had
just been completed by them. A year later it became evident that the
Standard Oil Company would be able to freeze out any other operators
in this field, and Guffey & Galey made the best possible terms with that
monopoly, receiving, according to reports, all they had expended in the
field and a bonus of |100,000 in addition. At this time there were sixty-
eight wells in the field controlled by them, and the "Standard" continued
to drill more when it took charge, in the name of its western branch, the
Forest Oil Company. A number of these new wells were in Montgomery
county, in Sycamore township; some being as far south as the neighbor-
hood of Table ^Nlound. These proved to be gas wells rather than oil wells
and J. 1). Nickerson purcased the gas rights in the Kingle and Brown-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS. 5 1
field wells for the Indepeudeuce Gas Company, in 1898, for .f6,000. A
week or two later the "Standard" began to realize the value of such gas
wells, and regretted their bargain. Since then that company has gone in-
to the gas business, and is now furnishing gas piped from Wilson county
to the city of Parsons.
In June, 1898, the ''Standard" people erected ain extensive refinery
for oil at Neodesha, with a capacity of 500 barrels per day, but still they
bought no oil and there was no inducement for any independent oper-
ator to drill for oil while there was no market.
]\Jeantime the Independence Gas Company continued to drill more or
less wells each year for the city's supply ; the Coffeyville company did the
same, and there was a second or Peoples' company- organized there. At
Cherryvale, the Edgar Smelter was located, with its own gas field and
gas wells. Vitrified brick plants were located at Cofl'eyville, Independence
Cherryvale and Sycamore, and finally at Caney. At the latter place a
company organized by E. B. Skinner, then county treasurer, had found
gas ill such quantity in the spring of 1901 that, in July of that year, the
town was pii)ed and the new fuel came into use. It was not until the fall
â– of 1902 that Elk City was supplied, but now Jefferson, Bolton and Syca-
more are also supplied, and of all the cities and villages in the county,
Liberty, Havana and Tyro, only, remain without gas.
During the summer of 1902. the Indpendence Gas Company drilled
six wells within a mile and a half of the village of Bolton, all but one of
them to the south and east of that place. Of these six, five were gas wells,
with daily capacities ranging from ten to fifteen million cubic feet per
day. The fifth was an oil well. The aggregate out])ut of this field is
estimated at 70 million cubic feet of gas per day, atnd during the fall of
that year this supply was made available for the needs of Independence
by a pipe line. With such a supply to draw from, the inducement to fac-
tories in search of chea]) fuel became so manifest that representatives
of various industries in the Indiana field, where the gas was nearly ex-
hausted, began to visit this section in considerable (numbers, seeking
locations.
In August 1902. the Standard Oil Company, for some reason,
changed its policy and announced an open market for oil in this
territory. More than that, it proceeded to secure the right-of-way for a
pipe line through the county from Bartlesville in the Indian Territory,
bv wav of Canev and Bolton, to its refinerv at Neodesha. This has not
yet been cf Instructed, but the indications ore that it soon will be. The
development of a considerable oil field in Neosho county, to the northeast
of us. and the market now made for oil led to new activity in this county.
A large number of wells have l)een drilled in the vicinity of Cherryvale^
una :i little to the north and west of that city, from which oil is being
shipped in quantity at this time. Two of these wells are })umping twenty
52 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
barrels a day each. Meantime new operators by the score have come
into the field", the leasing industry has been prosecuted with great vigor,
thirty rigs are now engaged in drilling in the county, the National
Supply Company has established a branch house at Independence, the
formation of new oil companies goes on apace, and it only needs the dis-
covery of some pool of oil to set fire to the train that is already laid. As
yet, however, no well has been drilled in the county that gives more than
a moderate yield of oil, and it is probable that from forty to fifty barrels
a day is the maximum. This is about the amount claimed for wells at
Sycamore and Caney that have not yet been regularly pumped. With
thirty or more companies doing business in the county, and all of them
holding leases that require immediate development, the number of wells
going down is greater than ever before and it is expected that the record
of wells drilled in the county during the year 11)03 will not fall much
short of two hundred, and that the amount of money spent in development
work will aggregate nearly a million dollars. Prior to 1903 about two
hundred wells had been drilled in the county of which two-thirds were
dry holes and the remaining sixty or seventy, gas and oil producers.
With the advent of new oil and gas conijtauies, the inevitable liti-
gation over leases and oil rights has begun, and the Independence Gas
Company is in court defending its claim to the Brewster j>lace, on which
its first well was drilled. The jdace has been re-leased to the New York Oil
and Gas Company, which has been granted a second franchise by the city
of Independence. When the New York i)eople tried to go upon the place
with a rig in March, the Independence Company met them with a show of
force, and would have kept them out but for the employment of a little
strategy, a feint and a fiank movement. Both companies are in po-
session now, and under orders of the court each can go ahead and do
all the drilling it pleases and sell all the oil produced, i)rovided a strict
account is kept.
The new wells drilled this year to the north and w^est of Bolton have
•not made such i»henomenal shoAvings as those opened there last year, and
just now the question whether M(!ntgoniery county is first-rate oil terri-
tory is as unsettled as it was when the first well on the Brewster place
made such a good showing of heavy black oil. The gas resources of the
county, however, have been developed to such an extent as to render it
certain that the supply is sufficient for a generation to come, and that
manufacturing enterprises will continue to be attracted to our towns by
the fuel that nature has provided so lavishly in the bowels of the earth.
The oldest ^prospectors will tell you that in this field there are no
certain indications of the existence of either oil or gas beneath the sur-
face, and that every well must be drilled at a venture. The de})tli of the
wells varies from 000 to 1..500 feet, but in most cases the gas or oil sand
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ki^NSAS. 53'
is sTi'uck between 800 and 1,200 feet below the surface. No considerable
quantity of gas has been found outside the Cherokee shales which overlies
the bed rock of Mississippi limestone. No attenspt has been made in this
county to go verv much deeper with a view to find whether anything
worth while underlies that limestone ; but at Neodesha the Standard Oil
Company went down twenty-two hundred feet without finding anything
that it deemed worth developing, or that encouraged it to make a second
attempt to explore the nether regions.
At present there is but little of the county that is not under lease for
oil, gas and other mineral substances that may be found; but the more
recent leases only run for a short time and recpiire development work to
be begun in a few months to keep them alive. And the validity of the old
leases, which were drawn to run indefinitely so long as an annual rental
was paid or gas was furnished the lessor for household purposes, is be-
ginning to be gravely questioned. In most cases the leases provide that
the party to whom the leasee is made may drop it at any time, while the
land owner is held indefinitely if the rental is i»aid. Lawyers are coming
more and more to hold that the decisions in other and older gas and oil
states that such leases are void or voidable for lack of mutuality, will be
held to be good law here and that the attempt made to monopolize large
areas by leases under which no development work is beg'iin, will fail.
s5o far no gas has been piped out of the county, and people generally
are solicitous that it shall Inot be. Indeed, three-fourths of the farmers
who gave the Standard Oil Company rights of way for its pipe line in-
sisted that a clause be inserted forbidding the ])i]»ing of gas and restrict-
ing the use of the pipes to the transportation of oil. And many of the
leases for gas all over the county contain a provision forbidding it to be
piped outside the boundaries of the county. There seems to be a general
disposition, in fact, to keep the gas at home and economize it. The idea
that it will not be permanent, but can be very readily exhausted, is very
generally held, and the fate of the Indiana fields is constantly referred
to as a warning against recklessness in handling this Avonderful fuel.
The growth of Montgomery county in population during the last ten^
years, and her rise from the twelfth to the seventh in relative rank in the
state are unquestionably attributable to the gas and oil resources that
have been developed here, and the prediction that the same infiuences
which have increased our ]ioi)ulati()n ten thousand within the last ten
years will continue to o])erate until we shall have fifty or sixty thousand
peo])le in place of the 33.448 our last <-ensue showed, does not seem un-
warranted.
54 HISTORY or MONTGOMERY COUNTY^, KANSAS.
CHAPTER V.
The Political History of Montgomery County
BY H. W. YOUNG.
All luiinau actions are subject to the limitations of time and space.
Subject only to those limitations, Kansas stands unrivaled in her politi-
cal development. For her area and the time she has been doing busiiness
as a commonwealth, she doesn't take a back seat for any state or any
people. That her citizens have taken more interest in public affairs and
studied matters of government more than those of other states and sect-
tions is not to their discredit. It testifies to their intelligence, their public
spirit, and their mental activity. If "eternal vigilence is the price of lib-
erty,'* our people will be the last on earth to be reduced to slavery. In a
market where that sort of coin is current, they will be able to outbid all
competitors.
Although Kansas was eight vears old when the bars were let down
and Ihe Osage Diminished Reserve, of which Montgomery county forms a
part, was opened to white settlement, her citizens have been hustling ever
since to make up for that lost time ; and no one would now^ accuse the
Montgomery county politicians of lagging in the rear of the procession,
or failing to furnish their share of representatives at the pie counter. Of
men vrho have been for a longer or shorter time residents of this county,
two have l)een Ihiited States Senators, one has been governor of the state,
two have held the office of lieutenant governor, one has been assistant
secretary of the interior, and two have been judges of the district court.
While no citizen of the county is on record as having been a represen-
tative in Congress, or head of a department at the state capital, there are
certainly few counties which have struck more of the high places in the
politi( al world than our own. And when it comes to the honorable po-
sition of representative in Congress, it will be entirely safe to assert that
no other county which has never seen one of her sons answering the roll
call at the south end of the national capital, has ever had more who indi-
cated that they wanted to.
In passing, it may be noted that of the Congressmen elected from
within the boundaries of the present Third Congressional District, Cowley
county has had two, Wilson two. Crawford two, Labette one; and none of
the other five has been favored — so that Montgomery does not stand alone
in being "whitewashed."
The first political (piestion that confronted the voters of Montgomery
countv Avas the same that has alwavs proved such a bone of contention
in every new state and section — the location of a county seat. Naticlnal
political issues were f(*r the time allowed to fall into the background,
while cities were being located on pajier, and every settler was interested
jeither to have the county's cai»ital as near his claim as possible, or at least
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 55
to keep it on the same side of the Verdigris river, which bisects the county
from nortli to south and Avhich was. of coui'se, much more of a barrier
before any bridges had been built than it is now.
Montgomery county was organized by proclamation of Governor
Harvey on the 3d day of June, 18G0. It was named for General Richard
Montgomery, the hero of the battle of Quebec, who shed his heart's blood
for his countr}' on the Heights of Abraham. There has been some question
whether the person intended to be honored when the county was chris-
tened was not Colonel James Montgomery, of Linn county, rather than
the "French and Tndian"warrior. In the Independence Kansan of July
7th, 1876, is published a very strong argument to show that it was the civil
war soldier for whom the county was named, but an examination of the
proceedings of the legislature at the time leaves no room for doubt on the
question ; the concurrent resolution stating distinctly and unequivocally
that General Richard Montgomery gave name to ^Montgomery county.
In his proclamati(m Governor Harvey a]»]K)inted H. C. Crawford, H.
A. Bethuran and R. L. Walker special commissioners, and E, C. Kimball
special clerk, and designated Verdigris City as the temporary county seat.
Verdigris City Avas located east of the Verdigris river, about one mile
southeast of Avhat is now known as "Brown's Ford," and on the west half
of the northeast (juarter of section 22, township 33 south, range 16 east.
The land on which the town was laid out is now a part of the farm of
Senator H. W. Conrad. Walker has since been prominent in state poli-
tics, and died early in 1903.
On the 11th of June 18(»0, the board met at the county seat and
qualified before Capt. W. S. McFeeters, notary public. The Captain was
perhaps the first notary commissioned in the county. He was a lawyer
by profession, and was the first to locate at the county seat, having his
ofiice in the log court house. Not relying alone on the slow and precarious
rewards of the legal j)rofession in a new country, he was the following
winter convicted of horse stealing at Girard, Kansas, and sentenced to a
term in the penitentiary.
The board organized by the election of H. C. Crawford as chairman.
It divided the county into three townships, each about nine miles in
width, extending across the countv east and west. Beginning at the
north they were named Drum Creek, ^'erdigris and Westralia. with vot-
ing places at Fitch's Store, Verdigris City and Westralia. At a meeting
on August 27th, (Captain Daniel McTaggart was appointed county treas-
urer, E. K. Kountz, probate judge; and S. I>. Moorehouse, justice of the
peace.
From this time until the date of the election, on November 5th, little
was talked of except the county seat question. Verdigris City, the pro-
visional capital, had a rival on the east side in Montgomery City, near
^6 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
the month of Drum creek, but as a division of the east side forces would
be ruinous, tliey met midway on the hill above McTaggart's mill, and lo-
cated the city of Liberty, across the street to the east of the McTaggart
homestead. The west siders were a unit for Independence, though some-
one tried to butt into the game with a city in the air called Samaria,
which was supposed to be located somewhere in the neighborhood of
Walker's mound.
The story of how the Independence people started out to steal a
march on the Liberty partisans and get control of the election board at
Yierdigris City, has been often told. Notwithstanding their daylight
start, they were discovered just after crossing the river and only suc-
ceeded iu getting Adam Camp on as a matter of courtesy. He did his
whole duty, though, challenging all voters from the east side of the
county.
When the commissioners came to count the votes they did the only
possible thing that would give Liberty a majority, by throwing out the en-
tire vote of Drum Creek, on the pretext that the returns were not the
originals but a certified copy. This gave Liberty 162 votes to 103 for
ludepeudeuce. At the same time the whole east side ticket for county
officers was elected as follows: Representative, John E. Adams; County
Clerk. T. M. Noble; Sheriif, Daniel Bruner: Probate Judge, E. K. Kountz;
Coroner. Sidney Allen ; Register of Deeds. Gusso Chouteau, a half-breed
Indian; County Surveyor. Edwin Foster; District Clerk. Z. R. Overman;
County Attorney, (loodell Foster; Superiinteudent of Schools, J.A.Helph-
ingstine; Treasurer, J. A. Jones; Assessor. W. X. Cotton; Commissioners,
T. J. :McWhinney. J. S. Garrett and W. Allen.
Thirteen of the defeated candidates on the west side ticket at once
instituted a contest in the probate court of Wilson county. C. M. Ralstin,
of Independence, the defeated candidate for county attorney, and F. A.
Bettis, of Oswego. . representing the constestors. Goodell Foster and
John A. Helphingstine, of Liberty, appeared for the contestees. The
prize of the seat of government of the new cotmty hung in the balance,
and so strenuous was the contest that L. T. Stephenson, of Independence,
carried the Oswego attornev. Bettis. on horseback sixtv-flve miles to Fre-
donia. arriving in a driving snow storm at 3 A. M., on the day set for the
trial. December 23d.
The decision was that there bad l)een no legal election — and so every-
body was defeated. The old board of commissioners appointed by the gov-
ernor held over and moved the log court house and the county clerk's office
from Verdigris City to Liberty. They also called a special election for
the 3d of May to select county officers. Full tickets were placed in the
field, and the historians of the early times tell us that the canvass was
the most exciting ever held in the county. The candidates who were sue-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^, KANSAS. 57
cessfiil in this election never held office by virtue of the votes they re-
ceived, though two of the commissioners and the county clerk got in by
appointment. The vote for commissioner was as follows: T. J. McWhin
ney, 429; Thomas Brock. 350; W. W. Graham. 354; Thomas Hanson. 276;
John Klappel, 2(>2 ; S. B. Moorehouse. 247. The first three comprised the
Independence ticket and the last three the Liberty ticket. J. M. Scudder
got 409 votes for probate judge, to 266 for L. 0. Judson. J. A. Helphing-
stine, in the language of the day "ran like a scared wolf"' for county clerk,
receiving 490 votes to ISl for E. C. Kimball, the incumbent. A. J. Busby
had it unanimously for treasurer with 670 votes. A. A. Hillis had 461
for clerk of the district court, to 209 for J. K. Snyder. C. H. Wycoflf for
county attorney had no opposition and received 665 votes. The same was
true of J. C. Price with 650 for coroner, and John Eussel with 665 for
register of deeds. Edwin Foster got 448 for county surveyor to 224 for
J. L. Scott. E. D. Grabill beat A. H. McCormick for superintendent of
schools, 396 to 280.
A few days before this election the Independence party had sent
Charles White to Topeka with a certified copy of the record in'the contest
case before the Wilson county jn'obate court. He returned on the evening
of election day with the appointments of a new set of commissioners by
the governor, which also rendered the last election ineffective. Two of the
successful candidates and one of the minority party had been appointed,
the new board, which Avas the fourth in chronological order, but the sec-
ond to serve, consisting of W. W. Graham. Thomas Brock and S. B. More-
house. Charles White and L. T. Stephenson lost no time in carting this
board down to the site of Verdigris Citv. which reallv seems to have been
^f^'
entirely deserted, where, sitting in a wagon on May 5th. 1870, it was
organized by the election of Mr. Graham as chairman. The board then
appointed John A. Helpliingstine county clerk, Samuel Van Gundy, coun-
ty treasurer ; B. R. Cunningham, sperintendent of schools ; and J. K. Sny-
der, register of deeds. Not only this, but they made thorough work of it
while they had their hands in by naming the Independence Pioneer as the
official county })aper, and ordering the district court which was to con-
vene on ^lay 9th. to meet at Independence, to which place the county
offices were also temporarily transferred, there being no accommodation
for them at Verdigris City. On the 13th of May an action brought in
the district court to compel the removal of the county offices to Liberty
was dismissed at plaintiff's cost. This i>ractically settled the county seat
war, though it was not until the following November that the matter was
formally ratified by a vote which stood 839 for Independence to 560 for
Liberty.
On petition, the commissioners, on June 4th, 1870, divided the
count \ into nine townships making the boundaries about as they are to-
58 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
aav. except that the three east side townships were, later, each split into
two. The names of the townships, the voting places and the lirst trustees,
who were appointed at the same time are here given :
Cherry. Cherryvale. J. D. Hillis.
Sycamore, Radical, Wm. Compton.
Lonisbnrg, Lonisburg, James Kelley.
â– Rntland. Thomas Young's, S. W. Mills.
Independence, Independence, W. O. Sylvester.
'S'erdigris, Liberty, John Lee.
^^estralia. Westralia, K. Brewer.
Fawn Creek. Miller's Store, Frank B. Polley.
("aney. Bellviers, Jasom Q Corbin.
The trustees for Cherry, Verdigris and Caney never qualified and W.
P. Brewer. J. Nelson Harris and John West were appointed to fill the
vacancies.
Elections came thick and fast in those early days, and on June 21st,
of the same year the question whether to issue 1200.000 to aid in the con-
struction of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston railroad was sub-
mitted to a vote, which resulted according to the returns, 1,340 for and
826 against the }»roposition. On the 21th the vote was canvassed and the
bonds issued. That the vote wa« fraudulent, and that the bonds ought
never to have been issued was subsequently demonstrated beyond the
shadow of a doubt, but after a long legal contest and the payment of
some $30,000 in attorneys' fees and expenses, a compromise was finally
made with the "innocent purchasers" of these bonds at about 65 cents
on the dollar, and Ave are still paying this debt.
At the election held in November 1870, W. W. Graham, H. D. Grant
ii/nd John McDonald were chosen commissioners. Setth M. Beardsley,
clerk; Frank Willis, county attorney; Charles White, sheriff; Samuel
VanGundy, treasurer; W. H. Watkins, probate judge; L. T. Stephenson,
district clerk; W. S. Mills, register of deeds; Nathan Bass, superinten-
dent of schools; and M. L. Ashmore, coroner. Thos. L. Bond and W. A.
Allison were elected representatives.
The commissioners got in a wrangle with Willis and employed E. W.
Fay. an attorney located in Peru, in Howard county, to attend to all the
county business. They also came to a disagreement with Stephenson, the
district clerk, and on his refusal to furnish the additional bond they re-
quired, they declared his office vacant. Not to be outdone in that sort of
business, Stephenson issued his proclamation, which he published in the
official county paper over the seal of the court, declaring the commission-
ers' offices vacant. Stephenson was a man of tall and commanding ap-
pearance, and prominent in public affairs for many years. He at one time
rowned a large tract of land adjoining and near Independence on the
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 59
southeast, but his speculations did not always "i)an out," and in the early
nineties he was convicted of cattle stealing in the district court and sen-
tenced to a term in the penitentiary. There was always some doubt as
to bis guilt, however, and when his application for pardon was pending,
he appeared before Governor Morrill and the Board of Pardons and made
a convincing argument in his own behalf, they meanwhile supposing him
to be an attorney for the convict, and having no suspicion that he was
arguing his own case.
The year 1871 found the jjeople of Montgomery county in the full
tide of prosperity, due to the rush of settlers and the rapid apprecia-
tion of land values, and the county having gotten over the teething stage
of its county seat fight, settled down to a contest for the offices on straight
political lines. The results of the election, however, were a good deal
mixed. In general the Eepublicau ticket was successful, but both the
Democratic candidates for representative were elected. L. U. Humphrey,
who must be counted the most successful politician Montgomery county
has ever had, made his maiden race as a candidate for the lower house,
and Vv-as defeated by B. F. Devore by a majority of 48. In the southern
district, Capt. W. J. H^arrod, the Kepublican candidate, fared even worse.
Dr. Dunwell receiving 539 votes to his 301. The commissioners, as elected,
were J. C. Frazier, William J. May and W. S. Kentfro. For sheriff, Capt.
J. E. Stone was elected, receivifng 041 votes to G80 for his Democratic com-
petitor. Capt. J.B.Rowley, Avho subsequently became editor of the Kansaii.
Charles White made the race for the same office on an independent ticket
and fared about as well as iudej-endents usually do, getting only 280
votes. Dr. A. J. Busby led J. B. Craig just one vote as a candidate for
treasurer; Helphingstine got in again, as clerk with 105 to the good over
Cavanaugh ; Norman Ives, afterAvard postmaster at Independence, beat
Ashbaugh 135. Of these candidates Devore, as well as Ives, afterward
became postmaster at Independence, and Capt. J. E. Stone is noAv serv-
ing in the same capacity at Caney. The office-holding habit, once con-
tracted, is apt to retain a strong grip on its victims.
The following year, 1872, was the one of the Grant-Greeley campaign,
and the Republicans regained all they had lost in the county. Devore
and Dunwell both went dov,n to defeat. M. S. Bell and Maj. T. B. Eldridge
carrying oft' the honors in the representative contests. A. B. Clark, who
had been Cofteyville's first mayor, became county attorney; E. Herring
began his long incumbency of the office of jtrobate judge; and Nathan
Bass was elected superintendent of schools. The Democratic candidates
for these offices were C. J. l*eckham for ])robate judge; J. D. Gand)le for
county attorney and Daniel Woodson for superintendent. A fight was
made on W. J. H'arrod, the Republican candidate for district clerk, on
account of his connection with the railroad, v.hich was then becoming
very unpopular because of the bond business, and he was defeated by
,6o HISTORY, OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
his Democratic competitor, T. O. Ford, who, like Peckham, was named as
a liberal or Greeley Republican. The candidates for state Senator were
A. M. York, who was destined to achieve a wide notoriety in the near fu-
ture, in connection with his exposure of Pomeroy's attempt to bribe him
in the senatorial election the succeeding January, and Frank
Willis, the former county attorney, as his Democratic com-
petitor. J. D. McCue made his debut in the politics of Montgomery coun-
ty at this time as an unsuccessful aspirant for the Democratic nomi-
nation for county attorney.
Unquestionably the political sensation of the year 1873, so far as our
estate was concerned, was furnished by Senator York, of Montgomery
county. When Kansas was admitted to the Union in 1861, Samuel C.
Pomoroy was named as one of her first United States SenatoTS. Six years
later he was re-elected; and now after twelve years service in the Ameri-
can -"nouse of Lords," he was back at Topeka determined to secure a third
term, if money without stint would do it. He had made the SenUtor bus-
iness so profitable financially that it was understood that he could and
would spend -flOO.OOO rather than be defeated. He had, of course, ac-
quired the reputation of a boodler and a purchaser of legislative goods
that were in a damaged condition, and there was a strong sentiment
against him when the legislature met. An organization of the Anti-
Pomeroy members was formed and of this our senator York was made
secretary. To make sure of Pomeroy's defeat it was determined to entrap
him into giving a bribe to some member who would afterward expose
him on the floor of the joint convention. James Simpson, afterward
secretary of state under (ioveruor Humphrey's administration, and a
prominent political wire-])uller in the Republican ranks for many years,
is credited with devising this scheme. Y'ork had had some previous deal-
ings with Pomeroy when he was sent to Washington the previous winter
to get the land office removed to Independence, and he was hit upc^n as
the most available man to touch Pomeroy for his roll.
Everything worked as planned. Y^orTi not only got Pomeroy to prom-
ise him |8,000 for his vote and a speech stating that after investigation
he was convinced that the charges against Pomeroy were groundless, but
he secured |7,000 in advance. The legislature being almost unanimously
Republican, no caucus was held. On Tuesday, January 28th, the two
houses: balloted in separate session, and Pomeroy received 50 votes, the
rest being scattering. It was reported and believed that he had 70 mem-
bers ]dedged, 07 being sufficient to elect. Only 00 were standing out
against him, and his election seemed inevitable. And yet after the Mont-
gomery county senator had made his talk in the joint convention the next
day Pomeroy did not receive a single vote.
There have been many dramatic incidents in the legislative annals of
iKansas. but no otlicr ever equalled in iute.usity of interest and unexpect-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS. 6 1
edness that climax of Col. York's speech when he advanced to the clerk's
desk and laid down the two packages, one of them open and containing
•f2,(M)0, and the other, a brown paper parcel, tied with twine, which,
when opened, was found to contain |5.000 more. Pomeroy's friends sug-
gested an adjournment that he might have an opportunity to be heard in
his own defence, but the mine had been sprung and the legislators were
in no mood for temporizing. \^lien the roll was called John J. Ingalls
had received 115 votes — all but 1:2 — and was declared elected, although
in the two houses on the previous day he had but a single vote. Of the 12
scattering, two were cast for Alexander M. York, and in view of the way
he had upset all the calculations of the politicians it seems a wonder that
he did not fall heir to Pomeroy's seat.
For a time after York had thus exposed Pomero}- and secured the
overthrow of that rotton old rascal it seemed as if the sun rose and set
about the Montgomery county senator, and there was nothing in the way
of ]M)litical ])referment he might not seek and tind. The press of the state
and nation rung with laudations of his course. His speech on the floor
of the joint convention was pronounced unequalled since Cicero uttered
that awful jdiilippic again.st Cataline. A nmgnificent reception was
tendered him when he returned to his home at Independence, and men of
all ])arties united to do him homage. The name of York became a house-
hold word, and he would have been deemed a pitiable croaker who would
have even suggested the posibility that higher honors would
not, in the future, be bestowed upon the incorruptable statesman from the
banks of the Verdigris by an admiring and grateful jteople. After some
time was past, however, the effervescence of hysterical sentiment passed
off, and York dropi)ed into such obscurity as has fallen to the lot of but
few other men in puhlic life anywhere — certainly to tnone in Kansas.
When it became known that York had not only solicited a bribe, but
that he had done it as the culmination of a ]»lot laid by Pomeroy's ene-
mies to insure his downfall ; when York's own testimony convicted him of
being a blacknsailer, in the interest of his town though it was, the Mont-
gomery county martyr found how fickle was public favor and his fall was
as sudden and unjutied as his rise had been unexpected and meteoric. To-
day there can be no question, that if York had i>ut that |T,()0() in his
pocket and walked off' with it, instead of laying it on the table at the
capito!, the peo]»]e of Kansas would have more respect for him than they
now do. For say what you will, it does not ])ay to fight the devil with
Are, and of those who do evil that good may come, it shall be said forever
and aye that "their (hinsnation is just."
Although ]S7:> was an "off" year" ]»olitically. 2.81M> votes were cast,
which was doing very well for a county that had been an Indian reserva-
tion only four years previous. At this time the entire board of commi.s--
sioners was chosen, and there was a new deal all around, George Hurst,
62 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
W. J. Wilkins aud I. H. Kiidd being elected. B. AY. Terkms appears on
the sceme as a candidate for district judge — perhaps, even then hoping
the he would be ('ougressnian and ^^enator hereafter. He carried the
county by 1,108 votes to 1.(107 for J. M. ^^cudder, his Democratic oppo-
nent. The candidates for representative in the 65th district were A. A.
Stewart and J. 8. Eussum. Stewart was elected by 68 majority. He
served another term later, published the Kansan, deserted his wife and
left the c(mnty to settle in Washington state where he has since died.
Eussum h;!s been leasing lands here for gas and oil for some years past.
In the 65th district the returns show that John Boyd received 570 votes
to C. S. Brown's 567, but Brown got the office. J. E. Stone was re-elected
sheriff and John A. Helidiingstine. clerk. C'ary Oakes got the treasury
and George S. Beard, the lone Democrat elected, became register of deeds.
Edwin Foster again became county surveyor and J. H. Kington, coroner.
In 1874, the Eepublicans bagged most of the game. L. A. Walker,
one of the most far-sighted men Montgomery county has ever numbered
among her citizens, was elected representative in the Independence dis-
trict, over Ben 'SI. Armstrong, the Ee]>ublican candidate, and Ex-Mayor
James DeLong. T. O. Ford secured a re-election as district clerk, leading
C.T. Beach 44 votes. The old party had the rest ; Wm. Huston, that un-
compromising Scotch-Irish prohibitionist, as representative from the
eastern district: E. Herring, again for probate judge, defeating J. W.
Hodges, of (/aney ; B. B. Cunningham again for superintendent of schools;
and A. B. Clark for county attorney, his Democratic competitor being
Wm. Dunkin. B. W. Perkins again carried the county for district judge,
J. D. McCue being his Democratic competitor this time.
Eesults vrere somewhat mixed in 1875. The Democrats got the of-
fices of sheriff and register of deeds — the former for the first time — J. T.
Brock securing that position and George S. Beard being re-elected in the
latter . Brock has been in evidence in Montgomery county politics almost
ever since, in one way or another, and is now doing business at Cherryvale
as a real estate and insurance agent. Beard was, later, i>n the drug busi-
ness with Thomas Calk in the Opera House Pharmacy, but went to Texas
and located at San Antonio. The Eepublicans got E. T. Mears in as
county clerk, re-elected Cary Oakes as treasurer, and made B. E. Cunning-
ham countv survevor and W. M. Eobinson. coroner. Mears is still doing
an abstract and real estate business in Independence, but has be\n. for
years, allied, politically, with the Prohibitionists. In the district, Wm.
StcAvart was elected re])resentative over Geo. W. Burchard, by a nmjority
of one vote. Burchard began his public career in the county as the editor
of the Tribune, but got out when he had to be dum[)ed to keep it from
straying from the straight and narrow path of Eei>ublicanism. He, later,
became the editor and publisher of the Kansan. In the Coffeyville dis-
trict the Eepublicans were likewise successful, J. M. Heddens being sent
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 6
J
to Topeka over W. H. Bell. The three commissioners elected were J. E.
Cole, over D. C. Krone; W. H. Harter. over J. S. Cotton; and T. R. Pitt-
man, over J. F. Outt. This made a Democratic board, Harter being the
onlv Republican elected. It divided the county printing, giving it half
and half to the Tribune and Kansan.
The Hayes-Tilden contest was on in 187G, and not a solitary oppo-
sition candidate was allowed to slip in, the Republicans cleaning up the
l>latter, as they have almost always done in Presidential years. Colonel
Daniel Grass, whose itreaching along some lines was so much better than
his practice, and who did yeoman service on the stump for the Prohibitioji
amendment four years later, was elected to the state Senate over B. F.
Devore, the Democratic candidate. For this office there was also another
Richmond in the held in the persoin of ex-Senator A. M. York, who had, by
this lime, severed his connection with the Republican party and was mak-
ing his canvass on the Greenback ticket. As this was his farewell ap-
pearance in Montgomery county politics, and he had up to this time
played the most conspicuous part of any citizen of the county in the
drama of state politics, it must be noted that he polled 619 votes out of a
total of 3.329, and led his ticket a long way. For Representative O. F.
Carson defeated Capt. J. B. Rowley, of the Kansan, in the first district.
In the second L. V. Humphrey was again a candidate, and this time won
over Dr. ^IcCulley, against whom he was later to be pitted as a candidate
for the Senate, and nuule his entrance into the field of state politics. In
the lower district, W. C. Martin beat Levi Gladfelter, who, in after years,
became j)ostnmster at Caney, and J. P. Rood, who was later a successful
candidate for the same legislative office. H. H. Dodd got the district
clerkship; John D. Ilinkle, who is now judge of the city court of Spokane,
Washington, became county attorney ; Herring went in again as probate
judge; and Chas. T. Beach was made superintendent of schools. This
year the Greenback party had a full ticket in the field and polled an
average of nearly four hundred votes. That well-known citizen, George
T. Anthony, was being voted for as a candidate for governor, and M. J.
Salter, who subsequently became a resident of Independence, as Register
of the F. S. Land Office there, was elected lieutenant governor.
In February, 1877, considerable excitement was occasioned when
it was learned that County Treasurer Oakes had |39,343 of the county
funds, which were by law required to be kept in the safe in his office, on
dei)osit in Turner «& Otis' bank, and the board of county commissioners
took action on tlie loth of that month, censuring him for that act and de-
manding that he rei)lace the funds in the safe in com})lianre with the law.
This year a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor was occa-
sioned by Mr. Salter's acceptance of the land office ap])ointment, and L.
V. Huni])hrey became tlie re})ublican candidate for that office and was
elected. He carried ^lontgomerv countv bv a maioritv of 278, but at the
64 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
same time A. H. Horton, who was also riuining to fill a vacancy, on ac-
count of the resignation of Chief Justice Kingman, lost the county bj
307.
On the county ticket in 1877 the Democrats came nearer making a
clean sweep than on any other occasion in its history. J. T. Brock was
re-elected sheriff; John McCullagh got the county clerk's place over
Mears, who was a candidate for re-election ; Joseph Barricklow, an old
Indian trader at (Vtffeyville, beat E. E. Wilson 33 votes for treasurer; and
E. P. Allen became register of deeds. The same party got all the com-
missioners. Henry Mounger in the first, General W. E. Brown, in the sec-
ond and A. P. Boswell in the third. It only lost the coroner's and sur-
veyor's places, which went to W. M. Robinson and A. G. Savage.
Over the result of this election the Kansan. the Democratic organ of
the county, made merry with all the })ictures at its command, and har-
rowed up the feelings of the Republicans by ridicule and sarcasm to such
an extent that when the next year rolled around they were all lined up for
the straight partey ticket. The only county office that got away was that
of commissioner in the first district, where "that slv old fox," as Henrv
^lounger was termed, easily won out again. For governor, John P. St.
John, whose name, later, became so much of a household word in the state
and the nation, carried the county by 233; while Humphrey had nearly
twice that majority for re-election as lieutenant governor. For the dis-
trict judgeship. J. T. Broadhead. of Independence, was pitted against
Judge Perkins. ]>ut the latter was in the heyday of his popularity, and
had a plurality of l.GiO in the county. Harry Dodd was re-elecetd as dis-
trict clerk; Judge Herring to the probate oftlce; John D. Hinkle as county
attorney ; and C. T. Beach as school superintendent. In the represemtative
districts the opposition got two of the three ; C. J. Corbin winning in the
47th and J. P. Rood in"^the 49th. The 48th was carried by A. B. Clark
over three Avell known citizens. Abe Canary, ]M. S. Stahl. so long the land-
lord at the ;Main Street hotel, and ex-^Iayor James DeLong. This year
was high water mark for the Greenback party, which polled more votes
than the Democrats did for some of the oflSces, John S. Cotton receiving
1,050 for probate judge and Geo. W. Clemmer 887 for district clerk on
that ticket. This Avas Clemmer's second race in the county, and he soon
afterward went back to Indiana where he succeeded better as a candidate
for county ofiice.
Allien the smoke cleared away after the political battle of 1879, the
Re])ublican organ rejoiced that Montgomery county had been "redeemed''
again. For sheriff. Lafayette Shadley had 148 majority over his Demo-
cratic opponent. Ellis. The third man in the race was the Greenbacker,
S. B. Squires, who was to be a successful aspirant for the same oflSce
eighteen years later, and hold it longer than any other incumbent ever
has or ever will again unless our constitution is changed. Shadley. after
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 65
two terms as sheriff in the nineties, became a member of the U. S, Indian
police down in the Osage Nation, and was killed in a fight with outlaws
there — it being supposed that the notorious Bill Dalton fired the fatal
shot. There were three comi»lete tickets in the field this year, and the
Greenback party proved a formidable competitor to the old parties, poll-
ing about 750 votes to the Eepublicaus 1,300 and the Democrats 1,200.
Barricklow was defeated for re-election as treasurer, Col. F. S*. Palmer
winning that prize. The same fate befell John McCullagh, the clerk's
oftice going to Ernest A. Way. a bright young school teacher whose undo-
i ng it proved. E. P. Allen Avas the only one of the old set to pull through,
aside from the commissioner, as he was also one of the few office holders
who were able to save money from their incomes. He subsequently went
into the loan business and became president of t^ie First National Bank,
a position he still holds. G. B. Leslie was elected surveyor and Josiah
Coleman, coroner. For commissioner. Gen. W. R. Brown, of the second
district, jiulled through by the Jnarrow margain of two votes, beating P. S.
Moore, who was subsequently to hold that office for three terms. "If at
first you don't succeed, try, try again," seems to have been the latter's
motto.
The year 1880 will forever remain memorable in the history of Kan-
sas as the one in which the prohibition amendment was adopted. Mont-
gomery county gave it a good majority, every precinct contributing to it
with the single exception of West Cherry, where the vote stood 59 for to
G9 against. On the presidential ticket, the Republicans carried the coun-
ty, but they lacked a good deal of having a majority over both the oppos-
ing ]>arties. Garfield had 1,774 votes, Hancock 1,205, and Weaver 094. No
wonder fusion should be resorted to by the members of opposing parties
in later years ! Indeed, this year, the Republicans lost only the two
places where the opponents had united on one candidate. This
let A. P. Boswell in again as commissioner in the third dis-
trict and helped Jt P. Rood to knock ^^enator Peffer out as
a candidate for Re]»resentative in the same southern district.
For Peffer this was the "unkindest cut of all," and he soon shook
the dust of Montgomery county from his feet, to return no more, as he
later, deserted the state Avhen the Populists refused to re-elect him as
United States Senator in 1897. Harry H. Dodd was elected for the third
time as clerk of the district court, getting a longer incumbency of this
office than any other clerk. Ebeneezer Herring won his fifth and last
race for the ]>rnbate judgeshij). Ed. VanGundy, a young lawyer, who had
been a printer and newspaper }>ublislier in the early days, was made
county att( rney. and given the first opportunity to run u}) against that
pitfall for such officials — the prohibition law. C T. Beach also won a
third race for school su]ierintendent, the "unwritten law" which forbids
a Republican official in Montgomery county to be a candidate for a third
66 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
term not having been enacted until Glick defeated St. John in 1882. For
the Senate A. B. Clark made a successful race — his last one in the county
— though he tried to get into the game time and again afterward. The Re-
publican legislative candidates. J. H. Morris and Alexander Moore, were
successful in the two northern districts.
Though the opposition united on candidates for every office except
sheriti" and commissioner in 1881, they failed to score and the Republi-
cans swept the platter of everything in sight. Tom Mitchell, marshal
of I ndependence, thought he was running for sheriff against Lafe Shad-
ley until the returns came in. Wylie, on the Greenback ticket, knew he
had never been in it. The Democratic campaign was managed by Judge
McCue, and he made the mistake of supposing that the fewer Democratic
candidates there were on the ticket the more chance there would be of
electing those. So when, on the eve of election, J. M. Xevins withdrew as
a candidate for clerk, he was sure Tom, on whom his hopes had been set,
would win. Shadley had 506 majority, however. E. E. Wilson, who had
been deputy treasurer for two terms, was promoted to the head place by
a vote of 2,2.57 against 042 for his Greenback opponent, Gilbert Dominey.
Ed. L. Foster got there as register of deeds, Ernest Way was re-elected
clerk, and G. B. Leslie surveyor, while Dr. B. F. Masterman, the Repub-
lican chairman, won whatever honor there was in the coroner's place.
That hitherto successful politician, Henry Mounger, at last went to the
wall as a candidate for re-election as commissioner, and Will S. Hays,
the most fearless and independent commissioner the county has ever had.
took his place.
When 1882 came around the Prohibition law was in working order in
Kansas, and a good many people did not find it all they had hoped. The
result w^as that George W. Glick, the first Democratic governor Kansas
has ever had, was elected over John P. St. John, who was the third term
Republican candidate. And yet, today, you will find Glick and St. John
lying happily in the same political bed. Montgomery county went back
on her Republican record and gave Glick 310 majority. George Chandler,
of Independence, received the entire vote of the county, 3553, as a candi-
date for judge of the district court, and was elected. For the county
offices the race was very close, only two of the candidates receiving over
a hundred majority. Nelson F. Acres, the Democratic candidate for Con-
gress, carried the county by ten votes over the popular Dudley C. Haskell.
For probate judge, Thomas Harrison, one of the oldest settlers, beat
Thos. G. Ayres, a Coffeyville attorney, only 15 votes. J. D. Hinkle got
into the race again as a candidate for county attorney, but was beaten
out of sight by J. D. McCue, who got the largest majority given in the
countv that vear, 354. S. V. Matthews landed for district clerk bv 49.
and G. B. Leslie, for re-election -as county superintendent, by 28. Honois
were easy in the representative districts, A. A. Stewart, of the Kansan,
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 67
being elected in the western, and Daniel McTaggart in the eastern. This
was the beginning of the latter's protracted legislative career, which in-
chided three terms in the House and two in the Senate, and gave him a
long lead over any other Montgomery county lawmaker. In the Indepen-
dence district, Gen. Brown was knocked off the perch as commissioner by
Wilson Kincaid, which gave the Eepublicans the cclntrol of the board for
the first time since the pioneer days. The county printing went to the
Star another year, but at ruinously low rates. And that was the last
year in which an opposition newspaper has ever had it in the county.
The proposition to build a new court house, submitted to the voters at
this election, was defeated by 203 votes. Only 29 votes were cast against
it in the city of Independence, and only 9 in its favor in Parker township,
which included the city of Coffeyville. At Cherryvale, and in Cherry
township only about half the voters took the trouble to express them-
selves on the proposition, but those who did voted four to one against it.
Only four of the townships — Caney, Rutland, Drum Creek, and Indepen-
dence, gave majorities for the proposition.
Although 1883 was another "off year" in politics, the opposition to
the Republican party profited little by that fact, all they succeeded in do-
ing being to re-elect A. P. Boswell, from the southern district, for a
third term as commissioner. Boswell was a thorough-going business
man, and it was during his incumbency that county warrants were paid
on presentation, for the only time in the history of the county, though as
much credit must be given to Will S. Hays, the Republican commissioner
from the first district from 1881 to 1883, as to any one for that result.
J. T. Brock made his third race for sheriff this year and was beaten ou\
of sight by Joseph McCreary, a popular but peculiarly excitable citizen of
Coffeyville, who later continued the enjoyment of office-holding by be-
coming postmaster at Coffeyville. E. E. Wilson, one of the pioneer
settlers, and perhaps the first historian of Montgomery county, was
again elected county treasurer. Thomas R. Pittman, of Havana, a former
county commissioner, and for years one of the Democratic wheelhorses
of the country, had the pleasure of making the race against Wilson. H.
W. Conrad, who is now, at the expiration of his term in the state Senate,
serving as deputy in that office, was elected county clerk. J. F. Nolte,
then a Rutland township farmer, but now a rice planter in Texas, got the
position of register of deeds. W. B. Rushmore was elected surveyor aind
E. A. Osborn, coroner. This year the Greenback party again had a
ticket in the field, but it mustered only a corporal's guard of voters. H.
Preston leading the ticket with 39 votes for surveyor. Owing to irreg-
ularities in the office, Ernest Way had resigned the position of county
clerk this year, and for the short term of three months his father, J. S.
Way, was elected to fill the vacancy.
In the Presidential year, 1884, the Democrats won in the nation, but
68 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
in our couDty the Republicans not only elected every candidate on their
ticket, but rolled up a greater average majority than ever before. Blaine,
for president, had ScG to the good, and Perkins, for Congress, 85G. the
latter being then at the zenith of his popularity. Humphrey was again
pitted against Dr. McCulley, this time for the state ir^enate, which proved
for him the stepping stone to the governorship. J. A. Burdick and Daniel
;M]cTaggart were elected Representatives, the latter for his second term in
the House. Samuel C. Elliott defeated J. D. McCue as a candidate for
county attorney, his majority of 148 being the smallest for any candi-
date. Elliott is credited with having enforced the prohibition law more
vigorously and favored the liquor sellers less than any other county at-
torney since the law went into effect. He lost his health in the early
nineties, and died in the insane asylum at (Jsawatomie. Matthews wa.s
re-elected district clerk over A. A. Stewart, of the Kansan; and G. B.
Leslie beat Mrs. E. C. Nevins, the Democratic candichite for superinten-
dent of schools, and the tirst woman to run for office on the county ticket
of any party. John ( "astillo, a Republican, who afterward became iden-
tified with the Poi)ulist party, was chosen commissioner from the first
district. The question of issuing bonds for the building of a court house
was again sul)mitted to the voters, and this time the proposition carried
by a majority of 31. The opposition appealed to the courts and delayed
the building for a year or more, but the corner stone was laid Novem-
ber 30th, 1886.
After the defeat of St. John as the Republican candidate for govern-
or in 1882 — that defeat being erroneously attributed to the fact that he
was then a candidate for the tliird term — it became the unwritten law
that no Republican candidate in Montgomery county should be exposed
to defeat by a third nomination, and the only exception made to the
rule since that time was in the case of S. L. Hibbard, who was named as
a camdidate for surveyor, in 1885, and duly elected, as were all the Re-
publican candidates that year,, and who has held the office ever since, be-
ing re-nominated and re-elected as often as his term drew to a close.
That year was not an exciting one politically. McCreary and Conrad
got their second terms. Millard F. Wood was chosen county treasurer,
and John L. Griffin, register of deeds. Dr. MicCulley, who never refused
to lead a forlorn hope, w^as defeated by I. B. Wallace as a candidate for
coroner. T. M. Bailey was chosen commissioner from the Independence
district. Altogether it was a Republican crowd, the opposition being
•completely ''whitewashed."
In November, 1886, although there w^re a governor and state officers
to elect, it was a foregone conclusion that the Republicans would win;
and Colonel Tom Moonlight's campaign for governor against Colonel
John A. ^lartin, who was out for a second term, was rather a iierfunctory
.one. This year the Republican majority in the county was 410. In the
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 69
fight over the local offices, the battle waged fiercest about the probate
judgeship. For this place General W. R. Brown, who had not only com-
manded President Hayes' regiment in the civil war, but who had been
county commissioner for two terms here, was the Democratic candidate
for that office and Colonel A. P. Forsythe, who had at one time been
elected to congress by a Greenback-Republican combination, in Illinois,
was his oi>])onent. P>rown won by 223 votes. The rest of the ticket the
Republicans elected, J. B. Ziegler and Captain Daniel McTaggart going
to the Legislature; J. W. Simpson being made district clerk; D. W.
Kingsley, superintendent of schools; and Sam Elliott getting a second
term as county attorney. George Foster was elected commissioner from
the Coft'eyville district, A. P. Boswell at last going down in defeat. It
was thought that he would be re-elected as long as he lived, but having
been made one of the appraisers for the right of way for the D. M. & A.
Railroad across the south side of the county, he failed to please all the
men who wanted big damages and lost his popularity to a degree that
insured his defejit.
This year George Chandler, of Independence, was the Republican
candidate for re-election to the office of district judge and there was no
organized opposition to his candidacy in the district. In fact, as in 1882,
he received the entire vote of the electors of Montgomery county for that
high office, 4,765 of them recording their ballots in his favor and none
against. Chandler made a fine reputation as an upright judge, but was
noted for being especially harsh and severe with applicants for divorce,
having no X)atience with men and women who had found their matrimon-
ial bonds irksome, and were endeavoring to sever them. His incisive
questions going down to the most sacred privacies of the marriage re-
lation and his bullying manner came to be dreaded by all such unfortun-
ates, and the procuring of divorces grew unpopular. Probably there
were far fewer divorces in the district during his term on the bench on
account of this idiosyncracy of his. When Harrison became President
in March, 1889, Judge Chandler was tendered the position of Assistant
Secretary of the Interior, which he accepted, resigning the judgship to
do so. After some years in Washington his family returned to Indepen-
dence, but he still remained there, having formed a law partnership with
Ex-Senator Perkins, when the latter's term expired. Subsequently, in the
year 1895, Mr. Chandler became the defendant in a suit for divorce
brought by the mother of his children. He did not contest this suit and
consented to a decree by which his property in this county was settled
upon his wife. Subsequently came the news that he had married a woman
who had been a stenographer or typewriter in his office while he was still
living with his family at the national capital. In view of these occur-
rences many people tliought it a great pity that he could not himself have
70 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
profited by the lectures on conjugal constancy that he had been so free
to give those w^ho came to his court asking for divorces.
The fall of 1887 witnessed another perfunctory j)olitical canvass in
which the Republican ticket was elected by default, the only contest
worth the name being over the sheriff's office, where John C. Hester, of
Fawn Creek, beat John J. Anderson, the best known auctioneer Mont-
gomerv countv has ever had, bv 249 votes. Wood, Griffin, Hibbard and
Wallace were re-elected by majorities between TOO and 1,000, and George
W. Fulmer became county clerk. Noah E. Bouton got the commissiener's
place in the first district.
Republican pluralities in this county reached another high water
mark in 1888 when Benjamin Harrison led Grover Cleveland 1,054 votes,
and B. W. Perkins, for Congress, had 1,584 better than his Democratic
competitor, John A. Eaton. There were three tickets in the field, so far
as state and national candidates were concerned, but the opposition to
the Republicans united on several of the county candidates, and we saw
the first beginnings of the fusion that was going to play such havoc with
Re])ublican hopes a few years later. For state t^enator there was a tri-
angular contest of great bitterness. Daniel MfTaggart was the Repub-
lican nominee, Wm. Dunkin, the Democratic, and Adam Beatty, the Union
Labor. A good deal of opposition to ]McTaggart developed in the Repub-
lican ranks, so much, in fact, that he ran more than 300 votes behind his
ticket, but in the three-cornered fight he pulled through by the safe plu-
rality of 347 over his Democratic opponent. J. B. Zeigler was re-elected
Uepresentative in the western district, and Captain I). Stewart Elliott
was successful in the eastern. Such a contingency as the latter's death
from a Philippine bullet in the isla nd of Luzon was then as remote from
his thoughts as anything in the future can possibly be from the readers
today. For probate judge General Brown was defeated for re-election by
Charles H. Hogan, a Republican then, but since a Populist, who made one
of the most efficient officials the county ever had in that position. Simp-
son and Kingsley got their second terms, and O. P. Ergenbright was
elected county attorney. P. S. Moore, w^ho had been defeated in 1879 as
a candidate for county commissioner, won out this time and began his
nine years' term in that position.
When the office of judge of the district court for the eleventh district
became vacant by the resignation of George ("handler, the governor ap-
pointed John N. Ritter, of Cherokee county, to fill the vacancy until an
election could be held. Against Judge Ritter as a candidate on the Re-
publican ticket in November, 1889, the Democrats ran J. D. McCue, of
Independence, in many respects one of the finest jurists the state has
produced. Although Ritter carried Montgomery county by 150, McCue
was elected for the remaining year of the Chandler term.
For the county offices at stake that fall the Republicans did not
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 7 1.
make an entirely clean sweep, T. F. Callahan getting the sheriff's oflQce
away from John C. Hester, who was a candidate for re-election, but who
had proved an unpopular official. The Union Labor party had a full tick-
et in the field this fall, and so did the Democrats, except for the office of
county clerk. For this position George W. Fulmer was re-elected by a
majority of 1,681, which is the largest thus far recorded in the county
where there was any contest at all. Thomas H. Earnest, now postmaster
at Cherryvale, was successful by only 74 over his Democratic competitor,
George B. Thompson, for register of deeds. Mark Tulley got the prize of
the county treasury, which then paid a salary of $4,000 a year; and S.
Tillman, a colored barber at Independence, was made coroner. W. N.
Smith was the new commissioner chosen in the southern district this fall.
He is now a member of the city council of Independence.
The ''Alliance year" is what 1890 has come to be termed in the polit-
ical annals of Kansas, and the wave swept over Montgomery engulfing
the entire Republican ticket, with two exceptions. The Democratic and
Peoples' parties did not unite on the state ticket, and with two candi-
dates to divide the opposition vote Humphrey got through with a plu-
rality of 411 for governor in the county. On the local ticket, however,
there was complete fusion. For district judge, McCue ran against
A. B. Clark, a popular RepublicPtn, and led him by 736. Ben. Clover beat
the hitherto invincible Perkins for Congress and left him over three
hundred votes in the shade. Samuel Henry and A. L. Scott, the fusion
candidates, were elected to the legislature. Daniel Cline became probate
judge; J. H. Norris, district clerk; and J. R. Charlton, county attorney.
The successful Republicans were Alexander Nash for superintendent of
schools, and Noah Bouton, who got through for re-election as commis-
sioner by the narrow margain of four votes, over John Hook. For a sec-
ond time the opposition to the Republican party had broken over the
fence and got into the pasture. Although a popular favorite, Mr. Nash,
one of the Republicans referred to, long afterward made a record that
is unenviable by deserting his wife at Coffeyville while their child lay
dead in the house. Since that time his whereabouts have been known to
none of his friends in Montgomery county.
It took the Republicans but a short time to get their "second wind"
in the county and make a successful fight against the combination that
had downed them. In 1891 they were confronted by a united opposition,
but easily elected their entire ticket, with the exception of the candidate
for sheriff. In this office Tom Callahan had rendered himself very popu-
lar, and was besides an excellent politician and a good campaigner. Still
he pulled through with the beggarly majority of 26, only. George H.
Evans, jr., became county clerk; and Tulley, Earnest, Hibbard, Tillman
and Moore were re-elected. The "Alliance" wave had evidently spent its
force.
72 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
In 1892 the Democrats of Kansas supported General Weaver and the
Populist electors for Cleveland's sake, but this county gave the Harrison
electors 193 majority, and two more for Ex-Governor Anthony for Con-
gressman-at-Large. Humphrey made his last i)olitical race as a candidate
for Eepresentative in Congress from the Third district, and while he was
defeated and retired to private life at the expiration of his termasgovern-
or in the following January, he ran about a hundred votes ahead of his
ticket in his home county. McTaggart was re-elected as state !r>enator by
the straight party vote. The county had been unjustly deprived of half its
representation in the House, and A. L. Hcott was the fusion candidate.
Against him was pitted F. M. Benefiel. of Cofteyville. a man who played
a consi)icious part in the politics of the county for several years, and
who was capable of making a very taking stump speech. The old member
fared worse than niost of the other candidates. Nash was re-elected sup-
erintendent of schools by an overwhelming vote, and Norris w^as defeated
for re-election as district clerk by AY. C. Foreman. W. E. Ziegler won the
prize of the county attorney's office, and W. N. Smith was re-elected
as commissioner from the southern district. In fact the only thing the
opposition to the Rej)ublican party saved out of the wreck was the pro-
bate judgeship, which Avent to Daniel Cliiie, a Populist, by the narrow
margin of eleven votes.
The fall of 1893 witnessed another triangular fight for the offices,
the Democrats and Populists runniug separate tickets. The latter polled
about twice as many votes as the former, but their combined vote barely
equalled the Republican strength. The ])endulum had swung clear over
again and the op])osition did not elect a nmn. Frank C. Moses became
sheriff, and served the full limit of four years. The office-holding habit
still clung to him, however, and he is just finishing his second term vyi
mayor of Indpendence. J. R. Blair came up from Caney to become treas-
urer, defeating two Confederate veterans. E. T. Lewis and J. M. Altafifer.
John W. Glass, of Coffeyville, was made county clerk; J. T. ^>tewart, of
Sycamore, got the position of register of deeds; Dr. R. F. O'Rear replaced
the colored barber as coroiner; and N. F. Veeder. of Cherry vale, the most
corru]»t. i»robal)ly. of all ^Montgomery county's corrupt politicians, got
into the board of county commissioners.
Low water mark for the Democrats of Montgomery county came
with the election of 1891, when their candidate for governor, the brilliant,
but shifty. Overmeyer, received but 429 votes to 2,061 cast for L. D.
Lewelling ns a candidnte for re-election. And there was no single attri-
bute (if maiiht)od in which Overuieyer, with all his faults, real and al-
leged, did not tower high above the first I'ojmlist governor of Kansas.
Morrill, the Re])ublican candidate, had a clear majority of 112 over both.
Many Democrats undoubtedly voted for Lewelling as the only way to
beat the common enemy; and the I'opulist never had such a lead as the
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. " 73
figures above given would indicate. McCue was again a candidate for
district jndge, but failing to get the opposition parties to ulnite on his
candidacy, ran as an independent, his name appearing in a column all by
itself. He was opposed by A. R. I^^kidmore, of Cohimbns, a man hitherto
unknown in ]>olitics outside of his own countv. To tell the whole storv
of the fight made against Judge McCue by ex-Commissioner Will S. Hays,
who went over the district charging him with venality and with subser-
viency to corporations, and convincing the voters that he was lacking in
integrity, would require a volume in itself. So confident was McCue of
election during the early days of the canvas that he used to introduce his
opponent to voters, and then egotistically remark to his friends what a
poor show the Cherokee county man made beside him. Skidmore, how-
ever, beat him 850 in this county and some thousands in the district, and
McCue's political career was ended.
Benefiel was elected again as Representative over S. Mi. Dixon, an-
other good talker, who soon found he preferred other fields when office
was denied him here. And Benefiel was the man, who, during the next
session of the legislature, was credited with having killed the bill to re-
duce charges at the stock yards, for a consideration. N. E. Bouton, the
out-going commissioner, became probate judge, defeating H. D. Farrel,
who was subsequently to fill the office for two terms, and J. J. Mull. It
was a three-cornered contest all the way through o'n the county ticket,
â– except the county superintendency, and there Miss Anna Keller, the first
woman ever elected to office in the county, defeated M. C. Handley by 265
votes. W. E. Ziegler was elected countv attornev over two leading at-
torneys at the Indeiiendence bar at this time — Thos. H. Stamford and
F. J. Fritch. W. C. Foreman beat John T. Caldwell and Tom Harrison
for district clerk. James Thompson, an utterly illiterate Coffeyville ne-
gro, became coroner. P. S. ]Moore was re-elected commissioner from the
first district. It was again a Republican year.
At this election the woman's suft'rage amendment to the constitution
was voted on and there was a majority of 256 against it in the county.
Cherryvale, Louisburg, Rutland and Parker, alone gave majorities for the
proposition. A proposition to make an approi»riation if |8,()0() to buy a
county poor farm carried by a vote of 2,708 to 1,321.
The last triangular contest that has occurred vn the county took
place in 1895. Frank Moses was re-elected as sheriff over Revilo Newton
and J. B. Sewell. J. R. Blair got a second term as treasurer, distancing
Ben. Ernest and Daniel Cline. John W. Glass came up from Coffeyville
to take the county clerkshi]», running in between B. F. Devore and Jos-
eph H. Norris. J. T. Stewart became register of deeds, defeating E. B.
Skinner and J. W. Reeves. Hibbard, of course, succeeded hin^self as
â– surveyor, and so did Thompson as coroner. D. A. Cline, one of tVe most
forceful of our county comniissioners, made his appearance on the field
74 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
of county politics as the new member, from the Coffeyville district, de-
feating J. P. Etchen and Joseph Lenhart.
After so long a series of unbroken successes, the Kepublicans nat-
urally and reasonably expected to elect their entire ticket in the presi-
dential year, 1896. The promulgation of the gold-standard platform at
the St. Louis convention was a solar plexus blow to those hopes, however.
So general r.ind so earnest was the protest against this change of base on
the part of the Montgomery county Kepublicans, that it is a conservative
estimate to say that a thousand of them, or one-third of the total strength
of the party in the county, were outside of the breastworks when the
June roses were blooming. Every device known to the most astute poli-
ticians was employed to bring them back into the party ranks during that
summer and fall, however, and day by day the recalcitrants were being
whipped into line. When election came in November, probably not more
than 250 of those June bolters were still bolting. But that was enough.
The decisive day approached with each side confident of victory. When the
votes had been canvassed it was found that the fusion ticket nominated
by the Populists, Democrats and Silver Republicans, and supported by
all the Bryan men, had been elected from top to bottom. It was the most
sweeping political victory ever won in the county, extending to the town-
ship offices, as well as those higher up. Indeed it was facetiously said
that only a single road overseer had been saved out of the wreck. This
was a slight exaggeration, but the usual dominant party had failed to
carry a single township, though having a majority in all the cities, and
had but one township trustee to its credit — the Cherry township candi-
date having scratched through.
Brvan led McKinlev 434, while the Gold Democrats counted 27 votes
and the middle-of-the-road Populists, 29. Ridgley had 398 over Kirkpat-
rick for congress ; H. W. Young, a Populist editor, was elected state Sen-
ator over George W. Fulmer, who made that record-breaking race for
county clerk in 1889, by 346 ; Isaac B. Fulton, an old Greenback war-
horse, was made Representative by a majority of 3.32 over the Republican
candidate, J. F. Guilkey; H. D. Ferrell turned the tables on Noah E.
Bouton, and got the probate judgeship by 209 ; H. M. Levan, the first
Silver Republican to be elected in the county — and the only one — had
859 over A. R. Slocum ; John Callahan, for county attorney, "led" the
ticket with a majority of 548 over W. N. Banks; J. N. Dollison, for
county sui)erinteudent. came next with 437 more votes than Miss Keller;
in the first district John Givens got in over Veeder by the narrow mar-
gain of 10 votes. It was the first clean sweep the opposition to the Re-
publican party had ever made in the county, and to the present writing
they have never made another.
According to precedent, a reaction from the free silver victory of
1896, and a swing of the pendulum in the opposite direction, was to have
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS. 75
been expected iu 1897. It was only partially realized, though, and the
fusion ists succeeded in bagging the best of the game. The Populist Leg-
islature had passed an act at the Legislative session of that year estab-
lishing a county high school at Independence. This act had caused a
great deal of criticism in some portions of the county. Notably, this fire
burned brightly wherever there was an aspirant for Legislative honors,
who had failed of nominaticin or election in the recent past. The Popu-
list members of the Legislature were denounced without stint for their
share in the passage of the measure, and many Republican politicians
seemed to be of the opinion that the anti-high school sentiment alone
needed to be appealed to in order to insure the success of their ticket.
Accordingly Indepe^ndence Republicans were turned down hard when the
nominating cclnventions were held, and a ticket, that was, on the whole,
a weak one, was placed in the field. The fusionists were afraid of the
same issue and also tabooed Independence aspirants, except for commis-
sioner, where Henry Baden was induced to accept a nomination in order
to prevent both Populist and Democratic candidates from going on the
ballot. The contest was a close one, and it required the official count to
decide who had been elected treasurer. E. B. Skinner, a Democrat, of
Caney, won the place by only fifteen votes, over J. A. Palmer. S. B.
Squires, the defeated Greenback candidate of '79 got his i'nning at last,
with a majority of 237 over T. C. Harbourt. D. S. James, another Pop-
ulist, got in as county clerk by 66 votes over R. B. Handley. And the
same figure told T. F. Burke's Republican majority for register of deeds,
M. D. Wright being his "Silver Republican" opponent. Dr. Rader was
re-elected coroner, and Hibbard pulled through once more for surveyor,
with, for him. the meagre majority of 127. F. E. Taylor left Baden just
51 votes behind in the race for commissioner, thus obtaining a Rc»publi-
cajn majority in the board.
This year the first election of a board of county high school trustees
occurred, and the opponents of the school made a strong effort to secure
the election of the candidates known to be opposed to the school. The coun-
-seat took care of its own in this matter, and the three candidates who
were fought because friendly to the school won by over 900 majority.
The board as elected consisted of Wm. Dunkin, Thomas Ilayden, J. A.
Moore, M. L. Stephe'ns, Revilo Xewton and Adam Beatty. Except the
last named, they were the same as the appointees by the commissioners
the previous spring. Mr. Beatty was chosen in place of E. A. Osborne,
who had declined a nomination.
In 1898 the Republican reaction, which was so pronounced iu the
state, barely gave that i)arty a lead in the county, which Stanley carried
over Leedy for governor by 27. For f'ongress the fusion candidate,
Ridgley, won by 40. For the county offices the fusion candidates who
liad been electee! in 1896 were all again candidates and were every one re-
76 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
elected. By virtue of his office County Superintendent Dollison was
president of the board of trustees of the county high school, and as bit-
terly as he was fought on that accou'nt in some of the townships, no less
ardently was he supported by his townsmen regardless of party. But
for the fight made on Independence and Independence candidates by the
anti-high school party, it is hardly probable the fusion ticket would have
been again elected. As it was the Kepublican candidates for Represen-
tative, H. W. Conrad, in the western district and F. M. Benefiel in the
eastern, were both successful, as was also I). A. Cline for re-election as
commissioner in the Coffeyville district. Skidmore carried the county
again for judge by a majority of 593 over Thos. H. Stanford, of Indepen-
dence, the fusion candidate.
The incumbents of the county offices were all candidates for a second
term in 1899, with the exception of Commissioner Givens, and they were
all successful. Squires had only 57 for sheriff and James but 55 for
county clerk. The former ran against Paxton, who is now a deputy in
the office, and the latter against McMurtry who won the clerkship at
the next election for that office. Perseverance in office-seeking, as in
everything else, counts in the long run. Skinner had Palmer for an op-
ponent again for the treasury, but it didn't require the official count this
time to settle the matter, his majority being 242. Burke, the only Repub-
lican in the crowd, ran against P. S. Brunk and had the largest majority
— 358. For commissioner in the northern district, N. F. Veeder made his
third race and won his second election, defeating M. L. McCollum by 150.
Wilson Kincaid, on the Republican ticket, and E. P. Allen, on the fusiofn,
were elected high school trustees, both being Independence men. At
this time there can be no question that the county had a normal Repub-
lican majority, but the attempt of the Republicans to make political cap-
ital against the fusionists over the high school issue was still resented,
and the small vote the Republican candidates received at the county seat
was responsible for their defeat. The commissioners submitted at this
election a proposition to appropriate .f5.(IO0 for the erection of addition-
al buildings at the county poor farm, which was overwhelmingly defeat-
ed, receiving but 1,291 votes to 2,169 cast against it.
By the time the Presidential election of 1900 rolled arinind, the Re-
publicans had regained their hold 6u Montgomery county, and elected
their full ticket for the first time since 1895. The majorities were not
large, but ample. ^NfcKinley had 218 over Bryan ; Wooley, the Prohi-
bition candidate, received 31 votes: the Socialists appeared for the first
time in the county returns, Eugene V. Debs getting 19 votes; while Whar-
ton Barker, as a middle-of-the-road Populist, had one lone supporter,
Henry W. Conrad, one of the pioneer settlers, who came to the county in
1808, was elected state Senator by 297 votes over J. H. Wilcox, the fusion
candidate. H. C. Dooley was elected representative in the eastern dis-
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 77
triet, getting- 1,802 votes to 1.698 cast for G. W. Wingate. In the west-
ern district J. O. Whistler won. with 1.511 to 1,431 for T. W. Truskett.
M. B. Soule, a Cherryvale attorney, was elected probate judge by 180,
over E. T. Lewis. L. D. Winters beat B. E. Cole 326 votes for district
clerk. J. N. Dollison ran for the third time as the fusion candidate for
superintendent of schools aind was beaten 130 votes by Sullivan Lomax.
J. H. Dana and Mayo Thomas were pitted against each other for county
attorney, and Dana got 90 votes the most. Henry Norton, the fusion can-
didate fo rcommissioner, came within four votes of landing, but F. E.
Taylor was re-elected. J. M. Courtney and E. D. Leasure were elected
high school trustees.
The co^nstitutional amendment increasing the number of judges of
the supreme court from three to seven received a majority of 1,.579 in the
county.
The year 1901 saw less politics in the county than any other iln its
entire history. The legislature had enacted a law doing away with
elections for county officers, as far as possible, in the odd-numbered
years, and there were only two county high school trustees and a com-
missio'ner in the southern district to elect. A very light vote was cast,
but Abner Green and P. H. Fox, the Republican candidates, were elected
high school trustees, and D. A. Cline was made commissioner for the third
time.
When 1902 came around there was, of course, a full complement of
countv officials to elect. Meanwhile the sheriff, treasurer, countv clerk
and legister of deeds had held over for an additional year, making a five-
year term for each of them. This year Republican majorities begain to ap-
proach high water mark again, the influx of population resulting from the
establishment of many manufacturing industries in the cities, having
very evidently inured to the benefit of that party. W. J. Bailey, the Re-
publican candidate for governor, came out 586 votes ahead. For con-
gressman, P. P. Campbell, the candidate of that party, led Jackson, the
Democratic incumbent. 665 votes. The majority for judge was even
greater. For this office T. J. Flannelly. who had been serving by appoint-
ment since the creation of a new district composed of Montgomery and
Labette couneies, was the Republican candidate. Against him was |)it-
ted Captain Howard A. Scott, a veteran of the Twentieth Kansas, who
had served in the Phili])pines. Flannelly's majority was 696. Soule was
re-elected probate judge by a majority of 613 voles over G. R. Snelling,
the fusion candidate. Winters succeeded himself iis district clerk, beat-
ing Roy Baker 810 votes and leading the ticket. Lomax for county sup-
erintendent, got a second term, runining 690 ahead of J. O. Ferguson, his
Democratic com])etitor. For sheriff, Andy I'ruitt beat Squire's dejuity,
A. W. Knotts, 272. J. W. Howe was elected treasurer over Charles Todd
by 469 majority. S. McM.urtry ran again for county clerk and led Arley
y8 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY;, KANSAS.
Riggs, his Democratic competitor, 791 votes. For register of deeds an-
other rhilippine soldier, T. J. Straub, and the first to get office in the
county, won over George Hill, his Democratic competitor, by a majority
of 374. Hibbard and Rader, for surveyor and coroner, went in along with
the rest. For representative in the western district, J. O. Whistler was
re-elected by 228 over J. A. Wylie. In the eastern district, J. H. Keith,
a Coffeyville Democrat, won by 20 over Dr. T. F. Andress, his Republican
opponent. The hardest fight was over the office of county attorney, for
which Dana and Thomas, the candidates of two years previous, were both
in the race again. Dana had failed so utterly to enforce the prohibition
law, or to even make any attempt to do so, and it was so generally under-
stood that he was in the pay of the violaters of the law, that he ran some
hundreds behind his ticket, and lost out by just eight votes. For com-
missioner in the first district, Veeder was a candidate for the fouth time
and for a third term, but he lost by 16 votes to John Givens, who had
defeated him by a still smaller majority in 1896. This could hardly be
counled a Republican defeat, however, as there were localities in the dis-
trict where more Republicans voted for Givens than for Veeder, whose
record as a bridge builder and a friend of the contractors who had bribes
to distribute, had turned many of the best mdn in his own party against
him.
Such in brief is the record of the political history of Montgomery
county. The catalogue of the men who have held office or been candidates
in the corlnty is a long one, but the list of men who have been enriched
financially or laid the foundations of a comfortable competency from
savings out of official salaries is so small that it can be checked oflf on the
fingers of one hand. The time, the money and the energy that have been
devoted to office-seeking here in the past third of a century would cer-
tainly have told for more in almost ainy other line of business.
CHAPTER V.I.
Towns of Montg-omery County
BY H. W. YOUNG.
Lost Towns
Among the historic towns of Montgomery county which no longer
have an abiding place on the earth, nor a location on the map, the first
to be mentioned must be Verdigris City, which was laid out by Captain
Daniel McTaggart, aind others, in May, 1869. Its location was about
two and a half miles west find half a mile north of the present town of
Liberty. The farm of Senator H. W. Conrad now occupies the site of this
city that was to be, which was the first county seat of ^Montgomery coun-
ty. It had, perhaps, a dozen houses and forty or fifty inhabitants in the
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 79
heyday of its prosperity, but it was greater in expectations than in any-
thino' else.
Montgomery City comes next in order. It was founded near the
mouth of Drum Creek by R. W. Dunlap, who was an Indian trader there
and the first postmaster commissioned in the county. It was in this
neighborhood that the treaty for the cession of the Osage lands, which
opened the cou^nty to white settlement, was ratified on the 10th of Sep-
tember, 1870. This embryo city also had county seat aspirations ; but it
early became evident to the founders of the towns east of the river that
to divide their forces was to lose the fight. So the two cities which have
been mentioned were abandoned while too young to shift for themselves,
and the partisans of both united in locating "Old Liberty" on the hill
about a quarter of a mile to the east of McTaggart's dam and mill on the
Yierdigris, and just across the road to the east of the residelnce so long
occupied by Senator McTaggart, and on whose porch he breathed his last.
The contest for the location of the county seat was a short one, and
when Independence won in the district court in May, 1870, Goodell Fos-
ter, who had been he wheel horse in the fight for Liberty, accepted the sit-
uation among the first and moved to Independence. A few months latea*
he traded his corner lots in what was to have been the metropolis of
Mlontgomery county, to a Liberty merchant, for four hats of medium
quality. When the railroad was built down the east side of the county,
Liberty was moved, houses, name and everything, to the railroad three
miles to the southeast, where the present city of Liberty is located.
As mentioned elsewhere in this volume, when the founders of I nde-
pendence reached that place they found the town of Colfax already laid
out by George A. Brown, a mile and a half to the northwest. That site
was at once abandoned in favor of Independence. The only other com-
petitor Indepe<ndence ever had on the west side of the river was the
wholly mythical town of Samaria.which was supposed to be somewhere
in the neighborhood of Walker Mound, and which received the honor of
a vote at one of the elections as a candidate for county seat.
Then there was the city of Morgantown, located two and a half miles
northeast of Independence, about where the school house now stands
iln district No. 36, which is known as the "Morgantown" school house.
Here Morgan Brothers had a very extensive general store in which they
had almost everything for sale that could be needed in a pioneer com-
munity, and there was a blacksmith shop and several houses. Charles
Morgan, who has been so long since a prominent character at Tndei)eii-
dence. and who is now city marshal there, was one of the firm that gave
name to this embryo city. Competition with Indei)endonce pi-ovod too
strong for the young town, however, and its business was gradually ab-
sorbed by its nval across the Verdigris.
As a connecting link between the dead and the living towns of the
80 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
county Radical City, .six miles northwest of Independence and half a
mile north of Elk river, must be mentioned. It was founded in 18G9 by
Colonel Samuel Young, but it never flourished, and at the best made but
a rural hamlet. When the Missouri Pacific railroad was built in 1886,
the station of Larimer was established a little more than a mile to the
â ™¦northeast, across Sycamore creek, and the postoffice removed to that
point. Since then Radical City has been fading away.
Villages and Postoffices of the County
Tyro
Among the villages of the county. Tyro occupies a front rank, with a
hundred buildings of all kinds and about two hundred people. It was
laid out ifn the fall of 1880, when the Denver, Memphis & Atlantic rail-
road was built through the south part of the county, and has been a sta-
tion on that line ever since. Joseph Lenhart was the founder of the
town and laid it out. He and William Chambers moved in the spring
of 1887 on the town site from a quarter of a mile south. Lenhart estab-
lishing a general store near the depot, and Chambers locating his hotel
in the same vicinity. Lenhart's store has ever since been the largest mer-
cantile establishment of the place. There are now four other stores, a
lumber yard, meat market, barber shop, restaurant, feed mill, livery
stable and three blacksmith shops. There are also two physicians, three
or four grain buyers, carpenters, painters and other mechanics.
The question of a hall for public entertainme nts and religious meet-
ings early agitated the people and it was solved by the donation of a site
by ^Ir. and Mrs. Lenhart in the following unique document:
To all Avhom it may concern :
Know all men by these presents that we, Joseph Lenhart and S. D.
Lenhart. husba:nd and wife, do covenant and agree with the people of
Tyro and vicinity, in the county of Montgomery, and state of Kansas, that
lots Nos. 22. 23 and 21. in block 42 in the village of Tyro, county and state
aforesaid, as per recorded plat thereof, shall forever ( or so long as it may
be used for such purposes) be for the use and services of the said people
of Tyro and vicinity ; together with the buildings thereon ; for the pur-
pose of holding public meetings, either moral, social, religious, sciein-
tific or j)olitical ; we only reserving control and alloting to each a time of
service; j)!edging ourselves to maintain equal and exact justice to all re-
gardless of creeds or beliefs, in accordance with our best judgment.
Signed : — Joseph Lenhart, S. D. Lenhart.
The funds for a building were raised by public subscriptions, and
among the novel methods emi>loyed was a quilt scheme which brought i'n
$116 for names worked on it, and S!186 more when it was sold. The cor-
ner stone was laid June 27th. 18i)l. and the dedicatory services were con-
ducted bv the Masonic lodge of Canev, Kansas. This hall is used bv all
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS. 8 1
the religious societies and other organizations of the vilhige, to vhe nmn-
ber of seven.
Tyro is principally famous for its excellent soft water, its supx)ly
bei'ng thought sui)erior to that of any other locality in Kansas. This
water is found in abundance at a depth of from six to ten feet in the high-
â– er part of town, and from twenty to twenty-five feet in the lower.
Jefferson
Jefferson on the ^Missouri Pacific railroad midway between Indepen-
dence and Coffeyville, has a population of sixty-tive. It was laid out
when the Verdigris Valley, Independence & Western railway was built
in 1886, on ground owned by Albert Jefferson Broadbent, who donated the
right of way to the railway on condition that a station be maintained
there. The place was named Jefferson in honor of Mr. Broadbent. The
land o'n which the town is built was originally a part of a claim settled
on by E. M, Wheeler in 18«)9. He built a hewed log house on it, and had
lumber for fencing sixty acres of land piled near the house and on March
1st following the survey, he moved in and began to make a home. That
night a rival claimant, who had been surveyed in the same section, set fire
to Wheeler's log cabin, tlii'nking to get possession of the tract in that
way. It happened that Mr. Wheeler and his brother, George R., were in
the house at the time, th(nigh the incendiary did not know it. They es-
caped with only one pair of trousers for the two, and the former went
across the prairie with no clothing but a shirt, falling into a mud hole
bv the wav. Wheeler later traded the land to C. C. Wheeler, of Trov, Kan-
sas, who, in 1888, sold it to Mr. Broadbent.
The town was surveyed a'nd id.atted 1)V B. W. DeC'ourcev. The first
t 1 ^ t.
store was opened by Fletcher & Stentz. The first church was built by
the Methodists in 1885, and is now credited with a membership of 113.
The Christian church was built in 1804 and has a membership of 40. The
school house was built in 1000. at a cost of $2, .500. and is a modern l)uild-
ing heated with gas and ca])al)!e of accomodating 100 pupils. Two teach-
ers are employed. The M. E. parsonage for the Jefferson circuit is located
here.
There are two general stores, a hotel, a blacksmith, a resident physi-
cian, a grain buyer rJnd a stock shipper. There is neither saloon nor drug
store. The railroad station was burned in 1002, and a new and well
equipped one has just been completed in its place, with telegraph opera-
tor for the first time in the history of the village.
Mr. Wheeler, who is mentioned al>ove as the ]>ioneer settler, now lives
across the railroad to the east of the village where he is growing the finest
and biggest red strawberries to be found yn the county.
Bolton
Bolton is a place of some twenty dwellings and about a hundred in-
habitants, located on the Independence & Southwestern line of the Santa
82 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
Fe railroad, eight miles southwest of the county seat. It was laid out
when the railroad was built in 1880, by the Arka'nsas Valley Land and
Town Company. There are two churches, three stores, a blacksmith shop,
a wagon shop, and a resident physician. Bolton is central to the great-
est oil and gas field yet discovered in Montgomery county, and the work
of drilling is being prosecuted more vigorously there than at any other
point in the county. Six gas wells, not one of them of less than ten mill-
ion cubic feet daily capacity, were opened there in 1902 and 1903, and
all of them give indications of oil as well as gas.
Sycamore
Sycamore is another raidroad town located when the Missouri Pa-
cific, or Verdigris Valley, Independence & Western railroad, as it was
then named, was built through the county. It is just seven miles directly
north of I'ndependence, and is a growing place with good stores. Two
vitrified brick plants located in its immediate vicinity afford a found.a-
tion on which to build hopes of future greatness. Gas is abundant in the
township, and it is claimed that veins of coal from three to eleven feet
deep have been found wherever the drill has gone down in the surrou^nd-
ing township of the same name. Oil wells have also been found in the
vicinity, though no oil is yet shipped. Indeed it is claimed that one such
well is a forty barrel producer.
Wayside, Dearing and Crane
Wayside is a station and postoffice between Bolton and Havana on
the Southwestern. Dearing is a station and hamlet five miles west of
Coffeyville on the Denver, Memphis & Atlantic division of the Missouri
Pacific, and the point of junction with the main line run'ning north. It
has a postoffice and store. Crane is a station on the Southern Kansas
division of the Santa Fe, five miles northwest of Independence. It has a
postoffice and cou'ntry store.
Havana
Havana was founded in the summer of 1870, when Lines & Cauffmai^
established a general store there. They were preceded by Callow & Myers
who went into business in the fall of 1809, in the same neighborhood, on
v.-hat afterward became the David Dalby farm. Linos & Cautfman con-
tinued in busi»ness until the spring of 1874 when they sold to W. T.
Bishop. He disposed of the business in 1875 to J. T. Share. Havana con-
tinued to thrive as a country trading post, without a railroad until 1880,
when the Southwestern extension of the Southern Kansas line of the San-
ta Fe was built through there. It now has a population of 180 and is
the shipping point for a large amount of grain and live stock from the
surrounding country. The fertile valley of Bee creek adjoins the town,
and forms one of the best wheat sections of the county.
Havana has three church organizations, the Methodist and U'nited
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 83
Brethren with a hundred members each , and the Primitive Baptists with
about twenty members. There is a graded school, with two departments.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows has a strong; organization with 83
members. This order built and owns a substantial brick store building,
with lodge rooms and hall on the second floor. The Rebekah lodge has
80 members; the Modern Woodmen of America, sixty; and the Home
Builders, thirty; the Royal Neighbors, forty-three; and the Anti-Morse
Thief Association, fifty.
The oldest merchant is T. R. Pittman, the postmaster, who conducts
a hardware and implement and boot and shoe store. He has been in bus-
iness here for eighteen years. Other business men are : P. H. Lindley, drug
store; J, A. Xollsch, barber and harness shop; IS. A. Evans, restaurant;
C. E. Campbell, hotel; C. N. Harrison, lumber; Mj. H. Ross, livery stable;
P. H. Dalby and I). W. Howell, physicians; and J. S. Reyburu and John
Sharpless, blacksmith shops.
Independence and Its History
In all southeastern Kansas there is no other city whose location pos-
sesses so many advantages as does that of Independence. Built at a
point where the bluffs come close to the Verdigris, and have a solid fouQ-
dation in the "Independence limestone," which outcrops forty feet thfck
at the river bridge just east of the city, the site selected for the future
metropolis is high and well drained, and sufficiently rolling to render
the scenery picturesque, while furnishing fine natural drainage. Possess-
ing so many advantages, and lying so near the geographical center of
Montgomery county, it was almost inevitable that the city should be-
come the county seat of the new county. And this was of course what the
company of Oswego men who came here on the 21st of August, 1869,
under the lead of R. W. Wright, intended from the start it should become,
Indeed, they made no secret of this intention but boldly proclaimed it on
the first night they spent here when camping out at Bunker's cabin,
which was located on what is now the Pugh family home on North Ninth
street. This is one of the highest points in the city and was then, and for
some time afterward, known as "Bunker Hill."
Speaking about this cabin of Frank Bunker's, in a Historical Sketch
of Montgomery county delivered as a Fourth of July address in 1876, the
late E. E. Wilson, who was the leading historian of the pic'neer days of
the county and from whose writings we shall have occasion to draw very
liberally in the preparation of this chapter, says, that at that time Bunker
complained that the cabin, "instead of being treasured ui) in canes, base
ball clubs, ear rings and pulpits, like other land marks, has been prosti-
tuted to the vile instincts of domestic fowls and beasts that perish." In
other words it had been converted into a hen roost and cow stable.
Besides Frank Bunker, the other early settlers in the vicinity of In-
84
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS,
MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT HOUSE, LOCATED AT INDEPENDENCE
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 85
dependence were his brother, Fred Bunker, W. O. Sylvester, Paddj' Gil-
luhi and George Reed, all of whom are said to have come in June 1860.
The first claimants to any part of the original townsite of rndependence-
were Frank Bunker, Shell Reed and W. O. Sylvester. Bunker was in-
duced afterward to move the lines of his claim so as to make room to plat
the city, and "Bunker's Addition'' to the northwest of the city was one-
of the first, and probably the first addition to the city.
While the United States government did not conclude a treaty with
the Osage Indians for a cession of their lands in this county until July
1870, individual settlers had been making treaties with the red skins for
larger or smaller tracts of land for a couple of years previous, and, in
September 1869. George A. Brown, after a protracted council, co'ncluded
and solemnized an agreement for the cession to him, of a tract of land
lying between Rock Creek on the south and Elk river on the north, the
Verdigris river on the east and Walker and Table Mounds on the west.
Probablly, at that time.Brown had no idea that the whole of the tract to
which he thus acquired an irregular and not exactly legal title would be-
come the site of the Greater Independence of the future — and there are
plenty of people today who do not yet see that this entire territory is
bound to be covered by the city and its suburbs during the first half of the
twentieth century. The region embraced is an irregular one, about five
miles long by as many wide, and embraces very nearly twenty-five square
miles of land. For this tract, a si'ngie acre of which now has a land
value of over |25.000, Brown paid the munificent sum of .foO. The stipu-
lations of the treaty were few and plain. Each party bound itself to pro-
mote peace between the two races. Brown was to build all the houses he
wanted, and Chetopa, the Indian chief who took the part of grantor, was
to have free pasturage for his ponies. Finally. Chetopa began to count
the houses that were going up on this tract a'nd to estimate what his rev-
enue would have been at the customary tax of |5.00 each. He came to
the conclusion that he had been swindled, and asked Brown for a new
council to rescind the treaty. BroAvn was equal to the occasion and i)ic-
tured in glowing terms what the immaculate word and unstained hc^nor
of a great Indian warrior required in the observance of s\»cli sacred and
binding obligations, demanding, if it were possible, that he would for-
ever disgrace hinjself and his tribe by going back on his plighted woi<-l,
Still. Chetopa insisted that there were too many houses, and that his
peoi)le were being imposed upon. The ui)sh()t of the matter was a further
stipulation; that the |5() already paid should exempt the town, and that
the settlers outside might pay him |3.00 per claim in addition.
While the Oswego people brought the name '-Independence" with
them all ready to ai)ply to their county seat that was to be. they found
a com])etitor in the town of "Colfax."" which (Jeo. A. Brown had already
laid out, a mile or more to the northwest, where the first city cemetery
86 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY'^ KANSAS.
was afterward located by Mayor DeLong. At the age of three weeks this
town was already provided with a full equipment of streets and alleys
and beginning to take rank among the towns of the county. After
looking the ground over on the day following their arrival, Brown was
persuaded to abandon Colfax and cast his fortunes with the Independence
party. With a pocket compas. a survey of the town site was made by
Captain Hanmer, E. R. Trask, Frank Bunker and one or two others, which
approximately determined the boundaries of the city that was to be.
For a time we can do no better than to follow Mr. Wilson's narra-
tives as closely as may be. He says : "Returning to Oswego they organ-
ized the Independence Town Company, contracted for the publication of
the "Independence Pioneer.'' for the location of a saw-mill and for the
carrying of a weekly mail from Oswego. A week later L. T. Stephenson
returned to manage the business of the company and began the erection
of a double log hotel, known as the "Judson House." In September a cele-
bration was held, the main feature of which was abarbecue. Speeches
were made by E. R. Trask, R. W. Wright and L. T. Stephenson. All the
settlers in the vicimity, perhaps one hundred in number, were congre-
gated. The refreshments consisted of the ox, four kegs of beer and two
barrels of bread. They were brought from Oswego by J. N. DeBruler's
ox team. In crossing the Verdigris the team became unmanageable and
dumped the whole outfit into the river. No time was lost in fishing it out,
and of course especial care was taken to save the beer, which came out
undamaged.
About October 1st, 1869, E. E. Wilson and F. D. Irwin opened a
store, having received their first invoice of goods, by wagon, from Fon-
tana, Miami county, which was as near as the railroad then ran. Custom-
ers were infrequent in those early days and the proprietors employed their
leisure in making hay, where is now the intersection of Main street and
Penn. avenue. Lumber was scarce before the saw-mills got to running,
and none was to be got nearer than Oswego. But the crop of hay was
immense, and the pioneers busied themselves in the erection of hay houses
in which they found very comfortable shelter during the winter, and which
gave the city its first nickname "Haytown."
In October 1869, too, R. S. Parkhurst, better known as "Uncle Sam-
my,'" arrived from Indiana with a colony of eighteen families thereby
doubling the population of the town. These provided themselves with
hay houses also. And it is worthy of note that of all the sixty-niners
who laid the foundations of this growing city, ]\Ir. Parkhurst and O. P.
Gamble are the only ones still living here. Although at an advanced
age Mr. I*arkhurst is still hale and hearty and is taking a most active
interest in every movement for the upbuilding of the city and its indus-
tries. Since the beginning of the present year he made a talk in a public
meeting at the Auditorium, telling something about those early days, in
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 87
which he stated that he never then expected to see Independence become
what she is today, but at the same time unhesitatingly aflSrmed that he
now expected to live to see her with a hundred thousand population.
On the 16th of November 1869, Alexander Waldschmidt reached In-
dependence with his saw mill. Immediately Carpenter & Crawford locat-
ed east of town on the Allison farm, and A. L. Ross at the mouth of Elk
river. All were running in December, but Carpenter & Crawford sawed
the first lumber. Their enterprise may be inferred from the fact that
for the first week they carried water in pails from the river to run their
engine. Mr. Waldschmidt was very enterprising and proved one of the most
important factors in the building of the town. He erected the first grist-
mill in the county, on the river just above the site of the present ice fac-
tory, and began grinding grain there in the fall or winter of 1871. He
also made the first shipment of flour from the county. While all the other
north and south streets of the city bear numbers, the one next the river
is named "Waldschmidt Avenue," in his honor.
The story of the struggle for the location of the county seat is re-
ferred to elsewhere in this history, and need not be detailed again here,
From the first a majority of the people of the county favored Indepen-
dence, and it was only a question of time when their will should be
obeyed. At the election in November 1869, the first vote was taken, and it
was only by throwing out the northern precinct, known as Drum Creek,
on a technicality, that a majority was secured for Liberty, by the east
side board of commissioners then in office. This was the first backset In-
dependence received, and, though shi? has had them in plenty since, she
has always done as she did then — buckled on her armor and fought it out
on that line. And in almost every instance, she has won in the end, as she
did the following May in the courts, and the following November at the
polls, in the county seat fight.
Unfortunately our State Historical Society did not begin business
until 1875, and prior to that date neAvspaper files are not accessible, and
only occasional copies of Independence newspapers of earlier dates have
been preserved. Indeed, the burning of the office of the "Independence
Tribune," with its files, in February 1883. and of the "Independence
Star," with the files of the earlier issues of the "Independence Kansan,"
in December 1884, resulted in a loss of material for early history that is
not only irreparable but well nigh incalculable. The first news])ai)er
published in Independence was the "Independence Pioneer," of which one
of the first, if not the first, copy issued, bearing date November 27th, 1860,
and another dated Jaunary 1st, 1870, are to be found in the collection at
Topeka, but no others. In the former issue most of the business cards are
of Oswego firms, but among the Independence advertisers are Wilson &
Irwin's grocery and Kalstin & Stephenson's real estate, insurance and gen-
eral conveyancing office. In the latter we note that Kalstin & Coventry are
88 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
in the hardware business at Independence; Allison & Bell, general mer-
chandise ; Dr. Swallow, dry goods, provisions and groceries ; Ghas. Wise,
furniture; Chas. Coventry, drugs and groceries; Brown & Risburg and
Knokle & DeBruler, meat markets. At Westralia, Crawford & MjCCue an-
nounce themselves as attorneys at law and land agents.
The "Pioneer" was printed at Oswego until some time in January
1870, when it became,, in fact as well as in name, an Independence insti-
tution, and was furnished with an outfit of type and a press here. In one
of its earlier issues it tells an interesting story about a pioneer settler in
the neighborhood of Independence who was living in a log house and
whose wife woke him one night to startle him with the information that
the baby was gone. Lighting a candle and making a search, no trace of it
could be found in the cabin, but on going out doors it was discovered ly-
ing on the ground unhurt and fast alseep, having rolled out of bed be-
tween the logs that formed one side of the cabin.
In its editorial column, the "Pioneer" had begun the work, in which
we are still engaged, of booming Independence and Montgomery county :
and from the issue of January 1st, 1870, the following forecast is w^ortii
quoting :
''The valley of the Verdigris river, which but a few months ago was
only visited by Indian traders occasionally, is now teeming with intelli-
gent, enteri)rising immigrants from the eastern and northern states; and
settlenseuts and towns have sprung up as if by magic. Supplied, as the
vallev is. with abundance of tim.ber for fencing, its vast quarries of w'hite
and brown sandstone for building purposes, and its inexhaustible beds
of excellent coal — it does not require a very vivid imagination to picture
a future exceeding in brilliancy the past history of western improvement.
Independence is growing. Forty frame buildings have been erected in
as manv davs since our saw mills have been turning out lumber. The work
of building has went (sic) on right merrily, and substantial frame build-
ings have taken the place of booths, huts and hay houses that a few weeks
ago were scattered promiscuously over our townsite. Four months ago
the tall prairie grass waved where today are scores of buildings and the
scenes of busy life. To one unused to the rapid growth of the west it
would seem the work of magic."
Nothing here, it will l)e observed, about natural gas, vitrified brick,
cement plants, rolling mills, window glass factories, paper mills, electric
railways, four story Maisonic Temples, or |60,000 hotels. So, ever does
the reality surpass the most enthusiastic dreams in a developing civi-
lization.
The first school house in Independence was built in the winter of
1800-70, and was dedicated April 16th, 1870, with literary exercises
which are said to have l)een of unusual merit. The school was opened
April 21st. with ]\liss Mavx Walker, the first female teacher in the county,
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 89
in charge. The biiildiug was afterward remodeled and occupied by the
United Brethren church. The first teachers' institute in the county was
held at Vandiver's Hall in the summer of 1879, and was conducted by
Prof. Boles.
In the fall of 1869 the first Sunday school was organized in the hay
house of Mrs. McClung. The first sermon was preached by T. H. Canflelcl
in the same house. Eev. J. J. Brown organized the First Presbyterian
church of Independence April .3. 1870. and the Methodist and Baptist
churches were organized the same month. The Bai)tists erected the first
church building, which was dedicated March 12th, 1871, Rev. Mr. Atkin-
son, of Oswego, olficiating.
About February 1870, R. W. Wright addressed a meeting at Wilson
& Irwin's store in advocacy of an east and west railroad. On the first
day of June 1870, the people greeted the arrival of the stage coach from
Oswego. The story of the voting of -f 200,000 in bonds to enable the county
to make a subscription of stock to the same amount to the Leavenworth,
Lawrence & Galveston railroad company, which was the second among
the niany adverse events in the history of our city, is elsewhere told.
I ntil along in 1870, says W. H. Watkins, in his sketch of the city's
history published in the "Independence Kansan"' on January 2, 1878, the
princii)al part of the business was transacted on Penn. Avenue, between
Laurel and Myrtle streets, or north of the present location of Baden's
store. The road, as travelled, did not follow the avenue south of that
point but shot across lots from Mf rtle to Main, reaching the latter at the
corner of Sixth, where Zutz' grocery now stands. The merchants then in
business on the north side of Main street found it necessary to have their
signs over their back doors. To the north of the crossing of Main street
and Penn. Avenue was a quagmire, and loaded teams frequently stalled
there.
Mail facilities Avere meager during the first winter in "Haytown,''
and the government did not act as promptly in establishing a postofiice
as it has since, in the Indian Territory on similar occasions. While the
county seat was at Verdigris City, it is said that the i)0stage on letters
brought in varied from ten to twenty-five cents, according to the state of
the weather; but at Independence a service was arranged from Oswego.
L. T. Stephenson being the first carrier, and the charge being uniformly
ten cents straight. He was succeeded by M. L. Hickey, and he by â– ]. ('.
Woodrow, who carried the mail until the advent of the stage coach. At
first letters in and <»ut were charged for alike, but later the only charge
was for those brought in. One poor fellow thoughtlessly wrote a line to
a Boston i)aper telling about the new ElDorado here in southern Kansas,
and his next mail cost him two dollars. When the mail arrived, there
was a roll-call of the letters and each man stiMfd ready with his fractional
currency to pay jiostage on his letters.
go HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
On the 1st day of July, 1870, the people greeted the arrival of the first
stage coach from Oswego, and on the first of July F. D. Irwin was
appointed postmaster at a salary of $12.00 per year. At the present time
the salary of the postmaster is |2,300, and the payroll of the office, in-
cluding the salaries of four city and fiv'e rural delivery carriers, amounts
to 112.250 per annum.
The Fourth of July 1870, was appropriately celebrated in a grove
south of town on Rock creek. Nearly 200 people were present, and Cap-
tain M. S. Bell was the orator of the day.
On the 25th of July 1870, J. D. Emerson, as probate judge, in accord-
ance with the petition of a majority of the voters, incorjtorated the place
under the style of "the inhabitants of the town of Independence," and
appointed the following board of trustees: E. E. Wilson, J. H. Pugh ,J. E.
Donlavy. R. T. Hall and O. P. Smart. Of this first governing body of the
city, O. P. Smart, alone, is still a resident here. They met the next day
and organized by electing R. T. Hall, chairman; and on the 15th of Sep-
tember they appointed J. B. Craig as clerk. Their first ordinance pro-
vided that the board should meet on the second Tuesday of each month.
They next decreed that all sidewalks on Main street and Penn. Avenue
should be twelve feet wide. The third made it unlawful to drive any ani-
mal of the horse or mule kind through the streets faster than a trot, or
more than seven miles an hour. The fourth prohibited gaming-tables and
all devices for playing games of chance, also bawdy houses and brothels.
On the IGth of November 1871, the trustees voted to accept the pro-
visions of the act governing cities of the third class. Immigrants had
come in rapidly during the spring and summer, and on November 29th, a
little more than fifteen months from the time the town was laid out, a
count was made of 800 people. On the date named an election for city
officers was held. J. B. Craig was elected the first mayor, receiving 93
votes to 89 cast for E. E. Wilson. The councilmen elected at the same
time were : A. Waldsehmidt, Thomas Stevenson, W. T. Bishop, F. I). Ir-
win and G. H. Brodie. Irwin failed to qualify and on December 8th,
Goodell Foster was appointed to serve in his place. On the same date
William Hendrix was appointed the first marshal of the young city, and
Councilmen Waldsehmidt and Bishop were made a committee to draw up
plans for a city prison; while the task of drawing up a set of ordinances
was confided to Mr. Foster.
On the 5th of January 1871, Prentis & Warner were authorized to
erect hay scales in the street north of Pugh's drug store. This is, per-
haps, the only business house then in existence, which, in all the thirty-
two years that have since elapsed, has changed neither its name, its busi-
ness nor its location, "Pugh's Drug Store'' being still located at the south-
east corner of Penn. Avenue and Laurel streets. At this meeting the first
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 9!
dram ghop license recorded was granted to Henry Kaiser, who was to pay
a fee of ^50 for a i)eriod of six months.
On the 23d of Jaiinary. the city ]>rinting- was awarded to the "Kansas
Democrat," which was published by Martin VanBuren Bennett, at the
rate of three cents a line. On February 2, Mr. Bishop was appointed a
committee to see about deepening the two public wells. The work was
done by Lewis & Mossman, who were paid .fo2.08 for going down 29 feet
in one of them. On the 2()th of February, it was ordered that a well be
sunk at the corner of Laurel street and Penn. Avenue.
March 30th. 1871, C. M. Ralstin as city clerk reported a population of
1,382 souls. On the same day John J. Jack was licensed to keep a gro-
cery and sell beer, on payment of |2.3.(»0 and the giving of a |2,000.00
bond. On the same date H. A. Jimmerson was granted a dram shop li-
cense. By this time the wants of the thirsty must have been pretty well
provided for, with three public wells and as many saloons.
The city election held April 5th, 1871, resulted in the choice of E. E.
Wilson as mayor and J. E. Donlavy as police judge, and on the following
day J. D. Emerson was appointed city clerk and T. P. Trouvelle, city
marshal. The first record of a prohibition sentiment appears on Septem-
ber loth, when Judson & Saylor and H. Vanderslice applied for permis-
sion to sell liquor, presenting petitions signed by 130 people, and a remon-
strance signed by another 130 people was presented at the same time.
Notwithstanding the remonstrance, the licenses were granted, Councilmen
Waldschmidt and Gray voting aye and Bishop no. December 7th, Good-
ell Foster resigned as city attorney and Colonel Daniel Grass was ap-
pointed to succeed him. Three weeks later, on the 29th, Grass resigned
and J. D. McCue was appointed. Among other citizens who afterward
became prominent here and elsewhere, who were honored with appoint-
ments to this oflQce, were William Dunkin, George Chandler and George
R. Peck.
In 1871 the title of the Independence Town Company, which was re-
sponsible for the existence of the city and to whom it owed so much,
began to be seriously questioned, and for the next year the matter was
kept prominently lo the front. Between the spring of 1871 and that of
1872 the growth of the city was most rapid. Two hundred houses were
built and the population rose from one thousand to twenty-three hundred.
This was more than the entire gain during the succeeding ten years, and
made the period a marked one in the history of the young city. In the
summer of 1871 the Town Company was losing ground rnpidly. The lot
so long occupied by Jasper & Boniface as a meat market was jumped by
them during that summer, and a building started. The title to this lot
was held by a man at Fort Scott by certificate from the Town Company,
but those interested in maintaining the titles of this comi)any assembled
and hitched a couple of yoke of oxen to the building, drove the carpenters
•92 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS.
off and partial Iv hauled the building into the street. It was, however, the
last show of vigor- on the part of the Comi)any. Its influence was on the
wane, and lots were soon being taken everywhere, regardless of its warn-
ings. Houses began to be built on wheels and hauled on to vacant lots at
night, or they were claimed by some other act of occupancy. After the
defeat of the company, the good work it had done for the city was fully
recognized, and. writing of it in 1878, W. H. Watkins says: "It is of the
past and the time has come to acknowledge the good work it did. Its ob-
ject has been grandly attained but the benefits have inured to others. It
entered into politics, met with success and disaster and came to its end in
litigation. It dug wells, built houses, established a newspaper and by its
wise [;olicy induced peojjle to locate here."
Following the voting of county bonds in aid of the Leavenworth. Law-
rence & Galveston railroad, in June 1870. which was accomplished by the
most unblushing fraud, that road was Ijuilt down the east line of the
.county in July 1871, and a great many people thought that a death blow
had been struck at the new city. Its people were not made of the stuff to
be easily discouraged, though, and from the very day that it was decided
that the road should be built there they went to work to secure a line from
Cherryvale. Committee followed committee in rapid succession, and re-
ceived from the railroad officials the same courteous treatment and ac-
complished the same barren results. So anxious were the people, that,
during this time, it was privately hinted by an employee of the company
that a cash contribution of four thousand dollars and one hundred town
lots, in addition to the |?7.50(l per mile in bonds, would secure the branch
beyond question. The town lote were selected and individual notes to
the amount required were placed in the hands of J. B. Craig and E. E.
Wilson. After a whole round of failures, Frank Bunker, M. D. Henry
and Charles W. Prentiss succeeded. This was late in 1871, and the de-
mand was so urgent that a bond in the sum of |50,000 was signed by a
majority of the voters as a guarantee that the bonds would be voted so
that the work might begin at once. An election was held Sept. 30th, and
125,000 in bonds voted. Frank Bunker, by a generous donation of land,
secured the location of the depot on his premises, and the road became
known as "Bunker's Plug." The railroad was built in December 1871,
and the first train of cars whistled into Independence on New Year's
dav 1872. The termius remained here for seven vears — until 1879 — mak-
ing this a wholesale point for the supply of the entire southern Kansas
trade for a hundred miles to the west and contributing verv materiallv to
the growth and prosperity of the city.
A word more is fitting in regard to Frank Bunker, whose name will
be indissolubly connected with the early history of the city and who, per-
haps, did more than anyone else to promote its welfare in those pioneer
days. He died at Andover. ]\Iassachuesetts, on the 12th of August 1870,
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 93
In ail obituary notice shortly after that date, the "Independence Kansan"
said: "But little happened in which Frank was not consulted or did not
take an active part. His vivacity, brilliant wit .dash and droll anecdotes
made him sought after in society. When disposed, few men were more
entertaining than he could be and none was warmer hearted." And E. E.
Wilson says of him in his history of the county : "Frank Bunker was a
man of some rare native talents and. in some directions, of fine culture.
A natural musician, an easy and brilliant writer, in conversation he del-
uged his hearers with song and story. His fund of humor was rich and
his witticisms truly a bonanza. His long continued ill health had made
him whimsical and, at times, verv irritable, but withal Frank was a gen-
ial fellow and a generous friend. After travelling from the Pacific to the
shores of Africa in a vain search for health he died in Massachusetts in
the autum of 187G.''
During the year 1872. Independence and Montgomery county were in
the heyday of their early prosperity and enjoying what is known as a
"boom." E. E. Wilson had been the second mayor the previous year, as he
was the first storekeeper in 18<>!). and was followed in that office by James
DeLong, formerly consul at Tangiers, Morocco, and a most eccentric char-
acter. So soured was he with the world that we who knew him only in his
later years invariably referred to him as the "chronic growler." It was
during his administration that the removal of the Osage District Land
Office to this city occurred. Speaking of the removal of this office from
Humboldt to Neodesha. in December 1871, Mr. Wilson savs: "On the 8th
of December the United States Land Office passed on its way from Hum-
boldt to Xeodesha. As it passed down Main street and north on the aven-
ue it was not a very imposing pageant, but its intrinsic value of .flO.OOO.OO
was determined before it passed the limits of the town." If the Xeodesha
peojjle paid that much to secure it they made a very poor bargain, foi; no
later than March 2()th. 1872, the same office was opened for business in In-
dependence, where it remained until discontinued by order of President:
Cleveland in the spring of 1885. The means used to secure its removal
to this city are detailed' in another chapter of this book, devoted to Sen-
ator York's betrayal of Senator Pomeroy. The city council appropriated
•^3,000.(10 to secure the land office, but of this amount it was found neces-
sary to spend only $1,900, and even this small fraction of an "intrinsic
value of 110,000" would not have been paid, so it is said, by DeLong's
economical administration, had it not been that "the town site was hang-
ing in the land office."
After its location here, the officers of the land office were P. 15. Max-
on. register; and M. W. Reynolds, receiver. The subsequent registers
were W. W. Martin, M. J. Salter and C. M. Kalstin. The receivers were:
,E. S. Nichols. H. M. Waters and H. W. Young.
In ^larcli 1882. there was found here a jiojiulation of 2.300. and the
94 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
governor was petitioned to make Independence a city of the second class,
which lie did bv proclamation on March 20th. The following day the cit_v
was divided into four wards, with the same boundaries as today except that
the fifth Avard has since been carved out of the second. The first election
under the new title was held April 5th. when James DeLong was elected
mayor, receiving 445 votes to 146 for L. T. Stephenson. Osborn Shannon,
DeLong's son-in-law, was elected police judge; T. P. Trouvelle, marshal:
J. I. Crouse, treasurer; and A. D. Gibson, justice of the peace. The first
board of education was elected at the same time, and it is noteworthy
that two of its m&mbers, Mrs, d. M. Nevins and Mrs. H. T. Millis, from tho
first ward, were the first women elected to office in the city. The mem-
bers of the council elected at the same time were J. M. Nevins, Wm. Daw-
son, S. A. Wier, John Beard, John Kerr, J. Mor^land, Joseph Bloxam and
E. T. !^^ears. Of these six, Dawson and Mears still reside here.
April 6th, owing to the prevalence of small pox, wholesale vaccination
was ordered and the following physicians appointed to do the work: For
the first ward. Dr. MUsterman ; for the second ward, Dr. Thrall; for tJie
third ward, Dr. McCulley; for the fourth ward, Dr. Miller.
The year 1872 was one of the most prosperous ever witnessed in In-
dependence. The transplanted members of the community were taking
root and groAving together into a homogeneous citizenship, Avhile times
were good and values so far above the |1.25 an acre the lands cost to
enter, that everybody felt rich. During this year, seventy-one school
houses were built in the county at a cost of |70,043, and the fourth ward
brick school building at Independence completed at a cost of |23,000.00.
Though it was nicknamed ''the Tannery," on account of its box-like out-
lines, and came into bad repute in later years because of a cracking of thsi
walls which was thought to render it unsafe, it served its purpose in mak-
ing a home for a generation of school children, and when it was demol-
ished in 1902, it was found to be substantial enough to have stood for
centuries.
In March 1872, the city council ordered the issue of .f 10,000.00 in city
scrip to pass current as money, and to run until January .30, 1874. It
fost .|650.00 to get this scrij) i»rinted. Half of it was in one dollar bills
and half in two dollar bills. Travelers would carry this novel currency
back to their homes in the east unnoticed and then write back to know if
the bank was good. Half a million dollars in interest-bearing debt had
been incurred by the county in the first three years of its existence, and
times could not but be prosperous for the fellows who had the spending of
the money. Right athwart this boom, almost without warning, came the
panic of 1873, to be followed the next year by a rainless season, drying
and parching everything on the farm, except the mortgage and taxes. And
then, to cap the climax, came the Rocky mountain locusts or grasshop-
pers, with digestion for everything except interest. And plenty of farm-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 95
>ers were under contract to pay three per cent a month for the use of
money. The fat years were followed by others as lean as Pharaoh's kine.
In April 1873, DeLong was re-elected mayor, and he continued his
strenuous fight for the settlers and against the old town company with
all the sturdy vigor of his nature. One of the old settlers characterizes
him as "the Cromwell of Independence." He was erratic, unselfish and
zealous, and labored without stint to secure the land for the settlers and
relieve them from the necessity of buying their homes from the town
company. At the same time he charged every man six dollars for a deed to
a lot, as expenses, and he and those associated with him never made any
accounting of the money. In fact it is understood that, during the time
the settlers were paying for their lots, DeLong was living out of the in-
come he received from the office in this irregular way. He was not pe-
nurious and did not lay up money but was always ready to spend it for
the town and the people. He was autocratic in his methods and did a
great deal to build up the city. He was pugilistic, too, and always ready
for a fight. The issue of city script was his scheme, and, notwithstanding
the doubtful legality of the undertaking, he carried it through very suc-
cessfully. The stuff circulated and was never at a discount. Every dollar
of it was eventually redeemed, and the result of the undertaking might
well be used as an argument in favor of municipal currency. Altogether
DeLong was, in many ways, the strongest and most unique personality
in the city's history, and, had a popular novelist known him and his
works, he might have served as a leading character in some work of
fiction. His declining years were soured and embittered, however, by
dwelling upon the ingratitude of the peojile for whom he had labored, and
he seemed to have a grudge against the world.
The most prominent event of the year 1874 was the burning of the
railroad depot on January 15th, which resulted in the purchase of a fire
engine by the city council within a week. The DeLong dynasty ended on
the 7th of April that year, with the election of D. B. Gray as mayor.
The new fire engine did not prevent the most destructive fire in the
historv of the citv on February 13th. 1875, when eighteen business build-
ings were consumed. Down the east side of the avenue, from where Bad-
en's dry goods store stands now, and up the north side of Main street to
the location of Zutz' grocery, everything went ,except Bi'own's three-story
brick, where the Baden clothing house now stands. That was reserved to
be burned later. That year W. E. Brown was elected mayor and William
Dunkin city attorney. The session of the South Kansas Tonference of the
M. El church, which convened March 3, and was presided over by Bisho{»
Merrill, was one of the leading events of the year. At the election for
city officers this year, W. E. Brown won the mayorality. having 278 votes
to 169 cast for ex-Mayor DeLong. Wm. Dunkin now became city attor-
ney, and J. L. Scott was continued in office as police judge. The steady
96 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUXTY^, KANSAS.
growth of a prohibition sentiment was indicated by the instructions given
the city attorney in March to draw np an ordinance to prohibit dram
shoi»s from keeping open on Sunday. The last mention of the city script
appears in November of this year, when it was ordered that |2.0U0.U0 of
that currency lying in Hull's bank, and which had been redeemed, be re-
issued to take up outstanding warrants, and that The rest be destroyed.
The years between 1S73 and 1881 are not prolific of material for the
historian of Mrontgomery county's capital. Hard times had the new coun-
try in its grip, and it was simply a matter of "hanging on" and '"waiting
for the clouds to roll by," with the busiues.s men then there. Independence,
having reached about 3.000 in population, came to a standstill and re-
mained a country trading post merely, except for the wholesale business
in the region to the southwest. Merchants advertised but sparingly in the
local papers until the later seventies and there was nothing to indicate
the brilliant future in store for the city.
Keckless expenditure of public funds had become unpopular and in
December 1875, a proposition to use |10,000.00 in building a dam acro.^s
the Verdigris river to furnish water power for factories was voted down.
oul\' 90 favoring it to 176 who opposed.
In 187G. there was not even life enough to get up a contest over the
mayorality. and F. C. Jocelyu had all the votes cast, except nine scatter-
ing. S. S. Peterson, who subsequently served with distinction as sheritf
of Wyandotte county, was elected city marshal, and Joseph Chandler
city attorney, both of them being repeatedly re-elected in following years.
In August of that year the citizens were worried by a rumor that the
United States land office was to be removed, and the city council appro-
priated 1100.00 to defray the expenses of sending Colonel Daniel Grass
and Edwin Foster to Washington to prevent such a calamity.
In January 1877, a counterfeiters' den was discovered in a house at
the foot of the hill on East Main street, and Marshal Peterson arrested
three of the manufacturers of the "queer" and turned them ovor to the
United States authorities. Not only were molds, frames and all parai>her-
nalia of this illegal business found, but 124 half dollars and 16 quarters,
well enough executed to pass readily. The same month the land office
authorities awarded to L. T. Stephenson the one hundred and sixty acres
adjoining the city on the south for which he was contesting and the may-
or was permitted to enter for the settlers the Emerson tract in the south-
west part of the city between 10th and 18th streets. In April, William
Dunkin was elected nmyor. the minority candidate again being ex-Mayor
DeLong, whose only ambition in life ajipears to have been to get gack in
the chair of that office again. Michael 'M\c Eniry was chosen as police
judge, a position he held for many years and filled with dignity and dis-
cretion.
Norman H. Ives Avas now postmaster, being the third incumbent of
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 97
that office, A. H. Moore liaviiio siieeeeded Irwiu, the first appointee. L.
M. Kiiowles was siiperintendent of the city schools. In Jnne J. B. Hoober
began the erection of a tAvo story brick hotel on West Main street over
which he presided for so many years and which is still rnnning, with the
name changed from "Hoober" to "Heckman." At this time the saloon
business nmsl have been one of the principal industries of the city, and the
manufacture of drunkards going on apace. There were eleven licensed
grog sho}»s. and the revenue they ])aid into the city treasurv amounted to
|3,8(H>.()0 a year.
The year 1877 Avas rendered notorious, not only in Independence but
throughout the country, by the "Hull Baby'' case. Hull's bank here was
one of the strongest financial institutions in southeastern Kansas, in fact
the only bank in the county that weathered the financial storm of 187S
without sus]»ending payment for an hour. It was established by Latham
Hull, of Kalamazoo, ^lichigan. and his two sons, Charles A. and Edgar,
were connected with it. ('harles. the elder one, was a bachelor, but he fell
a victim to the wiles of a rlever adventuress and married her. Xo sooner
was this former "schoolmarm" installed as the mistress of the banker's
home than she began to sigh for other worlds to concjuer. Charles' father
had ofl'ered a standing \)yize of |5.000.()0 for the first male grandchild born
in the family, (.'arrie's fingers itched to get hold of that roll, and she
procured. fr(mi an or])hans' houie at Leavenworth, a young infant of the
requisite sex, to which she pretended to have given birth. The fraud was
too transparent to im])ose long on the parties interested, and her husband
disowned the brat and began suit for divorce. Not to be outdone, the al-
leged mother liegan suit against Latham Hull, her father-in-hnv, Edgar
Hull, her brother-in-law, George Chandler, their attorney, and the Home
for the Friendless at Leavenworth, for alienating the affections of her
husband and damaging her character to the extent of |i(>,0(K».(>0. In De-
cember the divorce case of Charles Hull versus Carrie Hull was heard
and decided in the district court . Mrs. Hull claimed to be in very poor
health, so that her testimony c(mld not be taken publicly, and those who
were expecting to see all the dirty linen in the case aired in court were
disa]t]iointed. Charles got the decree, however, but Carrie was allowed
$300 alinutny. the household goods and ^2(10 for counsel fees, which, con-
sidering the wealth of the husband, was not all that she miglil have ex-
pected. Yet she was still eager for the main chance and proceeded to
construe the "household goods" clause very liberally. In fact, she tore
a mantel out of the house which she thus claimed a light to dismantle,
and sold it. For this oti'ense she was arrested t>n the 8th of .lanuary fol-
lowing by Sherifi" Brock. As he did not like to take her to jail he re-
mained in the h(mse to guard her until she could have a hearing in court
or secure bail. During the night Constable Nelson came with another
warrant to arrest her on a suit bv Dr. ^IcCullev, to whom she had morl-
gS HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
gaged her goods for medical attendance. The constable was refused
admission and had to tear off a shutter to get in. And when he did, he
found not a thing left of all the goods the court had awarded Carrie,
except the cradle of that famous baby, which she still retained. Of course
another arrest followed. When at last the heroine of this romance got
free from the meshes of the law. she went west seeking fresher fields and
pastures new. While her money lasted she cut a great swath at Pueblo,
Colorado, as a rich young widow; and finally wound up there by bewitch-
ing the landlord of the hotel where she made her home, who deserted wife
and children to elope with her.
Early in 1878 the school board expended |ol.5 in the purchase of block
No. 1 in Concanuon's addition, and proceeded to erect a four room school
building there at an expense of |8,000. One of the city papers com-
plained that the location was too far out for the little folks. Now, with
another building at the same place the difficulty is that it is too far in.
The election for mayor this year was hotly contested and George W. Bur-
chard won by a majority of J)() over A. C. Stich. TJurchard had been both
a Republican and a Democrat, and had edited both the "Tribune" and the
''Kansan," but he was able and popular. April 5th, another counterfit-
ers' outfit was unearthed in the old land office building and Matt M.
Eucker arrested for the crime of making money on his own account. In
the summer of this year the present city building was erected.
About this time the railroad question was exciting lots of interest
as it was known that the St. Louis & San Francisco line was to be extend-
ed west from Oswego, and lnde|)endence was anxious for something more
than the. "plug," which was all she yet had. Besides, there were propo-
sitions for a road southwest from Parsons, and the papers of that day are
full of the reports of meetings held and committees appointed to bring
hither three or four different lines, the initials of whose titles mean noth-
ing now. I'robably if all the citizens of the town had pulled together, the
" 'Frisco" would have come here instead of edging off to the north from
Cherryvale and angling through Wilson county. But there were divided
counsels in those days, and a jealousy between property holders on the
north and south sides which would not |)ermit them to work together har-
moniously, and so the line v.as lost and the population which would other-
wise ha^e come to swell the census of Independence went to build up
Cherryvale. Probably Independence would have been a city of 15,000
many years sooner than it now will, if the " 'Frisco" road had been land-
ed. Not only did the year 18TS> witness the loss of this road, but the same
year the "jilug" was extended out into the counties to the west, and the
city's trade theieby materially circumscribed.
In April 1870. Burchard was re-elected mayor, defeating Dr. W. A.
MicCnlley, 172 to 260. In September of that year Cary Oakes, who was
then county treasurer, lost a suit instituted by the county to recover $4,-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUXTY^ KANSAS. 99
078.30 which he had unwittingly allowed to get into the Mastin Bank
at Kansas City the day before that institution closed its doovs. Tt was in
the sha}>e of a draft from the state treasurer for the school fund account,
and Oakes had put it in Turner & Otis' bank for collection. They for-
warded it to their correspondent at Kansas City, and it disappeared in
that hole which at the time engulfed so many other fortunes.
In the year 1880, the law in relation to city elections was changed,
giving to mayors a two years' term ; and the year witnessed so little of
interest here that it must remain a blank, so far as these annals are con-
cerned. Tn the si>ring of 1881. L. (\ Mason was elected to the head of the
city govei-nment, defeating P>. F. Masterman. The following summer the
people who have seldom refused to do anything asked of them to promote
the educational interests of the city, voted |4.000.00 in bonds to repair
that ill-fated fourth ward school Imilding which had cost |23.000.00 in
the start. This year the board of education drew the color line by pro-
viding a separate building for the accomodation of pupils of African de-
cent, but they all refused to attend, and the courts decided they could not
be discriminated against in that way. The prohibition law went into
effect on ISiny 1st. and. before the year Avas over, twelve drug stores in the
county, of which five were located in Independence, had taken out permits
to enable them to supph' alcoholic medicine to the thirsty.
February oth. 1882, witnessed the second disastrous fire in the historv
of I nde] ten deuce, five buildings on the west side of Penn. avenue, south of
the bank buil(]ing on the coi-ner of Myrtle street, going down, while two
more were badly damaged. All the five were Avooden structures, though,
and when tliey came to be replaced with substantial brick and stone build-
ings two stories in height, it was evident again that what had seemed to
be a calamity was really a blessing in disguise.
May 25th. the new iron railroad bridge in ]>rocess of erection over
the Verdigris was swejit away by the flooded stream and went down
about ten minutes after a heavily loaded passenger train had ])assed over
it. The loss to the company was |20,000.(l(). At the close of ihis year,
the city counted among its ac(|uisitions during that j>eriod a canning fac-
tory, a four story stone flouring mill, a foundry and a wooh'u mill. The
location of so many manufacturing jdants was secured at considerable
efl'ort and expense, and was thought to indicate that the future of the
city v/as assured. Of the four, the I^ow(mi flouring ii'.ill. alone. ]U"oved a
permanency.
January 15, 1883. the |10.000.00 in bonds asked by the school board
for the erection of a new school building in the fiist ward were voted by
the bare majority of twelve. A two-story seven-room building was i)ut up
during the yeai-, to be torn down just twenty years later to make room
for one that was more modern and of larger size.
Independence's third great fire occurred February 171 h. when the
lOO HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
half block oii the east side of the avenue and south of 3iain street went up
in smoke. In M. J. Paul's thi-ee-stovy brick building on the corner were
located, besides his grocery, the "Tribune" office and the Masonic lodge
room. Speaking of this tire at the time, the writer of this article said, re-
ferring to the burning of the tiles of that ])aper: "The early history of
Montgomery count}' can never be so well written since the destruction of
these files." Since attempting to write some of that early history 1 real-
ize most profoundly the truth of that remark of twenty years ago. The
loss of property in this fire was estimated at |75.0()().()t). on which there
was insurance to the amount of 154,000.00.
At the April election Dr. B. F. Masterman won the mayorality by a
majority of 194 over N. H. Ives; and H. 1). Grant became police judge.
In April 1884 a local paper says, "the coal bore is down 850 feet and
the prospects were then better for oil than coal." In view of subsequent
developments, it seems strange that our oil resources were not sooner
brought to light. In June of that year, the Southern Kansas railroad be-
gan running a second daily train between Independence and Kansas City,
to the great delight of all the people here. The same month the city coun-
cil granted a franchise to A. H. McCormick for the construction of the
system of water works which have since that time supplied the city.
The first murder in the history of Independence was committed
August 18th, 1884. It was a ('ain and Abel affair, the murderer and his
victim being half brothers. The parties were J. H. Blackwell, the slayer,
and Charles Neal, the slain. Both were half-blood Cherokee Indians, and
jealousy was the cause of the crime. The wonnin in the case was Mrs.
J. W. ^laddox, with whom they both boarded. Blackwell was also Mad-
dox's partner in the tinning business. The tragedy occurred at the cot-
tage home of Maddox on West ^^ain street, just opposite the Christian
chunli. Blackwell was under the inHuence of lifjuor when he fired the
shot that ])ierced his brother's stomach and ended his life.
Just before the November election of 1884, on the evening of October
:23d, sky rockets fired at a Re|)ublican rally were responsible for a fire
which destroyed three business buildings on the west side of Penn avenue,
Shyrock's restaurant, Conrad Zwissler's barber sliop and Chandler Rob-
bins' music store. At that election a proposition to issue |50,000.00 in
bonds to build a court house was carried.
November 17th, the first ste})S were taken toward building the Ver-
digris Valley, Indei)endence & Western railroad, which has since become
the ^fissouri Pacific line through here. The committee selected to prepare
a charter for the new line consisted of Wm. Dunkin. I*'. P. Allen, H. W.
Young and 1M-. ^IcFarland. The committee apjxiinted to raise the money
for a'survey speedily got $1,200.00, although $1,000.00 was all that had
Iteen asked.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS. Id
On the night of December 15th, Commodore Biown's three-story
Jbriek on the northeast corner of Main street and renn.avenue was burned.
G. Gottlieb's clothing house, the "Star" office and the Odd Fellows hall
were the victims of this disaster. This fire resulted in the purchase of the
â– ^^Kansan" office by H. W. Young of the "Star" and the consolidation of
the two offices under the name of the "Star and Kansau."
At the spring term of the district court in 1885 Judge Chandler re-
fused the injunction prayed for against the issue of the court house bonds,
but the case was carried up to the state supreme court, and, although the
decision was the same there, the legal battle delayed the work of building
for nearly a year. At the city election in April there was a very spirited
contest for mayor between two prominent citizens, L. A. Walker being
supported by the progressives and John iMJcCullagh by the conservatives.
Walker was elected by a majority of 48. He was, by far, the most far-
sighted and progressive head the city government had ever had, and it
is due to him that grades were established throughout the city, and that
the sidewalks in the business ])art of the citj' Avere widened from 12 to 16
feet and the old wooden awnings removed. Although ^Ir. Walker lacked
the powers of expression to make himself fully understood at all times,
he was a man of very strong individuality and of wonderful mental grasp
and I'oise. He was a deep thinker, and a man of strong convictions and
great independence, never following the crowd in his conclusions but
always working them out for himself. He was radical in his views and
policies and made many enemies, but everyone esteemed him for his in-
tegrity and manly virtues. He ha«l many of the characteristics of a
leader of men and would have reached higher positions but for the defect
adverted to.
During 1885 Independence maintained its record as a bad town
for the insurance comi)anies. On March 3()th, seven buildings on the
west side of I'enn. avenue, between ^lyrtle and Laurel streets, were de-
stroyed, including the old Wilson cV: Irwin store building, which was tho
first erected in the town. All were wooden buildings, as were all of the
five on the south side of I^last Main street which were Imrned June 13th.
The h\st fire was evidently of incendiary origin, but as a result of the
two, alxmt the last of the wooden shacks were removed from the business
quarter, so that the city ]»ut on a diU'erent as])ect thereafter.
On the fifth of Se])tember the .f 35,0(1(1.0(1 in bonds nsked for (he build-
ing of the Verdigris Valley road were voted with practical unanimity,
only \ against to 438 for. The vote was also favorable in Sycamore and
Tndeitendence townshijts, insuring the building of the road, and adding
some .f75, 000.00 to the interest bearing debt of the county. In ()ctol)er
W. T. Yoe, of the Tribune, turned the Independence postoffice over to li.
I02 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
F. Devore, President Cleveland's appointee, and the first Democrat tc
hold that office.
The year 1886 was one of the most uneventful in the city's history,
It had reached a population of 3,900, and was steadily growing. The new
railroad was completed down to the south line of Independence township.
In eTuly, two men, Samuel Umbenhauer and Thomas Birch, were suffo-
cated Avliile digging a well in the northwest part of the city. Frank P.
Burchard, a dissipated scion of an excellent family, committed forgery in
a real estate transaction and was sentenced to the penitentiary. The
most noteworthv event of the vear was the laving of the corner stone of
the new court house on Novend)er 80th. The event was appropriately
celebrated and the ceremonies were imposing. The principal address was
delivered by Hon. Wm. Dunkin, and was historical and retrospective itj
character.
The second murder which stained the annals of our city was com-
mitted February 25th, 1887, the victim being Joseph Tonkinson, who was
shot after an exciting chase bv Frank Mever. whose sister Tonkinson had
been unduly intimate with. Indeed the husband of the woman had given
Tonkinson a terrible beating some time previously and threatened his
life. As in the first murder case, it was a quarrel about a woman that
resulted in the killing. At the city election in April, M^yor Walker was
defeated for re-election by H. H. Dodd, who received 456 votes to Walker's
401. Dan Wassam, a well known printer, who has since acquired a com-
petency in the real estate business at Neodesha, was elected probate
judge. This was what was known in Kansas as the boom year, and In
dependence had the fever as severely as any city of its size, indulging in
dreams of sj)eedily becoming a great metropolis, and marking up real es-
tate values to corres])ond Another east and Avest railroad was ]»rojected
which even reached the bond-voting stage in Liberty township, but never
materialized to any further extent. There began to be whisperings about
natural gas, too, though the stories of burning wells were regarded as
fairy tales by most level-headed people. Still, in May the city council
voted a thousand dollars to pay for prospecting for gas, and the same
month granted D. P. Alexander, of Wichita, a franchise for a street rail-
way which he did not build. In December the new court house was com-
pleted and the dedicatory exercises occurred, with more historical ad
dresses by Judge George Chandler, J. D. ^rcCue. Captain McTaggart and
others.
To judge from the newspapers published in Independence, politics
was almost the sole subject of interest during the year 1888. That was
not only a Presidential year, but Independence's honored son, Lyman U,
Humphrey, was a candidate for governor. When he returned home, after
securing the nomination, he was accorded a most flattering reception by
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^, KANSAS. IO3
his fellow citizens of all parties, and the city felt itself honored when the
vote in November showed that along with Harrison he had received over
80,000 plurality, the largest ever cast for the candidate of any party in
the state.
The night of the 13th of Jaunary 1889, a landmark of the early days
went up in smoke, the stone hotel on east Main street, familiar to the
travelling public as the "]\fain Street Hotel," was entirely destroyed by
fire. The site remained vacant for fourteen years thereafter. On the 2Sth
of February the Ihiited States land oftice here, which had outgrown its
usefulness — practically all the public lands in the district having been
entered — was discontinued by order of the Interior Department. The
contest for mayor this year was between Wilson Kincaid and Dr. G. C.
Chaney. Kincaid received 370 to ('haney's 347 and made a very popular
oflScial. November 23, the postoffice passed from the m.anagement of B. F
Devore to that of E. E. Wilson. Mr. Wilson being one of the original
settlers and founders of Independence, and having devoted a great deal
of time to the records of pioneer days, everyone was gad to see him suc-
cessful in getting the office, which he conducted with diligence and fidel-
ity. It was his last official position, however, as he died not long after
the expiration of his term.
If "no news is good news," the year 1890 was one of the best Indepen-
dence ever experienced, for nothing out of the ordinary happened in the
city during that year. It was, however, another political year which will
always be prominent in the annals of Kansas. The "Alliance'' was then
in the height of its prosperity and the columns of the press were filled
with accounts of its picnics and public meetings. But it was not an
especially prosperous year for Independence, the city having, by that
time, exi»erienced the full eflects of the reaction from the manufactured
boom of the later eighties, and business being dull. Indeed, it began to
look as if the town would go to seed, as so many county seats in farming
sections which had enjoyed "great anticipations" often do.
At the city election in April 1891, Wilson Kincaid was re-elected
mayor without opposition. At the same time J. B. Fnderhill became po-
lice judge. During this year the ]>ress was bemoaning the removal of the
electri<' light plant, which had been shut down for some time previous, to
Aurora, Missouri. But notwithstanding all that was said and done, our
streets remain dark to this day. while a generation of children have grown
to manhood and womanhood here.
In March 1892, Tom Boniface, the fat and jolly Englishnuni who had
been in the meat business on East Main street ever since the pioneer days.
was ( onvicted of obtaining money under false pretenses and sentenced
to the penitentiary. While awniting sentence he caused something of a
isensation by confessing tluit he and a man named Kinnie, who Avas then
I04 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
lunniug the market, and L. T. Steplieusoii. had. the fall previous, stolen
cows belonging to George Waggoner and A. C. b^tich. One or both of
these gentlemen had bought at the market, and eaten on their own tables,
the meat of the cows stolen from them without having the slightest sus-
picion of the way in which those animals had been disposed of. Stephen*
son's prominence as a lawyer, land speculator, county official, and in oth-
er positions in the public life of the community since he came here as
one of the original settlers in 1SC9, made his arrest the talk of the town;
At that time, and since, many have been charitably inclined to hold him
guiltless and Boniface a perjurer who was anxious to jjull others dowi?
with him. Stephenson was sentenced to the penitentiary, but after he
had served a portion of his term Boniface made affidavit that his charge
was false, and Steijhenson was pardoned and soon removed to New
Mexico.
Early in 1893, the Independence city council granted J. D. Nickerson
a franchise for natural gas, and he began drilling on the Brewster place,
five miles east of the city, after having secured a ])ledge from the business
men to pay him fl.OOO.OU when gas was ready for delivery to the subscrib
ers to the fund. After so many vain attemjits to secure gas for the city,
this one materialized and before the end of the year the pipes were laid
and the city was using natural gas for fuel. This was the beginning of a
new era for the city, and, though its recovery from the depression chat
followed the boom times of 1887 was slow, it was sure and steady. Prop-
erty began to connnand better figures and values were more firm. Neg-
lected buildings were painted and the signs of recovery from the
''dum])s" began to manifest themselves on every hand. While no one
fully realized what the new conditions that were beginning to develop
would do for the city, confidence in her future was restored, and she
started on the up-grade.
On the 7th of March Emmett Dalton was brought into court and
pleaded guilty to murder in tlie second degree for })articipation in the
raid on the Cotteyville l)anks the previous October, in which the other
members of the Dalton gang, as well as several citizens, were killed.
Judge McCue sentenced T^mmett to the penitentiary for 99 years, and he
was at once removed to the train ; there being grave fears that an attempt
would l)e made to rescue him. Indeed, during the five months he had been
confined in the county jail Sheriff' Callahan had maintained an armed
guard at the court house in view of the ]M)ssibility if such an attempt,
and it was with a feeling of relief that the ])eople saw this weak and
wounded survivor of the most eventful ejiisode in the history of the countt
depart for Lansing.
In the election of 1893, the contest Avas along ]»arty lines for the first
time in many years, and Dr. G. C. Chaney, the regular Republican candi-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS. I05
date, leeeivecl 545 votes to 475 cast for Henry Baden, the citizen candi-
date.
On the Fourth of July Afilton Cannon left his home in this city, stat-
ing that he was going to Cherryvale to take a train for St. Louis. He was
not afterward seen alive, so far as is known, but five days later his
(]econi}K)sed remains were found in a ravine near the river. Whether he
had been murdered was a grave question. Charles Merrit was afterward
tried for complicity in the murder, on the theory that Merritt had aided
in killing him to avenge the honor of a sister. Merritt was aeciuitted, but
(Teorfi,e Stevens, who was the leading witness against him. had been ])re-
viously eonvicted of the same crime and sentenced to Ix^ liung. He is still
in prison ex})iating an otfense of which many question his guilt, and of
which, he never would have been convicted but for his general dej)ravity.
Indeed, most of the parties connected with the case were of such unsavory
re])utation that it was im])ossible to give credence io their teslimony.
This was the third murder committed in the city — ii uiurder it was.
The first day of .January 181>4, witnessed the worst fatality from the
use of gas that ever occurred in the Kansas field, and one that caused a
thrill of horror through this entire section. The story of the Reed tragedy
is detailed in another chai)ter in this work. No othcc event in !he iiislory
of the city ever caused such a sensation as this did.
Near the close of the same month, the community was again horrified
to lie.u of the suicide of Philip Shoemaker, a prominent citizen and busi-
ness man, who hung himself in a granary out at his farm one Saturday
morning, during a jieriod of nervous de])ression.
This year was signalized throughout by tragedies. On the night of
March 2()th, Night Otficer J. I). Rurnworth shot and killed an unknown
man who was preparing to rob the postoflSce, and who had the drop on
him with a loaded revolver pointed at him and within ihree feet of his
breast
AMien the election for city officers came off in April 1805, Dr. Chaney,
who had been elected mayor two years previous as the regular Republi-
can candidate, was found heading the opposition citizens' ticket, witli
Carl Stich, the regular Republican standard bearer. Chaney had 506
votes and Stich 425.
A very pleasant occurrence was the celebration on Ihe 11th of June
at St. Andrews church, of the twenty-fifth annivercary of its pastor's min-
istry as a priest of the Catholic church. Leading citizens of all denomi-
nations united in testifying to the appreciation in which Reverend Fath-
er Phili]» Scholl was held as a man, as a Chi-islian, as a friend of human
ity and as one who went about doing good to the sick and sorrowing.
The question of the ])urcliase of the water works by the city was
voled on. June 25th, and altlunigh the ]U'oi)Osition to issue bonds for that
Io6 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
purpose received 215 votes to 115 east in opposition, it was defeated for
lack of the re^piired two-thirds majority.
Coming to 1896, the year of the great silver fight for the presidency,
Ave find, as nsnal when politics absorbs so mnch of the attention andener-^
gies of the people, that very little else of interest seemed to happen. The
old adage that "Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.''
migh: be paraphrased to read, "When the politicians don't keep the people
bnsy, they will find some other mischief to amnse themselves with.'' A
notew(»rthy event of the year was the ai)pearance of Samnel C. Elliott, a
promising young lawyer who had been county attorney for two terms and
had secured an enviable jiractice, before the probate court as a candidate
for the insane asylum. He was sent to Osawatomie where he gradually
grew worse and died a few years later.
At the spring election in 1807 W. P. Rowen was chosen mayor by a
majority of 277 votes over I. G. Fowler. Tnder a new law just enacted,
the whole corps of city officers was elective, even where they had previous
ly been appointed by the mayor and council, and the ticket this year ran
down to street commissioner. J. B. Underhill Avas elected clerk. Joseph
('handlei', city attorney, and H. W. Hazen, 'police judge. During the year
the legal fight to prevent the building of the county high school estab-
lished by act of the legislature in February, was kept up; but the prob-
ability of its siu'cess was not great enough to seriously disturb the
equaninnty of the city. Another (•ha}>ter in this volume gives the full
details of this contest. One of the celebrated cases of the county was
tried in the district court early in December, when Henry Sheesley was
arraigned for the murder of Captain Daniel McTaggart. The victim was
one of the early settlers of the cotinty and had been prominent in politi
cal life throughout its entire history. Indeed, he had served in the state
Legislature for fourteen consecutive years and had been tAvice elected
state Senator. Sheesley Avas a tenant of McTaggart's. renting his flour-
ing mill on the ^Vrdigris, and it Avas as the outcome of a dispute about a
settlement of acconnts early in August that the fatal afl'ray occured. Mc
Tjiggart Avas shot and lived but a fcAV hours. Sheeslev's laAVvers made a
strong efi'ort to jirove that he was insane, and he Avent through the forms
of having an ej)ileptic fit in the court room, but the jury concluded that
he AA'as responsible for his acts and convicted him of manslaughter. He
Avas sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. Avhich most of those
familiar with the facts considered a very light punishment for the ofl'ense
of Avhicli he Avas guilty.
Fnily in 180S. a vitrified brick plant Avas established in the city, and
the council i>rovided for ]>aving the business streets Avith its products.
Aboui the same time the Tndei)endence (Jas Company secured a greatly
increased gas supply for the city by extending its mains to connect Avitl;
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. IO7
the AvoUs drilled by the Standard Oil Company out in the neighborhood
of Table Monnd — that company having drilled for oil, and being Avilling
to dispose of the gas to our home company. From this time on the city
had an abundant su})p]y for nmnufacturing purposes, and efforts went
on without cessation to secure their location and make Independence a
manufacturing center.
In ^5ay 181>8, the Twentieth Kansas regiment was enlisted for the
Spanish war, and company "G" was recruited at Independence, and for
the most part consisted of M.ontgomery county boys. On the eve of their
departure for the state capital, the citizens tendered them a reception
and l)anquet which was largely attended and proved a most interesting
occasion, with a grand outflow of patriotic spirit. The officers of this
company were: Captain, D. Stewart Elliott, of Coffeyville; First Lieu-
tenant. H. A. Scott, of Sycamore; Second Lieutenant, William A. Mc-
Taggart, son of the late Senator McTaggart. When the comj>any accom-
l^anied its reginient to the Thilippines, it was to leave there two of these
three — Elliott and McTaggart falling under I'ilipino bullets.
This year Independence city voted $13,000.00 in bonds in aid of the
-extension of the Southwestern line of the Santa Fe down to Kartelsville
in the Indian Territory. There were strings attached to the })roi»ositiou,
however, and one of the conditions — that a depot should be built uptown
and within about three or four blocks of the crossing of Main street and
Penn. avenue — the road had no disposition to comply with, so that the
vote was futile. Probably this was the last vote of bonds for railroad
aid which the city will ever make.
Fire again made holes in the business portion of Independence early
in lSf)l), Anderson's dry goods store and Gottlieb's clothing; house going
up in smoke on the night of the 31st of January, and the LaGrande hotel
going to keep tliem company on the 13th of February. At the session of
the legislature this winter the city was empowered to expend .f.l.OOO.OO
in building the out-let sewer that was so urgently needed and the work
was at once undertaken.
Like Mtiyor Chaney two years before. Mayor Bowen in 1S!)!>. having
held one term after his election as a regular Republican candidate, he-
came, at the end of the term, an independent candidate for the same
â– office. Unlike Chaney, though, he was elected, by a majority of 55.
The business of the Independence postoffice having increased to over
18,000.00 annually on July 1st, 1899, it was raised to the second class
and the postmaster's salary increased to |2,000.00 a year. Edwin Foster,
•one of the pioneers whose name is met frequently in tlie early chronicles
of Montgomery county, was now postmaster. IH' succeeded (ieorge Hill,
who was the incumbent during Cleveland's second administration, and
who nmde, perhaps, the most efficient and popular othcial who ever tilled
the office.
I08 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Next year the postoffiee income had risen to |10,000.00, indicating a
very rapid growth in business, and with the result that before the end of
the year free mail delivery was established, with Lon T. Hudson, Frank
G. Harper and Dale Hebrank as the regular carriers, and Will Williams
as substitute.
June 10th, 1000, another election was held to decide whether to issue
bonds and buy the water works, and the proposition was again defeated,
as it had been five years before, the argument most successfully used be-
ing that as the franchise of the company would expire in five years it
would be poor policy to pay them for a run-down and worn-out plant at
this time, when, by waiting, we would be absolved from all necessity to
do so and could erect an independent plant in 1005.
This year the Republican ticket for city officers, headed by F. C.
Moses, was elected from top to bottom. Mr. M'.oses was opposed by Guy
I. W:'.tt. on a citizens' ticket, who was beaten by 100 votes. The most
impoitant event of the year was the voting of |40,000.00 in bonds for the
construction of two new modern school buildings, of twelve rooms each,
to take the place of the three existing buildings, all of which were to be
demolished. To destroy school houses as good as we then had, seemed to
many ])eople like reckless extravagance and prodigality; but the prac-
tical condemnation of the Fourth ward building, erected in the pioneer
days, made some action necessary and the voters stood by the Board of
Education and adopted the very radical proposition they submitted, the
election being held on the 30th of April, every ward in the city giving a
majority in their favor and the total being 167.
A very pleasant feature of life in Independence during the hot and
dry summer of 1901 was the open air theatre at Gas Park, opposite the
court house, where a professional actor, assisted by his wife and some
very good amateur talent, gave weekly performances all through the sea-
sou. Indeed, so popular a meeting place did this become that the union
services of the churches on Sunday evening throughout the heated term
were held there.
T^'he most destructive wind storm that ever visited the city occurred
on tlie morning of June 21st. For about an hour, between two and three
o'clock, the wind not only blew hard but hot from the west, the calm that
folloAved being accompanied by a temperature above 90 degrees and
in sor.'.e localities in the country reported to have been over 100 degrees.
The greatest damage was done to the court house where the galvanized
iron work of the tower was blown off, and some of the windows broken
outward, indicating a cyclonic vacuum in the outside air. Aside from
this, the dansage consisted principally in the unroofing of buildings and
awnings. The wind, however, had a very deleterious effect on the corn
crop, though that was a failure all over the country that year.
In 1902, Independence began to see the substance of things hoped
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. IO9
for, and her people to realize that she was passing out of the chrysalis
stage and becoming a city in fact as well as in name. The "Washington"
and '"Lincoln" school buildings were completed and school opened in
them about the middle of October. The magnificent five-story "Carl-
Leon" hotel was Imilding and was oi>ened for business the following Feb-
ruary. The Midland Glass Company came from Hartford City, Indiana^
and built a factory here, as well as a large addition to the city north of
the Santa Fe railroad. Across the river, the Ellsworth Paper Company's
mill was finished and put in operation, and the Adamson Manufacturing
Company's sugar plant was erected and began the maunfacture of sor-
ghum syrup. Business buildings of a superior character were put up,
and everywhere evidences of the new life the city had taken on were
manifesting themselves. Meanwhile real estate was doubling and treb-
ling in value, and the demand for residences was entirely in excess of
the supply, notwithstanding they were going up by the score. It was
what, in earlier times, would have been called a "boom," but seemed now
to be only a healthful and normal growth. During this year the Indepen-
dence Gas Company opened the great Bolton gas field, with a capacity of
seventy million cul)ic feet of gas per day, and connected it with our city
system by pipe lines, thus n}aking it contribute to our industrial develop-
ment. At last things were coming our way, and they have continued to
do so up to the present time, in a way that makes the air castles of the
early settlers look like pinch-beck jewelry.
Tlie euun^eration of the spring of 1002 showed a population of 6,208 in
the city, a gain of over 2,000 in two years.
On October 1st, a shocking double tragedy was added to the list of
homicides that has marred the history of the city. The victims were C.
W. Hooper and his divorced wife, Luzetta. They disagreed as to tho
custody of the children, and he was jealous of her still, although sepa-
rated. After consulting an attorney in his office over the j)Ostoffice, they
stepped out into the hallway, where the man shot the woman and then
himself, both dving at once. Thev had not long been residents of the
city, having come here from Wilson county a short time previous.
The city election in Ai)ril 1003, resulted in the choice of \\'. B.
Bowen for a third term as mayor. The opposing candidate was A. C.
Stich, of the Gitizens liank. Both ran <m indei»endent fickets, by peti
tion, and Bowen Avon by 115 votes, after one of Ihe most hotly contested
fights the city had ever seen.
Although it is in no sense history. 1 find it hard to <lra\v this nar-
rative to a close without saying something about the great things in the
way (►f manufacturing industries that it is ex]»ec(ed will soim materialize
and ('(tuble or tvcl)!e the ])0])ulation of the city and extend its boundaries
and multiply its business, l^ut these things are, as yet, only ideas in the
niindR of men and as such only can they be chronicled.
no HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Tn the retrosj).ect. uow that 1 am taking leave of this task, I cannot
fail t<^ realize how very ini]>ei-fert]y it has been pei-foi-med. In looking
over m.ore than a thousand newspapers and culling a few of the more
striking incidents of each year. I have not really been writing history,
but only chronicling a mere fragment of the story of the life of a growing
town. Think of the people who have been born and grown to manhood
and womanhood here, of the stories of their lives, of the steady growth of
the city, of the shade-embowered streets that now stretch out in all
directions; of the thousands of events that have happened here and Iseen
f(mnd worthy of mention in the city press, and of the tens of thousands
of incidents that have not been chronicled, but of which many would
possess an interest surpassing those that have been preserved by the
types — think of all these things and you will realize with me how little
of history is contained in the books that are ca.lled history, and how
much must remain unv.ritteu in our meager annals.
Town Building in the South-East Corner of Montgfomery County
BY mi. T. C. FRAZIER.
Claymore, Wcstralia, Tally Springs, Parker, Old Coffeyville, Colieyville and Liberty
The Verdigris river ( so named on account of the dark green color of
its wjiters) has its origin in Woodson and Greenwood counties and, run-
ning in a southeasterly direction, crosses the south line of the state near
the southeast corner of ^lontgomery county.
Tn the early days, just preceding the opening of the Osage Diminish-
ed Reserve to white settlement, no less than four Indian villages oc-
cupied the banks of this stream, near the point of its emergence from ihe
state of Kansas on the way to its confluence with the Arkansas near Fort
Gibson. Whether from this fact, or because certain traders had estab-
lished themselves near these Indian villages, the idea that an important
city would soon spring up near this point seems to have taken fast hold
upon the minds of the early settlers.
So nearly unanimous was this opinion among the hardy pioneers
that no less than six towns were projected, within an area enclosed by
the segment of a circle drawn from a point five miles up the east line of
the county to a corresponding point on the south line, within two years
after the country was opened to settlement. Some of these were laid out
and pilats prepared for filing even before the ratification of the treaty by
which the Indian title was extinguished, and almost every ••squatter" in-
dulged in rosy dreams of the time when his claim would become a part of
the metropolis of the county.
There can be no doubt, now, that the confidence of the early settlers,
in the fitness of this location for the upbuilding of an im])ortant trade
center, was well founded, but the eagerness of so many of them to enjoy
the honor and emoluments, supposed to accrue to the founder of a pros-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. Ill
peroiis city, came near disappointing the hopes of all, for the fierce battle
for siii»reniacy, by which the aspiring villagers were rent and torn, so
dissipated the town-bnilding energies, which should have been concen-
trated in one united effort, that capital, which might have been attracted
to anv one of the sites chosen, was driven awav bv uncertaintv as to
what the outcome would be.
>A'liat might have been the result if either of these locations had
been backed by a united effort, none can know, but any old settler will
tell you, that the energy wasted in the fierce struggles for supremacy,
among those rival towns, would, if expended in building up one locality,
have made it the best and biggest town in Southern Kansas; as it is I
doubt not that manv loval citizens will now tell vou, that the best, if not
the largest, town in Southern Kansas is to be found in the southeastern
corner of Montgomery countv.
In June 1801), Governor Harvey issued a proclamation organizing
the county of Montgomery and apponiting three commissioners who, at
their first meeting, in the following month, divided the county into three
townships, indicated by two jtarallel lines crossing the county from east
to west. Later on these townshijts were subdivided by two parallel lines
crossing the county from north to south, thus creating nine townships,
each having an area of about seventy-two square miles. Of these sub-
divisions, the southeastern, comprising the territory now included in
Parker and Cherokee townships, was knoAvn as Parker township and
within the limits of this territory much of the early history of the county
was made. Here the towns of Claymore, Westralia, Tally Springs, Parker
and Old Coffeyville rose and fell in rapid succession, to be succeeded by
the present <-ity of ('ofteyville. all located, as above stated, in the south-
east c(»rner of the townshi}». near where the Verdigris river crosses the
soutli line of the state.
In as much as the early population was concentrated in and about
the villages, and that it shifted from one to another as confidence in the
stability of one site waned, to be sucreeded by a boom movement in a
rival place, it is evident that the makers of the early history were inter-
ested in the growth and develojoiient of more than one of the rival towns.
It seems advisable, therefore, that «ertain early events, which affected
tlie c«mimunity as a whole, should be treated of before entering ui»on the
recital of the s]e<-ial life history of the individual villages.
Early Settlers
Lewis Scott, a colored nian, v.lio usade a settlement in the Verdigris
valley mid-way between the sites subsequently chosen as the location for
the towns of Cofteyville and Parker, in February 1867, claimed to be the
first "white" settler in Montgomery county. This claim is confirmed by
the late E. E. Wilson, author of a valuable historical sketch i»ublished in
112 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS.
Edward's Historical Atlas of the county in 1881. Andreas, in his his-
tory of Kansas, accords whatever honor that may be due to the pioneer
settler to (ireen L. Canada who, he says, "in January 18()(>, settled at -x
jioinl on I*ini!])kiu creek, which was subsequently selected as the site for
the villa«ie of Claymore." This historian, however, is in error. Green L^
Canada did make a settlement on l*um])kin creek in 18(>G, as stated by
Andreas, but at a point within the borders of Labette county, one of the
sub-divisions of whi<li — Canada townshij) — still bears his name. From
this ]da<-e ^Ir. Canada moved in December 1808 to a point lower down the
creek which was subsequently selected as the site for the villa.ue of Clay-
more. So the fact remains, as stated by Mr. Wilson, that Lewis Scott
was the })ioneer settler of the county.
In December 18(!7, Zachariah C. Crow settled on a claim adjoining
that of Lewis Scott. The following names are remembered as being
among those who came to this corner of the county in 18(>8 : John A.
Twiss. T. C.. J. ILand Allen (Graham. J. F. Savage'. Jack Thompson. F.
K. Kounc(\ NN'illiam Fain, ^Irs. 10. C. Powell, John ].,ushbaugh, (Ireen L.
Canada. John Mclntyre. Joe Roberts and W. T. and S. W. :\Liys. Of
these, (mly -L F. Savage, John Mclntyre and Mrs. F. C. I'owell remain,
Avhile many who came in 1800 are still here.
AVithin the limits of I'arker township, as originally constituted, the
first three sclnnd districts in the county were organized. Within this
territory the first school-house in the county was built; the first school
taught; the first sermon preached; the first marriage solemnized; the
first church organized and the first building to be used exclusively for
(•hurch j»uri)Oses erected. Here was held the first in(]uest and the first
preliminary examination on a charge of murder, conducted under the
forms of law. Within the linuts of this township the most startling and
sensational act of mob violence known in the history of the county was
enacted, and here an enormous bonded debt was fastened ui)on the
county by election methods the most daring and conscienceless that can
be conceived.
The first school-house, erected near Tally S]»rings, in the early sum-
mer of 18()0, Avas a very primitive structure indeed. Its walls consisted
of slabs set on end and supported in an upright })osition by poles at-
tached to four posts set in the ground. The bare earth served as a fioor
and the roof was partly of clap-boards and partly of straw cut from the
l»rairie near by. Windows were unnecessary, as the chunks between tiie
slabs of the walls admitted all the light and air that was needed. In this
rude structure John C. Kounce. a young son of Dr. K. K. Konnce, taught
a small subscription school in the summer of the same year; which is
believed to be the pioneer school of the county. During the winter of
l801)-70 ]Miss Laura Foote conducted a school at the village of Claymore
which, some historians claim, was the first school taught in the county,
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. II3
hxit there can be no doubt that the Kounce school preceded that taught
In- Miss Foote by several months.
Religion
The itinerant Methodist preacher is usually the first to sj)read the
•'glad tidings'" in jtioneer settlements of the west, but in this county he
v.as i>receded by his IJaptist brother. Rev. F. L. AValker, a Baptist min-
ister from ()s\\eg<», Kansas, preached an open-air sermon at Tally
Spi-ings in the summer of ISGl), which is believed to be the tirst effort at
religious teaching ever attempted in the county. At this time the tirst
church organi/.ation was effected under the name and title of Salem Bap-
tist church.
A little later on I'Jder John Handle, a Christian minister, preached
a series of sermons in the same locality sometimes occu]»ying the school-
house above described and sometimes holding forth in the open air, or at
the houses of the neighboring settlers; esjtecially at the home of the
widow Fike whose daughter the Reverend gentleman afterward mar-
ried. This is claimed by the old settlers of that neighbcuhood to be the
earliest ])rotracted meeting, oi- religious revival held in the county.
The old log church which stood on an elevated ])oint in the north-
west corner of the township, beside the wagon road leading from Coffey-
ville to Indei»endence, was undoubtedly the tirst building erected in the
county to be used exclusively for church pur]>oses. It was built by the
united etforts of the settlers in that part of the townshi}). of rough hewn
logs, contributed by the "S(juatters" on the timber lands along the river
and raised by an assenddage of neighbors gathered together by previous
a])]»ointment for that ])ur[»ose; the four coruei-s being securely notched
together; the space between the logs tilled with bits of wood plastered
with clay and the whole being covered with a substantial roof of clap-
boards.
Tills old church was, for years, the shrine toward Avhich young and
old bent their stei)s on each recurring Sunday, but time, which etfaces
Jill things, has left nothing, save the neighboring giaves. to mark the site
of the sacred edifice.
Wedding Bells
About midsummer of 1S(»!) "Old !Man ^'asser,"' llie pioneer gun-
smith, living on a claim just north of the village of ClaynKu-e, gave his
daughter, Catherine, in marriage to one, James Danehu. This was believ-
ed to be the tirst marriage in the county and the men and boys from the
village, and neighboring claims, ])roceeded to c(debrate the event in true
frontier style; creating such a frightful din that some unsusix'cMng
neighbors tied from their Jiome« in jnortal fear of an Indian uprising.
114 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
The First Murder
In March or April 1870, an old man named McCabe, living alone in
a little cabin a short distance northwest of Tally Springs, was found
dead a few yards from his cabin door. The discoverer of the body, hav-
ing reported his ghastly find to George ('arlton. a claim-holder living
near by, alarmed the neighborhood and led a part}^ of half a dozen or
more to the scene of the tragedy.
The condition of the premises, as seen at this visit, indicated that
the old man had been stealthily approached while sitting at his break-
fast ; That a shot, which passed through his boot leg. had given the first
intimation of danger; that McCabe had risen hastily and engaged in a
struggle with his assailant, and that the victim, after being shot through
the body at such close range as to set fire to his clothing, had run from
the hut and fallen forward on his face, and that the body had been rolled
over and the pockets rifled.
This murder furnished the occasion for the first inquest held in the
county, and incidentally showed the ''squatters' " respecr for orderly
methods of procedure in such emergencies. The county not yet being
fully organized, there was no officer in reach, so far as these settlers
knew, who was qualified to take charge of this case, but the assembled
neighbors, desiring, as far as possible, to observe the forms of law, pro-
ceeded to elect a jury composed of J. F. Bavage. George Carlton, Mike
Carlton, E. K. Kounce. John McCaleb and John Swarbourg. These gen-
tlemen effected a formal organization by electing Mr. Savage foreman
and were sworn in as a coroner's iurv by C. H. Wvckoft", an attorney at
law.
This jury instituted a formal investigation which resulted in the
conclusion that the facts were substantially as stated above, and that
the motive was robbery. A bullet digged from the earthen floor where
it had buried itself after passing through the victim's trousers and boot
leg, indicated that the attack had been sudden and unsuspected, and the
ujhset table and scattered ware showed that the man had risen hastily
to defend himself, or escape by flight. The burned clothing at the point
where the fatal bullet entered the body indicated close contact with the
murderer, as if there had been a struggle for life, and the similarity of
the exhumed bullet to the one cut from the body of the murdered man
was evidence that the assault was made by but one ]»erson, while the in-
verted pockets showed robbery to be the motive for the deed.
It was also apparent that the assassin had done his bloody work
hastily, as several dollars in bills were left in his victim's vest pocket
and a piece of scrijtt. or fractional paper currency, was found on the
ground beside the body.
The finding of the jury was, that "deceased came to his death by
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS. II5
means of a leaden bullet lired from a pistol iu the hands of some per-
son unknown." The body was then removed to the house of George
"Carlton and prepared for burial which, however, was further delayed, as
will be seen below.
First Preliminary on the Charg'e of Murder
The unautliorized i>ro('eedings of the Tally Springs settlers, in the
nuitter of the McCabe murder, although honorable and well-meant, were
not ]>e]-mitted to ]tass unchallenged. While McCabe's body still waited
for burial VA\ Dennis, of Westralia, who had recently been commission-
ed a Justice of the Peace, apjteared u}K»n the scene with a posse and.
taking p»ossession of the body, proceeded to hold another inquest. I am
not informed as to the finding of the second jury .but it must have cast
susjn'cion on three brothers named Shaw, who were holding a bunch of
•cattle in the neighborhood and contesting the right of ^IcCiibe to hold
the claim he occujiied.
It v.as alleged l)y the settlers on the north side of the creek, that the
Weslralia party came out prepared not only to hold the inquest but to
execute the murderous Shaws. who, it is believed, were already adjudged
guilty of the crime. An air of probability is given to this suspicion by
the fact that one of the e(iuipments of the party was a length of new rope
which could have had no legitimate office to perform in the ceremonies
attending a legal in(]uest up-on the dead body. HK)wever this may be,
word had gone out that the Shaws were in danger and the Tally Springs
party hastened to the scene of action where they found the suspects under
•arrest, and a council in ]trogress under a large oak, with spreading
branches standing out from the body suggestively. The most of these
neighbors having brought their long squirrel rities with them the visit-
ing gentlemen from the south side of the creek, esteeming discreti<m the
better i)art of valor, silently withdrew leaving their prisoners in the
hands of the Tally Springs contingent. This movement proved only to be
a feint, as a |)osse was sent out early the next morning to re-arrest the
Shaws and bi-ing them to NVestralia for trial.
Then followed the arraingnment and trial which, as before stated,
was the first formal examination held in the county on a charge of mur-
der. Eli Dennis. J. 1*.. presided and J. M,. Scuihler enacted the roll of
prosetutor, while i\ W. I]llis and J. D. McCue. two young men who sub-
seipiently rose to positions of prominence in tlie judiciary of the state,
were retained as counsel for the accused. The legal battle raged fiercely
for several days but victory finally {terched upon the banner of the de-
fendants' attorneys and their clients, being released, hastily left the
I'ountry.
The real murderer of McCabe will never be kno^\ n. but some of the
settlers north of the creek suspected one. Bill Howell, a susjiicions looking
Il6 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
fellow, who had for some time been hanging around the camp of the
Shaws and who, as was afterward remembered, disa})peared on the day
of the mnrder, and was never again seen or heard of in this part of the
country.
Bonding the County
In 1870 the L. L. & G. Kailway Company submitted a proposition
to build twenty-one miles of road in the county, conditioned upon the
voting to said company, in aid of the enterprise, the sum of two hundred
thousand dollars in county bonds. As it was evident that the road
would be built across the county near its east line, I'arker township un-
dertook to see that the proposition was accepted by an affirmative vote,
and in order That there might be no failure in carrying out that purpose,
all restrictions on the elective franchise, on account of age. sex and
residence, were tem])orarily removed,
The election was held at the town of Westralia and for that day the
fight between the rival towns was suspended, the citizens of each vicinity
vieing with those of the others in their efforts to carry the proposition
through to a successful issue each faction, of course, expecting its favor-
ite locality to be made the terminus of the line, and each, no doubt, hav-
ing assurances from the manipulators of the project, that its desires
would be gratified. All were, therefore, animated by a determination to
])oll enough votes to overcome any opposition that might be developed in
other ])arts of the county.
When the day appointed for the election arrived a board, friendly to
the proposition, was installed and the voting began. It soon developed,
however, that Eli Dennis, one of the judges, was inclined to be over-crit-
ical as to the (jualifications of voters, so a novel scheme was concocted to
get him out of the way. It chanced that he v.as the local justice of the
peace and numerous litigants had business with him that day that was
too important to admit of delay so he was called aside for frequent and
l)rolonged consultation, during which intervals visitors from Labette
county, the Indian Territory. Arkansas and Missouri, and such small
boys as were ambitious to cast their "maiden ballot." were rushed to the
polling place and permitted to vote for the bonds, no questions being
asked, except that each voter give a name, his own or not. no matter, to
be entered on the tally sheets.
T'nder these circumstances it is not surjtrising that men voted
''early and often," but even these irregularities were not sufficient to sat-
isfy the manipulators of the job. It is alleged that Fred O'Brien, an
exj>ert ])onman em]>loyed in George H^all's grocery at Parker, pr<^cured
some blank tally sheets which he filled with names ciqiied at random from
an old New York directory found among the effects of his enqdoyer.
These were passed in to the election board Avith the nund)er of ballots to
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. II7
correspoud with the names on the bogus sheets, and made a part of the
returns.
I can not now recall the number of votes polled at Westralia on that
eventful day but it was not far short of the total population of the
countv. Bv such means the coveted aid Avas voted and in the followins
Tear the road was built, but with characteristic ingratitude the company
ignored the claims of all the friendly towns and selected a site just north
of the village of Coffeyville for the terminus of the line.
This exhibition of bad faith on the part of the company aroused an
intense feeling of bitterness in the outraged community which culmin-
ated in an effort to defeat the delivery of the Ixmds. Suit Avas brought in
the United States court at Leavenworth, with Albert H. Horton as at-
torney for the county, but for some reason — which has never been satis-
factorily explained — the county commissioners suddenly changed front
and oi'dered the suit dismissed "Avithout prejudice;" this was accordingly
done and an order issued for the delivery of the bonds, which of course,
13assed into the hands of innocent purchasers, and thus another link was
forged in the conspiracy against the county.
The bonds being delivered and sold, it became the duty of a subse-
quem board of county connnissioners to levy a tax for the payment of
interest and to provide a sinking fund for the ultimate redemption of the
bonds. This the board declined to do and the case again went into the
courts. This time the people took a hand in the fight and appointed an
advisory committee to collect evidence and advise with the commission-
ers as to the best method of conducting the defense. The Parker town-
ship contingent of the advisory committee nuide a thorough inquiry into
the Westralia election methods and secured the consent of a number of
the chief actors to appear in court and testify as to the irregularities
herein described, but for some reason the commissioners com])romised the
case and the evidence failed to become a matter of record, but the facts
as herein stated may be confidently accepted by the student of the early
history of the county as being substantially correct.
Murder and Mob Violence
hi 1871 the deliberate and cooly planned murder of an inoffensive
old man. Avhich furnished the occasion for the startling and seutsational
act of mob violence already referred to. occurred almost within sight
of the t<»wn of Parker. Old Jake ^liller and Jolin A. Twiss were rival
claimants for a quarter section of hind adjoining the original settlement
of Lews Scott in the Verdigris Valley. Not succeeding in ousting Twiss
by intimidation. Miller called a consultation of his friends to devise
some more effective means of getting rid of the ])rior claimant. In i»ur-
suance (»f this ])ur])ose John Sturman. William Ross and Jim P>raden. a
negro, met at Miller's h(mse and, after discussing the situation, concluded
,11 8 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
•Ihat as Twiss lived al)ne in his little cabiu, the safest and most expe-
ditious plan was to leniove him by assassination. A plan of proceediire
being agreed upon, and a certain Sunday night set for the perpetration
of the bloody deed, the ♦onspirators dispersed to their several homes to
await the appointed hour for tlie ]>erf()rniance of their respective parts in
the bloody drama. t)n that fat;il Sunday night the church-going part of
the comuiunity were suritrised to see old Jake ^liller and his entire fam-
ily enter the village church, and many whisi)ered comments were made
upon the unusual circumstance.
The niovemeiits of Sturman on that day are not now remend)ered,
but they were such as to enable him to ]>rove an alubi, if it should be
necessary. Ross lived several miles u}> the river and on that account was
not likely to be suspected ; and in the case of the negro. Braden. there was
no known motive to connect him with such a crime. However, as was
develo};ed by tlie subsequent investigation, Koss was to commit the mur-
der and the negro was to wait for him at a certain ]>oint on the river,
where a skiflf was known to be kept, and there set him across that he
might return to his home by the most direct and least traveled route.
On the afternoon of the day a]>]»ointed for Twiss' removal Ross called
at the store of W. W. Ford, in Parker, and purchased an iron wedge,
which had the price marked upon it with white ]»aint. in the merchant's
private cipher. He also bought a lunch of some kind and ate it in the
store, taking so much time about it that it was (piite late when he took
his de]>arture. From there he evidently went to the home of Twiss where
he shot the old man as he sat at his table reading a small pocket bible.
This shot not proving immediately fatal the old man appears to have
risen and rushed to the door, where he was met by the murderer who
clubbed him with his gun, crushing his skull and breaking the stock from
the barrel of the gun.
The assassin then repaired to the \AAce, appointed for crossing the
river, sank the broken gun in the water and was ferried across by Braden,
who then returned to his own home in the heavy timber.
Tlie body of the murdered man was soon discovered by a neighbor
returning from the church where old Jake Miller had that night attended
church. The alarm was given and an immediate search for a clue to the
perpelrator of the crime instituted.
In those days claim trobles were not an infrequent cause of enmity
between neighl)()rs. and Miller's known contention with Twiss for posess-
lon of the claim they both occupied, and his sudden piety on the night of
the murder, caused him to be suspected of complicity in the crime. He
was, therefore, arrested on the following Tuesday morning. The arrest of
Sturman and Braden soon followed, not because there was any evidence
-against them but because of their known intimacy with Miller subjected
Ihem to suspicion of having a guilty knowledge of the crime.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. II9
In the meautiiiie search was being made about the Twiss cabin for a
clue which resulted in the finding and identification of the iron wedge
purchased by Ross on the day of the murder. This, of course, connected
Ross with the crime and he was immediately arrested. The prisoners
were arraigned before S. B. Morehouse. J. P., for examination on a charge
of murder, J. M. Scudder appearing as attorney for the state and C. W.
Ellis acting as counsel for the accused. A plea of "not guilty" was
entered, and as there was no evidence upon which to hold Miller, Stur-
nian and Braden, they were released.
Marshall S. S. Peterson, however, still kept his eye on the negro and,
finally, by threatening to lock him up in the little one-celled calaboose
with Ross, he was so wrought up. on account of his superstitious fears,
that be made a full confession to the facts as above recited.
On the strength of this confession Miller and Sturman were re-arrest-
ed, and Braden, being assured of his personal safety, consented to come
into court and give evidence for the state.
Following the discovery of the tragedy which had been enacted at
the lonely Twiss cabin, popular excitement had raged at fever heat and
the sessions of the court had drawn such crowds of interested spectators
as to tax the capacity of the little school house where the trial was held,
and it was expected that the final sitting would bring out an unusually
large atteudence, and that the tide of popular excitement would reach
the danger limit. So a posse was summoned to secure the safety of court
and prisoners, but notwithstanding the rumored confession of the negro
and its confirnmtion by the finding of the broken gun at the place pointed
out by him. the finding of the iron wedge and its identification as the one
bouglit by Ross on the day of the murder, and the sensational story that
Braden was expected to tell about the conspiracy and crime, the attend-
ance was noticeably small. There seemed to be a sudden lajtse of popular
interest in the proceedings and when the prisoners were remanded ti)
jail to be held for trial before the district court, only a few idle men and
boys were on hand to follow them and their guards to the calaboose,
where they were manacled and locked up for tlie night; a guard being
l)laced about the building for additional safety.
Some time during the night the seeming lapse of popular interest in
the court proceedings at the little school house were explained in a start-
ling manner. Another court, that of "Judge Lynch." had evidently heou
holding, a star chamber session with a full attendenr*^ The Jiuavds at the
jail v.-ere suddenly c(mfronted with overwhelming numbers and (piietlv
ordered to surrender. So orderly and unexpectedly was the attack that
the men seemed to have risen u}> out of the ground and in such numbers
as to make it apparent that resistence would be worse than useless. So
the officer and his jxisse silently obeyed the order to lay down their arms.
The jail key was taken from the pocket of niglit marshal, John Sowash,
,120 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
the door imlooked and the prisoners brony,ht forth. The officers and
guards, except two young- felU»ws. were pushed into the jail and the door
closed ui)on them and locked. The two young fellows were stationed a
little way from the building with their faces to the west and told not to
move for a given time <»n pain of death. A wagon was procured into
which the prisoners were mounted and a ])rocession formed which moved
a little way east and then turned n)rth in the direction of the scene of
the late tragedy. All the^•e moveriients were executed so silently that the
sleeping inmates of the nearest residences were undisturbed.
The two young men with their faces to the Avest stood like statues
until sure their probation had expired, when they procured a sledge ham-
mer and broke the lock from the jail door, releasing the officers and
guards, but n> pursuit was atteni]>ted until morning, when the bodies of
their prisoners. Miller, Sturmau and Koss were found hanging from a
branch of a large oak which stood near the door of the Twiss cabin.
The man who kept the ferry near by reported that he had set an
armed party. numl)ering about sixty men. across the river on that fatal
night, and the guards at the jail estimated the number of their ca])tors
from tifty to sixty, but the exact number has never l)een known. Neither
has the identity of these self-api»ointed executioners ever been made
])ublic.
This was no ordinary mob moved to deeds of violence by tierce un-
reasoning passion, but a t-ompany of cool-headed, determined men, who,
seeing in the Twiss murder a menace to the peaceful and (U'derly admin-
istration of affairs, so necessary to the safety and good repute of the com
niunity. resolved to forewarn those who were inclined to yield to the
promptings of evil passion, by visiting swift and terrible punishment
upon the stealthy and cowardly assassins of an unoffending old man.
This is amply proven by the entire absence of the usual methods of the
mob. There was no noisey bluster, no wanton destruction of property,
no effort to terrorize the conununity by the reckless discharge of firearms
and the mutilation of the bodies of the victims, but just a quiet and
orderly infliction of the death penalty upon a convicted murderer and his
fellow-conspirators.
Ordinariiv no go(.d citizen can afford to condone the taking of hun.an
life witiiout due process of law. but in a frontier settlement such execu
^ions as is here described sometimes afford the best possible safeguard to
the lives and proi)erty of the well-disposed. That such was the effect ol"
the summary execution of the Twiss murderers, there is little doubt, as
in those days there were many conflicting interests which might have ter-
minated in murder if this one had been permitted to pass unavenged.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 121
Rival Towns
In the winter of 18(j8-lJ the trading post of G. L. Canada, on Pump-
kin Creek, became the nnclens of the village of Claymore which grew to be-
a smart little town of ]ierhai)S one hundred souls. Early in the spring
following a town company was formed with (i. L. Canada, president, and
A. M. Duncan as secretary. A few small stores were oi)eued to supply
the villagers and scattered settlers with dry goods and groceries and to
trade with the Indians. John Lushluuigh. one of the store ke<'pers. also
kej!t a tavern for the entertainment of man and beast, and J^r. lH.tewart,
the pioneer doctor, whose armamentarium consisted of a ty\v obsolete
journals, a time-worn dispensatory, a pair of dilapidated saddle bags, a
tooth forceps and a dozen or so of bottles and packages, set up an otifice in
one corner of Lushbaugirs store.
'i'lie promoters of this town started out with high h jpes of building
a town of importance but, alas, for the stability of human hortes. the
summer was not half over before the euterprise was overshadoA\ed by the
founding of the rival town of Westralia.
This village was founded by Capt. H. C. Crawford and Eli Dennis
in the early summer of 1809. It was located on a broad plateau, midway
betA\een Claymore and the south line of the state, on an old cattle trail
leading from the south, known as the West Trail, hence the name,
Westralia.
The village sprang into prominence and in a very few months boasted
a population nund)ering several hundred. It was the mart toward which
long lines of prairie schooners, freighted with fruit and produce, from
â– Nfissouri and Arkansas, wended their way, and its merchants did a flour-
ishing business with the scattered settlers in the neighborhood, the Osage
Indians from the several villages scattered along the river and the resi-
dents of the Cherokee country on the south. When I visited the place
in the late summer of the same year it presented an aii- of bustling ac-
tivity surprising to see, in a country so sparcely settled, but it Avas Ihe
supply point for a territory' many miles in exteiit and its merchants did
a thriving trade. Mewliiney & Fagan. E. C. Robertson and X. F. Howard
were leading merchanls. O. E. HSnes (•(►ndncted a hai-ness and saddlery
sho]». Louis longer ke]>t the village hotel. Joe lienoist. of liaxter
Springs, put in a stock of drugs (the first in the county) prt^sided over by
John Fleming. Perry Clary ;ind Ed. Suydam were dealers in live stock.
Joe ^IcCreary ran a saw mill near by and Dr. Allen, afterword famous
as a ^lasonic lecturer, was the village doctor. The ]iio]ieer news]»aper c»f
the county was ])ublished here, as appears in the chapler on "Newspap-
ers" in this book.
It would seem that a town with five or six hundred inhabitants, lo-
cated on a commanding site, doing a large and lucrative business in
nearly all lines of trade; ils j)r()fessi()nal men, merchants and tradesmen
122 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
owniug their stores, shops and residences, might well hope to hold its
own against all later rivals, but such was the state of uncertainty as to
the final location of the metropolis that men held themselves in readiness
to mount their buildings on wheels and move them to any point which,
for the moment, might seem to be backed by a more powerful influence.
So Westralia, with all her business and bustle and bright prospects,
was destined soon to experience the fate of her sister — Claymore.
Tally Spring's
In August 18(j0, J. F. Savage, E. K. Kounce, William Fain and Dr.
Dennison formed a town company and laid out the village of Tally
Springs, around a large natural spring of that name on Potato Creek,
about one and one-half miles northwest of Westralia. Lying directly in
the line of the L. L. & (i. R. R., as afterward constructed, this village
might, by liberal management, have become a formidable rival to the vil-
lage of Westralia and prevented altogether the founding of Parker
and the present town of Cotfeyville, but E. K. Kounce, whose claim
formed a part of the site, had such an exaggerated idea of the importance
of the location that he refused to encourage the investment of capital by
giving away building lots.
It is said that Parker, York & Co., the wealthiest of all the pioneer
merchants, prepared to open up their immense stock of merchandise here,
if given a one-eighth interest in the town site of three hundred and
twenty acres, but Kounce promptly informed them that if they wanted
lots in that town they must buy them. This undoubtedly settled the fate
of this promising village, which never attained a population above fifty
or seventy-five people. After the building of the railroad the name of the
village was changed to Kalloch, and a station maintained there for a few
years, but even this was finally abandoned and the land reverted to farm
purposes.
Coffeyville — Old Town
About the tinse the Tally Springs townsite was being i)latted or a
little later. Co]. (\)ft:'ey, N. B. Rlanton, Ed. Fagan, John Clarkson and
William ^^'ilson formed a company and laid out a town around Col. Cof-
fey's trading post, previously estal)lished for the purpose of trading with
the Black Dog band of Osages, who then had their little village south of
Onion Creek, on the site subsequently appropriated by Ben. Chouteau,
and still known as the Chouteau place. The new town was named Cof-
feyville in honor of its principal founder, but it did not assume much
importance until 1871. Col. Coffey was the principal merchant, N. B.
Blanton ke|)t the hotel, Peter Wheeler, an accom]»lished young physicip/i,
administered to the ills of the people. E. Y. Kent presided at the black-
smith's forge, and S. B. Hickman kept a little store and handled the
Ignited States mail.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. I 23:
A little later on (\ W. Miuin. Barron & Heddon. J, B. Burns and
Bead Bros., were added to the business circles, but as before stated the
real history of the place did not begin until the L. L. & G. Bailroad was'
built in 1871, so it will be treated under the head of ('offeyville, of which
it soon became a part.
Parker
In the late summer of 1S09. James W. I'arker, of the Southwestern
J^tage Company, came to southern Kansas to rest and recuperate
and incidentally to try the effect of the climate on a painful disease from
which he had long been a sufferer. While here he became greatly inter-
ested in the prospect of the early growth of a good town on the border,
but not being satisfied with the conditions of either of the sites already
laid out, he i)urchased a claim of Peter Miller on the east bank of the
Verdigris river, about one mile from Westralia and a little nearer to the
state line. Here he laid out and platted a town site, and soon after or-
ganized a town company, with Maj. H. W. ]Martin as president, and D. T.
Parker as secretary.
This town was christened Parkersbourg in lionor of its founder, but a
little later on the "bourg" was dropped, as it was thought tliat the simple
name of the founder Avas more appropriate, as well as being less cumber-
some. The well known character of Mr. Parker for honesty and financial
standing served to attract immediate attention to the new town and
people began to talk about the rising metropolis before there was any-
thing, except the surveyor's stakes to mark the site.
\Vlien I came to the place in the last days of October in 18(50 there
were just three houses on the town site; the original claim cabin, a small
structure built of logs, a little board shanty used by the town com]»any as
an office, and a small three-room building owned and occupied by Robert
Walkei' as a boarding house; but ground had been broken for the locali':n
of a large double store room soon to be occupied by Parker. York & Co.
as a general store. Their .|4(t,000.00 stock of goods was already being re-
ceived and stored in temjtorary sheds, until the building could be made
ready for occupancy.
Wright & Kirby had located a saw mill near by and a considerable
number of men were engaged in felling the oak. cotton wood and walnut
trees, of which there was an abundant growth in the valley lands, and
carting them to the mill to be cut into lumber to sup{)ly the rapidly in-
creasing demand. The saAV and hannner were heard early .md late, and
stores. sho])s and residences sprang u]» as fast as lumber could be
obtained for their construction.
Parker, York & Co.'s building was soon completed and their im-
mense stock of merchandise, consisting of dry goods, groceries, hardware,
bootw and shoes, hats and cajts, farming imjilenients, li<|uors, etc. were
124 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
Opened up and a corps of clerks installed to serve the numerous custom-
ers ^^ilo came from many miles around.
Tlie oi)enin<> of this mammoth store was followed by the opening of
many smaller ])laces, representing- all lines of trade, transforming the
place, in a few weeks, from a quiet landscape into a thriving commercial
center.
The wide reputation of the founder of the new town, the confidence
displayed by Parker, York & (\>. in the investment of a small fortune in
mercantile business in this l)order land, and the unprecedented growth
of the county in population, served to stimulate a marvelous growth in
the little city, so that, in less than a year, it had completely overshadowed
the rival villages and acquired a population estimated at one thousand
souls.
Among those engaging in business here, at this early period, I remem-
ber Parker, York & Co., W. W. Ford, Green L. Canada, Buenaman Bros.,
Barricklaw Bros., and Gould & McDonald, general merchandise; Frazier
& Frazier, ^Vells FJros., George Hall. John Wright, and Cox Bros., gro-
ceries, Cunningham & Frazier, and Scott & Hooser, drugs; D. A. Davis,
and Hines & H,iolty, harness and saddlery; Ziba Maxwell, stoves and tin-
Avare, Capt. A. M. Smith, and Vannum & Peterson, livery; S. O. Ebersole,
jewelry; John Todd, wagon-maker; ^Morehouse & Beardsley. and John Le-
wark, blacksmiths; J. C. Frazier, lumberman; Joseph Benadum. Frank
Boggs, and John McDonald, cari)enters and builders; C. W. Ellis, Leroy
Neal. and K. E. Horner, attorneys; G. D. Baker, editor of the Parker Rec-
ord; John Beverly, barber; Louis Rhule, baker and confectioner; C. M.
Heatherington. billiard hall; Smith & ^fallen. Scott & Kearns. John
I'rutteman. and Neal & Cottingham, li(|uors; John Lipsy, Robert Walker,
John Brown, John Harper and Henry Lee, boarding; S. B. Morehouse
and M. D. Bailey, hotels; (1 S. Brown, book-kee])er ; William Wallace,
John S. Lang, Prosper Vitue. Fred O'Brien. Enoch Hadder. ^Litt Draper,
and Edwin Foster, clerks; T. (J. Frazier and E. B. Dunwell, ])hysicians;
several of whom are still residents of the county.
Society in Parker
On Christmas night, 18<>9, the successful inauguration of the new
town was celebrated in the midst of a blinding snow storm (the first of
the season) by a grand ball given in the large hall over I'arker, York &
Co.'s store, the banquet being s})read at James Brown's hotel, where
plates were laid for one hundred coui)]es. This was doubtless the first
social event, of any consideiable importance, in ^lontgomery county and
it was conducted in a manner that would have done credit to a much
older settlement.
]Much has been said and written about the ''wild and wooly" char-
.acter of the ]>eople, their predile<'tion foi- "a man for breakfast every
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS. 125
morniug," and all that, but, as a matter of fact, personal encounters were
infrequent and the low dives and dance houses that disgrace the average
border town, were not tolerated. On the contrary, there was a friendly
feeling and unanimity of purpose among our people — a disposition to act
together in matters jtertaining to the material welfare of the community,
and an absence of petty jealiousies that would have been remarkable in a
much older communily. True, the town was a resort for many rough
cliar.icters. as every bustling, border town must be, but as a rule good l^il
lowship prevailed, even in the most. boisterous assemblages.
As for our social gatherings they would compare favorably with
those of any old community. A stranger drop])ing into one of our even-
ing entertainments would have f<uind our women as modest and well
dressed, our men as genteel and courtley, and our conversation as re-
fined and well sustained as in any part of the country. Hie might have
missed the music, the flowers, and the swallow-tailed coat, but in other
respects he would have no reason to consider us uncivilized.
To be sure the "^shindig" was patronized by the ruder element of so-
ciety, and on such occasions the hoodlum was very much in evidence, but
even in these meetings good nature usually prevailed, and when it was
otherwise, a black eye or a bloody nose was generally the most serious
casualty.
It was the unity of purpOvSe, abov^e mentioned, that enabled the people
of Parker to sustain, for three years,, the bitter fight for supremecy which
was waged against the rival town of Coflfeyville, backed by the powerful
influence of the railroad comiKiny. It was this unity of ettort that en-
abled them to compel the i-ailroad comi)any to extend its line to Parker
and niaintain there, for months, better depot facilities than were sup-
l)lied to its own town of ( 'otteyville, but the contest was uneipial and
some of our largest ca]>italists, growing tired of the struggle, abandoned
the fi^ht and a stampede (juickly followed.
Incidents
It is no easy task to select from the multiplicity of events which gave
color t(» our community life during the brief rime in which Parkei' was the
recognized metro|)olis of this corner of the county, tliovsc which will best
illustrate the characteristics of the residents of that ill-fated village, but
as my story would hardly be com])lete without some such attempt, a few
of the more sti-iking are selected, leaving much to the imagination of the
reader.
The story of the summary justice meted out t<t the jiiurdcrci-s of .John
A, Twiss has already been recited, so it only remains to be said that this,
altlnnigh itself a.n unlawful act, s<M'ves t(» em]»hasize the determinatio.i
-of this pioneer connnnnity to protect the lives and property of tiie well-
126 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
disposed, even to the jioint of taking human life, when the circumstaneesf
seemed to warrant such heroic measures.
On numerous occasions our people were called upon to exhibit this
determination in such an enii»hatic manner as to warn the tough element
that they would not be permitted to terrorize the weak and timid wit3
impugnity.
In the spring of 1871. when the railroad was nearing completion to
Coffeyville, that village took on quite a little boom. Cattlemen were driv-
ing their herds to that j»oint for shi]»ment and with these herds came the
usual quota of reckless cowboys. The influx of this element caused the
opening of numerous saloons and dance houses, and this, of course^
brought into the community the usual gang of gamblers, })ick pockets,
thugs, and all-round toughs who constitute the patrons and hangers-on
of such places. These gentry, as might be expected, soon took sides with
Cofl"eyville in the town fight then just beginning between that village and
I'arker. Almost daily threats were made by these fellows that they were
about to raid the latter place and wipe it out of existence, and the experi-
ment was actually made on several occasions. .
Among the fre(|uenters of "Red Hot Street." as the locality in Cof-
feyville given over to saloons and dance halls was called, was a notorious
gang, known as the "Adams gang." These fellows had frequently given
it out that they were going down to Parker to shoot up the town. One
morning Avord was brcmght in that the "'gang" was actually advancing up-
on the city, and preparation was made to give them a warm reception.
Pietty soon they were heard riding across the river bridge and in a few
moments they ap])eared in the soutii end of Oak street, which w^as then
the main business street of the town. Here they were met by a committee
who notified them that they Avere not wanted in that town, at the same
time calling their attention to the gleaming gun barrels protruding from
every corner and doorway along the street ; a convincing evidence of the
inhospitable intentions of the jieople tOAvard such fellows as they. This
ended the interviev,-. and the "gang", esteeming discretion the better part
of valor, (piietly AvithdreAV to be seen in that town no more.
On another occasion tAvo young felloAVS rode into the town Avithout
]»revi<)ns announcement, "to haAe some fun with the town." They were
more daring than the "Adams gang" and actually commenced hostilities
by shofiting the AvindoAvs out of one of the hotels. The shooting attracted
the allention of the marshall, who S((on a]»i)eared on the scene Avitli a
posse and summoned the invaders to surrender, and upon their refusal to
do so the marshall shot one of them through the neck, Avhile one of his
assist ;m1s beat the other into insensibility with a club. When the man
Avith The bullet in his ueck Avas ]n<-ked u]i he Avas found to have sustained
a broken neck. j>roducing complete jtaralysis of the body and limbs, from
wliicli he died two days later. Has companion soon regained conscious-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 127
ness jiiid was pei-initted to leave town, while the wounded man was put
to bed in the hotel upon which he had just made a wanton assault, and
tendeily cared for until death.
Out of the killin<i, just described grew the only fatal collision be-
tween resident citizens of the town. This tragedy — the killing of George
Conry by Alex. Kearns — which was enacted on the following day, cre-
ated a more intense feeling of excitement than any other event which
ever occured in the village of Parker. These two men were rival saloon
keepers, between whom an unfriendly feeling had existed for some time,
;;iid after the fra.-.is above desctlind Conrv accused Ivearns of kicking
the c'nbbed nuni as he lay unconscious where he fell from his horse.
Kearns resented the accusation and on the following morning went to
Conr;, 's place of business and demanded an apology, which Conry re-
fused to make, but, instead, reitterated the charge previously made.
This so enraged Kearns that he opened fire upon Conry with a small
caliber revolver, inflicting several body wounds. Friends interferred
and Kearns then returned to his own place, while Conry went to his
boarding house a few rods away, where I was summoned to dress his
wounds.
As I passed down the street tov/ard Lee's boarding house, where
Conry lived, Kearns came out of an alley just ahead of me and also
turneu in the direction of the boarding house. A moment later, Conry,
stripped to the waist, rushed into the street pistol in hand, and a duel
Avith large caliber weapons began. Several shots were fired, one of which,
from Kearns' pistol, passed through the thin walls of the building,
wounding Henry Lee in the arm. Finally, Kearns, resting his pistol on
liis left arm, took deliberate aim and fired. Simultaneously with the re-
port ot his pistol Conry leaped high in the air and fell dead in the street;
the ball having entered his right eye so centrally as to nuike only a
sight nick in both the upper and lower lids. Kearns was immediately
j)laced under arrest and then began the intense popular excitement be-
fore referred to. Kearns, who was blamed for following Conry up, after
luiving the best of the first encounter, was a fierce-tempered, over-bearing
fellow, while Conry. aside froni his l)usiness, was considered a quiet and
respectable citizen; hence ])ublic indignation ran high against Kearns.
The friends of Conry were bent on avenging his death by nujb violence,
but the better element determined, if possible, to prevent this additional
blot on the fair name of the city, so they formed themselves into a volun-
tary committee to ])rotect the prisoner and (piiet the excitement. After
two days and nights of unremitting effort, dispersing groni)s of excited
people here and there and doing guard duty at the hotel where the prison-
er was held, the committee succeeded in bringing about a better state of
feeling. Men returned to their various occupations and Ihe law was per-
mitted to take its course. In this case, however, its course was not in ac-
128 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
cordance with the known facts and I have heard some very good men
express a regret that the mob had not been permitted to work its will
upon the slayer.
Coffeyville
In the spring of 1871, when the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston
railrojid (now the Santa Fe) was nearing completion to the south line of
the state, certain ofi1cei*s and employes of the comjiany selected a tract of
Innd lying immediately north of and adjoining the site of the "Old Town"
of Cotieyville, but located within the Osage Diminished Reserve, for town-
site purposes. This tract of land, being a part of section 36, township
34, range 16 east of the sixth principal meridian, was surveyed and
platted by Octavius Chanute, chief engineer of the above-named railway,
company as "Railroad Addition to the City of Coffeyville," and it was
entered for the "'benefit of the occupants" by W. H. Watkins, probate
judge, on the 22d of June 1871. On the 20th day of October of the same
year, Mr. Chanute filed his plat in the oftice of the register of deeds for
INIontgomery county, and thus was launched on the uncertain sea of com-
mercial endeavor, another aspirant for the honor of being rated the best
town in southern Kansas.
The following winter the friends of the new town procured the enact-
ment, by the state legislature, of a special law authorizing the incorpo-
ration of the village of Coffeyville as a city of the third class. This law
was signed by the governor on the 20th day of February 1872, and a few
days later was presented to H. G. Webb, judge of the district court for
]\fontgomery county, together with a petition praying for the issuance
of the necessary order for carrying the law into effect. This order was
issued on the 5th day of ]\Iarch 1872, fixing the limits of the new city so
as to include only the "Railroad Addition" before mentioned.
Judge Webb's order inc(tr}»orating the city of Coffeyville fixed March
16, 1872. as the date for holding the first election for city officers, and
designated election officers as follows: Judges, T. B. Eldridge, G. W,
Curry and J. M. Scudder; (^lerks, H. A. Kelley and A. W. Hoit; Can-
vassing Board, J. G. Vannum. G. J. Tallmau and D. P. Hale. These
election officers being duly qualified before Eli Dennis. J. P., on the 18th
of ]Marcli, ])roceeded to {jtrform their duties in accordance with the order
of the court, and made j>roclamation of the result of the election as
follows:
.Mayor elect, A. B. Clark; Councilmen elect, W. Hi Bowers, G. W.
Curry, G. J. Tallman, D. Blair and E. S. Eldridge; Police Judge, G. A
Dunlap.
The mayor and councilmen elect having been duly (]ualified, held
their first meeting on the 22d of March, and conqdeted the organization
by the appointment of L N. Kneeland, city clerk and Peter R. Flynn,
mar.^hall.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 1 29
Thus it came about that the territory phitted as an addition to the
vilhige of Coffeyville became the incorporated citj^ of Coffeyville to the
exclusion of the town to which it was ytresnmed to be only an addition.
This anomalous circumstance was presumed to be justified by the
fact tliat the Cherokee Strip, on which the old tow^n was located, was not
open for entry at the time of the incorporation, and, therefore, not under
the jurisdiction of the court for such pur])oses, but, as will be seen later
on, this view was not acce]>ted by the settlers on the original town site.
The Cherokee Strip of that day w^as not the Cherokee Strip opened to
settlement a few years ago, and now a part of Oklahoma territory, but a
narrow strip of land (about two and one-half miles wide at this point)
acquired by treaty with the Cherokee Indians when the final survey was
made to locate the 37th parallel of latitude which marks the southern
boundary of the state of Kansas.
On this strijK which was not opened for entry until about two years
after tlie Osage Diminished Reserve lands came into market,, was located
the original village of Cofteyville and the thriving town of Parker and
this is the circumstance ])reviously referred to which gave Coffeyville the
advantage and ultimately enabled her to win out in the fierce struggle
for sujtremacy waged l)etween the two towns in the early seventies.
Parker, with a better site, a larger ])opulation and a stronger financial
backing, had to yield to her younger rival because her town company
could not tell Intw long investors would have to wait for titles to the lots
on which they were asked to make improvements.
Having secured incorporation and eft'ected the organization of a mu-
nicipal government there was much rejoicing and mutual congratulation
among the people of (,'oft'eyville, but the new city's troubles were by no
means at an end.
In addition to the fight made by the lusty young city of Parker, there
was war between the two Cofteyvilles. There was blood in the eye of the
people of the "old town" because of the cou]» by which the new town had
secured se])arate incori)oration and robbed the old of its United States
postoftice, which had l)een moved across the line. Fre(pient stormy meet-
ings were held at which the situation was discussed and the i)eoi>le of
the old town, having a sufficient club in that clause of the constitution
which i»rovides, "that in all cases where a general statute can be made
aj>plicable, no sjtecial law shall te enacted," finally i»revailed so far as to
force their neighbors to surrender their charter and seek re-incorpora-
tion under the general statute.
A petition was circulated and signed by the i)eople of the two
villages and presented to B. W. Perkins, then judge of the district court,
praying for the incorporation of the two villages into a city of the third
class in accordance with the general law governing such incori)()rations
in the state of Kansas. This petition was filed on the 25th of March 1873^
130 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
and an order issued designating the 7th day of April as the date for hold-
ing the first election, appointing election and canvassing boards and
defining the boundary limits of the city so as to include the platted terri-
tory comprised in both villages.
The election being held as per order of the court one hundred and
sixty ballots were cast and the canvassing board declared the following
officers elected: Mayor, Dr. G. J. Tallman; rouncilnien, J. M. Hidden,
W. A. Moore. T. J. Dean, A. J. Hanna. and W. M. Moberly; Police Judge.
John A. Heckard. The raayor and councilmen elect being duly qualified,
met on the 16th of April and completed the organization of the new city
government by electing W. A. Moore, president of the council and ap-
pointing the following subordinate officers: City Clerk, Luther Perkins;
Marshall, E. M. Easley; Treasurer, W. T. Reed; and street Commission-
er, George Tuck.
Local troubles thus being happily adjusted the warring factions
found time to unite their efforts against the rival town of Parker which,
for reasons already mentioned, soon abandoned the unequal contest, but
not until the attention of investors had been diverted to other points.
Liberal inducements were offered to the leading merchants of Parker
and also to the banking firm of Parker, York & Co., to remove to Coffey-
ville, which were finally accepted. This desertion of her strongest busin-
ess firms broke the fighting spirit of the Parker people and the town col-
lapsed as suddenly as it had grown into prominence, but the result was
almosl as fatal to Coffeyville, as that town was so completely checked
that it was several years before her population reached the number boast-
ed bv her unfortunate rival at the end of the first vear of her meteoric
existence.
In the early eighties the town again began to grow and on the 20th
day of July 1887, by proclamation of Governor John A. Martin, it was de-
clared to be a city of the second class, the preceding spring enumeration
having shown a population exceeding two thousand persons. The census
of 1000 shows a population of 4,053 and the assessor's returns for 1003
shows a population of 7,075.
Financial and Commercial
From the earliest period of its history Coffeyville has been the bus-
iness center for an extensive territory from which her merchants and
tradesmen have drawn a large and lucrative business. Men who began
business here in the early days with a small capital have grown rich, and
the number of business failures have been remarkably few, and those few
have been due to incai»acity rather than to lack of business opportunity.
In the early days all immigrants liad a little money, received from
the sale of their belongings in the states from which they came, and, being
made up mainly from a class little accustomed to handling money, they
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. I3I
seemed to Ihiiik their pnrses like the "Avidow's <'iiise of oil," could never
be wholly emptied. Many of them lived so expensively that when the time
came for enterinji the lands they were reduced to the necessity of borrow-
ing money at exhorbitant rates of interest with which to pay the entry-
fees and make necessary improvements.
The breaking up of an immense acreage of virgin soil loaded the air
witTi malaria and a great deal of sickness resulted. It thus happened
that extravagent living and sickness, combined, brought some years of
hard times, which were bad for purely financial concerns. The two local
banks, those of T. B. Eldridge and Noah Ely & Son, failed, and a few
small merchants were forced to close their doors, but with these ex-
ceptions the mercantile and financial institutions of Coflfeyville have
always been above suspicion of weakness.
The neighboring farmers have either mastered their early difficulties
or sold out to later comers who were in easier circumstances. Mortgages
have been paid ott and many farmers, after getting their places well im-
proved and well stocked, still have a good bank account.
This condition of the farming interests makes the merchants pros-
perous and ]»uts it in the power of the banks to take care of every legiti-
mate demand for money at reasonable rates of interest. The merchants
on their ]>art are loyal to the banking institutions, as was well exempli-
fied during the last financial crisis, when banks all over the country jvere
being forced to close their doors by a wild scramble to withdraw deposits.
When it became evident that the gereral panic would spread to this lo-
cality, the merchants joined in a published statement, declaring their
entire confidence in the stability of the local banks and pledging them-
selves to keep on dej)osit every dollar that could be spared from their
business, instead of using it to discount their bills, as had been their cus-
tom. This action immediately restored the confidence of outside deposit-
ors and doubtless averted financial disaster.
Railroads
The jieople of Coffeyville have always been keenly alive to the value
of transportation facilities and have given such encouragement to the
construction of railroads as could l>e extended without over-burdenin<j
the tax jtayers. As jireviously stated the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Gal-
veston railroad (now the Santa Fe) was built to this point in 1871.
Since that time the I). M. & A., the V. V. L & W. and the I. ^L & S., (Mis-
souri Pacific lines) and the M. K. & T., conned ing with the main line of
that road at Parsons, and recently extended to P.artlesville, Indian Ter-
ritory, have been constructed, thus giving the city transportation lines
in seven difieient directions and connecting her with three great railroad
systems.
132 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Natural Resourees
The territory tributary to Coffeyville is not surpassed by any part of
the state in fertility of soil and the variety of crops which may be profit-
ably grown. The Verdigris river furnishes an abundant supply of pure
and wholesome water and is capable of supplying water power sufficient
to o[)erate many factories.
The city and surrounding country is underlaid with immense depos-
its of shale suitable for the manufacture of brick and tile of superior
quality. Great ledges of limestone of good quality crop out in many lo-
calities and some of the neighboring hills furnish inexhaustible quantities
of a superior quality of building stone and flagging.
This city is in the very heart of the gas belt and was the first in
southern Kansas to discover and develop this valuable fuel. On the 20th
day of March 1890, the city council granted to J. McCreary a franchise
to furnish the city and the inhabitants thereof, natural gas for domestic
and manufacturing purposes, and appropriated a thousand dollars
toward the expense of making a development test. A drill was at once
set to work, almost in the center of the town, and at a depth of a little
more than eight hundred feet a strong flow of gas was found. Since that
time more than forty wells have been drilled with not more than half a
dozen failures, and the supply of gas aj)pears to be inexhaustible, as the
oldest and most severely taxed wells are still yielding a good flow.
Since the preparation of this paper was begun oil has been found,
and while the first well can not be called a '•gusher,'' it produces oil in
paying quantities and it is believed that a profitable field has been dis-
covered on the very edge of the corporate limits.
Manufactures
The discovery of natural gas, the cheapest and cleanest of all fuels,
together with the city's unsur]>assed transportation facilities, has in-
vited the attention of maunfactures in various lines and the place is
surely and steadily developing into a manufacturing center of import-
ance.
Already the output of milling stuffs is 2,000 barrels per day; the
largest straw board mill and egg-case filler factory west of the Mississ-
ippi \» located here; the city has a plow factory; foundries and machine
shops; a wind(>Av glass plant; ice plant; numerous small factories, and a
brick plant whose product is known from the Rocky mountains to the
Gulf of Mexico. Ground has been broken for a second glass plant to be-
gin ojieration during the year 1903, and two other brick and tile plants
are now almost readv to begin work.
A Grain Center
In the year 1884 a few enterprising citizens, anticipating the inevit-
able time when the product of the grain fields of Kansas, Iowa and Ne-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 1 33
braska would seek an outlet through the Gulf ports, organized a Board of
Trade and established a station for the inspection and weighing of grain
in transit, and through the local elevators. So successful was this effort
that in a very short time Coffeyville became the most important grain
station, except Kansas Citv. in the state. In 1897 the weighing and in-
spection of grain became, by legislative enactment, a department of the
state government, but the business so successfully inaugurated by private
enterprise has been continued and this station has now become a close
second to Kansas City, and, with the overcoming of the railroad discrim-
ination against the Gulf ports, is destined to eclipse that city. Already
. the elevator capacity has been greatly increased and with the demand of
the milling interests already mentioned, this city has become a grain
market of no mean importance.
Municipal Advancement
Since obtaining a charter as a city of the second class, in 1887, the
growth of Coffeyville, in population and commercial importance, al-
though not pheuominal, has been sure and steady, and civic pride has
kept i»ace with the city's material development.
In 1895 a municipal water works plant was constructed at a cost of
$49,000.00. This plant has now been improved and extended until it rep-
resents an expenditure of about |85,000.00 and is easily worth, on a basis
of earning capacity, |150,000.00. In 1897 the necessary companion piece
to a water works i)lant — a system of sanitary- sewers — was constructed at
a cost of 122,000.00. This system is soon to be extended so as to cover
more than double the territory included in the original sewer district.
Immediately following the installation of the city water works the
council created a voluntary fire department and equipped it with a lad-
der- truck and hand-hose reels, which were operated by volunteer firemen
without other compensation than the voluntary contributions of such cit-
izens as felt an interest in maintaining the department for the public
good. Two years later an ordinance was passed authorizing the pay-
ment of a monthly sum from the general fund of the city for the support
of the department, and this appropriation was increased from time to
time until 1902, when the department was re-organized by providing for
three regularly paid firemen and a volunteer force of six men who are
paid a fixed sum for each fire attended by them. The department is now
equipped with a drilled team, hose-wagon and other up-to-date appliances
owned by the city, and is maintained at a cost of about two hundred dol-
lars per month.
In 1898 the local Commercial Club began to agitate the question of
street lighting and in 1901 an electric light plant was installed. This plant
was constructed at a cost of |20,000.00 and is owned and operated by the
^city. About f.l.OOO.OO have been expended in extending the system for
134 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
eoimnercial lijijhting- and with an additional expenditure of approximately
$2,000.00, the i)hint will be fully self-supporting, so that the sfreets wilt
be well lighted without cost to the general jiublic.
Schools and Chutches
AVhile fostering and encouraging those enterprises which make for
the material welfare of a community, the people of Coffeyville have not
been unmindful of the necessity of building up those institutions which
concern the moral and intellectual well-being of a people.
The city boasts eleven churches, and a school system of which the
community is justly proud. In addition to the usual graded schools our
system includes a high school in which pupils are equipped for admission
to the State University. There are five school buildings, four of which
are substantial brick structures, in which twenty-four teachers — and a
superintendent over all — are employed, whose combined monthly pay is
11,200.00. The school population is a little less than eighteen hundred, of
whom fifteen hundred are enrolled on the school registers of the present
year. It has ever been the policy of our people to enlarge their school
facilities to keep pace with the increasing population and there is now
pending a proposition to vote an appropriation of |30,000.00 for the con-
struction of additional buildings.
Debt and Taxation
Coffeyville's municipal debt now amounts to |14G,444.45 and the rate
of taxation for the present year is $6.88 on the hundred dollars. On the
face of the record this seems to be a very large debt and a ruinous rate of
taxation, but when we reflect upon the manner of assessing taxes in Kan-
sas, and remember that |10o,000.00 of this debt is for a water and light
plant, which pay a profit largely in excess of the interest charges, and
that another |.34,000.00 is for special improvements for which only the
affected property is assessed, the financial horoscope is not too terrifying,
as we are sim})ly in the position of the business man who borrows money
with which to engage in a profitable business.
Our real rate of taxation is only about |1.85 on the hundred dollars,
as is evident when it is known that our assessment this year (1903) iff
made on a basis of only 27 per cent, of the actual value of the property
assesed.
Liberty
The village of Liberty was originally located on a high bluff over-
looking a beautiful stretch of the Verdigris valley, two miles north and"
one mile west of the present site. In the early days it was a prominent
factor in the politics of the county, being a formidable rival of Indepen-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 1 35
denco for county seat honors and, in fact, the actual seat of government
for a fehort period in 1 8(59-70.
When the county was organized by proclamation of Gov. James M.
Harvey, on the third day of June 1869, Verdigris City, located about five
miles north Of the subsequent site of the town of Liberty, was designated
as the temporary seat of government; the permanent location of which
was to be submitted to a vote of the peojile at the following November
election.
Independence, Verdigris City and Montgomery City were the rival
aspirants but the few settlers in Verdigris and INfontgomery cities, realiz-
ing that their respective sites were not favorably located for the purpose,
pooled their issiles, founded the town of Liberty and immediately entered
that beautiful city as a contestant for the honor of being the capital city
of the county.
This narrowed the contest down to a fight between Independence,
located on the west, and Liberty on the east side of the Verdigris river.
Morgan City was also a candidate but was not considered formidable,
except in so far as she might divide the vote that would otherwise go to
Independence.
In this contest Independence was under the disadvantage of having
to cross the river to vote, being attached to the voting precinct at Verdi-
gris City where the friends of her principal rival were in control of the
election machinery. She. however, made a heroic but futile effort to cap-
ture the election board, sending two wagon loads of her citizens on an
-early morning drive for that purpose; but the plot being discovered, they
arrived too late to obtain more than one place on the board, and that had
been left open for them "by courtesy."
Because of informality in certifying the returns from the ^'erdigris
City precinct the vote of Drum Creek township, in which Independence
was located, was thrown out and Liberty, with the whole east side ticket,
declared, elected.
This action of the canvassing board was contested by the friends of
Independence before the Probate Court of Wilson county, as is clearly
-set forth in the article on the "Bench and Bar" in this volume. The
action of the court in declaring the election invalid, left the County Com-
missioners first appointed in control of county affairs, and as they were
in sym])athy with east side sentiment, they soon met and ordered the log
court house, with all the offices and records, removed from Verdigris City
to Liberty. This, however, did not settle the matter, as the west side con-
tingent claimed that the action of the board was illegal and that the
<;ounty seat was still at Verdigris City.
In support of this contention they sent an agent to Topeka, who pro-
cured the ap[)ointment of a new Board of Commissioners. On the i-eceipt
of their commissions the members of the new board — W. W. Graham,
136 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
Thomas Brock and S. B. Morehouse — repaired to Verdigris City where,,
sittinji in tlieir wagon, tliey organized, and appointed a new set of county
officers, ordered that the next term of the District Court be held at Inde-
pendence and that the various county offices be kept there temporarily.
The old board and their ai)i»ointees, failing to get an order of court
requiring the return of the records and offices to Liberty, soon surren-
dered and matters moved on quietly until the fall election in ISTO, when
the county seat question was again voted on by the people and Indepen-
dence chosen by a vote of 839, to 560 for Liberty. This terminated the-
aspirations of the little cit}' for civic and commercial greatness.
In 1871 the construction of the L. L. & G. By. across the east side of
the county caused the removal of the village to its present site where, sur-
rounded by a good agricultural region, its business men have continued
to enjoy a prosperous country trade, although the place seems to have
reached its maximum growth. However, the village is within the gas
belt and is now prospecting for oil with a fair probability of finding
enough of the black fluid to libricate the wheels of progress without limit.
The population of Liberty is about 300.
To one of the founders of this village — the late Daniel McTaggart —
we are indebted for the demonstration of the fact that cotton can be suc-
cessfully grown in Southern Kansas. Some years ago quite a colony of
Negroes from Texas settled in the Verdigris valley between Coffeyvillfr
and Liberty. Soon after the arrival of these people Capt. McTaggart
conceived the idea of inducing them to try cotton growing, and, as an
inducement, he furnished the seed and installed a gin at his mill near the-
original townsite. Quite a considerable acreage was planted, and while
the yield was not large the fiber was of good quality and the yield per
acre large enough to justifj^ the continued production of this important
staple as a side crop.
Cancy and Elk City
BY J. R. CHARLTON.
Caney, the Queen City of Montgomery county, is situated in the
southwest corner of the county, about one mile from the Indian Territory
line, and about the same distance from the east line of Chautauqua
county. It is built upon a sandy knoll, skirted on the north by the beau-
tiful stream, Cheyenne creek, with its beautiful farms, on the west by the
broad and rich valley of the Caney river, and on the south by the classic
and limpid stream known as "Mud ci-eek,'' while upon the east lies the
broad, rolling and productive prairie lands. No prettier sitecan be found
in all the county for a city, overlooking, as it does, for miles, the sur-
rounding country.
Looking to the south and the soutli-east one beholds the beautiful
mounds, and undulating jjrairies, and the fringes of timber along the-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS. 1 37
streams, where are to l)e found the farms and the happy homes of the
â– Cherokee and the Dehiware Indians, who have accepted the fruits of the
onward march of civilization, and, with their schools and churches, living
in their neat little residences upon their well kept farms, are a happy
and contented i)eople. Looking oflf to the south-west, as far as the eye
can reach, are to be seen the hills and rolling lands, where roam vast
herds of cattle of the Osage Indian Reservation. The Osage, unlike hia
Cherokee and Delaware brethren, has persistently refused to become civil-
ized to any great extent. He disdains "store clothes," and clings to the
blanket and breech clout of his fathers. Perhaps he can be said to be
civilized, only in one particular, and that is, that he gets drunk just like
a civilized white man.
Late in the fall of 1869, the first white settlers settled upon what is
now the townsite of Caney. Among them were Jasper N. West and fam-
ily, J. H. Smith and family, Berryman Smith, a single man, and "Uncle
John" Hodges and family. Of those earliest settlers "Uncle John"
Hodges, alone, is with us. He has been a continuous resident of Caney
from That time to the present. Jasper N. West was Caney's first post-
master. During the winter of 1869 Dr. J. W. Bell and family came to
Caney and he was the first tradesman, conducting a small store in which
was kept for sale, (in a small box house made of native lumber, which
was probably hauled here from some point east,) a little sugar, coff'ee,
meat, flour, and, as we were informed by one who was there, a goodly
supply of clothes pins. This structure was erected near what is now the
crossing of State street and Fourth avenue, at the public well, from
which particular point nearly all the earlier transfers of title to real
property had their starting.
In the early part of the summer of 1870, O. M. Smith engaged in the
mercantile business. "O. M.," as he was familiarly called, was then a
single man. He had a small stock of general merchandise, and he cooked,
ate and slept in tlie store building. Jasper N. West built the first log
house and it was located on what is now Block 61, and was the first and
only place for the weary to take rest, and have their hunger satisfied and
thirst quenched. Old "Uncle Robert" Hammill, in the early spring of
1870, came in with his two sons, with four yoke of Texas cattle, and lo-
cated on the farm now owned by Thomas Steel, and about the same time
"Uncle John" Badgley located the place now owned by J. A. Fleener.
Jasper N. Smith commenced, and probably completed, in the early part
of 1870, a frame building for a hotel, on the site now occupied by the Reed
residence, in Block 54. moving from his log house to the same.
Bill Copen was Caney's first blacksmith. Dr. A. M. Taylor, who came
in November 1870, was Caney's first physician, and the doctor is still
with us. James G. Woodruff came in during the early summer of 1870.
Jasper N. West, J. H. Smith, Berryman Smith and James G. Woodrufl!
138 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUKTY, KANSAS.
took the four claims cornering at a jioint Avhere the public well, spoken
of above, was located and conceived the idea of locating and platting a
town. On :May 11th, 1870, Capt. J. E. Stone dropped in among them, and
the four claim holders, above named, with Stone and O. M. Smith, caused
to be surveyed and platted what is a portion of the present city of Caney.
''Uncle John'' Hodges took the claim and made some improvements there-
on, now owned by S. K. Jack. Levi Glatfelder located and improved the
farm, together with other lands, upon which Mrs. Gladfelder now resides,
two miles east of Caney. After the survey and platting of ('oi?ey quite a
number of houses Avere erected and a mail route was established from
what was then the village of Parker to Caney and then to St. Paul on
the west side of Caney river. From that time on there was a steady
stream of immigrants into Caney and' the township. The latter was
rapidly settled up by a thrifty, hard-working, and industrious class of
peojjle, and busines men of all classes began to locate in the village.
From that time on Caney became known as a first class trading point.
Being a border town, its business men did a good business with the In-
dians and the whites residing in the Territory
In July 188.5, Cleveland J. Reynolds started the first paper in Caney,
the Caney Chronicle, which has been issued continuously since, and
entered upon its eighteenth year. It hits been published for the lrr>t
seven years by H, E. Brighton, is a bright, newsy paper, and has ever
stood up loyally for Caney and her best interests.
In 188G a proposition was submitted to the citizens of Caney town-
ship to vote bonds in the sum of 122.000.00 to aid in the construction of
the D. M. & A. R. R. The bonds were voted, the road was built. an<l thus
Caney was placed in closer touch with the outside world. The "freighter''
who, Avith his mule teams, hauled goods from Independence and Coffey-
ville, went away back and engaged in some other business, while the ar-
ticles of merchandise and the products of the farm, from that time on,
were carried by his fleeter-footed competitor, the steam engine and its
train of cars. The Imilding of a railroad into Caney really marked the
beginning of its business career
The town continued to grow until on the oth dav of Julv 1887. it was
incorporated as a city of the third class. Its first city election was held,
under its charter, on the 18th day of July 1887, in what is now the old
school building. The judges of the election were; I>r. A. M. Taylor. John
Todd and P. C. Dosh; Clerks, J. J. Stone and J. P. Stradley.
The first officers of Caney, elected on the above date were: Mayor,
P. S. Hollingsworth; Councilmen, Wm. Rogers, Harry Wiltse, J. J.
Hem]»hill, J. A. Summer and W. B. McWilliams; Police Judge, F. H.
Hooker. F. H. Dye was appointed and served as the first city clerk.
In the year 1891, Cleveland J. Reynolds, who was then the owner and
publisher of the Caney Times, a weekly newspaper which he had founded
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 139
-some time before, conceived and put into execution a plan for connecting
all the towns of Moutgoniery county b}' telephone. Being a man of in-
domitable will and untiring energy, he at once organized The Caney Tele-
phone Company, and, within a few months thereafter, the "hello" girl
was at her post of duty in every town in the county. The completion of
this telephone line marked a new era in the history of Caney, as well as
that of the entire county, as it was the first telephone line ever built in
the couty.
In i892, Col. S. M. Porter, of Caney, J. A. Bartles, of Bartlesville,
I. T., and others, organized and chartered the Kansas, Oklahoma Central
& Southwestern Railway Company for the purpose of building a line of
road from Caney, south, through Oklahoma and on southwest into Texas ;
and a franchise for the building of said road was granted by Congress on
December 21st, 1893. The construction of said road was begun in 1898
and in the spring of 1899 the old company sold out to the A T. & S. F.
Ry. Co., and the road was completed from Caney to Owassa, I. T., a dis-
tance of about sixty miles, thus giving Caney two seperate and competing
lines of road. To Col. Porter is due, in a large measure, the credit for the
building of the Santa Fe, for he worked without faltering for about eight
years on the project before it finally succeeded, making one trip to
Europe, and countless trips to Washington, New York and Chicago.
But Caney, like other cities in Montgomery county, owes its greatest
prosperity and growth to the finding of natural gas in the earth beneath
it. In the year 1900 the Caney Gas Company, composed entirely of Caney
men, was organized and began prospecting for gas and oil After putting
down several dry holes, they succeeded, in the fall of 1901, in striking a
very strong flow of gas about two miles northeast of town, and in a short
time thereafter they secured another well which has proved to be the
strongest well in the Kansas field, having a rock pressure of G60 pounds
and producing 10,000,000 cubic feet of gas every twenty-four hours. They
also have a very good oil well in the same field. There are now six differ-
ent gas and oil companies operating in the Caney field, and the prospects
are very flattering.
In 1902 the members of the Caney Gas Company organized the Caney
Brick Company and put in one of the largest and best vitrified brick
plants in the country, with a capacity of 100,000 brick per day. They are
turning out a first-class brick and have shipped as high as sixty cars of
brick in one month, besides supplying the home demand. They carry a
pay roll of sixty-five men.
The Cherryvale. Oklahoma & Texas Railway Company was chartered
on July 22nd, 1902, with Col. S. M. Porter, of Caney, as president, for the
purpose of constructing a line of railroad from Cherryvale, in ^Fontgom-
ery county, through Caney, to ElPaso. Texas, a distance of 900 miles. We
are assured that this road will be built in the near future and will be of
I40 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
great benefit to Caney and Montgomery county, as it will give us another
system and competing line, probably the "Katy" or ''Frisco."
Our high pressure and unfailing supply of gas is attracting the at-
tention of various manufacturing enterprises.
Caney is a good place to live. Those who are religiously inclined will
find four churches, all having good buildings, and resident pastors. They
are the Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists and Christians.
Our public schools are first -lass. At present we have two school
buildings, and employ nine teachers, but the growing population will soon
require larger and better buildings and more teachers.
Caney has six physicians actively engaged in the practice, and many
of them rank among the best physicians in the county. It also has a San-
itarium, run by Dr. T. A. Stevens, to which patients come for treatment
from the Territory and all the surrounding counties
We also have six lawyers who, by hard work, are able to look after
the interests of their clients and keep the community quiet a good part
of the time.
Capt. J. E. Stone, one of the first settlers, and who assisted in lay-
ing out the original town site, was elected sheriff of Montgomery county
in 1872, and served his county in that capacity faithfully and with credit
to himself, and is now Caney's efficient postmaster, having been appoint-
ed by President McKinley.
E. B. Skinner, one of Caney's enterprising business men, is just serv-
ing the last year of two terms as county treasurer, and Dr. J. A. Rader,
one of our leading physicians, is serving his third term as coroner.
J. R. Charlton, one of our attorneys, was elected county attorney of
Montgomery county in 1890 and served one term, refusing a re-nomi-
nation.
J. H. Dana, who resided in Caney until the year 1900 was, in that
year, elected county attorney, and moved to Indei)endence.
Others of our prominent citizens have been exposed to the dread dis-
ease called "office" but have never caught it.
Caney has grown from the little hamlet of a few years ago to become
one of the best towns in Southern Kansas, having a population of but a
little less than 2,000, and we confidently expect to see double that num-
ber of people here in the next two years. It will make a good town, first:
because of its natural advantages in location ; second, because it has cit-
izens who are public spirited, enterprising and pushing, who do not only
have money, but have faith in the future of the city, and therefore do not
hesitate to invest their money in public enterprises.
In concluding this brief sketch let me sav that as a resident of Kan-
sas for more than twenty-five years. I believe it to be the best state in the
Lnion; that Montgomery county is the coming banner county of the state,
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 14!
and that Caney — well, language fails me, and I can only add that "the
half has never been told."'
Elk City
Elk City, one of the prettiest little cities in Southeastern Kansas, is
situated at the mouth of Duck Creek, where it empties into Elk river, and
is about three miles from the west line, and six miles from the north line
of Louisburg township, the northwest township of Montgomery county.
The first settlement of Louisburg township was made during the
summer and fall of 1868, and during the following winter and spring sev-
eral towns were started'*tiear Elk river at the mouth of Duck Creek.
Tipton, about one and one-half miles east of Elk river, was probably
the first town started in the township, and was located on the claim
owned by James E. Kelley. No living water having been found on this
town site, it was soon abandoned, and the buildings moved west about
three-quarters of a mile to a new town site called Louisburg, on the claim
of either Ben. Pitman or grandfather James P. Kelly, but ?fter a number
of the little box houses had been located on the new town site, the same
diflSculty Avas encountered as at Tipton — no living water could be found —
and the third town was founded on Duck Creek, about one and one-half
miles from its mouth, called Bloomfield, better known as Fish Trap. It
was located in the fall of 1809.
In the meantime tw^o brothers, John and Samuel Kopple, who had
taken the claims at the mouth of Duck Creek, on Elk River, organized a
town company and laid out the town of Elk City, and immediately ap-
plied for and obtained a charter for their companj^, and for more than a
vear a bitter rivalry existed between the towns of Elk Citv and Bloom-
field. A saw mill had been in ojieration for several months at Bloomfield or
Fish Trap, owned by a man by the name of Seevers. Other enterprising
citizens settled in the town, which continued to flourish until the spring
of 1871.
In December of 1870, M,. D. Wright, who is now one of the oldest and
most respected citizens of Elk City, was postmaster for a number of
years and has been connected with nearly all of the city's enterprises,
drove into the thriving city of Bloomfield, or Fish Trap, in his proverbial
prairie schooner, and, he informs the writer, that he found Jack Brock
I>utting the finishing towches on a two-story store building, built exclu-
sively of native lumber. Mr. Brock was laying the floor, first nailing thin
narrow strips on the joists, then laying the boards so that the cracks in
the floor came immediately over the center of the strips, so that when the
green Hackberi'y boards liad shrunk to their normal condition, as Jack
expressed it, children and dogs would not fall through the cracks. An
assortment of braces and wedges were required to bring the warped and
crooked boards into a horizontal position. But the struggles of Fish Trap
1^2 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
for supremacy were unavailing. She was not to be a child of destiny
and control the commerce of Duck Creek.
The natural advantages possessed by Elk City, the building of a saw
mill that could mutilate move logs into bad lumber than its rival at
Bloomfield. the advent of two blacksmith shops, several general stores,
and saloons, especially the saloons, together with several other enter-
prises, proved too much for Bloomfield, and they capitulated in the fall of
1871, and their citizens were given lots in Elk City, upon which they
moved their houses, including the Jack Brock store building, and the
contention between the two towns ended in th^r uniting and all the
people coming where they could get plenty of water, which Elk City had.
In the spring of 1871 Louisburg township wes sectionized, and the
supposed lines of many claims, it was found, did not conform to the gov-
ernment survey, and thus originated much litigation and many deadly
feuds. The rich and extensive farming lands embraced in the broad bot-
toms of Elk river. Duck creek and Salt creek, were eagerly sought for
and jealously guarded against all comers.
On April 1st. 1871, a village municipal government was organized for
the government of Elk City, with J. P. Morgan, who now resides at
Bartlesville, I. T., as chairman and U. K. Dannettell, as clerk. The
names of the other trustees are not found upon the records
As evidence that there was nothing small about the early Fathers of
the City, we find Ordinance Xo. 5, relating to the duties and obligations
of the town treasurer, to read as follows, to-wit : ''within ten days of
his appointment to office the treasurer shall enter to bond to the State of
Kansas, for the use of the town, with tAvo or more sureties to be approved
by the clerk, in the sum of Three Thousand Dollars for the faithful per-
formance of his duties, etc."
No coj)y of the bond or the name of the first treasurer or of his bonds-
men appear on the records, but from the financial condition of the citi-
zens as judged from the recollection of the oldest inhabitants, it would
have required a majority of them to have qualified to that amount at that
time.
As an evidence that the deliberations of these ancient Solons were
not always harmonious, we note the discussion over the claim of Frank
]Mbrgan and Buck Brookins for destroying a dead mule, amount of bill
13.00. which was finally allowed and paid.
William Osborne holds the honor of being the first justice of the
peace, and Squire Burdick was his successor The Squire had a penchant
for horse trading, but like nearly all the other settlers of Elk City, at
that time, his property or his horses did not represent much wealth, so he
ran but little risk of losing in a trade It is related of the Squire, that one
day he was holding court in a room fronting the. then, open prairie, when
a woman came into the room and inquired for Squire Burdick. The
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 143
Squire, who was seated near a window in the temple of justice, was point-
ed out to her. She at once, without regard to the fact that court was in
session, assailed the Squire, in a voice pitched upon a very high key, and
demanded the return of a horse, which she claimed belonged to her, and
which her minor son had traded to the Squire for a horse whose lease of
life expired a few hours after reaching her home The Squire listened
quietly until her tirade of abuse ended, and then invited her over to the
window, pointed out to where the nose and two legs of a dead horse pro-
truded above the prairie grass and said : '"There is your horse, madam,
if you v.ant him go and get him, and take him home with you." The wo-
man, hastily vacated the room, with a puzzled expression of countenance,
as though she was trying to solve the problem as to which party did the
cheating in the trade.
Whig Southard was the first postmaster at Elk City, A. C. Clark was
his successor, M. D. Wright succeeded Clark and held the office from 1872
until Cleveland's election in 1884, when he was succeeded in 1885, by
Wm. Daugherty, who, in turn, was followed by J. P. Swatzell and Wm.
Wortman, the latter being the present incumbent.
Elk City, in common with all Kansas towns, was ambitious to become
metropolitan and her citizens began to importune the different railroad
companies, pointing in this direction, to extend their road to the town.
After much solicitation by some of the citizens they succeeded in
getting a proposition from General Nettleton and Col. Valiet, of Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, and the owners of the stub railroad from Cherryvale to In-
dependence by which they pledged themselves individually, together with
the earnings of the above railroad, to extend that road to Elk City making
a terminus there, in consideration of which they asked Louisburg town-
ship to subscribe to the capital stock of the comj^any in the sum of twen-
ty-two thousand dollars. This was during the year 1876. Here was the
opportunity for Elk City to place herself in the front ranks of all the
towns in the country, and the promoters felt that they had accomplished
something that would benefit the citizens of Elk City and Louisburg
township, that would meet with the hearty co-operation of the citizens
generally, as it would have made Elk City the nearest railroad point for
all the country west of it for one hundred miles. Independence was awake
to the danger that threatened her commercial interests, and united in a
desperate effort to defeat the bonds at the election called to vote on the
proposition. Of course Independence was justified in any legitimate ef-
fort to hold the road at their town, but where so much was at stake it w?is
hardly to be expected that the advantage which money and influence gave
them over Elk City would not be pushed to the limit; but if some of the
citizens of Elk City, who had labored to bring about the proposition felt
a little hard toward the citizens of Lndependence, what was their sur-
prise and disgust to find some of their own prominent citizens arrayed
144 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
agaiust the bonds, and inaugurating a fight against them that ended in
their defeat by a niajority of two votes. What the township lost iu tax-
able proijerty and the advantage of a railroad terminating iu the town-
ship will never be known. Elk City experienced in this defeat the hardest
blow it ever sustained. Several prominent business men left the town,
many houses were hauled off into the country for dwellings and barns,
and its population decreased one-fourth.
Three years thereafter, in 1879, after the A. T. & S. F. had acquired
the old L. L. & G. R. R. and its branches, that company sent Mayor Gunn,
of Independence, to Elk City, and in behalf of the A. T. & S. F. R. R., pro-
posed that if Louisburg township would vote bonds in aid of that road
they would extend from Independence west through Elk City. While this
proposition offered far less advantages than the first one, in that it simply
made a way station in the township, giving it local advantages, whereas,
the terminus for three years would have given it the trade of three coun-
ties, to the west of it, but little opposition was offered and the bonds car-
ried by a large majority. All of which proves the wisdom of the old chest-
nut, "that white man is mighty uncertain."
The advent of a railroad instilled new life into the town which grad-
ually increased in wealth and importance though but little in population
for several years. In the mean time the very rich and productive soil
around Elk City, which produced large and successive crops of wheat,
corn and other crops, enabled the farmers in the township to surround
themselves with all the comforts and luxuries that wealth can purchase.
Their daughters were garbed in the latest styles and their sons rol)ed in
tailor made suits and laundered s^hirts. They came to town in tlieir toi)-
buggies and carriages and purchased of the merchants all that heart
could desire, and thus dawned an era of prosperity for the City at the
mouth of Duck Creek.
During the winter of 1901-2 a company was organized in Elk City
and capitalized at 110.000 for the purpose of prospecting for gas and oil.
After several failures the company was finally successful in striking
several fine gas wells, and also good oil producing wells.
Several companies are noAV in the field and in the course of a few
months this will undoubtedly prove to be the peer of other remarkable
gas fields of Montgomery County.
There is a bright future for Elk City and Louisburg Townshii). The
price of land of every description is advancing rapidly. Buildings of i)er-
manent character are taking the jdace of old frame store rooms in the
town, which is growing rapidly. The City is heated and lighted with
natural gas. Nearly all the streets are lighted with the same material.
It has a splendid telephone system, and all these conveniences make
it a good place to live. It has five good church buildings and strong
i-hurch organizations, while its schools are the best in the County.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. I45
Elk City has no system of water works as yet. bnt its close proxiin-
Ity to abundance of water and the ease with which it can be introduced
into the town, insures at no distant date, this additional luxury, to this
otherwise greatly favored little City.
The immense amount of wheat and corn, cattle and hogs being ship-
])ed from this place over its two railroads, the A. T. & S. F. and the Mis-
souri Pacific, and the fine store rooms and increasing mercantile busi-
ness are evidences of the prosperity of the town and its surrounding
country.
It has at this time a population of about 800 people, but we predict
that no distant date will see not less than 2000 happy, contented and
prosperous citizens of Montgomery County making their home in Elk
City and enjoying its natural and acquired advantages, and each doing
their part in making Montgomery County the best County,, in the best
i^tate, in the grandest Republic on the face of the earth.
Chcffyvalc
BY JOSIE H. CARL.
Cherryvale is situated in the North-eastern part of the County, on
section 9, township 32, range 17.
It has had three distinct periods of growth, viz: early beginnings,
the coming of the railroads and the discovery of gas and oil.
Early Beginniags
The first white settler within the corporate limits, of whom I have
^ny account, was Mr, Ab Eaton who. with a married brother, emigrated
from Hickory Grove, 111., to this place. The brother having died, his
widow sold her claim to Thomas Whelan. This claim is now incorpor-
ated ns! the Whelan addition. In 1869 Joseph Wise and Bill Paxsion
camped on Drum Creek, and soon afterward bought Eaton's title to his
<-laim for |250. In May 1871, Mr. Wise sold his rights to the L. L. & G.
R. R. Company for a good round price which I believe he never got, as
the Company soon changed, and the Supreme Court decided against the
R. R.'j' ownership of the Osage Ceded Lands. The story of the early set-
tlers' com est for titles to their homes has doubtlfs-5 been told in other
parts of this work, and will not be dwelt upon further here.
On the .3rd day of May, 1871, the first sod of the L. L. & G. R. R. was
broken on the T. Whelan claim. This point became the terminus of the
load lor some time, and headquarters for supplies. The R. R. coni]>any
laid off' a townsite. The location was a happy one; the nearest towns
ten and twenty miles distant, a broad valley of wonderful fertility
stretching niiles to the north and south, a gentle sloping ridge, giving al-
most perfect drainage and the whole area of country, which would, in
-time, be tributary, rapidly filling uj) with settlers.
The following seems to be about the order in which the first business
146 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY;, KANSAS.
firms were established: The first house erected was the Union Hotel,
proprietor. General Darr. The first store was kept by J. R. Baldwin and
C. A. (Motfelter. followed by Seth Paxson and N. B. Thorpe.
O. F. Carson located here in 1871, and for three years, kept the only
drug store in the place. Later he entered into a partnership with J. R.
Baldwin in the implement and hardware trade. — Two of the additions of
the <'iTy jire known by their names. — C. C. Kincaid came in 1874. and has
been in the mercantile business here ever since. He and O. F. Carson
erected the first brick block at the corner of Main and Depot streets.
Charles Booth moved to town in 1871, and engaged in the livery and
feed trade. In 1873, he formed a partnership with C. A. Clotfelter and
for many years they kept the only livery barn in the town. E. B. Clark
came to Montgomery county in 1869. His land adjoining the town site
is now known as Clark's addition. He kept the first store of general mer-
chandise near one of the mounds, where the earliest settlers traded. R.
F. Richart came in 1878, and engaged in the drug business. He soon took
E. S. MacDonald into partnership. In 1882, Mr. MacDonald sold his in-
terest to J. C. Hockett. John M. Courtney come to Southern Kansas in
1866. He moved to Cherry vale soon after the town site was laid off.
The first lawyers were Hastings and Hiukle. Among the physicians of
this jtcriod may be mentioned I)rs. Hyde, Lykins, Campbell, Adams and
Bradbury. Dr. O. H. P. Fall located here in November 1877. The first
celebration was held July 1, 1872, near Main and Depot streets; canvas
and r>vbors provided shade. Dr. Hyde was one of the spt^akers. The
growth of the town for several years was slow. The population in 1879,
was only 250.
The Coming of the Railroads
In 1879 the second jieriod of prosperity began. The Frisco R. R.
was built, crossing the Santa Fe at this point. The Memphis R. R. Com-
pany extended its road from Parsons here. The Santa Fe was extended
westward, and its branch south to Coffeyville operated. This railroad
activity gave a great impetus to business and building. The town grew
rapidly until 1888, when a reaction having set in from the general depres-
sion of business and the bursting of real estate booms over the west, the
population fell from 4000 to 2500. Hjowever, some of our solid business
men who are here yet, and have ever been alert to the best interests of the
town; came during this period. C. A. Mitchell and C. C. Thompson
came in 1880; Revilo Newton and J. H. Butler in 1882; A. G. McCormick.
Fred Leatherock and the Dicus Brothers. The W. W. Brown brick block
was built in 18§7. The i)hysicians were, Drs. Taylor, Warren, Hopkins,
Hutchis(m, Kesler, Sloan, Gard and Cormack. A. L. Wilson, a native
son of the state, came in 1881. He was admitted to the bar September
1882, and still has a law office here, though, since 1902, his main olfice has
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. I47
T)een at Kansas Citv. A sugar factory and creamery were built during
this jieriod and operated successfully for a time.
Discovery of Gas and Oil
In 1889 bonds to the amount of |500() were voted to be used in pros-
pecting for coal. At the depth of 600 feet, gas was found instead of coal.
This i? said to have been the first gasser of importance struck in Kansas.
Further developments only increased the richness of the find. Later, oil
was discovered, and the capitalist and manufacturer have been on the
ground ever since and thus the corner stone of "Greater Cherryvale" was
laid.
The Edgar Zinc Company
In 1898, S. C. Edgar built his famous zinc smelters, at an original
cost of. 1350.000. Of all the enterprises which have contributed to the
town's prosperity, none had approached this. ''Smelter Town" with its
up to date cottages, broad streets and lawns, is a village .in itself.
Brick Plants and Factories
For many years the mounds in the vicinity, while adding to the
picturesqueness of the scenery, were not supposed to enhance the value (^f
the farms around them, unless as windbreaks against the occasional
cyclone that skipped across their path; but about the time That oil and
gas were discovered, the knowledge came that the best brick in the world
could be made from the shale of these mounds. In 1897, F. G. Lotterer
erected a Brick Plant on Corbin's mound. It is now owned by the Cof-
fey ville Yirtified Brick and Tile Company. Corbin City, a suburb of
Cherryvale, is built on Corbin's mound and is a result of this company's
success. Six brick companies are operating in this field. Other factories
are : The Iron Works, consisting of Foundry, Machine and Pattern mak-
ing departments, representing an investment of |50.000. The Glass Com-
pany, Engine Co., Barrel Factory, Bicycle and Machine Shops, Plaining
Mills, Tannehill Manufacturing Co., Marble Works and two Elevators.
The first mill was built by Mr. Dodd in 1873. Mr. A. Busch afterward
become its owner. It finally came into the hands of C. A. Black who im-
proved it. In 1902 the Saiier-Stephens Milling Company purchased it
of ^Ir Black. They have rebuilt the mill and have put in the latest mod-
ern milling machinery with a capacity of 400 barrels per day. In 1881,
the Dobson's came from Minonk, 111., and built a large stone mill on
Main street. It was burned in 1900 and never rebuilt.
Banks
There are two banks. The Peoples' liank is an outgrowth of the old
Exchange Bank founded by C. T. Ewing in 1880. Its present officers ar.',
C. O. AVright, President, B. F. Moore, Vice-President, and C A. Mitchell,
Cashier. The Montgomery County National liank was founded in 1882.
148 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
The present officers are, C. C. Kincaid, President, John Courtney, Vice-
President, Revilo Newton, Cashier.
Schools
The first school house was bnilt in 1872. The first school was taught
by :Miss Mary Greenfield, the summer of 1873. In the fall of 1882 a two-
story brick structure was erected. G. B. Leslie was the principal, assist-
ed by four teachers. Now there are two large brick school houses. The
East-side building havS 9 rooms and the West-side G rooms. In 1902
|17,(IOO bonds were voted to build two ward school houses. These are
under construction and will be ready for occupancy in September, 1903.
Number of pupils enrolled. 1902. about 1,000. The course of study runs
through eleven grades. Graduates from the High School are entitled to
enter the State T'uiversity and high institutions of learning in the state
without examination. The following superintendents have had charge of
the schools since Mr. Leslie's time: Mosier, Crane, Dana, Harris, Taylor,
Richardson, Myers, Herod, Moore and Lovett. The first High School
graduates of the class of '83 were Minnie Newton, Janie Fall, Mertie
Shannon and Rose Blair.
Churches
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1871. The first
services were held in the school house. Rev. Mofl'at was the first pastor.
In 1880 a brick church was commenced under the pastorate of Wm.
Shambaugh and completed under that of James Muray. It was improved
and enlarged during Robert MacLean's time. A commodious parsonage
adjoins Ihe church. Membership in 1903, 600. Pastors have been Rever-
ends Moffat, Lampman, Shambaugh, Murray, Durboraw, Pattee, Hark-
nes, ("reager. Rice. MacLean, Bailey, Roberts, Ross.
The Presbyterian Church was organized December 11, 1881. Meet-
ings Avere first held in the opera house, until 1883, when a church was
built. This has been improved from time to time. In 1901 a commodious
manse was built on the church lots. The first pastor was Rev. W. B.
Truax Subsequent pastors have been Revs. S. W. Griffin. Phileo and
A. E. Vanorden. Original membership, 26 ; present membership, 250.
The Baptist Society was established by Rev. J. R. Baldwin May 18.
1883 ; original membership, 8. The first services were held in the school
house and opera house. A frame church was built in 1884. This was de-
stroyed by lightning in 1900. It was replaced by a splendid brick
structure in 1901. The present pastor is Rev. Eaton. Other pastors have
been. Revs. J. R. Baldwin, Essex, Coulter, and King. Present member-
shifi. r«oo.
The Christian Church was organized in the spring of 1884. First
pastor, Benjamin Smith. A church was built in 1886, burned December
14, 1888 — rebuilt 1892. Subsequent pastors have been J M. Ferrel, T. W.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. I49
Cottingham, William Flower, C. C. Atwood, E. F. Taylor, D. D. Boyle,
J. R. Charlton. C. C. Deweese, George Willis. Present pastor, C. Shive.
Present membership, 200.
The Catholic Society was organized in 1875. Mass was said at the
house of John Coyle until 1877, when the first church was erected by Rev.
Ponziglioni. In 1900 the ground was broken for a new edifice which was
finished in 1901 at a cost of .|1 2,000. The building is 42 feet wide by 100
feet long and 21 feet high. The tower is 110 feet high, surmounted by a
large golden cross. The church is called St. Francis Xaviers Church.
The first pastor was Father Scholls of Independence. The present pastor
is Rev John Sullivan.
Telephone
In 1900 a telephone was put in operation, connecting many of the
business and dwelling houses and affording telephonic communication
with all the surrounding cities.
Water-Works
The city was first supplied with water from Lake Tanko, a large arti-
ficial lake south of the city, by the Cherryvale Water and Manufacturing
Co. The bonds were sold to New York capitalists in 1885. A new com-
pany was organized, called the Cherryvale Water Co., Mr. MacMurray of
New York City, President, John Courtney, Superintendent. Since June
15, 1903, the city has had control of the system and important improve-
ments are contemplated.
Park and Auditf r ium
Logan Park was originally the gift of Geo. R. Peck, soon after the
tow^n site was laid off. T.he gratitude of the r;itizens for this beneficient
gift increases with the years, and they have taken great pride in beauti-
fying it. It is well supplied with seats, lighted by its own gas and w^ell
shaded with old trees carefully trained. In 1902 the city erected an aud-
itorium in the park. It has a seating capacity of 1,200. The district
Grand Army encampment is held annually in August, in this Park.
Lodges and Associations
Cherryvale Lodge No. 137 A. F. & A. M. was instituted Oct. 16, 1873,
with thirteen charter members. O. F. Carson, W. M. ; M. L. Crowl, S. W. ;
William Hummel, Junior Warden.
Cherryvale Lodge No. 142 I. O. O. F. was organized Oct. 10, 1877,
with five charter members. This Lodge owns an elegant hall on Neosho
street.
The A. O. U. W. was instituted in February 1882.
The Lodge directory of the city includes sixteen lodges. Hackleman
Post is strongly organized in a fine hall and the W. R. C. owns a beauti-
ful building in Logan Park. For several years a Library Association
maintained a reading room and acquired a fair library, but it is now dis-
150 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS,
organized. At pi-esent there is a public reading room in connection with
the Baptist Church, where the best periodicals are found upon the tables.
The Eastern Star ladies have organized themselves into a Reading Club
which has proved to be of interest and benefit. There is an organization
of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientfic Circle. The first officers were
Mrs. Dr. Seacat. Etta Hughbanks, Josie Carl and Martha Witham.
Fairview Cemetery
P. C. Bowen first set off 10 acres of his farm northeast of town for a
cemetery. Five years later fifteen of the citizens formed a Cemetery As-
sociation and bought this land with the expectation that the city would
in time take it off its hands. Nothing was done in the way of improve-
ment until about six years ago, when Mrs. Ada Newton rallied ten or
twelve of the ladies around her in a Ladies' Cemetery Association for the
sole purpose of improving and beautifying the cemetery. The result has
been marvelous. Over |1,000 in funds raised, 300 elm trees planted,
streets graded 10 feet wide, alleys 4 feet wide, culverts built, tiling laid,
the land thoroughly drained, a sexton's house and cistern built, and a
sexton hired by the year to care for the grounds. Fairview Cemetery
will always be a monument to Mrs. Newton's broad spirit and executive
ability.
Fires
In 1873 the main business part of town was destroyed by fire. In
1879 the stone business house of Jasper Gordon was burned and
three young men sleeping in a rear room lost their lives. In 1885 all the
buildings on the north side of Neosho and Depot streets were destroyed
by fire including Clotfelter & Booth's livery barn, with 32 horses and
G. B. Shaw's lumber yard. About 1891 the Frisco depot was struck by
lightning and burned. About 1901 the Opera House Block was wiped out
by fire.
Hotels
The earliest hotels were the Union I^ouse, Commercial, Buckeye,
Leland, etc. The Axtell was originally built by J. A. Handley and called
by his name. For a good maanv vears it was a losing investment to every
one connected with it but the city has finally caught up with it.
Municipal Government
In March, 1880, pursuant to a petition signed by the citizens and pre-
sented to the court by E. D. Hastings, Cherryvale was duly incorporated
as a city of the third class. On the first Tuesday of April, cit}' officers
were elected. C. C. Kincaid was the first mayor. Jan. 21, 1885, by proc-
lamation of Gov. John A. Martin, it became a city of the second class.
The following men have served as mayors: C. C. Kincaid, A. Phalp, O. F.
Carson, J. W. Willis, M. B. Soule, A. S. Duley, C. A. Mitchell, John Cald-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS. 151
well, Mr. Shanton, Revilo Newton, and E. S. MaeDonald who is now serv-
ing his second term.
Postmasters
"N B. Thorpe was the first postmaster. The office has since been held
by the following citizens : Wm. Parks, Major Lyons, C. E. Moore, T. An-
derson, Leo Veeder and T. H. Ernest.
THArTER VII.
The Medical Profession
BY T. F. AXDRESS, M. D.
To write even a sketch of a history of the times and places one has
been a part of is difficult ; to be preserved from the everlasting egotism
that exalts the ''I" in everything, and at the same time to preserve the
verity of history is still more difficult; bnt hardest of all is, to "naught
extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." To this task we devote these
pages, and if we shall throw the recollection backward, and help in any
slight degree, even to present a picture of the early days of the county —
"all of which I saw and a part of which I was"- — then our purpose will be
served and, as the lamented Ward would say, "We have accomplished
all wf" expected, and more too."
Early in March 1870, the writer first saw the mounds, the valleys,
the forests (for there were forests then) and the ever-varying and, to us,
the always beautiful scenery of this Montgomery County. When one
looked around, the first thing that enlisted the attention of the "tender-
foot" was the Indians. They were certainly a picturesque feature and
more interesting at some distance than in closer contact. Tlie Osages, at
that time, owned and occupied the land. They numbered about three
thousand and there were, perhaps, about five thousand emigrants in the
county, all fired with the ambition and desire to possess the soil, and, as
it were, devour the country in search of claims.
The Indians looked on Avitli evident hostility, at this sudden and
overpowering coming of the "Pale P^ice." But the Osages were no more
a brave and war-like people, which fact assured the safety of our scalps.
If the Conmnche, the Sioux or the Blackfeet tribes had occupied the place
of the Osage this history would very probably, read differently.
The Arappahoes had conquered the Osages and, it seems, extinguished,
at the same time, their courage and martial spirit.
The white people were scattered everywhere and, even at that early
date, towns and cities were being staked out and started in the race for
population and wealth. Independence had some shanties covered with
hay; Liberty — at that time the county seat, it having been moved over
from Verdigris City— gave promise of becoming the metropolis; Parker,
J52 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
dowD near the nation line, on the east bank of the Verdigris river, had
«onie pretentious buildings; Elk City and Louisburg were rivals, side by
side, with two or three houses each. At all these places there were mem-
bers of the medical profession, generally trying to combine the business
of the physician with that of the squatter on land.
The doctors exercised and held a large influence in their several
communities and used it, in the main, for the public good, and to build
up society. As in all frontier settlements we find the most enterprising
and wide-awake coming in the lead, and so it was here; the more digni-
fied followed after. At that early date some very bright followers of
Esculapius were here — and some not so young — but, taken altogether, a
good and talentf'd representation of the medical profession. One would
frequently find the gi'aduate of Jefl'erson, Ann Arbor, or Rush in a board
â– shanty frying *'slap jacks" or "lady hog's bosom,'' while a few vol-
umes of standard worlcs rested on a shelf near by and a few bottles of old
stand-by drugs that sliared the shelf gave out an intimation of the trade
of the settler.
The well-worn saddle-bags and the ever-present lariat completed the
picture. In some of these rude and temporary surroundings one would
often find the studious and competent man of medicine filling his mis-
•sion of alleviating suffering and healing the sick. Owing to the mode of
life, shelter, food and water, there wvis a vast amount of malarial trouble,
and the varied types of intermittent, remittent and bilious fevers made
themselves familiar in almost every home. Everybody knew the doctor
then and welcomed his visits, but some, unfortunately, had short mem-
ories and forgot the doctor before the bill was paid.
Looking back, the wonder is not that so many were sick but that so
many recovered. Drinking slough water, eating pork and corn bread
flavored with sorghum, and living in tents, wagons and shanties were
not first-class' sanitary conditions. Everybody grew familiar with qui-
nine, calomel, Dover's powders and the dozens of nostrums that promised
to cure the "ager' or as the afflicted Dutchman said "Der damned cold
fever."
The doctor of 1870. in ^Montgomery county, with his primitive out-
fit of horse, drugs, apparel and instruments would not compare favorably
with his successor, with "rubber tire" and thoroughbreds, with fashion-
able dress and with the modern instruments and appliances of the city
■♦'M. D." ]Maiiy of these modern ":\r. D.'s" are the same old fellows of
1870, grown out of the chrysalis of the early time and become leaders
in the profession of their choice.
Few men have been more devoted to their chosen work, or less mer-
<enary. and. as a result, very few have accumulated the wealth that their
arduous labors deserved. Very few of the pioneers have acquired wealth
-ind not many, even, are well-tcvdo.
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. I53.
Always alive to everytliiug to help the professiou aud thereby become
a greater blessing to a confiding public the establishment of a medical
college was encouraged by the physicians of Montgomery county in an
early day and it was actually organized and incorporated at Inde-
pendence in the year 1873-4. Two courses of lectures were provided for
in this school and the faculty of the institution were:
Dr. B. F. ]\Iasterman, I'rofessor of Surgery.
Dr. W. A. McCulley. Professor of Theory and Practice.
Ih'. John Grass, Professor of Materia Medica.
Dr. Fugate, I'rofessor of Physiology and etc.
Dr. Campbell. Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology.
Dr. Moon, Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Some of the faculty of this defunct institution have passed away,
some have left the county and the state and a few remain with us, active
and in the front rank of the "pill-dispensers"' of this county. Some of the
dead have left behind a ])recious heritage in the memory of their devotion
to duly and self-sacrificing labor.
The Osages have been removed and the Indian Medicine Man is gone,
except in the fakir who claims to have learned his medicine from the
Indians. . My observation is that no peojile on earth know so little of
medicine as the Ked Man. One old Negro plantation "Aunty" knows
more about healing and nursing the sick than all the Indians we have
ever come in contact with. The doctor of 1870 who could get an Indian
pony, partly broke, and a few ounces of quinine and other drugs — with a
pocket case of instruments — was as well equipped for the practice of
medicine as any one he was likely to meet.
In those early times we had no capsules, no elixirs, no tablets, no
concentrated drugs; and our resources wei-e, indeed, primitive. And it
may be here recorded that the very necessity of relying on his own re-
sources had the effect, as it always will, of developing the native talent
and stimulating ingenuity, and making an alert and wide-awake practi-
tioner. He may have forgotten some of his Latin and Greek, yet at the
bedside, and in cases of emergency, he could discount the professor with
his technicalities and extensive library attainments. Out of the ranks
of such men has come very much of the progress that has marked the
practice of medicine for the last forty years. And that there has been
very marked advance along the lines indicated, all agree.
At Independence, in 1870. we met Dr. Masterman, who is still there
and is the only one of the i)hysicians of tiint date left in the county seat.
He is still in the active practice, popular and respected. A kindly, genial
man, companionable and sympathetic. He is the Health Officer of the
county and one of the Santa Fe local surgeons. He is a i)ublic-si.ii'ited
x^itizen, an old soldier and a local l)enefactor of his race.
Of later arrivals, Drs. Chanev, Davis, Evans, Surbci", Tan«[uarry,
154 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
Barker and Kelly, of Independence, fill the field there. Several of these
have an equipment that makes the county seat a medical center. At Lib-
erty, in 1870. we found Dr. Campbell, now of Cherry vale.a superannuated
rheumatic. He is an old soldier with some experience in hospital work
in the army. While not extensively trained in medicine or widely read
in books or scientific learning;, yet he had and still has the faculty of cor-
rectly naming a physical trouble and of prescribing the dose that will
relieve. Our practice, in an early day. covered a district larger than half
a county and the doctor feels, severely, the effects of the long rides, fac-
ing the storm and swimming the swollen and unbridged streams of that
time. He was here from 18G0 and gave his time, his health and his all
toward the alleviation of humanity on the frontier. He found plenty of
work, some gratitude and a little cash, an experience paralleled only by
the first doctors of the county.
At Parker, in the early days, was Dr. Dunwell, a well-equipped man,
'low dead. His partner for a time. Dr. T. C. Frazier, still survives and is
in the front rank of the profession at Coffeyville. His sketch appears
in this volume.
CHAPTER VITI.
Agriculture
BY W. T. YOE.
When the pioneer settlers of Southern Kansas began edging their
way, as trespassers, in among the Osage Indians, on what was then
known as the Osage Diminished Reserve, the White man found he had in-
deed reached a veritable paradise; especially was that true of what be-
came known, a few vears later as Montgomerv Countv. The vallevs of
the Verdigris and Elk rivers, and of the score of creeks, were broad and
rich, and covered with a heavy growth of timber, including walnut, hick-
ory, ash, pecan, hackberry, sycamore, cottonwood and other varieties
of hard and soft wood. The second bottoms and the wide expanse
of broad prairies, and the hill and slopelands were covered with a lux-
uriant growth of grass — generally blue stem — frequently so rank that it
reached above the horse's back and gave one visions of becoming cattle
barons and pasturing his herds upon the government land wtihou^
cost.
The agriculture of the Osage Indians was of a most primitive charac-
ter as the "noble red men" regarded labor as degrading, but here and
there, in their village settlements the ''squaws" would cultivate small
patches of corn of a varitey of blue and white, eight-rowed corn-mostly-
cob, and when this matured it was rubbed between stones, into a coarse
meal.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY;, KANSAS. 1 55
Those early pioneers were greatly delighted with the luxuriant veg-
etation, the extent of timber belts, the numerous streams, and other evi-
dences of a ferttile soil. As soon as possible, logs were out and prepared
and a cabin built, and then began the breaking-out of a piece of prairie
sod or a clearing in the timber where, the following autumn, a few acres
of wheat would be sown, or, in the spring, corn planted and vegetables
grown. The results of these early experiments were successful in a re-
markable degree and demonstrated that no mistake had been made in
their settlemnt in "Sunny Kansas." But there came many disappoint-
ments and destruction of crops by herds, and, during the first few sea-
sons, many families were dependent on coarse ground corn-meal, turnips,
and wild game, which was abundant.
After the signing of the Indian Treaty in August 1870, for extin-
guishing the title of the Osages to these lands, there was an immense
tide of immigrants via the ''prairie schooner" route, all anxious to get
a home in this new country ; and ''claim takers" w^ere not slow in break-
ing out a few acres and making ready for growing crops in the following
season, and, in the aggregate, a few thousand acres of wheat were sown.
The following si)ring a few thousand acres in small patches were planted
to sod-corn and vegetables. The season was favorable, and all began to
feel that the days of plenty had come to their homes.
There were comparatively few good teams driven into the county
and it was fortunate, as there were severe losses of horses while becom-
ing acclimated and getting used to the short rations of grain. Then it
was, the settlers learned to appreciate the long-horned Texas cattle,
which were being driven here to fatten on the grass, and, later , to be
driven to market. From these herds the pioneers bought their ox teams —
two, four and, sometimes, six oxen being hitched to a breaking plow
proved the motive power which turned over most of the virgin prairie
for future cultivation. The Texas and Indian ponies, also, became popu-
lar as they were numerous and cheap, and they became the staple teams
for plowing corn and for road teams.
The new-comers were gnerally young, energetic and enthusiastic
and embraced all classes and professions; and all came anticipating the
securing of a quarter section of land and the making of a home for them-
selves and families. But all was not sunshine, as there were privations
to be endured and lessons to be learned in pioneer life.
All men were not born farmers, and many found by bitter experience
that Eastern methods were not successful, and that they had to adapt
themselves to ways new to them; hence, when the drought nnd grass-
hoppers came, in 1874, many found it convenient to go back east to their
wife's people rather than face the serious ])roble)ns of a new country.
The following season, 1875, was one of great abundance and made
glad the hearts of those who had remained — in many cases, not from.
156 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
choice It further demonstrated a point disputed, up to that time, that
this was pre-ecinently an agricultural, as well as one of the finest of live
stock-growing counties. It was in that vear The South Kansas Tribune
made a collection of grain and grasses for the Centennial Exposition
of 1876, and one can now only imagine the pride of the people when a
telegram was received from Hon. Alfred Gray, Secretary of the State
Board of Agriciulture, announcing that the "Highest prize, $50.00 cash,"
had been awarded to Montgomery county samples of grains and grasses,
as the finest grown in Kansas. It was indeed a fine exhibit of grains
and grasses including wheat, rye, oats, flax, corn, timothy, blue grass,
and blue stem.
From that time on agriculture became more prominent and for sev-
eral years this county made exhibits at the Kansas State fairs and at
the Kansas City fairs, of the various grains, grass and fruit products,
and at every one, with a large measure of success and there are il exist-
ence a dozen premium tags and ribbons and one silver medal awarded
on corn, wheat, flax, cotton and fruits exhibited from this county, at
these great fairs.
In those earlier years it became necessary to settle for all time the
conflicting interests between the ''cowman" and the farmer whether the
lands were to be held for a free range for grazing of herds, or to become
the homes and farms of the poorer settlers. The wealth was on the side
of the Texas steer and every season vast herds of southern cattle were
driven into this county to graze and fatten on the prairie grass. The
cattle would bereak from the corrals at night and devastate the farmers'
growing crops and thus engender bitter strife. The campaign for the
herd law was intense, but although wealth and immense profits were ar-
rayed on the side of the free range, the farmers won out in the contest
for a herd law, and gradually the long-horned cattle disappeared and
gave place to higher grades of cattle that would be confined in fenced
pastures.
It took years of time and a great many experiments to demonstrate
for just what crops the dift'erent classes of soil were best adapted, and
what varieties of cereals were the most profitable. But as the years
fjassed and experience was gained and more economical methods substi-
tuted, yearly accumulations increased and Montgomery County farmers
have been enjoying a prosperity rarely equalled; and for seven years
past the cry of ''hard times" has not been heard. With diversified agri-
culture and better methods and the growing of high-grade cattle, horses
tind Jiogs, together with jtroducts of the orchard, garden and poultry,
our farmers entered upon the twentieth centurv with abounding prosper-
ity.
Montgomery is one of the smaller counties with an area of 648
square miles or 414,720 acres. One-fourth of this is fertile valley land
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 1 57
tiud specially adapted for either of the great staples, wheat or corn; in
favorable seasons producing from 25 to 40 bushels of wheat per acre and
some \ears even larger yields. During the five-year period ending with
1895 the wheat product was 2,993.590 bushels, and for the next five-year
period .3.704.398 bushels, and an average for the ten-year period of
675,798 bushels of wheat each year. And for the opening year of the new
century. 1901, the average yield was 201/2 bushels of wheat per acre, a
higher average per acre than was grown in anv other county in Kansas,
and aggregated 1.642.280 bushels, which was a greater amount of wheat
than was grown in twelve other eastern counties in the state. That year
the wheat yield was 117 bushels per capita for the population of the
county outside of the larger towns. The cost of growing wheat per acre
in Montgomery County, for plowing, discing, harrowing, seed, cutting,
threshing, and rent of land is placed at $9.74 per acre.
Of the other great staple crop there were produced in the five-year
period 1891-1895. of corn 5,720,513 bushels, and for the next five-year
period 8,851,569 bushels showing the effect of better farming and a year-
ly average of nearly 1 and y? million bushels of corn. These statistics
are from the State Board of Agriculture and are proof positive that agri-
culture is a success in Montgomery Touuty and that it is in the corn and
wheat belt.
The general crops, so far found adapted to this county, and most
profitable, are winter wheat, corn, oats, rye, Irish and sweet potatoes,
castor beans, cotton, flax, broom corn, millet, sorghum, for syrup and
also for forage. Kaffir corn, timothy, blue grass, orchard grass, clover,
alfalfa, and ])rairie grass for hay and pasture. These staple farm crops
average a value of one and three-fourths millions of dollars annually,
to wiiich should be added for cattle, hogs, poultry, wool, butter, cheese
and horticultural products to make a total of farm products, the first
year of this century, of $2,838,295, or $225 per capita for every man,
woman and child living on the farms.
As the years pass, greater attention is given to small fruits, poultry
and the im]>roved class of horses, cattle and hogs.
Blue grass, red clover and alfalfa, during the recent years, have
proven sure croiis and very profitable — in fact observation and statistics
prove Montgomery County to be one of, if not the best, agricultural and
stock-growing county in the State.
Montgomery County enjoys the most favorable climatic advantages
and is free from the great extremes of heat and cold that affect more
northern and southern localities, and has had an average rainfall of
thirty-six inches during the past twenty years, with a growing period
extending 180 days without frost. In addition to climatic advantages
the county is in the great Kansas natural gas and oil field. Natural gas
as used foi- liuht and fuel in all the towns of the countv. for residences.
158 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
business buildings, offices and all kinds of factory industries, and prob-
ably a thousand farm houses use natural gas for fuel and light and have
the benefit of free rural mail delivery — two luxuries enjoyed by no other
farming community in any other state — and which contribute very large-
ly to the pleasures, prosperity and home-making of the farming c-.m-
munitv.
CHAPTER IX.
Manufacturing
BY W. T. YOE.
By the discovery of natui'al gas in all parts of the county, the cheap
fuel problem was solved, and Montgomery County is destined to become
one of, if not the greatest manufacturing county in the state.
Natural gas is the ideal fuel and light for the home and adapted for
all manufacturing purposes, and the known supply is greater now than
at any former period. It is in such abundance that it is furnished as low
as three cents per 1,000 cubic feet, which for heat or steam purposes is
equivalent to a rate of sixty cents per ton for coal. The industrial enter-
prises consist chiefly of the manufacture of the native shales into the
finest dry press, face, ornamental, vitrified paving and building brick of
the finest quality known to the trade and superior in quality, in color
and finish. There are eight of these brick plants now in operation and
the extent of the industry^ may be judged from the fact that one com-
pany operating three of these plants employs 500 people, manufactures
80 million brick per annum and pays |188,000 in wages for labor.
Among the other industries are two paper mills employing 200 peo-
ple in the manufacture of wrapping paper, pulp boards, and egg-case
fillers from wheat straw. Six large flouring mills converting our high
grade winter wheat into the finest quality of flour. One of these milling
firms employs 75 people and has a capacity of 2,000 barrels of flour daily.
Grain elevators are in each of the larger towns, one of which has a ca-
pacity of storing 200.000 bushels and of handling GO car loads of grain
daily,
A zinc smelter emjtloying 125 people ; three window glass factories
employing 250 people ; several foundries, machine shops, and planing
mills; a cracker and sweet goods factory employing 50 people — and the
only one in the State of Kansas ; a cotton twine factory ; several sorghum
syruj* works — one of which was built at a cost of .fl25,000 — two artificial
ice plants and several other industrial enterprises, are all using natural
gas for fuel.
Anu^ng the other industries }»rojected for the near future are two
plants for the manufacture of Portland cement, with a capacity of 4,00ft
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. I59
barreh daily; a plaster mill to manufacture 2,000 barrels daily from
gypsum and two additional window glass factories.
CHAPTER X.
History of the Bench and Bar
BY WILLIAM DUNKIN.
' Section I.
General Observations
A. true history the bench and bar of Montgomery County cannot
fail to awaken a just pride among its members, and to be entertaining
to those who shall }>opulate the county in years to come.
The existence of this bar covers a period vslightly less than the av-
erage generation of the human race and. in less than twenty years from
its beginning, it furnished a United States District Attorney for Kan-
sas, whose record in that office, for six years, and in the high places he
subsequently filled in the profession, long ago made his name a familiar
household word in Kansas, and well known over a large portion of the
Union.
It also, in that brief limit of time, supplied the State with an honored
Governor, who served with distinction for two successive terms and
the public with two judges of the District Court, in men of distinguished
ability, whose wide reputations as profound lawyers, acquired in the
practice, became, while on the bench, extended far beyond the limits of
the State. Within the same time, one of its members became an efficient
First Assistant Secretary of the Interior, at Washington, during Presi-
dent Harrison's administration, and another reju'esented the stat? in
the United States Senate for six years, ending in 1897.
Besides these, there have always been in its ranks, numbers of well
known attorneys, who have ever been recognized in the circles of the pro-
fession, as talented lawyers. It may well be doubted, if a more promis-
ing bar existed within the confines of the State than that formed by the
young attorneys, who came in the flood of immigration that poured
into the county, during the years of its first settlement.
Vriiile many— aye most— of the old members have either yielded to
that inevitable law, which fixes the destiny of every man, or sought new
fields for the practice of their chosen profession, or the pursuit of other
more alluring callings — other young lawyers now in the prime of their
physical and mental vigor have taken the places of those no longer here.
These young gentlemen, among whom are some very brilliant and
well-cultivated minds, are maintaining an enviable reputation for the
bar, and making history that, it is to be hoped, will hereafter be written
bv one or more of them.
l6o HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
Ample reascHis existed for the formation of a strong bar in the early
settlement and develojtment of the connty. The conditions were inviting
and the prospects temjtting to the talented young lawyers. In its native
state, the face of the country was charming and picturesque, and the soil
of exceeding fertility; and an unusually fine climate added its induce-
ments to other fascinating features.
The early ]>o]iulation was. for the most part, composed of young
persons seeking homes, with their life and hopes before them; and these
young people were generally equipped with good health and gifted with
constitutions that enabled them to endure the toils and privations of a
new country.
These circumstances were attractive to the brainy, and generally
briefless, young barristers who came seeking fame and fortune in the
pursuit of their calling. Most of them, like a great majority of the first
pioneers, were men of limited means; and some had left comfortable
homes and turned from the profi'ered aid of influential kindred and
friends to brave the dangers of frontier life to win fortune and fame.
While early business became brisk in their line, the litigous ele-
ment could not always respond in the ''Coin of the Realm" for needed
X>rofessional services; and necessity frequently compelled compensation
to be rendered in time notes that were rarely bankable, unless secured by
mortgages on substantial property. Sometimes owing to the impe-
cunious circumstances of the client, his attorney willingly yielded his
services for an agreed upon share or interest in the property in contro-
versy.
From these earnings, and from such fees as were paid in legal tender
**'greerbanks,"the young lawyer was enabled to fortify his doors against
the far-famed wolf, and to live comfortably, if not luxuriously ; and from
such resources some of the more thrifty built pleasant homes and stocked
their offices with good libraries.
In the ealv davs, manv, who afterward commanded a lucrative
practice, advertised themselves as "attorneys at law and real estate
agents" and some of these devoted more time to the agency features than
to their profession, and often with profitable results.
The sources of income to the first members of the bar were numerous
and fruitful, and as the county grew in population and developed, com-
pensations for legal services were usually awarded in money or its equiv-
alent.
When the various fountains of revenue to the legal fraternity are
understood,, it will readily be perceived why so many brilliant young law-
yers came here so early and stayed so late.
There were eight or ten thousand people in the county when the
treaty with the Osage Indians was concluded on September 10, 1870.
and most of these were claiming an interest in the lands in defiance of
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY; KANSAS. l6l
the Indian's right to the exclusive occupancy thereof. Long before the
treaty was signed or an official survey of the county had been made, these
aggressive settlers had staked out, claimed and possessed themselves of
tracts of lands and lots on townsites that had been laid out and platted
without warrant of law. Each claimant asserted a prime right to the
tract of land by him selected and occupied and to the town lot he had
chosen, against all, except the United States Government, in whose favor
a concession of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, was recognized.
The rapid settlement of the county by persons who had generally
been strangers to each other and the exciting scramble to acquire the
best land claims and choicest lots in projected towns, often provoked
bitter disputes and controversies. In the settlement of these, profes-
sional services were rendered that yielded handsome fees to the young
lawyers.
The ollQcial survey of the lands made a new alignment of the
boundaries of most of the claims that had been staked out. This often
had the effect of enhancing the value of one claim and depreciating that
of an adjoining one. Sometimes such survey placed the houses and im-
provements of two neighbors and friendly claimants on a single tract,
and out of these causes, arose sharp contentions that created a pressing
demand for legal work for their solution.
Incident to the entry of the townsites, much litigation ensued, some-
times between the claimants of the lots they respectively professed
to occupy and own, at other times between such lot owners and the trus-
tee who held the legal title. Expensive suits were also instituted to de-
termine who were the several occupants of a townsite and entitled to
deeds from the trustee. At Independence, the Independence Town Com-
pany Avas created and chartered under the laws of the State. It claimed
the nuiyor, who had entered the townsite, held the title in trust for the
town company. Under the laAV, as it has since been interpreted, a town-
site is entered from the United States, for the benefit of the actual occu-
pants of the lots (see Winfield Town Company vs. Enoch Morris et al.
11 Kansas 128 and Independence Town Company vs. James DeLong, 11
Kansas 152). As the matter then stood, all parties agreed the mayor or
corpoi-ate authorities had the legal right to make the entry in trust. The
controversy was over the question as to who were the cestuis que trust —
or beneficiaries. It would be foreign to the purposes of this article to
discuss this question and it is only alluded to to show that such condi-
tions developed doubts that could only be settled by the skillful lawyer,
and that the compensation for the solution of them was one of the
sources of the lawyer's income.
Among the disputants in the disagreements arising in the settlement
of the county were some daring and reckless men, who occasionally chose
to attempt a disposition of their disputed affairs "outside of court,"
1 62 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
and without the aid of counselors. Usually their efforts resulted in the
creation of more serious troubles in which the State of Kansas became
the party plaintiff, and the lawyer found himself blessed with two cases,
instead of one.
While a large element in the first population was cosmopolitan, the
people at once began to take steps to encourage the building of railroads,
bridges and other public improvements. These were soon secured at
ruinously extravagant prices, in exchange for municipal bonds, many
of which are yet a burden upon the i)eople and wealth of the county. In
accomplishing these purposes much employment was afforded to the
members of the bar.
Adventurous merchants often failed for want of caution in making
purchases, buying too much on trust, and extending credit too far.
Farmers who had not reckoned upon the disastrous drought of 1874 and
the ruinous visitation of the festive red-legged grasshopper, and other
unlooked for woes, came to financial grief. These misfortunes opened
the way to the attorney to make collections by foreclosing mortgages,
and in other suits, including attachments, receivers, etc.
The location of the county on the border of the Indian Territory,
which then furnished a comparatively safe retreat for criminals, encour-
aged the commission of crime. Many of the less discreet among these
lawless men, often ventured from their asylums of safety, into the State,
and were sometimes apprehended by the officers of the law ; and others
of them were occasionally, by daring officers without warrant of law,
forced into the State. The jtrosecution and defense of these men fur-
nished many handsome fees to the first lawyers who came to the county.
Besides these unusual sources of income to the members of the bar,
that arose out of the rapid settlement and improvement of the county,
and the peculiar conditions that surrounded it, the ordinary opportuni-
ties for the lawyer, in all countries, were ever present here.
Section II.
The District Courts
Prior to ISGT, the Osage Indians Avere in the exclusive and rightful
possession of all the territorj- of the present Montgomery County, except
a tract known as The Cherokee Strip, about two and one-half miles wide
on the sovith border of the county, and another strip about three miles
wide on the east side of the county, that was a ])art of the Osage Ceded
Lands. This Indian right remained intact until, by treaty concluded
near the mouth of Drum Creek, on September 10, 1870, these occupying
Indians relinquished all claims to the lands forever.
Ill isr»7, a few adventurous settlers located in the country and these
were reinforced by others during the next year. In the latter part of
1868 the immigration began to flow in constantly increasing streams,
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 163
which continued till the first United States census for 1870 was taken,
which showed a population of 7,638, exclusive of Indians. This was ap-
proximately the population of the county at the time its first District
Court convened at Independence on May 9, 1870.
Before that date, improvised tribunals of justice had afforded relief
to the wronged, and inflicted punishment for the infraction of those
rules that were by common consent adopted as a guide. These courts,
if they may be dignified by that name, antedated the justices of the peace
of the three original townships (Drum Creek, Verdigris and Westralia),
created in June, 1800, by the first board of county commissioners (H. C.
Crawford, H. A. P.ethuren and R. L. Walker), and assumed to exercise
jurisdiction, in some matters, after the creation of the succeeding town-
ship courts.
Before the first District Court convened, the question of the location
of the county's permanent capital had been the subject of many heated
controversies. Governor James M. Harvey, on June 3, 1869, by procla-
mation, created the county and named Verdigris City as its temporary
county seat. In the fall of that year an election for county officers and
to locate the permanent county seat was held. A spirited rivalry sprang
up. On the west side of the Verdigris, where the county was more sparse-
ly settled. Independence, then less than six months old, was an active
candidate; a projected city called Tipton, located just east of the present
Elk City, divided the vote on the west side of the river. On the east
side of the river, in the beginning, three formidable candidates were pre-
sented. These were Montgomery City on the north side and near the
nrouth of Drum Creek; Liberty on the hill, about three-fourths of a mile
east from the present "McTaggart's Bridge" across the Verdigris; and
Verdigris City (the temporary seat) located about the same distance
southenst from the present "Brown's Ford'' on the river.
Liberty was located between and about an equal distance from each
of its competitors on that side of the river, and, during the campaign,
its advocates, by a shrewd piece of political diplomacy, secured the vote
theretofore divided between the three aspirants, and by that means ob-
tained more votes than either of its competitors on the west side of the
river.
A bitter contest was begun in the Brobate Court of Wilson County,
to which Montgomery was then attached for judicial purposes. The court
before which such contest had been instituted decided there had been
no authorized election and hence no contest could properly be enter-
tained.
Mr. Goodell Foster, then but twenty-six years of age, was a leading
attorney on the side in favor of maintaining the validity of the election.
He had been elected county attorney but declined to qualify after the
adverse decision of the court.
164 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
After the trial had progressed two days, Mr. Foster retired at night,
confident of victory on the next day. He had, late on the second day,
presented a legal precedent that seemed to turn the "tide of battle" in
his favor.
Few law books had been ajjpealed to as authority to sustain the
views presented by counsel on either side; indeed law books were a rare
luxury here in those days. In legal fights, arguments and oratory ren-
dered in loud and aggressive tones, were the weapons relied upon.
Many hours before sunrise on the third day, L. T. Stephenson arrived
on the scene of conflict. He had. during the night, ridden horseback,
with his attorney, F. A. Bettis, from Oswego, a distance of fifty-four
miles. Mr. Bettis brought an Iowa ''case in point," and on that author-
ity the invalidity of the election was judicially declared; and then and
there the fond hopes of the friends of Liberty vanished never to return.
The site selected in 1869 for the permanent county seat is now an
uninviting spot. Clusters of low sumac, dwarf persimmon trees and
other illgrown bushes flourish on those portions where short grasses fail
to grow between the lime rocks that peep from beneath the surface.
Near the west line of this projected townsite is the point of a high hill
from which can be seen a most beautiful landscape, which extends for
miles up the timber-fringed Verdigris and over broad acres of rich bottom
lands and fertile uplands and valleys; and to the north and east, some
two miles or more from the same townsite, is a spot at the summit of a
hill from which one can look upon Independence, Cherryvale and Lib-
erty; the latter the successor of her departed namesake.
The decision of the Wilson County Probate Court, so fatal to the
prospects and hopes of old Liberty, was quietly acquiesced in, until the
vexed question of the location of the permanent county seat was settled
at a legal election held in November, 1870. At this election Independence
was selected by an overwhelming majority.
At its annual session in 1870, the Legislature passed an act, which
was, on the 2nd day of March, in that year, approved by the Governor,
creating the Eleventh Judicial District, comprising the counties of
Crawford, Cherokee, Labette, Montgomery and Howard. By this law
the Governor was authorized to appoint a judge for the newly created
district, whose term of office should commence April 1st, 1870. It also
provided for the election of a judge, for four years, at the annual election
to be held in November of that year, and fixed his term to commence on
the 2nd Monday in January, 1871.
This act, by its terms, wavs to take effect and be in force from and
after its publication in Ihe Kansas Weekly Commonwealth, a newspaper
then ]>i!blis]ied in Topeka.
On the 16 daij of March, 1870. the Governor ai»pointed Hon. Wra. C.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 1 65
Webb, of Fort Scott, Judge of the District, notwithstanding the law
creating it and conferring the power to make the appointment was not
published and lience did not become operative until the 24t1i day of that
month.
While the appointment was premature and unauthorized, a better
selection could not have been made, either at the time or after the law
went into force, seven or eight days later.
One of the novel features of the law was that by its firsl. section it
made Howard county a part of the district, and in its next section pro-
vided ''the County of Howard is hereby attached to the County of Mont-
gomery for judicial purposes."
The law makers may have been influenced to the inconsistency in
the first and second sections of the act, by the impression that Montgom-
ery county afforded the only convenience to be had, in the two counties
suitable for holding court and in that view were doubhless correct, yet
they may not have fully realized the lack of commodious, not to say lux-
urious, appointments for such purpose, that they obtained in this, now
the sixth county in the state.
The law also fixed times for convening the terms of court "on the
second Monday of May and the second Monday after the third Monday
of October in each year.''
On the second Monday in May, 1870, which was the 9th day of that
month. Judge Wm. C. Webb promptly appeared in the county to open
his term of Court. This, under the law, must be held at the County seat;
and Judge Webb was always unusually technical in the strict observance
of all laws, so much so, had he known the weakness of his title to the
office, he probably would not have attempted to exercise its duties.
On his arrival, he was confronted with a peculiar state of affairs
respecting the location of the county seat. The Governor, in his pro-
clamafion creating the county, had designated Verdigris City as its
temporary county seat; the canvas of the vote cast at the election in
1869 attested that the permanent county seat was fixed at Liberty, and the
electi(»n resulting in favor of Liberty had been judicially declared a
nullity.
Ordinarily, this disturbing problem would have been easy of
solution in the well trained legal mind of Judge Webb. Logically, the
county seat vsould have been where the Governor located it, unaffected
by the futile efforts to change it. However, other complications inter-
vened. It was the dutv of the Countv Commissioners to i)rovide, at the
county seat, a suitable place for holding court; and it was likewise the
duty if the commissioners to hold its sessions at the same seat. The
crude and diminutive court room that had been constructed at Verdi-
gris City no longer remained there. I'nder the compromise between the
i66
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
three aspirants on the east side of the river, the primitive court house
had been removed from its former site to Liberty, and the few inhabi-
tants who had dwelt on the land platted as the temporary county seat
had hopelessly abandoned it and linked their fortunes with those who
lived on the site of its former rival, after its barren victory at the polls.
Besides, the new Board of County Commissioners (W. W. Graham,
S. B. Moorehouse and Thomas H. Brock) was friendly to Independence,
at which place it held its sessions, and on May 5th, 1870, made an order
as follows: ''Be it known that, finding no suitable place at Verdigris
FIRST COURT HOUSE
City in which to hold the District Court of Miontgomery County, it is
hereby ordered that said court shall be held at Independence."
These were the conditions when -Judge Wm. C. Webb, in company
with his former law partner, Mr. K. J. Hill, arrived, with the team of
their law firm, at the log structure that had been known at Verdigris
City as the court house of the county, and moved to and re-erected at
Liberty for the same purpose. This small log house still stands, where
it then stood, neglected and in a sad state of decay.
After the team in which Judge Webb came was hitched, he walked
into the supposed court house and at once, in the most emphatic manner,
declared to its empty walls that it was wholly unfit for the purpose de-
signed and he positively declined to open court under its roof.
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 167
When Judge Webb and Mr. Hill arrived, there was no one at the
l)uilding, but in a few moments a crowd was attracted to the spot — more
from idle curiosity than otherwise — and in a short time Sheriff White
arrived from Independence; the clerk of the court, L. T. Stephenson, a
powerful friend in those days of Independence, had remained where his
love and friendship centered.
After a short consultation between the judge, sheriff and Mr. Hill,
these gentlemen drove on to Independence when the order of the board
was made known to the judge and a new school building located on lot
17, block 52, the present site of the United Brethren church, was tender-
ed for a court room.
After some hesitation, the judge opened his court there and directed
the order of the board of county commissioners to be spread upon the
records, where it will now be found copied on the first page of the first
journal of the first term of the District Court ever held in the county.
This was the only term of court held in the county by Judge Wm. C.
Webb, and at that term but little business of importance, beyond the ad-
mission of attorneys to practice, was transacted. Court adjourned on
May 1 7th, 1870, after having continued most of the cases and admitted a
number of the earliest members of the bar to practice.
At this term of court, Charles White was sheriff, J. N. Debruler,
under sheriff, L. T. Stephenson, clerk, and Clate M. Ralstin, county at-
±orne\.
Section III.
The Judges of the District Court
The gentlemen who have presided over the District Court of Mont-
gomery county since its creation, have, for the most part, been men of
far more than ordinary ability ; and when the comparison is indulged
with judges in this and other states, who have occupied the same exalted
positicms, there could be little or nothing found to complain of or criti-
cise in our judges. It is well known in the legal profession, that the of-
fice of judge of a trial court of general jurisdiction is one that is most
difficult to acceptably fill. To properly perform its duties requires accu-
rate knowledge of the law, and of the rules of pleading and of evidence,
together with business tact and administrative ability.
HON. WILLIAM C. WEP>P>. of Fort Scott. Kans.,'w;is the first judge
of the District Court. He held but one short term in the county and that
was in a new school house on East Maple street in Independence. Suf-
ficient allusion has been made to this feature in the preceding section of
this article.
When Judge Webb convened the first district court here he was a
man about forty-six years of age and had before been recognized in this
1 68 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
state as well as in the state of Wisconsin, from whence he came to this^
as a lawyer deeply learned, accurate and i)rofound in the profession.
After his first and only term in the county, he, on November 17th,
1870, resigned the office and shortly after became the oflScial reporter of
the Supreme Court of Kansas and, as such, thereafter produced fifteen
volumes of the reports of the court (Vols. 6 to 20 inclusive.)
After retiring from the responsible and arduous duties of that oflSce,
he, with great credit to himself, filled various high public positions in the
state and, at times, was, in a i)rofessional way, engaged in many impor-
tant legal controversies. He became well known throughout the state,
and was everywhere recognized as one of its most distinguished lawyers.
Before coming to Kansas, Judge Webb had served in the Civil war
as colonel of a Wisconsin regiment, and had been a member of the Legis-
lature of that state. Among the public places of trust he has filled in
this state, outside of those already mentioned, may be named those of
state senator, member of the lower house of the legislature, state super-
intendent of insurance and judge of the Superior Court of Shawnee
county.
In his old age, while bending under the burden of the heroic strife
of a well spent life, he, in 1896, undertook and accomplished the compila-
tion of the laws of Kansas. This was a herculean task and better fitted
to the energy and physical endurance of the man as he was twenty-five
years before.
Judge Webb died in 1898, at Topeka, at the ripe age of seventy-four
years, lamented, honored and respected by all who knew him. At the
January, 1898, term of the Supreme Court, it adopted and spread upon
its records a handsome tribute to his memory.
HON. HENRY G. WEBB, at about the age of forty-five years, suc-
ceeded his brother, Wm. C. Webb, on the bench. He was elected to the of-
fice at the November, 1870, general election, and the term of his ofiice be-
gan in January, 1871. Under the law, as it then existed, the second term
of court was to convene in the county on the ''second Monday after the
third Monday in October." At the appointed time Judge Wm. C. Webb
failed to appear and open his court, whereupon the members of the bar
selected Judge Henry G. Webb as judge pro tern, and he, as such pro
tern judge, held the October or November, 1870, term of court, in a room
upstairs on the east side of Pennsylvania avenue in this city, in a build-
ing about 100 feet south of Main street.
At the time of his selection as such pro tem judge, he was a candi-
date against Hon. Wm. Mathena, of Cherokee county, for the ofiice and
at the election held a few days after convening court, was chosen by a
large majorit,y.
After the election and while Judge Webb was serving as judge in a
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS. 169
temporary capacity, he disposed of at least one highly important matter
arising out of what is now conceded to have been a fraudulent and cor-
rupt election, held June 21st, 1870. It had been voted to issue county
bonds in the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, to secure the build-
ing of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad, from near the
northeast corner of the county, via Cherryvale and Coffeyville, to the
south boundary of the state. One of the first suits brought to question the
validity of that election in the District Court of the county was the case
of Asa Hargrave vs. Charles White. The court appointed Mr. A. C.
Darlow, an attorney of Oswego, a commissioner to take testimony and re-
port. Mr. Darlow, in a very brief time, made his report, whereupon, on
November 2nd, 1870, the court rendered its judgment, finding, among
other things, that said election held on June 21st, 1870, on the question of
voting 1200,000 to said railroad company was a valid and legal election.
Without venturing a criticism on the soundness of that ruling, it may
be remarked, that shortly afterward the bonds were issued and now,
after much litigation and the expediture of a large amount of money,
in vain efforts to defeat them, a large portion of the debt still hangs as
a burden on the county.
On the 9th day of November, 1870, Judge Webb pronounced, perhaps,
the first divorce decree in the county. It was in favor of the wife, who
was plaintiff, and on the grounds that the husband had been willfully
"absent from said petitioner for more than one year prior to the filing
of the petition."
At the same term of court pro tem Judge Webb made an unique
order in reference to the i^apers and files in the clerk's office, which,
among other things, provided they should not ''be loaned, borrowed,
taken away, purloined, stolen or kidnapped from the ofiice" and also
that any person or attorney ''wishing copies may have the same by giv-
ing ample notice to the clerk and paying for the same at the price per
folio allowed by law;" the order then made an exception in favor of the
county attorney, who was allowed "to borrow papers by receipting for
and returning the same in three (3) days."
Any of the early members of the bar who knew the clerk of the court
in those days and his peculiar and aggressive style of composition, will
not hesitate to ascribe the authorship of this positive order to L. T.
Stephenson, who was always an intimate friend and a great admirer
of the judge.
The May, 1871, term of court was held in the same room on Pennsyl-
vania avenue and at that term Frank Willis appeared as county attor-
ney. Judge Henry G. Webb was then "a full fledged" official with a term
of about four years before him and had formed close social relations with
a coterie of members of the bar and others. These friends of the judge,
lyo HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
for some reason, so it was claimed by Mr. Willis, had formed an un-
friendly feeling for the county attorney, which was shared by the judge.
Out of this antagonism disputes arose that were sometimes aired in open
court.
On November 80th, 1871, the court ordered the arrest of Mr. Willis
for contemj)t of court. The specification stated that Mr. Willis had ut-
tered the following insulting language in open court: "If the court
wants to do so and dismiss the cases here publicly just for the purpose
of stigmatizing me, why you can do that"' and further it was sfjecified
that Mr. Willis had used in open court the following contemptuous lan-
guage- "If you want to do such things in that way and dismiss these
cases just because Bennett says so why just do it." What became of the
contempt proceedings against Mr. Willis, the records do not show.
At this term of court, on December 2nd. 1871, in the case of the
State vs. L. T. Stephenson, the defendant was tried and convicted of an
assault, and by the court fined twenty-five dollars and the costs of the
prosecution. Neither this fine nor the costs was ever paid, and no com-
mitment issued. Long afterward and on August 30th, 1872, Mr. Stephen-
son appeared in court, and, on his motion, the fine was remitted.
By an act of the Legislature, which went into effect on March 6th,
1872, three terms of court were provided for the county. These were to
convene respectively on the first Monday in April, August and December.
On the first day of the April, 1872, term of court Judge Henry G.
Webb and the clerk, L. T. Stephenson, were absent. There were present,
however, besides some of the members of the bar, J. E. Stone, sheriff; J. B.
Craig, deputy clerk; and Frank Willis, county attorney, and the sheriff
adjourned court 'till the next day.
On the next day, which was April 2nd. 1872, court, with a full corps
of oflBcers, convened in Emerson's hall, which was on the north side of
Main street and just west of the present court house grounds, and re-
mained in session for several weeks. The conveniences in these new
quarters were much superior to those afforded in the rooms formerly
used for court, but in some respects, in the opinion of Judge Webb, were
still lacking; and to supply the needs, which, under the law, it was the
duty of the county commissioners to provide, the court, on the 17th day
of April, 1872, made an order directing the sheriff, at the expense of the
count},, to provide by the next term ''suflBcient matting of the best qual-
ity to cover the bench and bar and also the aisles in the court room and
that he lay the said matting securely on the floor ♦ ♦ ♦ and cause
to be erected in said court room a platform of suflScient length and width
to comfortably seat twelve jurors, and also a witness stand, and also a
table six feet long and three feet wide and three and a half feet high for
the use of the Judge of this Court."
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. I7I
While public officials often in the discharge of their duties, inno-
cently overstep the bounds of the law, an order of this character, ema-
nating from a court which is charged with the interpretation of the law
and Avith defining its limits, becomes of serious import; in other words,
it usurped powers that belonged to the county commissioners.
At the August, 1872, term, and on the 22nd day of that month, in
a case then pending, in which a former county attorney was plaintiff
and the board of county commissioners was defendant, it was, in open
court agreed that the plaintiff should recover the amount that would
result from dividing the aggregate of the amounts named by the mem-
bers of the bar present, by the number of such members. The court ren-
dered judgment against the county for the amount (|300) thus obtained
on this unheard of proceeding. At the December, 1872, term of court a
highly important murder case was pending; it being the case of the
State vs Oliver P. Cauffman, George W. Ripley and Jasper Coberly.
On December 13th, 1872, the county attorney asked a continuance
on account of the absence of an important witness, which request was
denied, and on the next day he asked leave of court to nolle the case, and
this application was also overruled, whereupon, after a brief trial, de-
fendants Cauffman and Ripley were acquitted. The other defendant,
Coberly, was never apprehended. This case arose from the claim that
some one charged with, or suspicioned of, being guilty of some offense,
had been Ivnched near Havana, in the countv.
At the time rumors of corruption and bribery on the bench, were
rife, in connection with this case. Whether there was any foundation
for such rumors, will probably never be determined, and being mere
rumors, it is but fair, in the absence of authentication, to say they were
groundless, so far as the court was concerned. At all events, this oc-
curred at the last term of court ever held in the county by Judge Henry
G. Webb.
On January 21st, 1873, the lower house of the Kansas Legislature,
adopted the following resolution : '^Resolved, That a committee of three
be appointed to investigate charges againts H. G. Webb, judge of the
11th Judicial District, with power to send for persons and papers."
On January 22nd, 1873, the same body passed an amendatory resolu-
tion, increasing the number of the committee to investigate such charges
to five instead of three.
On January 23rd, 1873, the lower house adopted the following reso-
lution :
"Resolved, The committee heretofore appointed by resolution of this
house to investigate charges against H. G. Webb, Judge of the Eleventh
Judicial District of the State of Kansas, be and is hereby authorized and
required to investigate all charges of bribery, corruption and misconduct
1^2 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
in office against said H,. G. Webb and to report to this house as soon as
practicable whether the said H. G. Webb has so acted in his judicial
capacity as to require the interposition of the constitutional power of
impeachment of the house, and for the purpose of this investigation the
committee is hereby authorized and empowered to subpoena and send for
all necessary persons and papers and each member of said committee is
hereby authorized and empowered to administer oaths and affirmations,
and said committee is hereby authorized to employ a clerk."
On February 15th, 1873, the committee, therefore, appointed to in-
vestigate the charges againts Judge Webb, made a report as follows :
"Mr. Speaker. Your select committee to whom was referred the in-
vestigation of accusations against H. G. Webb, Judge of the Eleventh
Judicial District, of the State of Kansas, beg leave to report that Judge
Webb has tendered his resignation to take effect on the 21st day of Feb-
ruary, 1873, and the same has been filed and accepted by His Excellency
the Governor; therefore, the committee asks to be discharged from any
further investigation of the case, and recommend the testimony taken in
the investigation, be filed with the Secretary of State, subject to the or-
der of this House." ^'W. H. MAPES, Chairman."
"The report was adopted."
On the same day Mr. Hutchings offered the following resolution :
"Resolved, That the committee heretofore appointed to investigate
charges against H. G. Webb, Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District, be
discharged from further consideration of the subject and that the testi-
mony be not printed, but filed in the office of the Secretary of State sub-
ject to the order of this House."
"Which was, on motion, adopted."
Judge Henry G. Webb was a most remarkable man. Nature had
endowed him with a lavish hand. He was a man of powerful physique
and possessed of a natural mental. power that rarely falls to the lot of
man. H« was well equipped to fill any high station in life.
In the discussion of a legal proposition, or in the elaboration of any
subject he chose to talk upon, he was most instructive and entertaining.
Hte always spoke in a deep, deliberate and sonorous voice, softened by a
musical melody that was charming to hear. His language on such oc-
casions was chaste, well chosen and refined. He was a man whose name
might have lived prominently in history a century or more after his
death. With his great and brilliant mind, he lacked ambitioii beyond
his inclination to gratify the tastes of the hour.
JUDGE BISHOP W. PERKINS, at the age of thirty-one years was,
in March, 1873, appointed by Governor Thomas A. Osborn, Judge of the
District Court to fill the vacancv occasioned by the resignation of Judge
Henrv G. Webb.
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 1 73
At the next election for judge, Mr. Perkins was the Republican can-
didate to succeed himself against Mon. John M. Scudder, an attorney of
Coffeyville, Kansas, an independent candidate. His large district then
composing four populous counties, was overwhelmingly Republican and
he was elected by a safe majority, notwithstanding his own county
(Labette) which was thoroughly Republican, voted in favor of his op-
ponent. The adverse vote in Labette county was occasioned by the fact
that a few ^^ears before the election, while Judge Perkins was Probate
Judge of the county, the large estate of one Ames, deceased, had been
diverted from the rightful heirs and given to a spurious claimant, who
had fraudulently secured a record of the Probate Court showing his
adoption as the son and heir of said deceased. Bitter litigation arose
over the event during the time Judge Perkins was serving the remainder
of Judge Webb's term. It was boldly charged during Judge Perkins' can-
vass that he was a party to the fraud, and as boldly denied by the judge,
who had in a short time he had served on the bench, become very popular,
and had won the confidence of the people, to such an extent, that the
affair exercised but little influence in the election, outside of Labette
county.
Four years afterward Judge Perkins was again elected for another
term of four years, and at the end of his last term, entered upon his
duties as one of the four congressmen-at-large from the State, to which
office he had been elected while serving on the bench.
When Judge Perkins first went upon the bench, he possessed neither
the natural ability nor the legal learning of his predecessor, but in many
other respects was far superior in fitness for the position. While he was
young and of somewhat limited experience in the practice, he at once
demonstrated administrative ability of a high order. This, with his un-
flagging energy and tireless industry, aided by the fine bars, particularly
in this and Labette county, enabled him during his entire term to dis-
pose of the court's business satisfactorily to the public generally.
Judge Perkins on the bench was courteous and fair and developed
an unusual ability to clearly instruct a jury and also become a fine
chancellor.
While the judge left a fine record after his ten years' service on the
bench, he was distinctly a politician. As a political leader, he was rare-
ly, if ever, excelled in the State.
He was popular, adroit, dii)lomatic, energetic; and uncompromising
in his political convictions; and these qualities, with a boundless ambi-
tion to serve in a public position, kept him almost constantly in oflice
from the time he came to Oswego, in April, 1809, 'till he was defeated in
1890, for congress, by Hon. Benjamin Clover, of Cowley county. After
this inglorious defeat, the first he had ever met, he seems to have lost his
iy4 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
political prestige, and never again served in a public office except for a
few months in 1892 in the United States Senate, to which office he had
been appointed by Gov. L. V. Hnni])hrey to fill the vacancy occasioned by
the death of Senator J'hnnb. The next legishiture elected in his place
Senator Wm. A. Petfer, a Topulist, and at the same session his party
friends refused his request to nominate him as the candidate for the
minority party. This was jierhaps the most galling and humiliating
defeat he ever suffered.
Judge Terkins was born at Rochester, Loraine county. Ohio, October
18th, 1812. In July. 1862, he enlisted in the Union army and became a
sergeant of his company. He was afterward detailed to act as lieuten-
ant in a company of cavalry for special guerilla duty, in which he served
'till December, 18G3. He remained in the service 'till mustered out at
Nashville, Tennessee, in ]\Iay, 1800. During his term of service after
December, 1803, he filled successively the following army offices: Adju-
tant of the IGth Colored Infantry and Captain of Company "C" in the
same regiment. He was also, for a year. Acting Adjutant General of
the post of Chattanooga and served as Judge Advocate on the staff of
General Gillem and also in the same position on the staff of General
Steadman.
After leaving the army he resumed the study of law, and was, in
1807, admitted to practice; and in the same year located at Pierceton,
Indiana, where he remained until he came to Oswego in 1809.
In the spring of 1809 he was appointed county attorney, and after
his term had expired, became assistant county attorney, and afterward
filled the following positions: Probate Judge of Labette county. Judge
of the 11th Judicial District, Member of Congress and United States
Senator.
He then settled in Washington, D. C, where he died on the 20th
day of June, 1894, after a short illness.
JUDGE GEO. CHANDLER succeeded Hon. B. W. Perkins on the
I)ench. He was born at Hermitage, Wyoming county, New York, on Sep-
tember 20, 18-42, and in 1848 moved with his family to Monroe. Wisconsin,
where he remained until 1854. and then went to Shirland, Illinois, and
spent his time for the next six years, working on a farm.
In 1800 he went to Beloit College in Wisconsin, and after pursuing
his studies there for three years, entered the University of Michigan, at
Ann Arbor, and three years later was graduated from the famous law
school of that renowned institution. He was then, in 1800. admitted to
practice by the Supreme Court at Detroit, Michigan, and afterward in
the same year, went into the law office of Messers. Conger & Hawes and
began the practice at Janesville, Wisconsin, which he continued until
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. I75
early in 1872, when he removed to, and entered the practice of law at,
Independence, Kansas.
On the 3rd day of April, 1872, on motion of J. Dw MtCue he was ad-
mitted to practice in the District Conrt of Montgomery county, on the
certificate of his admission to the Circuit Court of Wisconsin.
Shortly after coming to Independence he formed a co-partnership
with George R. Peck, a close friend, whom he had known at Janesville,
Wisconsin, and who had, late in 1871, preceded him here. This new
firm, under the style of Peck & Chandler, in a very short time establish-
ed a lucrative practice, and its members very soon became well known
as fine lawyers. The first office of this firm was upstairs in a frame
building over Page's bank, at the corner of Main street and Pennsyl-
vania avenue, and at the site of the present First National bank.
In 1873, the partners moved their office to the second story of a brick
building recently completed by them on the east side of North Pennsyl-
vania avenue and three doors south of the well known drug store of that
early pioneer, J. H. Pugh.
When they came to this county, neither Mr. Chandler nor his part-
ner "was abundantly blessed with this world's goods" and each was
burdened with the necessity of providing a home for himself and wife.
Each had youth, energy, good health, strength, a good library and bril-
liant prospects.
Mr. Peck built a small plain, two room cottage, at the edge of the
bluff on the Verdigris, at the east end of Myrtle street, and Mr. Chandler
another, scarcely more pretentious, on the opposite side of the same
street, nearly a mile west; these modest dwellings, which have been but
slightly changed in the thirty years, or more, since they were erected,
are often pointed out to strangers as the original habitations of the two
bright and brainy young lawyers, who joined our bar in its infancy.
In January, 1874, Mr. Peck assumed the duties of the office of
United States Attorney for the District of Kansas, to which he had been
recently appointed, and the co-partnership theretofore existing between
him and Mr. Chandler was shortly after dissolved. Mr. Chandler soon
afterward formed a partnership with his younger brother, Joseph Chand-
ler, and this firm, under the name and style of Geo. & Jos. Chandler, con-
tinued in the practice until January, 1883, when he went upon the bench,
and thereafter served as Judge of the 11th Judicial District until in
April, 1888, when he became First Assistant Secretary of the Interior
at Washington, under General Noble, and served with distinction in that
position to the end of General Benjamin Harrison's administration in
1893. Since then Judge Chandler has remained in Washington in the
practice of the law.
Judge Chandler was, in many respects, a remarkable man. It were
176 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
useless, in the limited space allotted to us to attempt more than a very
imperfect description of him as he was during his active practice and
service on the bench here, for a period of more than sixteen years.
He was an imposing figure. Nature had moulded for him a massive
frame, symmetrically constructed, and fully six feet tall, or nutre, with
broad shoulders, and had given him a lofty yet somewhat awkward car-
riage. It had also furnished him a very large and perfectly formed head
and strongly carved features that at once marked him as a man of ex-
traordinary i)hysical and mental powers.
He was well prepared when he entered the practice here, early in
1872, and by assiduous reading and study and the aid of a very retentive
memory, he, in a short time, became a learned and profound lawyer.
With all her lavish gifts, nature had imposed upon him some faults
that detracted from that success which might have been his in the prac-
tice, and shaded his career on the bench, where he displayed great ability.
During his thirteen years of active practice here his exceedingly
sensitive nature, impetuous disposition and untutored temper, often
made him unpleasant to opposing counsel, and, at times, disagreeable to
his own clients, whom he sometimes severely lectured for getting into
the trouble he was employed to extricate them from. The high esteem
in which he was held by members of the bar and the implicit confidence
his clients had in him — together with his undoubted sincerity and in-
tense devotion to the interests of those whom he served — furnished am-
ple reasons in court, bar and clients, to overlook these faults.
Judge Chandler never entertained a very exalted opinion of the
ability of a jury to settle "as of right it ought to be settled" complicated
questions between litigant parties, and for that reason had a pitiable
dread of entering upon the trial of a hotly contested case to a jury^
he always made every case he tried a "hotly contested" one.
During any term of court at which he had cases involving enarnest-
ly disputed questions of fact, he would dismiss, for the time being, the
hilarious and rollicking ways with which he was accustomed to regale
his many friends during vacation, and clothe himself in an armor of im-
patience, petulence and irascibility and enter the struggle and fight the
battle or battles with all the vehemence of a nature "filled to the brim"
with courage, industry, energy, aggressiveness and unusual ability.
In the practice ]\ir. Chandler was exceedingly painstaking in thor-
oughly posting himself on all questions of law involved in each of his
cases; and under the prevailing practice, in the early days, the argu-
ments of attorneys to the jury always preceded the general instructions
of the court. Often one or more pivotal questions of law went far in de-
termining the issues; and when that fact was brought to the attention of
jurors, they eagerly watched for the instructions of the court to enlighten
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 1 77
their understanding on such important quest..^n or questions. Judge
Chandler in those "days of long ago" sometimes began to "sum up" his
€ase by addressing his remarks to the court on the questions of law in-
volved and in that way influence the court in its instructions, which he
rightly concluded would be of vital importance. To his credit it may be
said, that he never, in that unsafe practice that was indulged by his pre-
decessor on the bench, misled the court. The law authorizing the pecu-
liar proceedure was amended in 1881, and since then the "beacon lights
of the law" are given by the court to the jury and opposing counsel in
advance of argument.
Judge Chandler's career on the bench began in January, 1883, and
ended in April, 1889, and was distinguished by an unselfish devotion to
duty, great energy and industry and signal ability. Hg carried to the
bench the same impetuous disposition, quick temper and inclination to
make unguarded remarks that were characteristic of him in the practice.
While the jury was in attendance upon his court he rigorously exacted
from the officers of the court the utilization of every moment of time.
He was punctual to the instant, himself, and demanded the same prompt-
ness from the members of the bar. The failure of an attoruev to strictly
observe this unyielding rule, rarely failed to draw from the court a
severe lecture, that sometimes consumed more time than had been lost
by the attorney's delay. In these lectures the topics of taxation and
court expenses were often discussed and in their delivery the court fre-
quently neglected to discriminate and applied his suggestions to all
members of the bar instead of the one whose conduct had induced the
scolding. On account of the frequency of these censures and admoni-
tions thev lost much of their force with the attornevs : vet thev served to
greatly increase the popularity of the judge with the unsophisticated
who felt they never before could understand the "law's delays."
While such frequent outbursts from and unseemly conduct on the
bench might seem to have emanated from a spirit of petty demagoguery,
nothing can be more remote from the truth. In justice, it may be said,
he never, by these, intended to wound the feelings of or do a wrong to
another for his own aggrandizement. While it was somewhat foreign
to his nature to otfer an excuse or apologize for a wrong once done, he
was absolutely senseless to any pain or sacrifice inflicted on himself in
the performance of any public duty he undertook; and his sterling iu-
tegrity, self sacrificing devotion to duty, magnificent ability and the
known absence of any intention to do wrong, furnished ample excuse to
the sometimes tortured members of the bar, to overlook and forgive.
Judge Chandler is now in Washington, D, C. practicing law, full of
vears, honors and experience and kindly remembered by his old friends
vof the Montgomery county bar.
l-jS HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
JUDGE JOHN N. RITTER, of Columbus. Kansas, was, in May, 1889,
appointed by Governer L. V. Humphrey. Judge of the 11th Judicial Dis-
trict, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge George
Chandler, to accept the office of First Assistant Secretary of the Inter-
ior at Washington. At that time the terms of the District Court of the
county were required to convene on the first Tuesday in Miarch, June and
November. When Judge Ritter opened his first term of court in the
countv. on the first Tuesdav in June. 1889. there were on the bar docket,
as follows: Four cases standing on demurrer, eighteen criminal cases,
sixtv-seven civil iurv and one hundred and sixtv-four cases on the court
docket; or a total of two hundred and fifty-three. Judge Ritter was
without experience on the bench, and. of late years, had devoted much of
his time to banking and was not in very robust health. Notwithstanding
the great number of cases on the docket and the great district he was
called upon to preside over, being the largest in the state, and his frail
health, he acquitted himself creditably and gave general satisfaction.
At the fall election of 1889, he was the Republican candidate for the
office, against Hon. J. D. McCue, who was elected. Judge Ritter, after
his defeat at the polls, held a short term of court in the county in No-
ber, 1889, after which his health continued to decline and in a short time
he died at Battle Creek, MU'h., whence he had gone seeking a restoration
of his broken health.
JUDGE JEREMIAH D. McCUE, the successor of Judge Ritter on the
bench, opened his first regular term of court in the county on the first
Tuesday of March, 1890. At that time, outside of the attorneys, ttie offi-
cers of his court were, John W. Simpson, clerk ; Oliver P. Ergenbright,
county attorney; Thomas F. Callahan, sherifi"; John Callahan (after-
ward county attorney for two terms), under sheriff; and George Gled-
hill, reporter.
The bar docket of that term showed three cases standing on de-
murrer, fourteen criminal cases, thirty-five civil jury cases and 152 cases
on the court docket, a total of 204. The election of Judge McCue was a
surprise, notwithstanding his eminent fitness for the position was well
known to the members of the bar. He had been in the active practice in
the C(>unty for about twenty years and had ever entertained an aspira-
tion to "don the judicial ermine." Yet. inasmuch as the Republican par-
ty, which he had always opposed, had. before that time, easily elected its
candidates to the high position, to which his laudable ambition led, it
seemed to go without the saying that he could not successfully combat
its nominee and the same party had also, in a race for the office several
years before, mercilessly defeated him. A still greater surprise awaited
the members of the bar and Mr. McCue's friends. In the practice and
in his personal affairs he had been somewhat slack and improvident,
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 1 79
while on the bench he was at once a model judge. He was courteous
and kind to the officers of his court, patient with all, prompt and thor-
ough in the discharge of his duties; and in the thorough knowledge of
the law and in the appreciation of the duties of the office, he had never
heen excelled by any who have performed its duties. His rulings on evi-
dence and pleadings were ready and accurate and his instructions to
juries, brief, clear and comprehensive.
"While filling the remaining one year of the vacancy created by the
resignation of Judge Chandler, he became a candidate for the office
against Hon. A. B. Clark, who was the nominee of the Republican party.
At the election. Judge McCue was successful, having ''run ahead of his
ticket" and carried each county in the district. During the latter part
of his second, or rather regular term, he was again a candidate and un-
wisely made the race as an independent, without the endorsement or
nomination of any political party, and was defeated by Hon. Andrew H.
t^kidmore, of Columbus, Kans., the Republican nominee. Shortly after
his retirement from the bench, Judge ]M\cCue removed to Kansas City,
Mo., and there entered the practice of his profession, where he is now
engaged in that pursuit.
The life of Judge M;cCue typifies, in a high degree, the successful ca-
reer of a self-made man. He was born of Irish lineage, at Cincinnati,
Ohio, on March 3, 1843, and left, by the death of both parents, a home-
less and friendless orphan, at the age of five years. When nine years old
he was taken to Indiana and shortly after to the State of Illinois, where,
he has said, he was "butfeted from place to place without a permanent
home or kindred until the breaking out of the Civil War."
Just thirteen days after Fort Sumpter was fired upon and on the
25th day of April, 1861, he, then a diminutive specimen of scarcely one
hundred pounds in weight, enlisted in the Union Army, and thereafter,
as a private soldier, served until honorably discharged on June 5, 1805,
because of serious wounds iutiicted in battle at Fort Blakely, Ala., on
April 9, of that year. His enviable record as a soldier does not belong
to his career as a lawyer, and for that reason I refrain from further pur-
suing his military life.
On his return from the war, he at once began the study of law. in
the office of Amos F. Watterman, at New Boston, 111., largely under
Judge John S. Thompson, a lawyer of eminent qualifications.
In the spring of 1867, at the age of twenty-four, after a searching
examination, before the Supreme Court at Ottawa, 111., he was admittcil
to practice law and shortly afterward, alone and almost penniless, he
-started west and landed among strangers, it is said, barefooted and in
scantv habiliments, in Oswego, Kans., in July, 1867. While there he soon
won for himself a place in the front rank of the renowned bar of that
l80 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
young city. Here he met and contended in the courts with such lawyers
as Webb, Ghisse, Bettis, Kimble, Perkins, Bishop, Ayers and other well-
known and learned attorneys.
In 1870, Judge McCue formed a partnership with Hon. J. B. Ziegler,
under the firm name and style of McCue & Ziegler and entered the prac-
tice at Independence. This copartnership was shortly afterward dis-
solved and thereafter Mr. llcCue continued in the practice alone until
he was elected Judge of the District in 1880. • During his practice he was
widely known as an accomplished lawyer and a man of extensive infor-
mation.
He was always, after coming to Kansas, a great reader and was pos-
sessed of a remarkable memory, which enabled him often in the trial of
causes, to cite, unerringly, cases in point, giving the title of cases and the
volume and page of the reports where they could be found.
In the practice. Judge McCue was somewhat careless in fully in-
forming himself on his evidence before going into trial, and sometimes
indulged in the dangerous experiment of placing a witness on the stand,
after but slightly informing himself of what such witness would testify
to; he. however, more than compensated for this lack, with his thorough
knowledge of the law on every feature of his case. In the practice, he
was fair and honorable and never resorted to any of the little devices or
trickerv that sometimes serve to deceive and to unfairlv win a case. He
ever scorned to engage in a case that contained a purpose to blackmail
or extort or to needlessly blacken a reputation or assail a character.
While Judge McCue's early education was sadly neglected his as-
siduous reading of standard works and his fine natural talents had given
him a ready command of the English language and made him an excep-
tionally fluent orator. His speeches were clothed in chaste language,
constructed of true logic and filled with thoughts on a high plane and de-
livered in a pleasing voice and presence and generally with telling effect.
JUDGE ANDREW H. SKIDM^)RE convened his first term of court
in the county on March 5, 1805. He had been elected as the Republican
candidate in the fall election of 1801 over Judge McCue, by a decisive
majority. When Judge Skidmore opened court there were on the trial
docket 208 cases of which 13 stood on dumurrer, 11 were criminal, 60 civil
jury and 115 court cases. At this time the district comprised three rap-
idly growing counties (Montgomery. Labette and Cherokee) which then
had an aggregate population of about 77,000 and this had increased to
nearly 100,000 when, by an act of the Legislature, which went into effect
on the 22d day of February, 1001, a new district (the llth) was created,
comprising Labette and Montgomery counties, which left Judge Skid-
more presiding over the Eleventh District, then comprised of Cherokee
County only, with a population of about 40,000.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. l8l
After Judge Skidmore's term as judge expired, in January, 1903,
he at once resumed the practice at Columbus, Kans., in co-partnership
with S. L. Walker, under the firm name and style of Skidmore & Walker.
Before going on the bench. Judge Skidmore had, for years, been in
the active practice at Columbu.s, Kans., where he had built up an exten-
sive and lucrative business, and had met with unusual success as a prac-
titioner. While, at the time he first convened his court in the county,
he may not have possessed the profound knowledge of the law that some
of his predecessors had acquired, he demonstrated executive ability
that had not been excelled in the office. In the trial of cases he promptly
overruled or sustained objections to the introduction of testimony,
without spending time to furnish reasoUvS for his rulings and he generally
disposed of motions and demurrers in the same summary manner. This
course often occasioned severe complaints from some of the members of
the bar, who had been in the habit of being favored with the court's
reasons for its rulings and had often indulged the habit of combatting
such reasons; yet such complaints did not serve to dissuade the court
from its course, which undoubtedly saved much time. While a more
mature consideration of many of the questions might have resulted in a
safer interpretation of the law, yet by the adoption of the course suggest-
ed, the popularity of the Judge was greatly increased with the public,
and he was generally sustained by the Supreme Court in such cases as
were appealed.
At the November, 1898, general election, Judge Skidmore was the
Republican candidate, as his own successor and was opposed in the race
by Hon. Thomas H. Stanford, a prominent member of the bar in Mont-
gomery County, who entered the race as the nominee of the two opposing
parties (Democratic and People's).
At the preceding annual election the combined vote in the district
of the two opposing parties had far exceeded that of the Republican par-
ty, and for that reason Mr. Stanford and his friends felt confident of his
election, and were much astonished at the returns, which showed that
Judge Skidmore had carried every county in the district.
Judge Skidmore served out his term in Cherokee County and was
succeeded in January, 1903, by Col. W. B. Glasse, a distinguished lawyer
of Columbus, Kans.
Judge Skidmore was born in Virginia on February 14, 1855, and re-
ceived a liberal education at the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor,
in that State, He was admitted to practice on September 15, 1876, be-
fore he had arrived at the age of majority and in the same year settled
and commenced to i)ractice law at Columbus, Kans., which he contin-
ued, until elected Judge of the District Court as before stated.
JUDGE THOMAS J. FLANNELLY, the present incumbent on the
II 82 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
bencb, was appointed to the office by Gov. Stanley, in February, 1901. The
Legislature, by an act that went into force on the 22d day of February,
1901, had created the Fourteenth Judicial District out of that part of
the Eleventh comprising- the counties of Labette and Mfc)ntgomery, leav-
ing Cherokee Count\- onlv. in the Eleventh.
Judge Flannelly had not sought the office, to which a number of
prominent attorneys in this and Labette County were earnest aspii:ants.
To these, as well as the people generally, his appointment was a sur-
prise, and to many of the active candidates and their friends, a disap
poiuin.ent. He, however, had presided over the court but a short time,
until his peculiar fitness for the high office was universally conceded.
He was elected as his own successor in the fall election of 1902 and be-
gan his full term of four years in January. 1903.
Judge Flannelly was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 23, 1868,
and thereafter lived at Newport. Kentucky, until 13 years of age, when
he moved to Kansas with his parents, who settled at Chetopa in Labette
County. He graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws at the Uni-
versity of Kansas in June, 1890, having previously taken the degree of
Bachelor of Arts at the St. Louis University. Hie was, upon his gradua-
tion at the Kansas University, admitted to the Bar of Douglas County
and has since, until his appointment as Judge, pursued the practice.
The Judge first entered the practice at Topeka, in 1890, and contin-
ued there for two vears, when he moved to Kansas Citv, Mo., and became
a member of the law firm of Beardsley, Gregory & Flannelly. After prac-
ticing four years in Kansas City, as a member of this firm, he, in Jan-
uary, 1896, located at Chetopa, in Labette County, Kans., where he pur-
sued his profession for four years and then, in January, 1901, located at
Oswego, where, in partnership with Judge Ayres, he was pursuing his
profession when appointed Judge of the District Court.
Section IY,
County Attorneys
GOODELL FOSTER was elected the first couty attorney in Novem-
ber, 1869. At the same time a permanent county seat was selected and a
full corps of county officers chosen. Afterward, in a contest growing
out of that election, before the Probate Court of Wilson County, to
which Mlontgomery was then attached for judicial purposes, the court
declared the election unauthorized and void. After that, none of the
county officers so elected, qualified, except Edwin Foster, who had been
elected county surveyor. He took the oath of office and entered upon the
discharge of its duties. At that time a most urgent and popular demand
prevailed for the services of a competent civil engineer to locate the cor-
ners and lines of the various claims. 3Ir. Foster qualified in response
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 1 83
to thi^ demand and his woik was generally satisfactory and cheerfully
acquiesced in, until the official survey of the lands by the government.
Early in 1870, Goodell Foster moved to Indepeneuce and shortly
afterward formed a copartnership for the practice of the law with O.
P. Smart, under the firm name and style of Smart & Foster; and while
this firm existed, it was prominent in the litigation carried on in those
early days. Mr. Foster, however, from the beginning, had an aversion
to the practice and developed a decided propensity to deal in real estate,
and soon after beginning the practice here, retired from it and became
engaged in buying and selling real estate on his own account and as the
agent for others, which business he has successfully carried on at Inde-
pendence for about thirty years, during which time he has bought, sold or
exchanged a vast number of tracts of land.
CLAYTON M. RALSTIN was the first county attorney who ever per-
formed the duties of the office in the county. He was appointed to fill the
position in the spring of 1870 and served until Frank Willis was chosen
at the regular November, 1870, election. Mr. Ralstin was a notable and
highly esteemed man among the early pioneers of the county. He was
born in Brown County, Ohio, November 14, 1840, and afterward moved
to Fulton County, 111., where he lived on a farm and was educated at
the High School at Lewistown in that county, and afterward read law
at the same place in the offices of Judge Hope and I. C. Judd. He was
then, in May, 1863, admitted to practice law at Springfield, 111.
The next year, and on December 15, 1884, he began the practice at
Prescott, Ariz., and remained there till 1869, when he came to Independ-
ence, and was the first attorney here. H;e remained here until in April,
1890, when he moved with his family to Stillwater, Oklahoma Territory,
where he was admitted to practice law in April, 1891, and died at that
place January 2, 1892.
Mr. Ralstin was a man of medium height and slender build and wore
an immense beard. He was very active and industrious and had a va-
ried experience in life. He had been a farmer, a merchant, a real estate
agent, an abstractor, a lawyer and an official, and, at times, pursued
more than one of these useful vocations at the same time.
He had practiced law and farmed in Arizona, at Independence he
dealt in lumber and hardware and pursued his profession; and at the
same place was at one time Register of the United States Land Office,
and a1 times farmed, made abstracts and bought and sold realty. In
a closely contested suit Mr. Ralstin was a valuable man on account of
his ability to look up and arrange the evidence in the case. Few, if any,
members of the bar ever excelled or equalled him in learning thefacts per-
taining to the controversies in the courts. He was also a most genial
man and the hospitality of his home was ever open to his many friends.
584 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
HON. FRANK WILLIS was elected county attorney in November,
1870. and served two years. He was a large, fleshy young man, awkward
in his motions and had a deep, droll voice. In many things he was inno-
cent and easily im])osed upon, yet nature had provided him with a natu-
ral analytical mind and he was a man of sterling integrity and of great
energy. After serving his term as county attorney, he embarked in the
drug business at Independence and then, finding himself unqualified
for that imtried vocation, sold out and emigrated v\ith his family to the
Pan Handle of Texas and entered the practice of his profession with
varying results.
A1 the time Mr. Willis went to Texas the country there was. in the
main, peopled with cattle men who were aggressive and somewhat domi-
neering. He was. in a short time, elected Judge of the District or Circuit
Court and his rulings failing to accord with the views of the controlling
element of the country, measures were inaugurated to depose him. The
lower house of the Legislature of Texas presented articles of impeach-
ment against him and these seem to have been supported by such evi-
dence, that Mr. Willis* attorneys became discouraged and feared it use-
less to argue the case, whereupon, on a broiling hot day, Mr. Willis made
the closing speech of two hours duration in his own defense, which is
said to have been masterly, and so logical, and delivered with such mag-
nificent sincerity that he was at once acquitted and thereafter returned
to his duties as Judge, with the respect of all, till his death, about 1897.
HON. JOHN I). HINKLE was elected county attoreny in November.
187G, and served two terms, ending in January. 1881. At the time of
his election to this important office he was but twenty-five years of age
and had not yet distinguished him.^self at the bar, to which he had been
admitted about two years before 1 September 12, 1871) after having read
law in the ottice of Judge J. D. McCue. He succeeded A. B. Clark, one of
the most vigorous prosecutors the county has ever had. He was natural-
ly a modest and retiring young man and at that time, beardless and
boyish looking, and did not imi)ress the public with the real ability his
close friends at the bar knew he possessed. It was. however, soon learned
that he was endowed with fine judgment and that in his quiet and unas-
suming way, he was a very successful prosecutor. It was also recog-
nized that he used sound judgment in disposing of such of the financial
aftairs of the county as were intrusted to him. At the end
of his first term, he was reelcted and after having served four vears, left
a fine oflBcial record and then located at Cherryvale, where he divided
his time in the i>ractice of his profession and in editing a paper in
which he had acquired an interest.
In 188:5. ^Ir. Hinkle moved to the Territory of Wyoming and in 1885,
wvas selected and served as prosecuting attorney for a term of two years.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 185
He then located at the city of fc^pokane, where he served four years as the
city justice of the peace and was afterward elected to the important and
responsible office of Judge of the Municipal Court of Spokane, Wash.,
on a salary of |2,500 per year, which position he now tills to the satis-
faction of the public and with credit to himself.
Mr. Hinkle was born at West Salem, in Edwards County, 111., on
December 31, 1851, and was reared on a farm. He attended school in his
boyhood days and before beginning the study of law had taught in Kan-
sas.
Mr. Hinkle is now 52 years old and in prime health and has but
slightly changed from what he appeared when he left the State some
twentv vears ago.
EDWARD VAN GUNDY was the next county attorney. He was
elected to the office in November, 1880, and served one term, ending in
January, 1883.
Mr. Van (lundy was born in Fountain County, Tnd., January 22,
1855, and moved to independence with his parents, who were among the
first settlers here. His father, Samuel Van Gundy, at an early day, built
the brick residence at the east end of Main street, now owned and occu
pied by Ca])tain L. C. ]\IUson and family, and was at one time treasurer
of the county.
Edward Van Gundy spent his youth here till about 1875, when he
went to Texas and became secretary to McDonald & Co., contractors
of public buildings in that state. He spent about two years in that po-
siti(ai, during' which time he began the studv of law under Governor
Davis, of Austin, Texas, and subsequently returned to Independence and
spent his time teaching district schools and studying law, till he was
admitted to the bar, about 1878.
Shortly after vacating his office he located and began the
practice of his profession at Pittsburg, in Crawford County, Kans., and
was soon elected county attorney of that county and filled the of-
fice one term. He then became actively engaged in the general practice
and became one of the most prominent members of the Crawford County
bar, and had built up a lucrative business, when, in 1891, he went to Hot
Springs, Ark., in a vain effort to recover his broken health and, at that
famous resort, died on September 2(5, of that year.
Mr. Van Gundy was by nature, a talented man. He posses.sed a fine
and well-cultivated legal mind. Aided by these qualities, he could, by
close application, have made of himself a brilliant lawyer. During his
professional career at Independence, he was inclined to spend too much
of his time in the indulgence of the passing pleasures of the hour. Af-
ter going to Pittsburg, he married and settled down and devoted himself
1 86 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
more closely to the pursuit of his profession and before he died had es-
tablished a fine practice.
HON. JEREMIAH D. McCUE was the sixth county attorney, having
been elected as the successor of Edward Van Gundy, in November, 1880.
Mr. McCue served but one term, during which he exercised his recogniz-
ed ability in the administration of the duties of the office. Inasmuch
as I have already written of him, under the chapter devoted to the Judges
of the District Court, I deem it unnecessary to add anything further
here.
SAMUEL C. ELLIOTT was elected county attorney in November,
1884, and served two successive terms, the last of which ended in January,
1889. During the four years that he served in the office he won the re-
spect and confidence of all, and after retiring, contrary to the usual ex-
perience of lawyers who serve as public officers, he at once established
and for several years, while his health lasted, maintained a lucrative
practice.
Mr. Elliott was born at Paris, Edgar County, 111., on March 10,
1857, and when ten years of age, moved with his parents to Oswego,
Kans., where he was educated in the schools of that city. Several years
before he had attained the age of majority, he aided the Clerk of the Dis-
trict Court of Labette County, where he acquired a familiarity with the
duties of that office, which afterward became very useful to him in the
practice.
He then, at about the age of 18, entered the office of Messrs. Webb
& Glasse, attorneys at Oswego, Kans., and began the study of law, and
in about two years or less, had become well posted in the rudiments of
the science, but being a minor, was not entitled to admission to prac-
tice. In 187G, while waiting to come of age, he entered the office of Wm.
Dunkiu as a clerk and continued his studies till the June, 1877, term in
Labette County, when he was thoroughly examined in open court, and,
having passed an unusually fine examination, was admitted to practice.
After his admission to the bar, Mr. Elliott located at Independence
but did not at once acquire a paying practice, and for several years de-
voted most of his time assisting the county clerk and the clerk of the dis-
trict court as deputy. The reputation he won while county attorney
created a demand for his professional services outside of his public duties
during his official career and at the end of his last term he met no diffi-
culty in building up a handsome practice, which he retained as long as
his health permitted.
Mr. Elliott was a warm-hearted and genial man, that is, toward his
friends, but he never exerted himself to please those he did not like. He
was a man of very positive opinions on all subjects he had investigated
iind when he first began the duties of a useful life, was very dogmatic
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS. 1 87
and combative, and ever ready to argue his side of the question with
all comers. As he grew older and his time was more taken up with his
legal business, he became more diplomatic.
He had a clear, analytical mind, good judgment and a quick, keen
insight into legal questions. He was usually ready, on the spur of the
moment, to give an accurate opinion on the law of a case. He was en-
abled to do this, from his thorough knowledge of Blackstone's Com-
mentaries^ — which he acquired early in life — and his talent for quick ap-
plication.
He had and deserved the implicit confidence of his clients, to whose
interests he was devoted. He was successful in the practice and rarely
lost a suit, as he had wisely adopted the policy of settling by compro-
mise, such of his cases as he thought he could not successfully litigate.
In the trial of a case, he was earnest and able and never stated to the
court a proposition of law he did not believe, and presented to the jury
only such facts as he thought were true. These qualities, with his evi-
dent sincerity and earnest and logical presentation of his cases and the
well known probity of his character, very generally brought him success.
Mr. Elliott, after a lingering and painful affliction, extending over
several vears, died on Mav 30, 1900, sincerelv mourned by a host of ad-
mirers and friends.
All of the seven remaining county attorneys are in the active prac-
tice in the county, except John Callahan, who is at present at Kansas
City, Mo., and he may return here. In view of this, it is deemed more
proper to include them in the list of practicing attorneys, who have not
closed their respective professional careers at the bar of the county and
who will be treated in the next chapter of this article.
It may be observed that all the county attorneys who served in the
two decades from 1870 to 1890. except A, iV. Clark and O. P. Ergenbright,
who served in 1889. none remain in the practice here; and that all Avho have
served since 1890 to the present time, except John Callahan, are active-
ly pursuing their profession in the county.
A list of all the county attorneys is as follows :
Goodell Foster, elected in 1809, and the election declared void.
Clayton M. Ealstin, appointed in 1870, served nearly one year.
Frank Willis, elected November, 1870, one term till January, 1873.
Arthur B. Clark elected November, 1872, served two terms till Jan-
uary, 1877.
John D. Hinkle, elected November, 1876, served two terms till Jan-
uary, 1881.
Edward Van Gundy, elected November, 1880, served one term till
January, 1883.
Jeremiah I). McCue, elected November, 1882, served one term till Jan-
uary, 1885.
1 88 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
Famuel C. Elliott, elected Kovember, 1884, served two terms till
Januri.rv, 1889.
Oliver P. Ergenbriglit. elected November, 1888, served one term till
January, 1891.
James R. Charlton, elected November. 1890, served one term till Jan-
uary, 1893.
William Edward Ziegler, elected November, 1892, served two terms
till January, 1897.
John Callahan, elected November, 1896, served two terms till Jan-
uary, 1901.
James Howard Dana, elected November, 1900, served one term till
January, 1903.
Mayo Thomas, elected November, 1902, present incumbent.
Section Y.
Attorneys
Since the organization of the county there have been admitted to
practice law at its bar, over 170 members. It would be an endless task
to find and record, with perfect accuracy, the antecedents of each ; and it
may be truthfully said that such events as have transpired in the pro-
fessional lives of many of them, furnish but little or no information that
would be of interest in a history of the bench and bar of the county.
The loose restrictions and disregard of the law that have prevailed with
at least one of the judges who presided over our courts, opened an easy
way for admission to the bar; and as a consequence of this, many have
been accepted who had but little or no preparation and without being
required to submit themselves to the usual tests as to their qualifica-
tions. These unprepared yet formally, qualified members have gener-
ally borne their honors in silence in the district court, where they have
sometimes exercised their prerogative to a seat among the active mem-
bers, and have always, in their discretion, been exempt from duty on a
petit jury. In justice to many of them it may be said that notwithstand-
ing the p.roud distinction they have enjoyed of being among the elect,
whose science they have not practiced, they have been useful and honor-
ed citizens in other pursuits.
In writiug a sketch of each member I feel the best course to pursue,
is to briefly note the antecedents of each before his admission to the bar,
and refrain from commenting at length on any of those who are yet in
the a^•tive practice here. However pleasant and inviting it would be to
write of many of the present practicing members and record their
achievements in the profession, such a course would manifestly be in-
vidious and embarassiug to many of the active practitioners, whose ca-
reer at the bar is not ended. It would be equally objectionable under strict
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 1 89
rules of propriety to comment upon the characteristics, mental qualifica-
tions and legal attainments of a local practicing attorney, as that would
tend to shock the finer sensibilities and appear as an advertisement
rather than a history, which can only be properly written as to each
member at the end of the subject's career in the profession.
A list of all members of the Montgomery county bar, with the
date of the admission of each to the bar of the county (so far as I have
;been able to ascertain the dates) alphabetically arranged, is as follows:
Andrews, Lindlay M., admitted October, 1870.
i^rmstrong, Benjamin M., admitted May 7, 1871.
Ayres, Thomas G., admitted autumn, 1880.
Begun, Edward L., admitted about 1885.
Barwick, J. J., admitted about 1870.
Barr, Samuel H., June 29, 1889.
Banks, William N., September 1, 1894.
Bartlett, W. F., admitted 1871.
Bass, Nathan, admitted May 9, 1870.
Beardsley, E. M., admitted August, 1871.
Bellamy,' J. F., admitted 1891.
Bennett, Martin V. B., admitted about 1870.
Bertenshaw, John, admitted March 27, 1894.
Biddison, A. J., admitted about 1885.
Billings, Arthur, admitted September 15, 1902.
Black, George A., admitted about 1873.
Blackburn. J. W., admitted ^lay, 1871.
Blair, A. V., admitted May, 1871.
Bristol, Xorris B., admitted August, 1872.
Brown, D. B., admitted May 9, 1870.
Brown, Joseph D., admitted September, 1896.
Brown, C. S., admitted about 1871.
Broadhead, J. F., admitted about 1875.
Brown, Robert, admitted April, 1872.
Burchard. George W., admitted November, 1871.
Burnes, R. E., admitted May, 1871.
Campbell, E. L., admitted about 1871.
Cass, Phillip H., admitted November 3, 1899.
Callahan, John, admitted March 25. 1893.
Cavenaugh, Patrick, admitted 1887.
Chandler, George, admitted April 3, 1872.
Chandler, Joseph, admitted March, 1875.
Charlton, James R., admitted March 1. 1884.
Clark, Arthur B., admitted November 27, 1871.
Olark, Edgar M., admitted 1879.
I^O HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
Clark, W. G., admitted M\ay, 1870.
Cox, Albert, admitted 1894.
Cox, Ira E., admitted 1894.
Cotton. John S., admitted April, 1873.
Coiirtright, Percy L., admitted August, 1899.
Craig, Joseph B., admitted M4iy, 1870.
Cree, Nathan, admitted October, 1872.
Cutler, E. K., admitted October 30, 1870.
Darnell, D. Y., admitted about 1871.
Davis, John M., admitted Mfeiy 5, 1902.
Davis, C. M., admitted April, 1872.
Devore, Benjamin F., admitted 1871.
DeLong, James, admitted about 1871.
Donaldson, Samuel, admitted August, 1872.
Dooley, Henry C, admitted 1890.
Dunkin, William, admitted April, 1873.
Dunnett, Daniel W., admitted 1870.
Dempsey, T. E., admitted May, 1885.
Elliott, Samuel C, admitted 1877.
Ellis, C. W., admitted 1870.
Elliott, D. Stewart, admitted 1885.
Emerson, J. D., admitted October, 1870.
Ergenbright, Oliver P., admitted 1883.
Evans, Elijah, admitted April 7, 1872.
Fletcher, Charles, admitted 1901.
Fay, Elmer W., admitted 1870.
Fitzpatrick, G. W., admitted 1897.
Foster, Goodell, admitted May, 1870.
Foster, Emery, admitted August, 1888.
Fritch, Felex' J., admitted 1890.
Freeman, Luther, admitted June 20, 1895.
Gaines, Bernard, admitted August, 1871.
Gamble, James D., admitted 1870.
Gardner, Napoleon B.. admitted November 1, 1870.
Giltner, Barsabas, admitted in 1898.
Gifford, , admitted about 1880.
Gilmore, George E., admitted November 18, 1898.
Grass, Daniel, admitted ]MViy, 1870.
Grant, H.. D., admitted 187lV
Hall. S. A., admitted November, 1871.
Harrod, William J., admitted August, 1872.
Harrison, Thomas, admitted ]M-ay 9, 1870.
Hasbrook, L. Benjamin, admitted August, 1871.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. I9I
Hastings, Elijah D., admitted September, 1878.
Helpliingstine, Jolin A., admitted May 9, 1870.
Henderson, Benjamin F., admitted June, 1879.
Hendrix, W. R., admitted May, 1871.
Herring, Ebenezer, admitted 1871.
Higby, A. T., admitted October, 1870.
Hill/Rufus J., admitted May 9, 1870.
H inkle, John D., admitted September 12, 1874.
Holdren, Joseph W., admitted July, 1898.
Humphrey, Lyman U., admitted May, 1871.
Jennings,' T. B., admitted May 9, 1870.
John, James Mv, admitted September, 1876.
Judson, L. C, admitted Myay 13, 1870.
Kountz, James, admitted 1888.
Kercheval, R. P., admitted about 1880.
Keith, John H.. admitted November, 1893.
Light, Mi B., admitted May, 1870.
Locke, William M., admitted April, 1872.
Loring, , admitted about 1871.
Martin, W. W., admitted about 187G.
Matthews, Elmer E., admitted December 30, 1884.
Matt:hews, Selvin Y., admitted December, 1880.
Merrill, William A., admitted March, 1898.
Mills, J. A., admitted August, 1872.
Moon, J. J., admitted December, 1871.
Moore, Yin W., admitted March 28, 1895.
Moorehouse, S. B., admitted October, 1870,
McCue, Jeremiah D., admitted 1870.
McEniry, Michael, admitted April 17, 1874.
McYean, J. H., admitted about 1870.
McFeeters, W. S., admitted .May, 1870.
McClelland, George W\, admitted 1896.
McWright, W., admitted October, 1870.
McDermott, S. F., admitted M(irch 9, 1880.
Nichols, Reuben, admitted November 1, 1870.
Orr, J. A., admitted 1894.
O'Connor, William T., admitted about 1880.
Osborn, Roy, admitted March 2, 1901.
Page, John Q., admitted August, 1871.
Parsons, Alzamon M., admitted March 6, 1897.
Parks, B. F., admitted about 1878.
Peacock, Thomas W., admitted August, 1872.
Peck, George R., admitted April 3, 1872.
192 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
Pockham, Charles J., admitted about 1871.
PefiFer, William A., admitted lS7.o.
Perkins. Luther, admitted June 28, 1895.
Pettibone. S. H., admitted about 1881.
Piper, Seth H.. admitted July 3, 1889.
Porter, Samuel M., admitted March, 1881.
Purcell. George W.. admitted about 1895.
Rossiter, J. P., admitted June 28, 1898.
Ralstin, Clayton M., admitted May 9, 1870.
Salathiel. Thomas S.. admitted 1894.
Seott, Howard, admitted January, 1898.
Scudder, John M.. admitted 1870*.
Shannon, Osboru, admitted about 1871.
Showalter, John W., admitted August. 1871.
Sickafoose, Michael, admitted April, 1873.
Smart, Oliver P., admitted May 9, 1870.
Snelling, George R., admitted about 1899.
Spencer. Samuel F., admitted 1879.
Slanford, Thomas H.. admitted March 18, 1885.
Stephenson. L. T., admitted 1870.
Stewart, Joseph, admitted about 1889.
Sweeney, , admitted December 12, 1872.
Swatzeil, Philip L.. admitted 1892.
Sylvester, W. O., admitted April, 1872.
Soule, Martin Bradford, admitted March, 1884.
Shewalter. M. C. admitted December 16, 1887.
Taylor, Wilbur F., admitted about 1880.
Thompson, J. M., admitted about 1882.
Thompson, Calvin C, admitted December 23, 1880.
Thomas. Mayo, admitted 1897.
Tibbils, W. H., admitted April 17, 1871.
Turner. William F., admitted 1870.
VanGundy, Edward, admitted September 10, 1879.
Wagstaff, Thomas E., admitted August 12, 1899.
V,ade, Richard A., admitted September 4, 1879.
Waters, L. C, admitted about 1878.
Wagner, Marshall O., admitted about 1871.
Warner. George W., admitted May, 1871.
Watkins, W. H., admitted about' 1870.
"Weston. Samuel, admitted March. 1879.
Wiggins, S. T., admitted about 1897.
Willis, A. D., admitted August 1871.
Willis, Frank, admitted 1870.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. I93
Wright, Greenbnry, admitted August, 1871.
Wilson, Albert L., admitted September 9, 1882.
Wyckoflf, Cornelius, admitted May 9, 1870.
York, Alexander M,, admitted August, 1871.
Ziegler, William E., admitted March, 1880.
Zenor, Winfield 8., admitted about 1880.
Ziegler, Joseph B., admitted 1870.
LINDLAY M. ANDREWS was admitted to the bar of Montgomery
County in October, 1870, on a certificate of his admission to practice in
the Courts of Record in Missouri.
He never afterward engaged here, to any extent, in the practice
and for a time was engaged in editorial work and also participated in
some litigation over the title of lands situated near the southeast corner
of the cit3% in which he was interested. Some time in the 70's he left In-
dependence and has never returned.
BENJAMIN M. ARMSTRONG, at one time a leading member of the
bar, pursued his profession here until a few months before he died, on the
9th day of March, 1889. He was born at Sheridan, in Lasalle County,
111., on December 25, 1812, and was reared on a farm in that county. He
pursued farming in the country of his nativity until he arrived at man's
estate, when he took up the study of law and thereafter was graduated
from the Cincinnati, Ohio, Law School, in 1867. In 1868 he was admitted
to the bar at Ottawa, 111., and was the same vear chosen citv attornev of
Ottawa, which office he satisfactorily filled for two years.
Late in 1870, lie moved to Kansas, in the rush of pioneers who were
then rapidly peopling the country. At first he selected a claim north-
west of Independence, near Elk River, to which he afterward acquired
the tit-le. During the time of his practice at Independence, from 1871 to
1889, he was citv attornev for four vears.
t » I
Mr. Armstrong was by nature a strong man, and possessed those
elements that would have enabled him to have become a fine lawyer. He
lacked, alone, that close application to study, that is so essential to rise
to disinction in the profession. He was a genial, companionable man
and inclined to enter u]»on the trial of his cases without thorough prep-
ration, and with too much dependence upon the gifts with which nature
had endowed him. The analyzing character of his mind v^'as very appar-
ent in his cross examination of an adverse witness, where the display
of his discriminating powers clearly marked him as a man who could
have won fame as a scientific lawyer of high order.
He died on March 9, 1889, after a lingering illness, in the j)rime
of his life, respected and regretted by the early members of the bar, that
had known him as a man, who, by nature, had possessed a fine legal
mind.
194 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
THOMAS G. AYRES was born at Andover, 111., on May 7, 1842, and
resided there until lie was admitted to the bar at Cambridge, HI., Febru-
ary 25, 1871. He moved to Coffeyville May 25, 1880, and there engaged in
the banking business in company with Mr. Steele, under the firm name
of Ayres & Steele. This firm was afterward dissolved and in its stead
The First National Bank of Coffeyville was organized, and Mr. Ayres
continued in the business for some years with the new organization. In
1893 he retired from banking and went to Sioux City, Iowa, where he
became engaged as treasurer of a wholesale grocery company till Decem-
ber, 1894, Avhen he resigned and returned to Cofteyville, and, in that
place, in the spring of 1895, resumed the practice of law, which he has
followed since. He is now a member of the law firm of Ayres & Dana,
of Colt'eyville. He has never held any public office, except he served one
term as mayor of Coffeyville.
EDWARD L. BEGUN was located in the practice at Cherryvale dur-
ing several years, about 1885 to 1888. He was a man of marked ability and
was a fluent and impressive speaker. Hiis frail health during the time
he practiced here, furnished an effective obstacle to that success which
otherwise might have been his. He died about 1888 or 1889.
J. J. BARWICK was one of the earlv members of the bar of Mont-
gomery County and did some practice extending over a number of years.
In the practice he was technical and inclined to be contentious. He died
here a few years ago at a very ripe age.
SAMUEL H. BARR was actively engaged in the practice at Caney,
Kans., after his admission to the bar, and pursued the same until recent-
ly, when he became interested in enterprises connected with natural gas
and oil development of the country, which for the time, engages most of
his time.
]\[r. Barr was born at Virginia, in Cass County, 111., and afterward
lived Avith his i)arents successively at the following places : Beardstown
and Rock Island, 111., and on a farm just northwest of Independence,
Kans., where they located in the spring of 1878. While living on this
farm, Mr. Barr attended and taught school and in vacp.ti'^" ^•^i^'>red most
of the time at farming, until he began the study of law and was admitted
to practice. Shortly after being admitted he settled at Caney, where he
practiced for twelve years. He still resides there, where he is now the
office manager of The Caney Gas Company and The Caney Brick Com-
pany, in both of which companies he is a stockholder and an officer.
WILLIAM N. BANKS is now in the active practice as the senior
memlier of the law firm of Banks & Billings. He was born at Hobart,Ind.,
on August 15. 1805, and at the age of six years moved, with his parents,
to this county, where he has since resided. He was reared on a farm
until he Avas about twenty-seven years of age, when, on Octover 1, 1892,
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTYj KANSAS. 1 95
he went into the office of Hon. A, B. Clark and began to study law. He
acquired a good education during his residence on the farm by attending
and teaching the local schools during the winter months, and when
nineteen years of age he entered, and studied for two years, at the Per-
due University at Purdue, Ind.
Mr. Banks has never served in any public office, except as clerk of
Fawn Creek Township one term, and as member of the Board of Educa-
tion of Independence two terms.
W. F. BARTLETT came to Independence from Washington, D. C,
about 1871 and joined our bar and entered the practice, which he pur-
sued but a short time, when he returned to the National Capital. Be-
fore coming here he had had considerable experience in the practice in
some of the Govermental Departments at Washington, and that which he
had learned in the General Land Office "stood him well in hand" here
at the time, as many of the decisions there were applicable to conditions
here. He was a man of ability, highly educated and of engaging address
and a brilliant conversationalist.
NATHAN BASS was admitted at the first term of court in the coun-
ty, on the certificate of his admission to practice in Missouri. He began
the practice in ])artnership with Elmer Fay, at Old Liberty, under the
firm name of Bas^s & Fav, and was one of the attornevs in the unsuccess-
ful suit brought to compel the county officers to move their offices from
Inde]»endence to Liberty where he was located.
The defeat of this litigation paved an easy way for Independence
to acquire the unquestioned county seat. Mr. Bass did not long remain
in the practice, and after retiring from it he served one term as county
superintendent of schools and then moved to Colorado, where he died.
E. M. BEARDSLEY was a conspicuous character at an early day in
the county, owing to his active participation in its financial aft'airs. He
was at one time clothed with the most important powers by the board of
count.^ commissioners, in connection with the |200,000 in bonds that had
been voted to the L. L. & G. R. R. Co. The recital of his principal acts
and a review of his record more properly belong to another portion of
the ccuntv's historv. It may be said that in the heyday of his power and
influence he was admitted to the bar. He never became a learned mem-
ber of the profession nor indulged in the practice, and, sometime in the
70's, left the county.
JOHN F. BELLAMY was born in Switzerland County, Ind., in 1843,
and was afterward graduated as Master of Arts from DePanw Cniversi-
ty at Greencastle, Ind. He then, for several years, taught in the higher
branches. He was successively principal of Wilmington Academy at
Wilnnngton, Ind., Mt, Carmel Union High School at Mt. (\irmel. Hi.,
and Spring Street School at New Albany, Ind. He then, owing to fail-
196 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
ing health, abandoned teaching and took up the study of law, and, in
1870, was admitted to the bar at Madison, Ind., where he then settled
and pursued his profession until 1885, when, owing to ill health, he
moved to Girard, Kans., and subsequently, in 1891, to Cherryvale, Kans.,
where he has since practiced law. While in Indiana Mr. Bellamy was
twice elected and served two terms as prosecuting attorney of the Fifth
Judicial Circuit, from 1877 to 1881; he also, at Girard, Kans., filled
one term as police judge and is now serving his fifth year as city attor-
ney of Cherryvale.
MARTIN y. B. BENNETT, now living at Columbus, Kans., was ad-
mitted to practice law, in the county, at an early day, and at one time he,
in partnership with J. D|. Gamble, under the firm name of Bennett & Gam-
ble, did a flourishing business in the practice, and as real estate agents.
Mr. Bennett, in some respects, was a very remarkable man. He had a
quick, alert mind and a command of language that was wonderful. He
was fond of public speaking, and in the practice and in his speeches, was
aggressive and assertive and often abusive, and always eloquent and en-
tertaining.
Some time in the 70's he retired from the practice and went on the
rostrum as a lecturer on temjjerance where he was very successful. He
addressed large meetings at various points over many of the States, and
was very po])ular and in great demand with the friends of the cause he
so eloquently pleaded.
JOHN BERTENSHAW was admitted to practice, after having pre-
viously read law since September 21, 1891, in the office of Wm. Dunkin.
Mr. Bertenshaw was born in Franklin County, Ind., on December
14, 1872, and shortly afterward moved with his parents to Montgomery
County, Kans., where he spent his boyhood days until thirteen years old,
working on a farm, and attending school in the winter. He then moved
to Elk City, where he attended the city schools from which he
was graduated in 1890. While a student at Elk City, he spent his vaca-
tions clerking in stores there, which he continued after graduating, until
he began the study of law. Since his admission to the bar, he has been
in the active practice at Independence, and is now a member of the law
firm of Fritch & Bertenshaw. He served as deputy county attorney un-
der John Callahan for four years, from 1897 to 1901.
A. J. BIDDISON was a member of the bar of the county and prac-
ticed several years at Cofl'eyville during the 80's. He moved to Oklahoma
where he continued the ]»ractice.
ARTHI'R BILLINGS is one of the latest accessions to theMontgom-
ery County bar and may claim the distinction of being its only member,
now in the jtractice born in the county, except A. L. Courtright, who was
born in Independence in 1873.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 1 97
He was born near Liberty on October 15, 1874, where he was reared,
â– spending his youthful days working on his father's farm and attending
and teaching the neighboring schools. He then entered the University
of Kansas from which he was graduated as Bachelor of Arts and also as
Bachelor of Law on June 11, 1902.
Afterward, and on September 15, 1902, he went into partnership
in the practice with Wm. N. Banks and this firm under the name of
Messrs. Banks & Billings is now in the active practice of law at the coun-
ty seat.
GEO. A. BLACK became a member of the bar in the early 70's but
never engaged extensively in the practice here. He afterward moved to
Girard. Kans., where he died about eighteen years ago.
For a time after his admission he was a member of the firm of Black
& Hall who created some notice as the projectors of a railway, they
strenously advocated the building of, to some indefinite point in the
very far west. It was called the "Sunset Railway" and never material-
ized.
J. W. BLACKBURN was admitted to practice at the May, 1871, term
of the district court, on his certificate of admission by the Supreme Court
of Illinois. H'e shortly after left the country and has never returned.
A. V. BLAIR was admitted to the Montgomery County bar in May,
1871, but did not afterward engage in the practice here.
KORRIS B. BRISTOL is the oldest living member of the Montgom-
ery County Bar. At the age of nearly 53 he was admitted to practice
on the examination by and the report of a committee. He has lived here
«ver since but has never engaged in the practice of his profession. He
was born at Fulton. Oswego County, N, Y., on August 12, 1819, and lived
a greoter portion of his life, before coming to Kansas, in 1870, at Ottawa,
Lasalle County, 111., where he followed the mercantile business. He lo-
cated at Independence, Ivans., late in 1870, and soon afterward erected
the finest residence then in the county. Since Mr. Bristol located here
he has been a Ignited States Circuit Court Commissioner and has also
filled the office of justice of the peace. Under the weight of his venerable
years, he is the same genial and jolly man he was over thirty years ago.
D. B. BROWN was admitted to the bar on the certificate of his ad-
mission in the Sui»reme Court of the District of Columbia. He came toln-
pendence from Indiana and was a brother of Mrs, Theodore Filkins, one
of the early settlers of the country. He was a young mnn, about
twenty-four years of age and of fair attainments and displayed great
energy, industry and perseverance, and it was freely predicted by the
lawyers who knew him that a bright future awaited him in the j)rofes-
â– sion. He contracted a severe cold from ex])osure in ell'orts to erect a
building on I*enn. avenue, near where is now located the harness store
198 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
of John Cramer, which developed into pneumonia and ended his career
on earth.
JOSEPH D. BROWN was born in Morgan County, Ind., on Novem-
ber 9, 1861, and in the county of his birth followed farming and teaching
until he began the study of law.
Afterward, and on May 31, 1887, he was, at Valparaiso, Ind., admit-
ted to the bar, and thereafter practiced his profession in his native
State until he moved to Kansas in 189G. In the fall of that year he was
admitted to practice in MjDntgomery County, and shortly afterward
formed a partnership with Hon. A. B. Clark, under the firm name of
Clark & Brown, which continued in the practice until Mr. Clark went to
Oregon and since then Mr. Brown has continued in the business here.
JUDGE J. F. BROADHEAD became a member of the bar of Mont-
gomery County in 1875 and as a member of the firm of Hill & Broadhead
did an extensive practice until about 1881, when he retired from the firm
and returned to his former home in Linn County, Kans., where he contin-
ued in the practice until his death, about ten years ago.
Judge Broadhead presided over courts of the Sixth Judicial District
for some months, he having been appointed judge to fill the vacancy
occasioned by the resignation of Judge D. P. Lowe, in March, 1871.
The judge was past middle age when he located at Independence
and had devoted many years to the practice in Linn County. During
the time he spent at the bar here he was a tireless worker both in his of-
fice and in the court room. He often took an active part in political cam-
paigns and in 1878 was a candidate for the judgeship of the Eleventh
Judicial District against Judge Perkins, the Republican nominee, and
was defeated by a large majority. Two years later he returned to the Re-
publican party, and advocated its principles on the stump. In the cam-
paign of 1878 he had sincerely and confidently predicted the disasters
that must follow the resumption of specie payment that had been sched-
uled to take place on January 1, 1879, and said it could not be done ; and
the efforts to accomplish it would result in worse than failure. In 1880
he began each of his political speeches with an acknowledgment of his er-
ror, which he conclusively proved by saying, ''I then said it could not be
done and I now say it has been done."
C. S. Brown was an early practitioner in the county. He was lo-
cated at Cofieyville and after jjursuing his profession at that place for a
few years moved to Washington, I). C, where he secured, and has since
retained, a resi)onsible position in the service of the Government.
ROBERT BROWN did not engage in the practice here after his ad-
mission to the bar.
GEO. W. BURCHARD became a member of the bar of Montgomery
county on the certified record of his admission to ]>ractice in the Su-
pi-eme Court of Illinois. Before his admission here he had well qualified
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 199
timself in the science of the law but never entered the general practice.
His tastes and inclinations tended to other pursuits, and about the only
attention he gave to his profession while here was in looking after such
matters in court as grew out of his business of loaning money and specu-
lating in realty. From 1873 to 1882 he was the attorney for Austin Cor-
bin of New York, who did a very extensive business over many of the west-
ern states in loaning money and dealing in tax titles. Mr. Burchard's po-
sition as such attorney gave him much professional business in the
€Ourts of this and adjoining counties for Mr. Corbin.
Mr. Burchard was born at Litchfield, BKllsdale county, Mich., June
8, 1844. where he resided, was educated and in June, 1866, was graduat-
ed in the classical course from the Hillsdale College, He took up the
study of law in his native city, in the law offices of Judges Pratt & Dick-
erman and was afterward admitted to the bar at Hillsdale on May 12,
1868. He entered the law office of Messrs. Miller & Van Arman, in Chi-
cago, and on October 21, 1871, was admitted to practice by the Supreme
Court of Hlinois.
Mr. Burchard came to Independence late in 1871 and during the
next year purchased a one-half interest in the South Kansas Tribune,
of which he was the editor in chief from June 12, 1872. to January 1,
1874, and afterward for several months did some editorial work for the
same paper. He then disposed of his interest in the paoer and did no
more editorial work until he purchased the Independence Kansan, which
he edited with marked ability and independence for about one year, com-
mencing January 1, 1879.
In 1882 he located in Chicago where he has since lived and been en-
gaged in handling real estate, loaning money on mortgage security and
promoting the building of railroads and in other important enterprises.
While living at Independence he always evinced a lively interest in
its public affairs, and was elected its mayor in 1878 and served till 1881.
During his administration the present city building was constructed. He
is an ;ible man. well educated and of extensive reading. Among the con-
spicuous traits of his character are his independence in thought and ex-
pression, his true friendship for his friends and his uncompromising ad-
herence to principle.
R. E. BURNS was admitted to the bar here on motion of J. B. Zieg-
ler, on his certificate of admission in the State of Iowa.
E L. CAMPBELL was one of the early practitioners at the bar here.
He was a partner of Col. Charles J. Peckham and for several years, dur-
ing the 70's, the firm of which he was a member (Peckham & Campbell)
did a profitable law practice. Mr. Campbell went from here to Denver,
Colo., and engaged in the practice there.
PHILIP H. CASS located at Coffeyville upon his admission, where
he has since actively engaged in the practice of law. He was born at Buf-
200 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
falo, Heart, 111., on June 24, 1869, and lived there on a farm till February
11, 1881, when he moved to a farm near Nebraska City, Neb., where
he remained until November 11, 1881, and then located on a farm near
Brownsville, Chautauqua county, Kans., and afterward, on September
26, 1890, went to Beatrice, Neb., where he engaged as bookkeeper and.
stenographer for William Sculley until May 4, 1893, when he went to
Washington, D. C, and entered the Govermental service as stenographer
in the Record and Pension Office, from which he resigned October 3,
1899, and was admitted to the bar by the Court of Appeals of the Dis-
trict of Columbia. About a year later he located at Coffeyville. He is
a graduate and post graduate of the law department of the Georgetown
University at Washington, D. C, and was a special student in the law de-
partment of the Columbian University at the same place before com-
ing to Coffeyville.
JOHN CALLAHAN was born in Lake County, 111., in 1858, and mov-
ed with his parents to Montgomery County, Kans., where they located on
a farm in the Onion creek valley in March. 1873. Here Mr. Callahan
worked on the farm, attended and taught school until about 1877, when
he went to Grenola, Kans., and was employed there as clerk in the store
of Messrs. Hewins & Titus, which position he held for about four years.
He was then appointed postmaster at Grenola and served four years in
that office. After his term as postmaster expired, he, about 1885, began
the study of law. and shortly after — and before he was admitted to prac-
tice in the court of records in the State — looked after business and tried
cases in the justices of the peace courts. For about five years he devoted
his time to the study of law and to the practice in the inferior courts
until about 1890 when he moved to Independence and soon after became
deputy sheriff under hisbrother.Thomas F.Callahan, in which capacity he
served for two years and then went into the office of Samuel C. Elliott
where he studied law and was admitted to practice in the district court.
He then became a partner of Mr. Elliott, under the firm name of Messrs.
Elliott & Callahan, where he continued until he was elected county attor-
ney in 1896. He was reelected as his own successor in 1898 and shortly
after having served two terms, the last ending in January. 1901, his
health liecoming impaired, he quit the practice here and went to Kan-
sas City. Mo.
PATRKlv CAVENAUGH. after practicing at Independence a short
time, settled in the far west.
JOSEPH CHANDLER began the study of law at Independence, Ks.,
in the office of his brother, Hon. Geo. Chandler, in 1874. and was admitted
to practice here and in the Supreme Court of the State. After his admis-
sion he at once entered the practice in partnership with his said brother,
under the firm name of Messrs. Geo. & Jos. Chandler, which he continued
till early in 1883, when he formed a law partnership with Wm. Dunkin^
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 201
which coutiniied for two years, after which he continued in the practice
alone until his death at Independence, on October 16, 1902. A sketch of
his early life appears elsewhere in this volume.
Xo member of the bar was more devoted than Mt. Chandler to the
profession, during his twenty-seven years of practice here ; and none ever
had the implicit confidence of his clients in a greater degree than he. He
was painstaking and conscientious in the discharge of his duties to his
clients and often rendered to them his professional services for inade-
quate compensation. ' His weakness was in his custom to defer closing
out, without unnecessary delay, each matter placed in his charge and
his fearless, tedious and uncompromising contention for every right of
his client, however insignificant. In the trial of a case he was aggressive
and unyielding, and his evident earnestness, honesty and sincerity, won
the admiration of the bench and bar as well as that of his clients.
He was a fluent talker and always presented his views to the court
and jury with muck earnestness and power. He left a stainless charac-
ter, after a long career at the bar of the county, and a host of friends and
admirers whom he had unselfishly and devotedly served.
JAMES R. CHARLTON was born at Salem, in Marion Co., 111., on
July 21, 1858, and afterward resided successively in the county of his
birth and at Sedan, Kans., until he was admitted to practice law by the
district court of Cowley county, on August 12, 1880.
Before his admission to the bar, Mr. Charlton's life had been spent
farming, attending and teaching school, clerking and reading law. He
became a member of the bar of this county on March 1, 1884, and located
at Elk City in the practice. Since then he was police judge of Elk City in
1889, justice of the peace in Louisburg township the two succeeding
years and was then in 1890, while justice, elected county attorney, which
office he filled for two years ending in January, 1893. Since Mi*. Charl-
ton's admission to the bar he has spent much time preaching the Gospel,
especially at revival meetings, where, by his well-known eloquence, he has
exercised a potent infiuence for Christianity.
Mr. Charlton is now located in the practice of his profession at Ca-
ney, Kans.
BOX. ARTHUR B. CLARK has been a member of the bar and in the
practice of law for a longer period than any other practicing attorney at
our bar— he having been admitted to both State and Federal courts in
Ohio in 1865— except B. Giltner, recently located at Coffeyville, who was
admitted in 1856.
He was born in Geauga County. Ohio, October 15, 1843, and spent
his boyhood days there, attending school during the winter months and
in summers working on a farm, until he was about grown, when he im-
proved his education by a course of studies at Burton Academy and then
â– iit the Western Reserve Seminary in his native State.
202 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
He then entered the law department of the Ohio State and Union
Law College of Cleveland, Ohio, and was graduated from the latter in
1865 with the degree of L.L. B.
He entered the practice in 1867 at Mattoon, 111., where he pursued
his profession about four years, and then, in August, 1871, moved to Cof-
feyville and began the pursuit of his profession. He took a leading part
in organizing the city of Coffeyville and was selected as its first mayor.
At the general election in November, 1872, he was chosen county at-
torney and in January, 1873, moved to Independence and entered upon
the discharge of the duties of the office in which he continued until
January, 1877 — he having been elected as his own successor in 1874.
After his last term as county attorney had expired, Mr. Clark at
once entered the general practice at Independence, which he continued
until about 1901, when, on account of the health of his family, he moved
to Portland. Ore., where he began the practice of his profession, which he
continued until May, 1903, when he returned to Independence and re-
sumed the practice here.
Mr. Clark represented Montgomery County in the lower house of
the Kansas Legislature in 1877 and 1878; and was a member of the
State Senate four years from 1880 to 1884. In 1890 he was the Repub-
lican candidate for Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District which then
included Mbntgomery County, but was defeated by the candidate on the
fusion ticket.
EDGAR M. CLARK, after reading law with his brother. Hon A. B.
Clark, was admitted to the bar of the county and afterward entered the
practice at Independence as the junior member of the law firm of Clark
& Clark which he continued 'till 1888, when he moved to Oklahoma,
where he has since pursued his professicm. He is now located at Pawnee,
Pawnee county, Oklahoma, where he is filling the office of county attor-
ney with marked ability..
Mr. Clark is the youngest of a large family of brothers, all of whom
have become prominent attorneys and he is ranked among the best in
Pawnee county. He was born at Huntsburg, Geauga county, Ohio,
July 16th, 1856, and reared on a farm and taught school in Ohio and
Illinois before taking up the study of law.
W . G. CLARK was about thirty years of age when he was admitted
and while of limited education, displayed much natural ability during
the short time he remained in the county. He was especially effective in
the trial of cases in the lower courts.
ALBERT T. COX Avas admitted to practice in Douglas county. Kan-
sas, in June, 1894, after reading law and graduating from the I^niversity
of the State. He, afterward, in partnership with his brother, under the
firm name of Cox & Cox, practiced at Independence, Kansas, about eigh-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 203
teen months, nntil 189G, when he retired from the practice, and about
November 1st of that year purchased an interest in the "Star and Kan-
san," a weekly newspaper which he, in company with Hon. Henry W.
Young, under tlie firm name of Young & Cox, published at Independence
'till May 1st, 1898. Mr. Cox then purchased the paper which he has con-
tinued to publish here and on June 5th, 1900, started, in connection with
it, ''The Daily Evening Star," which has a wide circulation in the city.
In the publication of his daily and weekly papers he uses a linotype and
other modern machinery and appliances.
Mr. Cox was born at Morgantown, Johnson county, Indiana, October
2nd, 1865, and in February, 1869, moved with his parents to a farm in
Montgomery county, Kansas, where he was reared until he began the
study of law in 1892.
IRA E. COX was born at Morgantown, Johnson county, Indiana,
February 26th, 1868, and was, in February, 1869, brought by his parents
to Kansas, where they settled on a farm in Montgomery county, on which
he was reared 'till he was twenty-four years of age. In 1892 he entered
the University of the State and took up the study of law, and was, in
1894, graduated as a Bachelor of Law from that institution. He shortly
after began the practice at Independence with his brother, Albert T. Cox,
and, after continuing in the business over two years, moved on a farm
and then, in 1902, went into tlie banking business at Anadarko, Okla-
homa, where he now resides.
JOHN S. COTTON practiced his profession in Independence until
about 1882 when he moved to Kansas City, Mo., and went into the real
estate business, which he continued 'till his death there a few years ago.
Mr. Cotton was born at Millersburg, Ohio, in 1821, and subsequently
moved to Indiana where he lived, first at South Whitney and then at
Columbia City, until he came to Kansas in 1873. While residing at Co-
lumbia City he filled the office of auditor and treasurer of the city and
was a member of the Indiana Legislature five terms.
During a portion of the nine years he was in the practice here he
was associated with M. Sickafoose under the firm name of Sickafoose &
"Cotton.
PERCY L. COURTRIGHiT was born at Independence, Kansas,
March 12th, 1873, and, except Arthur Billings, is the only member of
the bar born in the county.
Mr. Courtright was reared on a farm about three miles west of Inde-
pendence until he entered the University at Lawrence in 1897, fron»
which he was graduated two years later, in the law class. He then, on
June 8th, 1899, was admitted to practice by the District Court of Doug-
las county and on the same day, by the Supreme Court of the State. He
has lived in Montgomery county since his admission here.
204 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
JOSEPH B. CRAIG, a son of Samnel Craig and Jane Miller Craig,
his wife, was born in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, January 29th,
1814, and at the age of four years was taken by his parents to Clark
count\, Ohio, where he learned the blacksmith trade, but had to aban-
don ii on account of his eyes. He afterward engaged in trade, read law
and was admitted to the bar at Springfield, Ohio, and then, in March,
1849, at the age of thirty-five years, located at Wapakoneta, where he
served as justice of the peace from 1851 to 1853. He was also county
surveyor from 1851 to 1854 and during the last year was elected prose-
cuting attorney, and after serving out his term, was, in 1858, elected
county auditor, and served in that capacity until 1864. In the fall of
1864 he located at Muncie, Indiana, where he, in partnership with hia
brother, William, engaged in the drug business.
In 1866 he moved to Hartford City, Indiana, where he was in the
drug business 'till he moved to Independence, Kansas, in 1870. Mr.
Craig was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county but never engaged
in the active practice of his profession.
He was the first Mayor of Independence, and afterward served as a
justice of the peace of the city. Judge Craig (as by that title we all
knew him) died at Independence on the 4th day of July, 1894, honored
and respected. He was a genial, honorable man and a courteous gentle-
man of "the old school ;" and on one occasion in Ohio, refused a nomi-
nation that would have placed him in Congress rather than betray a
friend for whom he was working in the convention.
NATHAN CREE located at Independence in October, 1872, and in
the same year became a member of the bar of Montgomery county, he
having been, in June, 1868, at Lawrence, Kansas, admitted to practice
by the District Court of Douglas county.
After his first admission he remained at Lawrence in the practice
until he moved to Montgomery county, where he continued in the same
pursuit until January, 1877, when he moved to Kansas City, Kansas,
where he has since practiced his profession.
Mr. Cree was born in Adams county, Ohio, on July 28th, 1841, came
to Kansas in 1859, lived on a farm and taught school in Douglas county
until April, 1862, when he enlisted as a private in the 5th Kansas regi-
ment and served in the Union army until he was honorably discharged
in April, 1865, He then returned to Douglas county where he resumed
his former occupations until he was admitted to the bar.
In the early days of the practice in Montgomery county, Mr. Cree
was a marked character at the bar. He was well read in the science of
his profession and technical in its practice. He was recognized in the
profession as a man of fine natural ability, and the possessor of a well
cultivated mind. He was a man of positive convictions and fearless and
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 205
sincere in the advocacy of them, and not at all inclined to compromise or
manipulate to meet the exigencies of the hour; and while he was always
willing to accord an adversary his legal rights, he was ever persistent
in claiming his client's dues.
He was forceful with his pen in discussing a legal question, and a
trenchant writer on the political topics of the day, and, often, during his
residence here, in a political paper published by Mr. Peacock, his father-
in-law. exercised his powers with telling effect.
While here Mr. Cree spent much time in the production of an able
treatise on the procedure and practice before justices of the peace, but
discovered it would not be profitable to publish such a work, as in the
practice in that inferior court, scientific principles of law are not gen-
erally of controlling influence.
While residing in Wyandotte county Mr. Cree has served as county
auditor for two years, ending in 1887, and then as county attorney for
the same length of time, ending in 1889, with honor to himself and credit
to the profession.
E. R. CUTLER, although admitted, never parcticed the profession
in the county.
D. Y. DARNALL was one of the pioneer members of the bar and
located at Elk City about 1871, after having been admitted. He prac-
ticed there about three years and then left the county.
JOHN M. DAVIS was admitted to the bar of the county on the re-
port of an examining committee and on certificates of his admission from
several courts of record in other states, and from one or more diff'erent
circuit courts of the United States. He, however, did not engage in the
practice after his admission.
C. M. DAVIS was admitted on the certificate of his admission to
practice in the circuit court of the State of Wisconsin. He did not re-
main in the county.
BEN J AMU N F. DEVORE has never engaged in the active practice
of the law here although he had, for a number of years, pursued his pro-
fession in Ohio before coming to Kansas.
He was born in Washington county, Ohio, on February 11th, 1828,
and in 18.36 was taken by his parents to Marion county, Ohio, where they
settled on a farm. He remained on his father's farm working, attend-
ing school and teaching until 1849 when he entered the Wesleyau Uni-
versity of Ohio, and for the next eight years spent his time studying and
teaching, and then attended the Cincinnati Law College during the ses-
sion of 1857 and 1858 and was graduated from tlmt institution as
Bachelor of Law in April, 1858. He then began the pinctice at NVapnko-
neta, Ohio, the same year, and continued to i)ractice until 18(J() when he
moved to Hartford City, Indiana, where he engaged in the drug business,
2o6 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
whioh he continued 'till 1870, when he located at Independence, where
he has since resided.
During Mr. Devore's residence here he was a merchant from 1870 to
1880, farmer from 1880 to 1884, justice of the peace during 1884 and
1885, postmaster from 1885 to 1889, police judge in 1889 and 1890 and
has since been in the general insurance business. He was also a member
of the Legislature from this county in 1872. -In 1880 he was nominated
for Congress by the Democratic party but declined to make the race.
While he is now past seventy-five years of age he still takes an active
interest in the public affairs of the county and is a highly respected
citizen.
JUDGE JAMES DeLOXG, in the early 70's became a member of
the bar of Montgomery county, and in co-partnership with his son-in-
law, Osborn Shannon, did some practice in the courts under the firm
name of DeLong & Shannon. For several years Judge DeLong (he had
been probate judge in Ohio before coming to Kansas) was the most con-
spicuous character in Independence. His prominence arose out of the
entry and disposition of the townsite, and the judge's peculiar methods
in handling the matters connected therewith. The townsite, as originally
platted, contained about 1,500 lots besides several tracts known as out-
lots that were located along the north side. Under the law this town-
site became subject to purchase from the General Government for one
dollar and twenty-five cents per acre by the corporate authorities of the
city in trust for the use and benefit of the occupants, as their several in-
terests might appear. After being elected mayor of the city the judge
made the entry in his own name in trust. The Independence Town Com-
pany at once laid claim to the lots, contending that the trust under
which the lots were held was in its favor, and brought suit against Judge
DeLong to secure a judicial declaration of the trust in its favor and a
conveyance to it of the lots.
With his characteristic energy and determination the judge success-
fully resisted the claim of the town company. The case was finally de-
cided in the Supreme Court of the State, where the judge's views were
fully endorsed. He at once become very popular with the lot occupants,
whose rights to the lots were doubtful while the litigation was pending.
This popularity, to the extent it had begun, did not long survive, after
the judge announced his intention to make deeds, for a consideration, to
such lot occupants as in his judgment owned the lots they respectively
claimed. This consideration in no case was to be le.ss than .fO.OO per lot
and an additional dollar for making out the deed. This, at the minimum
<-harge per lot, Avould yield about |10,000.00 and the charges were excused
on the grounds that they were to be used to liquidate the judge's ex-
penses and attorney's fees in resisting what he asserted were the law-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS. 207
less claims to the lots. Many willingly paid the judge's charges and con-
tinued to be his friends, while others denounced the charges and the
judge, and begrudgingly yielded to his demands and generally ever af-
terward fought him in his aspirations for public office. At the end of
the judge's first term he still held the title in trust, to many of the lota
and also made application to enter some school land mostly in the third
ward and also a strip joining the city on the south claimed by L. T.
Stephenson, Wm. Maddaus and others. The bold, aggressive and cease-
less fight he made to recover for the city these lands ,added to his popu-
larity and he was, after one of the most bitter campaigns ever waged in
the city, elected mayor for a second term. It then became somewhat
more difficult for those who were not special friends and admirers of the
judge to secure from him deeds to lots, and in many cases they had to
pay an increase over the regular charges to secure their coveted deeds.
This increase was justified by the judge on the ground that he was "wear-
ing out his life" in making the fight for the lot owners, and they ought
not to hesitate to make the payments and if they complained he was not
slow in denouncing them in the most public and vigorous manner.
The judge kept up the warfare over the title to various lots he had
entered and had not conveyed and over the contests for more land that
he had inaugurated as long as he remained in office. His successor after-
ward, with but little trouble and less agitation, carried the contests to
a successful conclusion and secured the issuance of the patent to the
townsite after it had been held up, on account of the pending contests,
'till 1878. However, the purchase from the State of the tract of school
land mostly in the third ward by Mayor Wilson, in his individual name,
caused much litigation after the issuance of the patent.
Shortly after the patent was secured, Judge DeLong moved to
Wichita, where he died a few years later.
SAMUEL DONALDSON never entered the parctice here. He went
to Chautauqua county where he practiced, and where he is well known
as Colonel Donaldson, and is a prominent man and highly respected.
TO WILLIAM' DUNKIN reference is made later on in this article.
HENRY C. DOOLEY, before being admitted here, was admitted to
practice by the District Court of Coffey county, in July of the previous
year. He was born in Davis county, Iowa, on February 11th, 18G1), and
at the age of fourteen years moved to Coffey county, Kansas, and there
worked his way through the public schools at Leroy. He then for two
years applied himself to the study of law at Burlington, in that county,
'till the date of his admission and the next year located in the practice
at Coffeyville, which he has since continued and where he has built up an
extensive practice in this and adjouiing counties, in the Supreme Court
of the State and the Federal Courts in Kansas and the Indian Territory.
2o8 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
During the last few years Mr. Dooley has given much attention to
tori)oration cases. He is now a member of the law firm of Dooley &
Osborn, formed about a year ago and which devotes its entire time to
the pi-actice.
Mr. Dooley represented the 2Dth district in the Lower House of the
Legislature of Kansas at its session of 1901, and while he entered that
body without legislative experience, he at once became, and continued
during its session, one of its leading members.
DANIEL W. DUXNETT was admitted to the bar of the county in
the early 70's and for several years was located in the practice at Cotfey-
ville, where he at one time practiced as a partner of Hon, A. B. Clark,
under the firm name of Clark & Dunnett. Mr. Dunnett, some twenty
years ago, moved to the western part of the state and died about two
years ago.
THOMAS E. DEMPSEY was born at Urbana, Ohio, where he re
sided before coming to Kansas in 1885. He was admitted here at once
and entered the practice, which he continued for about one year, when
he located at Greensburg. Kansas, where he practiced for about a year
and then moved to Illinois. Before his admission he was graduated from
the Cincinnati Law School at Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mr. Dempsey possessed a good legal mind, which had been well
trained, and he was a diligent student and successful in his practice. He
was a young man of excellent habits, of a quiet and unassuming de-
iiieannr, and yet of true courage when aroused. He approached a trial
with considerable timidity and was always fully prepared on the law of
his cases.
C. W. ELLIS located at Verdigris City in 1869, and the next year
went to Parker. Westralia or Cofifeyville, where he entered the practice
with Hon. John M. Scudder, which he continued until, in 1872. he went
to Wellington and afterward to Mtedicine Lodge, in Barber county, where
he located and pursued the practice 'till elected Judge of the District
Court.
During his short residence in this county he was known to possess,
in a high degree, the qualities essential to a fine lawyer. He possessed a
strong, clear mind and was a close student and painstaking in the prepa-
ration and trial of his cases. He has made an honorable record in the
profession in Barber county, where most of his i^rofessional life has been
spent.
CAPTAIN DAVID STEWART ELLIOTT became a member of the
bar of Montgomerv county in 1885 and located in the practice at Cotfev-
ville.
He was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, December 23rd, 1843
i\nd at the age of about fifteen years entered a newspaper office to learn
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^, KANSAS. 209
the business. In April, 1861, he enlisted in Co. "G," 13th Penn. Volun-
teers, and at the end of his three months' term re-enlisted in Co. "E "
76th Penn. Volunteers, and served therein over three years.
In 1868 he assumed the editorship of the Bedford County Press, at
Everett, Pennsylvania, which he continued 'till 1873. On February 9th,
1869, he was admitted to the bar of Bedford county, Pa. He was editor
€f the Everett, Pa., Press from 1881 to 1885, and in May of the last year
located at Coffeyville, where from June 5th, 1885, to September 1st, 1897,
he edited the Coffeyville Weekly Journal and early in 1892 he establish-
ed the Daily Journal and edited it 'till 1897.
On April 5th, 1898, Captain Elliott enlisted and was commissioned
Captain of Co. G, 20th Kansas regiment and entered the Spanish-Ameri-
can war, and engaged in active warfare with the Filipinos early in 1899.
While in line of duty, on February 28th, 1899, he was shot by a Filipino
sharpshooter, and died a few hours later. His remains were brought
home and buried at Coffeyville on April 14th, 1899, with military honors.
After locating in the county Captain Elliott devoted only a portion
of his time to the practice of law. His tastes led to the formation of his
fellow men into associations, political parties and other organizations
and the promulgation and advocacy of their principles, rather than to
the irksome and methodical work demanded in the practice of law. For
this work of his choice he was by nature admirably equipped. He was
a fluent and pleasant speaker and at once took a leading part in meet-
ings to effect such organizations, or to advocate their tenets. As a writer
he was ter^e, graceful and effective and as a solider, enthusiastic and
courageous.
During his residence at Coffeyville Capt. Elliott was its attorney
for one or more terms and a member, one term, of the Lower House of the
Kansas Legislature, where he was at once a conspicuous member.
At his death he was a member of sixteen lodges.
J. D. EMERSON became a member of the bar of the county, and af-
terward practiced law with Judge E. Herring at Independence. He then
became interested in United States mail contracts in Louisiana and
Texas and abandoned the practice.
He resided at Independence for some years after retiring from the
practice and finally returned to Ohio.
OLIVER P. ERGENBRIGHT was admitted to the Montgomery
county bar on July lOth, 1883. His life sketch appears in the department
of biography in this work.
ELIJAH EVANS did not, after his admission, engage in the
practice of the profession in the county.
(^HARLES FLETCHER was born at South Royalton, Vermont,
January 11th, 1844, and admitted to the bar at lOmporia in Lyon county.
2IO HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
Kansas, in September, 1879. Before becoming a member of the bar Mr,
Fletcher resided for a time at Plainfield, Vermont, then at Ware, Mass.,
where he was employed in a woolen mill, and was afterward in the same
business in Boston, Mass., and at Norwich, Rockville and Hartford, Con-
necticut. He then moved to Brookfield. Mp., where he was a locomotive
engineer and subsequently settled at Emporia, Kansas, and engaged in
the same vocation, until his admission to the bar. He then entered the
practice at Emporia, which he continued at that place 'till October, 1901,
when he located at Cherryvale. where he has since resided and practiced
his profession.
G. W. FITZPATRICK was admitted to the bar of Montgomery
county about 1897, and shortly afterward entered the practice at Coflfey-
ville as the senior member of the law firm of Fitzpatrick & Wiggins, and
continued in the pursuit of his profession for two or three years, when he
removed to the Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory, where his prac-
tice still continues. The members of this firm were the first and only
colored men that ever became members of our bar and while they prac-
ticed here, were, by court and attorneys, freely accorded all rights and
privileges that belong to the members of the profession.
ELMER W. FAY located at Old Liberty as a lawyer in 1869— be-
fore any court existed in the county — and afterward entered the prac-
tice lis a partner in the law firm of Bass & Fay, and, later, he became
"wheel horse" in the suit brought to compel the removal of the county
ofiices to Old Liberty as a recognition of its claim to being the county
seat. The stone was too ponderous to be moved to Miahomet's head and
Old Liberty died in its infancy, without honors, and its eloquent cham-
pion shortly after moved westward. After remaining at Peru, Chau-
tauqua (then Howard) county a few years, Mr. Fay went to Texas where
he engaged in the real estate business and came to grief.
Mr. Fay, before coming to Kansas, had been a minister of the gospel,
but finding the r-estrictions imposed upon those who pursue that calling
too distasteful for his peculiar temperament, came to Kansas, and sought
to fill one of the grades in the legal profession ; and it is said by those
who have heard him speak, that he filled the oratorical features of it to
perfection.
EMiERY A. FOSTER was born at Dayton, M,1ssouri, on July 17th,
1868, and the next year moved with his parents (Mr. and Mrs. Goodell
Foster) to Montgomery county, Kansas, and, in 1870, located at Inde-
pendence. He grew up in this city and spent his time attending the city
schools and in reading law, 'till August, 1888, when, on a thorough ex-
amination in open court in which he evinced remarkable proficiency, he
was admitted to the bar of the county, before he was twenty-one years
of age.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 211
He shortly afterward moved to Oklahoma where he began, and has
«ince continued, the practice of his profession. At the November, 1902,
•election in that territory he was chosen county attorney of Lincoln
county and he is now performing the duties of that office.
FELIX J. FITCH located at Independence in 1890 and reference to
him will be found on another page herein.
LUTHER FREEMAN was born at Fort Shaw, Montana, on Novem-
ber 27th, 1872. His father. General Freeman, had spent his life in the
regular army and, hence, Luther, while a boy, was moved from one mili-
tary post to another where his father's duties called him. He became a
member of the bar of Montgomery county and practiced here until June,
1902, when he took charge of a cattle ranch near Douglas, in Converse
countv. Wvoming, where he is now located.
Mr. Freeman was a student at Kenyon Military School at Gambier,
â– Ohio, read law one year in the office of Judge J. D. Vandeman in Dela-
ware and was a student of law for two years at the University of Michi-
o-an, from which far-famed institution he graduated in 1891 with the
degree of L. L. B.
BERNARD GAINES was admitted to the bar of Montgomery
county on the certificate of his admission to practice in the courts of
record in Kentucky. He never entered the practice here.
JAM,ES D. GAMBLE was one of the earliest members of the bar of
the countv and was, in the early 70's, a member of the law firm of Bennett
& Gamble, which, for several years, did a thriving business in the prac-
tice of law and as real estate agents. Some time before 1880 Mfr. Gamble
moved to Knoxville, Iowa, where he subsequently became Judge of the
Circuit or District Court.
NAPOLEON B. GARDNER was admitted as a member of the bar
on the report of an examining committee appointed by Hton. H. G. Webb
wdiile he was presiding as judge pro tern. Mr. Gardner never pursued
the practice in the county.
BARSABAS GILTNER was born at New Washington, Clark
-county, Indiana, on June 9th, 1832, and spent his boyhood days on a
farm "till he was thirteen years of age, when he entered Hanover Col-
lege in his native state, where he studied for the next five years. He mov-
ed to Indianapolis and taught school in and near the city, the next four
years, and then studied law and was admitted to the bar at Danville,
Indiana, in 1856, and at once entered the practice, which, except tho
years 18G3 and 1864, which he spent in teaching school at Richland,
Iowa, he has since continuously pursued. In 1865 he located in the
practice at Fairfield, Iowa, and after pursuing the profession there for
about eight vears, in 1873, he moved to Marshall countv, Kansas, where
he continued in the practice 'till he moved to Coffeyville in 1897. Owing
212 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
to a physical disability in the shape of a broken ankle, he did nothing in
his profession at Coffeyville nntil 1898, when he joined the bar of Mont-
gomery county and has since practiced law. Mr. Giltner has never oc-
cupied any public office, except that he served as common pleas attorney
in Indiana from 18.")7 to 1863.
Mr. GIFFORD became a member of the bar of M<3ntgomery
county in the 80's and for about three years was located in the practice
in partnership with E. L. Begun at Cherryvale, Kansas. About 1888 he
located in the practice at Kansas City, Missouri, where he now resides.
While living at Kansas City he has served as police judge.
GEORGE E. GILMORE has, since his admission, i)ursued his pro-
fession at Independence, where he now resides, x>racticing law, handling
real estate, writing insurance and is a pension attorney. He was ad-
mitted to the Sui»reme Court July 3rd, 1901.
Mr. Gilmore was born at Grove City, Pennsylvania, on November
17th, 1861, and resided with his parents on a farm there until he was
sixteen years old, and from that time until 1886 he attended the Grove
City College and taught school. In July of that year he located at In-
dependence, where he has since resided.
Since Mr. Gilmore came here he has successively clerked in the pro-
bate court (under Col. Brown, probate judge) taught school, filled the
office of justice of the peace five terms, handled realty on commission
and been an insurance agent and has filled the office of city attorney for
three successive terms.
COLONEL DANIEL GRASS was admitted to the bar of Mont-
gomery county and practiced law in the county until his death at Cof-
feyville, Kansas, on the 24th day of December, 1894.
He was born in Lawrence county, Illinois, on September 21st, 1825,
and thereafter lived in his native county, attending and teaching school
and farming until 1860, when he was admitted to the bar at Lawrence-
ville, Illinois, and entered the practice at that place, which he pursued
until the breaking out of the civil war, when he entered the Union army
as a captain in the 8th Illinois infantry, which was recruited for the
three months' service. At the end of his term of enlistment he resumed
the practice which he continued until early in 1862, when he re-entered
the military service as a first lieutenant in the 61st Illinois infantry.
At the end of the term of his second enlistment ,by an eloquent
speech, he induced nearly every other member of his regiment to remain
in the war, that continued for a long time thereafter. He stayed in the
army until the close of the war, and rose to the rank of colonel of his
regiment.
Colonel Grass was a remarkable man. By nature he was endowed
with many fine qualities "of heart and mind" and possessed an "iron con-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 213
stitution." He was generous and good to everyone, but himself. In his
own affairs he was careless and improvident, to others in trouble his
generous hand was ever ready to extend relief. He was all his life a
great reader of the choicest works of literature, and had a well stored
mind, which, with his natural gifts, enabled him to talk on many sub-
jects most intelligently and entertainingly. His disposition was genial
and happy, his manners polite, courteous and attractive — even in his
most careless attire and to the humblest. He was a keen judge of human
nature and an accurate critic of literature, and ever entertained a pro-
found contempt for a deceitful or an unworthy man and never hesitated
to dissect and expose the weaknesses of a literary production that may
have been having a season of undeserved popularity. He loved his coun-
try as he did his friends — patriotism and friendship were a part of him.
While Col. Grass was a well read lawyer, he was never technical in
the application of its principles and was sometimes careless in those
minor details that so often influence the result in a trial. His strong
forte was his oratory, in which he excelled before a jury, and as a lec-
turer and political speaker. His appeals to the jury were earnest, sin-
cere and eloquent and his lectures and political speeches entertaining,
instructive and effective. The colonel always evinced a keen interest in
politics and was always one of the "wheel horses'' in each compaign. For
years he annually stumped the county for the Republican ticket and in
expounding the principles of the party and enthusing its members, never
sought for himself any public office, although any in the gift of his po-
litical friends was ever within his reach. The only public office he ever
filled in the state, was that of State Senator from Montgomery county
from ] 870 to 1880.
MAJOR H. D. Grant was admitted to the bar of M'ontgomery county
in 1871 but never engaged in the practice of law. He was born in Chau-
tauqua county. New York, on March 2Gth, 183.5. He was reared 'till he
was eighteen years of age, in Herkimer county. New York, and moved
to Illinois where he worked for a short time on a farm and then entered
Central College at Jackson, Michigan. Shortly afterward he assisted in
recruiting Co. "I," 4th Michigan, and in July, 1802, entered the mili-
tary service as first lieutenant of that company, and, a month later, was
promoted to the captaincy of the same. Two months and a half later he
was assigned to the command of a battalion in the army and continued in
that position 'till May 27th, 1804, when he was taken prisoner near
Kingston, Georgia. He was taken to Charleston, S. C, where he was one
of the fifty officers of the U. S. army placed under fire to prevent further
bombardment of the city. Two months later he was exchanged and there-
upon returned to the army and served 'till December Uth, 1804. when he
was mustered out. While in military service he participated in battle at
214 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Perryville. Stone River, Chicauiaiioa and Missionary Ridge and was
slightly wounded at Sparta. Tenu.. in Aiionst, 19(33.
After the war the major held several responsible positions in rail-
road i^ervice in Tennessee, and also several important public offices at
Nashville. He removed from Nashville to Montgomery county, Kansas,
locating in what is now known as West Cherry Township, on February
5th, 1870. He came to Independence in 1873. where he has since resided.
Since living in the county he has filled a number of responsible public
offices, including deputy U. S. Marshal for Kansas and the Western Dis-
trict of Arkansas, county commissioner, justice of the peace and police
judge. The major has been in frail health for a number of years and has
retired from all kinds of business and is now quietly living at his home
in this city.
S. A. HALL was admitted to the bar of Montgomerv countv, Kansas,
at the November, 1871, term of court on the certificate of admission to
practice in the Supreme Court of Hlinois. He was past middle life when
he came to Montgomery county and practiced here four or five years, a
part of the time alone and a portion of it in company with W. O. Syl-
vester.
Mr. Hall did not have an extensive legal business and daring the
later years of his practice he unsuccessfully played the double role of at-
i:orncy and client in most of his cases.
WM. J. HARROD was admitted to the bar of the county on exami-
nation and report of a committee.
He lived on a farm some years after, about two miles southeast of
the present "McTaggart's Bridge" across the Verdigris, but never entered
the practice, although he was a bright, active and well known man and
might have been a success in the profession had his inclinations led him
to pursue it.
THOMAvS HARRISON was a conspicuous character among the first
pioneers of the county, and one of its first members of the bar. He was
admitted to practice on the first day of the first term of the District
Court in the county, held May 9th, 1870, and thereafter pursued the
practice 'till March, 1877, when, on account of failing health, he retired
from the practice and moved to his farm about three miles southwest of
Independence, where he remained until his death on May 13th, 1894, ex-
cept during the four years he served as probate judge ending in 1887,
while he lived in the city. More extended reference is made to him else-
where in this volume.
Judge Harrison was a man of lofty character and was ever held in
the highest esteem for the many noble qualities he possessed. He was
lionest and sincere in his convictions and a man without guile and pos-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 215
sessed both moral and physical courage and could neither be driven nor
led into anything he did not believe was right.
L. BENJAMIN EtASBROOK was, at the age of about twenty-two
years, admitted to the bar of Montgomery county, on the certificate of his
admission to practice in the courts of record "in New York State. He
was v.f a highly respected family in the Empire State, and had been ten-
derly reared by a widowed mother Avho had spared neither expense nor
pains to educate him. He did but little practice in this county, although
fairly well skilled in the science of law, but in a short time went to Win-
field, Kansas, and undertook the defense of a desperate criminal and,
in the excitement or rather frenzy of the hour, was hung by a vigilance
committee.
ELIJAH D. HASTINGS was admitted by the District Court of the
county in September, 1878, and located in the practice at Cherryvale,
Kansas, which he continued for about twenty-two years, and then, owing
to poor health, quit the practice and took up fire insurance, at which he
is still engaged.
Mr. Hastings was born at Grantham, New Hampshire, on November
2nd, 1831, and spent his time there and at Newport in the same state,
farming and teaching school, until 1859, when he was, at Newport, N. H.,
admitted to practice law. After practicing less than two years he en-
tered the army and, after leaving it, located in the west. He settled at
Cherryvale shortly before his admission to the Mjontgomery county bar
and while residing there has been city attorney for three years and also
a member of the city council for three terms.
JOHN A. HELPklNGSTINE was admitted to the bar of Montgomery
county and at once entered the practice here, which he pursued for a
short time as a partner of the law firm of Grass & Helpliingstine. In 1871
he was elected police judge of Independence and at the end of his term
was chosen county clerk, in which office he served three successive terms
and thereafter, in 1880, moved to New Mexico, where he became engaged
in the practice, and at the same time published a newspaper and was in-
terested in mining "till 1886, when he went to California and for years
did an immense business in real estate.
While in New Mexico Mr. Helphingstine served as Inspector General
of Militia with the rank of colonel. He is still an active and vigorous
man and is enthusiastic over the mining prospects in New Mexico, and
contemplates returning to the territory and engaging in the practice and
looking after some mining interests he has in that territory.
BENJAMIN S. HENDERSON, upon his admission to the bar of
Montgomery county, located and practiced law at Independence until
early in 1882, when he moved to Chautauqua county, where he continued
in the practice for about eight years, during which tinje he was county
-216 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
attorney for five years; oiie year by appointment and two terms of two
years each by election. He then moved to Winfield where he became a
member of the law firm of Peckham & Henderson, which for several
years was the general attorneys of the Denver, Memjjhis & Atlantic
Railway Company during its construction. He afterward moved to Kan-
sas City, Kansas, and entered the general practice under the firm name
of Anderson & Henderson.
After several years he moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, and entered
the practice as a member of the law firm of Beecher & Henderson and is
now pursuing the practice at that place.
Mr. Henderson was born at Crittenden, Grant county, Kentucky,
October 1st, 1843, and on October 1th. 1861, enlisted in the Union army
and served until he was discharged in February. 1866. Afterward he
moved to Washington, Daviess county, Indiana, where he taught school
until January 1st, 1872. He was admitted to practice at Washington in
September, 1871, and since January, 1872, he has been constantly in the
practice.
In the practice Mr. Henderson was exceedingly active and energetic,
and in the trial of causes aggressive, full of confidence and fearless, and
in his pleas to the jury earnest, fluent and effective.
W. R. HEXDRIX was admitted on examination to practice at the
May. 1871, term of court but did not enter the legal field here.
' EBEXEZER HERRIXG was admitted to the bar of the county
about 1871 ; and in 1872 was elected probate judge of the county which
office he filled from January, 1873, to January, 1883. Afterward, on
March 27th, 1883, he located at Kansas City, in the practice and in the
real estate business, which he pursued there 'till his death on October
16th, 1888.
Judge Herring was born in Pennsylvania and went from there, when
a young man, to Des M/oines, Iowa, where he joined the army and was
captain of Co. "E," 34th Iowa Infantry. At the close of his military life
he went into the grocery business at Mt. Pleasant. Iowa, and then
entered the University at Iowa City, from which he was graduated, and
afterward, in June, 187(1, was admitted to the bar of Iowa.
He then located in Independence, where he was associated in the
practice with J. D. Emerson 'till elected probate judge of the county.
A. T. HIGBY was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county on the
certificate of his admission to practice in Illinois but never entered the
practice in the county.
RUFUS J. HILL was born in the city of Ogdensburg, in the State of
New York, on the 16th day of February, 1836, and resided there until he
was thirteen years of age, when he left home and spent about eight years
.on the St. Lawrence river and the Great Lakes.
In 1857, he left the river and lakes, and, at the age of twenty-one
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 21 J
years, settled at Chatfield, Minnesota, where he remained 'till the sum-
mer of 1863 — during- a greater portion of which time he acted as the
agent of Messrs. Osborn & Sons, who were non-residents and owned large
tracts of land in that state. Mr. Hill's duties extended to paying taxes,
negotiating sales and reporting to his princiytals. During the winter
seasons he also attended such schools as that new country afforded. He
also, from August, 1862, to December, 1863, belonged to the state militia,
which was being trained to be used, Avhen urgent necessity demanded, in
the Civil war, then raging in the country and for protection against
threatened Indian invasions.
In the fall of 1863 he went to the University of MSchigan, at Ann
Arbor, and began a literary course, and shortly after took up the study
of the law, at that famous school, which he inusued 'till nearly the end
of the school year, in the spring of 1865. He then went to Fondulac,
Wisconsin, where he was examined and admitted to practice law in May
of that year. He remained in Wisconsin 'till the fall of 1867, when he
moved to Linn county, Kansas, and began the practice in partnership
with Judge Henry G. Webb, who had been his partner during a portion
of the time he lived in Wisconsin after his admission.
The firm continued in the practice 'till the fall of 1868, when it was
dissolved, and Mr. Hill settled at Fort Scott, Kansas, and continued the
practice as the junior member of the firm of Webb, Blair & Hill (the
senior member of the firm being Hon. Wm. C. Webb, a brother of Mr.
Hill's former partner) and remained in the practice with this firm of
well known lawyers until Wm. C. Webb was appointed Judge of the 11th
Judicial District in March, 1870. In May, 1870, Mr. Hill came in the
private conveyance of his firm with Judge Wm. C. Webb from Fort Scott
to Montgomery county, whither Judge Webb had come to hold his first
term of court. He and the judge drove up to the improvised court room
at Old Liberty, which the judge inspected, and at once made a very em-
phatic refusal to open court in a room he considered so unfit for the pur-
pose. No one was at the court room at the arrival of these gentlemen
but shortly afterward a crowd was attracted, more from curiosity than
otherwise, and still later Sheriff White arrived from Independence where
the clerk of the court, Mr. Stephenson, had remained behind. After a
short consultation between the judge. Mr. Hill and the sheriff they set
out for Independence, where the judge opened and held a term of court
and Mr. Hill located here.
Mr. Hill was distinctly a criminal lawyer, in which branch of the
profession he excelled ; and in the days of his active practice at the bar
here, perhaps had no sujierior in that branch. During his professional
career he has defended 158 i)ersons charged wifh murder, besides many
times that number charged with other crimes and misdemeanors. He has
also done much in the civil pra<-tice, especially in closely contested cases.
2l8 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
Generally, he was assigned a leading place in all cases in wliicli he was
engaged, especially in the cross-examination of opposing witnesses. His
method of cross-examination was original, unique and astute. His ques-
tions were framed in that manner that made them an argument, and
drew from an adverse witness damaging testimony in a modified form.
He knew the rules governing the admission of evidence and in the ex-
amination of a dangerous witness played on the outside boundary lines
and sometimes stepped over. He rarely suffered, as often lawj'ers do,
from imprudent cross-examination.
In the days of his prime he was a dreaded adversary because of his
skill in cross-examination and the fertile resources always at his com-
mand. The opposing counsel who knew him was always on the alert;
yet often with every precaution, failed to protect against some move
coined in Mr. Hill's ingenuity. The methods exercised in one of the
earliest criminal cases he tried in Kansas will furnish some idea of him.
A young woman in Linn county, penniless and friendless, was charged
with murdering her infant child by throwing it into a lake. That she
threw the child into the lake was established by abundant evidence on
the preliminary examination. The young physicians, after a superficial
examination, and as expert witnesses, gave it as their positive opinions
that the child was alive when thrown into the lake. Public opinion ran-
high against the supposed murderess. No lawyer could be found anxious
to undertake the defense; especially as neither glory nor reward was
promised, and some of them had declined it. In her hopeless predica-
ment she sent for Mr. Hill, then a young man about thirty-two years of
age. He offered to defend her on one condition, and that was, she must
answer truthfully a single question he would ask. She agreed to this,
and he asked her if the child was alive when she threw it into the lake,
and she answered no, and he believed her. He at once, and in the night,
secretly exhumed the body of the dead infant and took it in a buggy, in
the box in which it had been buried, to Kansas City, to an eminent phy-
sician and after relating to him the conditions, the doctor reluctantly
consented to make a post mortem, and having opened the chest and ex-
amined the lungs unequivocally declared the child was dead when thrown
into the lake. Mr. Hill prevailed upon him to promise to attend the trial
and give testimony, which he did, paying his own expenses. The local
physicians again testified as before but suffered severely on cross-ex-
amination which Mr. Hill was enabled to make effective from the train-
ing his Kansas City friend had given him.
Mr. Hill had also taken the precaution to re-exhume the body — he
having restored it to the grave on his return from Kansas City — which he
had conveniently secreted. On the defense he introduced the Kansas
City physician and he at once, with the aid of the lungs of the child,
-demonstrated beyond doubt that the child had not met its death by
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 2\(f
drowning; and in a very short time the jnry acquitted and the court dis-
charged the defendant ''to go hence without day.''
While Mr. Hill was not an orator in the usual acceptation of that
term, he often made verv effective pleas to a jury, and sometimes when
thoroughly awakened could hold them spell bound by impassioned elo-
quence. He was in the habit, at least one time in each term of court, of
opening his address to a jury — usually the first he appeared before — by
advising them with a smile, that he did not intend to flatter them, that
they were not the handsomest men he had ever seen, and in his life time
he had met smarter men than they, and that they were just like himself,
men of fair looks and appearance and of ordinary intelligence and fully
equal to discharge the duty imposed upon them. After this pleasant
opening he would then consume about an hour in demonstrating what
that duty was. Mr. Hill still lives at Independence but spends most of
his time in Oklahoma, in the practice of the law.
JOSEPH W. HOLDREN was born at Springhill, Kansas, November
9th, 1872, and lived there until he entered the University of Kansas, from
which he was graduated from the law department in June, 1898.
On the 8th day of the same month he was admitted to the bar of
Douglas county, Kansas, and then in July, 1808, located in the practice
at Cherryvale, Kansas, where he has since resided and followed his pro-
fession, having during three years of that time, filled the office of police
judge of that citv.
GOVERNOR LYMAN U. HUMPHREY is an honored and distin-
quished member of Montgomery county's bar. His thrilling experiences
as a soldier, his achievements as a journalist and his services to the state
in high official stations, outside of his long and successful practice of
law, entitle him to a most prominent notice on pages of a history of the
Bench and Bar of the county. Since he has now retired from the prac-
tice it would seem most fitting and due to him. to include in the short
history of his career as a lawyer a brief resume of that portion of his life
that has been devoted to public duties; or rather it may be said, the his-
tory of one who has braved so many of the perils of war, rendered such
conspicuous services to his state and country as he has, would be in-
complete and unjust if confined strictly to his successful career of about
twenty years' active practice at the bar.
The Humphreys are of English descent, settling in New England in
the latter part of the seventeenth century, where, in 1790, Lyman, the
father of our subject, was born. In young manhood he emigrated to the
Western Reserve in Ohio, the then far west, Avhere he engaged in the tan-
ning business at Deerfield. It is of interest to note that his tannery
was formerly owned by Jesse Orant, father of General U. S. Grant, be-
fore his reni<)val to Southern Ohio. At a late date in life ^Fr. Humphrey
studied law and became a member of the Stark county bar, was a colonel
220 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
of malitia and a man of affairs until bis rather premature death in 1853.
He was survived by bis wife and two sons. John E. and Lyman U. The
maiden name of the wife and mother was Elizabeth A. Everhart, born
in 1812 at Zanesville. Ohio, and married at Xiles, where her parents,
John and Eacbel (Johns) Everhart, were identified with the iron in-
dustry. Her paternal and maternal ancestry were of Pennsylvania
origin, the Johns having- left their name in the unfortunate, yet flourish-
ing city of Johnstown in that state. Mrs. Humphrey lived to the rather
remarkable age of eighty-four years, dying at the home of her son in In-
dependence in 189G. She was a woman of splendidly developed faculties
and a sturdiuess of character which gave her strength to assume and
carry to a successful conclusion the burden of family cares imposed by
the early death of her husband. She was intensely patriotic, and gave
her two sons to her country in its hour of need with an almost cheerful
assurance. Of the sons. John E. served first as a private in Company
^'I," 19th Ohio Vol. Inf., and in the battle of Shiloh was so severely
wounded as to necessitate his discharge from the service. Later he en-
listed in a battery of the 1st Ohio Light Artillery, and was in the service
'till the close of the war. He came to Kansas among the early settlers
and passed away in 1880 in Montgomery county, where he had lived. He
was unmarried.
Lyman U. Humphrey was born July 25th, 1814, in New Baltimore,
Stark county, Ohio. He passed the early period of his boyhood in attend-
ance on the village schools, developing, under the watchful care of his
mother, those attributes of character which have made him distinguished
among men. He was taught early the value and dignity of labor, the
iron industries of his home locality furnishing him the opportunity, and
he entered the period of young manhood with a splendid physical con-
stitution.
He watched the progress of events leading up to the Civil war with
intense interest and, every word uttered about the home fireside being
charged with that lofty i)atriotism, so marked in the mother, it was in-
evitable that ''war's full-lighted torch" should find in him a ready bearer.
Leaving the High School at Massillon. where he was at the time pursuing
his studies, he enrolled as a private in Company "I," 76th Ohio Vol. Inf.,
the date of his enlistment being October 7th, 1861, three months after his
seventeenth birthday.
The seventy-sixth Ohio regiment was attached to the First Brigade,
First Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps — Army of the Tennessee —
and participated in much heavy fighting during the continuance of the
war. The more notable of the engagements in which our subject took
part were: Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth. Chickasaw Bluff, Arkansas
Post, Jackson, Siege of Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain and Missionary
Hidge. At Ringgold, November 27th, 1863, he received his first and only
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUXTY, KANSAS. 221
wound, but remained with his command and ready for duty. He also
participated in the battles of Resaca, Dallas. Keunesaw Mountain, was in
the bloody fight at Atlanta July 22nd, where the noble ^CcPherson
"gave the full measure;" then at Ezra Chapel, Jonesboro and thence,
with Sherman, to the sea. The triumphant march from Savannah up
through the Tarolinas, including the Battle of Bentonville, and the final
surrender of Johnston's army, completed the four years of splendid ser-
vice rendered by Lyman U. Humphrey to his country. He enlisted in the
ranks, was promoted for meritorious conduct to first sergeant, second
lieutenant, then to a first lieutenancy, in which capacity he commanded
his company on the memorable march to the sea. He was discharged at
Louisville, Ky., July 19th, 1865, just six days before the anniversary of
Tiis twenty-first birthday.
The war did for young Humphrey what it did not do for many boys
of less observant mind. He went into the army an unsophisticated, im-
pulsive youth, with a scant knowledge of men and matters. He came
out a man schooled in self-control, with settled habits and a practical
knowledge of men and aft'airs, knowledge gathered in the battle's fervid
heat and passion, on the long and weary march, at the evening's camp-
fire. He felt, however, the lack of book-knowledge, and at once devoted
himself to its acquirement, matriculating at Mount Union College for a
brief period, and later, in the law department of the L'niversity of Michi-
gan. A year in study here, however, was sufficient to exhaust his limited
supply of funds, and he was therefore compelled to forego further efforts
in the educational line. In 1866 he came west to Shelbv countv, Mi.s-
souri, where he taught school and, in partnership with the Yoe Brothers
and Col. A. M. York, he published "The Shelby County Herald."
While residing at Shelby ville and in 1870. Governor Humphrey was
admitted to the bar. Early in the next year he located at Independence
and on the 8th day of March, 1871, he, in company with W. T. Yoe and
Col. A. M. York, established and published at that place ''The South
Kansas Tribune," of which he Avas one of the editors until June, 1872,
when he and Col. York sold their interest in the paper.
During the time that Governor Humphrey and W. T. Yoe conducted
The Tribune it was ably edited, well supported and exercised remarkable
influence in politics and in the business concerns of the public, ^^'hile
the paper was always a strictly partisan Republican paper and uns])ar-
iug in its denunciation of the principles of its political opponents, its
consistency and apparent sincerity won the respect of many who opposed
its public policies.
Governor Humphrey was admitted to the INIontgomery county bar in
JVftiy, 1871, and after he and Col. York sold their interest in the Thibune,
they form.ed a co-partnership for the practice of law, and, under the
firm name and style of York & Humphrey, at once established an exten-
222 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
sive and protitable i)rofessional business, which was fully maintained
until about 1888 when the Governor left the practice to assume the duties
of the highest office in the state.
While Governor Humphrey was a well trained, studious and able
lawyer, he had a distaste for the wrangling, disputes and the application
of the technical distinctions the practice so often demands. He loved the
science of the law for its logic and beauty and could easily have been
eminent in its practice. His inclination to the study of literature, mili-
tary tactics and to journalism and politics detracted from what might
have been a more brilliant career at the bar.
The Governor's services to the State of Kansas were important and
gave him enduring fame. In 1876 he was elected to the Lower House of
the State Legislature and served on the Judiciary Committee where, ow-
ing to his legal training and native ability, he was a most useful mem-
ber. Before his term of office had expired he was elected to fill the un-
expired term of Hon. M. J. Salter as Lieutenant Governor of the state,
and at the end of the term, re-elected to the same office as his own suc-
cessor. AVhile serving in his regular term as Lieutenant Governor he
presided over the joint convention of the two houses that elected Hon.
John J. Ingalls the second time to the United States Senate, after one
of the fiercest, most acrimonious and bitter contests ever held in the
state. The leading candidates, Hon. John J. Ingalls and Hon. Albert H.
Horton, were trained in the highest arts of political warfare and the
''battle royal'' raged for several days when Mr. Horton went down in a
defeat, which was brought about by the bitter fight made against him by
the Representatives from Montgomery county. It was charged that in
the earlv TO's Mr. Horton had been emploved bv the countv commisioners
to prevent by injunction, the delivery of the .f2()0.00() bonds that had been
fraudulently voted to the L. L. & G. R. R. Co., in the county, and that he,
as attorney for the county, permitted the bonds to be put in circulation
without a legal fight, and received from his client for such conspicuous
services, a fee of .^20.(10(1. 00. Whatever may have been the merits of the
disputes between the contending candidates or the fact as to Mr. Hor-
ton's management of the county's business, it was conceded on all hands,
that Governor Humjthrey presided with fairness and unusual ability.
In 1884, Governor Humphrey was elected to the State Senate from
Montgomery county, for a term of four years, and was elected perma-
nent president pro fciit of that body, and in 1888 he was chosen Governor
by the largest majority ever cast in the state for any candidate for that
office. Hie carried every county in the state, except two, and his plurality
was over 80.000. At the next biennial election he was chosen as his suc-
cessor, by a reduced majority; there having meanwhile come into exist-
ence a new political party that so disrupted former political organiza-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 223
lions and became so strong that at the next biennial election (1892) it
became dominant in the state.
During Governor Hnniphrev's nine years' service in the legislative
department of the state, and four years as its chief executive, he dis-
charged his duties with fidelity and marked ability. While a member
of the Senate in 1887 he was the author of the joint resolution proposing
an amendment to the State Constitution relating to the militia of the state.
The amendment was adopted in 1888 striking out the word "white" be-
fore the words "male citizens" with the effect of including all able bodied
male citizens between the ages of 21 and 45, regardless of color, in the
militia of the state — the 15th amendment to the United States Constitu-
tion having effectually invested the colored race with equal political
rights. His administration as Governor was characterized by honest
and faithful service in all departments, as well as efficient management
of the different state institutions.
In his first message he recommended the passage of a law relating
to banks and banking and suggested a plan which was closely followed
in the enactment of the present law, which provides for the important
oflSce of State Bank Commissioner. The act providing for the observ-
ance of Labor Day and making it a legal holiday was enacted in obedi-
ence to the recommendation of the Governor. The period, 1888 to 1892,
was a trying one in the number and importance of appointments to of-
fices made by the chief executive. In this field, however, the Governor's
excellent judgment of men well guarded him against errors in making
selections. Among the more important appointments he made were, a
United States Senator to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator
Plumb, State Bank Commissioner, World's Fair Commissioners, a State
Treasurer and eleven District Judges; all of the latter except one, being
chosen at the ensuing election and six of his appointees are still on the
bench.
In 1892, Governor Humphrey was nominated for Congress from the
Third Congressional District by the Republican party. He was defeated
at the polls by about 2,000 majority, which was about one-half of the
anti-Republican majority by which Judge Perkins was defeated, for the
same office, by Benjamin Clover two years before.
After the Governor's defeat for Congress he became the financial
correspondent of the Union Central Life Insurance Company, represent-
ing a dozen counties in Southeastern Kansas, and he and his oldest son,
Lyman L., are now looking after the extensive farm loan investments of
that company, which affords them full, profitable and pleasant employ-
ment, and him a pleasant relief from the toils of public service as well as
from the necessary annoyance incident to the persistent applications of
aspirants for public places. The Governor is now living a quiet life at
Independence, with his wife, whom he wedded here December 25th, 1872,
224 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
and his son. A Lincoln. His oldest son and partner in business, with his
bride of a few months, lives "next door" to him.
The Governor's wife was Miss Amanda Leonard, a daughter of
James C. Leonard, at one time a prominent citizen and banker at Beards-
town, Illinois, and later engaged in the same business for several years
at Independence. She is an accomplished lady, of most refined tastes
and gentle breeding, and, like her distinguished husband, lives in the
highest regard of the people of this city, where more than thirty years
of her life have been spent.
T. B. JENNINGS was admitted to the bar of the county on May
9th, 1870, but never practiced here.
JAMES M, JOHN came to Independence in 1875, and after reading
law something over one year was, at the September, 1876, term of the
District Court, admitted to practice after an examination in open court.
At the date of his admission he was in frail health and at once went to
Colorado and New Mexico on a sheep ranch to try the effect of the
climate. After several years on a ranch, his health having very much
improved, he located at Trinidad, Colorado, and entered the practice.
He soon established an extensive business in the line of his profession
and at the same time carried on mining, ranching and speculating and
accumulated a large fortune.
He is now located at Trinidad and divides his time between the
practice and looking after his extensive investments. Since he has lived
in Colorado he has served in the State Senate four vears and has been
Mayoi- of Trinidad for three years, and is well known as one of the ablest
and shrewdest lawyers in the state.
The history of Mtr. John as a member of the bar belongs to Colorado,
but having studied and been admitted here, it may be of interest to re-
cord that he had one of the keenest and quickest minds that was ever
possessed by any member of our bar and also possessed natural and ac-
quired elements that would enable him to succeed in almost any vocation
that he might have chosen to follow.
L. C. JFDSON was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county on
May 13th, 1870, but did not enter the practice here.
JAMiES KOUNTZ, after studying law about two years or more at
Independence, was, on examination in 1888, admitted to practice by the
District Court of Elk County. Kansas, and shortly afterward moved to
Topeka, where he entered the railroad service which he has since pursued.
REI'BEN P. KERCHEVAL was a member of the bar of Montgom-
ery county and located at Coffeyville, Kansas, where he practiced law a
number of years during the 80's and 90's. He moved to the Indian Ter-
ritory several years ago and entered the practice there.
JOHN H. KEITH was born in Warren county, Kentucky, on De-
cember 3rd, 1807, where he was reared. He taught several terms of
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 225
school in his native viUage, Three Forks, before he was admitted to the
bar at Bowling Green, Ky., November 9th, 1889. Mr. Keith located at
Coffeyville in 1893 and in November of that year was admitted to the
bar of Montgomery county and has since actively and continuously pur-
sued his profession in the county and in the Federal and Supreme Courts
in this state, and in the Federal Courts of the Indian Territory, During
his residence at Coffeyville he has served five terms as attorney for that
city and now represents the 29th District in the Lower House of the
Kansas Legislature, and is a conspicuous leader of the minority party
in that body.
M. B. LIGHT was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county in
May, 1870, and shortly after located in the practice at Sedan, where for
years he had a good practice and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of
all who knew him. While there he filled, to the satisfaction of the pub-
lic, several important public positions. He died a few years ago at
Sedan.
MAJOR WM. M. LOCKE was admitted to the bar of Montgomery
county on the certificate of his admission to practice in the United
States Courts in Virginia and in Missouri. He had been a major in the
Union army and after his admission here, located at Cofi'eyville, where
he pursued the i)ractice for something like two years and then moved to
Colorado and several years after died suddenly while journeying on a
trip to the east. MJajor Locke was a good lawjer and a very courteous
and kind hearted gentleman and during his short staj in the county won
the esteem of all who knew him.
MR. LORING was at one time, about 1871, a member of the bar of
Montgomery county, where he practiced his profession a short time and
then left the county.
W. W. MARTIN was born at Crawfordsville, Montgomery county,
Indiana, and, before becoming a member of the bar, lived at Thorntown,
Indiana, where he pursued farming until he entered the Union army.
He was admitted to practice at Lebanon, Indiana, and afterward located
at Fort Scott, Kansas, where he filled the ofiice of attorney for that city
and was, later, probate judge of Bourbon county. He then filled one
term as Register of the United States Land Ottice at Independence
Kansas, and after his term of oftice had expired he returned to Fort
Scott, and was there, in November, 1888, elected a member of the Kansas
State Senate for a term of four years. In August, 1901, Judge Martin
was ai»]>ointed treasurer of the National Military Home for Disabled Vet-
eran Soldiers at Leavenworth, Kansas, which position he now holds.
ELMER E. MATTHEWS was admitted to the bar of Montgomery
county, on examination, after having read law at Independence, Kansas.
After his admission he located at Sedan, Kansas, where he pursued his
profession about ten years and then returned to Independence and quit
226 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS.
the practice. He was born at Mnncie, Indiana, July 29th, 1800, and, at
the age of twenty-one. came with his family to Independence, where he
has since lived, except during the ten years he was in the practice at
Sedan.
SELYIK V. MATTHEWS was born at Muncie, Indiana, on Feb-
ruary loth, 1858, and came with his parents to Independence in May,
1872, and has since resided here. His sketch appears with that of his
father, on another page herein.
WILLIAM A. MERRILL was born in Lafayette county, Missouri,
August 22nd, 1861. He taught school in Johnson county, Mo., and there-
after, in October, 1897, was admitted to the bar at Warrensburg, in that
state, after which he located at Caney, where he has since practiced his
profession. H^e was admitted to the Montgomery county bar at the
March, 1898, term of court.
J. A. MILLS was admitted to the bar of the county in August, 1872,
but never afterward engaged in the practice here.
J. J. MOON was admitted to practice at the December, 1871, term
of court, but did not practice law here.
YIN W. ^lOORE was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, on December
9th, 1871, and was reared on a farm. He came to Kansas with his par-
ents in October. 1883, and located for a short time at lola, and then
moved to his father's farm about six miles southwest of lola, where he
lived 'till November, 1894, when he settled at Coffeyville, where he has
since resided in the practice of the law.
S. B. MOOREHOrSE was admitted to the bar of the county in Oc-
tober, 1870, but never engaged in the practice of law.
MICHAEL McENIRY was born in Limerick, Ireland, in 1845. He
came to Kansas in the late 60's and first settled on a claim near Hum-
boldt, where the local land office was then located.
He became involved in a contest over the right to make an entry of
his land and during the pendency of the litigation over the dispute, be-
came familiar with the law pertaining to the rights of settlers on the
public domain, and was engaged as a clerk or an assistant in the office
of Messrs. Cates & Thurston, who had a large business trying contest
suits and loaning money to settlers to pay for their lands. In 1871, or
1872. ]Mr. McEniry moved to this county and took up a claim about two
miles east of the city, and near Morgan City, and afterward moved to In-
dependence, where he actively engaged in the business of looking after
the rights of disputants in contest cases in the local land office here. He
was admitted to practice law by the District Court of Montgomery
county, but never actively engaged in the practice outside of office work.
After his admission to the bar he repeatedly served as police judge and
justice of the ])eace in Independence, during the time he resided here.
Early in the 80's he moved to Coffeyville and took charge of the Eldridge
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 227
House at that place, and for several years owned and conducted the lead-
ing hotel of that city. While at Coffeyville he filled the office of police
judge and was also an officer and stockholder in the First National bank
there.
Some ten or more years ago Judge Mt-Eniry sold his hotel and went
to Chicago where he remained a short time and then to Litchfield, Il-
linois, where he again became engaged in the hotel business. He after-
ward left Litchfield and returned to Chicago, where he now resides. The
judge was a most genial, free hearted and companionable man, and made
an efficient and popular officer, and in the administration of the duties
of the judicial offices he filled, evinced a clear knowledge of the law on
such questions as were frequently presented to him.
J. H;. McVEAN became a member of the bar of Montgomerv countv,
in its infancy, and located at Elk City, where he practiced law for about
twelve or fifteen years and died. He was a well qualified lawyer. By
nature he was talented, and, before his admission to the bar, had thor-
oughly fitted himt^elf to enter the profession, but after entering his pro-
fessional career, gradually yielded to excesses that finally resulted in his
death.
W S. McFEETERS was admitted to i.ractice law at the first term of
the District Court ever held in the county, in May, 1870. He came to the
county before its organization, and located at Verdigris City, and was
one of the most active men in the efforts to locate the county seat east of
the Verdigris. He was a bright, energetic young man, but never ap-
peared in the courts of Montgomery count}' after the first term of the
District Court. During the summer of 1870, Avhile enroute on a trip to
Fort Scott, then the nearest railroad station, he claimed and took charge
of a team of mules that were held as estrays by a farmer on the road
and took them to Fort Scott and sold them. It afterward transpired
that ihe mules belonged to a Mr. Hargrave (a brother of Asa Ilnrgrave
of border warfare fame). The owner set on foot a prosecution against
Mr. McFeeters which resulted in his conviction of grand larceny and a
sentence to the penitentiary. He never afterward returned to the county.
GEORGE W. McClelland was born at Nashville, Illinois, on
May IS, 1855, and lived there till 1878, where his time was spent teaching
and attending school. His education was completed at the Southern Il-
linois Normal School. He went from Illinois to Missouri where he lived
for a short time, during which, and in 1880, he was admitted to the bar
at Nevada, Missouri. The next year he moved to Kansas, and located at
Chanute. He was afterward, in 1881, admitted to the Labette county bar
and then in the same year to the Supreme Court of the State. He was
afterward located at Kinsley, Kansas, and served one term as attorney
for that city. He was located for a time at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Territory, during the exciting times of its earliest settlement, and while
228 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
there served as police judge, and in that office spent, perhaps, the bus-
iest period of his life. In his official capacity he disposed of 4,7.50 police
court cases, and on one occasion fined some of the notorious Daltons.
McClelland joined the Montgomery county bar in 1896 and has contin-
uously pursued the practice atCherryvale. where he has since the date of
his location there, served two terms as attorney for that city.
W. McWRIGHT was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county at
the October, 1870, term of the District Court on the certificate of his ad-
mission to practice in Illinois, but never entered the practice in the
county.
S. F. :\JlcDER^rOTT was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county
on ^March 9, 1880, and located in the practice at Coffeyville, where he now
resides.
REUBEN NICHOLS was, on the certificate of his admission in Il-
linois, admitted to the bar of Montgomery county, at the October, 1870,
term of the District Court, and shortly afterward located in Howard
county, and began the practice, which he has since continued. Howard
county was, after Mr. Nichols went there, divided, and formed into two
counties (Elk and Chautauqua), and Mr. Nichols, then continued the
practice in Elk county. His practice however was not confined to that
county, but for years extended over several adjoining counties. He has,
during his long career, in the profession, been widely known as a promi-
nent attorney.
J. A. ORR, after graduating in 1891 from the legal department of
the University of Kansas, joined our bar and practiced here a short time,
when he located at Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he has become
prominent in the profession.
WILLIAM T. O'CONNOR became a member of the bar of Montgom-
ery county about 1880, and was in the practice here for a number of
years. He began his professional career as the junior partner of the law
firm of Hill & O'Connor and was afterward a partner in the firm of Stan-
ford & O'Connor and, later, a member of the law firm of Humphrey
& O'Connor. Mr. O'Connor left Independence in the 80's and went
west where he engaged in other pursuits.
ROY A. OSBORN was born at Rockport, Missouri, November 30, 1874,
and resided there till 1880, when he went to Ness City, Kansas, where,
after staying about five months, he moved to Wakeeney, Kansas, and
lived there until 1893, and then located at Salina, Kansas, where he prac-
ticed law a short time and then, March 2, 1901, he became a member of
the Montgomery county bar, located at Coffeyville and has since pursued
his profession at that place.
Mr. Osborn was a student at the I^niversity of Kansas from which
he was graduated in the Academic Department in 1897, and in the law
dei)artment in 1900, and, on June 7, 19()(), he was admitted to practice
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY;, KANSAS. 229
by the District Court of Douglas county and by the Supreme Court of the
State.
JUDGE S. J. OSBORN was born at Eaton, Preble county, Ohio,
and afterward moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where his time, was, for
a number of years, taken up in manual labor and teaching school.
In September, 1872, he, having studied law and qualified himself
to practice, was admitted to the bar at Rockport, Atchison county, Mis-
souri. In January, 1880, he became a member of the bar at Larned,
Pawnee county, Kansas, and in the same year located in the practice at
M^akeeny, Trego county, Kansas, and soon after became county attor-
ney for the county. He resided in Trego county till he moved to Salina,
Kansas, about February, 1895, and entered the practice there in part-
nership with T. L. Bond, which he continued until he located at Cofifey-
ville in 1902, where he has since pursued his profession, as a member of
the law firm of Dooley & Osborn.
While living at Wakeeny, Mr. Osborn represented his county in the
Legislature of the State, in 188.5 and 1886, and in the latter year, was ap-
pointed by Governor John A. Martin, judge of the newly created Dis-
trict Court, of the Twenty-third Judicial District, comprising the counties
of Rush, Ness, Ellis and Trego and the unorganized counties of Gove, St.
John. Wallace, Lane, Scott, Wichita and Greely. At the end of his term
of appointment, the judge served two consecutive full terms in the same
office, he having been twice elected thereto. While living at Salina,
he represented Saline county in the Lower House of the Kansas Legisla-
ture in 1899, and was elected Speaker of that body.
JOHN Q. PAGE was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county in
1871 on the certificate of his admission to practice in the Circuit Courts of
the State of Missouri.
When he was admitted here he was in the banking business at the
site of the present First National Bank in Independence. He never en-
gaged in the practice of law, but less than two years after his admission
to the bar here, became, for a brief time, famous on account of his sup-
posed connection with the York-Pomeroy embroglio, early in 1871?. His
name became connected with that exciting affair, by one of the defenses
urged by Mr, Pomeroy against the charge of attempted bribery, in the
assertion that the money was paid to Senator York to be turned over to
Mr. Page for investment in loans at the high rates of interest then pre-
vailing in the country. The soundness of this portion of Mr. Pomeroy's
defense was never conclusively determined and was generally doubted,
although Mr. Page it was thought, was inclined to support it. ]Mr. I*age
quit the banking business and left Independence in a short time after the
defeat of Mr. Pomeroy.
ALZAMON M. PARSONS was born at Effingham, Illinois, on May
18, 1858. He afterward lived in Davenport, Iowa, until about thirty
230 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
years of age, when he came to Kansas and taught school and farmed
till March 6, 1897, when he was admitted to practice by the District
Court of Montgomery county. Since his admission most of his time has
been devoted to the practice although he has taught school at times.
Mr. Parsons, since locating in the practice at Caney, has filled the
office of justice of the peace two terms and also that of police judge two
terms.
B. F. PARKS came to Independence from or near Chicago, Illi-
nois, late in the TO's and entered the practice of law here but did not con-
tinue in the business here longer than about one year. Judge Parks, as
he was called, was a very aggressive practitioner and was gifted with
unusual oratorical ability and possessed a good knowledge of the law.
THOMAS W. PEACOCK was admitted to the bar of the county at
the August, 1872, term of the District Court and remained in the county
a number of years, afterward as editor and proprietor of a weekly news-
paper, and then moved to Topeka where he pursued the same voeation.
He never practiced law here.
GEORGE R. PECK was admitted to practice in Montgomery county
on xVpril 3, 1872. His long and brilliant career since then, on the highest
planes in the profession, and the great number of signal triumphs he has
won in the practice, easily mark him as our most distinguished lawyer.
A just history of Mr. Peck would contain an account of these, but
the limited space allotted to this article forbids efforts to enter upon
such a pleasant undertaking. Inasmuch as the present purpose is to
write more particularly of those matters that pertain to the county —
and that in a narrow space — we find some excuse for eliminating much
that would be interesting in the life of Mr. Peck after he left here. A
true history would also include events outside of his profession, as he
is not only a profound lawyer but a ripe scholar and a magnificent ora-
tor. The many classic orations he has delivered to cultured audiences,
furnish proof of the fact that he is a man of eminence in arenas outside
of his professional life.
He practiced less than two years at the Montgomery county bar and
he often says, that brief i)eriod covers the happiest days of his life.
While he was fascinated with life in a new country, which he now says
is "one of the greatest charms of human life," by his genial disposition
and captivating social qualities, he always made time pass pleasantly
to the companions of his young manhood; and now, after a lapse of thir-
ty years or more, many easily recall the pleasant hours spent in his com-
pany. This was the social side of Mr. Peck during his short professional
sojourn here and while, in history, it may become paled in the light of
such achievements as lead to enduring fame, it should ever be accorded a
place.
Before he had been in Kansas two months, he wrote to a home pa-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 23 1
per in Wisconsin (Janesville Gazette, January 18, 1872), "There is no
chance for sleigh riding, but if one is fond of mud, he can be accommo-
dated. Tastes differ, but with the little experience I have had, I must
say that I had rather put up with the mud here than the intense cold in
Wisconsin. * * * There is only one way in which you can arrive
•at a decision of the vexed question whether 'tis nobler in the mind to
suffer the slings and arrows of an eight-months winter in the north or
a short winter here, and that is by trying it." A few years later, during
the destructive drought, there was but little, if any, difference in his opin-
ion OF: the mud question in Kansas; as more mud was ''a consummation
devoutly wished" from early in the summer of 1874, till late in the win-
ter of 1875.
Mr. Peck was born in Cameron, Steuben county, Kew York, on
May 15, 1843. He was the youngest of a family of ten children. When
about six years old he moved to Palmyra, Wisconsin, with his parents,
who settled there on a farm, on which Mr. Peck spent his time until he
was about sixteen years of age, teaching and attending the local schools.
When about seventeen years old he entered, as a student, Milton College
in Wisconsin, where he remained three terms, during which he spent his
vacations teaching.
He had intended to enter an eastern college and comi)lete his edu-
cation, but under the call of President Lincoln, for 300,000 more volun-
teers, he enlisted as a soldier in the First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery,
in which he served three months and was then commissioned first lieu-
tenant of Company ''K," Thirty-first Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and
afterward, in June, 1864, was promoted to the captaincy of the same com-
pany, and served in that capacity until he was mustered out in July,
1865. He then returned to Wisconsin and studied law in the office of
Hon. Charles (J. Williams, of Janesville. On February 15, 1866. he was
admitted to practice by the Circuit Court of Rock county, Wisconsin,
and in the fall of the same year was elected clerk of the same court, in
which office he served from January 1, 1867, to January 1, 1869. At the
expiration of his term of office he entered the practice at Janesville,
which he continued until he moved to Kansas in 1871— reaching Inde-
pendence in December of that year, by stage from Cherryvale. On hia
way from Lawrence he met Edgar Hull, then on his way to open a bank
at Independence, and arranged to become the attorney for the contem-
plated financial institution. After his arrival at Independence, he at
first v.ent into the ofiice of W. H. Watkins, probate judge of the county,
and at once applied himself to the study of the Kansas Statutes and de-
cisions, which he continued for a month or more, when his friend and fu-
ture partner, George Chandler, joined him. Mr. Peck and Mr. Chandler
then formed the well-remembered law firm of Peck & Chandler, and
^opened an office over Pnge's Bank on the corenr of Pennsylvania avenue
232 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
and Main street, at the present site of the First National Bank, and thi*
firm at once acquired a lucrative practice.
Early in 1873, Messrs. Peek & Chandler purchased a lot on North
Pennsylvania avenue, and erected a two-storv brick building thereon and
occupied the second story as law oflSces, until January, 1874, when Mr.
Peck retired from the firm and moved to Topeka to assume the duties of
United States attorney for the District of Kansas, to which oflSce he had
been appointed by President Grant.
On locating at Topeka he went into partnership with Hon. Thomas
Ryan, a former United States Attorney and afterward a member of
Congress and Minister to Mexico and now First Assistant Secretary
of the Interior. This firm, under the style of Peck & Ryan, did a large
general practice during the six years Mr, Peck served as United States
Attorney — he having been appointed as his own successor by President
Hayes, and after serving two years on his second term, resigned the of-
fice to devote his entire time to the general practice.
During his term of ofiice and for several years after, he had been
employed as attorney for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Com-
pany, and, in May, 1881, was appointed general solicitor for it. He held
this responsible position most of the time until ]893. when he moved to
Chicago and continued in the same office till September, 1895, when he
resigned to accept the position of general counsel of the Chicago, Mil-
waukee & St. Paul Railway Company, which high office in railroad cir-
cles he has held since that date.
Mr. Peck was bv nature endowed with extraordinary mental force,
and is a man of extensive information acquired from reading the w^orks of
the best authors. He is a "born leader" in any walk in life he may be
placed. While at Independence he was at the head of our young bar and
has. so far. wherever located, maintained the same ascendency.
When he became United States Attorney in Kansas he was about
thirty years of age and was without experience in the practice in the
Federal Courts, and a comparative stranger to many of the lawyers who
controlled the practice of those courts. These attorneys, for the most
part, lived in the large towns along the Kaw and Missouri rivers, where
the State was first populated, and they distrusted Mr. Peck's ability to
acquit himself creditably in the important office to which he had been ele-
vated from the obscure bar recently created on a late Indian reservation.
His first case in the Unites States Court was against one Holmes who
was charged in forty-two counts, with opening registered letters and oth-
er malfeasance in office, and defended by such eminent criminal lawyers
as Thomas Fenlon, J. W. Taylor and Albert H. Horton. Mr. Peck con-
cluded the arguments in a close, able and logical address of one and one-
half hours, and easily convicted the defendant and dispelled from the
minds of those who heard him all doubts of his ability to fill the office.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 233
About a year after, he was associated with such renowned lawyers
-as Jeremiah S. Bhick and William Lawrence, and opposed by George F,
Edmonds and P. Phillijis in two cases pending in the Supreme Court of
the United States, involving the title to many valuable tracts of land
on the Osage Ceded Lands in Kansas; and as some of these were located
in this county, a short review of the history of one of the cases may, prop-
erly, be biefly noted here.
One June 2, 1825, by treaty, certain lands were reserved to the great
and little tribes of Osage Indians which included a strip about three
miles wide, now on the east border of JNlontgomery county. On March 3,
1863, Congress ceded to the State from the public lands therein, alter-
nate sections designated by odd numbers, to be used to secure the con-
struction of railways within her borders. On February 9, 1864, the State
by an act of its Legislature, accepted the grant so made by Congress and
tendered a portion of such lands to the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Fort
Gibson Railroad Compay to induce it to build a line of road as provided
in the act.
On September 29, 1865, by treaty with the said tribes of Indians
they ceded a portion of their reservation (including said strip on the
east border of Montgomery county) to the United States.
In 1870 and 1871, The Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad
Compony — the name of the company having been changed by an act of
the Legislature, passed February 24, 1866 — constructed a line of railroad
through a portion of the Osage Ceded Lands and claimed the odd-number-
ed sections within the ten-mile limit, and secured a patent to the same.
A suit was instituted by the United States in its Circuit Court in
Kansas to vacate such patents on the ground that no portion of the
lands included in the Osage Ceded Lands was intended by Congress in the
act of T^Darch 3, 1863, to be embraced in the grant to the State, for the
reason, among others, that Congress could not or would not donate
lands to which the title of the Indians had not been extinguished.
The United States was successful in the Circuit Court, and the
railroads appealed to the Supreme Court, where some of the best legal
talent in the Union was engaged, and the cases vigorously contested on
every feature, and the decree of the Circuit Court affirmed. Mr. Peck
wrote an elaborate brief, which was a remarkable argument for one so
young and of such limited experience in the courts of last resort. In it
the issues were clearly set forth, the authorities aptly and succinctly
cited and applied, and' his logic unanswerable. This able brief ended on
the 3ard, and last page in this language: "I can only look upon the claim
of the railroads to these lands, as a flagrant attempt to secure a magnifi-
cent domain by the mere force of incorporated audacity. It is not the
United States alone which is interested in resisting these pretensions;
other rights are involved. These lands are thickly settled by a people
234 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS.
who came upon them, not af^ trespassers, but invited by their govern-
ment. These are their homes." Perhaps nothing ever gave Mr. Peok
more pleasure than to hear his brief complimented by one of the very
first hiwyers in the Union — Jeremiah S. Black — who adopted Mr. Peck's
theory on all the questions involved. He and his friends as well as the
settlers on the disputed lands, were rejoiced at the great victory he won
in the case.
The many other brilliant achievements of Mr. Peck at the bar have
no particular significance to Montgomery county and for that reason I
refrain from further following him in them.
la the practice he Avas quick, accurate and profound. He seemed
to possess an intuitive faculty of at once grasping and solving the most
intricate legal problems, and the power of elucidation. These qualities
have long been recognized by many of the greatest corporations in the
Union, and have kept him in enviable professional employment for near-
ly a quarter of a century. While he has occasionally edified the most ex-
acting audiences with his almost matchless oratory, his life has been de-
voted to the duties of his profession. He has ever evinced a keen interest
in politics, jet has never sought a public office, and on one occasion de
dined to accept a seat in the Ignited States Senate, which was uncondi-
tionally tendered him ; and on another, resigned from an important of-
fice as before stated.
Ii is a pleasing feature in M',r. Peck's career, to think of him in 1873
using the poetry of Shakesjjeare in describing to his old friends in
Janesville the mud and climatic conditions of his new home; and to see
him thirty years after, at the head of the legal department of a great
railway corporation that is being operated where "the slings and arrows
of an eighl-months' winter" prevail. This railroad company is operating
nearly 7,000 miles of road, and in 1902, its gross earnings were over
forty-five millions of dollars.
'col. CHARLES J. I'ECKHAM became a member of the bar of
Montgomery county about 1871. So far as I have been able to learn,
the Colonel was born in one of the New England States perhaps in
the 30's. When a boy he spent two years on the seas as a common sai-
lor and afterward enlisted in the L'nion Army where, during the Civil
War, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was admitted to the
bar in Illinois. After practicing some eight years in this county he
moved to Sedan about 1878 and a few years later to Winfield and then,
during the 90's, he went to Oklahoma where he died a few years ago.
Col. Peckham was recognized by the members of the bar wherever he
practiced as a very fine lawyer, and during the time he practiced here
stood in the front ranks at the bar.
Vv ILLIAM A. PEFFER was a practitioner at our bar for about six
jears, from 1875 to 1881. During this time, however, his time was mostly
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 235
taken up in otlier pursuits, and he never became prominent in the pro-
fession. From his other achievements during his active and industrious
life, he has fairly won a place among the distinguished members of our
bar.
ITe was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, on September
]0. 1831. and resided there till 18.53. when he located in St. Joseph coun-
ty, Indiana, where he remained till 18.59, when he moved to Morgan
county, Missouri, and stayed there till 1861.
In 1802. he settled in Warren county, Illinois, and while living
there, and on August 6, 1862, enlisted in the Union Army and became a
member of Company F, Eighty-third Illinos Volunteer Infantry, and re-
mained in the service till he was mustered out on June 26,1865. Beforeen-
tering the army Mr. Peffer's life was spent working on a farm, attending
and teaching school, and after leaving the military service he settled at
Clarksville, Tennessee, where he was admitted to the bar and practiced
law till in 1869. He then, in 1870, located in Wilson county, Kansas,
where he divided his time, till 1875, in practicing law and editing and pub-
lishing The Fredonia Journal, a weekly newspaper devoted to the Repub-
lican party doctrines. In 1875 he was elected to the State Senate as a
Representative for Wilson and Montgomery counties, and located at Cof-
feyville where, during his term of office in the Senate, he practiced law
and edited and published the Coffeyville Journal from 1875 to 1881, ex-
cept during the ''close times" that prevailed in 1878, when he quit the law
and 1 aught a district school in Liberty township. In 1881 Mr. Peffer
moved to Topeka where he edited the Kansas Farmer till 1890, meanwhile
assisting in the editorial department of the Topeka Dailj' Capital. In
the fall of 1890. he became a powerful leader in the populist party which
elected a majority to the Legislature and he was chosen to represent the
State in the United States Senate for six years.
After his retirement from the Senate of the United States, he de-
voted much of his time to literary work, and to publishing the Topeka
Advocate during 1897. He is now, at the age of 72 years, actively engaged
in perhaps the most important work of his life, and that is the preparation
of a complete index, by subjects, to the discussions in Congress from the
beginning of 1789 to 1902 inclusive, which work was authorized by an act
of Congress. For the most part. Senator Peffer's life, after leaving the
army, has been devoted to the discussion of the public questions that
have from time to time agitated the public mind; and his writings on
these subjects have shown deep thought and have been trenchant and ef-
fective. While in the United States Senate he evinced a marvelous
knowledge of statistics and figures and was a recognized authority by
even those who did not agree with him in their application.
JUDGE LUTHER PERKINS was born in Boston, Massachu-
setts, on April 25, 1844, and lived there and at Chicago before locating in
236 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
Coffeyville, Kansas, about thirty-three years ago. He graduated at the
Bosroii Law School in his native city in June, 1864, but never became a
member of the bar of Montgomery county until June 29, 1895. Since lo-
cating at Coffeyville he has always been one of the prominent men of that
city, and has spent his life in loaning money and dealing in real estate
on his own account and as agent for others. Before his admission to
the bar he did considerable of that character of business that belongs to
the legal profession — such as drafting papers, examining abstracts of
title, rendering advice on legal problems, etc., and did some prac-
tice in the justice and police courts.
Since his admission he has not engaged in the practice extensively,
as his time has been fully taken up with his personal affairs and in ful-
filling the duties of the office of Judge of the Court of Coffeyville, to
which he was elected about one year ago.
SANFORD H. PETTIBONE was born at Springlield, Illinois, De
ceniber 13, 1848. In September, 1802, when less than fourteen years of
age, he enlisted in Company "D," Thirty-third Illinois Volunteer Infant-
ry. While in the army he lost both legs in a railroad wreck at Butte,
Louisiana, and afterward remained in a hospital at New Orleans until
July, 1865, when he was taken to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, where
he was discharged August 4, following.
In 1867, he entered the Illinois Soldiers' College at Fulton and was
graduated therefrom in 1871. and then read law^ in the office of Judge
Crook at Springfield, Illinois. In July, 1872, he was admitted to the bar
in Illinois and in the same year located in the prac-
tice of his profession in McPherson County, Kansas, being the first at-
tornev to settle in that countv. In February, 1877, he returned to Illi-
nois and practiced at Vandalia until 1881, when he returned to Kansas
and located in the practice at Independence as the junior member of the
firm of Hill & Pettibone, which he continued till about 1887, when he lo-
cated at Kansas City, where he pursued his profession for a number of
years and then moved to the South.
SETH H. PIPER was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county
at the age of twenty-one years and has since been in the active practice of
the law. He was born in Shelby county, Indiana, Kay 4, 1868, and resid-
ed there till 1878 when he went with his parents to Champagne, Illinois,
where he spent about three years, and then, in 1881, moved on a farm
in Montgomery county, Kansas. He worked on this farm till he was
nineteen years old when he engaged as a clerk in a store and read law for
two years before his successful application for admission to practice.
After becoming a member of the bar he at once located at Elk City
in the practice, Avhich he pursued there until he moved to Independence
on January 1, 1900. While living at Elk City, Mr. Piper filled to the sat-
isfaction of the public these offices: member of the school board three
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 237
years^, city attorney of Elk City from January, 1890, to July 1896, mayor
of the city two terms and deputy county attorney for four years; and
since locating at Independence he has served as deputy county attorney
for eighteen months and is now serving as city attorney of Independence,
to which office he was appointed May, 1903.
He is now in the active practice in partnership with O. P. Ergen-
bright under the firm name of Ergenbright & Piper.
SAMUEL M. PORTER was born at Walled Lake, Oakland county,
Michigan, on December 14, 1849, and lived there on his father's farm
till he entered the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann
Arbor, from which he graduated in 1874. He had, before entering the
university, taken a literary course at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michi-
gan, find had also, before graduating at Ann Arbor, and on August 20,
1873, been admitted to the bar by the Circuit Court of Alpena Co., Michi-
gan, and at that jilace actively pursued his profession for several years.
He then came to Montgomery county, and, in March, 1881, was admitted
as a member of its bar and has since continued in the general practice
in the county.
While at East Saginaw, Mr. Porter served as alderman for two
years and Judge of the Recorder's (Criminal) Court of the city for one
year.
For several years, in addition to his practice, Mr. Porter has lent his
energies to the promotion and building of a line of railroad from Caney,
south to Bartlesville and is now successfully promoting the development
of a r'oal field in the Indian Territory, and other important enterprises.
GEORGE W. PURCELL was born in Saline county, Missouri, about
fifty years ago, and when about grown pursued farming and teaching,
till about 189.0, when he was admitted to the bar of IMontgomery county
and entered the practice at Caney, which he pursued about three years
and then located at Bartlesville, Indian Territory, where he practiced
aboul tAvo years and then moved to Gray Horse, Indian Territory, where
he now resides pursuing his profession.
JOSEPH P. ROSSITER was born at Norristown, Pennsylvania, on
September 20, 1869. Hi^ spent his childhood at Girard, Pennsylvania,
and graduated at the State School at Edinboro, in the same State in
1890. He was principal of several dift'erent schools, the last being one of
the ward schools in the city of Chicago, Illinois. He also has worked
at life insurance and been connected with building and loan associations.
He Avas admitted to ihe bar of Montgomery county on June 28,
1898, and at once located in the practice of his profession at (^ofteyville
and has since devoted his time exclusively and successfully to profession-
al work at that city.
THOMAS S. SALATHIEL was born at Lawrence, in Douglas
238 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
county, Kansas, in October, 1866, and a sketch of his life and family
genealogy is ])resented in another place in this volume.
CAPTAIN HOAVARl) A. SCOTT was born near Parker's Landing
in Butler county. Pennsylvania, on April 7, 1873, and lived there till Sep-
tembei' 24, 1888. when he moved with his parents to Neodesha, Kansas,
where they s])ent about six months, and then settled on a farm in Syca-
more township in Montgomery county, where Mr. Scott remained,
working on his father's farm until he was eighteen or nineteen years of
age. He then attended the high school at Neodesha, Kansas, and after-
ward took a business course in a college at Kansas City, ^fissouri. He
was admitted to the bar of Wilson county, by the District Court in Sep-
tember. 1897. and to the bar of this county in January, 1898, after hav-
ing read law with Hon. T, J. Hudson of Fredonia, Kansas, and after
having attended a course of lectures delivered at Kansas City, Missouri,
by the leading lawyers of that place. Before becoming a member of the
bar. Captain Scott had taught four terms of school in this county. At
first he held a third-grade certificate, then a second and finally a first
grade. After his admission to the bar, he at once entered the practice at
Independence. Kansas, and continued in it until May 3, 1898, when he
enlisted in Company *'G," Twentieth Kansas Volunteers, and entered the
Spanish-American War. and spent eighteen months in active military
life. At the organization of his company he was elected first lieutenant,
and on February 12, 1809, was promoted to the office of captain and as-
signed to the command of Company ''A" in the same regiment and on
March 1, 1899, was transferred to the command of Company "G."
During his term in the army he served in three general courts martial,
one in San Francisco, California, one in Mololos, Philippine Islands, and
another in the city of IN^anila, Philippine Islands, in which last two he
presided over the courts. The court in Mtilolos was held in a cathedral
that had just previously been occupied by the Filipino National Con-
gress.
He was also several times detailed to defend parties on trial before
courts martial and served in the Philippines on Colonel Funston's stafl'
as ordnance officer.
On his return from the war, and in the fall of 1899, he resumed the
practice of his profession at Independence in which he has continued to
the present time, and is now deputy county attorney under Miiyo Thom-
as.
He was a candidate for the office of judge of the Fourteenth Judicial
District at the November, 1902, election and was defeated by Judge Flan-
nely, Ihe present incumbent.
JOHN :M. SCI'DDER was one of the pioneer members of the bar
of Montgomery county. He came from Tennessee in the 60's and first lo-
cated in Douglas county, and in 1869 or 1870, came to this county, where
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 230
he fir^Jt settled at Westralia or Parker. He shortly after moved to Cof-
feyville. where for three or four years he did an extensive and profitable
professional business. In 1873. he was a candidate for Jndoe of the Elev-
enth Judicial District and was beaten in the race by Judge B. W. Per-
kins and a few months later moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he prac-
ticed for a short time and then located at Virginia City, Illinois, where
he died about 1877. Mr. Scudder was a talented man, a fine lawyer, and
had an eager taste for literature, in which he was well informed.
OSBORN SHANNON located at Independence about 1871, he hav-
ing pi-eviously been admitted to the bar in Douglas county. He married
a Miss DeLong, whose father served several terms as mayor of Independ-
ence, {;nd as such, made the entry of the townsite. Out of the purchase
and disposition of the land so entered by the mayor, much litigation re-
sulte.i for several years and Mr. Shannon was actively engaged in mat-
ters connected v>ith such entry and disposition of the lauds and in the lit-
igation that ensued.
About 1876 he returned to Lawrence, w^here his father, Governor
Shannon, then one of the most eminent lawyers in the west, resided and
was })racticing. Later Mr. Shannon moved to Chicago, where he died
a fev,- years ago. He was a genial, companionable and warm-hearted
man.
JOHN T. SHOWALTER w-as admitted to the bar of Montgomery
county in August, 1871, he having, the year previous, been admitted to
practice at Ashley, Illinois. He w^as born at Clarksville, Missouri, July
27, 1840. and before coming to Kansas had lived with his parents a few
years in Grant county, Wisconsin, and afterward resided for a time in
Ohio, and later in Illinois. After his admission to practice, in 1871, he
opened an office here but shortly afterward followed the local land
office to Neodesha, Kansas, to which place it was moved under orders
from Washington. Shortly after, the land office was returned to Inde-
pendence and Mr. Showalter came back with it, and located, entered and
continued in the practice here until about May, 1872, when he moved to
Wellington, Kansas, where he has since resided and pursued the business
of an attorney, real estate and loan agent.
Since he went to Wellington he has served the public in various of-
fices, among which are, register of deeds of the county from 1877 to 1879,
member of the Legislature in 1891, deputy bank commissioner from 1891
to 1893 and is now serving his term as probate judge of Sunnier county,
to which he was elected in November, 1902.
MICHAEL SICKAFOOSE was born in Whitney county, In-
diana, June 12th, 1842, where he wa« a school teacher until 1868, when
he was admitted to the bar at Columbia City, in that state. He then en-
tered the practice and continued there in the same until the spring of
1873, when he located at Independence, where he practiced law for two
240 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUXTY, KANSAS.
years in partnersliip Avitli John S. Cotton, under the firm name of !^ick-
afoose & Cotton. He then returned to Columbia City where he continued
the juactice until 188!), when, on accoun.t of failinf* health, he moved to
Lincoln, Nebraska, where he has since lived. Mr. Sickafoose was, while
here, a talented young lawyer, well read and a courteous gentleman.
OLIVER P. SMART was born in Union county, Ohio, on December
13th, 1839, and lived there until August, 1868, when he went to Warsaw,
Benton county, Missouri. Prior to leaving Ohio, his life was spent on a
farm, except six years, while he was a student at the Ohio Wesleyan Uni-
versity, from which he was graduated in a classical course in 1869. He
was admitted to practice in December, 1869, by the Circuit Court of
Benton county. Mo., on an examination, after having read law in the of-
fice of Col. A. C. Barry at Warsaw, Mo. In March, 1870, he located in
the practice at Independence, and a few months later became a member
of the law firm of Smart & Foster, which continued in the business until
Mr. Foster retired, and engaged in real estate business. Mr. Smart was
one of the first members of the bar of Montgomery county, having been
admitted on May 9th, 1870.
After Mr. Foster retired from the firm, Mr. Smart continued the
practice 'till 1890, and then for the next six years spent his time on a
farm. In 1896 he returned to Independence, where he has since resided.
He was county attorney for a short time in 1870, and a member of the
city council one term. Since his return to Independence in 1896 Mr.
Smart has devoted but little time to his profession.
GEORGE R. SPELLING was from Iowa. He located some years
ago in the practice of law at Anthony, Kansas, and afterward tilled
the office of Assistant Attorney General for two years under General
Boyle, during Governor Leedy's administration, ending in 1899. Short-
ly afterward he located in the practice of his profession at Coff'eyville,
which he has since pursued at that place.
SAMUEL F. SPENCER was born at Greensburg, Kentucky, about
1850, and was admitted to the bar there about 1874, and practiced at
that place 'till late in 1878, when he located at Independence, Kansas.
Early in the next year he was admitted to the bar of this county, and
practiced law until about October, 1880, when he moved to Colorado,
where he remained about six months and then returned to his old home
in Kentucky. About 1884 he married and moved to California, where he
pursued his profession 'till he returned to Kentucky about 1890, and
died there about two years later.
Mr. Spencer was a young gentleman of polished address and of fine
ability. His father. General Samu6l A. Spencer, was a distinguished
lawyer in Kentucky, and practiced his profession at Greensburg. tluit
state, from his early manhood 'till his death a few years ago, at the age
of over ninety years.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 24 1
THOMAS H. STANFORD was born at New Albany, Indiana, on
^rarcli 7tli, 1851, and was reared on a farm near Brookston, in that state,
until he was seventeen years of age. He then taught school for four
years and was afterward, and on June 17th, 1879, admitted to the bar
of White county, Indiana, and since that date has devoted his time ex-
clusively to his profession. After pursuing the practice in Indiana for
nearlv six vears, he moved to Kansas and located in the same business
at Independence, where he was admitted to the Montgomery county bar
on M'arch 18th, 1885. He was shortly afterward admitted to the Su-
preme Court of the state and to the Federal Courts.
Mr. Stanford now gives his whole time looking after his extensive
professional business in the various courts above named. The only pub-
lic position he has ever filled was the office of city attorney for Indepen-
dence. He was the fusion candidate for Judge of the 11th Judicial Dis-
trict, then composed of Montgomery, Labette and Cherokee counties, in
1898, and defeated by Judge A. H. Skidmore, who was elected as his own
successor.
L. T. STEPHENSON was one of the earliest practitioners at the bar
of Montgomery county, and was in many respects a most remarkable
character. He was a man of fine natural ability, indomitable energy
and industry, aggressive and fearless and generally '^in a peck of
trouble," during which times he never failed to furnish the cause of a
liberal supply of perplexity to his enemies. While his achievements in
the ]ira(tice of law, <ui true scientific lines, were never conspicuous, his
power and influence were often felt in important cases, especially in the
numerous land contest suits incident to the settlement of the country
and in many of the grave criminal cases that arose from the struggles
between the pioneers.
Mr. Stephenson wrote a beautiful hand, having spent at one time a
portion of his life giving writing lessons. He was clerk of the district
court for one term in the early 70's and performed many of the legitimate
duties of that office through deputies, while he energetically looked after
various interests on the outside. He was one of the very foremost men in
locating and laying out the townsite of Independence, and was ever on
the alert in looking after the welfare of the city, when it was struggling
in its infancy. He located on a valuable claim at the southeast corner of
the townsite' and became involved in a number of suits and contests over
it and adjoining lands. These contests in the U. S. Laud Office and suits
in the District Court lasted for years and were bitterly fought and very
expensive, and during their progress Mr. Stephenson was, in the night,
shot at on two different occasions, and at one of these times his life was
probably preserved by a large gold collar button against which the bul-
let lodged. On another occasion he '*horse-wIiii)pcHr' on tlie public streets,
the mayor, with whom he was having a contest in the land office. He
242 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
finally built a fine house on one of the most sightly places near the city,
and traded a lot of his lands south of his home, for a herd of thorough
bred, short horn cattle, and for several years peacefully devoted his en-
ergies to raising fine cattle. This business, as was generally his misfor-
tune in all lie undertodk. resulted in financial loss, his home burned
down and he finally lost all his property and a few years ago, at the age
of about sixty years, went to the Kocky Mountains, where, through some
of his close friends, he became interested in mining. He carried with
him all the appearances of the activity and energy that were character-
istic of his younger days, and the absolute confidence of quickly realizing
a fortune in the new enterprise. "Colonel Sellers" was never a greater
optimist than was L. T. Stephenson.
:ME. SWEENEY was an elderly gentleman in 1872. and lived
in Wilson county. He was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county
in December of that year, but never entered the practice in this county.
He did some practice in Wilson county and died in that county a few
years ago.
JOSEPH STEWART was born in Allen county, Kansas, October
30th, 1859, where he was reared. After working in the Humboldt bank
two or three years he, at the age of twenty years, joined his father, Hon.
Watson Stewart, at Independence, and worked in his office about two
years, when he went to Washington as the private secretary of Congress-
man Funston, and served in that capacity 'till about 1883, when he went
into the service of the Government in its Postoffice Department, where
he remained for about five or six years and then came to Independence,
where he was admitted to the bar of Montgomerv county about 1889.
After remaining here a few months he located in the practice at
Kansas City and jmrsued his jirofession there and in Allen county, Kan-
sas, for about two years and then, about 1891, returned to Wastiington
and entered the Postoffice Department as an important official and has
since remained there.
While serving as private secretary to Mr. Funston, he began read-
ing law, during his leisure hours, and afterward took a course in the law
department of the Columbia University at Washington, from which he
was graduated, and then, in 1885, admitted to practice in the courts of
record in that city and afterward to the Supreme Court of the United
Staes.
PHILIP L. SWATZELL was born in Crittenden county, Kentucky,
on May 4th, 1865. After coming to Kansas he settled at Elk City, in this
county, where he worked at the carpenter's trade until he accumulated
sufficient funds to enable him to take a course at the State University
of Kansas. After having graduated from the law department of that
institution he was, on the 10th day of June, 1892, admitted to the bar of
Douglas county, Kansas, and at once entered upon, and has since con-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. KANSAS. 243
tinned, the practice of his profession at Elk City. He was mayor of Elk
City one year, ending April 10th, 1893, assistant postmaster at the same
place for four years, ending October 20th, 1894, United States Census
Enumerator for Louisburg township and assistant to the chief clerk of
the Legislatures of 1901 and 1903.
W. O. SYLVESTER was admitted to practice in the District Court
of Montgomery county in April, 1872, and practiced here for a few years,
a portion of which time in partnership with Mr. S. A. Hall, under the
firm name of Hall & Sylvester.
JUDGE MARTIN BRADFORD SOULE, the present Probate Judge
•of the county, is extensively mentioned in the department of this volume
devoted to biographies of our citizens.
M. C. SHEWALTER located at Cherryvale in the practice of law in
the 80's, having gone to that place from the State of Missouri. He was
admitted to the bar of Mnotgomery county December 16th, 1887, and
practiced law here for several years and then returned to Missouri. Mr.
Shewalter was a talented man and a well versed lawyer, and was pre-
vented from doing a larger professional business by his frail physical
health. During the time he was at our bar his ability as a lawyer was
well known by his professional brothers, all of whom held him in the
highest esteem.
WILBUR F. TAYLOR was admitted to the bar of Montgomery
county about 1880 and located and parcticed at Independence about two
years, and then went west. He came here from Lafayette, Indiana.
J. M. THOMPSON was admitted to the bar of the' county about 1882
and practiced here a few months and then went to McCune, Kansas, and
shortlv afterward moved to Iowa, from where he soon afterward went to
Oregon, where he now resides.
CALVIN C. THOMPSON was born in ^fadison county, Indiana, on
January 19th, 1855, and lived there and in LaSalle county, Illinois, until
September 23rd, 1880, when he was admitted to practice law at Ottawa,
Illinois, and on December 23rd of the same year became a member of the
Montgomery county bar. After his admission here he devoted about
fifteen years to the practice of his profession and then engaged in the in
surance and real estate business, which he has since pursued at Cherry-
vale, Kansas. During his residence at Cherryvale he has served on the
school board of the city and was president of the board one year.
MAYO THOMAS was born in Tipton county, Indiana, on January
29th, 1809, and is of Scotch Irish descent. When eight years of age he
nioveu with his parents to Reno county, Kansas, where Ihey lived live
years, and thence to Elk county, where he lived 'till about 1897, when
he located in the practice of law at Independence. He was admitted to
the bar of Elk county at Howard, on February 5th, 1897, and to the
Montgomery county bar in May of the same year, and has, since the date
244 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
of his admission here, devoted his time exclusively to the practice at In-
dependence, where he now resides.
In 1S87 Ml. Thomas entered, as a student, the Ottawa I'niversitv,
where he found employment to sustain him through a four years' course,
by doing chores and janitor work. While at the university, by the ex-
cellence of his work, he won the Nash prize, which had been offered to the
student, of the Freshman or Sophomore class, passing the best exami-
nation in Natural History. After leaving this institution he taught
school, and then, in 1893, entered the law department of the University
of Kansas. At the Eleventh Annual State University Oratorical Contest
on January 2Gth, 1894, he was awarded the third prize and at the spring
oratorical contest, at the same institution, he was on April 27th, 1894,
Awarded the second prize.
He served as clerk of the District Court of Howard county during
1895 and 1896, and in 1897 was appointed by Governor Leedy, on the
State Board of Pardons, where he served 'till 1899, when he resigned.
At the general election in November, 1902, he was elected county at-
tornev — he being the onlv candidate elected on the Democratic ticket —
and he is now performing the duties of that office.
W. H. TIBBILS became a member of our bar April 17th, 1874, and
located in the practice at Coft'eyville, Kansas, where he pursued his pro-
fession for a number of years. He then moved to Sedan, Kansas, where
he practiced several years and then returned to Coft'eyville about 1890,
and after practicing there some time, located at Vinita, Indian Territory,
and pursued his profession there 'till about 1900, when he died. At the
time of his death, he was United States Probate Commissioner and per-
forming duties similar to those imposed upon our probate court.
JUDGE WM. F. TURNER was, at a very early day, a prominent
member of the bar of Montgomery county. He was born in Milton, Penn-
sylvania, in 181G, and spent his boyhood in that state, Mississippi and
Louisiana. His father. Dr. James P. Turner, was appointed General
Land Commissioner for the States of Mississippi and Louisiana in 1826,
through the influence of Henry Clay,, then Secretary of State. His office
was at Bayou Sara, Louisiana, where young Turner served under his
father for six years. After Dr. Turner's removal by the General Jack-
son administration — two years of his term being under "Old Hickory"—
he moved to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and William entered Gambler College,
at Gambler, Ohio, from which he was graduated in the class of about
1835. along with ex-President Rutherford B. Hayes and ex-Justice Stan-
ley Matthews. After graduating, he read law at Mit. Vernon, Ohio, and
was admitted to the bar in that city, about 1838, where he practiced as
a member of the firm of Butler, Miller & Turner until 1854, when he
moved to Keokuk, Iowa, and entered the practice at that place in part-
nership with Hon. John A. Kasson, who afterward served twenty years
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 245
in Congress and then became somewhat famous as a diplomat in state
affairs.
In 1863 Judge Turner was appointed by l*resident Lincoln, Chief
Justice of the Territory of Arizona, which position he filled nearly seven
years. He then, about 1870. located in the practice at Independence,
Kansas, as a member of the law firm of Turner & Ralstin — after having
lived a short time at Coffeyville. After pursuing his profession about
ten years he retired from it and engaged in banking business at Indepen-
dence in partnership with Wm. E. Otis, under the firm name of Turner
& Otis, This new venture was at first very prosperous, but after a few
years resulted in financial disaster, and a few years later Judge Turner
and his estinmble wife returned to their former home in Ohio, where she
died, and he then moved to Indianapolis, Avhere three years later, on
December 24th, 1900, he died at the age of eighty-four years, of senile
decay.
THOMAS E. WAG STAFF was born at Galesburg, Illinois, July
23rd, 1875, and at the age of tw^o years moved to Kansas City, Mo., where
he lived until April 10th, 1879, when he went to Lawrence, Kansas, where
he resided until 1897. While at Lawrence he attended the University of
the state, from which he was graduated just before he was admitted to
the bar of Douglas county, on June 8th, 1897. He afterward, at the New
York University, in 1898, took a post graduate course in the law depart-
ment of that institution, and since then has been in the active practice
of his profession.
He located at Cofl'eyville in 1899, and was admitted to the bar of
Montgomery county on the 12th day of August in that year, and has
since resided in that city. MV. Wagstaff was graduated from the Kansas
University on June 8th, 1897, with the degree of L. L. B., and from the
University of New York on June 21st, 1898, with the degree of L. L. M.
While at the University at Lawrence, he was a member of the Honorary
Law Fraternity, the Phi Delta Phi, Green Chapter, which was installed
at the University of Kansas April 10th, 1897. He also belonged to the
Sigma Chi Fraternity while in college and is a Mason and an Elk.
Since Mr. Wagstafi' took up his residence at Coffeyville, he has served
one year as attorney for that city, from April 3rd, 1900, to April 3rd,
190l', was judge of 'the court of Coffeyville from October 1st, 1901, to
February 7th, 1902, and was, during the last half of 1902, assistant
county attorney.
He was recently wedded to Miss Jennie Wilson, an estimable young
lady, who was born and reared in Independence, and was a daughter of
E. E, Wilson, who, for years before his death, was one of the most promi-
nent citizens of Independence.
RICHARD A. WADE came to Independence from Western Missouri
and joined the bar of Montgomery county, September 4th, 1879. After
:246 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
practicing law here for a few years, he moved to Chicago and entered the
practice in that city, where he now resides,
L. C. WATERS was an active practitioner at the bar of M*ontgom-
ery county for nearly twenty years. He was afflicted with a frail con-
stitution and for years made a heroic struggle with a pulmonary disease
that carried him away, less than a year ago.
MARSHALL O. WAGNER was one of the pioneer lawyers at the
bar here. He came from Cleveland, Ohio, and entered the practice with
a verv fine librarv for those davs in this countrv.
» •- * *^
While here he became the owner of a very sightly and valuable tract
of land about a mile west of Independence, which was long after he left
the country known as the "Wagner Tract," and was purchased by J. H.
Pugh, and is now owned by some of the heirs to his estate. Mr. Wagner
returned to Cleveland about 1872 and has since lived there.
GEORGE W. WARNER was, at the May. 1871, term of the District
Court of Montgomery county, admitted to the bar. He never after en-
tered the practice here.
JUDGE W. H. WATKINS became a member of the bar of Mont-
gomery county in its infancy, but never engaged here in the practice
of the profession, for which his natural talents and learning well fitted
him. He was the first probate judge elected in the county, and served
in that office one term, ending in January, 1873, with marked ability.
He founded the "Kansan" at Independence in the fall of 1873, and
a'bly edited and published the same for five or six years when he sold it
and moved to California.
SAMUEL WESTON was bom at Bangor, Penobscot county, Maine,
in 1857. He resided there and at Newton and Boston, Massachusetts,
until he moved to Chicago and studied law in the office of his cousin,
Hon. Melvin Weston Fuller, now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
the United States.
He afterward located at Elk City, in the Spring of 1879, and in the
same year, after having passed a very searching examination in open
court, was admitted to the bar by the District Court of Montgomery
county. After his admission he at once entered the practice of his pro-
fession at Elk City, Kansas, which he successfully pursued 'till 1893,
when he moved to Pond Creek, Oklahoma, where he continued in the
same business. W^hile residing in Oklahoma he filled, for one term of
two years, the office of county attorney of Grant county.
A few years ago, on account of poor health, Mr. W^eston retired
from the practice and went to IMeade, Kansas, where he engaged in the
lumber business.
S, T. WIGGINS was admitted to the bar of IVfontgomery county
about 1897 and pursued the practice a few mouths at Coffeyville. when he
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 247
moved to the Indian Territory where he was afterward joined in the
practice by his former law partner, G. W. Fitzpatrick.
A. D. WILLIS became a member of the bar of Montgomery county
August, 1871, but did not enter the practice here.
GREENBURY WRIGHT was admitted to the bar of Montgomery
county in August, 1871. on the certflcate of his admission to practice in
Illinois. He did not afterward engage in the practice in this county.
ALBERT L. WILSON was born in Anderson county, Kansas, on
November 12, 18G0, and resided there on a farm until he was seventeen
years of age, when he commenced teaching school and reading law. He
was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county September 9, 1882, after
having studied some time in the office of Hon. John D. Hinkle at Cherry-
vale. At the date of his admission he was under twenty-two years of age,
and in the thorough examination by a committee in open court, he evinc-
ed a full comprehension of the basic principles of the science of law.
After his examination he at once located and entered the practice at
Cherryvale, Kansas, where he soon built up a remunerative business,
which he well nmintained till he moved, a few months ago. to Kansas City,
Missouri, where he now resides, and is pursuing his profession. During
Mr. Wilson's professional career here he was one of the leading lawyers
of tho county and a successful practitioner at the bar. In the trial of
causes, he was cool, deliberate and thoroughly self possessed and his
cases Avere very generally well prepared and ably handled.
CORNELIUS WYCKOFF was admitted to the bar of Montgomery
county on M'ay 9, 1870, on the certificate of his admission to practice in
Illinois, but never engaged in the practice of his profession in the
county.
COL. ALEXANDER M. YORK was at one time a leading member
of the bar of Montgomerv countv, to which he was admitted in August,
1871.
He was born at Byron, Illinois, July 7, 1838, and admitted to prac-
tice ill Carroll county, in that State, on December 31, 18(n. and at once en-
tered the practice at Lanark, Illinois. On September 1, 1803, he enlisted
in the Ninety-second Illinois Volunteers and remained in the army till
the close of the war, and was mustered out of the service in April, 1860.
He entered the army as a private soldier and was then commissioned as
second lieutenant of Com]»any "I" of his regiment and, in 18(;3, ])rom<)ted
to the First Lieutenancy of the same company. In 18(54 he was commis-
sioned as Captain of Company "G," Fifteenth Colored Infantry, and af-
terward, in the same year, raised to the rank of colonel of that regiment.
After leaving the army Col. Y^ork began the practice of his profes-
sion at Shelbina, Missouri, in partnership with Col. J. W. Shaur, and
afterward, in March, 1871, located at Independence, Kansas, where he,
in company with Governor L. U. Humphrey and W. T. Yoe, established
:248 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS.
and conducted The South Kansas Tribune. A little more than a year
later the Colonel and the Governor, having sold their interests inthenews-
paper. formed a partnership to practice law, under the firm name of
York & Humphrey. This firm at once established a profitable practice
which it firmly held and increased for about five years, when the Gover-
nor began his political career in which he became distinguished, and the
Colonel went to Louisiana and remained there two years, where he was
interested in mail contracts in that State and in Texas. He then went to
Fort Scott, Kansas, and became interested in the "York Xurserv," in
which business he continued five or six years. Since then he has been en-
gaged in the real estate business at various places and is now located at
Denver, Colorado, in that pursuit.
While Colonel York was a man of fine native ability, and possessed
a well trained mind, and was learned in the law, he lacked some of the
necessary attributes to a successful life in the most learned of all profes-
sions. He could never have been the plodding, methodical and tireless stu-
dent, that closely analyzes and rises to eminence in the law. He was too
active, zealous and enthusiastic for that ; he could not "sit down and con-
tentedly wait" for anything. He was a remarkably fluent and forceful
jjublic speaker, either at the bai' or on the rostrum. Indeed on one occa-
sion hi!" oratory was superl) and the student of Kansas history will, long-
after he is dead, read with pleasure and astonishment, his extraordinary
ex tempore speech made in 1873 to the joint convention of the two Houses
of the Kansas Legislature, in exposing the attempted bribery by U. S. Sen-
ator Pomeroy. of members of the Kansas Legislature. Col. Y''ork was then
representing Montgomery county in the State Senate and closed his won-
derful efl'ort in these words: "I stand in the presence of this august and
honorable body of representatives of the sovereign people; and before the
Almighty Ruler of the Universe, I solenmly declare and affirm that every
word T have spoken is God's truth and nothing but the truth."
JUDGE WILLIAM EDWARD ZIEGLER was born in Cumberland
â– county, Pennsylvania, in 1859, and was reared near Mechanicsburg, in
that State, teaching school and farming till he was about nineteen
years of age, when he moved to Independence and began the study of law
in the office of his brother. Hon. J. B. Ziegler. After pursuing his stud-
ies till March, 1880, he, then scarcely twenty-one years of age, made ap-
plication to the District Court of this county for admission to practice,
and after a searching examination by a committee in open court, was
aduiitted without hesitancy, as he evinced a clear conception of the rudi-
ments of the science, and plainly showed that he was a thoroughly
trained student of Blackstone's Commentaries and other necessary text
books.
After his admission, he at once entered the practice at Independence
iind has since devoted Ms time exclusively to his chosen profession. Af-
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS'. 249-
ter being in the practice at Independence for about eight years, he was
chosen city attorney, which office he then filled for five and one-half
years, ending in 1893. At the general election in November, 1892, he
was elected county attorney, and at the end of his term re-elected and
served two terms in that public calling, ending in January, 1897. After
the end of his second term as county attorney, Mr. Ziegler moved to and
located at Coffeyville, where he at once established for himself a profit-
able business in his profession, and is now residing there, pursuing the
practice.
During the time Judge Ziegler has lived at Coffeyville he filled for
nearly two years, from ]\?arch. 1899, to October, 1901, the important of-
fice of Judge of the court of Coffeyville, which is a tribunal of extensive
jurisdiction extending over the county.
WTNFIELD S. ZENOR joined our bar about 1880 and in partner-
ship with B. S. H/enderson, under the firm name of Henderson & Zenor,
practiced law here several years. He then returned to his former home
in Indiana and subsequently moved to Missouri, where he now resides,
devoting a portion of his time to teaching.
JOSEPH' B. ZIEGLER was born in Cumberland county, Pennsyl-
vania, on the 19th day of May, 1843, and lived on a farm, in that
county, until he was seventeen years of age, when he entered Dickinson
College, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1864^
after a classical course of four years. He then enlisted as a private sol-
dier in Company "A.'' One Hundred and First Pennsylvania Veteran
Volunteer Infantry, and served till the close of the Civil War and was?
mustered out the last of June, 1865.
He, after leaving the army, took up the study of law and was admit-
ted to the bar at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1867, and the next year
moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was admitted, in 1868, and en-
tered and continued the practice there till the spring of 1870, when he
locat.^d at Oswego, Kansas.
A year later he joined the bar of Montgomery county, and since
then has, for over thirty-two years, devoted all his time and energies to
his chosen profession at Independence.
He first entered the practice at Independence as a partner in the
then well-known law firm of McCue v^ Ziegler, and after the dissolution
of that firm, about a year later, continued the ])ractice alone until about
1885, when the law firm of J. B. & W. E. Ziegler was formed, and he has
since pursued his profession, as the senior member of this copartner-
ship, which has an office under his charge at Independence, and another
at Coffeyville under the control of his partner.
In the i»ractice, ^Ir. Ziegler made a s])ecialty of comnieriial law,
and in the earlv 70's established an extensive business in that branch,
which extended over a number of counties in Southeastern Kansas and
250 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
far south into the Indian Territory. This business was very profitable
and was maintained and increased from year to year until Congress, in
1898, passed a bankrupt law. which, in a great measure, had the effect of
greatly lessening the value of the services of the alert and proficient col-
lection attorney. This resulted from the fact that under the provisions
of that law the creditor '"coming in at the eleventh hour" shared pro rata
with ihose whose activity would otherwise have secured to them a valua-
ble advantage.
Added to the loss thus sustained. Mr. Ziegler had the misfortune, in
February, 1899, of losing by a destructive fire, his fine law library and
his office with its entire contents, including a well devised and thorough-
ly indexed office brief book, covering about every conceivable question
that could arise in commercial law, and which he had been compiling for
a quarter of a century or more.
Mr. Ziegler enjoys the distinction of having been in the continuous
practice at the Montgomery county bar for a longer period than any oth-
er of its members ; of having been a member of the county's bar longer
than any other member now in the practice here, and of being one of the
two members that practiced here during the 70's, and still in the active
practice, the other being Hon. A- B. Clark who was at the bar during
nine years of that decade.
WILLIAM DUXKIX — (Prepared by ex-Oovernor Humphrey, at re-
quest of publisher) — Mr. William Dunkin was born at Flint Hill in Rap-
pahannock county. Virginia, April 7, 1815. His parents belonged to old
Virginia families whose record runs back to Colonial days, and on down
through the period of the American Revolution.
The father, though a slave holder, was, in fact, opposed to the insti-
tution of slavery and, like many other Southern men of his time, hoped
for its ultimate abolition. During the Civil AVar, as before, he was an
unconditional Union man and stoutly supported the Federal govern-
ment throughout that memorable struggle for its existence. He lived
to see the Union preserved, slavery destroyed, and died June 23, 1868.
It may, however, be said that, while the subject of this sketch took no
part in the controversies of those days, he was not in full accord with
his father's political views and failed to fully appreciate their wisdom
until years afterward.
The son, William, when less than a year old, moved with his father's
family to Harrison county, Virginia. His father was a physician and his
family consisted of his wife and two step-children (W. M. and Mary C.
Late) and an infant daughter and the subject of this sketch. The doctor
and his wife and stei)-(hi!dren owned a number of slaves, which were
brought to the new home of nearly one thousand acres, which was pur-
chased in 1816 and located about four miles from Clarksburg — and ad-
jacent to Bridgeport — and on which a large stone house was built.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 2^Z
where William Dimkin, Jr., and the family of eight chiuldren were
reared.
The doctor, soon after his arrival in Harrison coiintT, established
a lucrative practice which he held for fifteen rears, when he retired, and
resigned his etensive professional business to his step-son, who had
graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadel-
phia.
Up to the breaking-out of the Civil War, in 1801, William Dunkin,
Jr., and his brothers and sisters received only such education as the
primitive subscription schools in that new country afforded, and during
the war, their home being near the line of hostility between contending
armies, but slight educational opportunities were offered. However, this
lack was, in a manner, compensated for in the instruction received by
the children from their father and private tutors at their home.
At the age of eighteen years. William Dunkin took "French leave"
of his parents and went to Xew York City where he spent four months^
in the office of Edward P. Clark, a distinguished lawyer in that city, and,
upon his return home, was forgiven and sent to the academy at Morgan-
town, West Virginia — the present State University — where he began a
classical course. Eight months later, he left this school, on account of
impaired health, and remained at home until 1871, having, in the mean-
time, administered on his father's estate. Some of the assets af the
estate being located in the State of Michigan, he spent the winter of 1871
and 1872 there and, having closed up its affairs, he went to Lawrence,
Kansas, and began the study of law in the office of Thacher & Banks
in that historic city. After about one year of preparation he was ex-
amined by a committee and admitted to practice law in the District
Court of Douglas county, Kansas, and a few months after, in the Su-
preme Court of the State. In March, 1873, he opened the office in Inde-
pendence, Kansas, which he still occupies.
Though remarkably free from personal vanity, Mr. Dunkin felt the
just and laudable pride of a true Virginian in the splendid history of his
native State — the Mother of Presidents; but as a young and ambitious
lawyer he drew his controlling inspiration from the more enduring fame
of the Pinckneys, the Marshalls. the Wirts and other great jurists and
lawyers of Virginia whose brilliant careers have so profoundly impress-
ed the judicial history of the country, and shed imperishable luster upon
the American bar. Indeed he was guided, from the start, by the well-
known advice of William Wirt to a" young lawyer, ''to read law like a
horse, pursue it indefatigably and suffer no butterfly's wings or stones
to draw you aside from it." Accordingly, he resisted the temi)tation
that comes to so many young attorneys to dabble in politics, or other
lines of business, and confined himself exclusively to the study and prac-
tice of his chosen profession. Notwithstanding his unusually thorough
252 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
equipment, in the way of preliminary study, he devoted his leisure time
to his books with remarkable assiduity.
He did not lung wait for clients. Almost from the beginning, busi-
ness (;ame to him and in less than a year he was retained in much of the
more important litigation pending in our courts. He rapidly acquired a
practice that kept him busily employed, not only in the District Courts
of this and neighboring counties, but extending to the Supreme and Fed-
eral Courts of Kansas.
His practice grew upon him steadily until it taxed his energies and
time to the utmost limit, though few men equaled him in that peculiar
faculty of dispatching business rapidly and well done. This practice he
held lor nearly a quarter of a century, down to the last few years, when
he voluntarily relinquished part of it, in a measure, retiring from active
professional work; retaining, however, his large library and his old ofiBce,
or '^work-shop," as he calls it, where he has spent so many of the best
and busiest years of a strenuous professional life.
Of an active temperament, and being as vigorous as ever, both men-
tally and physically, he seems loth to entirely abandon his work as a law-
yer and still retains a limited clientage among his old friends — includ-
ing his attorneyship for the Santa Fe Railway Company — and acts as
advisory counsel in the more important cases, especially in connection
with the younger members of the bar, who consult him freely and draw
liberally upon him for his judgement and advice.
In addition to this Mr. Dunkin devotes much time and attention to
his extensive private business concerns, including the care of his large
and valuable real estate holdings, taking special pride and interest in
the management of his extensive farm properties in Montgomery county.
The very marked success of Mr. Dunkin as a lawyer, is easily ac-
counted for by those who know him best. First, his natural gifts and
mental endowments were decidedly favorable to the legal profession.
Second, his preliminary training and education for the bar were thor-
ough. Third, he supplemented these advantages by devoting his leisure
to hard and persistent study of the law, after coming to the bar, observ-
ing \yirt's advice, before quoted, most faithfully. He thus became a
strong lawyer, fully armed and equipped at every point, displaying a
versatility of legal talent that was, to say the least, remarkable; and it
is no disparagement to others to say, that as an all-round lawyer, he has
had no superior at the Montgomery county bar, one of the strongest in
the State.
To bis thorough knowledge of the general principles of law, he adds a
remarkable clearness of judgment in the application of these principles
to the facts of the case under consideration, so that he is seldom mis-
taken as to the remedy to be invoked or the facts necessary to entitle a
client to the relief asked for. He is skillful and resourceful in the trial
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 253
of causes, especially in the examination and cross-examination of wit-
nesses, HJe is especially strong in the art of developing, marshaling and
presenting testimony to the best advantage in support of his theory of a
given case, and very artful in the examination of witnesses called to give
expert testimony, particularly medical or surgical in character.
As an advocate, he affects neither the flowers of rhetoric, nor the
finer graces of oratory ; and yet, he is a strong, ready and fluent speaker.
His success as an advocate lies in clear thinking, cogent reasoniftg, an
earnest and forceful manner, with an instinctive grasp of the salient
questions of law and fact involved in the cases at bar.
Mr. Dunkin is further aided in the trial of causes by the unbounded
confidence of court, jury and his brethren of the bar in his absolute sin-
cerity and the high sense of honor and probity which characterize his
conduct at the bar, and in all the relations of life. It is safe to assert
that during his longer s-ervice at the bar of the county, his word, once giv-
en, his promise once made, concerning the management of cases pending,
was accepted with implicit confidence by his fellow lawyers, who never
challenged or called in question the good faith or motives of his conduct.
He detests the sharp i)ractices and doubtful methods occasionally
employed by some, and at all times seeks to practice law on the high
plane of an honorable and learned profession.
These well-known traits have contributed much to his standing with
the courts and juries, giving him the victory in many a closely contested
case, where the scales of justice seemed evenly balanced.
His conduct toward the court is ever respectful and dignified, but
he never sought special favors from the bench. He asks only for fair
treatment, relying on the law and the facts of his case, jealous of his
' rishts as an attornev, and the interests of his client under the law which
he has undertaken to protect.
His relations with his fellow-members-of-the-bar are always cordial
and friendly, and his treatment of them uniformly courteous and manly.
While he is justly regarded as a dangerous antagonist in the trial and
management of hotly" contested lawsuits, yet he commands the respect
and confidence of both bench and bar by the frank and open methods
that ever characterize his course both in his private and professional
business. He never recognized the false distinction sometimes attem])t-
ed between personal and professional integrity, and, as a lawyer, he
has ever observed the same high standard of ethics, and lofty concei)tion
of honor that governed him in all the walks of life. His reward has been
rich in a long and successful career at the bar, and in the unqualified
respect and confidence of his professional brethren, which he richly de-
serves and enjoys ; a well merited tribute— "more precious than rubies"
— to his learning, integrity and ability as a lawyer.
Though a close student of political questions, and keenly interested
254 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
in public affairs, Mr. Dunkin never sought political preferment. He-
served a term or two as city attorney of Independence, and also as maj'-
or, at a time when important public interests seemed to call for espe-
cially careful attention regardless of partisan considerations; and it
is needless to say that he discharged the duties of these public trusts
faithfully and efficiently, displaying a high order of ability for public
affairs, both executive and administrative.
Too broad and tolerant in his mental makeup to be a rabid partisan,
he is politically a Democrat of the Jefferson school. Positive in his
convictions as to principles and policies, he is so fair and liberal in his
conduct toward those who hold a different political faith, as to com-
mand the general respect and confidence of all his fellow citizens; and
even his closest personal friendships and professional associations have
been formed and maintained absolutely regardless of party lines. When
he transplanted himself from Virginia to Kansas, had he followed the
example of many others, and allied himself with the dominant ( Repub-
lican ") party, in which he had so many personal friends, there is little
room for doubt that he would have found an open door to a successful
political career, if his tastes and ambitions had inclined in that direc-
tion. He fully realized, however, that ''the law is a jealous mistress;"
that eminence in the legal profession requires a constancy of applica-
tion that forbids the dissipation of time and energy necessary to the pur-
suit of political distinction, which, at best, is but transitory and fraught
with untold disappointments, vanity and vexation of spirit.
Probably, only judicial honors ever tempted him, as they do most
lawyers at times, but these, like political honors, in Kansas, are cast in-
to the general partisan hotch potch and controlled by the conventions of
the dominant political party to which Mr. Dunkin does not belong,"
though within its ranks he has hosts of personal friends who would be
glad 10 see him round out his long and successful career at the bar, by
an experience on the bench for which his talents and life work so emi-
nently fit him.
To the younger aspirants for professional honors at the bar, the
career of William Dnukin is valuable as a striking example of the suc-
cess that can come only by the singleness of purpose, diligently pursued,
which held him to his books and his briefs ''without variableness or
shadow of turning,"" coupled with a true conception of the high calling
of a lawyer in connection with the administration of justice, concerning,
as it does, the most vital affairs of society.
Whatever the future may hold in store for Mr. Dunkin in a profess-
sional way. his record as a lawyer, already made, is certainly a most
gratifying one to him, as it surely is to his multitude of friends. Like
a veteran soldier, justly proud of the scars received as he stood on the
"perilous edge of battle" on many historic fields, ]\Ir. Dunkin can survey
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 255
and review with modest and becoming pride and satisfaction, his quarter
century of active service at the bar. with its conflicts fierce and furious,
its battles lost and won, its varied experiences, both pleasurable and ex-
citing, that make up the life work of a busy lawyer; a retrospect, sad-
dened only by the recollections of so many members of the Montgomery
county bar, once so bright and active in the years gone by, who have re-
moved to other fields of labor, or have gone to ''that undiscovered coun-
trv from whose bourne no traveler returns."
256 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
BIOGRAPHIES
EBENEZER ERSKINE WILSON— One of the incorporators of the
county seat of Montgomery county and the pioneer merchant of that city,
was the late subject of this memoir, E. E. Wilson. His life, from that
August day in 18(59, when he first occupied a spot on the Independence
townsite. to the day of his death. August 28th, 1894, was a leading and
active spirit in the public affairs of the county and by the character of
his citizenship won the confidence and esteem of his city and county.
Ebenezer E. Wilson was a native of the "Keystone State." He was
born at Elizaljeth, in Allegheny county, November 21st, 1838, and was
reared on his father's farm. His father provided him with only the ad-
vantages of a country school education. When the Rebellion came on
his patriotic enthusiasm led him to enlist as a private soldier at McKees-
port, Pennsylvania, A])ril 22nd, 1861, but he was rejected because of a
crippled hand. September 25th, of the same year, he enlisted in Company
"C," of the 2nd West AMrginia Cav., and passed into the service without
question. His record shows his service to have been meritorious and he
received promotions from the ranks to a captain's commission, as fol-
lows : Sergeant, November 1st, 1862; Orderly Sergeant, October 16th,
1863; Second Lieutenant, April 9th. 1861; First Lieutenant. November
26th. 1864 ; Captain. January 7th, 1865, and, as such, was mustered out
at Wheeling, West Virginia, June 30th, 1865.
Returning home he remained a citizen of his native state 'till March,
1867. when he immigrated to Kansas, settling at Fontana, where he main-
tained his residence 'till August. 1869, when he drove into Montgomery
county with the goods necessary to stock a small store in the proposed
town of Independence. It was the first stock of goods brought to the
place and the expense of getting them to their destination was |2.25 per
hundred pounds. The building in which he installed it was one with
dimensions 14x24. feet, and cost |500.00. It was one story high and the
business that was done within its walls rendered it an important mart
of trade in those days. In company with F. D. Irwin, he began business
October 1st, and the i)artnership lasted two years. He was one of the
earliest business men of Elk City, where he was identified perhaps two
years, but his chief concern was for his favorite. Independence, and he
maintained his residence there in almost unbroken continuance for
twenty-five years. His high standing as a citizen commended him to the
best consideration of the voters of the town and county and he held sev-
E E. WILSON.
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 257
eral offices, beginning with that of Mayor of Independence. He
was a member of the board of trustees, who incorporated the town July
23rd, 1870, and the next year was elected its chief executive officer. In
1874, he was ai>]»(tinted dei)uty county treasurer and did the work of the
office as such 'till 1882, when he became treasurer himself. He was ap-
pointed postmaster of Independence by President Harrison, and died the
incumbent of the office. He was prominent in the Grand Army, was post
commander of McPherson Post, and was president of the Independence
Reunion in 1881 and 1882.
Mr. Wilson was first married to Rebecca Braden, a lady of Washing-
ton. Pennsylvania, who died in a few months, at Grand View, Illinois,
January 30th, 1872, he married Morna Moore, a native of Knox county,
Illinois, January 30th, 1890, she died, leaving children : Zell, wife of
Assistant General Freight Agent of the Mo. Pac. Ry.. Arthur T. Stewart,
of St. Louis, Mo.; Albert E., manager of the Hall-Baker Grain Co.'s ele-
vator business in Coffey ville; Sallie B. and Floyd M., twins, born March
15th, 1878; Jennie M.,\vife of Thomas E. W^agstaff, of Coffeyville, born
May 25th, 1880; and George T., born March 24th, 1883, who is in the
state grain inspection department at Coffeyville.
Albert E. Wilson, second child of our subject, was born in Indepen-
dence, Kansas, February 24th, 1876, and grew up and was educated in
the public schools of that city. He took a course in short-hand in St.
Louis, Mo., and at nineteen years of age began life as stenographer for
Hall and Robinson, in the grain business in Coffeyville. He filled this
position eighteen months and was then made the company's book-keeper,
in which capacity he served two years, being then made manager of the
firm's business in Coffeyville. in 1809. This firm was one of the leading
exporters of grain in the west and their business in Coffeyville marks this
city as one of their most important points.
Like his father, Mr. Wilson is a Republican, and was a delegate from
Montgomery county to the state convention at Wichita in 1902, where he
helped nominate W. J. Bailey for Governor of Kansas. He is commit-
teeman for the third Avard of Coffeyville and is secretary of the city cen-
tral committee of his party. Hfe is a Master Mason, an Elk and is un-
married.
HORACE H. CRANE— The names of some of the i^ioneers of the
West are preserved in the names of towns and cities in the localities
where they settled. This is true with the name which is here presented,
it having taken its name from the gentleman Avho is herewith reviewed,
and who, in 1808, first settled on the tract which now furnishes the si(e
for the railway station of that name. Mr. Crane i)urchased Ihe ]»role('-
tion and right of settlement from the noted Osage Indian chief, Xopa-
258 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
walla, for the sum of one hundred dollars. This was to guarantee pro-
tection for ten families, which Mr. Crane wished to settle in that vicin-
ity. It is worthy of note that while no paper was signed between the
parties, the chief carried out his part of the agreement without a breach.
There were at that time some four hundred Indians in that immediate
vicinity, and some of them remained until the government removed them
by force.
Horace H. Crane was born on the 15th of November, 183G, in Shalers-
ville, Ohio, the son of William B. Crane, who was the sou of Belden
Crane, a native of Connecticut. Belden Crane reared seven children,
Jerusha Chamberlain. Orville, Laura Tilden, William, Frederick, Asenath
and Orlando. William B. Crane was born in Shalersville. Ohio, in 1803.
He married Sallie Ann Olney, who was a sister of Jesse Olney, the author
of the Olney Geography. To this union were born Asenath Fitch, now
residing in Oklahoma ; Calista Ryan, deceased ; William W., who resides
with Horace ; Helen Cavert, deceased ; Horace H., the subject of this re-
view, and Oscar, deceased.
Horace H. Crane resided in the place of his birth until the age of
nine, when he accompanied his parents to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he
was living at the time of the Civil war. In 18G2 he answered the call of
his country and enlisted in Co. "I." 3rd Wis. Vol Cav., under Col. Bar-
ratow. General Blunt's division of the Army of the West. In this regi-
ment he saw some active service, participating in the battles of Cane
Hill and Pea Kidge, and in numerous skirmishes. Much of his service
was in the escorting of government trains through Missouri and Arkan-
sas. He was mustered out at Fort Scott, in August, 1863.
Before returning home from the army he purchased, in the vicinity
of Fort Scott, a car load of horses, and took them through to Wisconsin,
and disposed of them at his old home. After a short visit he returned to
Kansas and settled on a farm nearLerov, Coffev countv, from which ]>lace
he came to Montgomery county in 18G8, as stated.
While living in Coffey cimnty, Mr. Crane met and married Elizabeth,
daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Hunter) High, these parents being
natives of the Keystone and Blue Grass states, respectively. Mrs. Crane
was born in Warren county, Indiana, March 27th, 1842, where she lived
until she was eighteen years of age, when she accompanied her parents
to Coffey county. Kansas. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Crane four
children have been born, viz : (/harles O.. of Bristol, I. T., who is married
to Minnie St. John and has three children, Fred, Bessie and Paul;
Frankie resides at home; Horace O. and Frederick H. reside at Elgin,
Kansas. The quarter of land which Mr. Crane selected and filed on was
in section 5-32-15. To this body he has added until he now owns 330
aci-es. Since the discovery of oil and gas he has been very active in drill-
ing on his land and has met with much success.
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 259
Dnriug- the residence of Mr. Crane in Sycamore township, he has
evinced a lively interest in the educational and religious welfare of the
community and has served in the various unpaid offices of the school dis-
trict and township. He is a firm believer in fraternal principles and is
a member of several of the most worthy fraternities. He is a Knight
Templar Mason and a Shriner. is also a member of the Elks, the Wood-
men of the World, and of McPherson Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
JOHN NEWTON— Since 1884 there has lived in Sycamore township
the gentleman above named, who has established a reputation for up-
rightness and integrity equaled by few and surpassed by none. He re-
sides on section 7-31-15, where he cultivates one of the most tasty farms
in the township.
Mr. Newton is a native of the ''Buckeye" state, his birth occuring
in H;rrison county. March 14th, 1842. He was reared to farm life and
acconjpanied his parents in their removal to Tuscarawas county, Ohio,
where he continued to reside until the date of his coming to Montgomery
county, Kansas. In May of 1865, he enlisted as a private soldier in Co.
''D," inth Ohio National Guard, under Colonel Taylor, and General
Siegel, of the Army of the Potomac. He spent some four months in the
service — being at Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry — and was mustered
out a*" the capital of his state.
Mr. Newton takes a good citizen's part in the life of his community.
He has served on the school board and as road overseer of his district. He
is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and has been a Repub-
lican since he was able to cast a vote.
Turning now to the points of interest in the family history of Mr.
Newton, the biographer recalls that he is a son of Isaac and Rachel
(Murphy) Newton, both natives of Ohio. Isaac was a son of Levi and
Mary Newton, whose children were: Ransom, Isaac, Levi, Ziniena, Rox-
ina and Annie. To the marriage of Isaac Newton and his wife were born
nine cliildren, as follows: Louise Hasebrook, Anne Smiley, of Jewit, O. ;
Martha Walker, of Urichsville, O. ; Jane Brewster, of Montgomery
county; Matilda Kennedy, of Columbus, Ohio; John, the subject of this
review; Robert, of Illinois; Luther, deceased, and Albert, who resides in
Ohio. After the death of the mother of these children, Isaac Newton
married Mary J. Toi»e. to whom were born Cora Baumer and Netta
Thomas, both of whom reside in Ohio.
The domestic life of our subject was begun ^larch 2, 1800, when he
was happily joined in marriage with Mary E. Balitt. Mrs. Newton was
born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, March 2:5rd, 1845, iuid is a daugliler of
Samuel and Mary A. (Baltzey) Balitt, natives, respectively, of I'cnnsyl-
vania and Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Newton's children are as follows: Mary
26o HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
C. Wilson, with her four chiklreu, Nellie, Harris, Frank and Bulah, re-
sides in Montgomery county; Sarah L. Mathis, resides in Indian Terri-
tory with her children, Maude, Frederick and Lester M. ; Isaac, yet at
home; Daniel O., of Montgomery county; Luman B., at home, and Carrie
M. Oliver, with her daughter, Flora, resides in Sycamore. Kansas.
As a member of this family there is at present the mother of Mrs.
Newton, Mrs. Mary Balitt, now in her 80th year.
WILLIAM CAHOON BAYLIES— The pioneer has been the advance
guard of civilization and about his personality clings the story of the ad-
vance, the struggle and the final victory. What is true of him in other
localities is true of him in Montgomery county. He has helped to lay the
foundation for the splendid work going on about us and to him who came
at the beginning, remained to the finish and is here now, is due great
credit, now and everlasting. In this list and belonging to this class we
are pleased to present AYilliam C. Baylies, the subject of this review.
Mr. Baylies came to Montgomery county in July, 18G9, when the
Bed Men ruled, but chaos reigned. He came as a settler and in search
of a home and he located on section 16, township 32, range 15, just south
of Table Mound, where the transition from nature to art persistently and
systematically took place. He came to the county by wagon, with less
than fifty dollars in his pocket, from the state of Iowa. He is, by nativ-
ity, a Southern man but by disposition and training, decidedly North-
ern. He was born in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, July 27th, 1843, and
is a son of Nicholas Baylies, who was born in Vermont's capital April
9th, 1809. His grandfather was also Nicholas Baylies, born on the 9th
of April, 18G9, in ^Massachusetts, and Nicholas and Mary were the par-
ents of three children, namely: Horatio N., Mary R., and Nicholas.
They emmigrated from the Old Bay State and settled near Montpelier,
Vermont, where their children grew up. Their youngest child married
Harriet Helen Cahoon, a daughter of William Cahoon, of Lyndon, Ver-
mont, a lineal descendent of the famous founder of the Colony of Rhode
Island. ( It is a distinction worthy of record to descend from the first
great ])ioneer ])reaeher, Roger Williams.) Eight children were born to
Nicholas and Harriet Baylies, as follows : William C, Ripley N., Lawson
W., Mary H., Charles E., Oscar S., Francis A., and George A.
When William C. Baylies was eight years old his parents returned
north with their family, after having spent several years in the South,
and located in Griggsville, Illinois, where they resided 'till 18.58, going
thence to Des Moines, ToAva. The common schools had to do with the
education of our subject and when the Rebellion came on he enlisted in
Company "K," 10th Iowa Inf., under Col. Perczell. His regiment formed
a part of the 15th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, and was in- bat-
' HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 26 1
tie at Island No. 10, New Madrid, Corinth. Vicksburg, thence east to the aid
of Rosecrans at Chattanooga, thence on the campaign of Atlanta and the
march to the sea. Its service ended with the march up through the Con-
federacy from Savanna to Washington, D. C, where Mr. Baylies received
orders to proceed to Little Rock, Arkansas, from which point he was or-
dered to Davenport, Iowa, to be mustered out, on the 15th of August,
1865. He enlisted as a private, was promoted through the grades of non-
commissioned officers and commissioned a First Leutenant. and as such,
was mustered out.
In the spring of 1806. Mr. Baylies began a trip which gave him his
first experience with the frontier. He went to the Territory of Montana,
where he was employed in the gold diggings, and in other ways, without
much profit to himself and, after three years, returned to Iowa and a
month afterward started on his pioneering trip to Kansas.
February 11th, 1878, Mr. Baylies married Rachel M., widow of Dr.
William E. Henry, and a daughter of H. T. and Nancy I. Butterworth.
By her first marriage Mrs. Baylies has two sons, Prof Thomas B. and
William E. Henry, mention of whom is made on another page of this
volume. A daughter, Caroline C, is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Bay-
lies. She is a junior in the Kansas State University. Clara, an orphan
girl, is a member of the Baylies household. She has found a welcome and
comfortable home there for twelve years and is a valuable acquisition to
the family.
Table Mound, on which the Baylies home is situated, is one of the
highest points in Montgomery county. It rises more than two hundred
feet above Elk river and contains an area of some six hundred acres, and
forms a large part of the one thousand or more acres of the Henry and
Baylies estate. The Baylies cottage stands on the eastern edge of the
abrupt decline and overlooks, from its almost dizzy height, the entire
landscape below and furnishes a magnificent "birds eye" view. The
The mound is underlaid with lola limestone and commercial shale and
is, perhaps, doomed to destruction for the manufacture of portland ce-
ment.
Mr. Baylies is honorable in dealing, modest in bearing and influen-
tial as a citizen. His home is filled with good cheer and hospitality and is
presided over bv a genuine woman, his wife. In earlv life Mrs. Bavlies
was a teacher. She is a lady of culture and refinement and in the rearing
of their children she and her husband have honored society and won dis-
tinction for themselves.
GEORGE B. SMITH— George B. Smith, a farmer of Sycamore town-
ship, and a citizen of the county since 1806, is a South Carolinian by
birth and an Tndianian by adoption. Born December Kltli, 1815, in Ander-
262 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
son district, he left the 'Talmetto State" with his parents at the age of
five years and became a resident of Boone countv, Indiana. Here he
grew to manhood — the war interfering somewhat with his education, so
far as book-knowledge goes — but giving him an opportunity to take les-
sons in that greater, and in some respects, more important school — the
school of experience. Many a boy left the school-room in those days with
but a smattering of "book larnin' " and graduated from Uncle Sam's
Technical School in 18G5, with that broad culture which comes with
travel and association with kindred minds. Mr. Smith enrolled in this
school on the 22nd of December. 1863, becoming a member of Company
"F," 40th Ind. Vol. Inft, Col. John W. Blake commanding.
This regiment mobilized with the Fourth Army Corps and reached
Sherman's army in time to participate in the battle of Kesaca, and short-
ly after at Buzzard's Boost. At the spectacular fight at Kenesaw Mt.,
Mr. Smith's enthusiasm carried him within the enemy's lines and he be-
came an unwilling hostage at dreaded Andersonville. Owing to the fact
that "Uncle Billy" had gathered up a few of the Confederates, which
Hood thought he might need on his trip north, exchange became possible,
and Mr. Smith was thus compelled to experience the horrors of that noted
resort but a short time. He rejoined the army in time to help General
Thomas administer the two castigations at Franklin and Nashville, and
then spent the remainder of his service in the Southwest, not being mus-
tered out until January of 1866, that event occurring at Texana, Texas.
After the v\'ar, our subject returned to Indiana, and after a period
in his home county, in 1871 he moved over into Carroll Co.. Ind. Here he
engaged in farming until 1876, and then came to the "Sunflower State."
Up to 1896, he farmed in Jefferson, Elk and Labette counties, in which
latter vear he settled in Montgomery county.
Mr. Smith is a gentleman of good sense, popular in his community,
and active in all that promises well for the people. He has been a mem-
ber of the school board for the past five years, is a working member of
the Christian church, and is, of course, a member of the Grand Army.
Mentioning the salient points in Mr. Smith's family history we note
that he is a son of Thomas G. Smith, who was born in South Carolina,
and is one of twelve children. Their names as far as known being George
W., Nancy, Thomas, Millie and Joseph.
Thomas G. Smith was born in Pickens district. South Carolina, Jan-
uary 22nd, 1811, was there reared and at maturity married Jane, daugh-
ter of George Braswell. This lady was a native of that state and was
born November 11, 1817. She became the mother of fifteen children,
seven living to maturity; their names being: Caron E. Franks, of Mul-
vane, Kansas ; Nancy J. Moore, of Montgomery county ; Camilla E.
Decker, of Claypool, Indiana ; George B., Sarah C. Thompson, of Hopeton,.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 263
Ok. ; Miranda A. Coppock. of Hamilton county, Indiana, and Madison S.,
who resides in the same county.
George B. Smith, the honored subject of this review, married in Kan-
sas on the 30th of June, 1878. Rachel E. Wilkerson. Mrs. Smith is a
daughter of J. C. and Eliza Wilkerson, all natives of Kentucky. To her
husband she has borne four children — Charles L. resides in Independence,
Kansas; John T. in Montgomery county, as also do Inez and Lulu, the
latter at home and the former the wife of Homer L. Bretches.
Mr. Smith and his family are highly regarded in the county of their
adoption, where they expect to pass the remainder of their days.
J. M. COURTNEY — Cherryvale was still in its swaddling clothes
when J. M. Courtney took up residence within its borders. He helped
nurse it into vigorous and lusty youth, witnessed the passing of the line
into manhood, and glories now in the evidences of its strength and pros-
perity, . During these years he has been constant in his interest in the
progress of the city and has given much time and effort to the building
up of those institutions which constitute its pride, and particularly in the
line of education. His various official duties as justice of the peace, su-
perintendent of the waterworks, and vice president of the Montgomery
County Bank, keeji him in close touch with the people and make him a
potent factor in the development which is now taking place in his sec-
tion of the county.
March 31st, 1840, and Trumbull county, Ohio, mark the date and
place of birth of Mr. Courtney. Michael and Grace (Piersol) Courtney
were the names of his parents, both natives of the "Buckeye State," and
the falier a shoemaker by trade. They were respected members of society,
devout communicants of the Methodist church, and of intense and loyal
patriotism. They removed to Illinois in 1845, where the father died in
Vermillion county the same year. His wife survived him over a half cen-
tury, dying at the advanced age of eighty-three years, in 1901. They
reared nine children, four of whom still survive. After the death of the
father the family went back to Mercer county. Pa., in 1847, where our
subject was reared to man's estate. He passed the years of early man-
hood in helping cultivate the home farm, and was thus occupied when
the tocsin of war resounded through the land, calling those of patriot
blood to save the nation from disunion. In October of 18(51, he left the
furrow and became a private in Company "I," Second Penn. Cav. This
regiment joined the forces about Washington, but Mr. Courtney did not
see much of the active fighting, as he was soon taken sick witli that sol-
dier's scourge, the measles, which in turn was followed by an attack of
smallpox. After a dreary time in the hospital, our subject recovered suf-
ficiently to act as a nurse to the wounded, and, owing to the urgent de-
264 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
mand for that kind of help, he was kept there on detail until he was dis-
charged for disability, the smallpox having left his eyes in bad condition.
After the war, Mr. Courtney went to Vermillion county, Illinois, for
a period, and in 1866 located in Labette county, Kansas, where he con-
tinued to reside to the date of his coming to Cherryvale, 1876. With the
exception of a year spent at Eureka Springs in the vain attempt to im-
prove the health of his wife, our subject has held continuous residence in
the city. He ran a drug store for several years, then went into the real
estate business, which he has followed in connection with his duties as
superintendent of the water works, his appointment dating from 1892.
During these years he has been most active in the civic life of the com-
munity, serving as city treasurer, trustee of the County High School,
member of the city school board, and has been now for three terms a jus-
tice of the peace.
Married life with Mr. Courtney began July 15th, 1866. The wife of
his youth was Mary E. Wood, daughter of Daniel Wood. Her death oc-
curred without issue, and on February 15th. 1885, our subject was joined
to the lady who now presides over his household. Flora C. Willis. Her
parents were J. W. and Mary Willis, residents of Illinois. Two children
have been born — Earl M. and Ehea M. Mr. Courtnev and familv are
members of the Methodist church, while he belongs to the Masons, the
Woodmen, the A. O. U. W., the K. of H. and the G. A. K. He is an ardent
Republican and a valued worker in the XJarty. No more highly respected
citizen is to be found within the confines of the city.
ROBERT SAMUEL PARKHURST— Conspicuous among the
pioneers of Montgomery county is the venerable subject of this brief
notice. His advent to the county was at a date prior to the removal of
the Red Man to his new reservation in the Indian Territory, and when
things social were in a somewhat chaotic condition ; yet he went about
his daily task of driving the initial stakes toward the building of his
Western home and laid the foundation for a career of success and use-
fulness.
Robert S. Parkhurst settled in Montgomery county, Kansas, in Oc-
tober, 1869. He was at the head of a colony of Indiana settlers, few of
whom now remain, but some of whom are still represented in the county.
There were seventeen families of them and they drove teams overland
from Johnson county, Indiana. Mr. Parkhurst had resided in that state
since 1826, and, with the exception of three years, was engaged in the
successful cultivation of the soil. During this three years' exception he
was one of the proprietors of the "New York Store" in Franklin, the
counlv seat, and out of both his ventures — as farmer and merchant — he
realized abundantly to give him a good start in Kansas. When he drove
R. S. PARKHURST AND BROTHERS.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 265
x)n to the townsite of Indei^endence it had only just been laid off. He
came out to accomplish something permanent with the several thousand
dollar^ he brought along and some sixteen houses sprang into existence
in the new town as a result of his public spirit and foresight. Hie took up
land also and began the preparation of a country home. His efforts at
farming were amply and rapidly rewarded and as he approached the
evening of life he found himself possessed of many hundred acres of land.
Twelve hundred of this he divided amongst his children and, a few years
later — when he had accumulated other large areas — fourteen hundred
acres more were set oft' to his heirs, and still his resources were far from
being exhausted. Perhaps few men have made the soil of Montgomery
county respond so freely as he. He has centered his efforts in the one
line and. except for his connection with the First National Bank, as a
stockholder, he has not deviated from the life of a farmer.
Mr. Parkhurst was born in Kentucky, February 2nd, 1823. His par-
ents were John and Abigail (Sellers) Parkhurst, the former born in
Tennessee about 1790, and died in Johnson county, Indiana, at about
seventy-five years old. His wife died in the same county being the mother of
the following children, namely : Matilda, Owen, Kobert S., James, Polly
A., Sarah, John A., Caroline. Abigail, Wilson, Elijah, Daniel and Martha.
The youth of K. S. Parkhurst was passed chiefly at work on his
father's farm. He acquired little education and began life in a limited
way. When he decided to come west he induced many of his friends to
join him and five weeks of the autumn of 1869 were passed making the
trip out to Independence. The first winter Mr. Parkhurst housed his
family in a hay house in which his horses also were sheltered. In the
spring other buildings of a frontier character were provided and the work
of actual improvement was begun. How well he accounted for his first
twenty-five years here is told in the property accumulations already al-
luded to. Political achievements he has none. He was reared a Demo-
crat and has given support to the faith all his life. He has had no ambi-
tion for office; has been ambitious to be a good citizen and provide for
his domestic wants.
In April, 1843, Mr. Parkhurst married Lucretia Henry, a daughter of
John and Elizabeth (Musselman) Henry. Mrs. Parkhurst was born in
Kenucky in 1824 and is the mother of four daughters, as follows: Abi-
gail, widow of Louis Hudiberg, of Montgomery county; M:ary E., wife
of John Hefley, of Independence, Kansas ; Matilda, who married Richard
H. DeMott, a prominent farmer of Montgomery county; and Lucinda,
wife of William E. Smith, of Independence.
Mr. Parkhurst is a Mason. He belongs to the blue lodge and chapter
and is a Baptist of the old predestinarian order, and has been a member
of the denomination many years.
266 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
ARCHIBALD L. SCOTT— Among those settlers of Montgomery
county who have emphasized their presence in the world of achievement
in the field of agriculture prominently appears the name of Archibald
L. Scott, of Sycamore township, farmer, soldier and honored citizen. To
win a pronounced victory in the domain of agriculture, to accumulate
and improve a vast body of land, princely in dominion, in less than two
decades and to establish a wide civil and political confidence, ranking
one as a leading citizen of his municipality, mentions, in brief, the events
in the career of our subject and serves to indicate the real character of
his citizenship.
March 10th, 1884, he became a citizen of Montgomery county, and
settled on section 10. township 31, range 15. Then his identity with Kan-
sas farming began and the history of his efforts in this and kindred voca-
tions finds its strongest utterance in the possession of an estate of nine
hundred and two acres of land.
The native place of Mr. Scott is Tyler county. West Virginia. He
was born near Sistersville, October 6, 1811, was a son of George Scott,
and grew up on his father's farm. The latter was born in County Donne-
gal, Ireland, in 1811, came to the United States in 1816 with his father,
Archibald Scott. The grandfather had a family of sons, John and George,
both of whom died in Hancock county, Illinois, the former in 1882 — leav-
ing a family — and the latter in 1898, George Scott was an active, posi-
tive citizen of his community, took an interest in its various affairs, was
first a Whig, then a Democrat and finally a Republican. He married
Easter West, who died in 181G, being the mother of the following child-
ren : Wesley S., of Pleasance county, W. Ya.; William, deceased; Archi-
bald L., of this review; Margaret A., who married Wm, C. Sine, of To-
ronto, Ohio ; Amos C, of Carthage, Illinois, Rachel Williams became the
second wife of George Scott, and her children were : George N., of Hamil-
ton, Illinois; Charles A,, of Brady's Bend, Pa,; Ellen, deceased, and
David O,
The education of Archibald L, Scott was limited in quantity. The
log school house was both his preparatory school and university, and his
service in school seemed to be of less importance than his services on the
farm. The serious responsibilities of life began with him before he was
twenty years of age, and in 1860, he crossed over into Martiusburg, Ohio,
where he wa* employed for a time in a tannery. June 5th, 1861, he en-
listed in Company "B," 4th Ohio Inf,, Col, Loren Andrews, of Gambler
College, His service began in West Virginia, at Clarksburg, and he par-
ticipated in the fight at Rich Mountain. He was enlisted for three
months, but the regiment was reorganized in Camp Denison for three
years, it being one of the first Ohio regiments so to do. From the Rich
Mountain battlefield the command followed the Baltimore & Ohio Rv, to
Fort Pendleton and took Rumney, was engaged at Patterson's Creek,
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 267
Martinsburg, Winchester and finally fought Stonewall Jackson at Kern-
town, giving that Confederate chieftain his first and only defeat on a
fair field. The next move of the command was toward Fredericksburg,
and then to the Shenandoah Valley by way of Manassas Junction and
Front Royal. An advance was made to cut ofif Jackson at Port Republic,
thence back to Front Royal, to Alexandria and to Hhrrison's Landing,
where a junction with the Army of the Potomac was effected. The main
battles fought while with the Army of the Potomac were the closing days
€f the Seven Days' Fight, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville,
Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor. At this juncture Mr.
Scott's time expired and he was ordered to Columbus, Ohio, to be mus-
tered out of service. He enlisted as a private, declined a sergeancy, was
color bearer in two engagements and was wounded three times in the bat-
tle of Chancellorsville, in the hand, thigh and by a piece of iron under
the left ear. The ball taken from his left thigh is in his possession, a
relic of the great citizen war.
Mr. Scott changed his uniform for a workingman's garb and became
an oil well driller, with a spring-pole for power, in the West Virginia
field. Leaving there he went into the Pennsylvania field and was con-
nected with oil production in the two states for nineteen years. In the
meantime he came to Kansas — in 1870 — and was located for a time in
Neodesha, where he did carpenter work and served the village as its mar-
shal, the first one it had. While there — June 10th, 1872 — he married and
soon after returned to the Pennsylvania oil fields, where he continued an
operator 'till his final advent to the Sunflower State, in 1883.
Mrs. Scott was Clara McWilliams, a daughter of Wallace and Mary
McWilliams, pioneers to Kansas from Knox county, Ohio, settling at
Geneva, in Allen county, in August, 1860. The parents afterward moved
to Neodesha, where they died, leaving children : Rena, deceased wife of
Abraham Ross; David, deceased; William B., of Caney, Kansas; Burnie,
deceased, married E. N. Lewis; Moses and Charles, deceased; Mrs. Scott;
John, of Coffeyville, Kansas, and Eugene, of Neodesha, Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Scott's children are Howard A., deputy county attor-
ney 0/ Montgomery county, Kansas, who was commissioned First Lieuten-
ant of Co. "G," 20th Kansas — Filipino insurrection — and was promoted
to captain of Co. "A," but mustered out as captain of Co. "G," having been
assigned back to his first company ; George W., married Mabel Lane, re-
sides in Montgomery county, and has one child, Edna Cleo; Archi-
bald L., Edwin P., Walter W., and Henry J. Scott conclude the list.
As a citizen Mr. Scott has wielded a political influence in Mont-
gomery county. He was a Republican when he became a voter and acted
with that party 'till the confusing and discordant elements of the politi-
cal atmosphere began to vibrate in 1890, and for the next eight years as-
sumed positive shape and shook the very foundation stones of the domi-
268 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
nant parties, finally absorbing one and unifying the whole into a mass of
^^unterrified." To this new political force Mr. Scott gave his allegiance
and by it he was nominated, in 1811(1. Representative to the Legislature.
He served the winter of 1890-1 in the House and was chairman of the
committee on assessment and taxation. He was a member of the library
and other committees, but gave more attention to the reform of our tax
laws and succeeded in getting a bill through the House covering the sub-
ject, but the Senate sounded its death knell by inaction. He served with
Elder and other once noted and prominent Pojjulists, and while he was
for Judge Doster for United States Senator, he voted for Wm. A. Pefifer.
Mr. Scott has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1868,
when he joined the order at Spencer, West Virginia, Siloam lodge. He
holds his membership in Harmony lodge, Neodesha.
DANIEL STARKE Y— February 12, 1878, Daniel Starkey, of this
personal mention, came into Montgomery county and settled in West
Cherry township. At the end of a half dozen years he purchased a quar-
ter section of land in section 22, township 31, range 16, and jjersonally
conducted it till 1898, when he moved to Wilson county, where he yet re-
sides, leaving the conduct of the old homestead to his son, Harvey.
LaGrange county, Indiana, was the native place of Daniel Starkey
and his birth occurred March 1, 1848. His father was Thomas Starkey
of Juniata countv, Pennsvlvania, and his mother's maiden name was
Sarah Holsinger. The father was a son of Benjamin Starkey, who mar-
ried into the Francis family and was the father of nine children.
Thomas Starkey was a colonel of militia in Ohio, was born in Penn-
sylvania, and descended from Pennsylvania ancestry. He was a justice
of the peace for a quarter of a century in Indiana and was a well-known
auctioneer. His wife was a daughter of William Holsinger and bore him
thirteen children. Those mentioned here are William, who died of
wounds received on Sherman's march to the sea : Mrs. Jane Case, of
LaGrange county, Indiana ; Mrs. Susan Quinu, of California ; Benjamin,
of Clinton county, Indiana; Priscilla, wife of R. Finley; Daniel, our sub-
ject; Adaline, who married Charley Bartlett, of Indiana; Mrs. Ida Em-
inger, of Indiana; Mrs. Ada Shamblin, of Michigan; Mrs. Lettie Sturge,
of Indiana; Mrs. Bessie Coleman, of California; Mrs. Alice Myers, of In-
diana; and Mrs. Rhoda Lovitt, of Illinois.
Mr. Starkey of this notice, took for his wife. Abbie Brown, who was
born in Erie county, New York, December 25, 1854. Her parents were
Irving and Jane (Mann) Brown, people of New Y^ork birth. Two sons
constitute the issue of Mr. and Mrs. Starkey, viz : Harvey, a Montgomery
county farmer, whose wife was Miss Ella Hull, born in Nodaway county,
Missouri, and a daughter of Eleazer and Emma Hull, natives of New Jer-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^, KANSAS. 269
se}'. An only child, Marcus M., is the issue of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Star-
key. Charles Starker is the younger child of our subject and he married
Ella McKinney. Their family has one child, Ernest.
Mr. Starkey was one of the prominent and active members of the
Farmers* Alliance, years ago. holds to Populist principles in politics, has
served on various committees, and a number of terms on the school board.
REVILO NEWTON— Cherryvale, of this county, had not been incor-
porated very many years when this worthy and respected citizen took up
his residence within its borders. He, at that time, was connected with a
private bank, which afterward became the Montgomery County National
Bank, of which he has. since its inception, been cashier. He has taken a
keen interest in the advancement and development of the town and has
been especially active in the building up of its educational institutions
and in giving tone and strength to the religious life of the community.
He has been superintendent of the Methodist Sunday School for twenty-
five years and since his settlement in the town has been a potent factor in
shaping, through that institution, the moral tone of the community.
During much of this time, he has been connected, in an official way, with
the school systems of the county, and has been exceedingly active in se-
curing the best educational facilities for the use of the growing munici-
pality.
Eevilo Newton is a native of Illinois, born on the 11th of April,
1842. in La Salle county. He was there reared to man's estate, receiving
a fair common school education, though this was interrupted by the ap-
proach of the great Civil War. He took a gallant part in this sanguinary
struggle. He went from the school room to the field, enlisting in August,
1862, in Company **A," Eighty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. This
regiment became part of the army of the Cumberland, its first smell of
]»owder being at the bloody battle of Perryville and subsequently at the
Stone River struggle. He then went with Rosecrans to Chattanooga, but
before active operations were begun at that point, he was taken sick and
was compelled to return to the hospital, where he received his discharge
in December of 1803. This ended his military experience, as he never
recovered his health sufficiently to bear the rigors of military life. Ho
resumed his school life, taking a commercial course and then entering
the mercantile business in Tonica, Illinois. Later he removed to Iowa
where he continued business five years, thence to Monunk, Illinois, where
he spent twelve years behind the counter. This brings us to the date of
his settlement in Montgomery county. In 1882, he made Montgomery
county his home, as stated, and became connected with a private banking
institution. This was later merged into the Montgomery County Nation-
al Bank, in 1892, one of the safest and solidest financial institutions of
270 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Southern Kansas. C. C. Kincaid is president, Mr. Newton cashier and S.
J. Howard assistant cashier. The bank has a capital of foO.OOO and car-
ries a surplus of .^0.000.
In the different communities in which our subject has resided, he
has always taken a most active part in its municipal life, having been, at
one period or another, mayor of the four different towns in which he has
lived.
At the time he left Illinois he was the representative of his district
in the State Legislature and was one of the best known men of that sec-
tion. Since his residence in this State, he has been active in manv differ-
ent lines of service, having been a member of the board of trustees at the
inception and building of the present county high school of Montgomery
county and on this board he served a period of four years.
He and his family are active workers in the M. E. church, in which or-
ganization he holds several official positions. His love for children has led
him to be active in any Avork that looks to the proper development of the
child mind and he has. as already stated, devoted practically a life time
to Sunday School work, having been superintendent of the Sunday School
from six years prior to the date of his coming to Kansas. No more ear-
nest worker in this line resides in the county.
Mr. Newton is a member of the Masonic order. Blue lodge. Chapter
and Commandery. and is also a member of the Noble Order of the Mystic
Shrine. In political affairs Mr. Newton has always taken an exceedingly
active and prominent part and was a delegate to the Kansas City conven-
tion of the Democratic party in 1900.
The domestic life of our subject has been a happy one, beginning in
18G5. when he was joined in marriage with Ada Anderson, a native of
Ripley. Brown county. Ohio. To this marriage two daughters were born,
Revilla. and Minnie, deceased.
Mentioning briefly a few points in the family history of Mr. Newton,
the biographer notes that he was the son of Major George M. and Fanny
(Loomis) Newton, both of whom were natives of Green county, New York.
They were farmers by occupation, and the father also followed carpenter-
ing and the mill-wright busines. They were early settlers in Illinois, hav-
ing removed to the State in 1834, traveling overland by wagon. George
Newton was a major in the New York militia and was very active in the
public life of the different communities in which he resided. He was
postmaster of Tonica. Illinois, for a number of years, that point having
been located as a station when the Illinois Central was built through his
farm. He died at the age of seventy years, his wife having passed away
some years previous at the age of forty-five. They were prominent mem-
bers of the Baptist church and stanch supporters of every good cause in
the communities in which they lived. They reared a family of six chil-
dren, of whom but three survive.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 27 1
HARVEY A. TRUSKETT— The readers of this volume are here in-
troduced to one of the best and most favorably known men of Montgom-
ery county ; one whose connection with the business interests of the enter-
prising community of Caney has been of great value, and whose wide ac-
quaintance among financiers makes him a potent factor in the develop-
ment of this section. As president of one of Montgomery county's solid
financial institutions, the Home National Bank of Caney, he wields an
influence widespread in its beneficient character, and always exerted in
the interest of good government and right living.
Harvey A. Truskett is a "Buckeye'' by birth, borne in Monroe county,
October 7, 1855, the son of Thomas W. and Elizabeth (Williams) Trus-
kett, pioneer settlers of that county. They were both natives of Penn-
sylvania, Thomas having been born November 25, 1822, the wife the pre-
vious year on the first day of August. Reared to maturity in the ''Key-
stone State", they there nmrried and at once began life in the then ''far
west," the county in which our subject was born. They were farmers by
occupation and well fitted to play their part in the development of a new
agricultural community. Remaining in Ohio until 1859, the family re-
moved to Cooper county, Missouri, where they continued tilling the soil.
Morgan county, of the same state, and Vermont county, Missouri, then be-
came their home until 1880, when they settled on a farm in Montgomery
county, Kansas. Here the parents were worthy and respected citizens
until "their death, the father passing to rest on the 16th of January, 1887,
the mother on September 20, 1894. Mr. Truskett is remembered as one
of the immortal band vvho, in the dark days of 'Gl '65, offered themselves
as living sacrifices for the principle of equality before the law. He be-
came a member of the First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, in which
regiment he fought valiantly to the end. While in the service he sufl'ered
capture and imprisonment, but was fortunate enough to be exchanged.
Mr. and Mrs. Truskett became the parents of eight children, of whom
six are yet living.
Of the family Harvey A. was the seventh child. Though born within
the confines of the "Buckeye State"he is by rights a true westerner, as he
was but four years of age when he crossed the Mississippi. The cruel
war and the disturbed condition of the country immediately succeeding
it deprived him, as well as thousands of others, of that precious boon, a
good education. The school of adversity through which he passed, how-
ever, taught him many valuable lessons of thrift and economy, which com-
pensated to some extent the loss of book knowledge. He early became
his own business man and engaged successfully in farming and stock rais-
ing, accompanying the family to Montgomery county in 1880. He was oc-
cupieil at a point known as Elgin, Chautauqua county, for a period of two
years, when he went down into the Territory and for the following twelve
years was extensively engaged in farming and stock raising.
272 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
!n the year 1892, Mr. Truskett located in Canev, engaging in the
lumber and grain business until 1896, when he organized the present li-
naneial institution, of which he has since been president. The Home
Bank is capitalized at $25,000 and carries a list of deposits aggregating
some ninety to one hundred thousand dollars.
Mr. Truskett is held in high esteem in his community, where he
has been honored by membership in the town council and has also served
as township clerk. Politically he affiliates with the party of reform and
is looked upon as one of its trusted advisers.
I\jarriage was contracted by our subject in Elgin, Kansas, on the 8th
of December, 1880. Mrs. Truskett was Ida F. Gepford, daughter of Silas
H. and Jennie Gepford, earh' pioneers of Bourbon county, Kansas. She
ifs the mother of four promising children — Edwin E., Harvey H., Arthur
F. and Lita M. To this familj^ was added a niece. Miss Elsie Truskett,
Avlion: they reared and educated, and who is now an efficient emjdove of
the bank.
Beared to exacting and toilsome labor, schooled by adversity's
hard knocks and fighting his way step by step from penury to prosper-
ity. Harvey A. Truskett has reached a ]>lane, while yet in the prime of life,
where he can give full reign to the promptings of a nature benevolent
and full of the milk of human kindness. No worthy case of need is ever
turned from his door unaided and the struggling youth finds in him a
sympathetic and kindly adviser and helper. He and his family merit the
large place which they are accorded in the hearts of friends and neigh-
bors in Caney and Montgomer}- count}'. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.
and the familv are members of the Christian church.
MBS. JANE BLUE — The tide of immigration to Montgomery county
in the earlier years was at its flood in the year 1871. Many of the pioneer
families of the county date their coming in that year, among them the
lady whom the biographer is now permitted to review. She was born
in Veiniillion county, Indiana, in the year 1830, and was reared in that
county and educated at Eugene, Indiana. Her parents were Jacob and
Sarah (Hall) Coslett. They were farmers in Vermillion county and
pioneer settlers of that section of the State. Their family consisted of
six children, three, only, of whom are now living: William, who lives in
Douglas county, Illinois, and is a prominent farmer of that section of
the State; Mrs. Jane Blue, the subject of this sketch; William, also a
leading farmer, of Cherokee county, Kansas.
Mrs. Blue was first married to David Wise in the year 1853 in her
native county in the ''Hoosier State." Mr. Wise was a leading farmer
of the county and they reared seven children, four of whom are now liv-
ing: Margaret A., who married William Blancet, a native of Ohio, and
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 273
lias three children, two living, viz : Minnie, wife of Thornton McCune, of
Oklahoma, and Alice, who married AYilliam Carpenter and lives in
Ml^ntgomery county, Kansas; the four children of Alice being
Nettie, Orval, Bertha, and Earl. Clara Belle Wise married Frank Smith,
of Independence, with two children, Donoven and Forest. Minnie
Wif-e married Eobert Perry and lives in Bourbon county with their sev-
en children. Eliza E. Wise married David A. Clark and had four child
ren. Harry, Charlie, Ira, and Grace. Mrs. Clark is now dead.
David Wise died in 1874 and in 1878. Mrs. Wise was joined in mar-
riage to Jacob Wise, a brother of her first husband. Four years later he
died. In 1896, March 1, Mrs. Wise married David Blue. He was a na-
tive of Ohio and was a gallant soldier of the Civil War, having enlisted
as a volunteer in an Indiana regiment in April of 1861, and served his
country faithfully to the close of that sanguinary struggle, and being dis-
charge in 1865. He was a commercial traveler by ocupation, handling
nursery stock. He traveled for a period of nine years for the famous seed
house of D. M. Ferry, and later for a silverware manufacturing com-
pany of Detroit, Michigan.
The farm on which Mrs. Blue now resides was purchased in 1871 by
her first husband. It is located four miles from the county seat town
of Independence and consists of eighty acres, making one of the best
farms in that section of the county. In religious belief, Mrs. Blue is a
member of the United Brethren Church.
ABIGAIL HUDIBERG— One of the worthy pioneers of Mont-
goniei-y county, whose memory runs with remarkable clearness back to
the days of 1869, the date of her arrival here, is Mrs. Abigail Hudiberg
of Independence township. The events of the long and weary overland
journey hither from Johnson county, Indiana, together with fifteen other
families, are as happenings of yesterday to her, and that first winter in
their strange new home in the straggling village of Independence, with
the boundless prairie all about them, peopled with Indians and coyotes,
yet howls its lonely requiem in her ears. The comfortable farm house
of the present day is in strange contrast to the 14x16 board shanty in
which they shivered through the winter, and the little log hotel, the four
''straw" houses, and the single general store of that time make an odd
picture in contrast to the splendid business and residence properties of
the present.
Mrs. Hudiberg was born in Johnson county, Indiana, March 7, 1843,
the daughter of Robert S. and Letitia (Henry) Parkhurst, a full sketch
of whciui api)ears elsewhere in this volume. In 1863, she married in that
county, Louis Hudiberg, son of John and Elizabeth Hudiberg, whose
other children were Samuel, Thomas, Mary A., Lorinda and Elijah
274 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
(twins) and John. Mr. and Mrs. Hudiberg resided in Johnson county
for six years and then came to Kansas. When spring came after that
first nncomfortable winter, they located on a claim six miles from the vil-
lage, where they have since, in the main, maintained their home. Here
the parents and three children began the battle of life anew and succeed-
ed, before the death of the husband, in making a very comfortable home.
Mt. Hudiberg died in 1S90, leaving Mrs. Hudiberg with a
family of nine children, as follows : Robert S., a farmer
of Chautauqua county, who married Anna Gray and has
four children — Nellie, Alice, Miatthew and May; John E., Independ-
ence; George, a farmer of Sycamore township, married Jessie Webber
and has two children — Leo and Bessie; Lorinda and Wilfred are twins;
Lorinda lives at home; Wilfred married Mattie Berger and resides with
his mother, with his two children — Louis and Amy; Albert, a farmer of
the countr, married Lillie Drennen and has two children, Hazel and
Glenn ; Walter S., Myrtle and Elmer are at home.
These are all "likely" children, well trained, and of good capabili-
ties, who, together with their revered mother, are highly regarded in the
community where they have so long made their home.
JUDGE THOMAS HARRISON— In the passing away of the subject
of this memoir. Montgomery county lost one of its landmarks of civil-
ization and a venerable and worthy pioneer. He identified himself with
this frontier municipality in August, 1869, and from thence forward to
his death was an active participant in its affairs. As scholar, lawyer,
public official and farmer his citizenship was of the genuine type and his
character unreproached.
Settlers were widely separated in Montgomery county when Thomas
Harrison, of this review, cast his lot with the frontier municipality and
took a government entry near Verdigris City in 1869. The McTaggart
mill and homestead marks the sight of his original "claim," taken up not
so much with the intention of proving up on it, perhaps, as to the more
closely identify himself with the county and to seal a tie of common in-
terest with its citizens. He did little toward the actual improvement of
his claim, being a lawyer and engaged in the practice of his profession
at old Liberty. When the question of a permanent county seat was set-
tled in favor of Independence he ultimately established his office in that
placr and maintained it there till March 30, 1877, when failing health
tforced him to relinquish the law and seek rest and renew his vigor in the
pure air and exercise of the farm. He purchased an eighty-acre tract ad-
joining in the four corners of sections 2, 3, 10 and 11, township 33, range
15. where, with the exception of his years in official service, he passed the
remainder of his life.
JUDGE THOS. HARRISON.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 275
Judge Harrison was born in Northamptonshire, England, on the 21st
of September, 1825. At seven years of age his parents came to the United
States and settled in X^tica, New York, but remained there only four
years when they came on west to LaSalle, now Kendall county, Illinois,
where they died. His father was Thomas Harrison and his mother was
Mary (Musson) Harrison who reared to maturity eight of their nine
children, namely : William, deceased, ex-member of the Kansas Legisla-
ture from Butler county, ex-probate judge and a prominent citizen of the
county ; Mary, who died in Wisconsin, married Kichard Hudd and was
the mother of the late ex-Congressman Hudd, of Green Bay, Wisconsin ;
James, who died at Santa Barbara, California, passed his life chiefly
in the dairy business in Chicago; Ann, who married Warren Chapin, died
in St. Francis, .Indiana; Hannah, who died at Remington, Indiana, was
the wife of George Bullis ; Theresa, of Santa Barbara, California, is the
wife of Henry H. Polk; Thomas, of this sketch; and John, of Morrow
county. Oregon.
Judge Harrison was educated at Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois.
He was poor and worked his way through school, as a farm hand or at
teaching or other honorable employment, and graduated in 1853.
AmoRG' his classmates were Chief Justice A. M. Craig of the Illinois Su-
preme Court and A. A. Smith, a prominent lawyer of that State. The
Judge was educated primarily for the ministry but when he came to em
bark in life's realities his views somewhat digressed from the orthodoxy
of the time and he turned his attention to law. He established himself
at Galesburg, Illinois, where he practiced till his entry to the army in
1862. He was a sergeant of Company *'A," Seventy-seventh Illinois In-
fantry, until near the close of the war, when he was commissioned a first
lieutenant and assigned to Company "A," Seventy-third U. S. Colored
Troo]»s. The war over, he resumed the practice of law and was located at
Galesburg, Illinois, when he decided to come west and started on his jour-
ney to Montgomery county, Kansas.
Ir his new home in Kansas Judge Harrison was ever a prominent
figure. In politics he wielded an influence which contributed to many
victories for the Republican party but his views changed somewhat on
the approach of the avalanche of reform which annually swept Kansas
from 1890 to his death, and his sympathies went out to the jM)litical
movement engendered and fostered by the Farmers' Alliance. In 1882
he was elected probate judge and served in that capacity with credit and
ability. He filled the office four years and retired to his farm to enjoy the
peace of a private citizen.
December 28, 1854, Judge Harrison married M. Eliza Chambers. Mrs.
Harrison's father was Matthew Chambers, likewise her paternal grand-
father. The latter was born a Scotchman, was the second son of his par-
ents and, for some displeasure at home, ran away and went to sea for
276 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. •
several years. On hearing of the struggle of the American colonies for
independence he came to their assistance, offering his services in behalf
of the cause. His worth was discovered and rewarded by his being com-
misioned and placed in command of a company of men. Among his sev-
eral battles was Saratoga, where Gen. Bnrgoyne surrendered and where
Mr. Chambers met an own cousin of his in a British uniform, a prisoner
of war, and the storming and capture of Stony Point in which assault
Captain Chambers received a wound by a bayonet passing through his leg
below the knee. From this wound he never fully recovered and it firjally
induced his taking-off. After the war he located at Londonderry, New
Hampshire, where he reared his family and died. He had a family of
three eons and two daughters, namely : John, who settled in western New
York, reared a family and finally disappeared as if lost; Margaret, who
married Thomas Dickey and died in New Hampshire; Eobert, who passed
his life in Vermont and introduced the Spanish Marino sheep into that
country ; Mary, who married John Lund and died in New Hampshire, and
Matthew, who died at Galesburg, Illinois, in January, 1869.
Matthew Chambers, the second, was born in 1785 and was a soldier
in the War of 1812. He was a colonel of Vermont militia, was a mer-
chant in Bridgeport, that state, and left there in 1830 and came out to
Illinois. For a wife he married Hannah Smith, a daughter of Jacob
Smith, a Jerseyman. Two children living from this union, viz: Edward
P. Cham.bers. of Galesburg. Illinois, and Mrs. Harrison, the widow of our
subject. Five others are deceased, viz : Jacob Smith Chambers, Matthew
Carey Chambers, H. Cordelia (Chambers) Willard and William Henry
Chambers. Mrs. Harrison was born in Bridgeport, Addison county, Ver-
mont, on the 23d of September, 1832. She was the wife and companion
of Thomas Harrison for forty years and is the mother of the following
children : Mary, wife of Seth Starr, who has two children, Harrison C.
and Ruth N. ; Thomas J. Harrison, of Scammon, Kansas ; and Cordelia
E., wife of Frank E. Lucas, of Park Place, Oregon, who have five children,
to wit : Frederick, William, Charles, Helen and Mary.
We are fortunate in this article to be able to present to posterity the
paternal chain of the Harrison and Chambers families complete from their
English ancestry. The spirit of Americanism was dominant in both
families and both have furnished ample evidence of their love for the in-
stitutions of our Republic. To their descendants we commend this brief
biography in the belief that it contains lessons worthy to be learned.
M. D. WRIGHT — M. D. Wright, retired merchant and honored citi-
zen of Elk City, was bom in Fayette county, Indiana, November 12th,
1832, and is a son of Jonathan and Susanna B. (Jones) Wright, natives of
Maryland. The father was, by occupation, a miller and plied his vocation
in Pennsylvania until about the time of the war of 1812, when he removed
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 277
to Cincinnati, Oliio, and embarked in the mercantile business. After
the war he traded for wild lands in Fayette Co., Ind. and subsequently
moved to Richmond, Ind., where he continued to reside until his death
at the age of seventy-nine years. Our subject lost his mother the day of
his birth, she being then forty years old. The parents were devoted
adherents of the Quaker faith. Their family consisted of eight children
— three now living, M. D., our subject ; Thaddeus, of Minneapolis, Minn. ;
and Martha, widow of Paul Barnard, who resides with her brother in
Elk City.
M. D. Wright has had a somewhat remarkable career, in his earlier
days partaking much of adventure. He began life at sixteen years of
age as a clerk in a country store, but soon went to Cincinnati, where he
spent three and a half years in a wholesale establishment. He then went
east, where, for the next two years, he was similarly engaged in Phila-
delphia and New York. The Australian gold fields were, at that time,
creating great excitement and he concluded to try his fortune in those
regions. Embarking on the sailing: vessel "Rockland" he made the trip
in one hundred twenty days, going via Rio Janeiro and the Cape of Good
Hope. He reached the Australian mines in May of 1851, and, for the fol-
lowing year, had varying success. He, however, did not fancy the hard
life of the gold miner and engaged with a firm to act as clerk in their
store in New South Wales. Here he spent fifteen months more pleasantly,
but by this time he was ready to again return to civilization in the states,
but was loath to do so empty handed, and he determined to take a drove
of horses to t^idney and dispose of them, if possible, at a profit. This
enter])rise, for various reasons. i)roved a failure, financially. From Sid-
ney he embarked on a small trading vessel, trading among the South Sea
Islands, finally landed on the Samoan Islands, where he remained six
months. He shipped on a man of war and cruised in the Caribbean Sea.
The vessel put in at Valparaiso, where, on account of sickness, he was
discharged. A four-months' whaling voyage followed, filled with excit-
ing adventures with these great saurians of the deep. Resolved again t(»
return home, he, after a most tempestuous voyage around the Horn, at-
tended with desperate scurvy sickness, which attacked every one on
board but the captain and himself, found the quiet home of his boyhood,
mid the blessings of civilization, and where he was ready to repeat with
the sweet singer, John Howard Payne,
"To us, in despite of the absence of years,
"How sweet the remembrance of home still appears;
"From allurements abroad which but flatter the eye,
"The unsatisfied heart turns and says with a sigh,
"Home, home, sweet, sweet home,
"Be it ever so humble,
, There's no place like home !" ]
278 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Mr. Wright arrived home in the spring of 1857. In company with a
brother, he now entered on a mercantile career, which he pursued until
his enlistment in the Union army in 1864, becoming First Lieutenant in
Co. 'D," 146th Ind. Vol. Inf. He served a year, his regiment being used
chiefly to oppose the noted cavalry commander, Gen. Moseby, and with
whom they had many exciting skirmishes. His company was mustered
out at Harper's Ferry in May of 1865.
Mr. Wright now took on another occupation, engaging in the sedate
occupation of the school master, quite a remove from the exciting ex-
periences of travel and war. This experience was in Benton county, In-
diana, and preceded his overland trip to Kansas, in 1870. He came to
Elk City and, trading his outfit for a cabin and lot, began a mercantile
business. He continued here with moderate success until 1890, and then
spent three years in Oklahoma in the same business, since which time he
has remained in Elt City managing his real estate holdings.
Mr. Wright was, for thirteen years, postmaster of the village and,
in the early days, was the moving spirit of the town. He has always ex-
erted a potent influence in the afl:'airs of the community and holds the
respect of its citizens in a marked degree. He has reared a family of
children, who are respected members of the different communities in
which they reside, and is rounding out a long and useful career in the
•enjoyment of the fruits of earlier labors, amid the uniform esteem of old
friends and neighbors.
Marriage was contracted by our subject in Indiana in 1858. His
wife, who is still his companion on life's journey, was Miss LydiaA., daugh-
ter of William and Miriam (Wickersham) Fosdick. Her eight children
are: Kate B., Mrs. J. M. Smythe; Jessie, married C. J. Hafey, and died
at the age of forty years ; Jennie, Mrs. E. E. Masterman ; Lizzie, married
C. O. Chandler and is now deceased; Mary, wife of Charles Stafford;
Irene, deceased at eiglit ; Miss Nellie, a stenographer at Medicine Lodge,
Kansas; and Cora, Mrs. Richard Power, of British Columbia.
JOHN GIVENS — In the progress of events in Montgomery county,
influenced by the stubborn hand of man, John Givens, of West Cherry
township and a member of the board of county commissioners, has
played no inconspicuous part. He came to the county in the early time
with industry and character to recommend him, and established himself
in the somewhat isolated settlement of West Cherry township. He drove
into the county in company with Edgar Burt and Joseph Dayton, all
locating claims, Mr. Givens selecting his in section 25, township 31,
range 16.
Soon after he located his claim, ^Ir. Givens went to Osage Mission,
now St. Paul, and bought a yoke of cattle, a wagon and a plow. With
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 279
these he began breaking prairie in the spring of 1870. and it was several
years before the tiUable hind was all turned and the bnzz of the breaking
sod no longer charmed the owner's ear.
As the work of the early years progressed strangers became neigh-
bors and friends and the Red Man and the Pale Face carried on an ir-
regular sort of commerce with each other. In his bachelor quarters, 14x
16 feel, Mr. Givens occasionally met an Osage Indian and the half-breeds,
Louis Shouteau and Louis Brazill, were frequent callers on errands of
bartar and trade. After his marriage the work of the farm moved more
satisfactorily along and our subject found himself laying surely hold of
the substantial things of his career. In 1883, he erected his commodious
residence, and barns and cribs and graneries came along one after an-
other 'till his improvements resembled a miniature village and his estate
grew into Baronial proportions. Four hundred and eighty acres rep-
resent the size of his home farm and five hundred and twenty acres his
holdings in Rutland township. One thousand acres of land accumulated
as the result of one's individual efforts represents an epoch in his life,
and is an achievement for which comparatively few farmers are dis-
tinguished.
eTohn Givens was born in Lake county, Illinois, in the year 1841, and
remained at home in pursuit of the arts of peace 'till the outbreak of the
Civil war. September 14th, 18G1, he enlisted in Company ''C," oth 111.,
Vol. Cav., under Col. Hall Wilson. His regiment went from Blooming-
ton, Illinois, to the front and was assigned to the Army of the West, un-
der command of Gen. Grant. Mr. Givens took part in the Vicksburg
campaign and participated in the battles of Champion Hills, Big Black,
and the siege, and was in the Yazoo campaign under Gen. Sherman. His
service along the Mississippi river, in Missouri and Arkansas, and, after
the fall of Vicksburg, over to Meridian, Miss., includes much of the hard
service he participated in, ending in his being besieged for ninety days
with typhoid fever. He was discharged at Vicksburg with a military
service to his credit of a little more than three years. He entered the
army as a private, served much of the time as a non-commissioned of-
ficer and was assigned to an occasional extra duty. Hte returned to Mis-
sissippi after the war, where he had a contract for building a country
road. This work concluded, he returned to his Illinois home and was en-
gaged in farming in Logan county, that state, until his start for Kansas.
Ill the fall of 18(39, he came west by rail to near Fort Scott, where he
took the stage to Osage Mission, then an important point in the settle-
ment of the new west. From this base of supply he acconij)anied his two
friends to the Osage Diminished Reserve in Montgomery county, where
the thread of this narrative has previously been treated.
Mr. Givens' father was Felix Givens, a native of Ireland. The father
was a carpenter and he came to America in early life and settled as a
28o HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
pioneer in Lake county, Illinois. He was one of three sons, Felix, Rich-
ard and Charles, and married Catherine Davlin, who bore him four child-
ren, ^iz: Mrs. Rose Callahan, of Independence, Kansas; Mrs. Mary A.
Riley, of Chicago, Illinois; John, of this record, and Felix, of Nebraska.
]\Ir. Givens marx'ied, after three years of bachelor life. Miss Jennie
Burt, an Iowa lady, and a daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Burt.
Seven children have come to bless the home of these parents, namely:
Mrs. Catherine Henderson, of Montgomery county, with two children,
Pauline and Harold; Josophine and Cecelia, with the family homestead;
Mrs. Blanche Mangan, of Montgomery county, with two children, Edith
and John Mc. ; Charles and Louis, in California, and Paul.
In his various relations with his fellow man Mr. Givens is most
worthy and honorable. He has always manifested a warm interest in
public matters and has been called to serve as treasurer and trustee of
his township two terms, as member of his school board and is now serv-
ing his second term as commissioner of Montgomery county.
LAFAYETTE M. CAR SOX— The gentleman here named is a mem-
ber of one of the oldest and most respected families of Montgomery
county, and is himself deservedly popular for the many sterling qualities
which he has manifested since coming to years of discretion. His ser-
vice in connection with the law-enforcing branch of the county govern-
ment has been of a high order and will receive recognition from his party
associates in the furture should he manifest a willingness to allow his
name to be used.
Lafayette Carson was born in Iowa, where his parents were pioneer
residents of Keokuk county. The date was July 1, 1857. He was a
bright thirteen-year-old boy when the family settled on a claim in Louis-
burg township, and where they have continued to reside. His boyhood
was passed in the labor incident to farm life, his schooling being of such
a character as could be secured in the limited time at his disposal in the
winter. Being of a more than ordinary observant turn of mind, however,
this lack of book-knowledge has been largely atoned for. He very early
began farming for himself, and. with the exception of one or two periods
of official life, has continued to till the soil. He did not wait for his
majority, to become interested in public affairs, and, even in his 'teens,
was helpful to those who were in charge of the Republican organization.
His obliging and courteous disposition soon won him many friends and
his services were recognized by his appointment by Sheriff Frank Moses
as his deputy, with headquarters at Elk City. In addition to his one
term in this position he has served a number of years as constable of his
township and in all his official dealings with the people has, by his con-
siderate and thoughtful acts of kindness, drawn forth many expressions
.of appreciation.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 28 F
Touching briefly on the history of the family, the biographer notes
the parents of Mr. Carson as William and Seletha (Marr) Carson. The
father was a native of the "Keystone State."' the mother of Tennessee.
Passing his boyhood in Pennsylvania, William Carson came with his
parents, at twelve years of age. to Miami county. Ohio. Later he removed
to Shelby county, Ind., where he purchased a farm and began life for
himself. In 1847, as stated, he settled in Keokuk county, Iowa. Mr.
Carson was a man of the strictest probity of character, careful in all his
dealings to give value received, and of stern ideas of justice and right. He
died in 1876 and lies in the family burying-ground on the farm which he
settled six years before. In religious faith he was a strict Presbyter'an,
though always according liberty of opinion to others, as in the case of his
wife, who was a Missionary Baptist, and in her younger days a great
worker in that organization, and who still survives her husband, at the
advanced age of seventy-seven years. He was a prominent Mason and the
lodge in Elk City was named in his honor, being known as Carson Lodge,
No. 182. Children were born to them as follows : Eobert, a farmer in
Oklahoma; Lafayette; Thomas, a farmer of this county; M)attie, Mrs. Dr.
Davis, of Independence. Kansas. These children are all useful and re-
spected members of society in the different communities in which they
reside and deserve the uniforni esteem in wliidi thev are held.
WILLIAM N. BANKS— William N. Banks, of the firm of Banks &
Billings, lawyers, was born on August 15th, 1865, at Hobart, Lake
county, Indiana. In August, 1871, his father, George L. Banks, moved
with his family to Montgomery county, settling on a farm seven miles
west of Coffevville on the Indian Territorv line. Since that time Wil-
Ham N. has been a resident of Montgomery county.
At the age of eighteen he commenced teaching school and after
teaching for two years w^eut to Perdue University at Lafayette, Indiana,
for two vears, after which he returned to his home in Kansas and con-
tinned teaching.
Upon the ISth day of July, 1887. he was married to Ollie M. Jones,,
after which time he and his wife resided upon the farm, M,i\ Banks con-
tinuing his teaching in the winter time, until October, 1892, when he en-
tered the law office of A. B. Clark as a law student. In August, 1894,
he was admitted to the bar and in the following March formed a part-
nership with O. P. Ergenbright for the practice of law. This partnership
continued until July, 1902, when Mr. Banks became senior member of
his present law firm.
There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Banks three children, two of
whom, Thomas L. and Edith M., are living, the third having died at the
age of three months.
282 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Mr. Banks lias never held public office, except while living in Fawn
€reek township he was clerk of the township, and is at the present time
serving his second term as a member of the board of education of In-
dependence. In politics he is and always has been Republican. He is a
member of the Presbyterian church, a Mason, an Odd Fellow, and a mem-
ber of the Modern Woodmen of America.
DAVID P. GREER— One of the solid men of Sycamore township,
and a farmer who has made agriculture pay, is David P. Greer, who re-
sides on section 36-32-15.
He dates his birth in Morgan county, Indiana, April 6th, 1856, where
he continued to reside on the old home farm until he came to Montgom-
ery county, Kansas, in 1880. His first location was seven miles west of
Independence, in Rutland township, where he lived until 1889, when he
bought his present farm of 160 acres.
Mr. Greer is a son of Captain John E. Greer, well known throughout
the county as one of the pioneers, who made a large property during his
life time. The captain was a native of Kentucky and was one of seven
children, viz: James M., of Montgomery county; John E., deceased;
Mrs. ^larv Carrell, deceased; LvuianM..of Indiana ; Mrs. Ruth Williams;
Alexander C, of Montgomery county, and Mrs. Amanda Poor, deceased.
The birth of Captain Greer occurred January 1st, 1829, and at two
years his parents moved up into Indiana, where he continued to reside
until the breaking out of the Civil war. He entered the Union army and
participated in much of the severe service during the four years' war.
The following from the Independence Tribune is to the point : ''Captain
John E. Greer, of Independence township, is dead, at the age of sixty-
eight years. In the early part of the Civil war he enlisted at Waverly,
Indiana, and went to the front as Lieutenant in Co. ''F," 5th Ind. Cav..
and was with his regiment, afterward merging into the 90th, in three
years of war — except while a prisoner in the hands of the Confederates
— and was promoted to a captaincy for bravery. His regiment was the
first to enter Knoxville, Tenn., and was engaged in twenty-two battles.
"During the service. Captain Greer was captured and was, for
months, a prisoner in Libby prison. He was active in digging the famous
Straight tunnel, but before he could get away was transferred to Belle
Isle and from there was exchanged, after being in captivity one year.
"After his return home. Captain Greer was elected to the Indiana
Legislature. About 1877 he removed to this county and purchased a
farm in Rutland township and gathered his children about him, adding
largely to his acreage. He prospered and also became prominent in pub-
lic affairs."
The wife of John E. Greer was Margaret Petree, of Decatur county,
A. C. STICH.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 283
Indiana. Bhe bore him ten children, as follows: Nancy E. Pettet, of
Montgomery county; William M. and Joseph G., deceased; David P.,
Lucy C. Wagaman and Abram L., of Montgomery county; Margaret V.,
deceased; James E., of the Indian Territory; Annie L. Holden and Oliver
L., both of Montgomery county.
David P. Greer, on February 16th, 1877, married Alice Jolly. Mrs.
Greer is a native of the "Hoosier State," and is a daughter of Samuel J.
and Frances (McDowell) Jolly. Her children are Oliver G., who mar-
ried Maude Perkins, and lives in Sycamore township, with his two child-
ren, Ruby Z. and Opal E ; Tula F. resides in Independence with her hus-
band, Orion Page; Icey M. and David 0. are young people at home.
The beautiful rural home which Mr. Greer now owns is the result of
his own untiring efforts since coming to the county. He began with the
small capital of four hundred dollars, and now owns one of the best
quarter sections in the county, well stocked and in a good state of culti-
vation. He devotes his land to general farming, and takes a special in-
terest in the breeding of I'oland China hogs, having this year 100 head of
these fine animals.
In a fraternal way. Mr. Greer is a member of the Modern Woodmen,
of the A. H. T. A., and of the Home Builders' Union. He has taken an
intelligent and helpful interest in matters pertaining to good govern-
ment in the two places where he has lived in the county, there being but
three years since his coming that he has not held a place on the school
board.' In political life he is also quite active, being one of the staunch
workers of the Republican party. He served two terms as justice of the
peace in Rutland township, was township treasurer two terms and has
been a delegate to numerous county and state conventions, during the
past twenty years, having been a delegate to the state convention which
nominated 'Governor ^lorrill. He and his family have the good wishes
of a very large circle of friends in the county and the esteem in which
Mr. Greer is held is most universal.
ADOLPH C. STICH— There was born in the quaint little town of
Stade, in the ancient province of Hanover, in the German Empire, Oc-
tober 13, 1846, a babe, whose early childhood was passed within the
shadows of familiar haunts in his native place and gave no jiromise of an
uncommonly strenuous and eventful life. He was a son of humble par-
ents, whose household was sustained by the rewards of honest toil and
whose righteous lives were a guaranty of the ]>roper rearing of their off-
spring. He became a hardy and rugged boy and finally a strong and
vigorous youth and the change from the crowded and decaying conditions
of the Old World to the ojjenness, freedom and freshness of the New
W^orld was an auxiliary to both his bodily and mental development. The
284 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
serious affairs of life began with him after he had acquired a liberal
training in the common schools and with the early appearance of that
ambition which seemed finally to consume him and, under pressure of
which, have his life achievements been wrought. Industry seemed as
natural to him as hunger and the reward which it brought was treasured
in some way which marked the stepping-stones of his advance. He wasted
neither time nor substance and the age of maturity brought him near to
the point of occupying a distinct station among men. Spurred on by the
enthusiasm of success and guided by the wisdom of a superior and uner-
ring mind he has, when just past the meridian of life, reached the acme
of his career and shown to mankind the real genius of his mental bent.
Born poor and reared without luxuries, but to habits of a moral and up-
right life, and having achieved, through individual efforts, the gratifying
rewards of wealth, position and influence, Adolpli C. Stich, of Inde-
dence, stands a citizen to be prized and a man to be admired.
September 17th. 1872, he began a residence in Montgomery county,
Kansas, which has been constantly maintained and which has grown in
importance with the lapse of years. The effects of his business connec-
tion with the various affairs of the county have been felt to the extreme
of every cardinal point and, as it were, by the stroke of his hand con-
ditions have been changed and once dormant and slumbering communis
ties have sprung into life and become active industrial centers. His
brain and his capital have been a powerful stimulus in awakening the
activity that now is and which has placed Montgomery county among the
wealthy and progressive municipalities of our commonwealth.
Coming to Independence with some experience as a merchant he be-
came a meml)er of the firm of Stich Brothers, doing a general mercan-
dise business, and for ten years his energies and his foresight contrib-
uted to the wealth and popularity of the firm. In 1883 he purchased, in
partnership with Henry Foster, the Hull Bank and became its cashier
at once, occupying the position till the change in the name of the insti-
tutior;, in 1891, from The Citizens' Bank to The Citizens' National Bank,
at which time he took the presidency of the new concern. This position
he has occupied, uninterrupted, since and has filled with exceptional and
singular ability and to the great profit of the institution.
As the demand for factories has sprung up in his city he has been
alert to subscribe liberally to their construction and included in the list
of enterprises he has thus aided are the Independence Gas Company and
the Independence Brick Company. The enterprise which has distin-
guished him most as a man of public spirit, even in advance of the age,
is the planning and construction of the magnificent Independence hotel,
the "Carl Leon," without doubt the finest hotel in the State of Kansas.
In company with G. M. Carpenter, of Elgin, this structure was erected in
1902, at a cost of many thousand dollars and was opened to the public
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 285
February 18, 1903. As an eudnring mouument to the enterprise of Mr.
Stich this building is unrivaled by any to the credit of a citizen of Mont-
gomery county. His splendid residence, approaching the magnificence
and proportions of a modest palace, is one of the beautiful structures in
the city, expensive in appointment and popular as a hospitable home.
Like most boys of foreign birth, A. C. Stich began life on the farm.
His father was a merchant in the old country but when the family was es-
rablished in the United States, and at home in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
young Adolph's industrial inclination cropped out strongly as a hand at
fS.OO a month on the farm. His meager earnings served to reenforce his
natural capital and in time he engaged in the agricultural implement
business in the famous "celery city" of the ''Wolverine State." Leaving
there his advent to Independence, Kansas, is announced.
The Stiches came to the United States in 1857. Carl Stich, our
subject's father, married Eleanor Hilbers. They represented old fam-
ilies of their native Hanover and passed away in Michigan, being the
parents of four children, namely : John, of Seattle, Washington ; Wil-
liam, of Paola, Kansas; Adolph C, of this review; and Diorette, wife of
John Harris, of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Among the first acts which indicated the latent and constructive
ability of A. C. Stich, was his invention of a bed spring and the patent
of the same. This happened before he was twenty-one and he handled
the invention to his advantage, turning it into some of the money which
constituted his capital to engage in regular business.
One of the domestic improvements of Montgomery county, which
was of momentous interest to its citizens, was the construction of the In-
dependence, Virdrgris Valley & Western Railroad, now a prominent
part of the Missouri Pacific railway — main line to the south. Stich &
Foster secured the contract for the building of the line from Leroy, Kan-
sas, to the south line of Independence township, Montgomery county.
This i.Jece of road was completed in 1880, and turned over to the Gould
interests who consolidated it with the D. M. & A. railway and con-
struded the link from near the town of Jefl'erson to Dearing .where it
connected with the latter railroad. The building of this line and the ex-
ecution of this contract by Stich & Foster marked the completion of the
largest enterprise ever undertaken by Montgomery county promoters.
It brought another system of railroad into the county in com|)otition
with a single line of road and thereby became a great saving, in the way
of rates, to every shipper and merchant in the county.
Mr. Stich was first married in Hillsdale, Michigan, his bride being
Anna Winsor, who died in Independence, Kansas, in 1882, being the
mother of three deceased children : Carl, Adelaide and l^leanor. In 1888,
Mr. Stich married Mrs. Catherine Kaisor, a lady of refinement and edu-
cation and occupying a high social position in the city. Mrs. Stich has
286 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
served three years as president of the Ladies' Library Association of In-
dependence and is a prominent worker in the Presbyterian church. She
is the mother of Mrs, W, E. Ziegler, of Coffeyville, wife of one of the
leading lawyers of Montgomery county. Mr. Stich's deceased son, Carl,,
is honored in the first word of the compound name ''Carl-Leon'' given to
the fnmou's hostelry before mentioned, the name, "Leon," being in honor
of a deceased son of Mr. Carpenter, one of the partners in its construc-
tion.
In this review only the salient features of a busy life have been
touched. It is offered to posterity as an illustration of the versatility of
one who performed a conspicuous part in the commercial affairs of Mont-
gomery county. "Not letting go of one thing till he gathered hold of
something else" shows his characteristic tenacity and exemplifies a life
of ceaseless and determined activity. He has manifested some interest in
the politics of his county and, as a Kepublican, has wielded a positive
influence in local political affairs. He is a thirty-two degree Mason and a
member of the Presbyterian church.
DEWITT C. KEONE— A record of the pioneers of Montgomery
county would be sbject to just and severe criticism without some ex-
tended mention of D. C. Krone. He is so widely known in the county and
has been here so long that few can gainsay that he was here, really in
the beginning. When he drove his mule team from LeKoy, Kansas, down
into this county, winding his way about over the prairies over unknown
roadways, across nameless creeks and through untamed valleys and head-
lands, nobody here now witnessed his passing, save those who might have
acconi])anied the caravan on the same mission with himself.
He selected, as his future home, a tract of land on Sycamore creek,
in section 22, township 31, range 15, where he has, for thirty-four years,
carried on farming with its attendant auxiliaries successfully and ef-
fectively. His settlement was almost in the midst of a band of Osages,
whose chief, Xopa walla, was a frequent visitor to the households of the
scattered settlers and with whose tribe a reluctant sort of business and
social intercourse was carried on. The minutia which made up the year-
ly incidents of a life on this frontier can not be touched upon here and
only as they are revealed in the experiences of the numerous pioneers
mentioned in this volume will these incidents become known again to us
and to our posterity.
The very composition and makeup of the man has maintained D. C.
Krone a leading citizen of his township and county. It has been with no
presumption on his part, or any disregard of the proper reserve, that his
name is first mentioned among the citizenship of his township, or that
he is coordinate with only a few distinguished pioneers of his countv- He
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 287
seemed designed to take the initiative in matters and the propriety of
Ms acts was so apparent that, of one accord, the voice of neighborly ap-
proval came back. In the social life of his commnnity, in its political
â– entanglements or upheavals, in the cause of public education and in the
religious atmosphere of his church he is unconsciously a power in the pro-
motion of progress and harmony unimpeded.
He has anticipated, in a way, the needs of the future in the pres-
ervation of incidents of the past. A student of events himself, his genius
has prompted him to make records and to preserve data concerning the
salient, historical events of his locality that the past may not become
obscured to the future and that the works of the pioneers shall not have
been wrought in vain. He puts his thoughts readily and intelligibly on
paper and his contributions to county papers contain much food for the
searcher after historical truth,
December 4, 1808, T). C. Krone took his claim in Montgomery county.
He came to Kansas the same year he left the army and stopped for three
years near the Neosho river, between LeRoy and Xeosho Falls. He was
from Macon county, Illinois, whei'e his birth occurred April 17, 1844. His
father, Daniel Krone, was born in York county, Pennsylvania, February
2, 180G, and took for a wife Sarah A. Kiester. He left his native State
at an early day and settled in Macon county, Illinois, where his large
family were brought up. He was a son of Michael Krone who had
children : Jacob, Philo, Elijah, David, Jesse, Daniel, Tillie, Mary, Abigail
and Hannah. Daniel married a daughter of Michael Kiester and was the
father of twelve children, as follows: Duquesne H., who has resided in
Montgomery county since 1877 and who was a veteran of the Civil War,
belonging to Company ''E," Forty-first Illinois; Mrs. Mary Star, of In-
dependence, Kansas; Mrs. Susan Bradshaw, deceased; Dewitt C. of this
review; Jesse S., deceased; Ellis K., of ^yilson county, Kansas; Mrs.
Jennie Stevens, of Taylorville, Illinois; Henry C, deceased; Charles L.,
of Oklahoma; Edward B., of Chickasha, Indian Territory; and Mrs.^
Myrtle Taylor, of Independence, Kansas.
D. C. Krone acquired a country school education and grew to matur-
ity on the farm. In 18C2 he enlisted in Company ''E." Forty-first Illinois
Infantry, under Col. I. C. Pugh, the regiment being attached to the
Army of the Tennessee. The principal engagements participated in by
Mr. Krone were the Red River expedition. Siege of Vicksburg, Benton-
ville, Cold Water and ]\farch to the Sea, and on to the Grand Review at
Washington, D. C. He was discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, and was
musteied out July 28, 1865. Returning home, his trip to Kansas was
soon made and his connection Avith Kansas' develoi)ment took place.
In 1868, M!i\ Krone married Margaret J., daughter of John S. Lo-
baugh, of Neosho Falls. The Lobaughs came to Kansas as juoneers from
the State of Pennsylvania. The union of Mr. Krone and his wife. Mar-
283 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
garet J., prodnced the following children, viz: Naomi, wife of Jacob S,
Corzine, of TaTlorville. Illinois; Katherine M. ; ]Mrs. Mabel M. Burke,
of Whistler. Oklahoma ; and Walter W.. of Neodesha, Kansas. The moth-
er of these children jtassed away April 9. 1880. Mr. Krone married
Mary I. White, a daughter of Capt. Charles White, of Longtou. Kusas.
Two daughters only have resulted from this marriage, viz : Edith Lucile,
and Euth, both with the family home. The family are members of the
Methodist church and Mr. Krone has served for thirty-two years as a
member of the district board of the Krone school. In politics he is a Re-
publican, and has been three times chosen as a delegate to the State con-
vention.
WILLIAM A. HEAPE — One of the successful young farmers of the
county is William A. Heape. of Sycamore township, on section 5-31-10. He
began his agricultural career in 1891 with a capital of -18.00. and. while
any number of young men were deploring the delay of opportunity to
pass their way. he boldly proposed to Robert Reis that he r-ent him a
tract of 392 acres of wheat land, cash rent to be |1.200. Mr. Reis liked
the spirit of the young man. chanced him and was not disappointed. To-
day Mr. Heajte oavus his quarter section of land with its improvements,
and he has demonstrated to the satisfaction of all that the possibilities
of agriculture to the man of industry are without bounds.
William Heape was born in Perry county. Illinois. September 19,
1869. a son of Abraham Heape. a native of the "Keystone State." When
William was nine years old his parents located on a farm in Montgomery
county, near Bolton, where he was reared and given a good common
school education. His first venture for himself was in Clark county,
Kansas, where he worked on a stock farm for $16 per month. Anxious
to get ahead in the world, and not seeing much in the future at such a
figure, he determined to return to Montgomery county where he was well
known and try farming on his own account. The oxjening lines of this
sketch relate his success.
The married life of Mr. Heape began in 1897, when he was joined
to Rose, daughter of Albert Ttterback, both natives of Indiana. Their
home is brightened by the presence of a son and a daughter, Lee and
Hazel.
For the purposes of a family record the following is added: Ulysses
Hea]iO our subject's grandfather and a native of Pennsylvania, married
and later moved to Ohio vrith his seven children : Katherine, now Mrs,
Miller. John. George, Cyrus. Levi. Abraham and Robert. Abraham mar-
ried Caroline :^[,iller. a native of Maryland, and a daughter of Jacob and
Eva Miller. The result of his union was a family of ten children: Jacob,
of Meade county, Kansas; Nancy Chew, of Galena, Kansas; Sarah Davis,
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 289
William A. and Katherine Davis, of Montgomery county; Eva Veatch
and Elizabeth Keith, also of Meade county; Eobert, who is a leading cit-
izen of Montgomery county, Kansas; and John, his twin brother, resides
in Meade county, Kansas. The youngest is Frederick, who resides in
Montgomery county.
ROBERT PAULL— Three decades in the State of Kansas have trans-
formed the subject of this review into one of the popular and substantial
citizens of Montgomery county. Given a native of Illinois and a veteran
of the Civil War, and one has a combination of enterprise and loyalty
to country which is a sure guaranty of a good citizen.
The immediate family history of Mr. Paull begins with his father,
John Paull, who was a native of Virginia and settled in Illinois in the
early j>art of the nineteenth century. Here he married Nancy Potter,
who also had come from the State of Virginia. John Paull was a black-
smith by trade, though he also tilled the soil, and he remained in Illinois
until after the Civil War, when he came out to Kansas where he passed
the remainder of his days, dying at the age of fifty-nine years. The
wife had died at thirty-eight, after having borne a family of fourteen
children. Robert was the eldest of the family, and there are five other
living children.
Robert Paull was born in Adams county, Illinois, on the 2r)th of Sep-
tember, 1841. and was reared to know the value of hard labor and the
necessity of economy in the home. He was able to secure a fair education
and \vas about ready to begin life on "his own hook" when "Uncle Sam,"
through President Lincoln, informed him he was needed to help disci-
pline some of his unruly children. Loyalty to country being one of the
cardinal principles of the Paull family, it was not a difficult thing to se-
cure the consent of the father to become her defender, and Robert was
therefore enlisted as a private soldier in Company "K," of the Ninety-
ninth Illinois Infantry. In this company he served three long years,
years busy with battle and strife and marchings, but years which saved
and unified the grandest country on the great round globe. Mr. Paull
was with Grant in the notable siege of Vicksburg and took ])art in the
battles of Champion Hills. Jackson, and many skirmishes. His regiment
was the first to cross the river in the final charge at ^'i<•ksburg where he
was struck by a spent bullet in the left side. After Vicksburg, the regi-
ment was sent doAvn into Texas, where, in a small skirmish, Mr. Paull
again received a close call, this time on the right side, the bullet remain-
ing on the inside of his shirt. j
At the close of the war. Mr. Paull came out to Kansas on a visit to
his father and on his return was joined in marriage with Mary E. Mil-
ler, the date being 18G7. He settled on a farm in Pike county, Illinois,
290 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
which he cultivated until 1873, when he followed the example of his
father and came out to M)ontgomery county. He settled on an eighty-
acre tract three miles northeast of the present town of Havana, and
which is a part of the valuable farm of 236 acres he now owns.
Hjere he has engaged in general farming and his well-tilled acres dem-
onstrates what persistent and intelligent agricultural effort will accom-
plish in Sunny Kansas. The small box house he erected on the eighty
later was replaced by the commodious and handsome residence in which
he now resides, and where he and his wife extend their friends a most
cordial welcome.
Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Paull, a son and a
daughter: Frank L. is in the hotel business in Independence, while the
daughter, Nancy, is the wife of Milton Bowersock, a prosperous farmer
residing in the neighborhood.
M. F. CASSIDY— Michael F. Cassidy. one of the ''69ers," and thus
entitled to membership in the Society of Pioneers, is one of the race
whose magnificent battle against the wrongs and oppression of England
has challenged the admiration of mxinkind and which is now evidently
drawing to a close in the peaceful transference of the land back to its
rightful owners. ''Ireland for the Irish" is about to be realized. But
it has cost England the flower of the Irish race to realize that homes, and
homes only, make a contented people.
One of the thousands of families who came to America in the middle
of the last centurv was that of Michael M. Cassidv, who left the old coun-
try in 1848. Michael F. was born in County Monaghan, October 22, 1835.
His father was one of four children^his mother being Katherine, daugh-
ter of Owen Bird, of the same county. The family of Mr. Cassidy, Sr., con-
sisted of six children, all born in the island, as follows: James, Thomas,
Ann, the latter dying in Ireland ; Mary McGuire, Joseph, of Clinton coun-
ty, Iowa; Michael F., subject of this review; and John, of Minnesota.
At maturity, Michael F. Cassidy married Bridget O'Brien, a native
of Canada, and a daughter of James and Elizabeth O'Brien, natives of
County Cork, Ireland. This wife became the mother of three children,
two noAv deceased. To Ellen A. Dunn, the lady who now presides over
the home of Mr. Cassidy and whom he married in 1875, there were born
five children: Michael F., deceased; Mary A,, a teacher of the county;
John D., express messenger on the Frisco road ; Nellie, at home ; and
Teresa, a student of the county high school. MJrs. Cassidy is also "to
the manor born,'' being the daughter of John and Bridget Londergan,
of County Tipperary, Ireland.
Mr. Cassidy was a wide-awake thirteen-year-old when he came to
America with his parents. They sailed from Dublin on the good ship
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 29I
^'Chancellor St. John" and came by way of New Orleans. A rough voy-
age was experienced, the ship having struck on the Island of Hayti, two
of her masts being carried away. The journey was thus lengthened to
a tiresom.e period of fourteen weeks. At New Orleans the family secured
passage up the river to St. Louis and were about to embark when the
overloaded condition of the boat caused the father to decide to forfeit
tickets rather than risk their lives; a decision which showed much wis-
dom, as the boat actuallv went to the bottom of the river. Boarding tho
next boat, they again were providentially hindered from reaching their
destination, having to disembark at Memphis on account of cholera break-
ing out on the boat. Here they remained four months, when the jour-
ney was resumed. Not long after reaching St. Louis cholera became epi-
demic there and Mr. Cassidy decided to move farther up the country.
Thus near Dubuque, Iowa, they had their first experience in American
agriculture. Davenport, Scott county, and Clinton county of that State
were points of residence for the family until 1869, when they came dowii
into Montgomeiy county. Kansas.
In the spring of 18(>0. the journey was accom])lislied by team froih the
old home in Iowa to the undeveloped region of Southern Kansas. Our
subject filed on the claim where they have since lived, in West Cherry
township, on section 3-32-16. Neighbors were few and far between —
unless one might call the "noble Red Man'' a neighbor — in which case they
were plenty. However, Mr. Cassidy always liked the Indian and got
along splendidly with him. Only once was there trouble, and that had
such a laughable denouement, it passed off quietly. While he was away
one day. Chief Beaver's son undertook to frighten Mrs. Cassidy. After
worrying her as much as he desired in the house, he climbed on top of the
chimney, and the first sight Mr. Cassidy had of him was in that position,
waving a red blanket. To hi,s orders to come down the boy gave Mr. Cas-
sidy the laugh, whereupon that gentleman proceeded inside, placed a
goodlv portion of powder in the fireplace and while the boy was at the
height of his glee, touched it off. The sight of that boy "scudding" off
across the }>rairie still remains in the memory of our subject as one of the
laughable occurrences of that early day. Mr. Cassidy is responsible for
the name of Irish creek, the Indians having learned that he was Irish,
thought to compliment him, and to some enquiring whites gave that
name because the Cassidys lived on that creek.
In 18(i!», Mr. Cassidy and his family were the only white people in
Montgomery county, Kansas, to celebrate the Fourth of July. Mr. Cas-
sidy had been invited by Captain Ayers, mayor of Osage Mission, and
Mr. Gilmore, an old Indian trader, to come over to a war dance of several
tribes Avhich met for several days at Osage M/ission and during these days
the celebration took place.
With the exception of seven years in the lumber business in Iowa,
292 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Mr. Oassidy has passed his life as a tiller of the soil. His standing in
Montgomery county is of the best, as he has ever evinced a disposition to
give his influence to those things that make for the material and intel-
lectual advancement of the community. Hfe is a member of the school
board and acted as census enumerator in 1900. Both he and his family
are devout communicants of the Holy Catholic church, and deserve, as
they receive, the esteem of the entire communitv.
A. P. FORSYTH— The subject of this sketch was born in New Rich-
mond, Clermont county, Ohio, May 24, 1830. He is of Scotch decent. His
parents moved to Indiana when he was five years old and settled twenty
miles northeast of Vincennes, where he remained most of the time until
he reached manhood.
His education was received in the common schools of that time, sup-
plemented with two terms at Asbury University (now De Paw).
He was married to Miss Louisa S. Hinkle, Nov^ember 27, 1851. They
had born to them six children, four of whom are living, three sons and
one daughter.
He was admitted into the Indiana conference of the My. E. church as
a travelling preacher in 18.53 and sustained that relation for eight years.
He enlisted in the service of his country in July, 1862, and, upon the
organization of the regiment, was commissioned by Gen. O. P. Morton,
fiirst lieutenant of Company "I," Ninety-seventh regiment, Indiana
Volunteers, and was discharged in August, 1864, by reason of disability
incurred in the service.
He then moved to Illinois, in the spring of 1865, and settled on a farm
thirteen miles west from Paris, the county seat of Edgar county. He
took quite an active part in the Grange movement; was elected and
served three terms of two years each as master of the State Grange of Il-
linois; was elected to the Forty-sixth Congress from the then Fifteenth
district, as a Greenbacker or National Republican-, the district having
5.000 Democratic majority. During his term in Congress, he acted and
voted with the Re]>ublican party upon all National questions.
In 1881, he moved to Kansas and settled on a farm in Liberty town-
ship, six miles southeast of Independence. He took quite an active part
in local politics and in the state campaign of 1888 and 1890, when Ly-
man r. Humphrey was the candidate for governor, and spoke in a num-
ber of counties in ditforeut parts of the state; also took an active part in
the Ccimpaign of 1892 when A. W. Smith was a candidate for governor.
Sinc(> then he has taken no active part in politics.
He served three terms of three years each as regent of the Kansas
State Agricultural College, being api)ointed thereto by Gov. John A.
Martin and Lyman U. Hum]>hrey, successively. He continued farming
W. H. SLOAN.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 293
until 1900, when he rented his farm and moved to Independence, Kansas,
where he now resides.
WILLIAM H. SLOAN — Louisburg township became the home in
•July, 1868, of William H. Sloan, one of the solid men of Montgomery
county, who shares, in large part, the credit for the splendid development
that has since come to the county. As stated in the review devoted to
the Inscho family, these two gentlemen came together and filed on ad-
joining claims, M^r. Sloan's quarter being on section 13-32-14. Here he
passed through all the trials incident to pioneer life and is now enjoying
the fruits of his well-directed efforts, being, at the present time, in posses-
,sion of a farm of 845 acres and having his home, since 1900, in Rutland
township.
He landed on his claim that hot July day with a frying pan, a cof-
fee pot, an axe,a sack of corn and a piece of bacon ; having come from
Hardin county, Ohio. He put up the usual 14xlG house and the follow-
ing year began farming operations. He soon became well acquainted
with the Indians and, though not being able to ''conjure" them as his
friend, "Medicine Man" Inscho, still, he lived with them in comparative
peace. He been me especially well acquainted with interpreters Alvin
Wood and Paul and with Chiefs Nopawalla, Chetopa and Strike Axe,
and found them, in many respects, not wanting in the noble qualities of
the "Fenimore Cooper" Indian.
As time passed. Mr. Sloan gave his best endeavors to the esatblish-
ment of schools, churches and other civilizing and refining influences
and has always been particularly jealous of the good reputation of his
township and county. He has served faithfully in the unpaid oflflces of
township trustee and on the school board and is ready at all times to en-
ter into any enterprise that v.ill advance the public good. He is an old
time Mason, belonging to all the different branches of that noble order,
from Master Mason to Mystic Shrine.
Touching briefly on the family history of Mr. Sloan, John Sloan, his
grandfather, was an Irishman of Reformed Presbyterian faith who, to-
gether with a family of eleven children, came to America and settled on
a farm in Ohio. The names of these children were: William, Samuel, Jo-
seph, John, Thomas, James, David, Robert, Margaret, Elisha and Fannie.
Of these, William married Ann Scott, also a native of the Emerald Isle,
who becauie the mother of: Sarah A. Weaver, Mrs. ^Nlary Elizabeth Stew-
art, Mrs. Frances J. Shaw, Margaret H., Mrs. Agnes L. Stewart, John,
William H. and Joseph G.
William H. Sloan married Rlioda Debo, a native of the "Hoosier
State'' and daughter of William and Henrietta Debo. These parents
were children of the pioneer families of that state and passed their lives
294 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
in ihe ciiltivation of its soil. To Mr, and Mrs. Sloan have been born:
Homer, Ethel, Jessie, Helen and Fay.
Born January 15, 1842, William Hienry Sloan was reared in his na-
tive county of Champaign, in Ohio. and was at that age when the blood
runs most freely, when the darkening clouds of the Civil War gathered in
terrible array. He chafed under home restraint until September, 1864,
when he enrolled as a private in Company "G," Ninth Ohio Volunteer
Cavalry, under Col. William Hamilton, General Kilpatrick of the
Third Cavalry division. Army of the Cumberland, commanding. He
reached the front in time to take part in "Uncle Billy" Sherman's picnic
excursion to the sea, and participated in the closing scenes of the war
in the Carolinas. His mustering out occurred at Concord, North Caro-
lina, in July, 1865, when he returned home, to ne'er again engage in mor-
tal strife with his fellowman.
THOMAS HAKRISON— A period of thirty-three years takes one
back to the beginning of things in Independence. Those were the days
of "shacks," prairie schooners, bad Indians and worse cowboys; a con-
trast, indeed, to the beautiful homes, elegant equipages and refined and
intelligent citizenship which fill the city today. There are a few of those
early landmarks left, but on the principle of the "survival of the fittest"
the old settler of today is generally a well-to-do, self-respecting citizen,
whose earlier strenuous days have given j)lace to the quiet jog-trot of
prosperous old age. On the 22d of September, 1870, the gentleman whose
honored name initiates this paragraph took up his residence in Inde-
pendence, and the entire stretch of the three decades has found him
first and foremost in every movement that had for its object the better-
ment of conditions in the town of his adoption.
Somersetshire, England, was the place of birth of our subject, the
time January 8, 1835. He was a son of William and Ann (Chapman)
Harrison, both now deceased. Following the good old English custom,
Thomas was apprenticed to a trade after he had received a fair common
school education, the period of apprenticeship in his case occupying the
eleven years prior to his majority. This gave him ample time to thor-
oughly master the saddlery trade. He worked as a journeyman in the
city of London until 1808. when, in September, he carried out a resolu-
tion he had made some time before of seeking his fortune in the new
world. He settled in the city of Detroit and worked at his trade two
years, by which time he had succeeded in laying by enough to think of
starting business for himself. Favorably impressed with representa-
tions concerning the new State of Kansas, he began an investigation
which culminated in his selecting Independence as the most likely point,
a decision he has never regretted. In company with his brother-in-law,.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 295
JaDies Cully ford, Mr. Harrison entered upon his business career under
the firm name of CuUyford & Harrison, saddlers, a firm which was dis-
solved five years later, the occasion being the first disastrous fire that
visited the business section of the little town, and in which their building
and its contents were destroyed. With the proverbial English grit, Mr.
Harrison started at the foot of the ladder and again began its toilsome
ascent, this time alone. Ten years later, he again suffered severely by fire,
but since which time he has had a peaceful and successful career. Singu-
larly enough, both fires originated next door, and both are said to have
been of incendiary origin. Mr. Harrison is engaged extensively in the
sale of leather goods, all kinds of farm implements and vehicles, which
he houses in a commodious two-story business building, 23x140 feet.
His trade is not confined by county or state lines, as his reputation of
dealing in none but the best goods was a matter of careful calculation
in the earlier days of his business career.
As intimated, Mr. Harrison's citizenship has been of the helpful
kind. He has, at different times, served in offices of trust connected with
the government of the city; a member of the fire company for eleven
years, in the council eight years, during which many of the substantial
Improvements were made in the city, his last term being honored with
election as president of that body. For one term he was a member of the
school board.
Before leaving the land of his birth. Mr. Harrison had secured a
partner to share with him the joys and sorrows of this life, the lady be-
ing Mary A. Cullyford. a native of Somersetshire. Her three children
were: William, in business with his father; Louisa, single; and Charlie,
who died in infancy. The mother of these children died just one year
from the date of M^. Harrison's coming to Independence. The lady who
now presides over his home and who became his wife in 1872, was Mrs.
Catherine Morrison, and to them one son was born, Charles T., now a
young pharmacist of the city.
Believing in the fraternity idea, Mr. Harrison early became a mem-
ber of the I. O. O. F., in which order he has filled all the chairs and is
at present Chief Patriarch of the Encampment. He is also an active
member of the Woodmen, having held the office of Sovereign Lieutenant
for a number of years. It is not fulsome praise to say that no more high-
ly resi)ected citizen lives in Montgomery county than Thomas Harrison.
His life has at all times been an open book whose leaves remain stainless.
BERNHARDT ZAUGG— The late pioneer whose name initiates
this memoir was a character, somewhat uniipie, whose career of twenty-
seven years in Independence and vicinity was marked for its unabated
industry and for its versatility. He came here in ISTO, when the town
296 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
possessed scarcely more than the name, engaged in the butcher business
the first three years and followed it with a term of years in the whole-
sale liquor business. On retiring from this, he occupied his farm in the
Verdigris bottom just east of the city and was employed with its conduct
until failing health forced his withdrawal from physical labors. He
again became a citizen of Independence where he died June 8, 1897. Such
is a brief synopsis of the life and achievements of Bernhardt Zaugg who
filled a niche in the business life of !M(ontgomery county. Widely known,
respected by all, with honorable ancestry and without posterity he left
to the world the proud record of a successful life.
Bernhardt Zaugg was a Swiss by nativity. He was born in the
proviiice of Berne, April 12, 1810, and was a son of Ulrich and Elizabeth
(Funkhouser) Zaugg, somewhat extensive and well-to-do farmers of the
province. The parents were born and died there and were communicants
in the Lutheran church. Fourteen children were born to them, the sec-
ond oldest being Bernhardt of this sketch. Two sisters and two brothers
of them came to the United States, Bernhardt in 1868 and Peter and the
sisters — Mrs. Elizabeth Euberg. deceased, of Colorado, and Mrs. Barbara
Avenerius, of Ottawa, Kas. — following later on. Bernhardt Zaugg was
fairly educated in the schools provided for his station in Switzerland and
learned the butcher's trade. Hie passed through Castle Garden, robust
and strong, and made his way to Saint Joseph, Missouri, where he ob-
tained work at his trade. Leaving the Missouri town, he drifted
down to Baxter Springs, Kansas, from which point he came to Independ-
ence.
Montgomery county was the scene of Mr. Zaugg's effective work.
With the aid and counsel of his wife he laid the foundation for and built
a modest fortune. While he was young and full of vigor no task requir-
ing industry was he unable to accomplish and it can be safely stated
that he amassed his wealth by intelligent and properly directed effort.
The farm he owned in the river bottom sold for .f 10.000.00, a greater sum
than was paid for a like estate before that time in Montgomery county.
His wife, whom he married in Independence December 24, 1872, was an
ever-present aid to his ambition. She was Bernhardtina Tanner, born in
Switzerland January 21, 1811, and a daughter of Conrad and Elizabeth
(Sonderlieger) Tanner. Her parents had five children of which number
she is the sole survivor. Mrs. Zaugg was educated liberally in the ordi-
nary schools of the Swiss republic and, as it happened, came to the
United States the same year her husband did. She passed from New
York to Grand Eapids, Michigan, and came on to Kansas as soon as the
government treated with the Osage Indians for their reservation. She
and her late husband began life in an humble way and the quarter of a
century in which they labored together their efforts achieved financial re-
sults that were gratifying indeed. Her aid of different industrial enter-
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 297
prises of Independence show her to be progressive and public-spirited.
The brick plant, the cracker factory and the cotton mill have each been
beneficiaries of her generosity and it is with a spirit of loyalty to her
favorite city that she is prompted to these favoring acts. "
As pioneers Mr. and il^rs. Zangg Avere among the first. As citizens
they performed a modest but positive part in the internal affairs of Mont-
gomery county and sustained their names unsullied and unimpeached.
JAMES F. BLACKLEDGE— No other county in the state owes its
phenomenal development to the fire and snap of youth to a greater extent
than does Montgomery. Hi9re in the years immediately succeeding the
great Civil War. settled men whose youthful fiber had been steeled by
war's exacting duties, and who are now referred to as "old settlers."
Though still active, they have gradually given way to the younger ele-
ment, whose educational equipment fits them to take up the more compli-
cated work of advancing civilization. Among this number the gentle-
man whose name initiates this paragraph is noted as a leader, adding
to the restless energy of youth the sound judgment that comes from suc-
cessful contact with the business world in various capacities.
James F. Blackledge is the present efficient cashier and manager of
the Caney Valley National Bank, of Caney City. The place of his nativ-
ity was Rockville, Indiana, the time October 29, 1869. He is the youngest
son of William and Phoebe (Johns) Blackledge, his parents belonging to
that sturdy class of artisans which has made the "Hoosier State" famous
in the field of labor. The parents are natives of Ohio, the father born in
1832, and upon arriving at manhood becoming a builder and contractor
in Indiana. In this state he passed his early manhood and cheerfully
laid aside the implements of peace to wield the sword in the glorious
cause of freedom during the three long years of the Civil War. In 1879.
he cast his lot with the "Sunfiower State," settling first in Oswego, then at
Cofteyville, where he and his wife now reside, honored members of socie-
tv. Seven children were born to them, three boys and two girls yet liv-
ing.
A lad of but ten years when he first looked upon Kansas prairies,
Mr. Blackledge lays claim to being a Kansan ''to the manor born," the en-
tire formative and educational period of his life being passed within the
borders of the State. The foundation of his excellent education was laid
in the district schools, from which he passed to a course in Salina Col-
lege. At nineteen, after passing a creditable examination in the Civil Ser-
vice, he received an appointment in the railway mail service as clerk, his
first run being on the Ft. Scott & Webb City R. R.. from Ft. Scott to
Webb City. The facility which he rapidly acquired in the service and a
fine grasp of the more intricate problems which came up for solution al-
298 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
most daily, soon marked him for promotion, and he was tested in many
different j)Ositions in the succeeding five years, in all of which he proved
eflScient.
The marriage of Mr. Blackledge. in 1800. had thrown him into con-
tact with a master of finance in the person of his father-in-law, E. P. Al-
len, president of the Bank of Independence, and with whom, in 1893, he
became associated in a banking venture in the then village of Caney.
Joint purchasers of stock in the Caney Valley Bank, they operated it as
a state bank until 1000. when it was incori»orated under the name now
known, with a capital of |25,000.00. Under the splendid management of
Mr. Blackledge, this bank has become one of the solid financial institu-
tions of the county, with a working deposit of nearly |100.000.00. If one
thing more than another has contributed to Mr. Blackledge's success in
the business world, it is his absolute fidelity to a trust, and the careful
consideration he gives to the minutest detail of the work.
Politics, as such, proves of but little interest to Mr. Blackledge. He
votes with the Republican party, and, yielding to the solicitation of
friends, has served his municipality in the board of councilmen. To this
he adds the sinecure of city treasurer.
The home life of our subject has been peculiarly felicitious, Miss
Mattie H. Allen, daughter of E. P. and Mary Allen, becoming his wife
as stated above, ip 1890. To this union have been born four bright
children — Ralph T., Paulina, Gwynne and Mercedes.
Mr. Blackledge is a member of M'asonic Blue Lodge, a K. of P.
and on M. W. A. and Mrs. Blackledge is a member of the Presbyterian
church.
ELIZABETH. BRYANT— The lady mentioned is one of the most in-
teresting of the few pioneers of Montgomery county still left. She de-
lights in reminiscences of the earl,y days when wild game and the wilder
Red Man roamed in undisputed possession of the prairie, and can tell
many tales of adventure in which the "noble Red Man" figured, and gen-
erally to his discredit. Mjrs. Bryant came to Kansas in 1858, with her
husband and family, first settling in Atchison county, thence, in 18G0, to
Cofl'ey county, where they resided during the war. In 1867. they moved
down into Montgomery county, where they have ever since been among
its best citizens.
Mrs. Bryant w^as born in Vermilion county, Indiana, on the 31st of
January, 1836, the daughter of John and Fannie (Harper) Geer, both
natives of Kentucky. John Geer was one of the early settlers of the
"Hoosier State," having come from Kentucky when a five-year-old boy.
He lived in Indiana until 1853, when he removed with his family to Iowa,
and Jn which state he died at the advanced age of eighty years, the wife
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 299
at seventy-one. In xlngust of 1855, Mrs. Bryant was married to Hezekiah
F. Bryant, a native of Kentncivy, born April 12th, 1832. He came over
into Indiana when a boy and accompanied Mr. Geer's people when they
moved out to Iowa. They rented a farm for several years in Iowa and, in
1858, came to Kansas, as stated. The family were living in Coffey county
when the war came on and Mr. Bryant at once enlisted. This left Mrs.
Bryant to look after affairs at home and for the entire period of the war
she bravely fought the battles necessary to keep her young family to-
gether — and who shall say the brave women did not have battles to fight
that took as high a degree of courage and as great display of generalship
as were required on the actual field of carnage.
Early in 18G1, Mr. Bryant enlisted in the Ninth Kansas Cavalry, and
served nearly five years with that organization, participating in many
important engagements of the west. As stated, the family moved down
into Montgomery county in 1867, where they located a claim on Elk river.
This was in pioneer days, in truth, when but few white families were in
the county, and when thieving Indians roamed over valley and hill. The
Bryants were unfortunate enough to become the victims of these pests,
losing their only team soon after their arrival, and even a coat and brace
of revolvers that had been carelessly laid aside. Claim-jumpers were an-
other species of varmint the new settlers had to reckon with. While Mr.
Bryant was gone on his trip back to Coffey county for the rest of the
family, an effort was made to jump his claim, which his return in the
nick of time prevented. As it was, the family moved into their cabin be-
fore the roof was put on and slept the first night under a few rough
l)oard!j. The first year was one of privation and almost of suffering, but
after their first crop was raised it became easier, and, as years passed,
hard work brought prosperity and plenty to their door.
This first farm was cultivated until the year 1885, when it was sold
and a move made to where Mrs. Bryant now resides, two miles from
Tyro. Mr. Bryant died on the 14th of March, 1889, at the age of fifty-
six years eleven months and twenty-eight days, in Saint Andre Bay,
Florida, while in search of health. He was a man whose fine traits of
character won to him many friends. He cared little for public life, but
was most envious of the good will of his friends and neighbors, among
whom he was exceedingly popular.
Mrs. Bryant was the mother of eight children : Marion, deceased in
1886 ; John V.. James, Benjamin X., deceased at one year and eiglit
mouths; William A., R. Simeon, Ida May, deceased in infancy; and an
unnamed infant.
Of this family, William A. has dutifully remained at home, caring
for his mother. He was born in Coffey county in 1867, and has passed
the entire period of his life at home. The farm which he cultivates evi-
dences in its well-tilled acres the stroke of a master hand, and presents
300 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
as fine an appearance as any in the confines of the county. He makes a
specialty of breeding fine horses and takes great pride in driving the best
in his stable, in the cultivation of his farm. His devotion to his mother is a
matter of common remark, and he has resolutely remained single with
the purpose of giving her the better care. He is regarded in the com-
munity as a worthy son of a worthy father, whose many virtues he so
aptly illustrates.
JOHN CRICK — John Crick, a farmer of Louisburg township, Mont-
gomery county, is a native of Old England, where he was born, in Boln-
hurst, on the 25th of February, 18-12. His father was James H. Hopwood,
and his mother Sarah Crick. The parents lived and died in the Old
Country, where, in Bedfordshire, our subject was educated and learned
his trade.
In the year 1866, the latter crossed the ocean and located in Phila-
delphia, where he worked at his trade, as a machinist, with the firm of
Bement & Dougherty, and also with the Sellers Tool Co. He remained in
Philadelphia about one year and then went to Susquehanna, the same
state, where he entered the employ of the New York and Erie Eail-
road. Later, he came to Chicago and worked for the Iio<-k Island Rail-
road Company. He was with the Kansas Pacific for two years at dif-
ferent points and then, finally, abandoned the life of a machinist and, in
1871, located on the farm where he now resides. This farm consists of
160 acres of fine land, which our subject keeps in a high state of cultiva-
tion. It is stocked well with the best grades of cattle and horses and
shows the skillful hand of the master agriculturist.
The domestic life of Ml\ Crick began April 15th, 1863, on which date
he was joined in marriage with Mary, a daughter of Valentine and Cla-
rinda (Durand) Cryderman. Mrs. Crick's father was a native of Canada,
where he was born in 1816. In early manhood he located in Indiana and
there married. He, later, moved to Illinois, where Mrs. Crick was born,
she being one of a family of ten children, viz : George, deceased ; Amelia,
first married John Smith, but is now the wife of Edward Hays; Silvia,
deceased wife of Jesse N. Gallamore, her children being : Nellie, Rose, Ivy,
Jessie, Florence, Clarinda, Maude, Amy and Vane; the fourth child is
Mrs. Crick; Merritt L., lives with his mother in Wilson county, Kansas;
James Valentine. Amos married Cornelia Ragland, lives in Neodesha,
Kansas; William Adna, John married Dora Wellming and lives in Wash-
ington, and an infant unnamed.
To. Mr. and Mrs. Crick have been born a family of six children, as
follows — Nettie, born January -Ith, 1875, resides at home; Jesse, born
October 5th, 1876; Daisy B., born July 14th, 1879; Amy E., born Septem-
ber 22ud, 1881; Harry, born November 12th, 1884, and Frank V., born
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 3O1
Sept. 7th, 1880. Of these children, Jesse, the oldest sou, enlisted in the
Spanish-Amei-ican war in the spring of 1898, and served nntil his dis-
charge at San Francisco, November 1st, 1899. He resided, for a time, in
Missoula, Montana, and is now an employe of the Northern Pacific rail-
way, and at present resides in Agnascolientes, :M:exico, where he is a loco-
motive engineer.
Mr. and Mrs. Crick are devout and consistent members of the Metho-
dist Episcopal church and are leading members of society in the com-
munity, where they interest themselves in every cause which looks to gen-
eral betterment. He has never sought public office, and is pleased to sup-
port the principles of the Republican party by his vote. He is a charter
member of William Penn Lodge of Elk City, I. O. O. F. He joined this
order in 1870, in Wyandotte, Kansas, and has been a life-long member of
the same. Those who know Ml'. Crick and his family best are uniform
in their opinion of the splendid character which they maintain in the
community.
JAMES A. McDowell— Since 1869, there has lived, five miles from
Elk City, a gentleman, who, by his upright character and by his unity of
purpose has earned the esteem of a large community of friends. There
are few in the ranks of the "old settlers" of the county who are better or
more favorably known than Mr. McDowell, and we present his record in
brief, that posterity may know him, and something of his antecedents.
October 9th, 1858, marks the date of birth of Mr. McDowell, in Cald-
well county, Kentucky. He is of Irish extraction, his father, Allen Mc-
Dowell, having been a son of Alexander, who was the Irish founder of
this American family. They settled in Kentucky, where Allen McDowell
was born, and where he married Martha Freeman, daughter of Hardy F.
Freeman, of a North Carolina family, which settled in Caldwell county,
Kentucky.
Allen McDowell enlisted in the Union army during the Civil war,
and died at home while on a furlough, but his widow still lives and resides
with her son, our subject.
James A. McDowell was a lad of ten years when his mother settled
in Montgomery county, Kansas. With her came her father, together with
a brother and two brothers-in-law. Each of the male members of the
party preempted a quarter section of land in Louisburg township, as also
did our subject's mother. The latter proved up on her claim, sold out
and purchased the farm of eighty acres upon which Mr. McDowell now
resides, and which he has continued to cultivate since he grew to man-
hood.
Mr. McDowell married, in January, 1893, Miss Lola Lewis, daughter of
Abraham and Martha (Keed) Lewis. To this marriage have been born
302 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
three children: Alvis, born December 8th. 1804; Frances Anna, born
March 28th, 189G; and James Allen, born June 7th, 1898.
The farm on which Mr. McDowell now resides is not extensive in
acreage, but it is well kept and shows the hand of an intelligent and
skilled agriculturist.
In fraternal life, Mr. McDowell is a member of the Modern Wood-
men of America, and in politics he affiliates and votes with the Republi-
can j)arty.
CAPT. J. E. ^^TONE — This name is an honored one in Montgomery
county, where its bearer has resided for many long 3'ears, he being one of
the earliest settlers in the southern part of the county. Capt. Stone set-
tled in the county soon after the war and one .year prior to the laying out
of the townsite of Caney. Here he purchased a large body of land, on
j)art of which now stands that city. During his residence here. (''ai)t.
Stone has filled several important public positions, notably that of county
sheriff, in which office he served two terms, and as postmaster of the city
of Caney. a position he has held since 1897.
Capt. Joseph E. Stone is the eldest son of Jonathan and Sarah ( Stev-
ens) Stone. His birth dates in the state of Maine, where he was born, in
Waldo county, on the 26th day of July, 1842. His parents were by occu-
pation farmers. The records give the date of the birth of Jonathan Stone
as :March 27th. 1816, his death occurring July 20th, 1883. The dates of
birth and death of the wife are respectively, March 27th. 1818, and
January 15th, 1900. These parents reared a family of five children. Capt.
Stone passed the days of his youth and young manhood on the home farm,
his earlv education being that which was common in those days in the
country districts of the east. With this as a foundation he attended ses-
sions at the Maine State Seminary, and at the early age of sixteen had
qualified himself for the noble work of a teacher. He taught success-
fully for a period of five years in the country districts about his home.
As the rumblings of war became more and more distinct the young
teacher followed events with an all-absorbing interest and when opportu-
nity offered he was readv to ofl'er his life as a sacrifice on the altar of de-
votion to country. He enlisted in Company "B," of the 44th U. S. Color-
ed Infantry, a regiment recruited with white officers and colored troops.
Capt. Stone was enlisted as second lieutenant and was later promoted to
first lieutenant, which position he was holding at his discharge. He par-
ticipated in several important engagements and was at the surrender of
Lee at Appomattox. His regiment was sent to the extreme south im-
mediately after the surrender and he was mustered out in the city of
New Orleans. The service, however, had proved so fascinating to our sub-
ject that he soon re-enlisted in the regular service, this time as first lieu-
J E. STONE.
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 303
tenant of Company "B," 125th Colored U. S. Infantry. In this position
he experienced service on the plains for two years and then closed his
military life at Fort Leavenworth, in December of 18G7.
A trip to the old home in Maine preceded his settlement at Lee Sum-
mit, Jackson county, Missouri, where he conducted a commission busi-
ness until the spring- of 1870. This year marks the date of his coming
to Kansas, the exact day of his landing in the vicinity of the present city
of Caney being the 11th of May. He took up a claim* just north of CaneV
and since that time has been one of the largest individual land owners in
the county. His holdings aggregate at present some 1,200 acres, 500 of
which adjoins the city limits. Some idea of the strides real estate have
taken in this vicinity may be gathered from the fact that this land,
bought at 17.00 an acre, is now valued in the neighborhood of .f 100.00.
Capt. Stone has figured actively in the development of Caney. In
1880, a company was organized, of which he became president, and which
purchased 240 acres north of the city. This was platted and is now a part
of the city proper. He has built himself a handsome residence on the
corner of Fourth avenue and Wood street, where he is passing an active
and jdeasant old age.
As stated, the public life of Capt. Stone comprised two terms in the
office of sheriff, in the early days, and his present position of postmaster.
His experience in the former office was immediately after his arrival in
Kansas, and was in a dav when it took a man of some nerve to adminis-
ter the office. Our subject can tell many a good story of "border war-
fare," when the man quickest with his gun was the master of the situa-
tion. During his term as postmaster at Caney the office has passed from
a fourth-class to a presidential office. His administration of the office
has been eminently satisfactory to the patrons and the department at
Washington. In financial circles Capt. Stone is known far and wide.
He is vice president and one of the principal stockholders in the Home
National Bank of Caney, and is regarded as one of the solid men of the
southern part of the state.
Our subject has been most active in political life, and it is not ful-
some praise to say that the present condition cf the Republican party is
due in large measure to his wise counsel and efficient management as
chairman of the County Central Committee.
The marriage of Capt. Stone occurred in February of 1874, while
serving his second term as sheriff'. The event occurred in Independence;
the lady's name, Anna Vansandt, a native of Missouri, a daughter of
Elijah and Mary R. Vansandt. Mrs. Stone was a lady of nuiny excel-
lencies of character and on her death. May IGth, 1897, she was mourned
by a large circle of friends throughout the county. She Avas the mother
of five children, all of whom are living: Arthur F., Herbert G., Myrtle
May, Roy Ml and Edwin Earl. This latter son inherited the taste for
304 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
military life from his father and is at present a member of the U. S. Cav-
alry, 14th Regiment, stationed at Fort Grant, Arizona.
Forceful, vet. withal, most kindly, shrewd in the management of his
affairs, yet generous to a fault; helpful in his association with friends
and neighbors. Captain Stone merits the large measure of esteem in
which he is held in Caney and Montgomery county.
ISAAC M. ARGO— In the vicinity of Costello, lives some of the
most enterprising and industrious farmers of Montgomery county, among
whom is the gentleman whose name heads this notice. He has been a
resident of the county for nineteen years and he and his family are es-
teemed for their many splendid qualities and personal virtues.
Isaac M. Argo dates his birth from the year 1854, in Champaign
county. Illinois. His parents. David and Mary (Shreve) Argo, came to
the town of Neodesha, Kansas, in 1872, near which place they preempted
a claim and where they continued to reside until their death.
Our subject was eighteen years of age when the family came to Kan-
sas and he aided his parents in opening the farm until he passed his legal
-majority. He then began life on his own account and, in 1891, started
an establishment of his own, being joined in marriage that year with Miss
May, daughter of James H. and Margaret (Weller) Ashbaugh. His wife's
father was a native of Hardin county, Kentucky, where he was born in
1817, the mother, also, being a native of the same county and state.
They were early pioneers of Montgomery county, Kansas, having settled
here in 1869. and preempted the farm where Mr. Argo now resides. Two
of his daughters. Mary and Martha, also took and proved up a claim of a
quarter section of land nearby. Mr. Argo died in 1882, and his wife pass-
ed away in 1889, leaving six children : Mary I., now deceased ; Martha
A., who married Garland Watson and lives near Kansas City; Margaret,
deceased; Victor, v»ho lives in Colorado; George J., also of Colorado,
married Fannie Ashbaugh. ar.J has a son, William; the youngest child
was Mrs. Argo.
To the home of Mr. and Mrs. Argo have come two children: Victor
N., born February 1, 1884, and David, who was born July 23. 1902. In
his social relations Mr. Argo is most happy, being a member of the Mod-
ern Woodmen, and ready at all times to take part in any movement which
has for its object the improvement of society about him. He is not active
in the matter of politics, but is pleased to support, by his yoU-. the plat-
form of the Populist party.
SAMUEL McMURTRY— The subject of this sketch is the pf\:cie:it
clerk of Montgomery county, and has been a factor in the county's af-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 305
fairs for the past eleven j^ears. He is one of the great throng of honor-
able and creditable citizens who have been filling up Kansas from the
"Hoosier State" since the war of the Rebellion and. himself, sought its
borders in the year 1887.
Mr. McMurtry was born in Hamilton county, Indiana, September
10th. 1854, and is a son of Ansel McMurtry, who died November 18th,
1854, the year of our subject's birth, at the age of thirty-two. The father
was a native of Kentucky, where his parents established themselves on
coming to the United States from the British Isles, just after the war
of 1812. Samuel McMurtry, grandfather of our subject, was the pioneer
ancestor above referred to, and was the head of the McMurtry family of
this branch in America. About the year 1830, he accompanied several
of his children into Hamilton county, Indiana, where he passed away at
a ripe old age. He married Elsie Reid, a lady of Irish birth, and reared
a large family of children. In business affairs he was a trader and
farmer.
Ansel McMurtry grew up in Indiana and there married Polly Burris.
She was of English birth and was born February 8th, 1827. She still
resides in Hamilton county and is the widow of Thomas Phillips. By her
first marriage five children were born, of whom three survive, and seven
children were born to her last marriage, only one of whom now lives.
The McMurtry children are: Mrs. Maria Wilson, of Arcadia, Indiana;
Mrs. Rosa Phillips, of Lawrence, Kansas ; Mrs. Sarah Scully, who died in
Hamilton county, Indiana, in 1875 ; and Samuel, of this review.
Orphaned at the age of two months, our subject never knew the guid-
ance and protection of a father. The training of the farm and the rural
school fell to his lot in boyhood and he finished his education with gradu-
ation from the Union High Academy, at Westfield, Indiana. He took
up the study of law in Noblesvil]e,Indianaiwith the firm of Kane & Davis,
and v/as admitted to the bar in 1879, after a due course of reading. But
instead of engaging in the practice of law he took up the work of teach-
ing school and followed it in his native state for ten years.
In 1887, he came out to Kansas with the intention of teaching one
year and then taking up the profession of law. An attractive offer was
made him in Kinsley, where he located, to take charge of the city schools,
and this caused him to deviate from his original plans, and he presided
over the destinies of the schools of the county seat of Edwards county, as
superintendent, for five years. The depression of the times brought busi-
ness 1o such a low ebb in western Kansas that, in 1892, he decided to get
nearer the center of population, and away from the region of the western
plains. He chose Montgomery county for his field of labors and located in
('oftcA ville. where he became associate editor of the Uoifeyville Journal,
then under the manageuient of the late Capt.D. S. Elliott. Soon after
306 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
his arrival he was appointed city attorney of the thrifty town on the
border, and performed his public duties in connection with his newspa-
per work for one year. For four years he occupied his position on the
editorial staff of the Journal and then left it to engage in the real estate
and insurance business in that city. In this line of activity he was en-
gaged when nominated and elected, and finally installed, as county clerk,
January 12th, 1003.
Samuel McMurtry was brought up a Republican. His father was a
Whig, but his son's political training was left in the hands of others, and
it was supplied by teachers of the Republican school. In early manhood
he became a factor in local political affairs and his services have always
been freely given to his party, as a worker and a speaker. He was nomi-
nated for county clerk, by acclamation, in 1899, but was defeated by only
fifty-four votes, at a time when the Fusionists had quite a substantial
majority. In 1902, the Republican County Convention renewed its fealty
to him and gave him another nomination by acclamation, with the result
that he defeated his opponent at the polls by seven hundred and ninety-
one votes.
While Mr. McMurtry is an ardent advocate of Republican policies,
and, of the cause of its condidates, yet he never fails to manifest a cour-
teous and respectful attitude toward those of opposing beliefs and, as a
consequence, his candidacy has drawn heavily from the forces of the
Fusionists when he has been in a political race.
December 28th, 1876, Mr. McMurtry married Miss Julia A. Rammel,
in Westfield, Indiana. Mrs. McMurtry is a daughter of Rev. Eli and
Cassa (Cash) Rammel, and was born in Middletown, Henry county, In-
diana. Her parents came to Kansas in 1879, lived on a farm near Coffey-
ville and there died, the former October 26th, 1882, and the latter August
10th, 1887.
Eli Rammel was a Methodist minister and was a member of the
North Indiana Conference for fortv vears. Bv his marriage he was the
father of ten children, five of whom are living.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. McMurtry are: Ansel E., of Kansas
City, Mo.; Elmer E. and Gertrude, living; while Vinita died in Coffey-
ville, in 1898, at the age of sixteen years, and Sharley and Carrie died at
Kinsley, Kansas, in infancy.
Mr. Mc;M]urtry is a Miason, a Knight of Pythias, a Modern W^oodman
and a member of the Fraternal Aid Association.
ALYIN J. IXSCHO — Living on neighboring farms in Rutland town-
ship are two old friends, William H. Sloan and Alvin J. Inscho. These
two gentlemen are among the very earliest settlers of the county, having
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 307
settled on their claims in June, 1808. The years that have passed since
that early day have been full of the multifarious duties of life ; at first, the
hard, grinding toil and discomforts of pioneer life, which gradually be-
came softened by the comforts and luxuries of civilization.
Authentic information concerning the early history of the Inscho
family is lacking. Mr. Inscho believes, however, that the name was
brought to this country prior to the Revolutionary war. Exact know-
ledge locates his grandfather, Robert Inscho, in Virginia in the early
part of the 19th century, where he reared seven children, whose names
were : Joseph, Robert, Henry, Nancy, Mary, Maria and John. The young-
est of this family married Clara Foot, a native of New York state, and a
daughter of Robert and Mary Foot, both natives of that state. The child
ren of this marriage were: Ozias, Edwin, of Sterling, Kansas; Perry and
-Alvin J.
Alvin J. Inscho dates his birth in Huron county, Ohio, February
16th, 1844. He was reared to farm life and, while busily engaged in aiding
his parents in the summer and securing an education in the winter,
watched the gathering of the war cloud with absorbing interest. With
his heart throbbing in unison with the drum beats of the enrolling officer
he, in July, 1862, enlisted in Wood county, Ohio — where his parents had
removed when he was yet a child — in Company "A," 100th Ohio Vol. Inf.,
Col. Groom commanding. This regiment became a part of the Third
Division, First Brigade — Gen. Gillmore in command — which was mobil-
ized with the 23rd Army Corps. His first taste of "the realities'' was at
the siege of Knoxville, the initial action in a series of victories in
w^hich our subject subsequently shared. Some of the more important
were: Resaca, Atlanta, then with Thomas to Tennessee — where he partici-
pated at Columbia, Franklin and Nashville. Crossing the mountains, his
company was "in'' at the Wilmington fight and then to Washington, D.
C, where it swung into the grandest line of veterans ever marshalled in
review. His muster out of service occurred July 3rd, 1865, in Cleveland,
Ohio.
Short periods at Toledo and I'errysburg, Ohio, and at Ann Arbor,
Michigan, in which places he worked in drug stores, preceded his coming
to St. Joe, Mo., in 1867, and in the summer of the following year he be-
came a resident of Montgomery county, Kansas. Here he began life
anew on a 160-acre tract which constitutes a part of the five hundred and
forty acres which he now owns, in section 24-32-14. Reminiscences of those
early times are of exceeding interest from the lips of Mr. Inscho. His
knowledge of drugs enabled him to play the "medicine man" with the In-
dians to good advantage, so that he was not annoyed as much as other
settlers. Too much cannot be said in commendation of the character al-
ways sustained by Mr. Inscho. Suffice it to say that no citizen is more
308 HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
widely aud favorably known than he, and the interest he takes in securing
the best advantages in matters of education and good government, en-
dears him to all. He is a member of the board of education and, in a
patriotic way, holds membershii) in the Grand Army of the Republic.
In 1882, Mr. Inscho was hap}»ily joined in marriage with (Dora M.
Turner, daughter of David and Louisa Turner, of Ohio. Mrs. Inscho is a
lady of endearing qualities, and a splendid mother to her five children,
whose names are : Bessie, Clvde, Birdie, Fav aud Frank.
WILLIAM A. MERRILL — This gentleman is a prominent citizen
and leiidiug lawyer of the stirring little municipality of Caney, where he
has, in the short space of four years, succeeded in winning the respect of
the entire community and establishing a lucrative practice. Caney has
no more indefatigable worker for the advancement of her inter-
ests than Mr. Merrill, and he has shown his faith in her future by invest-
ing in one of the best residence properties in the city.
William A. Merrill came to Caney in 1898, from Warrensburg, Mo.,
where he had been a j)roniinent and leading citizen for a number of years.
He is a native of Johnson county, of that state, where he was born on the
22d of August, ISGl, the son of Leaven H. Merrill and his wife, formerly
Susan F. Smith. The father's nativity lay back in the old State of
Maryland, from whence he removed Avith his parents to Missouri when a
child. When he arrived at man's estate he chose the occupation of a
farmer. In 1863, Leaven H. Merrill being a slaveholder aud southern
sympathizer, was forced to leave his family in M|issouri. He went as far
south as Batesville, Arkansas. Instead of going into the regular army,
he put out a crop, and. in the fall of that year, was killed by the "Moun-
tain Browns," being shot from ambush. He left three children to be
cared for by the wife and mother, who bravely took up the task. She
lived to see them well educated men and honored citizens, before passing
to her rest, at fifty-two years of age. The names of the other two chil-
dren are: Joseph A. and Florence. Florence married J. W. Blackwell.
and lives with her family near Chelsea, Indian Territory.
William A. INIerrill was the youngest of this family thus early de-
prived of a father's care. From earliest boyhood he was accustomed
to the severest labor, but adversity taught him many valuable lessons,
which have borne their fruit in making him a stalwart and independent
soldier in the battle of life. He was reared to farm work, but by dint
of close application was enabled to prepare himself for the teaching-
profession. He attended sessions of Central College at Faj'ette, Missouri.
and, later, at the State Normal at Warrensburg, and for firteen years was
continuously engaged in the school rottm, establishing a reputation as an
educator not surpassed in that section of the state. He then took up
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 309
the study of law, and. in 1807, was admitted to the bar in Warrensbiirg.
The following year he came to Kansas, as hereinbefore stated.
Mr. Merrill was married on the 5th day of March, 18S9, to Laura P.
Keen, of Johnson county, Missouri, who now presides oyer his home
with that dignified grace which denotes the true housewife.
The political conyictions of our subject lie in the line of Jeffersonian
Democracy, though his rather retiring disposition precludes his taking
little more than a yoting part in matters of that kind, fc^ocially, he is
a popular member of the Masonic fraternity, being, at the present time,
secretary of Lodge No. 324. He and his good wife are held in the high-
est esteem by the citizens of their adopted city.
^I'lLLIAM H. BRrNTON— I»rominent as a contractor and builder
of Elk City and junior member of the firm of Eeed & Bruuton, William
H. Brunton has been a citizen of Montgomery county since 1872. He
was born in Missouri, February 21, 1862. His father, the yenerable
Thomas Brunton, who resides near Jefferson City, that state, was one of
the early settlers of Louisburg township, where he took a claim as early
as 1871. Bome years later, he returned to Missouri, his natiye state,
where he is retired from active life at about sixty-seyen years old.
Thomas Brunton married Lucinda Bagsley, an Indiana lady, and the
first years of his active life were passed as a carpenter builder. Toward
the close of the war, he enlisted in the Twenty-third Missouri Infantry,
and soldiered in the west in the Union army. In 1875, his wife died at
thirty-five years of age, leaving children: Mary, deceased; Phoebe, wife
of John Heritage, of Montgomery county; William H., of Elk City;
Clarinda, who married Philip Jones and resides in the state of Washing-
ton ; Cyrus A., of Montgomery county ; and Lucinda, Mrs. Chas. Jones,
of Washington.
William H. Brunton acquired his education in the public schools of
Montgomery countv. On leaving school he learned the stonemason's
trade and at this he worked several years, before taking up carpenter
work. He has been a carpenter builder since 1885, and, in 1903, formed a
business alliance with his partner, Mk. Reed.
December 25, 1888, Mr. Brunton married Ethel Kelso, who was born
in Logan county, Illinois, June 22, 1870. ^^he is a daughter of William
and Maggie (Doyle) Kelso, both deceased, who left five children, as fol-
lows: Mrs. Brunton, Arthur, of Chicago, Illinois; Emma, now Mrs. ]\lor-
ris Osborne, of Montgomery county, Kansas; David, who died at twenty-
one ;and Pearl, wife of Roy Bailey, of Burden. Kansas. After her hus-
band's death, Mrs. Kelso married Josei>h (Joodwin and, at her death in
1886, left a daughter, Maggie Goodwin. Mr. Kelso was a merchant in
310 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
Corn Land. Illinois, was a justice of the peace there, and died at about
thirty years old.
Mr. and Mrs. Brunton's family consists of: Roy Vincent, Fay, and
X,ela, deceased.
AVILLIAM B. WOOD— June 28. 1868, in Whitlev countv, Kentucky,
William B. Wood, of Rutland township, was born. In infancy he was
brought to Kansas by his parents, who settled in Montgomery county,
where our subject was brought up and has since resided. The fact of
their very early settlement here numbers the family among the pioneers
of the county, and their entry of a tract of the public domain in section
^, township 32. range 14. marks them as original settlers.
William B. Wood was the son of Thomas F. Wood, of Tennessee
birth, but of Kentucky growing-up. He was educated liberally for his day
and entered ujion the serious duties of life as a teacher in the rural
schools. When he reached the frontier in Kansas he laid aside the ferule
and devoted his time to industrial pursuits. He was variously employed,
as a supplement to his meager earnings on a new farm, but teaming and
freighting, and the like, constituted his chief occupation during the first
years of his residence here. He was employed by Xopa walla's band to
haul their effects off of the reservation to Chetopa and by this species of
intercourse came to know the red man of this locality very well. Some
of the lower bands of Indians ordered him out of the country and even
tried to burn what scant improvements he had made, but Thomas F.
Wood was from the wrong country to be scared away, and he remained.
The first building to house the Woods was a cabin 10x12 feet, and
the next one was of similar construction but larger and more convenient,
and in this did its owner live till his death in 1877. His treatment of the
Red Man made warm friends of them, and in 1879, a band of five hundred
of them came to visit him and turned back sorrowfully when they learned
he was dead.
Jeriah Wood was the grandfather of William B. Wood. He was a
native Tennesseean and had children: John I., VMlsun, Ambrose, Jo-
seph , Mrs. Luciuda Humond, of Pine Knot, Kentucky ; Jeptha , Mrs.
Sarah Meadows, of Jellico. Tennessee, and Thomas F.
Thomas F. Wood married Eliza A. Morgan, a daughter of Griffin and
Ann (Shepard) Morgan, of Whitley county, Kentucky. Two children,
William B. and John R., of Miontgomery county, Kansas, constitute the
living issue of their marriage. During the Elk river flood of 1885, Mrs.
Wood and a son, Thomas F., ten years of age, were drowned on the 16th
of May.
As a child, William B. Wood's associates were frequently the Osage
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS. 3II
Indian and his papoose. He almost lived at their camps and ate their
buffalo meat and spoke their language and, even now, the dialect of the
wild man lingers about his tongue. He was left without parental guid-
ance at the age of firteen years, and saw the inside of the school room as
a student, seldom, from thence forward. In 1891, he married Josephine L.
Miller, an Ohio lady and a daughter of H. H. Miller. One child, Lelia,
is the issue of this union. He occupies the family homestead of pioneer
days, and is now replacing the burned dwelling erected by his father in
that era.
WILLIAM THOMAS YOE— William Thomas Yoe was born in Cal-
vert county, Maryland, March 26, 1845, and reared in a christian home.
His parents Avere Walter and Elizabeth (Harris) Yoe. native Maryland
and Virginia people. In 1848, the parents left their old home and estab-
lished themselves among the pioneers at Eushville, Illinois. The father
was H carpenter and pursued the arts of peace and won the affection and
regard of the community. To the three sons, W. T., Charles and Frank
F., the parents left the heritage of a good name and an inspiration to
righteous and useful lives.
Thomas Yoe, as our subject is universally known, passed his child-
hood and youth about Rushville, Illinois, where he had some acquaintance
with the common schools. His education assumed a practical turn from
the age of thirteen years, when he went into a print shop, from which,
as a business, he has never been separated. Toward the end of the Civil
War he enlisted in Company "K," One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Il-
linois infantry, and saw service at Memphis, Tennessee.
After the war he located at Shelbvville, M'issouri, where, for a short
time, he was a hardware merchant, and then at Shelbina. where he be-
came associated with Col. A. M. York in the publication of a Republican
newspaper. After nearly five years, he decided to exert his energies
among the people of the progressive frontier State of Kansas.
In the winter of 1870, he founded, with others, the South Kansas
Tribune, and, in February following, brought the plant to Kansas and
established it in the new town of Independence, in Montgomery county.
L. U. Humphrey, afterward governor of Kansas, was associated with the
new paper, on its editorial staff. The proprietorship of the "Tribune"
came, later, into the hands of W. T. and Chas. Yoe, where, with a single
exception, it has since remained.
Mr. Yoe has been a part of Montgomery county nearly a third of a
century and has shared in its development work, both rural and urban.
Little that has been of general interest to the county has not known his;
hand, or felt the influence of his voice or pen ; and the confidence he thus
312 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
iiis]»ired warranted the conferring of public honors and the bestowal
upoii him of public trusts. I'he practical character of his views, his ma-
ture judgment and the evident sincerity of his purpose are traits which
have commended him through life and marked him as one of the promi-
nent citizens of his city and county. He has been at the head of his news-
paper since its establishment and his personal standing has given it
weight and power. He has helped make governors and other state officers
and furnished eftective advice in the distribution of local offices which
showed abundant wisdom and brought a strong current of public senti-
ment to his party's approval.
As an appointee to public office, Mr. Yoe has rendered his chief pub-
lic service. I'resident Arthur appointed him postmaster of Independ-
ence and he served three years but resigned upon the election of Mr.
Cleveland. Governor Humphrey appointed him secretary of the State
Board of Charities, where he remained three years, and Governor Stan-
ley made him a member of the Board of Regents of the State Agricultural
College. As a Republican he has occupied a high position in party
councils. He has a single standard of honest}' and applies it In business,
religion and p(ditics, alike. He is an active and leading member of the
Methodist congregation in Independence, and the influence of his life is
a potent one in the spiritual and material affairs of the church.
In 1870, in Shelbina, Missouri, Mr. Yoe married Jennie E. Weather-
by. The issue of this union are: Harriet E, a teacher in the Deaf and
Dumb Institution of Kansas; Roy W., a farmer, of Tyro, Montgomery
county; Edna May, assistant in the Independence postoffice; Earl A., a
printer in the Tribune office; and Ruth, Warren and George.
EDWARD RAYSON ALLEN— The First National Bank, of Inde-
pendence, is fortunate in having for its executive head, a man of such
wide and varied experience, of such unerring Judgment and a gentleman
of such popular personal traits as he whose name introduces this per-
sonal review. He came to Montgomery county almost with the earliest,
and embodies, in his career as a citizen here, experience as a farmer, mer-
chant, public official and financier, all of which stations he has hon-
ored and in all of which has he displayed a natural aptitude and adapta-
tion, passing from one to another as a reward of industry and indicating
the favor and confidence of his fellow citizens.
Without the pale of the pioneers it excites a ripple of merriment to
state that E. P. Allen was once a farmer. His training for years has been
so foreign to the calling that he has lost even the most familiar and com-
mon attributes of the rural business man. yet he was once a farmer in
Montgomery county and the "claim'- which he took lies in section 31,
E. P. ALLEN.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 3 1 5.
township 33, range 16, where the primitive cottage he erected still stands
and where the recollections of poverty still linger. Men who came to
Kansas as pioneers, capitalized chiefly by the fruits of their daily toil,
and undertook to maintain their families from the profits of a new farm,
had disappointments and bitter experiences, alike, and if they plowed
with a mixed team and. in their straits, went barefoot, it was forced econ-
omy that caused it, and was an open concession to poverty. Mr. Allen
passed through it all and the fires of adversity only served to harden the
metal that was in him, and better equip him for the contest with less
formidable obstacles.
The year 1ST3. witnessed the close of Mr. Allen's career as a farmer.
That year he brought the proceeds of the sale of his heart-aches and
memories of disappointments down on Clear creek into Independence and
became a merchant. In this, too. his experience led him into the most
humble service — most honorable though it was — and on any frequented
street corner of Independence today can be found men who have seen
"Ed" Allen driving his delivery wagon. At whatever employment, he
''followed his trade well'' and became absolute master of the situation
and of himself. Four years of merchandising brought him to the next
step in advance and he carried his popularity into public office. He did
the work of the recorder's office almost alone for six years, and when he
emerged from it, haggard and nearly worn out, he established himself
in the insurance and brokerage business, where the initial chapter of his
financial history was written. Becoming a director of the First National
Bank, in 1885, he became interested in its success and drifted toward
financiering with such a pace that the next year he was elected president
of the safe, and most conservative, institution of its kind in the county
seat. Reserving further mention of his business connections till his na-
tvity and family geneology have appeared, we digress and take up the
family thread.
Edward P. Allen was born in Green county, Kentucky, January 3^
1843. He was a son of a lawyer, William B. Allen, who was born in the
same county and state in 1803. The father passed his life in Greensburg,
Kentucky, was a graduate of Nashville, Tennessee, seminary, and of a law
school, and practiced his profession successfully all his life. He was a
Royal Arch Mason and was once the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of
Kentucky. His father. David Allen, and the grandfather of our subject,
was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, October ir>, 1773, came to
Kentucky with his father about 1783 and served with the Kentucky troops
in the war of 1812. dying in Green county in 18K). David Allen's
father and oldest i)aternaruncle were Revolutionary soldiers, and he and
three brothers migrated from the "Old Dominion" about the close of that
struggle, and their Ixmes mingle with the dust of the State of Daniel
314 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
Boone. These Aliens came originally from the North of Ireland and
settled in Rockbridge county, Virginia, about 1630.
William B. Allen married Huldah Wilcox, whose Puritan ancestors
came to America in the seventeenth century and settled, of course, in
New England. Huldah Allen was born in Connecticut of '"Bay State"
parents and was a daughter of Eli Wilcox. Seven children were born to
her and her husband, as follows: Martha, deceased; Jennie, deceased;
the latter the wife of A. B. Nibbs, of Houston, Texas; Harriet B., de-
ceased wife of John Cunningham, of Coles county, Illinois; Edward P.,
our subject; Mary, deceased, married William Hunter, of Houston, Tex-
as; and Ella M., widow of George W. Reed, of Coles county, Illinois.
E. P. Allen acquired a liberal education in the schools of Greens-
burg, Kentucky. In 1801. he enlisted in the Thirteenth Kentucky Infant-
ry, Company '*E," as first sergeant, under Colonel Hobson. The regiment
saw its first service in Kentucky and was in battle at Mill Springs,
was at Shiloh, Perryville, Stone River and in minor engagements and
skirmishes. Mr. Allen was promoted in three months to be a lieutenant,
and was discharged as such in Louisville. Kentucky, at the expiration of
three years.
The mercantile business attracted Mr. Allen immediately after his
release from the army and he engaged in it at Mattoon. Illinois. He re-
mained there till 1867, when he returned to his native town and opened
a store, continuing business there for two years, when he again sought
Coles county, Illinois, and resided, and was in business, in Mattoon, till
the fall of 1870. when he started overland on his journey to Kansas, arriv-
ing in Montgomerv count v, October 16. of that vear.
Everything was ''out of doors'" in Montgomery county at that early
time and there seemed nothing to do but to farm. While the prospect was
not the most exhilarating, our new-comer had no intention of turning his
back on it, and he took up his sand-hill "claim" on Clear creek, as noted
elsewhere in this article. Two years a farmer and four years a merchant,
brings us to the autumn of 1877, when he was elected register of deeds
of the county. His election was a special compliment to him, for it was
accomplished in the face of great ])olitical odds, his i)arty, the Democratic,
being several hundred votes in the minority. He was reelected in 1879,
serving with great efficiency and justifying in every way the confidence
his Democratic and Republican friends reposed in him. From 1884 to
1886, his attention was given to the insurance, loan and real estate busi-
ness, his office being at the corner of Main and Sixth streets. His pe-
cuniary resources at this time were assuming respectable proportions and
his manner of handling them revealed his financial ability. He became
a patron, and then a friend, of the First National Bank of Independence,
and its stockholders made him a director in 188.5. In 1886. the then cash-
ier of the bank sold his interest to Mr. Allen, the management reorgan-
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 3I5
ized and he was chosen president. He has succeeded himself in that oflflce
forsixteen years, and, with his able assistants, has made it an institution
as safe and enduring as time itself.
May 2. 1865. in Coles county, Illinois, Mr. Allen married Mary F.
Vansant, a daughter of Isaiah Vansant, of Fleming county, Kentucky.
Mrs. Allen was born August 27. 1840. and is the mother of: Mattie N., wife
of James F. Blackledge, of Caney. Kansas ; Edith, Lillian and Annie. The
family are members of the Independence Presbyterian church and are
highly and most honorably connected in their social ties.
Mr. Allen was made a Mason in 1864. He has taken the Blue Lodge,
ChaDter and Knight Templar degrees and in his life exemplifies the prin-
ciples of the order. He is a Kentucky Democrat and is as loyal to his
party tenets as he is to the rules wiiich goyern his moral and exemplary
life.
JACOB SICKS— The generations of the future who inhabit Mont-
gomo]\y county will wish to know something of the people who snatched
this municipality from nature's embrace, and wielded the brush with
which its surface has been adorned Ayith landscape and garden and
beautiful homes. They will expect to find, for their information, a record
of the characters who haye been conspicuous players in the drama of
ciyil and municipal affairs while the county was being launched and
started on its yoyage through time. By a knowledge of their forefathers,
they may be able to explain some otherwise mysterious phenomena of
their posterity and thus intelligently account for things done or not
done. It is important then, as Ayell as in good taste, to preserye, with
other ciyil records of the county, the life work of its worthy pioneers, as
gleaned at first hand from the yery actors themselyes.
In the subject of this article, we have presented for review a settler'
whose coming into the county was from the very first, whose connection
with its history has been modest yet energetic and whose character as a
citizen and a man has wielded an influence potent for good in the younger
generations of his race.
In October, 1869, Jacob Sicks came into Montgomery county, Kan-
sas. It was on the 18th of that month that he drove on to the side-hill
on the soiithwest quarter of section 4. township 33, range 15, and thereby
did the initial act toward making that spot of ground his permanent
and future home. While he was complying with the formalities of the
law in the matter of a homestead, a little log cabin. 14x14 in dimensions,
grewout of this side-hill as if l)y magic, and the first family in that neigh-
borhood was soon housed without either door or fioor. It is nearly
thirty-four years now since that eventful day on which one of
the most attractive and fertile farms in the county was born. By the
3l6 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
industry of man has wild nature departed and by the toil of his household
has Jacob Sicks become the owner of an estate which provides him and
his with all the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
From the advent of the first white man to the departure of the Ind-
ian, Montgomery county was on the frontier. Its few settlers were har-
rassed and belabored by hungry Red Men from the bands of Big Hill Joe,
Chetopa, Strike Axe and Black Dog, all of which chiefs had camps some-
where in the county. In 1870, the government treated with the red man
for his title to ''The Diminished Rserve" and he was removed to his new
country — ''The Osage Country — " just south of the Kansas line. The
aborigines gone, Montgomery county seemed to acquire civilization by
leaps and bounds and the old landmarks of the county felt very much
penned up, so rapidly did settlers flock in and take possession of the un-
claimed lands. While Mr. Sicks adjusted himself to the frontier condi-
tions of the sixties, was satisfied with his lot and content with the honor
of being a pioneer, he was nevertheless pleased with the advent of neigh-
bors and extended to them a helping and friendly hand. He was poou
himself, when he unloaded his goods at the door of his log cabin home in
1869, but "the wolf was kept away" while his family was growing up and
increased prosperity came to him yearly until he felt warranted in retir-
ing from active farm work.
Jacob Sicks was born in Boone county. Indiana, November 2, 1837.
His father, Philip Sicks, settled there two years before, and was a resi-
dent of the county till 1888, dying at the age of eighty-three years,
Philip Sicks was a native of Nicholas county, Kentucky, and was a son of
Jacob Sicks who was killed by a corn thief at middle life and left two
sons and a daughter, namely: John. Philip and Rebecca; the last named
becoming the wife of William Beckner and passing her life in Rush
county, Indiana. Philip Sicks married Nancy Slain, the issue of the
union being ten children, as follows: Sarah J., who married James Cun-
ningham ; Mary, wife of James Siddons ; Mahala, who became Mrs.
George Cross; Francis M., who took to wife Margaret Siddons; Thomas
O., whose wife was Susan Elder; Jacob, our subject; Lucinda, who mar-
ried Samuel Jones ; John N., who married, first, Nancy J. Davis and, after-
ward, married Mrs. Siddons; and Amanda, wife of George Beadles, The
mother of these children died in 1848.
Jacob Sick's youthful advantages were exceedingly limited. H^is
education was, of necessity, neglected and he grew up in the timbered
country of the '"Hoosier State" a lusty, industrious honest but un-
learned youth. Nature always comes to the relief of the less fortunate
of her kind and she endowed our subject with commendable auxiliaries
toward surmounting obstacles through life. He was converted in youth
to the Christian religion and strength of character and purpose have
come to him along life's pathway to not only enable him to live right but
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 317
to acfomplish a modest but good work for the Master. Twice he felt
called to the ministry but each time he resisted through fear of weakness
and inability to achieve results, but the third time he yielded to the de-
mand«* of the Spirit and has for fifteen years done an irregular and sup-
plementary work in the pulpit of the Christian denomination.
November 4, 1858, Mr. Sicks was united in marriage with Sarah F,
Utterback. a daughter of Henry Utterback, of Kentucky. Mrs. Sicks was
born in Putnam county, Indiana, November 28, 1840, and is the mother
of the following sons and daughters : Mary E., deceased, married N.
Londry and left three children ; Maria M., of Mound Ridge, Kansas, is
the wife of John Edington; Philip, of lola, Kansas, is married to Mary
Christy; Thomas, of lola, Kansas, married Dora Bordenhammer, de-
ceased; Emma, wife of Ed Main, of Montgomery county, Kansas; John,
of Independence, is married to Ella Barlow; Lizzie, deceased, married
Ed Adams, who is now the husband of her sister, Annie; Vernelia, wife
of Thomas McMahan; George, of the old homestead, is married to Laura
Moore ; Mittie, who died at fifteen years ; and Charles, the only child left
under the parental roof.
Mr, Sick's disposition and inclination have not led him to figure
much in the public affairs of Montgomery county. He is a Democrat of
the ancient school and has manifested a strictly conservative attitude
toward all movements looking to a striking innovation or serious depart-
ure from the old regime. By this attitude some would infer that he op-
posed public progress and is against new ideas, but it is purely from his
desire to occupy a position not too far in adance of the old way that he
takes this stand. With his neighbors and friends he is cordial and oblig-
ing and exercises a practical charity wherever the circumstances war-
rant. He is fond of his family and has reared them in the fear of God
and [o become honorable men and women. In his declining years he is
in the enjoyment of some of the practical blessings and luxuries of life.
Natural gas and the daily delivery of mail at his own door lead him to
praise the achievements of modern |>rogress. A moment's reflection lo-
cates him, with meager means and a small family, on the bleak prairie
with a temporary shelter in 1869, and, thirty-four years later, in the full-
ness of years and Avith family grown up and scattered, we see him pro-
vided with a comfortable home, overlooking a splendid farm, and made
comfortable by the reward of toil, and with the fondest wish at his fin-
ger tips.
WILLIAM COTTON— Near the rural village of Costello, resides one
of the leading farmers of Montgomery county, William Cotton. He is
a native of the "Blue Grass State" where, in 1832, he began life in Madi-
son county. His father, Thomas Cotton, was a son of Charles Cotton who
3l8 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
came from Virginia and was one of those sturdy pioneers who redeemed
the wilds of Kentucky for civilization. The mother of our subject was
Paulina Braudus, of one of the early pioneer families of Kentucky, who
came into that state from North Carolina.
"William Cotton is one of a family of six children, of whom four are
now living, viz: James. Avho resides in Missouri; Elizabeth and Lucinda
are deceased; Mary, the wife of John Graves, resides in Illinois; Belle
is living in Indiana, the wife of Squire Tatum. The parents of this fam-
ily removed from Kentucky to Indiana where William was reared to farm
life.
At twenty years of age, our subject married Ann, daughter of Dr.
Travis McMillan, of Cirrard county. Kentucky. To them have l)een born:
Bettie, wife of John Drybread, a farmer of Louisburg township; Clar-
ence, who married Catherine Hand, who died leaving five children, viz:
John. Emma, Prentice, William and Clara. Prentice, the third child of
William Cotton, resides in California with his wife, nee Juliet Stewart;
John M., a bank clerk residing in Elk City, married Mamie, daughter of
John Castillo, of Louisburg township; his two children are Clyde and
Cornelia.
The coming of William Cotton to Montgomery county in 1885, con-
stituted a distinct gain to the population of the county, as his citizenship
since then has been such as to deserve the plaudits of all worthy members
of society. In political affairs, he supports the principles of Lincoln and
McKinley. and he and his family are active members of the Christian
church. They are held in great respect in the neighborhood in which they
have passed the years since their coming to the county, and are deserv-
ing of mention in a volume devoted to Montgomery's best citizens.
JOHN C. PAGE— One of the well known of the later settlers of
Montgomery county is John C. Page, of Independence township, whose
lot was cast here in April, 1883. He i)urchased eighty acres in section
6, tov.-nship .33, range 16, known as the Wiley Wise farm. He came here
from Crawford county, Illinois, where he was born on the 17th of Decem-
ber. 1824. His Avas one of the old families of the ''Prairie State," his
father having migrated thereto in 1818, the year of the admission of the
state into the union. Jesse Page, father of our subject, emigrated from
Virginia to the new sate on the prairie. He was born in the "Old Domin-
ion State" in 1777 and came to manhood there. He was a son of Robert
Page whose three sons, David, Joel and Jesse, settled in Illinois. Jesse
Page spent his life as a tiller of the soil and in 1854 he married Polly Ar-
nold who lived to the age of eighty years. Illinois was not yet rid of its
Indian population when the Pages settled there and for some years af-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY;, KANSAS. 319
terward they roamed at will about the homes of the new settlers. It was
the Miami tribe that our subject remembers distinctly as being and af-
filiating with the pioneers of Crawford county. Jesse Page's children
were: Robert A., who died in Oregon; Benjamin, who died in Illinois;
Kaclie!, of Flat Kock, Illinois, married Samuel Stark; John C, Pinnin-
nah, of Martinsville, Illinois, is the wife of William Patterson; James,
who died at Hebron, Illinois; and two died young.
John C Page passed his childhood and youth amid surroundings
very primitive and rude. The country schools of his day afforded him his
elementary education and at twenty years old he spent a year in the city
schools of Terre Haute, Indiana. He became a teacher at the conclusion
of this school year and was engaged actively and successfully in the
work for a period of seven years. He became a farmer about this time,
in a small way, and began the improvement of a new farm. His record
as a teacher induced his political friends to make him a candidate for the
office of county superintendent and to this he was elected in 1860. He
filled the position so satisfactorily that he was reelected in two years for
a second term. At the close of his public service he engaged in other bus-
iness but was called to serve in another official capacity in 1866 by his
election to the office of county treasurer in which he also served four
years. Going out of oflice in 1870, he took up farming and nev^er after-
ward filled an office of such responsibility. He continued his efforts at
farming till 1883, when he disposed of his interests in Illinois and came
to Montgomery county, Kansas.
In January, 1851, Mr. Page married Fidelia Newlin, a daughter of
Nathaniel Newlin and Elizabeth, his wife. The Newlins came to Illinois
from North Carolina about 1816 and were a large and numerous family.
Of this marriage, Mr. Page is the father of: Harry, of El Paso, Texas;
Genevra, wife of John Ferguson, died at Em})oria, Kansas, leaving three
children ; Eulalia, deceased wife of George Higgins, died at Neodesha,
Kansas, in 1887; and Chester, of Paris, Texas. Fidelia Page died in
1863, and the next year Mr. Page married Phebe Meeker, who bore him:
Belle, wife of James Doily, of Miayfield, Kansas; Emma, a teacher of
Cri])p]e Creek, Colorado, was educated in Marshall, Illinois and is single;
Olive, of Ft. Worth, Texas, is the wife of E. C. Cochrain, editor of one
of the Ft. Worth papers. Mr. Page was married a third time, February
17, 187.5, to Mary Smith, a daughter of A. J. and Elizabeth Smith, of
Johnson county, Indiana, where Mrs. Page was born September 18. 1815.
A. J. Smith was born in New Jersey and his wife, nee Elizabetli Darrell,
was born in Indiana. Mr. Smith died in 1807, in Johnson county, Indi-
ana, at the age of seventy-three. His children were: Mrs. Page, I'rsula,
deceased wife of James Balser; Sarah, who married Wallace Bears and
resides in Whiteland, Indiana; and Martha, now Mrs. (Jeorge Darrell,
-of Johnson county, Indiana. Mr. Page and his present wife are the par-
320 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
euts of one child, a son, Manford, who married Rose Carle and has a
son, Alfred C.
The political history of the Pages is told in the one word — Democ-
racy. Our subject was elected to public office as such in Illinois and he
has affiliated with the same party in Kansas. He was prominent in the
Farmers' Alliance in Montgomery county and supported heartily, fusion,
as opposed to the dominant ]>arty. and is in harmony with the Bryan
idea as expressed at Kansas City.
•JAMES HAMiILTON STP^WART— The late subject of this review
was one of the substantial, worthy and honored citizens of Independence
township, Montgomery county. He became identified with its affairs as
a farmer on his entrance to the county in 1883 and from thence forward
to his sudden taking-oft' won the regard of his fellow townsmen.
Mr. Stewart settled on section 23, township 33, range 15, in which
he owned one hundred and sixty acres, well improved, well tilled and
profitable. When he took possession of it a small stone house, a shed for
stock and some plowed land were the extent of it improvements. Being
from Pennsylvania, from which state come nothing less than efficient
men, he was possessed of the jilans for a pattern farm and the industry to
carry them out. General farming occupied his attention and his pro^sper-
ity showed itself in the ever-advancing condition of his premises. He
was no less worthy as a citizen than as a farmer. He believed in and
practiced the golden rule. Right was always might with him and it won
him the universal regard of his neighbors. He was a man of conviction
and when he took a position it took evidence to remove him. His preju-
dice in favor of some family custom may have given rise to some friendly
critici'sm of him but his heart was right and he never intentionally gave
personal offense. He had a firm belief in the reward after death and the
teachings of the Holy Word served to guide him in his daily walk. He
was a member of the Jefferson congregation of the Methodist church and
when he died, November 8, 1897, one of its substantial supports was
taken away.
In Washington county, Pennsylvania, Mr. Stewart was reared but
his birth occurred near Bethany, West Virginia, on the 21th of January,
1811. He was a son of a farmer, James H. Stewart. His mother was
Sarah Balwin, a daughter of Levi Baldwin, a blacksmith who had the
distinction of once having shod the horse of General Washington, as that
officer was passing through I^ennsylvania. When Mr. Stewart was five
years old his father died and his mother then took her family to Washing-
ton county, Pennsylvania, where she remained till her death in 1891. Her
children were: James H., of this notice; Thomas, of Pittsburg, Pennsyl-
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY;, KANSAS. 321
vania ; Elizabeth J., widow of Robert Sweeny, of Wheeling, West Virgin-
ia; WiJliaui.of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Annie, wife of Jacob Laughman,
deceased, of Washington county, Pennsylvania.
James H. Stewart acquired a country" school education, or, perhaps,
better, a common school one, and learned his trade before the war came
on. He enlisted for that struggle in 1801, in Company ''C," Twenty-sec-
ond Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry. He served with the Army of the
Potomac in the Shenandoah Valley and his regiment formed a part of
Sheridan's cavalry. He took part in Hunter's Raid and the Battle of
Cedar Creek and remained in the service until the war was over. Return-
ing to civil life he resumed his trade which he followed till he started to
Kansas.
December 20, 1800, Mr. Stewart married Elizabeth R. Deltes, a
daughter of John Deltes and Margaret Geyer, husband and wife, both of
German birth. Mr. Deltes died in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1885, and his
wife preceded him two years. Their native province was Wittenburg.
Their children Avere : Amelia, married Charles Schmidt and died in Wash-
ington county, Pennsylvania, in 1892 ; Rosa, who died in Chicago in 1896,
was the wife of Charles Leonheaus; Mary, of Baltimore, Maryland, is
the wife of James Bamber; Catherine, of the same city, is now Mrs.
Bishop Carnan; Maggie, single and residing in Baltimore; John, of
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; and Mrs. Stewart, who was born April 17,
1847.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are : William H., of Niotaze,
Kansas; James H., of Cherryvale; George W., of Independence; Mary
E., Charles S.. Samuel H., Estella O. and Lulu E., all at home except
Samuel, who resides in Kansas City.
Mr. Stewart took a warm and patriotic interest in county politics.
He was a Republican and was often a delegate to party conventions. He
was a member of the Grand Army and interested himself generally in
whatever seemed for the upbuilding and welfare of his county. He con-
tracted rheumatism while in the army and was afflicted all his remain-
ing years, this being the prime cause of his sudden demise.
ANDREW J. COLLINS— One of the early settlers and prosperous
farmers of Montgomery county is the subject of this personal sketch. He
came to the county in 1877 and purchased a farm on the ''Tenth street
road" which he occupied some six years and then purchased a new and
unimproved quarter of prairie land in section 21, townsliii) .30. range 15,
which he occui)ied and went through the formula of bringing under
subjection, as settlers were wont in pioneer days. As he prospered he
added another eighty acres to his already half section and now he owns
322 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
five eighties, or four hundred acres, the majority of which represents the
accumulations accruing to him and his industrious family in the quarter
of a century they have spent in Kansas.
Mr. Collins has been and is a farmer, pure and simple. The grow-
ing of grain and the handling of stock in a modest way are the important
things with which he has had to deal and, on the whole, he has achieved
a degree of the thrift which only determination and perseverance can
win.
County Meath, Ireland, was the birthplace of Andrew J. Collins.
His natal day and year was April 17, 1839, and his parents were Daniel
and Mary (O'Brien) Collins, who brought their family to the United
States in 1819 and landed at Castle Garden in New York. Princeton,
New Jersey, w^as their objective point and there the younger generation
grew up. They had a family of fifteen children, all told, but those now
living are: Matthew, of Hoboken, New Jersey; Andrew J., of this notice;
Michael, Daniel, and Catherine, who married Patrick Campbell and re-
sides in New Jersey.
Andrew J. Collins acquired only a limited education in the inferior
schools of his time and place and at the age of twenty-two he married
and settled down to the toil of the farm. In 1866, he migrated to Illi-
nois and stopped in Sangamon county, where he resumed farming and
followed it until his removal to Kansas.
In April, 1861, occurred the wedding of Mr. Collins to Ann Clark,
a lady of Irish birth and a daughter of Owen Clark, of County Cavan.
Mrs. Collins died in Montgomery county December 8, 1898, and was the
mother of Thomas and John, of the family homestead; Andrew, de
ceased; Willie, Laura, widow of Henry Mollidor; and Sarah, wife of
Herbert Hill, of Independence.
Mr. Collins is a Democrat and has been road overseer of his road
district for twenty-five years.
MARY A. KEESLER— Since the year 1872, the subject of this bi-
ograp»hical review has been a resident of Montgomery county. She accom-
panied her husband to the county two years previous and their settlement
was made near Havana, but this settlement proved to be little more than
temporary and in 1873, they came into Cherry township where Mrs.
Keesier has since lived and where her husband passed away.
The Keeslers are among the well known and honorable citizens of
their township. The heads of the family were eastern people — the Kees-
lers being original New York settlers — and the Snyders and the Riggles,
ancestors of Mrs. Keesier, from the "Keystone" and ''Buckeye" States.
Mary A. Keesier was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, Oc-
HARVEY KEESLER (Deceased).
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 323
tober 5, 1833. Her father, Jacob Snyder, was born in Adams county, that
state, and her mother, Margaret Riggle, was a native of the same county
with our subject. Jacob Snyder was, early in life, a mason but, later,
became a farmer and, in 1830, moved his family to Ohio from whence, in
1848. he immigrated to Allen county, Indiana, where he died in 1871, at
sixty-three years of age ; his wife dying the year previous at fifty-six years
old. The eight children composing their family were : Mary A. , George
R., Elizabeth, Melissa, Jacob M., William, Eliza and Emma.
Mary A. was the first born of the Snyder children and came to wo-
manhood on her father"'s farm in Indiana. She jvas married January
30, 1855, to Harvey Keesler, born in Vermillion county, Ohio, March 20,
1831. Mr. Keesler was a son of John and Susan (Ewing) Keesler, both
of New York birth. These pioneer parents migrated to Ohio in an early
day {"-ud settled in the wooded portion of the state, where they brought
ap a family of eigbt children and died. These children were : Harvey,
Lucy, Charles, Martin, Mary, George, Frank and William.
Harvey Keesler was the oldest child of his parents and his youth,
like that of his wife, was passed upon the farm. He took up the occupa-
tion ot his fathers in the county where h*^ met and married his wife and
was, for some time, a tenant on a rented farm. They purchased their
first homestead in the green woods of Indiana, where their beginning in
life was most primitive indeed. Prior to his marriage, Mr. Keesler had
follo^^ed the canal as a boatman on the Erie canal but seemed readv to
exchange this life for one, with a life companion, in the beech timber of
+he "Hoosier State." His tenure of the farm was undisturbed until Jan-
uary 3. 1864, when he joined Company "H," Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, in which command he served till the close of the Civil war. He
took i>art in the famous March to the Sea and the Atlanta campaign and
was wounded near Resaca, Georgia, in the left hand, the ball remaining
where it lodged for twenty -two days, thus crippling Mr. Keesler for life.
He left the hospital to rejoin his regiment before he was fully recovered
but was prevented by the heavy fighting then going on in front and,
having taken down with a fever, was furloughed home. Becoming again
able for duty, he reported at Covington, Kentucky, was sent to
Evansville, Indiana, and there remained until the surrender of Lee's
army. June 1, 1865, he was discharged and he soon rejoined his family
on his little farm.
For seven years Mr. Keesler continued to reside in Indiana, and
when he departed from the state to become a citizen of the Kansas prai-
ries he brought a limited supply of money with him. When he settled in
Cherry township he purchased a farm of one liundred and forty-nine
acres north of Cherryvale, which he occui)ied and improved for eighteen
years and then exchanged it for one of four hundred and twenty acres on
324 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
Drum creek, well adapted to the raising of grain and stock. Here he
died in the height of his success and popularity. April 2. 1899.
A man of great energy and industry, Harvey Keesler made his mark
as a citizen of ^Montgomery county. He was not only identified with its
business but its politics also. He affiliated with the Republicans, who
honored him, without his solicitation and against his wishes, with the
township clerkship, but he would never consent to neglect his private
affairs to accept a public trust. He was thrifty and provident and left
his family in good circumstances at his death. Two hundred acres of the
farm have been set off to the children while the remainder, with the splen-
did improvements, provides Mrs. Keesler with a comfortable home during
her declining years.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Keesler. namely : Willard
F., who is married to Lydia Cornelius and has two children, Harvey C.
and Gladys; Charles, whose wife is Eva Cornelius, has a child, Ethel;
Clara, wife of D. W. Osborn, is the mother of five children, viz: Loren,
George, Lewis, Arley and Beryl; Laura, married George Seymour and
died Februarv 25, 1882, leaving a daughter, Marv L. Sevmour, who is her-
self married to W. H. -Thompson and is the mother of Lewis L. Thomp-
son, the only great-grandchild of Mrs. Keesler. Thus, with the names of
five generations of her family, is the history of Mary A. Keesler closed.
Her seventy years of life have been years of labor and of devotion to the
bringing-up of an honorable posterity.
HORACE OSCAR CAVERT— Centennial vear, the Caverts of this
review became settlers of Montgomerv countv, Kansas. Thev were
headed by J. Curtis G. Cavert, father of our subject, and located on Elk
river in Sycamore township, where the brief period of two years were
passed on a farm. In 1878, they changed their residence to Independence
where they have since resided and where the business life of H. O. Cavert
has been spent.
Oscar Cavert was born in Outagamie county, Wisconsin. March 27,
1800. His father was a native of the State of New York and settled in
Wisconsin in 1847. His grandfather, William Cavert, was a direct de-
scendent of an Irishman who, with a brother, settled in New York state,
fresh from Erin. For some unknown reason they each decided to change
the si)elling of the name from ^'Calvert" to Cavert. One brother went
into the south and the other remained in New York and the generations
that have followed from each branch has nmintained the American spell-
ing of the name.
•I. C. G. Cavert grew up, was married and entered the volunteer ser-
vice in Wisconsin. The Third Wisconsin cavalry. Company '-I," was his
command and he was commissioned a first lieutenant. He was promoted
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS. 325
to a captaincy and was mustered out as such after having served four
years, chiefly in the western department, where guerrillas and bush-
whackers largely prevailed. For a wife, he married Helen M. Crane, a
daughter of W. W. Crane, formerly of Akron, Ohio. Seven children were
born to this union, those living being: Mrs. Mattie Calhoun, of Tulsa,
Indian Territory; Horace Oscar, our subject; Callista, of Tulsa, Indian
Territory; and Stella, wife of C. M. Flora, of Independence, Kansas, Of
the three deceased, two sons died young and a daughter, Frankie, wife of
John Parker, died in Portland, Oregon, leaving a son, Cleo.
Mr. Cavert, of this review, acquired his education in the common
schools of Wisconsin. He was approaching his sixteenth year when he
came to Montgomery county, Kansas. After leaving the farm in Syca-
more township, he was in the employ of Crane & Larimer, shippers, for
five 3'ears. In 1883, he engaged in the real estate business which he has
follovred, catering to the local trade, and in this way doing his part to-
ward the development and improvement of the town and country. He is
serving his second term from the second ward on the city council, where
he favored street paving, electric lighting and other, minor, public im-
provements. He is a Republican in politics, is an Odd Fellow, a Modern
Woodman, a Workman and an Elk.
September, 6, 1888, Mr. Cavert married Adda B. Ferrell, a daughter
of Elder J. W. Ferrell, of the Christian church and formerly from Jes-
samine county, Kentucky. The issue of this marriage are : William Cur-
tis and Herbrt Oscar.
LORENZO D. WINTERS— Competency in public service is strictly
to be desired and is too frequently iuattainable at public elections. Of-
ficials are often chosen in utter disregard of the essentials for the public
service and in response to a general clamor for a popular idol. But
where common sense rules good judgment prevails and the citizen who
wins official honors in response to this condition never fails to exceed
the expectations of the patrons of his office. Such is strikingly true of
the present incumbent of the office of clerk of the court of Montgomery
county, L. D. Winters of this review.
For more than two years he has officiated in his present capacity
and the multifarious duties of his responsible office are as positively and
effectively in his grasp and under his control as were the more cumber-
some details of his farm down in Cherokee township. He was peculiarly
situated as a candidate because of his ready adaptation to a clerical posi-
tion and because of his immense popularity with the voters of the county,
and when it was discovered that he led heavily over other candidates on
his ticket it was not a matter of either general or special surprise.
Lorenzo D. Winters came to Kansas in 1879 and settled, with his
326 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
parents, in Montgomery coiintv. The family was from Owen county, In-
diana, where our subject was born February 6, 1863. His father, Obediah
J. Winters, is a substantial farmer of Cherokee township, ]\rontgomery
county, and was born in the same county as his son. in 1832. The father
was united, in Clay county, Indiana, in marriage with Clara C. Roath,^
a daughter of Lorenzo D. Roath, of Stark county, Ohio. Their two
children are L. D. and Edward B., the latter, of Coffeyville, Kansas.
The common schools and the Coffeyville and Independence city
schools furnished L. D. Winters with his educational equipment. He
was eighteen years of age when he left school and turned his attention to
farming on the old home. He followed the vocation of his early training
until the close of the year 1900 when, having been elected Clerk of the
Court, he moved his family to Independence to assume the duties of his
office. His majority at this election was 326 votes and when his friends
had all voted for him two years later his majority was found to be 826
votes.
December, 1885, Mr. Winters married Lydia J. Yennum, a daughter
of Frank H. and Harriet Yennum, old settlers of Cherokee township, in
Montgomery county. Mr. and Mrs. Winters have two children, viz:
Ethel Ruth'and Mabel Harriet.
The Modern Woodmen, the A. K. T. ]\r. and the Odd Fellows claim
Mr. Winters as a member, likewise the Elks of the capital city of the
county. He lends great strength to the local Republican organization
of his county and his personality has "led many wandering erring ones"
to return. He maintains his farm on Pumpkin creek and it and his cat-
tle interests are under his scrutinizing eye.
JOHN C. MATTHEWS— The late John C. Matthews was a char-
acter well known to the citizenship of Montgomery county. He was one
of its earliest settlers and was identified with its affairs for almost thirty
years. When the U. S. Land Office was located in Independence he was-
sent out from the east as a clerk in the office and when the removal of the
office occurred some years later its clerk remained behind to continue
acitizen of Montgomery county and to participate in its ordinary affairs.
John C. Matthews was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, January
22, 1823. His father, Elias Matthews, emigrated from Baltimore, Mary-
land, in the first years of the nineteenth century and settled near Dayton,
Ohio, where he reared his family and became one of the leading and
well-known farmers. He took an active part in the public affairs of the
community and was a Whig in political belief. He was born in 1791 and
was accidentally killed at the age of fifty-three. He married Susannah-
Keplinger, who was born in 1792 and died May 8, 1870, at Munice, In-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 327
diana, being the mother of the following children : George W., Thomas
J., James M., Elias M.., John C, Sarah J., William L., Mary C, Henry C.
and Daniel W. The fifth son, John C, grew np near Dayton and, when
about 20 years old. went to Delaware county, Indiana. He acquired a com-
mercial school training and began life as a bookkeeper in his new Indiana
home. In 1859, he was elected County Treasurer of Delaware county and
filled the office two terms. Succeeding this, he established a foundry and
planing mill in Munice and, later on, engaged in the marble business in
the same place. He was identified with Munice's affairs till his selection
as the first clerk of the Independence Land Office. His ability as an ac-
countant and in a clerical capacity, generally, was universally recognized
and he was appointed, in consequence, deputy Eegister of Deeds and later
deputy Clerk of the Court of Montgomery county. Succeeding these
clerkships, he engaged in the abstract business and was one of the most
reliable and trustworthy of the profession. He passed away in Independ-
ence May 29, 1902.
On the 16th of October, 1850, John C. Mlatthews married Margaret
M. Jordan, a daughter of James Jordan, a native of Beaver county,
Pennsylvania. The latter settled in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1818,
where Mrs. Matthews was born August 29, 1832. The children of this
union are : James C, of Independence, Kansas ; S. Valentine and El-
mer E.
S. V. Matthews was born in Delaware county, Indiana, February
15, 1858. He acquired a common school education and among his first
acts toward the preparation for life's serious affairs was to begin the
study of law with Judge McCue, of Independence. He was admitted to
the bar December 30, 1880, but permitted himself to become interested in
other matters and never engaged in the practice of law. In 1882, he was
elected Clerk of the District Court and. in 1884, was reelected. He was
deputy in the same office some time later and when this service was con-
cluded he engaged in the business of abstracting, in company with his
father, the subject of this sketch.
June 17, 1883, Mr. Matthews was united in marriage with Anna W.
Vance, of Findlay, Ohio. The issue of this marriage are: Erma F. and
Dean V.
The Matthews of this branch are Republicans of the original school.
John C. Matthews came into the party when "John and Jessie" were
making the race for the presidency as the party's first candidate in 18o0,
and within its fold has he, and his sons also, fought their political
battles.
THOMAS B. HENRY — In this personal record is presented one of
the original members of the faculty of the Montgomery county High
School — filling the chair of mathematics — whose family history has,
328 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
since 1871, been associated with that of the early settlers of Montgom-
ery county. This municipality is the place of his nativity and it has been
the stage upon which his business and professional career has been
chiefly enacted. Born and brought up on the farm and inured, somewhat,
to its developing and toughening influences, and trained in the classic air
of our state educational institutions, he now honors one of the noble
professions of his state.
Thomas B. Henry is a son of the late well-known pioneer. Dr. Wil-
liam E. Henry, who settled on Table Mound in 1871. On the top of that
sightly elevation, far above the surrounding country, much of his pos-
sessions lay, and he passed the closing scenes of his life in the improve-
ment of his claim, while also in the pursuit of health. The doctor was in
feeble health, as a result of his army service, and his advent to Kansas
was prompted in the hope of physical, more than financial, benefit. While
he busied himself with the initial work of improving a prairie farm, he
also practiced medicine and was identified with a medical college, estab-
lished in Independence in an early day, holding the chair of chemistry in
the institution.
The birthplace of the head of this prominent Montgomery county
family, Dr. William E. Henry, was Warren county, Ohio, in the year
1842.' He received an academic education and graduated in medicine in
"the Ohio Medical College," of Cincinnati, Ohio, and during the Civil
war served in the 2nd Ohio Vol. Inf. as a private soldier. In the battle
of Murfreesboro a musket ball shattered his left arm, the injury finally
causing his death, on the 23rd of August, 1876. He was married in War-
ren county, Ohio, in 1870, his wife being Miss Kachel M. Butterworth, a
daughter of Henry Thomas Butterworth, and a cousin of the late Hon.
Ben. Butterworth,' Mv C, of Ohio. The two surviving issues of this mar-
riage are: Thomas B. Henry, of this notice, and William E., of Topeka,
Kansas.
Prof. T. B. Henry was born on Table Mound, in Montgomery county,
August 17th, 1872. The farm continued to be his home 'till about his
twentieth year, when he finished his course in the Independence High
School and, after teaching a term in his home district, he entered the
State Normal School. Hie completed the academic course in that institu-
tion in June, 1894, and the same fall took the position of teacher of
mathematics in the Arkansas Citv, Kansas, High School. At the ex-
piration of his year's work he resigned to enter the State University of
Michigan, where he took special work in mathematics and philosophy.
He transferred himself, in 1897, to the State University of Kansas, and
graduated from that institution in 1898, with the degree of A, B. He was
a^'Phi I)eltaTlieta"man, in the university, and, while in the normal school
represented his society with credit in essay and oratory in the annual
contests. His school education finished, he assumed his present station:
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 329
in life, as a member of the faculty of the Montgomery County High
School, to the educational success of which he has contributed in a high
degree.
June 8th, 1899, occurred the marriage of Mr. Henry and Miss Ellen
Pugh, a daughter of the late pioneer, J. H. Pugh, of Independence. They
have a splendid home on North Ninth street in Independence and their
residence is one of the most attractive and commodious in the city.
PvOBERT MAWSON DOBSON— Prominently identified with the
live stock and farming interests of Montgomery county is R. M. Dobson,
of Fawn Creek township. He is one of the self-made young farmers of
the county and has been a resident of it for twenty-one years. A history
of the successes and reverses in the rise of Mawson Dobson would detail
a somewhat checkered career, yet it would show a gradual upward ten-
dency, a continual nearing of the goal in the life of an ambitious man.
Determination does much toward the accomplishment of a heart's desire
and the achieving of life's aim is filled with experiences which add zest
and interest in this particular career.
Starting in life with an empty hand, but with a full heart and a
strong head, states the condition of our subject at the real beginning of
his career. At about sixteen years of age he assumed the station of doing
a manly part toward the maintenance of the parental home. He was
equipped with only a country school training, but it was sufiicient to
meet all the requirements of an ambitious youth of the farm. A part of
his early life was passed as a farm hand and the profits of this toil served
to provide him with the sinews of warfare in the more serious battles of
life. Having no legacy, except a strong frame and a good name, he has
provided both the opportunity and the material out of which his modest
fortune has finally been carved.
E. M. Dobson is a native of Illinois. His birth occurred in Scott
county, that state, March 19th, 1861, and he grew to maturity where he
was born. His father, the venerable Robert Dobson, of Tyro, Kansas,
was a native of the Queen's Dominions, being born in Yorkshire, Eng-
land, April 7th, 1828. The latter came to the United States at twenty-
one years of age and established himself in Morgan county, Illinois. He
joined the 91st Illinois Vols, during the Rebellion and served three years
and seven months in the Union cause, which service left him, as a legacy,
a disability which has rendered him, ever since, an incapable and physi-
cally incompetent man. For his wife, Robert Dobson married Mary A.
Mawson, a lady of English parents, and who survives at the age of sixty-
five years. Her children are: George W., Frances A., wife of Frank C.
Moses, of Independence, Kansas; R. M., of this sketch; Elizabeth, who is
330 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
married to Frank Smith, of Tyro, Kansas; Charles W., of Illinois, and
Leslie, of Montgomery county.
April 8th, 1886, R. M. Dobson married Sarah E. Godwin, a daughter
of John B. Godwin, of Sullivan county, Indiana. Mrs. Dobson's mother
was Miss Sarah P. Halberstadt, whose children numbered seven. Mrs.
Dobson was born on the 3rd day of February, 1861, and has no children.
She came to Montgomery county, in 1882, and for seventeen years has
been a never-failing source of strength and encouragement to her ener-
getic and industrious husband.
Mr. Dobson began farming in Montgomery county on a small scale
and in a modest way. He bargained for eighty acres of land in Fawn
Creek township in 188.5 and, in 1890, sold it and purchased a par-t of what
is now his splendid estate. His home was known as ''the Stuckle place,"
and is in section 5, township 33, range 15, one of the fertile farms of the
Onion creek valley, and one naturally adapted to the successful raising of
stock. In this tract he owns four hundred and eighty acres in a body
and, in addition, a half section of grass land near by. He engaged early
in the buying and selling of stock and when he was a youth, yet in his
'teens, he^ was able to ''drive a smart bargain" as a dealer and trader
in stock. He feeds, annually, on his ranch about one hundred and sixty
head of cattle and owns a bunch of thoroughbred Herefords which have
contributed no little toward the income of the farm. With this class of
cattle his success has been more marked and striking than with any other
breed or grade. They are capable of more profitable development and are
therefore the money-makers of the bovine tribe.
Mr. Dobson is buried in interest in the development of his farm and
herds. Hie does little toward the political phase of the county's history,
and when he serves as a delegate to conventions and votes the Republican
ticket he has performed his whole duty, as he sees it. He is a Mason and
a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery, of Independence,
and of the Mystic Shrine, of Leavenworth. He is also a Woodmen of the
Modern Camp.
JOSEPH GENTRY SEWELI^One of the pioneers of Montgomery
county whose brief career was filled with good deeds, and whose charac-
ter was dominated by the elements of an upright life, was the subject of
this personal memoir. His history with the west began in 1871, when he
settled on section 30, township 33, range 15, Montgomery county, Kansas,
and continued and was confined to that locality 'till December 29th,
1882, when he died. The eleven years he spent here were years of inces-
sant labor in the improvement and development of a home Where his fam-
ily m^ght be sheltered in comfort and sustained liberally with the fruits
of honest toil.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 33 1
Mr. Sewell purchased the claim-rioht of Mr. Chambers, the original
settler of his farm, and himself patented the land in section 30, as well
as a part of section 31. His career in early life had been that of a farmer
and blacksmith, and to each of these callings he devoted himself in his
new location. He erected a shop on his homestead and did the plow-
sharpening, horse-shoeing and other blacksmith work over a wide scope
of the surrounding country, thereby extending his acquaintance and estab-
lishing himself in the confidence and good will of his fellow settlers. He
transacted the business of the ordinary affairs of life, as they came along,
with a plain, unassuming and dignified air and comported himself, al-
ways, in a manner becoming the sincere and God-fearing man that he
was. His life was a conspicuous one in the community and when it was
suddenly terminated in death the shock of it and the accompanying grief
extended far beyond the limits of his immediate household.
Joseph G. Sewell was a native of Overton county, Tennessee, and
was born December 6th, 1829. His father was W. D. Sewell, a farmer
and a Baptist minister, of Virginia birth. He was born in 1800, went
down into Tennessee, a young man, and married there, Susan Brown,
who died at the age of seventy-six years. Rev. Sewell lived 'till 1880, and
passed away in Tennessee, where he had done his life work. His children
were. Elizabeth, who married Hardy Hopkins, and died in Missouri;
Jonathan Calvin, who died in Texas ; Joseph Gentry, our subject ; Mary,
wife of Jerre Taylor, of Tennessee; Washington, Isaac, Jesse and
Stephen, of Tennessee ; Lovania, who married Elijah Pritchard, deceased,
and Celia, now Mrs. Baalam Roberts, of Overton county, Tennessee.
In his youth Joseph G. Sewell acquired a country school education.
He took up\is trade at the proper age and acquired proficiency in it by
the time he reached his majority. November 20th, 1851, he married
Catherine Maberry, a daughter of John and Mary (Spicer) Maberry, for-
merly of North Carolina, in which state Mrs. Sewell was born, June 22nd,
1831. The Maberry children were William Madison, Catherine, Calvin, of
California, Serena, deceased, married James Jordan ; Sarah, of Menephee
county, Kentucky, is the wife of John Williams. In 1861, Mr. Sewell
enlisted in Capt. McKinney's company — Tennessee troops — for service
in tho Confederate army, and was out two years. He participated in
battle at Murfreesboro, Chicamauga and other engagements of im-
portance and was wounded in the chin in the Chickaraauga fight. On be-
coming a civilian again he resumed his trade in his native state and con-
tinued it in the main until his removal to Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Sewell's children are : Martha J., deceased, was a
young girl of fifteen years; William and John, twins, both of Montgomery
county ; the former a farmer of Fawn Creek township and the latter,
John B., is a resident of Bolton, and was married in 1873, his wife being
332 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
Miss Maggie James, who has borne him two sons and seven daughters :
and Andrew Calvin, of Elk City, Kansas.
In public matters, Joseph G. Sewell took only a citizen's interest. He
voted with the Democratic party, but had no interest in the outcome of
any election, other than the good of the public service. He was intensely
moral and upright in his intercourse with his fellow men and, in his
church relations, he was a Baptist and a deacon of the congregation. He
was also a Mason.
MARTIN VANBUREN SMITH— On the roster which contains the
names of the heroes who fought that this country might live a free and
united nation, is found the name of Martin YanBuren Smith, one of the
pioneer farmers of the county, and a gentleman whose singularly up-
right and correct life has exercised a powerful influence in establishing
the high standard of civic righteousness now obtaining. Indeed, Mont-
gomery county owes much of her excellence in matters of government to
the "old soldier." Returning to the crowded farming sections of the east,
after those years of strife, he naturally turned to the child whose birth
had ushered in the din of battle, and whose strong young limbs were al-
ready making rapid strides toward a prosperous future. Here in Kansas,
he soon demonstrated that the discipline of army life was the best pos-
sible preparation for a civic career — that control of self is the basic prin-
ciple of all right living. Fortunate, indeed, was Montgomery county to
secure as citizens, in her earlier years, these men, for the four long years
of hardship and suffering endured for their country had taught them
well its value, and made them doubly desirous of seeing it the best gov-
ernment on earth.
Martin V. Smith passed the latter part of the 50's near the Missouri
border and was thus prepared by contact with the stirring scenes of that
time to respond readily to the call of his country. Early in 1861, he en-
listed as a private in Company "G," of the Seventh Kansas, and, during
the struggle, followed the fortunes of his regiment in the bush-whacking
warfare carried on west of the Ozark Mountains. He was, finally, hon-
orably discharged for disability and returned to his farm in Linn county.
Mr. Smith was born in the ''Keystone State," in Warren county, in 1834,
and is the son of Wilson and Nancy (Jackman) Smith, both natives of
the county, the Jaskmans having been among the earliest pioneers of that
section.
Our subject was one of a family of eight children— Charlotte, mar-
ried William McDonald and lives in Warren county ; Martin was the sec-
ond; then in order came Emily, Frank, Rosaline, Charles and Betsey Ann.
Mr. Smith was reared to farm work, receiving the education common
in those times in country districts. He remained at home until his twen-
M. V. SMITH.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 33-
tieth year, when he came west, to Franklin county, Mo. He here engaged
in work on the pioneer railroad of the west, and which afterward be-
came the Missouri Pacific. A year here and a like period in Lee county,
Iowa, brought him to Bates county, Mo., where he married and remained
until his settlement in Linn county, in 1856. This was Mr. Smith's home
until 3 869, when he settled on a claim a mile east of his present location.
In 1873, he purchased the farm upon which he now resides. It contains
160 acres and lies four miles southeast of the county seat town of Inde-
pendence.
Mr. Smith has been twice married. The wife of his youth was Mrs.
Mary Forbes, nee Knapp. To her were born two children — Estelle, who
married Frank Griffin, a farmer of Independence township, and whose
children are Ethel and Effie ; Augusta is the wife of Seward 0. Clark and
lives at Newkirk, Okla., with five children — Joseph, William, Seward,
Edna and Mary, Mrs. Smith, the mother of these children, died in Linn
county, Kansas, in January of 1859, and in 1868, our subject was joined
in wedlock to the lady who now presides over his home. Miss Addie,
daughter of William and Eliza (Smith) Dickey. Mrs. Smith is one of
seven children — Sarah Ann, widow of John Brown, Honesdale, Pa.; Caro-
line, deceased; Harriet, Mrs. Alvan Root, of Linn county; Almeda, de-
ceased; Cushman, of Bearing. Kansas; Mrs. Smith; Emma was a twin
sister of the latter. Mrs. Smith is the mother of six children — Frank H.,
who married Belle Wise, whose children are Don and Forest; Lillian is
the wife of William Fortner, of Independence, whose son is Delbert; and
Delbert, Hugh and Wesley E, are still at home, Hattie died, aged three
years.
As before intimated, Mr. Smith and his family have been potent fac-
tors in the county's development. They are members of the United Breth-
ren church, and he supports the Republican party by his vote.
>^ATHAN M. FARLOW— Prominently identified with the agricul-
tural and general material interests of Bolton and vicinity, is the gentle-
man and worthy citizen of this review, Nathan M. Farlow. He was num-
bered among the ''second relief," or the influx of immigrants who came to
Montgomery county some fifteen years after its pioneer days and gave
to it a new blood and a renewed vigor of citizenship. October 20th, 1887,
was the day he began his residence among the toilers and the prairie
pioneers, and he located on section 16, township 33, range 14, munici-
pality of Rutland. He was actively connected with farm culture and im-
provement 'till November 11th, 1002, when he established himself and his,
now reduced family, in the village of Bolton, where he is modestly and
quietly passing the evening of life.
Nathan M. Farlow is a native of Orange county, Indiana, born Janu-
334 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
ary olh, 1842. His father, Jonathan Farlow, was one of the pioneers of
the then Territory of Indiana, having settled there in 1811, an emigrant
from the state of North Carolina. The latter was born in Orange county,
the old "Tar Heel State" in 1807. and a('('onii>anied his father, Joseph
Farlow, into Indiana, where the first work of clearing up the heavily-tim-
bered region was just taking place. The family were of the English
Quakei- stock, whose antecedents settled in North Carolina from the col-
ony ii! Pennsylvania and were of the direct followers of William Penn.
Jonathan Farlow was a quiet, dignified gentleman, industrious and
thrifty, and performed a manly and honorable part in the affairs of his
county in whatever capacity he was designated to occupy. He married
Ruth, a daughter of John Maris, and died in 1873, thirty years after the
death of his first wife. The children of the first marriage of Jonathan
Farlow were: Jane, wife of Mark Hill, of Orange county, Indiana;
Joseph, of Bolton. Kansas ; Deborah, who died in February, 1900, was the
wife of John B. Atkinson, of Montgomery county; Thomas, who died in
Orange county. Indiana, in January, 1886; and Nathan M., of this record.
Mary Hill became the second wife of Jonathan Farlow, and ^iieir child-
ren were: Lindley. of Kokomo, Indiana; Ruth, who died in 1875; Ellen,
wife of Joseph Trimble, of Orange county, Indiana ; and Sena, unmarried
and residing in the same Indiana county.
The Maris's are among the first settlers of Pennsylvania. They emi-
grated from Inkborough, in the county of Worcester, England, in 1683,
and joined the Quaker colony in Pennsylvania. George Maris was the
founder of this branch of plain Quaker folk and the records show that he
left England on account of his arrest and imprisonment for permitting
a meeting of this religious sect at his house. His friends armed him
with a letter commending him to the colony in America, and reciting in it
consistency of his religious life and other striking traits of real character.
This George Maris is the eighth generation removed from Ruth Maris, the
mother of the subject of this sketch.
Nathan M. Farlow came to manhood's estate at a time and in a
country when and where there was a prime opportunity to work. He
''passed through"' school in just a little while and it is not unfair to as-
sume that while he was doing this feat he was also making a hand on the
farm. He enlisted, January 4th, 1864, in Company "F," 13th Ind. Vol.
Cavalry, under Col. G. M. L. Johnson. The regiment was assigned to the
Army of the Cumberland, and saw service in the States of Alabama, Ten-
nessee. Georgia, Mississippi and Kentucky. He was with Gen. Grierson
and participated in some sharp bouts with the enemy in its own country,
prior to its final order to rendezvous at Vicksburg, Mississippi, where its
muster our occurred November 18th, 1865, by special order No. 76.
February 4th, 1868, Mr. Farlow married Martha Cloud, a daughter
of Daniel and Mary A. (Millikeu) Cloud, both of which families— the
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 335
Cloua^ and Mil likens— were from the State of North Carolina. Beside
Mrs. Farlow, the other Cloud children were a sister, Ann, deceased wife
of James Jones, of Orange County, Indiana, and a brother, William
Cloud, of the same county and state. Mi^s. Farlow was born February
21st, 1849, was reared on a farm, where her mother died in 1866, and her
father in 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Farlow's children are four in number, as
follows : Elmer, a farmer of Montgomery county, Kansas, is married to
Ella Finney; Harry, a meix-hant of Bolton, is married to Carrie Metzger;
Mamie, wife of Daniel Webster Finney, of Montgomery county, Kansas;
William C, who occupies the family homestead in Rutland township,
has taken him to wife, Blanche Brownell.
Upon his return from the army Mr. Farlow resumed farming and has
continued it without material interruption. He has participated in the
afifairs of his municipality as one interested in the public welfare and
when such participation involved a question of political action, he has
been an unswerving Republican. He never experienced confusion of opin-
ions and consequent change of front when ''the great breakup of 1890''
came on and he forecasted the comparative temporary character of that
movement from the period of its first victory. Mr. Farlow is a trustee of
the County High School, member of the G. A. R. and A. H. T. A.
ABRAM G. EMPFIELD— Those who have resided within the juris-
diction of Independence for a third of a century have known the subject
of this review. His entry to Montgomery county dates along with the
pioneers, for in February, 1869, he stopped near the "round mound,"
near Wayside, and proceeded to do the initial work on a Montgomery
county claim. He had not had a capital training for the ''rough-and-
tumble" of the frontier, although he had driven his team from Blooming-
ton, Jlliuois, across the states to Leavenworth, Kansas, thence to Topeka,
Wamego, and finally, into Montgomery county. The trip prepared him
for the continued out-door existence awaiting him in his new location and
for a year he made the most of his rural environment. He really made
no remarkable reputation as a farmer, yet he followed it long enough
to get a taste of its difficulties and bitternesses in pioneer days. He dis-
posed of his team of horses — partially living them up the first year —
and acquired a yoke of cattle, and began turning over the prairie sod.
He opened out several acres of land in this way and when the new town
of Independence started up, and made some pretensions toward perma-
nency, he left the farm and resumed his trade of a carpenter there.
While Mr. Empfield has resided a few years on one of the good farms
of Montgomery county, and which he has owned many years, his career
has been passed in the county as a mechanic. Few men were better
adapted in life to the trade he has followed. The handling of tools in his
336 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
line seemed natural with him and his ideas in designing buildings and in
the appropriateness and tastefulness of their finish were at once pleasing
and in advance of his time. That he was popular and that he was always
empk.ved is no wonder, in the light of his success. He did his first work
in the city in 1870, and for twenty-five years he was identified with the
building interests of the county's capital. Pome of his best work was
done on the residences of Wm. Dunkin, J. M. Anderson, C. W. Canning
and George T. Guernsey.
Having served "his time" at his trade, for the second time, Mr. Emp-
field decided to occupy his farm and, with his wife, pass his afternoon
of life in semi-retirement, in the enjoyment of the open air and concerned
with only a few head of stock and with the general care and improve-
ment of his farm. He owns two hundred and forty acres in sections 26
and 27, township 33, range 15, the cultivation of which is done chiefly
by proxy,
Abram G. Empfield was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, July
20th, 1847. His parents were George W: and Margaret (Myers) Emp-
field. The father was born in Indiana count v, the ''Kevstone State," in
181f). and died in Cambria county, September 17th, 1897, while the mo-
ther was born in the same county in 1818, and now resides in Belsano,
Pennsylvania. The father of George W. Empfield was Joseph Empfield,
who came to the Uinted States an English boy, stealing his way over
aboard a ''sailer," and on reaching this country was sold, by the captain
of the ship, to a miller, for the amount of his passage. He finally drifted
into Indiana county, Pennsylvania, where he became a farmer, married
and died in 1857, leaving three sons, viz : George W., Abraham and Jack-
son, the latter being a minister of the United Brethren church and resid-
ing in Salina, Kansas.
Our subject is one of nine children, as follows : Thomas, of Belsano,
Pennsylvania; Marj- A., wife of Harvey Cooper, of Schuylkill county,
Pennsylvania; Susan, who married Amos Black and resides in Cherry-
vale, Kansas ; Sarah, now Mrs. Isaac Maliau, of Cambria county. Pa. ;
Abram, our subject; William W., of Ebensburg, Pa., and Margaret, wife
of William James, of the home county in Pennsylvania. These are all
the children who grew to maturity, except Martha, who is the wife of Jud<
son Eeese, of Cambria county, Pa. Abram G. Empfield worked on the
farm 'till near his majority, when he was put to learning the carpenter
trade. As stated above, he was apt with tools and soon gave promise of
great proficiency at the bench. In December, after he was twenty-one, he
left his home and friends and started west "to grow up with the country."
He was unmarried, had a small amount of money, and at Bloomington,
Illinois, he left the train, joined some friends and purchased an outfit for
the "overland" continuation of his journey hither.
In 1877, Mr. Empfield returned to Pennsylvania and, in Cambria
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 337
county, on July 5tli, married Mahala Campbell, a daughter of Henry and
Kebecca (Hill) Campbell, farmers and old residents of the county. Mr.
and Mrs. Campbell were both born in 1826, and still survive. Their
i^hildren are: Mrs. Empfleld, Lewis, of Johnstown. Pa.; Abbie. wife of
Sylvester Stover, of Fort Collins, Col.; Amos, of Johnstown, Pa.; Susie,
the youngest, is the wife of Amos McAlister, of Cambria county. Pa. Mr.
and' Mrs. Empfleld have an only child, a daughter, Rebecca M., wife of
George M. Stewart, of Montgomery county, Kansas.
Mr. Empfleld and his wife hold membership in the German Baptist
church. Their lives have been passed in industry and they have achieved
a position among those who have aided in the development of their
county.
DELOS W. WILTSE — Introducing this article is the name of one
of the early settlers of Independence township, residing in section 31,
township 32, range 15. He owns a farm of 240 acres, improved in keep-
ing with the progress of the county and has been a citizen of Montgomery
county since September, 1874. He is the oldest settler now a resident of
his locality — in point of residence — and when he purchased the improve-
ments of the original settler of the '-claim," they consisted simply of a
log house, which he occupied ten years, and which is now used as a corn
crib and serves as a daily reminder of the family's experiences on the
frontier.
Delos W. Wiltse is a native of the state of Ohio, born August 18th,
1852. At six years of age he accompanied his parents, John and Mary
(OweDs) Wiltse, into Illinois and settled in DeKalb county. The parents
were farmers, and the mother died the same year of our subject's birth,
and left the following children, viz : Frank, of Green county, Iowa ;
Charles, who died young ; Albert, of Green county, Iowa ; Mary, who died
in 1896. as the wife of Patrick Logan, and Delos W., of this sketch. John
Wiltse died in Green county, Iowa, in 1902, at ninetj^-one years of age.
He wt s born in New York state and his family was identified with Her-
kimer county. Hfe was reared a farmer and followed it all his life. His
wife v/as a daughter of a Welchman, and he left New York and settled
in the state of Ohio at an early date. He had brothers, Elijah and
Stephen, of Illinois, and Henry and Otis, who passed their active lives in
Wisconsin.
Our subject came to maturity on a farm near Sycamore, Illinois.
His education was obtained in the district schools and was of a limited
character. He attended school only during the winter months, after he came
to be of use on the farm. He was married in June, 1871, and began life in
the calling to which he had been reared. His wife was Charlotte E., a
dauo-hter "of the late early settler. Ashman Partridge, of Montgomery
338 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
county, Kansas. The latter was well known in the county he helped to
improve and was one of the prosperous and wealthy farmers of Inde-
pendence township. Since his removal to Kansas, Mr. Wiltse has con-
fined his efforts to grain raising, with some stock, and has enjojed a rea-
sonable degree of prosperity. His efforts have universally been honorable
and intelligent ones and these attributes, in a strong sense, govern the
character of his citizenship. He was limited in resources on his advent
to the county, having a team and a small amount of money and, in con-
sequence, his first years on the Kansas prairie were economically, yet in-
dustriously and comfortably passed.
•ihere have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wiltse four children, as fol-
lows: Elmyra, wife of Samuel Lehr, with one child, Chester; Byron, who
married May Young; and Walter and Otto, both at home. In politics the
Wiltses of this branch are, and have been. Republicans, and our subject
has always taken a good citizen's interest in the political and public af-
fairs of his locality. He has served two terms on the school board in dis-
trict 105 — "Four Corners" school house.
JAMES BR ADEN — One of the new acquisitions to the rural popu-
lation of Montgomery county is James Braden, a native of the "Keystone
State," who, after a long residence in Missouri, in 1901, settled in Lib-
erty township. In the short time he has been in the county he has made
many friends, his good qualities attracting all who have dealings with
him.
The family history of Mr. Braden carries us back to Beaver county,
Pennsylvania, where he was born, March 10th, 1829. His father was
Frank Braden, and his mother Rebecca Russell. The father died when
his son was but one year old and the mother passed away when he was
but eight years of age. Our subject was then adopted by Hanson John-
son, one of the early settlers and leading farmers of that county. Mr.
Braden remained with this family until the death of Mr. Johnson in
1849, and was treated in every respect as a son.
At the age of twenty, he began life for himself and remained in
Beaver county, engaged in farming, until the breaking out of the Civil
war, when he became a member of the 5th Penn. Heavy Artillery, and
during his service, was, for the most part, in the quartermaster's depart-
ment and was mustered out at Vienna, Ya., July 18th, 1865. He reen-
gaged at farming in Pennsylvania until 1867, when he came west to War-
rensburg, Mo., where he purchased a farm sixty-five miles east of Kansas
City, on the Missouri Pacific railway. He cultivated this farm for eigh-
teen years, when he sold it and rented a farm, until his settlement in Lib-
erty township, as stated, in 1901.
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 339
The domestic life of Mr. Braden began in the year 1852, when he was
Tiappil}' joined in marriage in Beaver county, Pa., with Louisa Sanford.
The family of eleven children which she has borne to her husband, are
scattered to the four points of the compass, but all occupy honorable
positions in the communities in which they reside. The eldest child was
John H., now a practicing physician in Morgan county, Mo; Francis L.
is a stock dealer at Independence, Kansas; Luther N. is a farmer and
stock raiser in North Dakota; John B. is a physician and practices in
the t^tate of Washington; Mary Louisa married Serena Campbell and is
now a widow, living in Oklahoma; Ella F., wife of E. J. D. Miller, re-
sides in North Dakota ; Una L. is the wife of farmer Robert L. Smith, of
Johnson county, Mo. ; Hjerman D. lives in the Indian Territory ; Margaret
J. married Charles Hite, a farmer of South Dakota; Amos resides in
North Dakota, and Perry is a farmer residing in Liberty townshp.
In the different communities in which James Braden has resided
during his life time, he has held a prominent and helpful position and
has always been consistent in his endeavors for the uplifting of society.
He has always been a consistent supporter of the educational institutions
of the communities where he has resided and has voted, during his life
time, the Republican ticket. In matters of religious concern, he and his
family are consistant members of the Presbyterian church and liberal
supporters of the same. His coming to the county is regarded, by those
who have his acquaintance, as a decided gain to the rural population in
the local community in which he is making his residence.
The sons are nearly all members of some society. Herman is a Ma-
son, Frank and Dr. J. A. are Modern ^yoodmen, Perrv is an Odd Fellow.
EDWARD B. WEBSTER— Edward B. Webster, one of the more
recent settlers of West Cherry township, is a native of Polo, Illinois,
having been born in Ogle county, May 20th, 184:4:. He has been identified
with the west since the fall of 1870, and his experience as a farmer has
extended somewhat over the States of Iowa. Nebraska, Missouri and Kan
sas, ond in March, 1892, he purchased his farm of three hundred and
twenlv acres in section 10, township 31, range 10, which has profitably
responded to his intelligent and energetic effort.
The youth of Edward B. Webster was passed in the country and his
education obtained in the rural schools. August 2Gth, 1802, he enlisted
in Company ''D," 92nd 111. Vol. Inf., his immediate commanders being
Capt. Lyman Preston and Col. Smith D. Atkins. His regiment was as-
signed to the Army of the West, under Gen. Rosecrans, during the greater
part ol his service. His was a company of mounted infantry and moved
.about with the cavalry forces. He was in the Chickamauga campaign and
340 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
in the Atlanta campaign, up to tlie battle before the city, when he was
shot through the right lung and was forced out of the ranks for about
two mouths. He returned to his command after his partial recovery and
was with it 'till mustered out of the service, June 22nd, 1865, at Conrad,
North Carolina.
He took up the work of the farm again, after the war closed, and re-
mained in Illinois 'till the fall of 1870, when he moved to Wappelo
countv, Iowa, where he resumed farming for twelve years, at which time
he made a move into the far western plain, settling in Antelope county,
Nebraska. There he took up a claim on the public domain, which he held
and cultivated 'till the autumn of 1889, when he returned southeast and
rented a farm in Jackson county, Missouri, and, three years later, came
to Montgomerv countv, Kansas.
Mr. Webster is a son of George E. Webster, born in Delaware county.
New York. The father pioneered to Illinois, took up government land,
and helped to build the Erie canal, before his departure from the ''Em-
pire State.'' He was a son of Elijah Webster, whose children were:
George, Jerrad, Oscar, Navadis, Mrs. Mary A. Schriver, Mrs. Roxy A.
Burger, and ]\I4'S. Maria O'Kane. George Webster married Sarah Shaver,
a native of Delaware county, New York, and a daughter of Jacob and
Catherine (Burhouse) Shaver. George Webster and wife had two child-
ren : Wellen H.. of Loveland. Colorado, and Edward B., of this review.
In Wappelo county, Iowa, Edward B. Webster married Clara, a
daughter of Samuel and Mary A. (Gleason) Pachwood. The issue of their
marriage are: Mabel, wife of C. D. Shepard, of Washington. She has
three children. James. Daniel and Earnest; Robert, of Bakersfield, Cal.,
married Ella Ogden ; Edith. William. Hlarold and Blanche.
Mr. Webster belongs to the Anti-Horse Thief Association, is a mem-
ber of the school board of his district and honors the Grand Army of the
Republic with his name on the roll.
JOHN B. REA — The interesting character whose name introduces
this biography has been numbered among the citizens of Montgomery
countv since November 28th, 1875. the vear he established himself on sec-
tion 3, township 33. range 14, and began the first work in the develop-
ment of his Kansas home. As a character he is unique, in that the story
of his life embraces the experiences of wide travel, beginning with the
middle of the nineteenth century and continuing through many years of
the next quarter of a century, during which time the sun shone on him
from many distant points of our American continent.
Born in Logan county, Ohio, November 28th, 1825, and reared and
educated there, at twenty-four years of age he went to Mahaska county,
JOHN. B. REA AND FAMILY..
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY_, KANSAS. 34 1
Iowa, where he passed one year as a hand on a farm. The following
spring — 1850 — with a small company, he made the -trip with an ox team
to Place rville, California, being from May 1st to !??eptember loth, on the
jonrney. He engaged in mining, but at the end of a year had saved but
little (1100.00) from his wages, and decided to return home. He took
the brig "Imaunr' for San Juan, crossed Nicaragua lake and thence
down the San Juan river to Greytown. There he took a steamer to Ha-
vana, Cuba, and, a week later, sailed to New Orleans and up the Mis-
sissippi river to St. Louis. By stage he went to Carthage, Illinois, and
thence to his starting-point in Iowa, where he soon began his journey, by
horse, to his home in Ohio.
In December, 1852, he married and returned at once to Mahaska
county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm, cultivated it a year and then
took his departure for his eastern home. In 1857, he again went to the
Pacific coast, taking ship at New York, crossing the isthmus and stop-
ping at San Jose, where he worked on a farm one year. He staged it
from Los Angeles to Sherman, Texas, and spent two years on a farm
there. Hostilities between the North and the South caused him to return
to his friends and he enlisted, at Oskaloosa, Iowa, in Company "K," 33rd
Iowa Inf., under Col. Samuel Rice. He was in the Department of the
West and passed much time in Arkansas, from his enlistment in August,
1862. Hte participated in the engagement at Helena, July 4th, 1863, and
was in the hospital at Little Eock during the Red river campaign. Re-
joining his command, he went with it to New Orleans, to Mobile, andafter
taking the latter, went to Fort Blakely, from which point his regiment
was ordered to the Rio Grande river, in Texas. After doing some ser-
vice on this extreme frontier the force returned to New Orleans, by the
wav of Galveston, and was mustered out in the "Crescent City" in June,
1865.
The war over, Mr. Rea resumed farming in Ohio for a year, and
then went back to Iowa, where he was married the second time, Septem-
ber 12th, 1866. This same year he started west and south in a wagon and
located in Johnson county, Kansas, where he purchased a farm and
owned it 'till 1873, when he disposed of it and moved to Batesville, Ar-
kansas. There he remained 'till the beginning of the journey which
brought him to Montgomery county, Kansas.
His beginnings in this county were as primitive as any. His resi-
dence was 14x16 feet to start with and the conveniences about the place
were all improvised and temporary. He has given his time to grain and
grazing and his modest surroundings have been the result.
John B. Rea was a son of Allen Rea, a farmer and native of Culpeper
county, Virginia. His grandfather was Joseph Rea, of Culpeper county,
and of Irish stock. The eight children of Joseph Rea were: Robert, Allen,
342 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS.
Thomas, Isaiah, Margaret, Sarah, Elizabeth and Deborah. Allen Rea
married Maria Bishop and was the father of twelve children, viz : Mrs.
Susannah Shark, George Ml., John B., Mrs. Marv J. Henderson, Mrs.
Charlotte Hisey, Deborah, Mrs. Margaret Crowder, Mrs. Samantha Davis,
RobeT'l, Mrs. Louisa Davis, Joseph, of Olathe, Kans., and Carlisle, of Con-
way, Missouri.
John B. Rea married, first, Hannah Wiekersham, who bore him:
Joseph, of Tennessee, whose four children are Frank, Mrs. Deborah Rob-
ertson, Capitola, Mary and Virgie ; Mrs. Robertson has four children :
Thomas, William, Flora and Mamie; William is deceased; Mr. Rea, our
â– subject, married for his second wife. Mary J. Rice, of Jennings county,
Indiana, and a daughter of James and Calydia (Adams) Graham, natives
of Kentucky. Two children were the fruit of this union, namely : Saman-
tha Pilgrim, deceased, and Mrs. Nellie Jones, of Montgomery county,
Kansas. The children of Mrs. Jones are Vivian Alfa and Charles, twins.
Mr. Rea is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the
A. H. T. A. He has ever maintained himself a worthy citizen and his
;standing in his community and county is above reproach.
GEORGE W. LIPPY— In the spring of 1872, the worthy citizen
whose name is prefixed to this sketch, left Fulton county, Illinois, and
drove his little family across the state of Missouri and into Wilson
county, Kansas. After a temporary sojourn he went over into Elk
county and took a claim, which he held 'till the fall of 1874, when he sold
it and came to the Verdigris river in Montgomery' county, where he has
since made his home. His original farm comprised only forty acres,
where he finally located, and to the development of it and to the acquire-
ment of broader acres was his attention earnestly directed. So intense
and concerted were the efforts of his wife and himself exerted that an es-
tate of four hundred and fifty acres now represents their farm. Their
home is in section 17, township 31, range 16, and the house which covers
.them was, originally, a simple log cabin. In its construction their funds
exhausted themselves before the cover was provided and the family watch
was sacrificed to buy material for the roof. But this modest pretension
served the family as a home, and "there is no place like home.''
George W. Lippy was born in Miami county, Ohio, and brought up in
Fulton county, Illinois. His parents, John and Sarah (Zepp) Lippy,
settled in the latter place when George was only a baby. John Lippy was
born in Maryland and was of German stock. He was the father of ten
children, namely: Elizabeth and Catherine Lasswell, George W., John,
Eprhiam, Mrs. Susanna Markley, Arminda Lee, Mrs. Jane Schlegel, Mrs.
â– Edna Lee and William.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 343
The birth of George W. Lippy occurred April 11th, 1844. His whole
life was rural iu environment and, September 8th, 1870, he married Eliza-
beth Markley. Mrs. Lippy was born in Fulton county, Illinois, February
4th, 1847, and was a daughter of Conrad Markley, a native of Ohio. The
Markley children were : Conrad, Joseph, Mrs. Margaret Corn well, Mrs.
Susannah Richards, Jackson, John, Elizabeth, Mary. Conrad Markley
married Ruth Foster, a daughter of Benjamin and Amanda (Cone) Fos-
ter, and their children were : Amanda Wallich, Elizabeth Lippy, wife of
our subject; Louis C, Margaret Catron, John, Thomas, Jackson and
Joshua. The first Markley children mentioned above were heirs of Jona-
than Markley, of Pennsylvania, father of Conrad Markley, Mrs. Lippy's
father.
Mr. Lippy and wife have four children, to-wit: Nora Catron, of Ok-
lahoma, with five children : George, Margie, Ruth, Louis and Ralph ;
Margaret, wife of G. S. McEvers, of Montgomery county, with three
children: Maurice, Millie and Martha; John and Ruth Lippy, at the
family home.
The industry and thrift displayed by Mr. and Mrs. Lippy as they
passed through life has been one of the marked features of their family
trait. The management of their affairs indicates an unusual business
sagacity and the possession of such an estate as theirs only compensates
them, in a measure, for the sacrifices they have made. Misfortune has
come to the family in recent years in the mental aberration of the father,
rendering him incompetent to assume charge of the domestic affairs. His
noble wife has taken her place at the helm and the onward and upward
movement of their pecuniary affairs has suffered no abatement.
MATHIAS BLAES — The gentleman whose life work is briefly sum-
marized in this article, is a representative of one of the numerous fami-
lies of Montgomery county whose material interests mark them among
the successful people of the municipality. The distinction of being pio-
neers of the county also belongs to them and they have comported them-
selves with credit as citizens of a great and growing commonwealth.
Mathias Blaes is well worthy the honor of being the head of the
Blaes family. His public spirit and enterprise, his general air of prog-
ress and his extensive financial interests all conspire to this end. His be-
lief in the encouragement of worthy objects has been demonstrated by a
liberal support of the same and his open method of transacting business
is a matter of general comment.
The Blaes's were settlers from Cook county, Illinois, and came to
Montgomery county in 18G9. Mathias Blaes, our subject, was born near
Chicago, Illinois, January 2Gth, 185G. Be comes of pure German stock,
his father, Jacob Blaes, and his mother, Elizabeth Morch, having been
344 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
born in Prussia. The parents were married in 184G, in Chicago, having
come from Germany in that year, and settled in Cook county, Illinois.
From that date until 1860, they followed the varied occupations of the
farm, and when they came to Montgomery county they entered land — all
who were of the proper age — and a large body of the public domain was
thus gathered together. The father passed away at eighty-four years of age,
Tvhile the mother still survives and is seventy-five years old.
Seventeen children were born to this pioneer couple, fourteen of
whom still live, namely : Christian, Mary E., Jacob, Elizabeth, Andrew,
Mathias, John, Henry, Nicholas, Mary G., Kate, Regina, Anton and Anna.
These children are scattered from Arkansas to California, and are main-
taining themselves as good citizens in their respective abiding places.
Mathias Blaes was a boy of thirteen years when his life was cast
with the outpost of civilization on the Kansas frontier, and among the
-scattered fragments of Black Dog's and White Hair's Osage bands. The
last obstacle to pioneer progress was not removed with the departure of
the Indians, for floods and grass-hoppers and chinch bugs came along
and for some years, in the early seventies, the lot of the white man was
hard. Discouraged but not disheartened, the Blaes's fought their battles
against adversity without yielding and came off gloriously victorious in
the end.
The district school was the only one accessible to Mr. Blaes and he
acquired the ground-work of a common and practical education. He
made his home with his parents 'till April 3rd, 1883, when he married
Theresia Koehler, who came to the United States from Bohemia at six
years of age, and to Kansas with her parents in 1879, and settled in Wil-
son county.
Mr. and Mrs. Blaes began their married life on their farm two miles
north of Cherryvale. Agriculture and stock raising was the chief pro-
duct of the farm until recent years, when the mineral development of the
locality proved it to be rich in oil and gas, and this product — from the
"Spindle Top Farm," as it has been named — yields its own handsome re-
turns, each quarter, in royalties, from the operators of the lease. Eleven
oil wells, many of which occupy the high plateau overlooking Cherry-
vale, produce crude petroleum and a good gas well supplies the pumping
station and the residence of Mr. Blaes with nature's perfection of fuel.
The improvements on "Spindle Top" farm are in keeping with the
substantial condition of its proprietor; large two-story residence, ample
barn room and other conveniences. The farm contains two hundred and
twenty-two acres and is cultivated as assiduously as if the family treas-
ury were not teeming with riches drawn from the bowels of the earth. Its
fields are rich and fertile and are stocked amply with the various domes-
tic animals common to a well conducted farm.
HISTORY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY^, KANSAS. 345
Teu children have blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Blaes?, and all
have learned to speak their mother, as well as the English, tongue. Ger-
man is the language of the family circle, while English was learned in
school and in contact with the outside world. The children are: Agatha,
Adolph J., Carl H., Arnold Edward, Antoinette, Colette, Theresia B.,
Frank Joseph. Anna L., and Omer W.
EDWARD J. TRIBLE— An early settler of Montgomery county
who has emphasized his presence here by positive and substantial life
achievements, is Edward J. Trible, of Rutland township. February, 1870,
marks his advent to the county, at which early date he combined the busi-
ness of a freighter with that of a settler, and entered a tract of the public
lands in Independence township, as a starting point in his citizen career.
He came to the county with mule and ox teams laden with flour and corn,
which he sold to the Osages, then quartered in their villages about over
the county and the farm which William Brust now owns is the site
where Mr. Trible put forth his maiden efforts on a Kansas farm.
Edward Trible, like other pioneers, made his first home in Mont-
gomery county in a log hut, which he erected with his own hands. His
stable matched his house and a "shanghigh" fence enclosed his field. Chief
Nopawalla's can)p was only a fourth of a mile from him and a friendly
intercourse between the settler and the Aborigines was maintained.
In 1872, Mr. Trible went on a buffalo hunt, fifty miles west of his
claim, and killed all the meat he could haul. At that date Butler and
Cowley counties, and all the country west of there, was full of that large
game, and it served the pioneers in good stead during a scarcity of native
meat and short crops. This meat our subject sold at Joplin, Missouri,
and in that vicinity he remained, working about the lead mines, for three
years, returning thence to Montgomery county and settling the farm he
now owns. He was then without means, so to speak, and he roughed it
and starved it until Providence came to his rescue with earth's bounteous
crops. He lived in a log cabin here, too. and the temporary buildings of
the modest farmer covered him 'till their destruction by fire, in 1892,
when the home of the present day arose and gave him shelter. He is
located on a tract of school land in section 30, township 32, range 14, and
is classed among the thorough-going and thrifty citizens of his township.
December 25th, 1814, ]Mr. Trible, of this sketch, was born in Devon-
shire, England. H«3 grew up there to the age of fourteen years, when he
sailed for America and landed at Quebec, Canada. He went direct to
Alton, Illinois, and thence to Macoupin county, that state, where he re-
sided until 1807. In the s])ving of 1804, he cnlisfed at Camp Butler, 111.,
in Companv "F," 133rd Vol. Inf., Capt. Dugger and Col. Phillips. He
346 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
did guard duty at Rock Island, Illinois, during his entire service and
was mustered out at his place of enlistment December, 1865. After
spending a short time at home he migrated to Barton county, Missouri,
from which point he started on his journey to Kansas and to Montgom-
ery county.
Edward J. Trible was a son of John Trible, whose father and mother
were the parentsof John, Edward, Abram and Samuel. John Trible married
Mary Oliver in Devonshire, and was the father of six children, as follows :
Mrs."^ Grace Elred, of Carlinville, 111. ; Mrs. Elizabeth Hobson, of Carrol-
ton, 111. ; Mrs. Mary Fink, of Lamar. Mb. ; John, of Girard, 111. ; Margaret,
wife of Peter Denby, and Edward J.
In 1872, Mr. Trible married Mary J. Compton, a native of Ross
county, Ohio, and a daughter of Wilson and Sarah (Brake) Compton.
The issue of this marriage is six children, namely : Mrs. Maude Greer,
with children, Glenn and Audra ; Mrs. Grace Furgeson; Wiltz, of Kansas
City; Maggie, Elbirt and Blanche.
The first wheeled vehicle known in England was made by John
Oliver, the maternal great-grandfather of Mr. Trible. He lived in the
county of Devonshire, where the family annals have existed from a very
early time.
ALEXANDER C. GREER— In 1881, the subject of this personal
reference came to Montgomery county and identified himself with the
settlers of Rutland township, where he owns one hundred and twenty
acres of sections 27 and 33, township 32, range 11. He emigrated from
Morgan county, Indiana, where his birth occurred October 11th, 1811,
and where he grew up on a farm. His father, John A. Greer, was a pio-
neer there from Scott county, Kentucky, and a minister of the Christian
church, dying the year following our subject's birth.
Rev. John A. Greer was a native Irishman's son, James Greer being
his father. James Greer accompanied his parents, Stephen H. and Ruth
(Anderson) Greer to America as a child, where he married and, in Ken-
tucky, reared his family of seven children, viz : James. Nathaniel, Henry,
Alvin, Ruth, Mrs. Sophronia Smith, Mrs. Martitia Berry, and John A.
The last named married Nancy Elsey, a daughter of John and Elizabeth
(Montague) Elsey, native Kentucky people. Ten children sprang from
this union, as follows: James, John E., Mrs. Elizabeth Carroll, Lyman
M., Mrs. Ruth Williams, Nancy J., William H., Mrs. Amanda M. Poor,
Alexander C, and Sarah, deceased.
Stephen H. Greer, our subject's great-grandfather, came from Ire-
land to Marvland and served about five vears in the Revolutionarv war.
«. t, *.
The opportunities of Alexander C. Greer, in youth, were only such as
came to a country boy of his time, and he grew up with a strong body.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS. 347
a moral and upright voimg man. August 30th, 18G2, he enlisted in Com-
pany "F," 5th Ind. Cav., Capt. Felix Graham — afterward colonel — and,
later, under Col. Thomas F. Butler, in the 23rd Army Corps, commanded
by Gen. Sherman. H^ was in twenty-two different engagements during
the war and escaped both wounds and capture. He was in the fights at
Bean Station, Bluutville, Tenn., and Buffiugton's Island. He helped cap-
ture Gen. Basil Duke and eleven hundred men, with a mere posse of fifty
men. From Kentucky the command went into Tennessee, where it scout-
ed over the eastern part of the state and fought the battles of Raytown,.
Strawberry Plains and Walker's Fort. The regiment then returned to
Louisville, Kentucky, from whence it soon embarked on its journey to
join Gen. Sherman, for the Atlanta campaign. On this campaign the
cavalry led the advance and brought on the fighting all the way down to
the city. After the Confederate stronghold surrendered, Mr. Greer's
command was sent back to Louisville, where he went to the hospital with
a fever. He was discharged from there May 20th, 1865, and is now a pen-
sioner on the roll of honor.
Since the war. farming has occupied the attention of Mr. Greer. He
was married in 1867, Rhoda Parker becoming his wife. She w^as born in
Morgan county, Indiana, and was a daughter of Starling and Mary
(White) Parker, of Jackson and Morgan counties, that state. To Mr.
and Mrs. Greer have been born eight children, viz : Mrs. Ruth Hutoka, of
Neodesha, Kansas; Mrs. Lily M. Botts, of Montgomery county, with
children: Laura, Ella, Margaret and Marie; Mrs. Margaret M. Malcom,
with three children: Ira, Eva, and Ethel, deceased; Mrs. Dora Hewitt,
of Independence, Kansas; Everett E., of Neodesha; John E., of Indepen-
dence ; Mary J. and Alice, yet on the family homestead.
In politics Mr. Greer affiliates with the Republicans and has been
chosen to fill several local oflices of his tow^nship. He has attended
county and district conventions in a delegate capacity, and has comport-
ed himself as becomes a patriotic and worthy citizen.
LUCINDA W. ALLISON— One of the modest citizens of West
Cherry township and one who has passed nearly a quarter of a century
within the limits of Montgomery county, is Mrs. Lucinda W. Allison, of
this record. She came to the county with her late husband, Jackson Al-
lison, and settled, temporarily, west of Indejtendence, but. two years later
purchased the eighty acre tract in section 20, township 31, range 16,.
w^here her home has since been maintained.
In DeKalb county, Tennessee, Mrs. Allison was born, March 21st,
1845. Eight years later, she accompanied lier parents into Kentucky,
where, in Logan and afterward in McClain counties, she grew up. She
was a daughter of William C. and Martha (P.elden) Doss and was the
348 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS.
oldest of four children, viz: Lucinda, Ursula, wife of Thomas Sams, of
Logan county. Kentucky; Mrs. Maria J. Tines, of Butler county, Ken-
tucky, and Mary E. William C. Doss was a son of Jonathan Doss, who
married a Pritchit and reared an only child. The father was an Irish-
man and the mother a Tennesseean, and their home was in Virginia.
William C. Doss' wife was a daughter of Isaac and Martha Belden, of
Logan county. Kentucky, but the former a Virginian by birth.
June 5th, 1871, Lucinda W. Doss married Jackson Allison, a native
of Franklin county. Kentucky, and a son of Harrison Allison, a Virgin-
ian, with Scotch-Irish lineage. Jackson Allison was one of four in
family, namely: Jackson. John. Eli and Joseph.
Soon after her marriage. Mrs. Allison and her husband removed to
McClain county and remained there 'till their emigration toward the
setting sun. Mr. Allison passed his life as a farmer and died February
26th, 1901. Among his first acts as a young man was his enlistment in
the Confederate army, where he served as wagon-master in Kentucky and
Tennessee, being in the army for a period of four years. After the war
he was appointed jailor in Calhoun, McClain county, but in the west his
life was a quiet and unassuming one. He left two children at his death,
Elmo, of Montgomery county, with children. Lela and Conrad H. ; and
Miss Ella Allison, at home.
THOMAS W. ANDERSON— When Montgomerv countv was vet an
outpost of civilization and the Red Man still held sway, Thomas W. An-
derson, of this sketch, united his fortunes with the sparse settlement of
Independence township, and entered a tract of land near Independence.
He engaged actively in the development of his new farm and ownd it un-
til 1876, when he exchanged it for interests in Cherryvale, in and around
which place he has ever since resided.
Coles county. Illinois, was the native place of Mr. Anderson, and
there. December 11th. 1836, he was born. James Duncan Anderson was
his father and his mother was Lucinda Threlkeld. both parents being na-
tives of Kentucky. In 1832. they left their native state and settled in
Coles county. Illinois, where, in 1814, the father died at forty-five years,
w^hile the mother lived to be fortv-eight vears old. Of their four child-
ren, Thomas W. is the sole survivor.
Being left without parents at eight years of age, our subject was
reared under the care and guidance of his maternal grandparents. Con-
ditions, were such that an education was impossible to him and a term
of three months in a country school was all the school advantage he had.
The Threlkeld home was his home 'till December ,5th. 1855. when he mar-
ried Elizabeth Helton and the young couple set out to do for themselves,
Mrs. Anderson was born in Tennessee, in 1837, was a daughter of An-
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 349
drew iind Malinda Neal (Black) Helton, of Tennessee, and English birth,
respectively. In 18.54, the Heltons started to Texas by river boat — down
the Ohio and up the Red river — and while going up the latter Andrew
Helton, the father, was stricken with cholera and died March 22nd, 1854,
at forty-nine years of age. This misfortune disheartened the mother and
children, and they returned to their Illinois home, where Malinda Helton
died, January 1st, 1856, at forty-two years old.
The Helton children were: Leauah E., born April 30, 1830; Alfred
C born August 20th, 1831, and died in 18.52; James F., born October
50th, 1833, died in Kansas City; Mary H,, born October 22ud, 1835;
Elizabeth, born December 27th, 1837; Emeline F., born September 27,
1840; Milton E., born November 14th, 1843; Thomas M., born November
9th, 1845; Henry C, born March 18, 1848; Landou H., born May 2, 1850,
and George W., born July 16, 1853.
Early in 1865, Thomas W. Anderson enlisted in the 123rd Illinois
Vol. Inf., but was subsequently transferred to the 61st Illinois regiment,
in which he served 'till the close of the Civil war. Returning to his fam-
ily, he continued farming in his native state 'till 1869. when he came to
Kansas and passed a year at Fort Scott. On coming into Montgomery
county he found it what he desired, identified himself with its agricul-
tural interests and has done a modest, though substantial, part toward
the material development of the county.
When he became identified with Cherryvale, he took up plastering,
but followed the trade only a short time, when he erected a few houses
for rent and bought a few acres near the city, and has been occupied
largely with the care and improvement of his property. In 1892, he was
appointed postmaster of Cherryvale, being the second Democratic incum-
bent of that office, commissioned for four years. His activity in politics
in behalf of many aspiring friends commended his candidacy to the favor
of his party and his appointment to the postmastership was the result.
He has been justice of the peace of Drum Creek township and as a citizen
has comported himself with dignity and patriotism.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have ten surviving children out of a family of
twelvo as follows: Lemuel E., born Septemlter 5th. 185<»; ^lary Olive,
born November 12, 1858, is the wife of William Richie; Lucinda, born
October 7th, 1860, is now Mrs. C. Friley ; Stanley A., born July 31st, 1862,
died September 13th, 1864 ; William F., born Septeud)er 7th. 1864 ; Isaac
T., born October 29th, 1866; John J. W., born May 1st, 1869; Louisa M.,
born March 4th, 1872, is married to M. L. Brooks; Thomas T.. born June
-9th, 1874, and died November 5th, 1885; Cyrus R., born August 17th,
1876, was a soldier in the 20th Kansas in the Philippine Islands; Sallie
Kate, born ^lay 29th, 1879, is now Mrs. Oliver Hedley, and Charles Uitts,
born September 5th, 1882. Lemuel Ray Anderson, a grandson of Mr.
350 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
and Mrs. Anderson, was born May 1st, 1900, and is being reared, trained
and educated by them.
Having acquired a modest competency, Mr. Anderson is passing his
declining years in partial retirement. But for the presence of thei"
grandson he and his wife would be alone in their comfortable and hos-
pitable home, just northwest of the city limits.
JOHN T. CLAY— John T. Clay is one of the largest farmers of
Liberty township. He was born in Pike county, Ohio, March 14. 18.38.
His father, Thomas Clay, a native of Virginia, married Elizabeth Moore,
also a native of Virginia. They came to Ohio with their parents, when
very young, settling in Pike county, where Mr. Clay, Sr., died at the age
of se\ entv vears. The mother's death occurred at the age of sixtv-flve.
There were seven children in the family, all deceased except our sub-
ject, John T.. the only survivor of the Clay family. The latter was reared
irwOhio. where he had only limited opportunities for getting an educa-
tion. His marriage to Sarah Moore occurred February 6, 1861. The
war coming on. Mr. Clay did not enlist, but furnished a substitute to fill
his place. He did patriotic service by staying at home and raising corn,
wheat and stock, to help feed the large army of Union soldiers, that had
to be fed.
In 1881, he came to Kansas and settled fourteen miles west of Wich-
ita, where he bought a half section of land. He lived there two years, but
became dissatisfied and sold his land in 1883. and removed to Mont-
gomery county. Here he bought three hundred and twenty acres on the
Verdigris river. Two hundred acres of this was bottom land, covered
with heavy timber at the time of its purchase, but now it is all in the
very best cultivation, and he raises, on an average, two thousand bushels
of wheat every year, besides thousands of bushels of corn. His stock
consists of hogs, principally, a large number of which he feeds every year.
His home is situated on the east side of a large bluff, where the cold
west or north winds cannot reach it. and is located six miles due north
of Coffeyville. After years of hard work and untiring industry, Mr.
Clay has made for himself one of the most productive farms in the
county.
Twelve children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clay, viz: Charles
and Daniel, deceased; Thomas V., who lives in the Indian Territory;
Catherine, wife of W. E. Bever ; Amanda, wife of S. K. Selby ; Elizabeth,
Mrs. Charles E. McCorkle; and Louisa, wife of Marion McCorkle. Five
children died in infancy.
Politically. Mr. Clay is a Democrat. He has held office at diff'erent
times, having been treasurer of Liberty township two terms. He is
J. T. CLAY.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 35 I
well and favorably known and is worthy of the respect and honor in
which he is held.
JAMES E. KINCAID — The subject of this personal narrative be-
came identified with Kansas first in 1885, at which time he emigrated
from Chariton county, Missouri, and settled in Clark county, Kansas. He
became identified with the country west of the Mississippi river in 1875,
when, in company with his brother, Alexander, and an uncle, the trip was
made from Orange county, Indiana, into Missouri and settlement made
in Chariton county.
In Orange county, Indiana, Mr. Kincaid was born November 3, 1856.
His parents were farmers and his childhood and youth were, therefore,
passed in a country home. His education was obtained in an attendance
upon the winter terms of a country school and when he reached his
eighteenth year his career as a pupil ceased.
While a resident of Missouri he maintained himself on a rented
farm and spent ten years in the state.
With two teams and equipments, as his partial accumulations, he
departed for western Kansas in the autumn of 1885, and experimented
with farming out. there for four years. This venture proved a mistake,
for he virtually lost his savings of former years and, "broke" and almost
stranded, he went to Cowley county, Kansas, where he worked Charles
Hendricks' farm on the shares, taking one-third of the crop. He remained
in that countv till 1894, when he became a seeker of fortune in the new
Oklahoma country and made the race for a claim. He obtained one in
"'K" county, lived three years of the seven passed there, in a ''dug-out,"
proved up' on his farm and. in 1900, sold it for .f 3,500.00 and returned
to Kansas. This time he settled in Montgomery county, where he pur-
chased of George T. Guernsey, four hundred acres in Rutland township,
the farm lying in sections 25 and 30, township 32, range 11.
Grain farming occupies Mr. Kincaid principally, but cattle and hogs
yield him a profit from the surplus from his fields.
Mr. Kincaid was orphaned at the early age of four years. His moth-
er passed away in less than a year after his birth and, in 1863, his father,
also, died. His father was William Kincaid and his paternal grandfath-
er was Alexander Kincaid, a native of Kentucky. The family of the last
named comprised Andrew, George, William, Mi's. Helzora F. Walker,
Mrs. Frances Edwards, Mrs. Mary Padgett, Mrs. Cordelia Poe and
Henrv A.
William Kincaid married Belzora Bishoj), a daughter of Rufus
Bishop, of Tennessee. The children of this marriage were : R. Alexander,
of Chariton county, Missouri ; James E., of this review.
In 1878, James E. Kincaid married Margaret J. Padgett, of Indiana,
352 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
and a daughter of Joseph and Barbara Padgett. Joseph William died
at thirteen months. Charles Edward died aged about two years. Emily
B. and Oliver M'. are the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid.
William Kincaid's life was brief but active and devoted to the work
of the farm. He was born at Lexington, Kentucky, and went into Indi-
ana as a young man. He enlisted there in Company "A," Sixty-sixth
Voluteer Infantry, War of the Rebellion, and furloughed home on ac-
count of wounds. He rejoined his command, w^as taken sick and died in
the hospital at Pulaski, Tennessee.
The death of the parents of James E. Kincaid was a blight upon
his life through childhood and youth. He knew no permanent and wel-
come home till he made one for himself and when he began life's stubborn
battle it was single-handed and without financial help. Although he has
experienced a number of reverses, his ambition has never flagged and dis-
couragements have been brushed away. He has always maintained him-
self among the best citizens of his county, where he has occasionally been
honored with public trusts.
He is a Eepublican, politically, and was treasurer of his township
in "K" county, Oklahoma. He and his wife hold membership in the
Christian church and he is a Workman and a member of the Fraternal
Aid and A. H. T. A.
JACOB B. KLINEFELTER— One of the substantial settlers of
Montgomery county who came to it among the first years of its municipal
existence was Jacob B. Klinefelter, of Cherry township. He was pre-
pared for a life of '^^ups and downs" on the frontier by a service of nearly
four pnd a half years in the volunteer army and the sound of martial mu-
sic had hardly died within him when the civil march toward the prairies
of the west began. If he encountered hardships, they were tame incidents
in his career, and if fortune smiled upon him it was but nature's symbol
of appreciation of the sacrifices of one of her noblemen.
It was in 1871 that Mr. Klinefelter came to Montgomery county, sin-
gle and with limited means, and for the first three and one-half years he
was a wage earner by the month ; first for the pioneer, George Evans, and
second, in the old saw-mill established on the Verdigris river nearby. He
then entered a tract of the public domain, six miles north of the present
city of Cherryvale and at once occupied himself with the work of its im-
I)rovement. Beginning with 1870, he was absent from his farm for
eight years, having migrated to Colorado where he was first employed in
railroad work, as foreman of a pack train for the company building the
road, and subsequently he went into the mines and labored in the dig-
gings for seven years.
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 353
Returning to Montgonieiy county, be resumed the cultivation of his
farm. His soil is rich and black and produces an abundance of grain
and seeds. It is conveniently improved and the profits from its surface
have placed its owner far beyond the pangs of want. He has his place
well stocked and manages it with that intelligence that always marks
the successful farmer.
Jacob B. Klinefelter was born in York county, Pennsylvania, July
4, 1830. and his ancestors were of the early settlers of that place. His
parents, ^eter and Mary (Baker) Klinefelter, were born in that county
and ] vc there till 18.52, when they emigrated, and settled in Christian
count.\ . Illinois. There the father died at the age of eighty-one and the
mother at six years younger. Of their four children, only two survive,
namely: Cornelius, of Illinois, and Jacob B.
A limited attendance upon the country schools sufficed for the men-
tal trnining of Jacob B. Klinefelter. He accompanied his parents to Illi-
nois, where he was married to Amanda Pierce, who soon died, leaving a
child, Mary, still living in the "Prairie State." When hostilities broke
out between the divided sections of our country in 1801, Mr. Klinefelter
was among those who responded to the President's call for 75,000 troops.
He enlisted in the Eighth Indiana battery and began his part at putting
down the rebellion at Wilson creek. Chief among his fifteen hard-fought
battles were: Wilson creek, second battle of Corinth. Stone River, Chicka-
mauga. Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, Dalton, Resaca, Ken-
nesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek. Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville. He
was in many smaller fights and skirmishes and had many "close calls"
during his four years, four months and twenty days in the army. He
carrier s<-ars made by two Rebel balls and while he was thus severely
wounded he never ])ermitted himself to be captured, preferring death to
imprisonment in a Southern stockade.
From August. 180.5. till his advent to Kansas Mr. Klinefelter was a
farmer in Christian county, Illinois. When he had entered land in
Montgomery county, he saAv the necessity of a help-mate and, August
23, 1872. he married Eva Heltz, born in Germany, September 29, 1851.
When seven years old, Mrs. Klinefelter came to the United States with
her parents, John and Christina (Barsch) Heltz, and for twelve years
resided in Indiana. In 1870. they came on to Kansas and settled in
Montgomery county, where the mother died in 1902, and where the father
survives at the age of eighty-eight years. Ten children were born to this
venerable cou])le! the seven living being: Katie, Maggie, Michael, Eliza-
beth. Susan. John and Mrs. Klinefelter.
The issue of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Klinefelter was five
childien. viz: Emil. Ada, William. Maynard and Lizzie, all of whom still
surround the familv "hearthstone."
For thirteen vears Mr. Klinefelter filled the office of justice of the
354 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
peace of his township. His first vote was cast for "John and Jessie" in
the Fremont campaign, and his next Presidential ballot for Abraham
Lincoln, whom he personally knew many years before he became Presi-
dent. Republicanism has always remained his slogan and he has al-
ways united his efforts with that party in Montgomery county.
THOMAS J. WARNER— On a farm in Lewis county, West Vir-
ginia, Thomas J. Warner, of Rutland township, was born, December 10,
1866. He came to mature years about his native heath and acquired the
rudinients of a country school education. He left the old home in 1896
and went into old Virginia where, in Rockbridge county, he was engaged
in farm work for four years. Deciding to seek his fortune in the west, he
returned home in a few months and then migrated to Welch, Indian
Territory, in September. 1901. _ Having not found the object of his search,
after a few weeks he came up into Kansas and, at Jefferson, in Mont-
gomery county, he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which
he parted Avith at sale after cultivating it one year. He came to Rut-
land township from Independence creek and owns now a quarter section
of section 14. township .33, range 11.
Mr. Warner's father was George G. Warner, born in Pendleton
count!. West Virginia, and a son of John Warner. The latter had chil-
dren: William, Zebedee, George G. , James, of Taylor county, Wist Vir-
ginia; M. J. H.. of Labette county, Kansas; Mlrs. Rebecca Smith and
Catherine. George G. Warner married Lucinda Clark, of Lewis county,
West Virginia, and a daughter of John and Margaret < Bonnett) Clark.
The five children of this union were: Ida F. , Thomas J., John M., of Cal-
ifornia; William W., of West Virginia; Mrs. Glennie Zinn, of Ritchie
county. West Virginia.
April 24, 1890. Thomas J. Warner married Irena J. Mohler, of
Rockbridge county, Virginia, a daughter of David H. and Mary V. (Shel-
ton) Mohler, of Virginia and West Virginia, respectively. The two
children of Mr. and Mrs. Warner are Mary L. and Ida M.
The varied pursuits of the farm have occupied Mr. Warner through
life. The efforts of his active life have been fairly rewarded and he is
today master of the situation that confronts him. In politics he is a
Democrat and he and his hold allegiance to the INIethodist church.
r'HARLES WASSERMAX LA^IR— It is our privilege to relate,
in this sketch, a few of the events in the life of one of the few mountain-
eer characters of the old time, yet remaining, and to suggest a career
filled with exciting and romantic inridents enacted from the metropoliti-
cal shore of the Atlantic to the placid waters of the Pacific and over
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,, KANSAS. 355
plain and mountain of the northwest. An experience gleaned from a
ramble that started from the metropolis of the ''Empire State" in 1852,
and ended sixteen years later in the midst of a band of Osages on the
virgin prairies of Kansas.
The frontier has been almost obliterated and, with its passing, the
characters who were identified with it have, many of them, gone to their
reward on the other shore. Their lives were spiced with incidents of ex-
ploration and conquest which, if recited in intricate detail, would rival,
in interest, some of the experiences of "Kit Carson" in the Rockies or of
James B. Hicock, the once-famous "Wild Bill" of the western plains.
Yet few of them left any connected narrative of their experiences and
"went away" with the pages of their book of life blank as to the essential
facts of their romantic careers.
History, as told in the lives of the people and confined to the real
affairs of life, possesses a peculiar interest in the study of man and indi-
cates his trend of mind, or mental bent; and while, in this particular sub-
ject, we touch upon, in a general way, the events which have transpired
as a result of his early inclinations, it furnishes us with an insight into
his makeup and heli)S the reader to understand the man.
Charles W. Lamb has, as inferred from the introduction hereto,
had a somewhat checkered, though honorable, career. His life has been
surrounded by all the arts of peace and it has led him into paths where
danger lurked and where the brutal assassin only awaited the discovery
of his presence. The spirit of adventure which seized him on the ap-
proach of manhood, in New York City, and urged him to the summit of
almos< every American mountain peak and, unscathed, through the lair
of many a human foe, has been gratified, and his advent, as a pioneer,
among the scattered settlers of Montgomery county, marked for him a
new life and the o})ening of a new career.
Born in Hartford county, Connecticut, July 19, 1830, he was a son
of German parents, his father being Thomas Lamb and his mother Fan-
nie Wassermau, both of German birth. The parents moved to New York
City during the childhood of our subject, where they died at eighty-four
and eighty-two years, respectively, leaving four children, as follows:
Fannie, Catherine, Nathan and Charles; the first three being citizens of
California, at the Golden Gate.
Charles W. Lamb grew up in New York City, where he acquired a
fair education, beginning life as a clerk in a wholesale establishment in
the cily. He mastered the details of merchandising in the nine years he
was thus employed and, at twenty-two years of age, yielded to a consum-
ing desire to roam and went to the frontier in the west and opened a
store in Nebraska. Four years later he jigain became restless and leaped
across the plains to Colorado. He engaged in the mining and mercantile
business in that state, becoming more and more infatuated with the wilds
stopped along the way to prospect some ore-bearing region
ne a merchant's life or to practice at the blacksmith's forge,
356 HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS.
of the far west. His ambition not yet satiated, he traversed the rocky
ranges to the northwest and threaded the territories of Idaho, Montana,
Washington and even made himself somewhat familiar with the British
northw est.
As he
or to resume a merchant's life or to pri
he took part in the affairs of the people and came to know the white
man'?i crude civilization of the frontier. His journeys he made, carrying
his pack in the saddle, and as he climbed the rugged mountains and
pierced the dark canons of the Rockies and Sierras, on many an occasion
he felt the chill that danger's warning gives and oftentimes barely es-
caped with his life. Sixteen years of a strenuous life, unsurpassed in the
intensity of its excitements and unequaled in its tension on the human
nerves, sufiiced to gratify his youthful longing and Mr. Lamb wended
his way eastward and chose his future home in Montgomery county,
Kansas.
In 1808, he took a claim five and one-half miles north of where Cher-
ryvale now stands and founded a civilized colony right among old White
Hair's band. The haunts of the Red Man were everywhere about him
and the shrill and terrifying bark of the coyote added to the wildness of
the scene. Miles of space separated neighbors and a trip to tlie nearest
town consumed days of time. But time turned the frontier into settle-
ments and the civilizing agencies of a composite citizenship brought
order out of chaos and established all the institutions of peace. To the
credit of Charles W. Lamb let it be said that he participated in all this
change and was a part of it himself. He has acquired, by industry, title
to three hundred acres of land and has equipped it with all the heredita-
ments necessary to make it a valuable and attractive place. His farm is
in section 17 and lies on Drum creek, at the mouth of which stream the
famous Indian treaty was made.
Mr. Lamb was united, in Omaha, Nebraska, in marriage with Eliza-
beth "Winsickel, a New Jersev ladv and a daughter of Andrew and Sarah
Vansickel. Mrs. Lamb was born May 27, 1837, and is a representative
of one of the ancient American families, her forefathers having come to
the New World from Germany three hundred years ago. The Vansickels
acquired a large body of land in New Jersey, which has remained undis-
turbed in the family name. Two children have blessed the marriage of
Mr. and Mrs. Lamb, namely: Charles, Jr., who resides in Sumner county,
Kansas, and who has children, Windell and Bessie, by Miss Elizabeth
Windell, now his wife. Bess, Avife of W. D. Barker, is their second child,,
and she resides in the parental home. She has two children, Fannie and
Arthur Barker.
Mr. Lamb became a Democrat early in life and has aided the ef-
forts of that party in many campaigns. He has been a justice of the
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY^ KANSAS. 357
peace a number of times, in Cherry township, and, in all things, has
maintained himself an upright citizen.
GEORGE H. WHITMAN— A gentleman who has had a rather re-
markable career, especially in his earlier years, whose genial and versa-
tile personality is a factor of much attraction to his host of friends in the
county, is George H. Whitman, a leading implement dealer of the rural
village of Liberty. He is a gentleman of wide experience in business and
social life and is a most companionable man. He has traveled over many
portions of the world ''with his eyes" open and has profited by the mental
breadth and depth, that travel brings.
George H. Whitman is a native of New York State, born in Mont-
gomery county, in the year 1833, and a son of George and Susannah
(Green) Whitman. At four years of age, his parents removed to the
then far-distant State of Illinois, where they settled in Peoria county,
where Mr. Whitman was reared to manhood. His father was a Method-
ist Episcopal minister and labored in Illinois until his death in 1847. He
left a family of four children, of which our subject is the eldest. The
others are : Emily, who married James Moore and, after his death,
Charles Lister, and lives at Wellsfield, Illinois; Isaac A., lives in Colora-
do; and Fanny, who was the wife of Walter Vale, is now deceased.
When a youth of nineteen years, Mr. Whitman left home and crossed
the plains to the Pacific coast. He then took passage on a vessel and
visited China, being in that country when Commodore Perry did such
splendid service in opening the Japanese i^orts to the commerce of the
United States. From there he went to London, England, and then re-
turned to New Orleans. After a period in this city he again shipped on
board a vessel bound for France and visited Havre. That was in 1855,
and in the latter part of that year he returned to his home in Illinois,
where he remained and where he lived at the time of the Civil war.
He enlisted in the army in the latter part of the war and served
until September of 1805. Upon returning from the war, he settled in
Bureau county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming until 1874, t 
