History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas, past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county

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GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

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HISTORY OF WICHITA

AND

SEDGWICK COUNTY

KANSAS

PAST AND PRESENT

INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE CITIES, TOWNS
AND VILLAGES OF THE COUNTY

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

HON. O. H. BENTLEY

Vol. II

Illustrated

1910
C. F. COOPER & CO.

CHICAGO

SCRAPS OF LOCAL HISTOEY 455
THE STAGE COACH PERIOD OF WICHITA.

By ±390091

FRED A. SOWERS.

The public carrier system that peopled this valley so marvel-
ously in the early seventies was crude and simple, consisting of
vehicles of every kind and class, drawn by animals of high and
low degree ; mules, oxen, horses, and even burrows, a motely and
heterogeneous mixture of all kinds and classes of people came
with them, and they mingled together without distinction. The
prairie schooner comers and the ox-cart people as well as the old-
fashioned barouche occupants went into camp together on the
outskirts or crowded the dimly outlined lane through the prairie
and sunflowers, irregularly dotted at intervals with one-story
houses, and dignified by the name of Main street, Wichita. News
was transmitted by newcomers and each new arrival brought his
budget, which started a scurrying to and fro among the inhabi-
tants, like a prairie dog town, chasing back and forth to get and
tell the latest news, as there were no newspapers here then; so
came in one day a newspaper printed at Lawrence, Kan., convey-
ing the intelligence, as read out loud by Uncle Reuben Riggs, a
newly arrived country lawyer from faraway Illinois, that one
Henry Tisdale, of Lawrence, Kan., had determined to erect a stage
station at the new town, just started, called Wichita, way down
on the Arkansas river. This station was to be a relay station and
was to maintain several teams and stage outfits. The stages then
hung about Humboldt, Emporia, Fort Scott, with several that had
ventured as far as Eldorado and Augusta.

This news was received in much the same way the announce-
ment of a new railroad coming to our city would be today if it
included terminals, shops, etc. So, true to the item, along in the
spring came Bi Terrill, superintendent of the Tisdale overland,
with the material and a couple of carpenters. Together they
staked out and located a stage barn on a few lots near where
the Second ward school house now stands, then the property of
Uncle Waterman. This location for a time became the Sabbath
and idle-hour mecca for citizens and newcomers to visit while
in process of construction, and when the occupation and stage
coach equipment was being added, it then was as absorbing and

456 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

looked upon with much the same interest that our citizens of
today visit and view the construction of the Beacon Building,
the Schweiter Building, or the Forum; the effect on real estate
inflation was also the same, only in a minor degree, for owners of
lots in the vicinity of the stage stables stiffened the prices, and
every one was, as today, a unit in predictions as to the future
growth and greatness of Wichita. But to go back to our subject
— the kind and character of the earlier vehicles used to bring
emigrants. First came, with the establishment of the public car-
rier system, the old-fashioned two-mule "jerkie," a thing about
as comfortable to ride in as a tobacco hogshead for a toboggan,
rolled down a rough hill ; this kind of vehicle seemed constructed
to teach difficult acrobatic feats, and it was soon discovered that
the strong-ribbed roof was of a necessity to keep the passengers
from being shot up and out over the sides, thus entailing upon
the stage company numerous suits for damages to life and limb.
A Frank Todd was the driver of one of these "jerkies," and in
his boyish, devil-may-care spirit seemed to take delight in making
the passengers he carried as uncomfortable as possible. He
would husband the resources of the mules, so to speak, until he
came to an unusually rough, rock-ribbed or wallowed road ; then
he would put the "bud" to them, and the way the "jerkie"
would flounder, grate, raise up and dip and side toss, turn upside
down and churn the passengers was simply awe-inspiring ; a yell
and protest from passengers inside, some in deep bass oaths,
others in the hysterical screams of women and children, were
lost in the whirl, smash and resonant whack of the whip, and the
loud-mouthed pretended "whoas" of the driver, who in reality
was making no effort to restrain them, for that was no part of
the program. There were two of these hell-conceived convey-
ances called "jerkies." They were routed from Emporia and
later from Cottonwood Falls, as the Santa Fe Railroad kept build-
ing west toward Newton. The driver of No. 2 "jerkie" was a
round-faced, star-booted, uproarious "little periwinkle," who
was afterward killed in some kind of a fracas at Sedgwick City;
he was usually accompanied in his drive in from the outskirts,
seated alongside of him, by a dirty-faced little claim-holder who
was also the possessor of the only clarinet within a hundred miles
around, which he kept assiduously blowing on minor keys with
a flat sameness that emitted a fa-la-lal-fa-lou from the sonorous
department of the clarinet, which, besides heralding the approach

SCRAPS OF LOCAL HISTOEY 457

of the stage from several miles away, brought the sparsely settled
community into the solitary street to watch the incoming stage,
to note the arrivals and learn the news, and to cluster about the
three stopping places — the Hunger House, Martin's restaurant
or the Allen boarding-house, located near the corner of Third
and Main streets.

After the "jerkies" were pushed west, the old-fashioned over-
land coaches came into use, having been displaced by the build-
ing far west of the Union Pacific Railroad. Some of those coaches
were peeled with bullets and gouged with arrows, reminiscences
of Indian fights, flights and narrow escapes. Their drivers were
heroes of such escapades and were gentlemen of cloth, arrayed
in shining top boots, big pearl buttons and broad-brimmed som-
breros, a belt and two revolvers. Dan Parks, our oldest police-
man, was a driver of one of those Pullman coaches — Pullman com-
pared to the "jerkie." Dan made the drive from Augusta, while
Bill Brooks, one of the historical drivers, who had rustled with
Indians and drawbacks from a boy, drove from Emporia, Cot-
tonwood Falls and Eldorado. His pride was to deliver the mail,
Indians or no Indians, high water or floods ; so on several occa-
sions arriving at the east bank of Chisholm creek, at Central
avenue now, where the crossing was — Chisholm was then quite
a river here ; on several occasions the water was out of its banks,
and Chisholm creek reached to where the high school now stands.
Bill, on such occasions, would dump his passengers with Dan
Hoover, whose claim house was on the east side of Chisholm, near
the hills ; he would then unhitch the lead horses, fasten the mail
on one horse, mount the other and swim the mail into the hamlet.
Bill was a desperado as well as a stage driver. He was killed
afterward in a pistol duel near Eldorado or Cottonwood Falls.
In the meantime, by stage, prairie schooner, freight wagon, be-
sides divers and sundry conveyances, Wichita grew to be quite a
smart village. "With the rapid changes came the railroad, built
from Newton down to Wichita by the A., T. & S. F. R. R., in May,
1872; thus was displayed the old stage coach mode of travel,
while civilization began to crowd out many of the endeared
objects of pioneer life, leaving for a time a heart-burdened sense
akin to pain. Such feeling was generated in the pioneer bosom
in the sad day and the hour the old-time stage drivers threw
their long whiplash over the leaders for a final departure, with a
regal smile and a toss of their sombreros voicing back a long fare-

458 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

well, they disappeared over the prairie swell, seeking their new
stations farther west. — Fred A. Sowers.

THEATERS IN WICHITA.

The New Auditorium. 157 St. Francis avenue ; seating capac-
ity, 1,800 ; J. A. Wolfe, manager.

Crawford Theater. 201-205 South Topeka avenue ; E. L. Mart-
ling, manager.

Elite Theater. 409 East Douglas; seating capacity, 400;
F. A. Beal, manager.

Marple Theater. 421. East Douglas avenue ; seating capacity,
650 ; W. H. Marple, manager.

The Novelty Theater. 408 East Douglas avenue ; Frank Gar-
rety, proprietor.

Orpheum Theater (vaudeville). 119-123 North Topeka ave-
nue ; Mrs. Mary Waterbury, proprietor ; E. G. Olson, manager.

The Princess Theater (vaudeville). 115 South Lawrence ave-
nue ; seating capacity, 1,000 ; L. M. Miller, manager.

Yale Theater. 504 East Douglas avenue ; vaudeville and mov-
ing pictures ; seating capacity, 350 ; Fells & Hamilton, managers.

"IDA MAY" A VICTIM OF COWBOY SPORT.

Murray Myers, election commissioner, tells a story about the
time when a lot of cowboys "shot up" the house of "Ida May,"
a character of the early days in Wichita. Although "Ida May"
was not by any means as modest and moral as her name might
lead one to judge, she was quite a figure at the time, and she
occupied the largest building on Main street. This building was
at the corner of Eighth and Main, and had been built by Morgan
Cox and a man named Green, who sold it to the woman. "At sup-
per one night some of us heard that a bunch of cowboys were
going to have a little fun at 'Ida May's,' so we slipped out
around toward the river and sneaked up as near to the house
as we thought was safe," said Mr. Myers. "Presently we saw
the cowboys coming on horseback. There were about forty of
them and they were riding like mad up Main street, which in
places was not much more than a cowpath. They surrounded the
house and then the fun commenced. The boys were careful to
shoot high at first, so no one would be hurt. Every volley was
followed by a series of screams that could be heard distinctly by

SCEAPS OF LOCAL HISTORY 459

those of us who were lying hidden far enough away to be safe.
Those fellows circled about that house and fired into it nearly
an hour, and when they quit and rode away there was not a whole
window or door in the building. It was said that at the first vol-
ley all the inmates of the place lay down on the floor and in this
manner escaped injury from the flying bullets."

THE FUEL PROBLEM PERPLEXED PIONEERS.

"The problem of fuel to supply the needs of the settlers in
this county was one of the most perplexing that they had
to face." declares E. A. Dorsey, city treasurer. "This was
especially true of those who settled in the western portion of
the county. There being no timber and no coal on sale west of
Wichita, the settlers were often forced to adopt dire expedients
to prevent suffering in their families. Much of the corn raised in
1871 and 1872 was burned, settlers having demonstrated to their
satisfaction that the corn on the market, after hauling, would
not purchase coal enough to make equal heat. Cornstalks and
sunflowers were common fuel for summer use, but the great
stand-by for winter was buffalo chips, called by the Irish settlers
'Kansas peats.' When dry, these made an intense heat, and for
use in the open campfire were superior to wood. There was one
drawback to their use in stoves, however. The odor from the
smoke permeated every part of the house. This peculiarity of
the fuel occasioned one custom altogether unique. In the event
that a member of the family was away from home at night,
instead of placing a light in the window for his guidance home,
a fire was started in the stove and the smoke gave the wanderer
unfailing guidance from any point of the compass. One friend
of mine, with particularly acute sense of smell, used to declare
that he could smell the smoke from his chimney a mile against
the strongest Kansas wind."

FARMERS BROUGHT WHEAT MANY MILES TO WICHITA.

J. T. Holmes, now in the restaurant business on North Main,
was one of the real pioneers of Wichita. He came here in 1870,
and remembers the days when Wichita, though a small town, was
the center of trade for the farmers to a distance of sixty miles or
more. These farmers, with their ox teams generally, but with
an occasional horse or mule team, hauled all their wheat to Wich-

460 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

ita, and Mr. Holmes says he has seen hundreds of these loads of
wheat standing in line waiting to be weighed. There were at that
time five sets of wheat scales in the vicinity of the Santa Fer
which was the only railroad, and it took three policemen
during the wheat hauling season to keep the men in line
and prevent them from fighting to get ahead of one an-
other. Mr. Holmes says he has also seen dozens of wagon loads
of buffalo and cattle bones waiting to be weighed in much
the same manner as the wheat wagons, many farmers who had no
wheat to sell being driven to the necessity of gathering up the
bones that were scattered over the prairies and hauling them to
town to sell.

SEDGWICK HOME LUMBER HAULED FROM EMPORIA.

"I remember very well the day when the teams started from
Wichita to Emporia after the lumber that was used in the build-
ing of what is now the 'Sedgwick Home,' " said Cyrus Sullivan,
a pioneer, now engaged in the real estate business here. "It was
one day in April, about the 20th, 1870, 1 think, when 'Billy' Greif-
fenstein started the teams off after the lumber for what was to
be the finest dwelling in Wichita for several years. Up to that
time most of the lumber that had been used in Wichita was Cot-
tonwood, sawed at some of the mills along the creeks or rivers
near town, and this action of Mr. Greiffenstein's in sending away
for pine lumber to build a house was regarded as an evidence of
his wealth and importance in the community." Greiffenstein,
who was afterward mayor of the town three or four terms, lived
in the house several years, and it was finally bought by the city.
About a year and a half ago it was given to the Associate Chari-
ties of the town to be used as a home for indigent persons.

THE TREND OF BUSINESS.

By

LINDLEY BOYD.

I have been a real estate dealer for many years in this and
other states. For several years past I have carefully watched
the trend of business in Wichita. For many years Main street

SCEAPS OF LOCAL HISTORY 461

seemed to be the principal north and south street; the building
of the Missouri Pacific depot near Second street and the building
of the court house in its present location seemed to fix business
in this way; later on came the building of the Missouri Pacific
depot on West Douglas avenue, the city hall, the government
postoffice, the Beacon Building, the Eagle Building, all south of
Douglas avenue, has materially changed business in "Wichita. In
addition to this, Market street is rapidly building up in the blocks
on each side of Douglas avenue ; such also is the case with Law-
rence, Emporia, St. Francis and other streets each side of the
avenue on the north and south, but the building of the Smyth
Block, occupied by the large dry goods firm of George Inness &
Co., marked a distinct movement to the eastward in the business
life of Wichita.

It must be recalled also that all of the railway depots except
the Missouri Pacific are on the east part of Douglas avenue and
on the south side of said street. In addition to this, four theaters
and a new one just building are on the south side of Douglas
avenue or south of the avenue. All of these things have given
a strong trend of business to the eastward, and have entirely
changed the character of the south side of Douglas avenue. The
time was when the north side of Douglas avenue had the most
travel and the most business. All that is changed, and the princi-
pal travel at this time is upon the south side of Douglas avenue.
The old-timers of the town have abandoned the idea that the town
should revolve for all time to come around the corner of Main
and Douglas avenue.

SEDGWICK COUNTY PAYS ITS FULL SHARE OF TAXES.

There are 105 counties in the State of Kansas, and they are
worth, at a very conservative estimate, $2,750,000,000; of that
amount, Sedgwick county furnishes $108,000,000, which is about
one-twenty-fifth of the valuation of the state.

Sedgwick county certainly stands for its full share of state
taxes. The valuation of the entire state for taxable purposes is
about $2,750,000. The rate is one mill, which makes the state tax
$2,750,000, of which Sedgwick county pays $108,000. Thus this
county pays one-twenty-fifth of the entire state tax. It possesses
one-twenty-fifth of the taxable wealth of the state.

There are 105 counties in the state. Wyandotte is the only

462 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

one which pays more than Sedgwick, and its valuation exceeds
ours by less than $2,000,000. The vast wealth centered there in
the packing houses, stock yards and railway terminals just a little
more than offsets our lead in real estate values.

The farm lands of Sedgwick county which represent individ-
ual wealth are worth double those of Wyandotte, and city lots
are quite as valuable here as there. In individual property upon
which taxes are paid, Sedgwick leads the state.

Wichita, which, next to Kansas City, Kan., pays the most to
the state treasury, and meets one-twenty-fifth of the entire ex-
pense of state government, has not a single state institution. The
metropolis of Kansas has developed without the aid of state
money, even in driblets. Kansas City gets back, in the school for
the blind, part, if not all, it pays the state. Topeka realizes in
state money paid out for local purposes several times as much as
it pays in. It has the insane asylum, the reform school for boys,
and all the state officers, nearly, live there and expend their
salaries there.

Atchison has the Soldiers' Orphans' Home; Leavenworth is
close enough to Lansing to get back from the penitentiary spend-
ings as much as it pays the state ; Lawrence is the seat of the uni-
versity, where ten times its tax is spent. Emporia has an expen-
sive normal school, and other cities like Manhattan, Hutchinson,
Parsons, Dodge City, Winfield, Osawatomie and Beloit get back
more than they pay in, but not one cent comes back to Wichita.
Our senator and representatives leave more than their salaries in
Topeka, so we may say truthfully that we do not get back a penny
of the $108,000 paid to the state.

In this connection it may be objected that the district judge
and the court stenographer receive their pay checks from Topeka.
It is true all over the state that judges are paid from Topeka,
because it frequently happens that one judge presides in several
counties, and it would be embarrassing both to the judges and
the counties to have to figure out the proper ratio each should pay.

It is true that the legislature has appropriated $500 to several
Wichita hospitals and charities, but this is because those institu-
tions are open to all. Residents of other counties, stranded here,
taken ill here, find refuge in these aided institutions, and every
year they give service to more state wards, or persons that the
state usually cares for, than the amount appropriated.

Until the new census is published, it will be impossible to get

SCRAPS OF LOCAL HISTOEY 463

a direct ratio between the population of this county and city and
the state, but it is probable that the ratio will be not less than
one-twenty-fifth, and it may be one-twenty-third. But from any
standpoint it is clear that Sedgwick county and Wichita deserve
consideration at the hands of the state, when it is considered that
for years this community has contained nearly 5 per cent of the
population and has paid 4 per cent of the state taxes and never
received back hardly a penny of it.

THE WICHITA HORSE MARKET. ,

All of the old-timers of the county will recall the old-time
horse market of Wichita on West Douglas avenue. This market
extends from Water street to the bridge across the Arkansas
river. It was here that we heard that old resonant Howler, ' ' Old
Four Eyes," plying his daily avocation and selling horses and
mules at auction. Here also was Bill Bilderback and Joe Fisher,
Fatty Lawson, Barney Levi, and many others. Here also at a
later date came Uncle Jimmy Benner, whose stentorian tones still
wake the echoes of the street. Harry Hill, afterwards known
as Oklahoma Harry Hill, and the Morgan brothers, kept feed and
sales stables on West Douglas avenue, and from the earliest his-
tory of this locality the west end of Douglas avenue has been a
market devoted to the sale of horses, mules and other live stock.
Here also in an early day was the favorite stamping ground of
Doc Black, a frontier character in Wichita. Most of these men
have passed over. They have gone and the new-comers of a later
day know them not ; but the old-timers recall them as the web and
woof of a frontier period fast passing away in Wichita. — Editor.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

AN EARLY INCIDENT OF WICHITA— JUDGE S. M. TUCKER
SUBDUES HURRICANE BILL.

"Tell you a story of the early days of Wichita? Well, that
is a hard job. Not hard to tell a story, but mighty hard to select
any certain one," answered a pioneer citizen of this city to the
query of an "Eagle" reporter. "The early history of the city
is replete with stirring incidents, any one of which would make
good reading for the citizens of today. To the old-timers it
would recall bygone days. To the boys, girls and strangers it
would prove an eye-opener. Let me see — do you see that elderly
man going along there, wearing a cap?" suddenly asked the pio-
neer. "You know him, don't you?" On being answered in the
negative, he continued: "That's Tucker — S. M. Tucker — Judge,
as everybody knows him. There is one of the bravest men that
ever lived. During the summer of '72 a gang of roughs came
here from Texas. They were called the ' Texas gang, ' and a more
desperate bunch than these rangers never existed. Under the
leadership of 'Hurricane Bill' — Bill Martin was his name — they
used to ride around shooting up the town and committing all
kinds of depredations, until the people were well nigh frenzied.

"The citizens decided that it was about time to get rid of
this gang, and as the local police force seemed unable to handle
them, a sort of vigilance committee was formed. Why, these
toughs always stood off the police in a fight. Shooting scrapes
were common in those days, and saloons and hotels lined the
streets. The city court and jail was then in the basement of the
old court house at the corner of First and Main streets. We had
a huge triangle of iron bars hung up outside and when the citi-
zens' committee was wanted, an alarm would be sounded on the
triangle.

"Several times the alarm was sounded, and we went after
the Texans, but always without avail. One afternoon, however,
it did ring, and about fifty citizens responded, every one of them
armed with shotguns, rifles and revolvers. When the alarm

464

AN EARLY INCIDENT OF WICHITA 465

sounded, Tucker was sitting in his office with 'Bill,' afterward
Judge, Campbell. Every business house and office in those days
had some kind of a gun, ready for action, lying around handy,
and in Tucker's office was a shotgun and a rifle. Tucker grabbed
the shotgun and ran out into the street, closely followed by Camp-
bell with the rifle. By this time the citizens had collected on the
southwest corner of what is now Water and Douglas, and the
cowboys were on the opposite corner, or, as it was known then,
'horse-thief corner.' There were enough revolvers, rifles and
shotguns in sight to equip an army. Bill Smith, who was marshal
at the time, tried to persuade the citizens to disperse, declaring
that if we tried to make any arrests trouble would be plentiful
and that some of us would be killed. Tucker came up about this
time, and hearing Smith's caution, said : 'This is the third time I've
been out on this kind of a call, and we have never made an arrest.
I don't care for trouble*; I am used to it. Point out the man you
want arrested, and I'll arrest him, kill or get killed. 'All right,'
said Smith. 'Arrest "Hurricane Bill." ' A great silence fell
over the mob, and as Tucker cocked one barrel of his gun the
sound could be distinctly heard by every one. Tucker imme-
diately stepped into the street, while the eyes of the citizens were
turned on him and the Texans, tightly gripping their guns,
watched their leader with breathless interest. Quickly leveling
his gun at Hurricane, Tucker said, quietly but firmly: 'William,
I want you; you are under arrest.' As the desperado attempted
to lift his revolvers, Tucker cried : ' Lay down those guns. ' ' You
can have me,' said the bad man, as he dropped his two revolvers,
one cocked and ready for business, the other a self-action pattern.
'Walk over to the police station,' commanded Tucker, and the
fallen leader faced about and obeyed the command of the man
that had subdued him. When the gang saw that their leader had
given up, they became panic-stricken and all dropped their guns,
and for a week after searchers reaped a harvest picking up
revolvers in the weed patch on 'Horse Thief Corner.' We were
all taken off our feet with surprise, the thing happened so quickly,
but we soon recovered, and before that gang had a chance to
make up their minds what to do we were over there and lined
them up and marched them over to the police station, where they
were fined over $600.

"That Hurricane Bill was the worst scared man I ever saw.
After the trial he said that he felt, when looking down the bar-

466 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

rels of that shotgun, that it was the biggest thing that he had
ever seen in his life. He declared that each barrel was as big
around as a stovepipe. He declared that as he looked down the
barrels of the shotgun he counted eighteen buckshot in each bar-
rel, and all of Tucker's argument could not convince him that the
eighteen shot was in both barrels and not in one. Well, that
ended the depredations of the Texas gang in Wichita. At that
time the town extended as far west as the river. Crossing to
what is now the west side was a toll bridge. Everybody wanting
to come into town from that direction was required to deposit all
arms at the toll house. This was done because there were a
couple of dance halls on the west side which were congregating
places for desperate characters. Shooting affrays and murders
were common there. You bet there was always something doing
in the good old early days, ' ' concluded the narrator, as he stepped
into his automobile.

MATHEWSON'S PASTURE.

One of the historic spots in Wichita is Mathewson's pasture.
This contains five city blocks, and is today as it was sixty years
ago. The same buffalo grass that fed the buffalo years before
he ever sniffed the approaching prairie train coming across the
Arkansas river still grows. The tract has never been built upon,
and offers now one of the best building tracts in the city. The
pasture has always been and is now the playground of the chil-
dren in the east end. Ever since the game of baseball struck the
West, a well-worn diamond has been one of the ornaments of the
pasture. Until a few years ago there was a large fruit orchard
on the tract. Those who lived near the pasture then will plead
guilty to having made secret trips after night to the orchard.
Uncle Billy Mathewson, who lived on the place at that time, was
always on guard to see that no one entered his fruit domain.
He and his two dogs were often too much for the boys. In case
he did catch some luckless youngster a-straddle a bough of a well-
filled apple tree, something happened right then that the boy
remembered. Uncle Billy had a habit of shooting fruit swipers —
with bacon rind and salt. That old musket he carried could shoot
like a "son of a gun," and maybe that bacon didn't show an
affinity for the seat of a boy's trousers.

Mathewson's pasture for ages, by habit, custom and worth, has

AN EAELY INCIDENT OF WICHITA 467

been logically the only circus ground of which "Wichita can boast.
In the earlier days, for the citizens of Wichita to journey out to
the pasture on circus day seemed like a trip in the country. When
the street car track ran along Third street as far as Hydraulic ave-
nue, the spot was ideal for a circus. The pasture has served in other
capacities. What was probably the only juvenile golf links ever
made in the state was laid out in this pasture by some enterprising
youngsters who attended the Washington school. A course of
eight holes was made and there being no bunkers or cuppy lies,
it was not much trouble for the followers of the canny game to
green the course in good style. At that time there was a hedge
row along the north side of the pasture, where the very finest
"shinny" clubs could be found. One club did the work of seven
with those boys, and all they knew about the game was to hit the
ball as hard as they could. It was always contrary to Uncle Billy
Mathewson's moral code to permit any teams to practice in the
pasture, but they did it. Uncle Billy was always on hand in
time to break up the football game or base game at an interest-
ing point. But there was no playing when he started. The boys
would get frightened, and, not stopping to gather up coats or
hats, would climb over the fence out of the danger zone as quickly
as possible. Uncle Billy would then have a great deal of fun
out of the boys by telling them that he would not give them back
their coats and hats. He always did give them back, however.
The pasture was part of the original tract deeded to Mr. Mathew-
son by the government, in the sixties. It has been the scene of
many adventures, and to the boys — men now — who have partici-
pated in them, it will always remain a pleasing memory — long
after it is filled with residences, as it will soon be.

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE PRESS.

THE FOUNDING OF THE BEACON.

By
D. G. MILLISON.

In July, 1872, D. G. Millison advertised to exchange a suburban
home in the city of Topeka, for a newspaper plant in a county-
seat town in the state of Kansas. The first response to the adver-
tisement came from the Rev. Mr. Perkins, editor and proprietor
of the "Wichita Vidette," which brought Mr. Millison to Wichita.

Not succeeding in making terms with Mr. Perkins, Mr. Mil-
lison hunted up Mr. F. A. Sowers, founder of the "Vidette," and
at that time the most popular editor in Southwest Kansas, and
laid before him a proposition to establish a simon pure Demo-
cratic paper in Wichita.

Mr. Sowers had extensive acquaintance in Southwestern Kan-
sas and was popular with the leading spirits of Wichita. To-
gether they interviewed many of the more prominent business
men and met with substantial encouragement.

The field was occupied by the "Vidette," but Mr. Sowers felt
confident that, with the assistance of his friends he could clear
the field by the first of October, which feat was successfully
accomplished before the first of September, the "Vidette" moving
on farther West.

On the 6th of September Mr. Millison, with his family and his
foreman, Mr. Frank B. Smith, afterwards sole proprietor of the
"Beacon," landed in Wichita with a complete newspaper plant.

Many of the business men were desirous that the "Beacon"
should start out as a daily during the cattle shipping season
of that year, promising extra liberal support, but Mr. Sowers
was afraid to venture so bold a scheme. Mr. Millison was in
favor of a daily publication and proposed to finance the enter-
prise for one month as an experiment, Mr. Sowers agreeing to

468

THE PRESS 469

do the editorial work on salary, and on the 18th day of October.
1872, the first number of the "Daily Beacon" was issued — the
first daily paper published in the Arkansas valley, in Kansas.

At the end of one month Mr. Sowers added his share to the
capital stock. The "Daily Beacon" ceased and the "Beacon"
was issued weekly until July, 1873, when it was again issued
daily and weekly for three months — during the cattle shipping
season of that year, when the co-partnership of Millison &
Sowers was dissolved, Mr. Sowers becoming sole owner of the
"Beacon" and Mr. Millison taking the job department, all in
the same office, but run separately.

Much depends on first impressions as to how we remember
a circumstance. Sometimes a cool or unpleasant reception
prejudices one against an individual or community, causing a
feeling of antipathy that fades slowly from memory. However,
I bear no malice, but the memory lingers. My love for the
Peerless Princess has never waned, notwithstanding my pecu-
liar introduction by one of her most prominent representatives
in 1872. The princely maiden was young then, and her facili-
ties for entertaining and administering creature comforts were
not what they are today. In July of that year I advertised to
purchase a well established country newspaper in a live county
seat town in the state of Kansas. The first response to the
advertisement came from the Eev. Mr. Perkins, editor and pro-
prietor of the Wichita "Vidette," by personal application at my
home in Topeka.

The editor was a very affable gentleman, and very modestly
exhaled an air of good breeding and refinement — so much so
that he was cordially invited to be the guest until host and guest
might arrive at an understanding.

The host and hostess had longings to become permanent resi-
dents of the town of Wichita (for Wichita, even then, was con-
spicuous in the limelight) and hoped their guest might prove
their good angel — disguised or otherwise — to fill the long felt
want. Consequently the hostess felt much concern in regard
to the culinary part of his entertainment. The worthy man had
his peculiarities; he abhorred "condiments," yet, strange to say,
seemed to relish and assimilate fried chicken, broiled steak, ham
and eggs, all fully seasoned; but his delicate stomach absolutely
revolted at white bread. Happily, with the aid of utensils pur-
chased for the occasion, the hostess succeeded in making graham

470 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

bread to his entire satisfaction. At the end of the fourth day
negotiations were suspended and the host and hostess flattered
into the belief that the guest fully appreciated their hospitable
efforts. They were also persuaded to believe that overburdened
opportunities were awaiting the young man who might become
the fortunate possessor of that magic wand — "The Wichita
Vidette." Arrangements were speedily made to go and be
convinced. The editor esteemed it a great favor as well as a
pleasure to become host and bear his guest, free of expense —
including the best accommodations the young city could afford —
if the guest would but accompany him and inspect his plant.
His pockets were full of railroad passes, so free transportation
was assured.

The next morning found us at the railroad station a little in
advance of train time. The editor proceeded to go through his
numerous pockets in search of the requisite pass. The first time
through without results, he said, "Huh!" A second and third
reconnoisance brought down a shower of self-reproaches. He
could not even recall the incident that caused the neglect of so
important a privilege as the securing of a few passes over that
particular road. He had one pass, but was not quite sure both
could ride on the same pass — had never tried it. Being now
thoroughly enthused with the spirit of the venture, and not
desiring to take advantage of a helpless railroad corporation, I
decided to pay my own transportation. We were now happily
on our journey and would soon arrive at a dining station, my
host kindly explaining where and how to secure a cheap lunch
if I felt the need of refreshment. As for himself he still felt
sufficiently nourished from the hearty breakfast so recently
enjoyed at the Topeka home, and preferred to await a good
meal at the end of his journey. Reflecting that there might be
pleasure in anticipation — also desiring to be agreeable, I decided
to fast with my host. At 10 p. m. we landed at the Douglas
avenue depot; where our cars were greeted with the inspiring
tune: "The Conquering Hero Comes," by a full brass band.

Presuming they were welcoming my host, I threw out my
chest and marched boldly by his side, falling in at the rear of
the procession and feeling that the young city knew how to
receive and honor her worthies, when my host veered to the
right, motioning me into a path or trail through tall weeds lead-
ing in a northwesterly direction, while that fool band went

THE PEESS 471

straight ahead, following a wagon track in the direction of the
Douglas Avenue Hotel, while we emerged from a jungle of weeds
about midway of the third block on North Main street, in front
of the "Vidette" office. Somewhere along that trail in the
weeds we lost that "good meal" so fondly anticipated on the
train, and my considerate host forebore to mention it ever after
in my presence.

On approaching Wichita he had urbanely explained that he
and his son lodged in the office, having a bed in an inner room,
and as he did not expect his son to be at home, would his guest
object to sharing the bed with him. No objection being made,
that incident was closed until arriving at the office, when, to the
utter amazement of mine host, the son was there. This fact was
revealed on entering the outer office by the son opening the bed-
room door, flooding the room with a glare of light. Nonplussed,
but being a man of unlimited resources, a few minutes only were
necessary to solve the difficulty. Turning until his eyes rested
thoughtfully in the northwest corner of the room, the editor's
face lighted with benignant smiles, which assured me my com-
fort was abundantly provided for — that nothing of importance
occupied that corner of the room, except a few newspaper
exchanges, and even they might be utilized in making me more
comfortable; and as the night was well advanced the accommo-
dation would probably be equal to anything the hotel could
afford at that hour of the night. So saying, he bid me a cheery
good night and retired to his bedroom, politely closing the door
that I might not be disturbed by the light.

Being a resident of Kansas years before she became a state,
I was used to roughing it and had acquired the habit of carrying
a blanket when going on uncertain excursions; and had, from a
force of habit, exercised the same precaution on this occasion,
which my host seemed to have noticed, as he observingly
remarked: "The exchanges, if properly distributed, would
afford a clean field on which to spread a blanket." I had pre-
viously had considerable experience with newspaper exchanges,
but cannot recall an instance of as much difficulty in selecting a
sufficient quantity of soft ones as in that dark and lonesome
office room ; and, as I remember it now, that night was not restful,
nor needed I a rude awakening when "the dawn whitened and
the dusk grew clear."

Promptly at 9 o'clock the editor entered his sanctum — face

472 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

beaming with smiles of welcome and a small package under his
left arm, and from his mouth issued the glad tidings: "Now,
Mr. Millison, we will have some breakfast— just draw up that
box you are sitting on!" Seating myself in his easy chair, in
front of his editorial desk, he untied the package, drew from his
trouser's pocket a three-bladed pocket knife and proceeded to
slice a delicious loaf of bakery graham bread into two artistic
piles — one for me and one for you — and, after sufficient pause
for silent, solemn thought, the feast began. Exercising his pre-
rogative as host, the editor challenged to a discussion on the
waste and extravagance of the American nation, winding up his
introduction to the interesting subject by saying there were
millions suffering the pangs of hunger in consequence of the
extravagance of the very rich ; and that it would be his greatest
pleasure to divide with any one of them his humble breakfast,
which, he felt, he had honestly earned by the sweat of his brow.

Coinciding with all his views, and not wishing to be out-
done in generosity, I declared my willingness to donate my
entire share of the sumptuous spread to the unfortunate down-
trodden, but as. there seemed to be no probability of an imme-
diate transfer, I ventured to suggest that a cup of some mild
beverage would greatly assist in its mastication. "So it would,
Mr. Millison ; so it would ! Why didn 't I think of that ? Say !
there's a pump just outside that front door, across the walk.
And, say! Mr. Millison, bring in a cupful with you!" And —
just then nothing more was said.

After breakfast and until the noon hour the printing plant
was thoroughly inspected. Every part seemed a distinct remi-
niscence of better days, and my mind was soon flooded with that
apt quotation: "Distance lends enchantment," until the poetic
thought came to me that I would willingly sacrifice all my
chances of a bargain in the purchase for one good square meal.
At 2 o'clock we partook of a substantial lunch at my host's pri-
vate boarding house, which was approached by a private path,
through horse weeds and sunflowers higher than our heads. The
common boarders had dined and departed, leaving us a limited
quantity of boiled bacon and string beans. It was here that the
editor put me wise how to obtain these free lunches — editor's
perquisites, he called them — by simply giving the proprietor com-
plimentary notices in his paper.

The afternoon was pleasantly passed in listening to the edi-

THE PEESS 473

tor's plaints of bodily ailments and physical incapacities that
necessitated his parting with a bonanza so easily extracted from
his valuable plant by any one able to endure the arduous duties
of editor and manager. Not feeling equal to the arduous duties
imposed, there seemed no prospect for a coalition of interests,
and as evening was approaching, I announced my intention of
relieving my host of further obligations. This was grievous news
to him. But if I must go he must insist we enjoy another good
meal together. As we sauntered leisurely down the east side of
North Main street, in search of — as I supposed — a first class res-
taurant, the odor of broiled steak and fried ham assailed our
nostrils from the precincts of several restaurants, and I thought
I could hardly wait until we came to the favored one; but ere
we reached the coveted goal the editor stopped suddenly in
front of a stack of watermelons on the sidewalk and crooking his
index finger to a clerk commanded him to select the most luscious
5-cent melon in the pile. The haughty behest was instantly
obeyed and the package delivered with a formal bow. Beckon-
ing me we stealthily entered an ice cream parlor and quietly slid
into a private booth. Again the three-bladed .jack knife was
pressed into service and made to perform another artistic stunt
carving that melon into a tempting feast ; which was enlivened
by my host's generous remarks that when it came to purchasing
the products of the farm he did not regard expense, as he con-
sidered it every man's duty to encourage agriculture. And thus
we parted.

Now all this preface may seem unnecessary and irrelevant
to the starting of "The Beacon," but it is simply the naked
truth — shabbily dressed — and had it not transpired the "Daily
Beacon" had ne'er been born. Feeling at liberty now to follow
my own inclinations, I decided to take a look at the town.
Counting the business houses and the saloons, the business houses
showed a majority. But the saloons made the more prosperous
business showing. On the northwest corner of Main and Second
streets — where the Northern now stands — flourished a billiard
parlor and saloon, presided over by Madam Sage. Prom there
to Douglas avenue, and west on Douglas to the river, all lines of
business were represented — sandwiched in with saloons. The
chief place of amusement was at the corner of Main street and
Douglas avenue, now occupied by the Kansas National Bank,
where poker, faro, roulette and keno, with many brands of beer

474 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

and whisky, were constantly on tap. From a raised platform
fronting on Main street a brass band regaled the denizens morn-
ing, noon and eve, luring customers to the gambling den. Be-
spurred cowboys innumerable, with gun-laden hips filled the
saloons. Red and Rowdy Joe, of dance house fame, flaunted their
banners in the streets.

Underneath it all was an unmistakable throb of honest busi-
ness that promised better things in the near future. The business
men were sociable. The glad hand was extended with a cordial
grasp. Every one advised the new arrival to tarry and become
a citizen. Every new enterprise was welcomed cordially and
encouraged substantially. In fact, the newcomer was made to
feel at home with a desire to remain. Seeking the acquaintance
of Mr. F. A. Sowers, founder of the Wichita "Vidette," and at
that time the most versatile writer as well as most popular news-
paper editor in the Southwest, I laid before him a proposition to
jointly establish a simon pure Democratic newspaper in Wichita.

Mr. Sowers had extensive acquaintance in southwestern Kan-
sas and was popular with the leading spirits of Wichita, and was
also enthusiastic for the venture. Together we interviewed the
more prominent business men of the young city and met with
substantial encouragement. The field was occupied by the
"Vidette," but Mr. Sowers felt confident that, with the assist-
ance of his friends he could clear the field by the first of October,
which feat was easily accomplished before the first of September
— the "Vidette" seeking pastures new in fields farther west.

The 6th day of October, 1872, my family and foreman, Mr.
Frank B. Smith — afterwards sole proprietor of "The Beacon" —
landed in Wichita with a complete newspaper plant. Many of the
business men were desirous that the new paper should start as an
evening daily, promising additional support. Mr. Sowers did
not feel inclined to so bold a venture. I favored a daily pub-
lication, and proposed to finance the enterprise for one month
as an experiment, Mr. Sowers agreeing to do the editorial work
on salary. On the 18th day of October, 1872, the first number
of the "Wichita Daily Beacon" was issued — the first daily paper
published in the Arkansas valley, in the state of Kansas. At the
end of the first month Mr. Sowers added his share of the capital
stock; the daily suspended and "The Beacon" was issued weekly
until July, 1873, when it was issued daily and weekly for three

THE PEESS 475

months — during the cattle shipping season of that year. Frank
B. Smith, who was the new paper's foreman, became its owner
later. After his death, Mr. H. J. Hagny became its owner. "The
Beacon" was purchased from Mr. Hagny by Henry J. Allen, who
organized the present Beacon Publishing Company.

"THE BEACON" IS THIRTY-EIGHT.

"The Beacon" is thirty-eight years old as it moves into its
new home in "The Beacon" building — Wichita's first skyscraper.
In its thirty-eight years of constant growth and progress, this
newspaper has occupied six different buildings — the new Beacon
block on South Main street being the seventh. Two of the past
homes of "The Beacon" were small frame buildings one story
tall. One of them was a one-story brick building. Two of them
were two-story brick buildings. The other is the three-story
brick building which has just been abandoned by "The Beacon,"
at 121 North Market street. "The Beacon" occupied this build-
ing twenty-five years. "The Wichita Beacon" was born October
1, 1872. "The Beacon's" infancy was spent in a little frame
building, 24x60 feet in size. It stood on the ground now occu-
pied by a two-story brick building at 241 North Main street, and
used by Frank T. Culp's meat market. Surrounding "The
Beacon's" first tiny office were other buildings of the same char-
acter. On the south was a carpenter shop ; on the north was a
harness and saddlery repair shop. In the same block were
grocery stores, meat markets and saloons, all occupying one-story
wooden buildings. At that time there was not a brick building
in the city. Only a few of the frame buildings were above one
story in height.

"The Beacon" was established by Fred A. Sowers and D. C.
Millison. Mr. Sowers had charge of the business and editorial
end of the paper, while Mr. Millison looked out for the mechan-
ical portion of the work. Both men are still residents of the city.
Mr. Sowers is engaged in the real estate business in the firm of
Sowers and Fisher, at 223 East Douglas avenue. Mr. Millison
lives at 1900 South Lawrence avenue. He is the father of Ralph
Millison, of the Millison Office Supply Company. While the
experience of these two gentlemen in establishing and operating
a small newspaper was similar to that of many others, and while

476 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

there were times that were trying incidents that were annoying,
both these gentlemen regard with pleasure the beginnings of
the paper and love still to relate incidents that happened in its
infancy. Both of them have contributed articles to this number
of the new "Beacon." "The Beacon" was started as a daily,
but Wichita was too small to support six issues a week, so it was
soon changed to a weekly publication. During the first few
weeks as a daily "The Beacon" flourished. The Texas cattle
drive was on and thousands of long-horned steers were driven
along a trail which is now Douglas avenue. At night hundreds
of cowboys swarmed into the little frontier town and supplied
plenty of news for "The Beacon." There were frequent shoot-
ing scrapes, many killings, and numberless trials. But the cattle
drive was finished by early winter and news became scarce. So
"The Daily Beacon" became the "Weekly Beacon" and con-
tinued a weekly for twelve years.

HOW THE BEACON WAS NAMED.

The naming of "The Beacon" was decided by the flipping of
a penny. The two owners of the publication were divided as
to a name. Mr. Sowers was determined that the paper should
be called "The Beacon." Mr. Millison wanted it to be called "The
Tribune." It was left to a penny. Mr. Sowers won the flip.
A year following the establishment of the paper the plant was
moved into another frame building on the southwest corner of
Second and Main streets, where the Tapp Brothers and Han-
shaw grocery is now located. This new home of "The Beacon"
was a story and a half high and was one of the pretentious build-
ings of the city at that day.

In 1874, two years after "The Beacon" was established, there
was a change in management. Frank B. Smith and Frank
Fisher, who had worked for "The Beacon" company as printers,
bought the paper, paying for it on the partial payment plan out
of the wages due them. In 1874 the printing plant was again
moved, this time into a new brick building at the southwest cor-
ner of Main and Second streets. This two-story brick structure,
which is now occupied by the Sturgeon grocery, was then one of
the finest buildings in the city. Shortly after the removal into
this new home Mr. Smith bought Mr. Fisher's interest in the
paper.

THE PEESS 477

For a year Mr. Smith was sole owner of "The Beacon." In
1875 he gave a one-third interest in the paper to W. S. White,
familiarly known as "Cap" White, of Kingman county. Wichita
was growing rapidly and the new owners of "The Beacon"
sought a location closer to the heart of the city. They chose the
second floor of the building at 112 East Douglas avenue, lately
occupied by the Jackson-Walker Coal Company. Into this build-
ing "The Beacon" was moved in 1876. It remained there for
eight years, when it was moved into the building which it has so
long occupied at 121 North Market street. The old "Beacon"
building being vacated for the new was erected during the boom
days by Frank B. Smith and W. S. White. It was completed in
1884 and occupied immediately by the paper. Prior to this time
"The Beacon" had remained a weekly, with the exception of
the first few months, as a daily publication. A new and larger
press was installed in the new home, however, and "The Beacon"
again came out as a daily paper.

"The Beacon's" first residence in "The Beacon" block was
of short duration. Mr. Smith and Mr. White, who had owned
the paper for ten years, sold it to a new firm called Hotchkiss &
Eaton. The new owners took the paper into a small one-story
brick building at 119 West Douglas, which is now occupied by
the Puckett & Bagby feed store. While "The Beacon" was
being issued from this building there was another change in the
management. The firm of Hotchkiss & Eaton sold to another
firm known as Richardson & Peck. Mr. Richardson and Mr.
Peck continued to edit and manage the paper until 1890. In
1890 Frank B. Smith repurchased a half interest in "The Beacon"
from Mr. Peck. The paper was then moved back into "The
Beacon" block on North Market street, where it was until this
month. Three years after this last move of "The Beacon" plant,
Frank B. Smith died. In the following year Mrs. Smith, his
widow, purchased the half interest owned by Mr. Richardson,
thus becoming the sole owner of the paper. A few years later
H. J. Hagny and Mrs. Smith were married and Mr. Hagny
became the editor as well as manager. In March, 1907, Henry
J. Allen organized The Beacon Publishing Company and bought
the paper from Mr. Hagny. — From New Home Edition of "Daily
Beacon."

478 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

HISTORY OF THE "WICHITA EAGLE,"
By Charles E. Bigelow, Wichita, Kan.

Adequately to portray the career of the "Wichita Eagle," to
review its time-honored course, to tell its graphic story amid
stirring scenes of primeval days on a rugged and storm-tossed
frontier, it ought to be woven with the story of the life of its
able founder, the late Col. Marshall M. Murdock. To diassociate
one from the other would be as empty and futile as to emblazon
the immortal drama of "Hamlet" without Hamlet, to sing the
enduring hymn of "Heloise" without Abelard, to recite the story
of the War of the Rebellion without the picturesque character
of Abraham Lincoln. The concurrent lives and activities of
the "Eagle" and its virile founder and editor for over a third
of a century are so interwoven, and so much identical one with
the other that no historic resume of the one is complete without
the tale of the other. Marsh Murdock, as he is yet and will
always remain, familiarly known, directed the destinies of the
publication from its inception up to a few hours of his untimely
demise. Its tone, its policy, editorial position, he alone chose,
and with fearless and unswerving hand drove straight through
to an unflinching adherence of that established policy and
standard of high tone.

But, since in another chapter is told the life story of Colonel
Murdock, it becomes the function of this article to adhere as
closely as possible to the real story, historical and anecdotal of
the "Eagle" and its allied publications, cleaving away for the
moment the more personal and living element of its distinguished
editor.

The Wichita "Eagle" is entering its thirty-ninth year. It
was born on April 12, 1872 — fathered and founded by the late
M. M. Murdock, and files of this paper carefully preserved now
in the "Eagle's" library show that first copy, sear and yellow
with time, bearing the caption "The Wichita City Eagle." There
was no railroad into Wichita then and the printing material had
to be hauled to this point from Newton in wagons. Mr. Syl
Dunkin, the teamster of the late James R. Mead, now of Tacoma,
Wash., had charge of the freighting, which occupied a day. The
entire office was a trifle more than could be hauled by twa
teams, owing to the condition of the road.

THE PEESS 479

When the material arrived here it was housed in a wooden
shanty on North Main street. One of the men who helped to
take the material into the shanty from the wagons was the noted
Dave Payne, who afterwards became the originator of the boom
to open the then wild country of Oklahoma for settlement, and
who became the leader of the famous organization of boomers
who caused the country to be opened finally, five years after his
sudden death. Payne county in Oklahoma and Payne township
in Sedgwick county are named after this man, who was, by the
way, the Democratic candidate for state senator against the
editor of the "Eagle," who, for such a long time, filled that
position when his district comprehended an area equal to about
forty counties.

There were two names originally proposed for the new
paper, — one "The Eagle," proposed by Colonel Murdock him-
self, the other "The "Wichita Victor," in honor of the editor's
wife, Victoria Mayberry Murdock. A silver dollar was flipped to
determine the choice and the side emblazoned with the American
Eagle turned up and settled the matter according to agreement.
It is not stated in the original sketch of this episode where the
editor in those days borrowed that dollar. It was the third
"Eagle" in the United States at that time, since, a name that is
very common in the realms of newspaper nomenclature. The
other two were the "Brooklyn Eagle" and a paper published
somewhere in Michigan.

The whole town was "very anxious to know what name the
editor would give to the new paper, but no one had a hint of it
save only Mrs. Victoria Murdock, wife of the editor, and the
present owner and proprietor. Colonel Murdock aimed to have
a joke with five or six friends, and that number of the first issue
were called "The Wichita Galoot." These were sent to the
friends referred to ; then the head was removed and the remain-
der of the issue came out as "The Wichita City Eagle." Pretty
soon those half-dozen friends who had "The Galoot" delivered
to them came rushing down to the office to protest against such
an undignified name, and it was only then that Colonel Murdock
revealed to them the real name of the paper, which pleased them
greatly, though not a few still insisted the name of "The Victor"
should have been given. Among these friends was the late
James E. Mead, the distinguished pioneer of this part of Kansas,

480 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

and who for a long and active lifetime lived in Wichita, the city
he helped to found and to give its name.

There is some doubt as to the identity of the first subscriber,
but the claim of Mr. Dickey, of Newton, at present a leading
druggist and jeweler of the Harvey county capital, practically
settles the controversy. When Colonel Murdock was coming to
Wichita to start the "Eagle" Mr. Dickey met him at Newton
and learning of his intentions at once subscribed for the yet
dreamed of paper on the spot, even before it was born.

The inside pages of the first copy of the paper being missing,
we do not know what the salutatory of Colonel Murdock con-
tained, but the business announcement on the first page laid
down the rule that no type of a display character be used that
was larger than pica, which is two sizes larger than the type
used on this page, which is nonpareil. This rule referred to
advertisements as well as to headlines. Cuts and "unseemly
illustrations" were also barred, and due notice was given to
humbugs that their advertisements would not be received, and
the editor fought untiringly almost to the very day of his death
for the newspaper ideals of his younger days. The "flaring
headlines" he never had any use for, but times changed and
when these became the fashion, while he yielded, he never liked
them.

Among the very first advertisers in the "Eagle" only a few
now remain in Wichita. Dr. Pabrique, who was then in part-
nership with Dr. E. B. Allen, had a professional card in the first
column. William C. Little, who was then a practicing attorney,
now president of the Wichita Loan & Trust Company, also had a
small card. John C. Martin, now a member of the Board of
Education, had a card advertising his restaurant. "Doc"
Holmes advertised books and stationery. Lee Hays also adver-
tised in this first issue. Mr. A. Hess advertised the business
from which has evolved the present Wichita Wholesale Grocery
Company. Among the other advertisers were the late Senator
P. B. Plumb, who was then a young lawyer at Emporia, with a
large practice down this way.

The Church Directory reveals only two houses of worship —
the Episcopal, presided over by Rev. J. P. Hilton, who alter-
nated with J. F. Nessley, of the Methodist Church, every other
Sunday, and the Presbyterian Church, which latter edifice was

THE PEESS 481

then located about where Ike West's stone yard now is, with
J. P. Harson presiding.

Only two city officers are now here, John M. Martin, who
was a councilman, and Dr. Fabrique, who was a member of the
School Board.

The "Eagle" was the product of the editor's faith in Wichita.
With the clairvoyant power of his wonderful faculty for reason-
ing he foresaw that there must be a town of some size at the
junction of the two rivers. He had examined the country before,
counted its streams, examined their valleys and measured the
capacity of the country to produce the things that were demanded
by a growing country and a people ambitious to have a foreign
commerce.

Having satisfied himself that there was a future he pro-
ceeded to develop it, and from the day he landed in Sedgwick
county until the day of his death he never lost faith in Wichita.
Some of the most remarkable arguments ever made for any
country were made by him during the first seventeen years of
his residence here, and the most delightful and entertaining trip
anyone can make is through the back files of the "Eagle" from
1872 to 1890.

The "Eagle" started in with a definite and well defined
policy, and has never varied from it to any great length. Its
fundamental idea was that the man who tilled the ground created
the real wealth of nations. The first thought of the "Eagle,"
therefore, has ever been the farmers. After agriculture it has
always regarded Commerce as the most likely thing to flourish
in Wichita. Next to Commerce is Industry. These constitute
the things in the ambition of the "Eagle" to make for funda-
mental prosperity.

In other lines its policy has been from the start to be broad
and liberal ; to be clean, decent and conservative ; to stand loyally
for constituted authority ; to favor no class or clan or caste ; to
elevate the standard of civilization along broad lines ; to stand
firmly for wide education ; to avoid connections that would ham-
per its independence and its usefulness ; to keep out of specu-
lation and to confine itself altogether to legitimate newspaper
work. This last policy was so strong with the editor of the
"Eagle" that for ten years during the highest progress of the
city — including the fateful years of the boom — he did not buy a
foot of property in Wichita for speculation or for any other

482 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

purpose. He was repeatedly offered choice lots in about every
addition in Wichita, and in very new towns laid out in southern
Kansas, yet he never touched any of them. He was proffered
splendid opportunities by managers of railroads and others to
acquire valuable property in townsites, but never accepted or
embraced a single one. He did not believe in anything as a
fortune maker but a good newspaper. He was content for others
to make fortunes through his efforts and the work of his great
brain, but he wanted none of it that way himself. He declined
tempting offers to be elected to the directories of great corpora-
tions having large enterprises on hand, but he accepted only one,
and when that did not suit him he promptly resigned.

The "Eagle" prospered from the start along these lines of
policy and it eventually accumulated a little money and a whole
lot of good will from year to year. After a short time in the
Main street office the paper was removed to the old Eagle Hall
building, where the Boston Store now is. Later it built its own
building next door and moved into it. When this became too
crowded a third floor was added and this was its home until
1906, when temporary quarters were built for it on the site of
the present new building, corner of Williams and South Market
streets.

It was the intention to build around this shack, but architects
said this could not be done without a great deal of expense, and
the paper was removed to 119 North Water street, where it was
published for nearly a year while the new building was going up.

From the postoffice Colonel Murdock wistfully watched the
progress of the new building every day, but he never entered it,
for the old adage verified itself — "When the new home is ready
the hearse is at the door."

He never saw the handsomely appointed new room designed
for his private sanctum, but his picture hangs there, crowned
and draped and hallowed by evergreen immortelles, the wreath
arc of which is changed and renewed three times each year ;
and for long it was the only picture that adorned its walls, as
he was the only editor who directed the destinies of the paper
for a span of thirty-five years, or since its founding.

In 1884 the paper became a daily with the old Missouri and
Kansas Telegraph service — what was known as the pony report
of the Associated Press. It soon became the daily paper for the
whole great Southwest and wielded a powerful and salutary

THE PEESS 483

influence from the start. It attained a marvelous circulation
during the boom, so that it had more subscribers than there
were people in the town where it was published.

Early in the nineties — actually during the very worst time the
country has ever seen in fifty years — it installed typesetting
machinery, subscribed to the full report of the Associated Press,
and with a courage that was desperate faced the tide of adversity.
It mastered that tide after being stared in the face by Despair
several times and came out on solid ground again without missing
a single pay day. It did more than that. It kept up the wages
of its men to scale and kept every one of its old employes when
there was little profitable work for them to do. This was out
of sentiment entirely, for it has always been the policy of the
paper to stand by its loyal workers. In consequence of this the
"Eagle" has more old employes today probably than any other
paper in the world in proportion to its payroll. It has the sons
of old employes and expects to have their grandsons and great-
grandsons on its pay list. This sentiment of rotation of genera-
tions is one of the marked features of the "Eagle" policy.

Today the "Eagle" is the third highest employer of labor in
the city of Wichita. It can make this claim also that it has a
greater circulation than any paper in the world published in a
town of the size of Wichita, and that it goes into a greater. pro-
portion of the homes in the town in which it is published than
any other daily paper in the world. These two latter claims are
conceded by expert newspaper men everywhere.

Another thing it can claim — although with such certainty —
that it goes to more different places in the world than any other
paper published in any town the size of Wichita.

It has been computed that if the pages of the entire year's
issue of the "Eagle" were joined together, end to end, the strip
would go twice around the world and have enough left to extend
from the Gulf of Mexico into Canada. To deliver it by carrier
service alone 5,559 miles are traveled daily. This does not include
the railway mail service. Its immensity can best be understood
when it is said that about six tons of paper were used for the
last special edition issued in the summer of 1910. The paper is
now entirely owned by Mrs. Victoria Murdock, the consort of the
late editor for nearly forty-five years. In any review of the
career of the "Eagle" there must be mentioned the able and
conservative business management of the late Poland P. Mur-

484 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

dock, brother of the "Eagle's" editor, who was associated with
him during the lifetime of both, both dying about the same time.
Colonel Murdock established a severe and inviolable dead line
between the functions of the two segregated departments, the
editorial and strictly literary division and the business manage-
ment. The writer well recalls the innumerable instances when
the revered editor, respected and admired by everyone closely
in touch with him, from the managing editor to the latest cub
reporter, would remark, "We fellows up here on the third floor
have no business whatever downstairs in the business office, save
only on Mondays of each week when we draw our pay check.
Neither has that crowd downstairs any business up here. So
you fellows keep out of there, and I will see to it that they keep
out of up here." This was a tradition and time-honored office
rule. But through dreary and discouraging periods following
the boom and the '93 and '94 panic it was the patient and saga-
cious R. P. Murdock, never quite discouraged, who guided the
frail craft over stormy financial seas, and lived to see it weather
the tempestuous elements and come safely at last into port and
anchor solidly in a haven of sure solidarity and permanent
prosperity.

The "Daily Eagle" now has a circulation of over 35,000,
widely spread throughout the Southwest, with an especially heavy
subscription list in the city of Wichita, all of Kansas, Oklahoma
and northern Texas. It is significant that scarcely a Wichita
resident who moves away permanently to reside elsewhere but
keeps up his subscription as the one final tie that binds to home
memories and refreshing chronicles of the city he still loves.
The mechanical division has a battery of six Mergenthaler lino-
type machines of the latest improved designs and type. During
the summer of 1910 a perfected Goss improved Sextuple press,
with a capacity of 80,000 completely printed and folded papers
an hour was installed. The stereotyping department has been all
rehabilitated and overhauled with a complete new equipment,
and the job division also fitted out all new.

Other publications issued from the ' ' Eagle ' ' plant are : The
"Wichita Weekly Eagle," established in 1872, which is a metro-
politan weekly newspaper, covering in its circulation one of the
richest mail order fields in the Southwest. The guaranteed cir-
culation is 30,000.

"The Arkansas Valley Farmer," established in 1909. An

THE PEESS 485

agricultural paper published every Friday. A high class farm
journal publication, edited by experts on all matters pertaining
to ranch, farm and agricultural pursuits. Guaranteed circula-
tion 30,000. ' ' The Wichita Daily Eagle, ' ' with 35,000 circulation,
means 140,000 readers.

COL. MARSHALL M. MURDOCH.

By
D. D. LEAHY.

In the first rank of citizenship no man in the history of Sedg-
wick county has held a higher place than Colonel Marshall M.
Murdoch, founder of the Wichita Eagle. From the day he came
to Sedgwick county in 1872 until the day of his death, January
2, 1908, he enjoyed unsurpassed public confidence and exercised
an influence in the Southwest that gave direction not only to the
thought of the public but to the development of the country.
He was among the last of those great Western journalists who
placed the impress of their character upon the civilization of
their times. The age of his activity spanned the great events in
American history between Buchanan and Taft and none of them
escaped his observation and comment. He saw the birth of prac-
tically every invention that made America the greatest nation in
the world.

Colonel Murdoch was born on October the 10th, 1837 — the
year Victoria ascended the throne of England — in the Pierpont
settlement in what is now the state of West Virginia. His
remote ancestry were Scotch but his more immediate ancestry
dwelt in the north of Ireland, where one of them — his grand-
father— was in rebellion against the government of England and
had to flee to Virginia about the time of the Revolutionary War.
This red blooded Irishman was a worker in metals and engaged
in the iron molding business in his new home. This man's son
Thomas, who became a minister of the gospel, married Catherine
Pierpont, a relative of Governor Pierpont and also a relative of
that Morgan family that produced the noted American financier.
The first issue of that marriage was Colonel Murdoch, the subject
of this sketch. This Thomas Murdoch had a quick conscience.
He abhorred the institution of slavery and while still a young

486 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

man set out for the West — settling at Irontown, in Ohio, where
he engaged unsuccessfully in business. It was at Irontown that
young Murdock secured a rudimentary education and first en-
gaged in the printing business as an apprentice.

The fight for freedom had begun in Kansas. Pioneers were
striving to establish a state without slavery. The entire nation
was interested in the outcome of the super-heated agitation.
Thomas Murdock put his family and worldly possessions into two
covered wagons and pulled out for Kansas. He drove one of the
teams and the boy Marshall, or "Marsh," as he was usually called,
drove the other. For weeks they travelled overland and finally
settled in Topeka, where a farm was taken. Through that farm
John Brown often passed with slaves taken from their Southern
masters.

As the spirit of the fathers was restless so was the spirit of the
son and when the "Pike's Peak fever" broke out young Mar-
shall hied himself off to the hills of golden promise. He set-
tled at the place now called Leadville and there is little doubt
of the fact that he was the first to discover silver in that camp.
But they were hunting for gold and not for silver in those days
and the white metal had no facination for them. Soon after-
wards the Civil War broke out and as the father and two brothers
had taken up arms and gone to the front Marshall returned to
Kansas to take care of the mother and younger children. He
did not go to the war himself until his state was threatened and
he went out from Burlingame as a lieutenant colonel of Osage
and Lyon county militia to resist invasion. Previous to this he
had been working in a printing office at Lawrence and barely
escaped massacre at the hands of the Quantrell gang by drop-
ping into a well while the ruffians were sacking and burning the
town. A few bullets were shot into the well after him but he
was not injured.

In 1863, Colonel Murdock was married to Miss Victoria May-
berry, of Douglas county, and they went to live in Burlingame
where Mr. Murdock had established the "Chronicle." Nine years
later when the Santa Fe railway announced that it would extend
its line he loaded his print shop into two wagons and came to
Wichita where he established the "Eagle."

Colonel Murdock had been a state senator for Osage and
Lyon county and shortly after coming to Sedgwick county he
was elected state senator for all that territory extending West-

THE PRESS 487

ward from Butler county to the Colorado state line, defeating
David L. Payne, afterwards famous for the agitations and inva-
sions that led to the opening of the present state of Oklahoma
to settlement. Besides holding the office of state senator he
became postmaster of Wichita and kept that position until
Orover Cleveland became president in 1885. He was reappointed
postmaster when McKinley became president and held the office
until the time of his death.

As he was by far a bigger man than the offices he held,
his place in the world must be measured in other ways. He
reached his highest stature in his profession. He was by all odds
the best all-around editor in the state. In brilliancy he had no
superior and in public usefulness it is doubtful if he ever had an
equal. He was the greatest town boomer and town builder the
Middle West has ever known. And he was honest in both. He
saw as through a vision the future glory of the hamlet with which
he had cast his fortune. He believed sincerely that it was des-
tined to become the commercial center of the plains. He advo-
cated every public enterprise that could contribute in any way
to make it such. He encouraged every private enterprise that
energy or capital ventured upon. He had a clear perception of
the results of the development of the surrounding territory and
saw with the eye of a prophet the coming of those thousands that
have made the valley of the Arkansas blossom like the rose. He
made the "Eagle" the oracle of the people, and to those inquir-
ing for the land of promise it was never dumb. Wichita was to
him as his own child and he watched its growth and development
with equal care and love.

As an editor, his style of writing was unique. He made the
English language obedient to his every wish. From his com-
prehensive vocabulary he could draw the lightning that could
destroy and crush with as much facility as he could compose
those prose poems that expressed the softness of his great heart
in time of sorrow among his neighbors. None could soothe the
grief of a parent for a dead child better than he, and his great-
est pieces were those that expressed his sympathy for the
distressed.

Personally Colonel Murdock was a man of the most lovable
character. He lived far above the petty things of his times. He
was scrupulously honest in his dealings with men as well as in
his personal convictions in matters relating to his office as an

488 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

editor, and hence the guide and counsellor of his readers. Muck-
raking, that conspicuous feature of modern magazinism and
journalism, was intolerable to him. He denounced wrong-doing
in the way of the old-fashioned editor. One of his broadsides
was always sufficient to stop an abuse, and the lightning which
he hurled was given with such nice aim that it struck only the
guilty parties. His thunderbolts were tempered finely, and when
they struck the whole town blinked and ran to cover without
swearing at the man who hurled them. In only rare necessary
occasions did he indulge in personalities himself and he never
allowed his staff subordinates to assail the reputation of either
men or women. While dignified he was a most charming com-
panion and his wonderful stock of general knowledge made him a
fascinating conversationalist. He was poetic in his temperament,
and the few efforts he made at the production of verse proved
that the Muses were exceptionally friendly to him.

Colonel Murdock is survived by a widow and three children
and his love for his family was beautiful and wholesome. He
left two sons who are making a fine public and private reputa-
tion, Victor in congress, and Marcellus in the management of the
great journalistic enterprise founded by the father.

The remains of Colonel Murdock are buried on the hill which
overlooks the great city which has been builded by the great
inspiration which he radiated among his fellow citizens. And
that city will always remain the most eloquent monument of his
great patriotism as a citizen and his great influence in the public
life of his time.

Note. — The above from the pen of the gifted writer, David
Leahy, is a fine tribute to Colonel Murdock, whose life work
was in Sedgwick county. No history of the great county would
be complete without Colonel Murdock in it. — Editor.

THE EARLY CONTRIBUTORS.

By
THE EDITOR.

Among the early contributors to the weekly press of Sedg-
wick county were many who have gone "over the Divide," and
some of them still live among us. First of all was J. R. Meade,
a constant and fluent writer, who wrote of the frontier days.

THE PRESS 489

Many of his tales of the border are now greatly treasured in
the archives of the State Historical society in Topeka. Kos
Harris of the Wichita bar for many years has been a voluminous
contributor to the pages of the weekly and daily press. Kos
writes for the pure enjoyment of writing, and his writings are
pervaded by a vein of rich humor. Pat McDonald, "one of the
Macs, ' ' out on the Cowskin, was in his day a frequent contributor
to the "Eagle" and "Beacon." His writings were both poetry
and prose. Mrs. King, long since gathered to her fathers, was a
frequent writer; she lived upon a farm on the Cowskin creek,
on the road to the ten-mile post. Hon. Frank Dofflemyer, of
Park township, often wrote over his own signature, on matters
of public importance. In years gone by, William H. Ranson,
over the nom de plume of "Farmer K, " was a frequent con-
tributor to the "Eagle." Geo. Litzenberg in an early day set-
tled in Rockford township ; his articles first appeared over the
name of "Farmer Dolittle." He adopted this name and later
on gave his entire time to newspaper work; and he is employed
in this capacity at this time. For years he has been an editorial
writer upon the "Eagle." He is a vigorous writer with a quaint
and original style.

All of these people have in their way preserved in part the
history of the greatest county in Kansas. * ^^^^

1390091

WICHITA NEWSPAPERS.

"Agricultural Southwest." (Weekly.) 410-414 E. William.
Editor, C. I. Reed. Issued Fridays. $1.00 per annum.

"Catholic Advance." (Weekly.) 150 N. Market. Pubs., The
Advance Publishing Co. $2.00 per annum.

"Daily Livestock Journal." 410 E. William. Pubs., The Jour-
nal Pub. Co. Subscription price, $4.00 per annum.

"The Democrat." (Weekly.) 414 E. Douglas avenue, Pubs.,
The Democrat Pub. Co. Issued every Saturday. $1.00 per annum.

"Kansas Commoner." (Weekly.) (Democratic.) 157-159 N.
Emporia avenue. Pubs., The Commoner Publishing Co. Issued
every Thursday. $1.00 per annum.

"Kansas Farmer Star." (Weekly.) 150 N. Market. Issued
every Friday. Pubs., Star Publishing Co. Subscription $1.00
per year.

"Kansas Magazine." 123-125 S. Lawrence avenue. Pubs..

490 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The Kansas Magazine Co. Issued every month. Pres., Tom
Blodgett; Vice pres., Wm. Allen White; Sec. and Gen. Mngr.,
E. M. Cole; Adv. Mngr., C. W. Myers; Editorial Mngr., R. J.
Kirk; Art Editor, C. M. Seward; Music Director, Theodore
Linberg.

"Missionary Messenger." 1145 N. Topeka avenue. Pub., G.
A. Acken. Issued monthly. 25c per year.

"Price Current." (Weekly.) 410-414 E. William. Editor,
C. I. Reed; Business Mngr., R. T. Reed. Issued Saturdays. $1.00
per annum.

"Primitive Christianity." (Weekly.) 705 N. Main. Prop.,
Western Publishing Co. Editor, W. F. Parmiter. $1.00 per
annum.

"Southwestern Grain & Flour Journal." (Monthly.) 410-
414 E. William. Mngr., W. H. Hastings. $1.00 per annum.

"Wichita Daily Beacon." (Daily except Sunday.) Beacon
Building. Pub. and Editor, Henry J. Allen. By carrier, 10c per
week. Subscription, $4.00 per year.

"Wichita Daily Pointer." (Daily except Saturday.) 209
N. Main. Pub. and Editor, J. D. Carpenter. Free distribution.

"Wichita Eagle." (Daily and Weekly.) (Republican.)
Eagle Block. Prop., Mrs. Victoria Murdock; Business Mngr.,
M. M. Murdock; Editor-in-Chief, D. D. Leahy. Subscription
rates (Daily except Monday) by carrier, 10c per week; $4.00
per year. Weekly issued every Friday. 25c per year.

"Wichita Herald." (Weekly.) 117 N. Market. Issued every
Thursday. Pub., John Hoenscheidt. Subscription price, $2.00
per year.

"Wichita Searchlight." (c)— (Weekly.) 634 N. Water. Pub.,
W. N. Miller. $1.00 per annum.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
SEDGWICK COUNTY.

By

THE EDITOR.

Sedgwick county is one of the great counties of Kansas. It
is at once the wonder and the envy of the other counties of the
state. Including the city of Wichita, Sedgwick county has about
75,000 people. It is probably now the second county in Kansas
in wealth and property. For twenty-five years it has been the
third county in the state in the payment of the state taxes, and
all of this in the face of the fact that it has no state institution, and
has no state patronage; Sedgwick county was organized in 1870
with 1,008 square miles, in 1909 it stood third in rank, with an
assessed valuation of $85,688,297. The population of Wichita
at this time is 60,000 people.

At the confluence of the two Arkansas rivers, now within the
city limits of Wichita, was the early camping grounds of the
Osages. Here for a long time in those early frontier days was
stationed Gen. Philip H. Sheridan in command of the frontier
troops. Here also William Griffenstein, afterward mayor of
Wichita, was the post trader, and here — then began an epoch of
song and story, the legends of the wood and plain, the fables
of the river and the woodland, the story of the chase, the low
thunder of the moving buffalo, the shriek of the panther, the
whirr of the wild bird's wing, and the wolf's sharp, hungry cry;
all of which has intertwined and clustered about this spot —
the mystery and pathos of the frontier, the hardships and strug-
gles of the pioneer, the history of the early fathers, and the
feverish, pulsing of rushing development of the present, so preg-
nant with the hopes and aspirations of our people. The past
history of Sedgwick county reads like a romance or the tale of
Aladdin's Lamp. The early explorers of Sedgwick county, rid-
ing from Newton to the Arkansas river on horseback, saw the
rich prairie grass sweeping their saddle-horns, and the country

491

492 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

West of Wichita to the Ninnesean valley black with countless
buffalo.

After the soldiers and Indians came the settlers. It was the
day of the prairie schooner and the dug-out. The sod house was
in evidence. The wintry wind blowing from the Panhandle of
Texas and No Man's land, and the summer's sun, were alike
pitiless. On the early settler no shadow ever fell, save that of
the passing cloud. Away from the slight fringe of timber along
the smaller streams the landscape was a treeless plain. West
of Wichita and the Arkansas river was the favorite hunting
ground of William Mathewson, J. R. Mead and G. W. C. Jones.
At this time buffalo, mountain lion along the streams, deer, and
antelope abounded. Fish abounded in the waters of the various
streams; prairie chickens, wild turkey and quail were abundant
on the prairies. Sedgwick county, has run the gamut of the hot
winds, the drouth, the floods, the grasshoppers, the boom, the
wild, unreasoning era of speculation, the land grafters, the oil
grafters, the sellers of bogus stocks, speculation, overcapitali-
zation, and all of their attendant and kindred evils, and from
all of this series of scourges she has emerged into the clear noon-
day of reason, out of a fool's paradise into business sense. No
land is more productive than the lands of Sedgwick county
when carefully and properly farmed; deep plowing and careful
tilling does the business, and Sedgwick county is in the very
heart of the alfalfa belt.

"Deeper grows the soil and truer,

More and more the prairie teems,
With a fruitage as of dreams,
Clearer, deeper flow the streams.

Blander grows the sky and bluer."

In April, 1870, Sedgwick county elected its first set of county
officers. The county was named after Gen. John Sedgwick. The
first trading-post in this vicinity was established by J. R. Mead
in 1863, on the present site of Wichita; William Griffenstein
located on the present city site of Wichita in 1865. The Wich-
ita "Eagle" was established in Wichita as a weekly paper on
April 22, 1872; its editor was M. M. Murdock. Prior to that
time and on August 15, 1870, was issued the first number of the
"Vidette" by Fred A. Sowers; W. B. Hutchinson joined him in

SEDGWICK COUNTY , 493

November following. Colonel Murdock has passed away, but
his works live after him. W. B. Hutchinson was an erratic, keen,
and loyal man, profane to a scientic degree. He died several
years ago. Fred A. Sowers still resides here as an honored citi-
zen of Wichita, much respected by all, and an optimist pure and
simple. He predicts a great future for Wichita.

On May 15, 1872, the Santa Fe railroad was completed to
Wichita. September 4, 1879, William Griffenstein was elected
mayor of Wichita. Sedgwick county has twenty-seven townships.
It is governed by a board of county commissioners of three mem-
bers and each township has a compliment of township officers
headed by a township trustee, who is also the assessor of the
township.

Eleven railway lines radiate out of Wichita like the spokes of
an enormous wheel. Comparatively all of the territory of the
county is well served by railway lines.

For Sedgwick county, with her superb location, her enter-
prising city of Wichita within her borders, her splendid soil,
her rich valleys, and her intelligent people, the future is full of
hope.

"The rudiments of Empire here,

Are plastic yet and warm;
The chaos of a mighty world
Is rounding into form."

SEDGWICK COUNTY, ITS ORGANIZATION.

By
R. KENNETH EVANS.

Sedgwick, one of the oldest and largest counties in the state
of Kansas, was named in honor of Major Gen. John Sedgwick,
of the United States army, who was killed in the battle of Spot-
sylvania, Va., May 9, 1864. Sedgwick county was attached to
Butler county for judicial and other purposes by an act of the
legislature of 1868. It was organized into a township for elec-
tion purposes early the same summer. D. S. Munger was ap-
pointed the first justice of the peace.

In November of 1868 the first election was held and at that
time there were only thirty-five voters in the county. The election
was held principally for school purposes with the result that M.

494 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

A. Sales was elected trustee, H. W. Vigus, clerk , and S. B. Floyd,
treasurer. Mrs. Sales, mother of M. A. Sales, was elected county-
superintendent of public instruction.

The organization of the county was attempted in October of
1869. A convention was called, tickets prepared and the elec-
tion held. A part of the history of this election has been lost.
Col. D. M. V. Stuart, of Park City, was elected to the legislature ;
Minnard Hall, sheriff; H. W. Vigus and T. E. Dunlap, two of the
commissioners. Owing to the informalities and irregularities of
the election the governor sent word to the county that the elec-
tion would not hold good and as a consequence it was declared
void.

A census of the new municipality was taken and the result
forwarded to the governor at Topeka. It was then discovered
that the county had the required population and in the winter of
1869-70 the governor appointed S. C. Johnson, William Lockard
and Henry Stein commissioners with the power to complete the
organization of the county. They appointed John Ward county
clerk and divided the county into three districts. In April, 1870,
they called an election for the purpose of electing the county
officers and to choose a permanent location for the county seat.
Wichita at that time had been temporarily chosen. The election
and. canvass of the votes was the most exciting ever held in
Sedgwick county, the fight being principally between Wichita
and Park City for the location of the county seat, Wichita win-
ning over Park City.

During the following year, 1871, pursuant to a call for an
election a convention was held in the county, regardless of party
politics, and a ticket chosen and placed in the field. Several
candidates came out for election independently and the follow-
ing officers were elected :

N. A. English, T. S. Floyd and Alex Williams, county com-
missioners; J. M. Steele, county clerk; T. J. Fulton, county
attorney; L. F. Buttles, register of deeds; D. A. Bright, clerk
of the district court ; Reuben Riggs, probate judge ; W. N. Walker,
sheriff; S. C. Johnson, treasurer; John P. Hilton, superintendent
of public instruction; William Finn, surveyor and E. B. Allen,
coroner. At this election there was a total of 260 votes cast
which shows that the county had started to boom even in one
year. The commissioners then appointed J. M. Steele and H. E.
Vantrees justices of the peace.

SEDGWICK COUNTY 495

The first term of the district court was held in the upper
story of a livery barn in "Wichita. Hon. W. R. Brown was the
presiding judge. The resident members of the bar at that time
and the only attorneys in Wichita were H. C. Sluss, Reuben
Riggs and P. T. Weeks. The only attorney in the county out-
side of the city of Wichita was W. P. Campbell, who until a
short time ago was judge pro tern of the city court.

The building first used for a court house in Sedgwick county
was a structure which must have been built after Solomon's own
heart. The plans were devised by the same architect that drew
the plans for the old Buckhorn hotel. The vestibule of the
building was occupied by a harness and saddlery manufactory,
operated by Jack Payton. The rotunda of the building was oc-
cupied by Dutch Tobe, who had a boot and shoe shop. The ante
chamber joining the rotunda was occupied by the probate court.
The county attorney also had an informal office there, keeping
his library in the office of the probate judge. The east wing of
the building was used for the offices of the several county officers.
It also contained the vaults where were kept the records of the
county. In this part of the building was a club room equipped
with a cook stove and a frying pan. Lawyers, real estate men,
surveyors and notaries public of the city all had their offices in
this building, whose walls are now laid waste by the hands of
time.

The first meeting of the county commissioners was held April
27, 1870. The following is the copy of the proceedings of that
meeting:

"Pursuant to a special call, S. S. Floyd, N. A. English and
Alex Williams, at the office of the county clerk at Wichita, Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, after being duly sworn and qualified accord-
ing to law organized by electing N. A. English chairman.

"The board approved the bonds of J. M. Steele, county clerk,
and F. S. Floyd, justice of the peace, also the bond of M. B. Kel-
logg, for assessor.

"A petition was presented by F. S. Floyd, of Wauculla town-
ship, asking for a night herd law and signed by a majority of
the citizens of said township; ordered that notice immediately
be issued that all stock be confined at night time after thirty
days notice hereof. Also a petition of the citizens of Wichita
township having a majority of the electors there asking for the

496 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

confinement of stock during the night time. Ordered that after
thirty days notice hereof all stock should be confined during the
night time within the limits of said township. Notice issued this
date.

"On motion it was ordered that the chairman be authorized
to furnish at the cost of the county and on such credit as he may
be able to get, all books, blanks, seals and the stationery to
supply the different offices of the county.

"Ordered that the judge of the ninth judicial district be
requested to hold a term of court in this county in the month of
August or at his convenience.

"George E. Clark presented a petition asking for a license to
sell liquors at retail.

"Also a petition against granting license to retail dealers of
Rquor; last petition overruled and it was ordered that George
E. Clark be granted a license and be required to pay $500 there-
for, and to give good and sufficient security to fill the require-
ments of the law.

"On motion the board adjourned.

"(Signed.) J. M. Steele, Clerk.

"This is to certify that notices of the order requiring stock
to be confined during the night time were duly posted by me in
three different places in the township of "Wichita, Kansas.

"(Signed.) J. M. Steele, Clerk."

The following paragraph appears in the minutes of the com-
missioner's meeting held on October 3, 1870:

"Ordered that the question of issuing $10,000 bonds be sub-
mitted to the people of Sedgwick county at their next general
election for the purpose of meeting the current expenses of the
county, and that the county commissioners be authorized to nego-
tiate said bonds for cash to the best advantage and that notice be
given of the same according to law."

THE TAX ROLLS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY FOR 1909.

The following is the recapitulation of the tax roll situation
for the year 1909, with the several funds and the amounts with
which the county treasurer is charged:

Total valuation, including railroads, $87,914,002. State tax,

SEDGWICK COUNTY 497

$109,892.22 ; county tax, $221,615 ; township tax, $41,314.10 ; city
tax, $478,783.42 j school tax, $302,991.19. Under the general fund
of county tax, the six subdivisions are as follows : County gen-
eral fund, $108,948.41; county interest, $8,786.14; sinking fund,
$57,988.66; bridge fund, $30,751.55; Douglas avenue bridge, $4,-
393.02 ; high school, $10,807.22 ; total, $221,675.

The specialties are as follow: Surveyors' fees, $140.05; side-
walks, $7,075.92; sewer, $13,566.82; curbing and guttering, $1,-
270.05 ; paving, $68,599.02 ; drainage canal, $7,904.38 ; street open-
ing, $8,640.71; Riverside ditch, $817.83. Total, cities in the
county, with railroads : Goddard, $619.34 ; Garden Plain, $771.88 ;
Mt. Hope, $1,596.88 ; Cheney, $2,456.49 ; Clearwater, $1,415.43 ;
Mulvane, $770.46; Derby, $613.07; Andale, $739.29; Colwich,
$506.40 ; Valley Center, $373.75 ; Wichita City, $469,020.43.

TAXABLE PROPERTY SHOWS LARGE INCREASE.

The final reports of the office of county assessor for 1910 show
that the total taxable property of Sedgwick county, both real
and personal, in both the city and the country districts, has in-
creased the past year a total of nearly $12,000,000 or about 14
per cent. Following is the comparative statement for the two
years just past : Total real estate valuation in the city of Wich-
ita for 1910, $48,310,060 ; for the year 1909, $30,801,545. Increase
over last year, $17,508,515. Total personal property valuation
inside city of Wichita, $12,717,600; for the previous year, $10.-
846,740. Increase, $1,870,860. Total taxable property in Wichita.
$61,027,660; for previous year, $44,476,739. Increase, $16,550,921.
Real estate valuation of country districts outside Wichita, $31,-
883,036; for previous year, $27,067,389. Increase, $4,815,647.
Personal property outside of Wichita, $6,700,955 : for previous
year, $6,100,000. Increase, $600,950. Grand total of all taxable
property in whole county, both city and country districts, $99,-
611,655; for the year 1909, $87,697,04. Increase,' $11,914,451. It
was the prediction of Maj. Geo. W. Bristow, county assessor, that
the county would show a grand total of close to $100,000,000, and
his very accurate guess was within less than $400,000 of it. It
is a creditable showing of increase in every item, both city and
county, and the steady growth of the values of the rich county
of Sedgwick.

498 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

THE INVESTMENT OF SEDGWICK COUNTY CAPITAL.

By
THE EDITOR.

During the past five years many hundreds of thousands of
dollars have gone out of Sedgwick county into various foreign
enterprises which promised large returns. The first craze was
the oil business and the people fell over each other in their efforts
to invest in the Eastern Kansas oil fields. The Wichita bankers
said that the money would never came back ; the people said that
the bankers were anxious to keep the money in the banks. This
was so to a certain extent, but the bankers were right ; the oil
money never came back. This fund was like Jeffries in the big
fight; it could not come back. The Standard was the customer
and it controlled the market and later on controlled the field.
Farmers, merchants, judges and conservative business men all
took a shot at the oil business and their money is like the flag,
"still there." Later on came other enterprises of most attractive
form and men and the money flowed out again. Conservative
monied men said: "Keep your money at home," but they said
in vain. They were at once dubbed as old fogies and knockers,
and no attention was paid to their plaints. Time will tell the
story, as the finger of time points the moral. The fact remains
that the same amount of capital and the same energy and the
same care will yield larger returns, at home.

THE POPULATION OF A GREAT COUNTY.

Wichita's population, inside the corporate limits, is 54,131,
according to the official returns of the deputy county assessors.
It is probable that there are from 2,000 to 3,000 just outside the
city limits, who practically live in the city, enjoy the same privi-
leges and really belong to its population, who are not included
in this enumeration because the corporation lines are run so as
to shut them out. That is the opinion of County Assessor Bristow.
Sedgwick county's total population, according to the same
authority is 73,779. These figures are low, rather than high, for
. the deputy county assessors, while they make an earnest effort
to enumerate every one in their respective sections, have little
time to return to houses where they have found no one at home

''/-^7~~ A/*'""7*^

?

SEDGWICK COUNTY 499

or where they may have gotten an incomplete enumeration. The
enumeration in 1909 showed "Wichita's population to be 52,000.
That the city has grown more than 2,000 during the past year
there is little doubt, and that the assessors may have missed a
thousand or more is altogether probable and reflects no discredit
upon them.

Clearwater is the largest town in the county outside of Wich-
iet, with a population of 560. The complete figures for the vari-
ous townships are as follows : Afton, 370 ; Attica and Goddard
City, 694; Delano, 840; Eagle, 668; Erie, 294; Garden Plain and
Graden Plain city, 795 ; Grand River, 352 ; Grant, 660 ; Greeley
and Mt. Hope city, 1,584; Gypsum, 848; Illinois, 431; Kechi, 894;
Lincoln,- 605 ; Mineha, 513 ; Morton and Cheny city, 1,109 ; Nin-
nescah and Clearwater city, 957 ; Ohio, 462 ; Park, 759 ; Payne,
465; Rockford and Derby city and part of Mulvane city, 847;
Salem, 653; Sherman and Andale city, 933; Union and Colwich
city, 704 ; Viola, 459 ; Valley Center and Valley Center city, 976 ;
Waco, 1,140; Wichita, 636.

ROSTER OF COUNTY OFFICERS, SEDGWICK COUNTY.

Clerk — J. L. Leland.

Auditor — J. M. Naylor.

Treasurer — J. W. Jones.

Sheriff— Richard Cogdell.

Probate Judge— O. D. Kirk.

Register of Deeds — Joseph Bowman.

Supt. of Schools — J. W. Swaney.

Surveyor. — R. H. Brown.

Physician— W. I. Mitchell.

Clerk of District Court— R. L. Taylor.

Attorney — W. A. Ayers.

Coroner— M. M. McCollister.

Poor Commissioner — A. G. Forney.

Road Engineer — C. A. Messer.

Assessor — G. W. Bristow.

County Commissioners.

Meets every Monday and Saturday of each week.
Chairman — Charles V. Bradberry.
Members — S. B. Kernan, Garrison Scott.

500 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Board of Equalization.

Meets the first Monday in June.
Chairman — C. V. Bradberry.
Members— Garrison Scott, S. B. Kernan.

COURTS.

District Court.

Meets second Monday in January, first Monday in April and
October.

Judge — Thomas C. Wilson.
Clerk— R. L. Taylor.

Attorney — W. A. Ayers.
Sheriff— Richard Cogdell.

PROBATE COURT.

Terms begin on first Monday of each month.
Judge— 0. D. Kirk.
Deputy — D. A. McCandless.

Juvenile Court.

Judge— 0. D. Kirk.

Probation Officer — A. E. Jacques.

City Court.

Court House — Sessions daily except Sunday.
% Judge — J. L. Dyer.
Clerk— S. L. Barrett.
Marshall— C. W. Root.

SEDGWICK COUNTY.
By

ORSEMUS H. BENTLEY AND JOHN FERRITER.

A history of Kansas, or of Southern Kansas, would be incom-
plete without a history of the great county of Sedgwick, which in-
cludes the splendid city of Wichita. Sedgwick county, the greatest
county in the Southwest, and Wichita its growing, thriving,

SEDGWICK COUNTY 501

pulsing- metropolis. The early fathers saw the blue stem grass
sweep their saddle horns as they explored the rolling prairie
which now makes up the happy homes, the schools and churches,
the busy marts of trade, the cultivated and prosperous farms,
the thriving towns, the fearless press, and the magnificent build-
ings of Sedgwick county and its shire town of Wichita.

Sedgwick county was organized in 1870. It has an area of
1,008 square miles, a population at this time of nearly 80,000
people, it ranks second in population among the counties of the
state, and second in wealth. It has about 260 miles of railway;
Wichita its county seat town, ranks second in population and
wealth in the state of Kansas. The agricultural possibilities of
Sedgwick county are practically unlimited, and the future of
Wichita as a sane and safe town are assured.

Twenty-eight congressional townships make up Sedgwick
county, and it can be truthfully said that no man ever lived in
Sedgwick county and went away but was anxious to return.
Other skies are just as fair, other fruits are just as sweet, but
here there is an indefinable something that woos the wanderer
to return.

"A wildered and unearthly flame,

A something, that's without a name."

In the early 80 's Sedgwick county began to grow; in the early
70 's it was the favorite feeding ground of the buffalo. Here
at the confluence of the two rivers was the favorite council
ground of the Osages, and here was Sheridan and Custer, and
William Griff enstein known to the Indians as "Dutch Bill," after-
wards the mayor of Wichita, and Bill Mathewson, the real Buff-
alo Bill of the plains and Jim Mead, author, scout, Indian trader
and hunter. Jim Steele, the pioneer real estate man, Dave Payne
the noted pioneer and Oklahoma boomer, and many others whose
names will live long in song and story. Among others who in
an early day made Wichita their headquarters was Maj. Leon
Lewis, of the regular army, afterwards the noted story writer
upon the New York "Ledger."

All these things, the location, the early associations, the camp,
the tepee, and the abundance of game, combined to make Sedg-
wick county and Wichita historic ground. The early fathers
found the spot at the confluence of the two rivers, where the In-
dian warrior wooed his dusky mate, and here in the fringe of

502 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

timber growing along the Big and Little Arkansas rivers they
laid the foundation of a great city. Today many of the ancient
cottonwoods, elms, box-elder, and sycamore have given place
to symmetrical shade trees of a later growth, and a survey of
Wichita from Fairmount or College Hill, or from the top of
The "Beacon" building, presents the appearance of a splendid
forest. In the lap of this forest reposes the city of Wichita
with its homes, its culture and refinement and all that goes to
make life worth the living in the interior West.

"Round about it orchards sweep, apple and peach tree fruited
deep;

Fair as the garden of the Lord."

In the last three decades, Sedgwick county has made a won-
drous growth. It has made its place in the history of the state
and nation. Its clergy have always been able and respected, its
bench and bar have been models of candor and integrity. Some
of the most eminent lawyers of the state have adorned its bench
and graced its forum. Men eminent and even pre-eminent in their
chosen walks of life, have sprung from this county. Statesmen,
judges, governors, doctors, lawyers, merchants of great push
and energy, business men of tried ability, promoters of great en-
terprises, Indian fighters and renowned scouts, philanthropists,
publicists, authors, and editors, are now numbered among the
honored citizens of Sedgwick county.

It is an old and trite saying that "Man made the town and
God made the country." Of a truth the men of Wichita have
made the town, and the careful, painstaking, and intelligent
farmers of Sedgwick county, under a kind Providence, have
made a portion of the great American desert, to blossom like the
rose.

In an early day came the railroads, those great harbingers of
civilization, following close upon the heels of the receding buff-
alo, and then came the evolution which has made of Sedgwick
county the very highest type of civilization. No county in the
great state of Kansas has finer railway facilities, and the growth
of Wichita will place a market at her very door. As time goes
by diversified farming is becoming the rule. The time was
when the farmers of Sedgwick county, all produced one crop,
and if the crop failed a shortage followed. Later on they began
to raise two crops, both wheat and corn, wheat being the earliest
crop. As farming become more reduced to an applied science,

SEDGWICK COUNTY

503

more diversified farming was done and this is the safety and
science of farming in Sedgwick county.

The following figures will show the remarkable growth, and
standing of the great county of Sedgwick. Population of Sedg-
wick county in 1900 was 42,717 and in 1910 is 73,338. In 1900
there was growing in the county 451 acres of alfalfa, at this time
there is approximately 30,000 acres growing. In 1909 the value
of farms in Sedgwick county including improvements was $30,-
624,925 and in 1910 the valuation is $31,816,505, with improve-
ments of $2,749,480.

TOTAL PROPERTY VALUES.

Cultivated Lands

1900 422,059

1901 422,059

1902 432,496

1903 432,496

1904 444,956

1905 444,956

1906 456,796

1907 456,771

1908 457,735

1909 457,736

1910 451,793

Uncultivated

Personal

Lands

Property

Total Value

197,809

$ 1,284,690

$ 10,114,447

197,809

1,433,859

10,337,996

182,288

1,606,010

11,040,780

182,288

1,844,651

11,601,483

175,751

2,419,675

13,037,867

175,751

2,120,725

13,005,967

163,423

2,530,870

14,077,497

163,398

2,481,863

14,526,224

161,788

16,654,720

85,688,297

161,787

16,947,835

87,697,204

163,461

19,418,555

108,150,775

Cultivated acres in 1910 in Sedgwick county : Corn, 167,432 ;
wheat, 110,973 ; oats, 62,311 ; rye, 726 ; barley, 112 ; Irish potatoes,
1,816 ; sweet potatoes, 1,126 ; sugar beets, 44 ; alfalfa, 29,089 ; blue
grass, 1,169. Value of milk products, $93,719 ; $53,031 not sold
factories. Honey, 6,130 pounds.

Value of animals slaughtered and sold for slaughter, $1,539,012.

Live Stock on Hand. Horses, 20,839 ; mules, 3,604 ; milch cows,
12,220; cattle, 22,493; sheep, 3,242; hogs, 39,885. All of these
great products go to swell the trade and prosperity of Wichita,
the metropolis of a great country.

Within a radius of one hundred miles of the city there is
already being produced annually 50,000,000 bushels of wheat,
twice that many bushels of corn, and other cereals in proportion,

504 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

together with a live stock production not exceeded in any section
of the country of the same area.

In addition to Wichita and her magnificent farms embowered
in stately groves, and embellished with commodious farm homes
and ample barns, the county is dotted over with growing ancr
thrifty towns. The railways radiating out of Wichita like the
spokes of a gigantic wheel, supply convenient railway facilities
for all these towns. Among them we find Mulvane, Maize, David-
son, Bayneville, Colwich, Oatsville, Mt. Hope, Cheney, Garden
Plain, Peck, Furley, Wichita Heights, Jamesburg, Derby, Valley
Center, Viola, Goddard, Schulte, St. Mark, Bentley, Andale,
Amies, Clearwater, Greenwich, Waco and Kechi. As these towns
grow so Wichita will grow, and thrive and wax more powerful.

If the groves of Sedgwick county are a perpetual delight to
its people, the streams of the county, never tire the beholder. The
Big Arkansas river, rising in the eternal snows of the Rocky
mountains and pursuing its course, through canon and plain for
2,100 miles, flows in a southeasterly direction across Sedgwick
county. At Wichita, it is joined by the Little Arkansas, a beau-
tiful steam, well adapted to boating and fishing in its entire flow
through the city limits. Within its curves are located a number
of our most beautiful parks and resident sections.

To the north and east Jester creek, the Wildcat, Chisholm
creek and its branches, farther south the tributaries of Four
Mile and Eight Mile creeks. West of the Big river the Cowskin
whose valley is as fertile as the valley of the Nile, and farther
west Clear creek and Spring creek, and still farther westward
the two Ninnescahs, whose waters mingle, on section 36 in Mor-
ton township. The Ninnescah is a famous stock stream; its
waters, flowing over a bed of white sand, are as pure as the
distillations of the dew. If anyone doubts that Sedgwick county
is a fruit country, let him make inquiry at the Hoover or Thomas
orchards, or of Frank Yaw and others of the well known and
experienced horticulturists of Sedgwick county.

In addition to all this Wichita and Sedgwick county are abso-
lutely safe places for permanent investment of capital. This is
evidenced by the confidence of the great life insurance and
investment companies that are placing their money in Wichita
and Sedgwick county. And so to summarize the situation, the
man who owns a farm in Sedgwick county is a lucky man, the

SEDGWICK COUNTY 505

man who owns a home in Wichita is a happy man. Their lines
are cast in pleasant places.

LAST INDIAN SCARE IN SEDGWICK COUNTY.

By

S. M. TUCKER.

I think a short account of the last great Indian scare in
Sedgwick county and other portions of southwestern Kansas, and
the last organized military company that left "Wichita to look for
Indians, might be of interest to some of the later settlers. Some
time about the last of June or the first of July, 1874, the people
in the western part of this county, Sumner, Kingman and Har-
vey counties became frightened by a report that a large body
of Indians was approaching from the south and west. The scare
appeared to be general all over the country. The people stam-
peded and rushed to the towns. They kept coming into Wichita
all night, and by morning there were more than a thousand
people from the country west in town and camped along the
river. They were so badly frightened that some of them said
they could hear the Indians yelling behind them.

On the morning after the stampede T. McMillan and I started
out west to see what occasioned the scare. We went west
through Kingman county. We found the homes deserted and
stock staked out where they could get no water and little feed.
We turned them loose wherever we found them. As we got out
to the Ninnescah we saw a man running from the north. When
he got to us we found him to be a little Irishman. He wanted to
know what became of the people. We told him they were scared
away by Indians. He was about as badly scared as I ever saw.
He lived off the road and had not known of the stampede until
we told him. He then said: "They knew I was a good loyal
man, and they went off and left me here all alone." He then
started in the direction of Wichita as fast as his legs could carry
him. We stopped at cattle camps while out, and were out three
or four days, returning by way of Harper county. When we
got back the scare was pretty well over and the people had
returned to their homes.

Shortly after this it was reported that the Commanches and
Apaches were about to make a raid upon southern Kansas. On

506 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the morning of July 10, 1874, at 10 o'clock, I received a telegram
from Gov. Thomas A. Osborn, instructing me to raise a company
of fifty men for service against the Indians, and that the adju-
tant general would be here on the 4 o'clock train with arms,
ammunition and equipment.

At 4 o 'clock I met Adjutant General Morris at the train, took
him to the old Eagle Hall, where I had my men ready. "We were
mustered into the service of the state. I received my commission
as captain. The company elected Cash Henderson first lieuten-
ant and Mike Meagher second lieutenant. We were armed with
Sharp's carbines. I camped that night on the Cowskin, about
seven miles southwest of town, with thirty-five of my men. The
rest joined me in the morning. We then proceeded as fast as
we could to Caldwell, on the border. At Caldwell we met a bat-
talion of the Fourth United States Cavalry under command of
Major Upham. We took from here a four-mule team hauling our
supplies. When we arrived at Caldwell I reported to Major
Upham for service. He had with him about 200 men, who
together with my company made quite an army. We left our
wagon at Caldwell and packed our supplies upon the mules and
proceeded south into the Indian country. We went as far south
as the Salt Fork and Pond creek, and scouted the surrounding
country thoroughly, but found no Indians except eight Osages,
who were hunting buffalo in that neighborhood. They were
friendly and we gave them some sugar and coffee and they went
on their way.

W. H. Rossington, who was then a correspondent for one of
the Topeka papers, came down with the adjutant general, and
went with him in a carriage to Caldwell, and then with us south.
He rode a horse belonging to one of the troopers, who was sick
and left in camp. He was not used to horseback riding or
exposure to sunshine. When we got back to Caldwell I think
he was the worst sunburned and generally used up newspaper
correspondent I ever saw. Some of my men were but little better
off than he was. He left us there and returned home. When
we got back to Caldwell I found an order from the governor to
proceed with my company along the border to Arkansas City.
We proceeded along the border and found some of the people
at home, but badly scared. Many of them had left and gone
farther north from the border. We assured the people that there

SEDGWICK COUNTY 507

was no danger; that the Indians had gone south and would not
return. We camped at Arkansas City two or three days and then
returned to Wichita. We arrived here on the evening of July 21,
and on the next day the company was disbanded. I had as fine
a body of men as I ever wish to command. But where are they
now? I can think of but three of us now living in or near
Wichita, but I shall always remember them as good and true
soldiers. This was the last Indian scare that we ever had in
this part of the country.

THE KINGMAN TRAIL.

By

THE EDITOR.

From Wichita to Kingman is a good forty-five miles of pleas-
ant road. This trail was there long before the railroad was
built from Wichita to Kingman, and from Kingman to Pratt and
beyond as the Kingman, Pratt & Western Railway. There was
a time when the Kingman road and all of the country contiguous
thereto, west of the Arkansas river, was the feeding ground of
countless buffalo. At one time it was thought by the early
settlers that all of that vast stretch of country in Sedgwick
county and westward to Kingman and Pratt and into what is
now known as the short grass country, was adapted only to the
ranging of cattle. This region was the favorite hunting ground
of Hank Heiserman, Dr. G. W. C. Jones, William Mathewson,
J. R. Mead and many others. From Kingman the trail diverged
southwest to Bross and Medicine Lodge. Later on the city of
Kingman was established. Later on Judge Samuel R. Peters,
then judge of the Ninth judicial district, held court in Kingman.
To this court aeross the prairie went the lawyers of Wichita,
usually by team, sometimes on horseback, and it was a weary
and dusty ride. The country was even then, in the early '80s,
developing fast. Settlers were coming in, the land office was
at Wichita, and this was the Mecca of the settler; and coming in
to make their final proof before the receiver, James L. Dyer
and Dick Walker, the register, they lined the Kingman road,
and the prairie schooner and its inmates along the Kingman
road was a familiar sight. Soon the railroad was built and King-

508 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

man was only an hour away. Since the early '80s the whole face
of the country has changed. Trees have grown. "Where before
there was only a stretch of prairie, prosperous farms are now
the rule. Goddard, Garden Plain, Cheney and New Murdock
are prosperous towns and marts of trade along the highway
where speeds the iron horse, and upon the roadway proper, where
once the jaded livery team held sway the speedy automobile now
takes the road, with Kingman a very close neighbor of Wichita.

CHAPTER XXXIX.
BENCH AND BAR.

By
0. H. BENTLEY.

THE SEDGWICK COUNTY BAR IN THE EARLY '80S.

The lawyers of Sedgwick county had not risen to the dignity
of a bar in 1880, nor had they ever contemplated a bar asso-
ciation in those days ; still at the same time the bar was unusually
strong. Sedgwick was a leading county, the seat of the United
States Land Office, and the seat of justice of the Eighteenth
judicial district. Among the lawyers practicing at the Wichita
bar in 1880 can be recalled T. B. Wall, W. E. Stanley, Henry
C. Sluss, Charles Hatton, Edwin Hill, Moses S. Adams, Amos
Harris, Kos Harris, David M. Dale, 0. H. Bentley, S. M. Tucker,
Judge B. H. Fisher, W. F. Walker, J. F. Lauck, 0. D. Kirk, John
Clark, W. W. Thomas and H. Clay Higinbottom. There were
several others who were admitted to the bar but not then in
active practice. W. P. Campbell was judge of the district and
at first lived in Eldorado, afterwards moving to Wichita; E. B.
Jewett was the probate judge and H. R. Watt was sheriff of
the county; D. A. Mitchell and W. F. Hobbs were the justices of
the peace. The practice was not confined to the county, as the
leading lawyers of that day had cases in all of the adjoining
counties. Judge Campbell was succeeded by E. S. Torrance, of
Winfield, and he served in this capacity until the creation of a
new district, which left him and his county outside of the dis-
trict. Amos Harris was appointed as judge of this district and
gave excellent satisfaction. He was succeeded by Henry C.
Sluss, who after serving a portion of his term was succeeded by
T. B. Wall. Judge Wall was succeeded by C. Reed, who came
here from Marion county. Judge David M. Dale next took the
bench and was in, turn succeeded by Judge Thomas C. Wilson,
the present incumbent of the bench. The Sedgwick county bar

509

510 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

has been peculiarly fortunate in the courts who have presided
over this judicial district. The administration of justice in this
district has been characterized by integrity, fairness and ability,
and since the early eighties there has been an entire change in
the bar of Sedgwick county. At this writing there is a larger
bar, but no better.

AN EARLY INCIDENT OF THE BENCH OF SEDGWICK
COUNTY.

I first came to Sedgwick county on a visit in March, 1880.
Having studied law in Buffalo and in the state of Ohio, I was
naturally a young man deeply impressed with the dignity of
the various courts. T looked upon them as the personification
of dignity and positively infallible. Imagine my surprise on my
arrival in Wichita upon making inquiry as to the courts to find
the judge of the district court cast for a leading part in the
"Union Spy," then upon the boards at the Turners' Opera
House in Wichita. Struck with horror as I fully realized this
drop in judicial dignity, I attended the show and saw Judge
Campbell in the leading role; Judge Campbell, who was after-
wards known in this community as Tiger Bill, was the presiding
judge of the Thirteenth judicial district of Kansas. I will say
for him that he played the part well, and assisted by an array of
local talent consisting of John Fisher, Jesse Ask, Mrs. Kramer,
Judge Walker and Colonel Woodcock, also others whose names
I do not now recall, the "Union Spy" was a great success. Soon
after this, this play was exploited upon the Kerocene circuit
and was played in Newton, Emporia and in many of the sur-
rounding towns. The local courts at that time consisted of Jus-
tice Mitchell and Justice Hobbs, and they tried many lawsuits
and settled many abstruse law questions. Upon my return to
Ohio I told to my legal friends and to some of the judges about
this play of the "Union Spy" and that the judge of the court
was cast for the leading part, and it took me a long time to
recover from the reputation I then established as a most cheerful
liar.

THE DISTRICT JUDGES OF SEDGWICK COUNTY.

The district court is an important tribunal in Kansas and has
almost unlimited power. It is the nisi prius court of the state,

BENCH AND BAE 511

the great jury tribunal, having an equity side, and its incum-
bent is a chancellor as well as a presiding judge. Here are
threshed out a great diversity of interests, and its scope reaches
from the cradle to the grave. In its district judges Sedgwick
county has always been most fortunate. Its judges have alaways
been good lawyers and men eminent in the profession. First
came Judge "W. R. Brown, afterwards a member of congress and
now the past grand master of Masons in Oklahoma, a wise and
careful man, who presided over the first courts of Sedgwick
county in the old Ninth judicial district. Next came a new
district, known then as the Thirteenth judicial district, and its
first judge was "W. P. Campbell, then of Butler county, who
soon afterwards moved to Wichita. This city was his home
during his incumbency of the bench and after he entered upon
the practice. Later on he moved to Missouri, but has recently
returned to Wichita and is now in the practice. Judge Camp-
bell was peculiarly fitted to deal with the times and the elements
he then encountered, and his incumbency was popular and he
has always stood in the front rank of the lawyers in this state.
After Judge Campbell came Judge E. S. Torrence, of Cowley
county, who remained as judge of Sedgwick county until the
legislature changed the district. Then came Judge Amos Harris,
the father of our esteemed fellow citizen and eminent lawyer,
Kos Harris. Judge Harris was a lawyer of the old school, kind-
hearted to a fault, and a lawyer of wide and varied experience.
Judge Harris served about one year and he was succeeded by
Henry C. Sluss, one of the veteran lawyers of the Wichita bar.
Judge Sluss was never at home upon the district bench and so
declared to his fellow lawyers. Judge Sluss was afterwards
appointed to the bench of Spanish land claims, which court set-
tled a vast amount of title litigation in the western territories.
The headquarters of this court was at Santa Fe, N. M. As a
member of this court Judge Sluss served with great distinction
and when the court expired by limitation of law, returned to the
practice in Wichita, where he still holds an enviable position as
a lawyer and jurist. When Judge Sluss resigned, Thomas B.
Wall was appointed judge and was a great favorite with the
bench and bar. Judge Wall was among the younger members
of the bar, but was a lawyer of fine culture and considerable
experience. His incumbency was marked by a busy epoch among
the profession, and his administration gave great satisfaction to

512 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the bar and litigants. Then came his former law partner, Judge
David M. Dale. Dale was a model judge and his decisions were
characterized by the utmost fairness and the application of a
large amount of practical common sense. Judge Dale upon his
retirement from the bench re-entered the practice in Wichita.
Just prior to Judge Dale, C. Reed was the judge of the district
which then as now was composed of Sedgwick county. Judge
Reed was the court during some of the most trying times in
Sedgwick county. He was kind-hearted, though thoroughly an
impractical man, entirely unfitted to cope with the stress and
strenuous times surrounding him. Upon his retirement he
removed to Kansas City, then to St. Louis, finally drifting west-
ward to Salt Lake City, where he died a few years ago. His last
years were said to be embittered by poverty and disappoint-
ments in his profession and otherwise.

After Judge Dale came Judge Thomas C. Wilson, the present
incumbent. Judge Wilson came to the bench after a wide experi-
ence at the bar and in the office of city attorney, and also after
considerable service as probate judge of Sedgwick county. No
district judge since the formation of the county has given better
satisfaction to the bar, litigants and people than Judge Wilson.
To his experience as a lawyer he adds a fine line of legal scholar-
ship and a desire to be absolutely fair and just under all cir-
cumstances. His uniform courtesy and kindness to the members
of the bar, to litigants, jurors and all who have business in his
court have made the present incumbent a most popular judge.
He never forgets that he was at one time a lawyer, and he is
especially painstaking to accommodate the members of the bar.

His administration of this now difficult position has been
marked by great fairness and striking ability. If he has any
faults it is that he inclines to clemency, and if he errs it is
always on the side of mercy.

SESSIONS OF THE U. S. COURT ARE CONVENED IN
WICHITA.

The entire third floor of the massive federal building in
Wichita is equipped for the use of the United States district
court and the United States circuit court. The large room where
the sessions of the courts are held is one of the finest of its
kind in the state of Kansas, and offices for the court officials are

BENCH AND BAE 513

provided on the same floor of the building. These federal courts
are important institutions for this part of the state. The dis-
trict in which Wichita is located includes the entire state of
Kansas, but the docket presented to the court at its sittings
here is made up of cases arising in the southern and western
parts of Kansas, which are organized into what is termed the
second division of the Kansas district. The federal courts for
the other two Kansas divisions are held at Kansas City and Ft.
Scott, but the second division is much the largest of the three.
Both the district and circuit courts here are presided over
by Judge John C. Pollock, who has acquired great prominence in
the federal judiciary. The clerk of the district for the Kansas
division is Morton Albaugh, and John F. Sharritt is clerk of the
circuit court. The deputy clerk of both these courts for the
second division is J. F. Shearman, who is in charge of the clerk's
office in Wichita. W. H. Mackey, Jr., is marshal for both the
United States courts in this district and his deputy for the
second division is C. F. Biddle. The regular sessions of both the
district and circuit courts in the Wichita division begin on the
second Monday of March and September of each year.

THE COURTS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY, KANSAS.

District Court.

Meets second Monday in January, first Monday in April and
October.

Judge — Thomas C. Wilson.
Clerk— R. L. Taylor.
Attorney — W. A. Ayres.
Sheriff— Richard Cogdell.

Probate Court.

Terms begin on first Monday of each month.
Judge— 0. D. Kirk.
Deputy — D. A. McCanless.

Juvenile Court.

Judge— 0. D. Kirk.

Probation Officer — A. E. Jacques.

514 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

City Court.

Court House — Sessions daily except Sunday.
Judge — J. L. Dyer.
Clerk— S. L. Barrett.
Marshal— C. W. Root.

United States District and Circuit Courts.

Federal Building — Sessions for 1909, second Monday in March
and September.

Judge — J. C. Pollock, Topeka.

Referee in Bankruptcy — C. V. Ferguson.

Attorney — H. J. Bone, Topeka.

Marshal — W. H. Mackey, Jr., Junction City.

Deputy Marshal— C. F. Biddle, Wichita.

Clerk District Court — Morton Albaugh, Topeka.

Clerk Circuit Court— G. F. Sharritt, Topeka.

Deputy Clerk and U. S. Commissioner — J. F. Shearman,
Wichita.

THE SEDGWICK COUNTY COURT HOUSE.

No county in Kansas has a more imposing court house than
Sedgwick county. It is located in a fine square bounded on the
north by Elm street, on the south by Central avenue, on the
east by Market street, and on the west by Main street. This is
the old Court House square as originally laid out by the early
fathers of the town. The court house with its furniture cost the
sum of $220,000. Instead of paying for this court house in cash
or by levying a tax and creating a sinking fund and then build-
ing the court house, Wichita apparently could not wait, but
rushed in and built this court house and issued bonds to pay
for the same. At the end of twenty years, when the last of the
court house debt was wiped out, it was discovered that the county
had paid as much interest as the principal amounted to. This
was figured out by some conservative men, good business men
of Sedgwick county, who never were accused of running their
own business in this way. It was also pointed out by these same
business men that Harvey, Kingman, Butler, Reno and others
of the surrounding counties built their court houses and paid for
them and in no instance issued bonds to pay interest upon.

BENCH AND BAE 515

Thereupon the conservative business men aforesaid were denomi-
nated as "knockers" and were at once silenced by the boomers,
who said that Sedgwick county was not to be mentioned in the
same day with the counties named. This may be so. However,
Sedgwick county is justly proud of its court house, and while
its district court room, on the south, and its court room on the
north, now occupied by the city court, a court having the juris-
diction of a justice of the peace, would make four court rooms
each for the city of Chicago, we still shut our eyes and say that
we are proud of the Sedgwick county court house. The first
courts were held on Main street, in an old wooden building,
later on in Eagle Hall, later in the Artificial Stone building on
North Main street, then at the corner of Main and First streets,
and now in the imposing court house of Sedgwick county.

THE COURT HOUSE.

By
ROY BUCKINGHAM.

The affairs of Sedgwick county, the most prosperous county
in the state, are taken care of by three men, S. B. Kernan, C. V.
Bradberry, chairman, and Garrison Scott. This board is known
as the board of county commissioners and its office in the county
court house is always a busy one. When one of the board was
asked the duties of the board he smiled and said that it trans-
acted the business of Sedgwick county from A to izzard. That
fitly expresses the duties of these men. All road work, bridges,
county bonding, tax levying, district lines, county charges and
county buildings are under the supervision of these men.

The oldest record of a meeting of the commission board of
Sedgwick county is found in a large red book in the county
clerk's office. The first entry deals with a meeting in 1870. The
members of the board were N. A. English, T. S. Floyd and Alex
McWilliams. The board met in the old county building at First
and Main streets.

If the present board would handle the same conditions that
the first board did, the county would seem pretty funny. One
of the entries of 1870 speaks of a petition of Sedgwick county
farmers for the passing of a herd law. This was evidently before

516 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the era of fences and the cattle were allowed to wander about
at will. This was detrimental to growing crops, so that farmers
asked that the herds be kept in one place.

Another queer transaction was the apportioning of ferry boat
rates. Shades of Charon — a ferry boat? Yes, Mr. Twentieth
Century Reader, there was a ferry boat doing much traffic across
the Arkansas river. But the river at that time was a very wide
stream. The board decided that it was worth 20 cents to haul
a man across and $5 to carry across a freighter's outfit. With
these exorbitant ( ?) rates there were several fords doing duty.

There wasn't any such a thing as a saloon in those days. In
the good old New England style it was termed a dram shop, and
it is recorded that a certain man was given a license to run one
provided he planked down $500. Wow!

The first jury was empanelled in 1871. Most of the names in
the list have been forgotten or can be found graven in granite
or marble in some city of the departed. The first board of com-
missioners were great scribes, for almost the first appropriation
made was $750 for books and stationery. The first county clerk
was J. M. Steele. The second was Fred Sowers.

The first tax levy was made in 1871. It was 2% per cent.
J. L. Leland, present county clerk, said that he supposed it meant
that every man had to pay 2% cents of every dollar he owned.
This was necessary, for the valuation was almost nil. It seemed
as though the railroad came in for special notice then, because
there was a special assessor known as the railroad assessor. The
commissioners evidently were afraid that the railroads would
slip one over on them and they took unusual precaution.

Prisoners broke leash the same then as Nestor does quite
occasionally, although there is no record that three was one in
durance vile who could hold a candlestick to this son of the wind.
The only record there is of any prisoners giving the sleuths of
the plains the slip is the sum of eight dollars which was paid to
Mr. Harris for "catching prisoners," as the record has it.

The first board didn't have anything to do with motor car
roads, but it was kept busy opening freighter roads and keeping
the farm lines straight. From the number of times surveying is
mentioned, Sedgwick county must have been the paradise of
civil engineers.

The busiest place in the court house is the basement, where,

BENCH AND BAB 517

strange to say, the abstractors hold forth — but without any
abstraction from business.

These offices are going at full tilt all of the time. The copying
bench in the register of deed's room is filled every day with
abstractor's assistants making copies of deeds, mortgages, etc.
The number of abstracts which are turned out every year by
these offices indicate that there is nothing slow about the real
estate business of Wichita. The five abstract firms in Wichita
are said to be the busiest in the state.

If you are looking for large figures it isn't necessary for you
to go to the county treasurer's office. Stroll into the office and
ask "Major" Bristow, county assessor, for the assessment rolls.
He will hand out numerous bulky records that will teach you
many interesting things about Sedgwick county.

You will learn that the 1910 valuation of real estate in the
county was $80,193,096. If you are a resident of Wichita you
will be glad to know that city real estate valuations footed up
to $48,310,060. It says also that there are 27,061 improved lots
in Wichita.

Statistics concerning that much abused animal of the field,
the horse, are at hand in large numbers. The county contains,
according to assessors, 21,128 horses, valued at $1,876,870. Now
advocates of the passing of the horse sit up and take notice.
There were 498 motor cars assessed in Sedgwick county and their
value was placed at $342,050.

Another interesting fact disclosed by the rolls was the num-
ber of goats living in Wichita. There are eighteen of these
head-strong animals in Wichita. In the county there are 275.

The 1910 returns showed also that there are 2,809 pianos in
Wichita, while the county total is 3,371. No wonder Wichita is a
musical center.

The wheat assessed by the men amounted to 192,039 bushels.
The number of typewriters in Wichita is 683.

The county assessor has a busy job, like all of the other
county officers. Mr. Bristow said that it keeps him and his
helpers on the jump to get the assessment report ready to send
to the board between May 10, when the assessment is supposed
to close, and June 7, when the state board meets. The county
assessment was taken care of this year by twelve men. Part
of this number was active assessors, while the others acted as
members of board of review.

518 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The assessing was unusually difficult this year, as all the real
estate in the county had to be taken care of. The real estate
values are assessed every even year.

The assessors have many trips to make and most of the travel-
ing is done with horse and buggy. Two of this year's assessors
were fortunate enough to possess motor cars. They were Erna
Huff, of Salem township, and H. I. Smyser, of Delano.

Douglas V. Donnelly, who runs the cigar and pop emporium
in the court house, may appear, to the average observer, rather
listless, but mention baseball and you will see a remarkable
change. He is an old-time ball player and was a member of one
of the first baseball teams ever organized in the United States.
True to the thinkers of the old school of baseball, he thinks that
the present game is about 100 per cent poorer than the game
he used to play. He was in a talkative mood the other day and
had the following to say about baseball :

"In those days we had men that hit the ball. They didn't
fan. And gloves to catch the ball — why, we didn't know what
it was to wear one. Unless a fellow could show some knotty fingers
which had been knocked out of shape by the ball he wasn't con-
sidered any ball player. It was a gentleman's game then and
you never heard improper language on the diamond. There were
no salaries and the men played to win. Baseball was a real
game in those days and umpires were treated like gentlemen.
An umpire today has a mighty hard time to even keep the
respect of his relatives. The baseball today is filled with too
many gim cracks and more attention is paid to the check, by
the players, that is issued at the end of each month than to the
scores."

If anyone thinks that the county clerk has a sinecure . let
him step up some fall afternoon and see the work that is being
done in this office. Besides the clerk, five other persons make
their pens scratch and splutter every day. The treasury depart-
ment keeps the clerk and force busy.

Of course the clerk and his office make a specialty of keep-
ing all of the records clear, of the moneys expended and of the
real estate plats, etc. They do this well, for they certainly have
practice in Sedgwick county which does enough business to keep
forty clerks busy.

But the hunters' license business. There's where the clerk
and his retinue make a big hit. Ever since the state officials

BENCH AND BAK 519

said that every nimrod should pay the state officer $1 for the
opportunity of spending his week's wages for shells and car-
tridges, the county clerk has been the big gun around "these
diggin's."

This law went into effect five years ago. Since then 5,000
licenses have been taken out — and yet the game hasn't disap-
peared. The first license was issued July 1, 1905, and L. M. Cox,
of Wichita, was the man to plank down his one dollar Willie. So
far this year 276 have secured licenses and the big rush is yet to
come. J. L. Leland, county clerk, says that 1907 the run on
licenses was the greatest, more than 1,200 being given out. He
expects the total this year to foot up close to that mark.

Besides being a hive of business the clerk's rooms serve as
a repository for the minutes of the former boards of commis-
sioners and other ancient history. If you want to find who owns
a certain piece of property you can do so by investigating through
the canvas and board bound records which lie in state in the
north end of the county clerk's office.

It's a busy place and a pile of work is done. No information
would be given out as to the gallons of ink and numbers of pens
which had been used since the office has existed.

I'd think that the treasurer's office would be a dry, uninter-
esting, smelling of old books place, but it isn't. Not a bit of it.
It is one of the most pleasing offices in the county building, for it
is a cheerful place, because those piles and piles of books establish
the truth of Sedgwick county being one of the richest and best
counties in the state of Kansas. During tax paying time it is
unsually busy and the dollars make merry music.

The county treasurer and his assistants form an office per-
sonnel that is never idle. If it isn't busy collecting taxes, the
books require its attention. The members of this office are:
O. W. Jones, treasurer; E. Webb, deputy treasurer; Carl E.
Heller, assistant deputy, and Mary Z. Wallon, bookkeeper.

The tax rolls in the treasurer's office go back to the year 1887.
A complete account of all the taxes levied since that time are on
hand in the treasurer's office and the county's progress can be
better estimated by the increase of the levy than anything else.

The amount of the 1909 tax collected amounts to $1,289,-
193.77. About $30,000 is yet to be collected. Prior to 1907 the
county held the redemption and assignment taxes in trust and
prorated the interests accruing from these to the different funds

520 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

of the county. In 1907 the board of county commissioners
selected a new plan of taking care of the redemption and assign-
ment taxes. Instead of holding the sales in trust for the county,
the commissioners decided it would be better for the county to
buy them up. This has been done since 1907 and is working out
nicely. Besides doing away with extra work it is much more
remunerative. This plan is followed in another county, Reno,
and is working out as successfully there as it is in Sedgwick
county.

Out of the 185 "school marms" and "masters" in Sedgwick
county, outside of "Wichita, how many do you suppose put a
"Mr." before their names? Twenty-four. Sedgwick county,
with a school population outside of Wichita of more than 6,000
boys and girls, has so turned the business of educating its rising
generation over to the women that two dozen stand round and
look sheepish when school teacher is mentioned.

J. W. Swaney is county superintendent and his efforts and
labors are greater than those of a bachelor left at home with
his sister's rising family. He has to keep in mind the ten thou-
sand and one things which are continually going to happen in
the schools of his county. He makes all sorts of trips and must
examine carefully every school and see that the right course is
being taught and that suitable progress is being made.

In his office in the county court house there hangs a large wall
map showing Sedgwick county and the number of schools in it.
Call out a number on that map and he can tell you in a moment
the name of its teacher. That's the sort of a man the school work
of Sedgwick county takes. In itself it is so broad and compre-
hensive that it requires a man of similar caliber to run it.

All the school buildings in the county are up-to-date. The
most common type is the one-room frame one-story building which
you see whenever you go for a motor car ride or a trip on the
railway. The towns outside of Wichita have nice school build-
ings. Clearwater has just finished a $12,000 two-story brick
structure. On August 30 Maize voted bonds to the value of
$6,000 for the erection of a new school building. Sedgwick, Mt.
Hope, Cheney, Peck, Goddard, Valley Center and Derby have
handsome school buildings.

The Barnes high school law, according to Mr. Swaney, is
responsible to a large degree for the excellence of the schools.
After a school has shown that it can maintain itself for one year

BENCH AND BAK 521

it becomes a high school under the Barnes law and is supported
by state money. The schools working under this law and their
principals and number of teachers are as follows: Clearwater,
three teachers, Prof. B. M. Crum; Cheney, four teachers, Prof.
Bailey ; Valley Center, three teachers, J. S. Carson ; Mount Hope,
three teachers, W. L. Baker; Derby, two teachers, Kay Braden;
Garden Plain, two teachers, Byron Wilson. The joint Barnes
high schools are in Sedgwick City and Rose Hill. The above high
schools have a complete four-year course and are fully accredited
by the Kansas State University. Viola and Goddard have dem-
onstrated that they can take care of two years of the high school
so well that they are taking up the third year. Their principals
are, respectively, Prof. Kaufman and C. M. Fifer. If it is a suc-
cess the fourth year will be added in 1911.

The length of the school terms vary from six months to nine.
Complete courses are taught and the scholars are gradually be-
coming higher grade and the scholarship is becoming much better.
The school entrance age is placed at any place between five and
twenty-one years, but a majority of the teachers say that seven
years is the average entrance age.

Every year the eighth grade graduate from the country
schools who has the highest average is given free tuition to some
educational institution in the county. This year it was given to
Clyde Basore, of Bentley, who made an average of 96.9 per cent
in the county examinations. He has selected Friends university
as his alma mater.

It takes a mint of money to run the schools of Sedgwick
county, but so many wise people are being turned out through
the educational mills situated in it that taxpayers think they
are getting more than value received from the money invested in
the proposition.

The names of the school teachers in Sedgwick county, outside
of Wichita, who claim to be the sons of Adam, are : R. M. Crum,
Ray Braden, Thomas Kaufman, Ralph Stinson, J. S. Carson, W.
L. Baker, C. M. Fifer, Byron Wilson, R. 0. Caldwell, Minor
Hickman, James Guisendorf, A. B. Callaway, Charles Gibson,
Fred Jacques, J. R. Fitzgerald, Prof. Morrison, Stanley Riggs,
Delbert Means, R. E. Sechrist, C. V. Fellerrolf, Will Ransome,
Girhard Harmes.

CHAPTER XL.
A DYING RIVER.

By

JAMES R. MEAD.

The Arkansas is the largest river in the state of Kansas and
was considered a navigable river to the mouth of the Little
Arkansas by the United States Government. When the county
was surveyed its banks were meandered, leaving a river bed of
800 or 1,200 feet in width as the property of the general govern-
ment, and to some extent the river was used in Kansas as a
highway of travel and traffic until the coming of the white man,
who robbed it of its water and exterminated the millions of
bison and other forms of animal life which once grazed on the
bordering luxuriant meadows and quenched their thirst in its
rippling waters. The writer's observation of the rivers of Kan-
sas only extends back to 1859. At that time, and until some years
after the settlement of the country, the Arkansas was a river in
fact as well as in name, usually flowing from bank to bank.
From Mr. William Mathewson, a noted plainsman, I learn that
as early as 1852 boats were built at Pueblo, Colo., in which
mountain traders and trappers, sometimes in parties of fifteen or
twenty in one boat, with their effects, floated down the swift
current of the river to Arkansas, and from 1870 to 1880 boats
were built at Wichita to descend the river, some propelled by
steam. In one instance two young men built a boat at Wichita
and navigated river and gulf to Florida.

At that time the river had apparently pursued its accustomed
way unchanged for centuries. It had well defined banks, with
a width of 800 to 1,200 feet, the river very seldom overflowing
the valleys, but a few feet higher than its level. From the
state line up to the present county of Reno heavy timber fringed
its banks. Occasionally the river was a dry bed of sand above
the mouth of the overflowing Little Arkansas for a couple of
months in the fall. The country adjacent to the Arkansas on

522

A DYING RIVEE 523

either side for many miles is underlaid by a bed of sand in
which the waters of the river disappear in a season of drouth,
except in deep holes which were below the level of the under-
flow. Fish gathered in these holes in great numbers, and herds
of buffalo traveled up and down the sandy bed hunting for
water. Suddenly the sandy bed would again become a river, the
rushing water coming down with a front of foam two or three feet
deep. The river was dry in the falls of 1863 and 1865. In 1867
came a great flood ; the river was bank full all the season and
overflowing the adjoining low valleys. Indians crossed their
families in tubs made of a single buffalo hide, and swam their
horses, and the writer saw a four-mule team and heavy freight
wagon swept away by the swift current. But little sediment was
deposited on the overflowed lands, but the boiling, rushing water
was constantly moving the sandy river bed towards the Gulf.
There was no opportunity for the formation of islands; the sand
bars were constantly changing and moving down stream.

Before the settlement of the country the bordering plains
were tramped hard and beaten bare by innumerable buffalo,
allowing the rainfall to speedily flow into the ravines and creeks,
thence to the river as from a roof. The breaking up of the soil
consequent upon the settlement of the country allowed the rain-
fall to soak into the ground, and the river soon ceased to carry
its usual volume of water, not noticeable until about 1880. In
addition to this, numerous irrigating ditches were dug in west-
ern Kansas and in Colorado, sufficient at the present time to
divert the entire water of the river to the thirsty plains. Thus
for the past ten or fifteen years we have observed the evolution
of a great river into a sandy waste or insignificant stream.
Nature has undertaken to accommodate itself to the changed
conditions. The once moving sandbars become fixed, and are
speedily covered with young cottonwoods and willows from seed
sown by the wind. They grow rapidly, binding the soil with
their roots. "When a freshet occurs, it is not of sufficient dura-
tion to undermine and wash away the embryo island, but de-
posits several inches of mud and sand among the young trees.
These thrive and grow rapidly. The wind blowing the sand from
the dry river bed aids in building up the island. By the time
another freshet comes down the islands are firmly established,
soon become groves of timber, gaining in elevation and solidity
each year. In time the upper end of the islands become con-

524 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

nected with the shore, forming a lagoon, which soon fills with a
slimy, slippery, blue paste, deposited from the exceedingly muddy
water coming down the river in late years in time of flood. In
drying, this mud becomes a tough, sticky clay, known locally as
hardpan or gumbo. This process explains the spots and streaks
of this substance found in the Arkansas valley. An illustration
of this formation can be seen at the mouth of the Little Arkansas
river, where formerly was a long, narrow lake of considerable
depth and of pure, clear water, the wintering place for huge
cat, buffalo and other fish. By the diversion of the water of the
little river into Chisholm creek, for milling purposes, this lake
became a stagnant pool, into which the muddy water of the big
river backed each time it came down in a flood, where the sedi-
ment, settling to the bottom, formed a mass of so little consist-
ency that an oar or a boat would pass through it almost as easily
as through water; but after the flood had subsided, leaving it to
solidify and dry, it became almost as firm as a rock and as tough
as leather, not "adobe" soil, but "gumbo." Thus was destroyed
the wealth of molluscan life for which our river was noted. The
beautiful unios, anodontas and margaritinas have disappeared
from their favorite home.

During most of the year 1893 the Arkansas river above the
junction of the little river has been entirely dry; below that point
it is an insignificant stream which a school boy can roll up his
pants and wade across. In a comparatively short time, in south-
ern Kansas, timber will occupy the former site of the Arkansas
river, through which will flow a stream a few rods wide.

This woderful change has been brought about by our so-called
civilization within the last fifteen years. Fortunate indeed are
those who were permitted to behold the beauties of this valley
and river when it was the home of the Indian and buffalo — just
as God made it.

CHAPTER XLI.
THE INDIANS IN KANSAS.

By

J. R. MEAD.

Struggles of Various Tribes on the Plains — The Story of War
and Peace Among Indians First, and Later Between the
Indians and the Whites.

American history has no topic comparable for its enduring
interest to that of the Indian tribes. And of such history Kansas
can furnish a generous share. A true record of the battles
fought and tragedies enacted on Kansas soil, and the deeds of
valor, endurance, daring and hardship of her sons, both white
and red, would make a volume of entrancing interest.

Until recent years our brethren, the Indians, have occupied
Kansas since the glacial era and perhaps for a longer time, as
his remains have been found under the glacial drift by myself
and others.

The first Europeans to penetrate this region found him here
in thousands along the Kansas and other rivers. Within the
memory of men now living, they owned, or occupied as hunting
grounds, the entire state.

There were three indigenous tribes in eastern Kansas, per-
haps others. The Osage, Pawnees, and the Kansas, or "Kaws,"
as they were nicknamed by the French. To the west were the
roving nomads of the plains, who had no particular abiding place,
who I believe constituted the legendary lost "Paducas" spoken
of by De Bourgamont and other early explorers.

THE OSAGES.

In 1859, when I went upon the plains, I found the Osages and
other frontier Indians, who hunted buffalo to the west, constantly
speaking of the "Paducas," and on inquiry they described them
as a fierce, savage, war-like tribe of roving horsemen ranging the
western plains, of whom they were in constant dread, and de-

525

526 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

scribed them as being as numerous as the blades of grass on the
prairie and indifferent to cold or danger.

I believe the Paducas visited by M. Du Fissinet in 1719 and
M. De Bourgamont in 1724, on the head of the Smoky Hill river,
to have been the Comanches. Am confirmed in this belief by
information I obtained from the aged chief of the Acomas in
New Mexico many years ago.

INCREASE OF TRIBES.

Commencing about 1832, the Indian population of Kansas was
increased by seventeen tribes, who were located on reservations
in the eastern fourth of the state, occupying about all that
region. A greater number of tribes than had ever assembled on
the same amount of territory in the history of the government.
Evidently the Indian knew a good country and all wanted to
get here.

These were the remnants of once powerful nations of the
eastern and middle states, who fought long and bravely to beat
back the host of invaders from across the sea until decimated,
impoverished, the bones of their great chieftains and warriors
whitening many a battlefield, the remnant submitted to the
inevitable and finally were removed to Kansas.

AT 7 CENTS PER ACRE.

It may be of interest here to mention that in 1847 these Kan-
sas reservations were valued by the government at 7 cents an
acre.

All of Kansas west of these reservations, comprising about
three-fourths of the state, was the best hunting ground on the
continent; contained no permanent villages or settlements; was
the common hunting ground of all the Kansas Indians and the
roving tribes of the plains, who outnumbered the reservation
Indians, and were usually at war with them.

THE SANTA FE TRAIL.

When the Santa Fe trail was established, and there was no
Santa Fe trail until the white man made it, passing through the
center of the state, and on across the plains, with its constant
stream of travel, it became the objective point of all the preda-
tory hosts from Dakota to the Rio Grande.

THE INDIANS IN KANSAS 527

To protect this route of traffic, and later the settlements, the
government has at various times constructed and maintained in
Kansas twelve forts and numbers of military posts at vast
expense, to keep in check our red brothers and hold this fair
land of ours for those who were yet to come.

THE RESERVATION INDIANS.

Our reservation Indians were promised by ancient treaties
tfheir lands "So long as grass grew or water ran," but here
the tide of immigration again overtook them, and it was found
necessary for them to move on, and with them went the heredi-
tary owners of the land — and the red-handed rovers of the
plains ; they are gone.

About 1867 began the exodus to the Indian Territory ; crowded
out by the advance of a stronger race. Departing, they have
left behind abundant reminders of their former occupancy in the
names of our state, rivers, cities and counties, towns and
townships.

Our three greatest rivers bear Indian names. The Missouri
(means muddy) is the name of an Indian tribe. The Kansas,
from the tribe who lived along the valleys since prehistoric times
(means smoky water). The Arkansas river is the Indian word
"Kansas" with the French prefix of "Ark," a bow. Neosho is
Osage (Dacotah), "Ne" water; "Osho," clear; clear water, or
water you can see into.

INDIAN NAMES.

We are indebted to the Indians for the names of our three
most populous cities. And the founders of our second largest
city in our neighboring state to the east came over into Kansas
to find and appropriate one of the choicest Indian names. Pour-
teen counties of Kansas are named from Indian tribes ; two others
have Indian names ; and but one is a reminder of the noble
animals upon which they subsisted.

THE WICHITAS.

And now I come to a tribe — the last to arrive — and the first
to depart — the Wichitas, and affiliated bands. They were tran-
sients, fugitives from their distant homes, driven out by the

528 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

exigencies of cruel war. To- them Kansas was a haven of refuge.
They ask no permission or assistance from the government or
anyone else in their coming nor in their going. They built their
town of grass houses at the junction of the two rivers St. Peter
and St. Paul of Coronado, or "Neshutsa" and "Neshutsa
Shinka" of the Osages, in whose territory it was located, which
became known all over the plains as "The Wichita Town," and
on their village site has arisen the third largest city in the state,
Wichita.

FORMATION OF TRIBE.

The Indians comprised in the general term of Wichitas were
remnants of tribes affiliated together when first known to history
more than a century ago. They were the Wichitas, Wacoes,
Towacanies and Kechies, who speak the Wichita language, and
the Caddoes, Ionies and Nadarkoes, who spoke the Caddo lan-
guage. The Nadarkoes are practically extinct.

Each of these bands lived in separate villages, and preserved
their tribal identity. They had their villages of grass houses on
the Brazos river in Texas, and on the Washita river and its
tributaries, and other streams in the Indian territory, and ranged
in former times from Arkansas to the Wichita mountains and
from the Cimarron river to central Texas. One tradition nar-
rated to me many years ago by Chief Towacanie Jim, was that
the Wichitas originally came from the far Northwest, using dogs
for pack animals, as all western Indians did before the arrival
of the Spaniards, and tarried on the Arkansas river near the
southern border of the state several years, cultivating gardens
and hunting for subsistence, using implements of stone or bone.
While the traditions of the Caddoes are that they originally
came from Hot Springs, Ark.

REAL BARBARIANS.

The Wichitas proper were typical barbarians, coming down
from the stone age unchanged in customs, habits or apparel.
Their language and tone of voice were utterly unlike any Indians
east of the Rocky mountains, but had a marked resemblance in
inflection, tone and construction to that of the Indians along the
Columbia river in Oregon. When I first saw them in 1863, many
of the older women were artistically tattooed in pink and blue

THE INDIANS IN AEKANSAS 529

zigzag circles and lines, as was their ancient custom. The Cad-
does were a much milder mannered people and of pleasant speech.

A PROSPEROUS YEAR.

The summer of 1864 found the Wichitas in Kansas prosper-
ous. Buffalo were abundant — close at hand; they had obtained
horses. The women, with great industry, cleared ground and
planted fine gardens along the Little Arkansas, and were the first
to demonstrate that the Arkansas valley was the garden spot of
the state.

THE GRASS HOUSES.

All took a hand in building their very comfortable, peculiar
grass houses. They were usually made of forked posts about
five feet high, set in the ground at intervals in a circle, and
twenty or twenty-five feet in diameter. Horizontal poles were
then securely fastened to the posts ; then, at the top, smooth poles,
twenty or more feet long, were set upright in the ground outside
the posts, converging, cone-shaped, to a common center at the
top; very small poles are bound with withes crosswise, thus
holding the whole structure securely together. The squaws
weave the long, tough, reddish bunch grass in and out in such
an ingenious manner that each bunch of grass overlaps the
bunch immediately below. When complete, it is a substantial
structure ; does not leak ; is warm. A low door opens to east
and west, made of grass or skins. Arranged around the inside
are raised bunks for sleeping, and underneath storage room. In
the center a fire, with opening at top for smoke. The inside and
floors are sometimes plastered with gypsum, and for fifty feet
on the outside the ground is kept smooth, hard and clean. These
houses are unique, comfortable and unlike all others in America.
I have seen those built twenty years and still in good condition.
They are covered with sod, as stated this summer in a prominent
eastern magazine.

Not far from these houses were their gardens, surrounded by
fences made of small poles set upright in the ground. There
grew abundance of their native corn, pumpkins, melons and
Mexican beans. These grass houses were built in groups along
the Little River for a mile on the east bank; the water of the
river was sweet, clear and pure, full of fish ; plenty of timber
and game abundant.

530 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

THE BIG CHIEFS.

"Owahe," chief of the Wichitas, was an ideal pre-historic
man of 5,000 years ago. A cartoonist could hardly exaggerate
his general makeup. Yet he was not a bad fellow by any means.
He would have been a howling success to illustrate Chancellor
Snow's lecture on the evolution of man.

"Shaddowa," chief of the Caddoes, was his opposite. Fine
looking, quiet, intelligent, gentlemanly.

THE HEAD TRADING POST.

I established a trading post among them and part of the time
had an Indian alone in charge. Along in the summer of 1864
the government sent an old gentleman, Major Mile Gookins, of
Indiana, to look after these Indians, with instructions to make
his headquarters at my home place, known as "Mead Ranch,"
at Towanda, twenty miles east of the Little Arkansas, at that
time consisting of a big spring and my several buildings. Major
Gookin knew nothing about Indians and had at first nothing to
aid him and the Indians nearly worried him to death. I helped
him out considerably, as I had abundant supplies and much
needed experience. Later on the government furnished a small
amount of food and clothing.

VISITED BY WILD TRIBES.

The Shawnees, Delawares and Kickapoos settled themselves
along the White Water and Walnut rivers. Some of the wild
tribes of the plains visited us occasionally. Here in time of war
came "Satanta, " the great warrior chief of the Kiowas, with
"Heap of Bears;" great medicine man of the Arapahoes, to talk
about peace, which resulted in the treaty of the Little Arkansas ;
and by coming to a good understanding with the wild Indians,
and the influence of our Wichita friends, our corner of the fron-
tier escaped the horrors of border war, and we came and went
over the plains at all times in safety.

LEFT THEIR NAMES

The Wichita Indians are remarkable in leaving their names
attached to the localities where they have lived. In Kansas we
have the city of Wichita, the county of Wichita, and Wichita and

THE INDIANS IN ARKANSAS 531

Waco streets, the towns of Waco and Kechi. In the territory
we have the Wichita mountains, old Fort Wichita, the Washita
river, the Little and the Big Ouchita rivers, a way of spelling
the same name. The Wichita tribe may become extinct, but the
name will remain with us for all time.

IN WAR TIMES.

At the outbreak of the Civil War the Indians of the Wichita
agency were living quietly and peaceably on the Washita river
and other streams near old Fort Cobb, I. T. The Indians of the
plains and the civilized tribes of the territory were their friends.
They were an agricultural people, had fields and gardens and
an abundance of horses, and lived in a paradise of game — buf-
falo, elk, deer, antelope and wilk turkeys constituting their
bill of fare, with corn, beans, melons, pumpkins and wild fruits
as side dishes. Each year at the time of roasting ears, water
melons and garden truck, the Comanches came in from the
plains and spent a season feasting, visiting and having a good
time generally, an agreeable change from their usual bill of fare —
buffalo meat straight.

LOYAL TO THE UNION.

When the Civil War came on they were loyal to the Union.
In the East were the powerful civilized tribes who were slave-
holders; on the south, Texas. The Wichitas were driven out
together with many Shawnees, Delawares, Kickapoos and other
loyal Indians, leaving all behind, except such articles as could
be gathered for hasty flight. With the wives and little ones they
fled north, across the pathless wilderness, to Kansas and safety.
They were pursued and some of them were killed on the Salt
Fork ; a few had wagons, which were mostly broken or abandoned
on the way. There were no roads or trails to follow. After
many hardships the scattered bands collected in southeast Kan-
sas on the border, destitute, hungry, among strangers. The gov-
ernment afforded them a scant relief. The first winter all of
their horses starved to death and many of their people died from
want and sickness. In their distress they sought aid from the
Osage Indians, who at that time owned nearly all of southern
Kansas, including millions of buffalo, and secured their permis-
sion to move to the mouth of the Little Arkansas (Ne Shutsa

532 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Shinka) and subsist on the buffalo. So in the summer of 1863
they set out for their new home, afoot, hungry, almost naked,
and established their temporary camp in the dense timber at the
mouth of the little river just across from the present Murdoch
avenue bridge, Wichita.

HARD HUNTING.

They managed to kill enough buffalo without horses or guns
to subsist and lay up a scant supply for winter, when the men
went south to their old homes and gathered up what horses they
could find. Others visited the Comanches, who gave them pres-
ents of many horses, a custom among the Indians to their less
fortunate brothers. By spring they were mostly mounted and
able to take care of themselves. They could make their saddles
and equipments, arms and clothing, while the women were indus-
triously at work planting gardens, which in time yielded
abundantly.

THE TROUBLE OF '67.

Here along the little river they lived and prospered until
the summer of 1867 brought fresh woes. Inexperience involved
the wild tribes of the plains in war. Troops from St. Louis were
scattered along the old Santa Fe trail in small detachments.
With them came the cholera, which spread over the plains of
Kansas and the Indian Territory. White men and Indians alike
died. A small company of soldiers were sent to the mouth of
the Little Arkansas — an uncalled for and useless move. Soon
the cholera commenced its deadly work among the Wiehitas.
Scattered over the northern part of Wichita are the graves of
probably a hundred Indians, including Owahe, hereditary war
chief; Sam Houston, a noted Indian, and many others. In the
latter part of the summer orders came from Washington to
remove the Indians to their old homes on the Washita, but no pro-
vision was made for their removal. They refused to go until
their crops were gathered and a supply of food prepared for the
winter. Along in the fall they started down the old Chisholm
trail. Their first camp was on the Ninnescah, where misfortune
again overtook them. They hobbled their horses one evening
in the tall' grass in a bend of the river on the north side. During
the night a norther set in, driving down upon them a furious
prairie fire, burning eighty-five head of their best horses. This

THE INDIANS IN KANSAS 533

left a large number afoot, as many of their horses had been
stolen and driven off by white outlaws who had begun to infest
the country that summer. The Indians were compelled to cache
a large part of their provisions, which were afterwards stolen by
white men, and proceeded on their journey, many of them afoot.

RAVAGES OF CHOLERA.

The cholera was still with them. They died all along the
trail. Some were buried on the Ninnescah. At Skeleton creek
so many died they laid on the ground unburied and their bleach-
ing skeletons gave a name to the stream. Whole families died in the
lodges after their arrival on the Washita, and the lodges were
burned with the bodies and all their belongings. From Skeleton
creek they scattered out in every direction, some parties who
had no horses stopping on the Red Fork, subsisting on the black
jack acorns and wild turkeys, of which there were thousands.
Towaccanie Jim, now chief of the Wichitas, with a band mostly
women and children, afoot, camped at the mouth of Turkey
creek. Their food was what nature provided. From acorns they
made palatable bread by a process of their own. Nearly every
evening some of them could be seen coming down the creek from
the timber laden with acorns, Jim usually bringing home four or
five big turkeys he killed with bow and arrow.

THEN IT SNOWED.

A blizzard with severe cold and deep snow came along about
that time. It was so cold a loaded team could be driven across
the stream on the ice (I do not speak from hearsay). Big gray
wolves and panthers came howling about their camps. Late one
evening "Jim" came down the creek loaded with turkeys and
straggling along were women and children with what acorns they
could carry, "Jim's" young wife among the number. She was
weak from lack of proper food. Darkness coming on she became
separated from her companions among the sandhills and about a
half mile from camp fell exhausted. She hung her little shawl
on a bush to aid her friends to find her, drew her thin blanket
about her and laid down to die, with wild beasts howling all
around. Jim and others hunted for her all night and at daylight
found her apparently dead. Tenderly they carried her to camp

534 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

and by careful attention revived the faint spark of life and she
recovered.

AGAIN SCATTERED.

Later many of the Wichitas congregated up the North fork of
the Canadian, where Jesse Chisholm had called in the Kiowas
and Comanches, and here they remained until the 4th day of
March, 1868, when he suddenly died. The Indians then scattered
like a flock of quail. He was their friend, counselor, law-giver
and father. Each band went its own way. In the spring, the
Wichitas, what was left of them, finally assembled at their old
homes on the Washita where the government had sent Col. J. H.
Leavenworth with some provisions for their needs and there they
have resided to the present time.

JAMES R. MEAD.

By
Mrs. J. R. Mead.

James R. Mead was born in New Haven, Vt., in 1836, and
removed with his parents in 1839 to Davenport, la., where he
lived until he reached maturity. He was a son of Enoch and
Mary Mead. His father was a graduate of Yale University and
a Presbyterian minister, and the founder of that* denomination
in Davenport. He was a direct descendant of Maj.-Gen. Ebene-
zer Mead, of the Revolutionary War, and was possessor of many
heirlooms inherited from that distinguished ancestor, among
them a life-size oil painting of the general, which now hangs in
the library of his home.

Even when a boy his love for nature and outdoor life was
apparent. He made many adventurous trips, after game birds
and animals, in the country where he lived, and his mother's
table was often laden with the rich trophies that evidenced his
skill as a hunter.

When but a small boy attending school, he became greatly
interested in the country southwest of the Missouri river, as
shown by the geographies of that day to be a network of rivers
and streams, and beyond that a country marked "Great Ameri-
can Desert," full of buffalo and wild horses. He did not then

THE INDIANS IN KANSAS 535

know that most of his life would be spent in that country which
was even then arousing his curiosity and enthusiasm.

He was one of the very earliest settlers of Kansas, coming
to that territory in 1859, when but twenty-three years of age.
For four years he traded with the various Indian tribes in that
portion of the country. In the fall of 1859, at Burlingame, Kan.,
he organized a party of several persons for a great buffalo hunt.
They proceeded to the Big Bend of the Smoky Hill river, where
they found buffalo in abundance, and there they hunted for sev-
eral weeks.

While hunting over that portion of the country, Mr. Mead
became so enraptured with it that he, with two other hunters,
established a trading post twenty miles above the mouth of the
Saline river, and there for several years they enjoyed an exten-
sive trade with the various Indian tribes then located in that
portion of the territory. While here, he gave Beaver, Spillman,
Twelve Mile, Wolf and Paradise creeks their respective names,
and they retain them to this day. These streams are all tribu-
taries of the Saline river.

In December, 1861, he and Miss Agnes Barcome, of Burlin-
game, Kan., were united in marriage. He then, with his wife,
immediately returned to his trading post, where they resided
until 1862, when, on account of Indian depredations, they re-
moved to Salina, Kan., a small village at that time, where they
resided until 1863. To this union were born four children, James
L., Elizabeth, Mary E. and William, the last named dying in
infancy. In 1863 he went farther west and established a trading
post at a place called Towanda, on the White Water river, near
a large spring, where the Indians were wont to congregate from
time immemorial.

In the summer of that year, with some of his neighbors, he
went on another buffalo hunt down near the mouth of the Little
Arkansas river, in the vicinity of which the city of Wichita,
Kan., is now located. In three weeks the party returned to
Towanda with 330 buffalo hides and 3,500 pounds of tallow, to-
gether with a few elk and antelope skins, worth even in those
days several hundred dollars.

Mr. Mead soon established a branch trading post just above
the mouth of the Little Arkansas river, and his teams and men
soon extended his trade far into the Indian Territory. Very
little money was used in those early days, the circulating me-

536 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

dium being for the most part skins and furs, for which the
traders exchanged their various commodities.

During the Civil War the Wichita Indians, then living near
the Wichita mountains, to the southwest, were intensely loyal,
and their persecution by the Confederates drove many of them
into the vicinity of the Little Arkansas river. In a treaty that
was made with the various Indian tribes of that portion of the
country, Mr. Mead represented the Wichita Indians in the treaty
of the Little Arkansas, and there for the first time he met the
famous scout and hunter, Kit Carson. It was because of his
work on the plains and his influence with the Indians that he
did not enlist in the Civil War, as the governor of the state told
him his services were of more value to the government in the
work he was then doing than it would be in the army.

In 1864, Mr. Mead was elected to the legislature from Butler
county by a handsome majority, and in 1868 he was elected to
the state senate, his district comprising the four counties of Mor-
ris, Chase, Marion and Butler, together with all the unorganized
territory west of the state line, comprising what is now about
thirty-five counties.

In 1868 the town of Wichita was incorporated by Mr. Mead,
Governor Crawford and others. The town was named by Mr.
Mead, or rather he insisted that the place was already named
after the Wichita Indians who had occupied the ground for sev-
eral years prior to its incorporation.

In 1869, after the death of his wife, he sold his trading post
at Towanda and removed to a claim he had previously taken
adjoining Wichita, and which is now a valuable portion of that
city. The land lies north of Douglas avenue and between Law-
rence and Washington avenues.

In the upbuilding of that city he took a most active part. In
1871 he organized a company to construct the Wichita and
Southwestern railroad, and he was honored with the presidency.
The road was completed within six months from the time of the
organization of the company. This prompt action on the part
of Mr. Mead and the men associated with him in thus securing
a railroad for Wichita, at that particular time, made it possible
for Wichita to become what it is today, the metropolis of the
southwestern portion of the state.

In the panic of 1873, Mr. Mead was much embarrassed by
the failure of the First National Bank of Wichita, to which he

THE INDIANS IN KANSAS 537

had extended credit, but he turned over to its depositors sub-
stantially all his property, which is now worth many thousands
of dollars.

For several years after locating in Wichita, he kept up an
extensive trade with the Indians at his trading post, then located
between the Little and Big Arkansas rivers and a short distance
above the mouth of the former.

In Mr. Mead's later years he was an ardent student of biology
and ethnology, and for thirty years he was an active member
of the Kansas Academy of Science. After twenty-five years'
service in this organization, he was honored with life member-
ship. He was also an active and influential^ member of the Kan-
sas State Historical Society and was its president for the year
1909. Before his election to the presidency he was also honored
with a life membership in the society. His picture now hangs
in the rooms of the State Historical Society. By birthright he
was entitled to membership in the Society of the Cincinnati.

During his whole life he contributed liberally to all public
enterprises and several churches and school houses were erected
on lots donated by him for that purpose. He was a member of
the First Presbyterian Church of Wichita, Kan., being deeply
impressed with the same faith that brought his father to Iowa
as a missionary.

He has been a frequent contributor to the periodicals of the
day and his many articles written for the Kansas State Historical
Society and the Kansas Academy of Sciences are models of their
kind and well worth a permanent place in the annals of the state.

His later years were spent in study and research and for a
long time before his death he was considered one of the very best
authorities on the early history of the state.

In 1873 he contracted a second marriage with Miss Lucy A.
Inman of Wichita, who died in 1894.

In 1895 the Mead Cyle Company of Chicago, Illinois, was
organized, his son being chosen as president, and he as vice-presi-
dent, and he remained in such a capacity until the time of his
death. In this year also, he gave a biography of his life to his
friend, Mr. Charles Payne, of Wichita, Kansas.

In 1896 he was united in marriage with Miss Fern F. Hoover
of Perry, Oklahoma, and to this union two children were born,
Ignace Fern Mead, aged eight years, and Loreta Hoover Mead,
aged six years.

538 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Mr. Mead contracted a severe cold in the early part of the
spring of 1910, which rapidly developed into pneumonia, and on
the 31st day of March, 1910, he died, surrounded by his family,
who were called to his bedside shortly before his death.

Five children survive him : James L. Mead, born in 1863, and
who now lives in Chicago and who is owner of the Mead Cycle
Company of that city ; Lizzie Agnes, now Mrs. J. A. Caldwell of
Los Angeles, California ; Mary E., now Mrs. I. B. Lee of Iowa
City, Iowa; Ignace Fern, born in 1902, and Loreta Hoover, born
in 1904. He is also survived by his wife, Mrs. Fern Hoover Mead,
who with the two younger children lives at the Mead residence
at 433 Wabash avenue, Wichita, Kansas.

Mr. Mead belonged to a class of men who are rapidly dis-
appearing from our midst. Our civilization will never again
produce this type of citizenship. Kind and true, yet stern and
forceful, Mr. Mead lived a long and active life, and made the
world better for his having lived in it. He belonged to that class
of men who had foresight for planning and doing things on an
extensive and grand scale. As his early life was not circum-
scribed by the narrow limitations of our close civilization, so
his vision of things reached far beyond the ordinary views of men.

CHAPTER XLII.
THE G. A. R. IN KANSAS.

The Grand Army of the Republic of this state was organized
into a provisional department in the year 1866, with John A.
Martin, of Atchison, who afterward became governor, as the
first commander. He served honorably and faithfully two terms.
In 1879 the provisional department was organized into a regular
department, as it is now constituted, with J. C. Walkinshaw, of
Leavenworth, as the first regular department commander. Wich-
ita has been honored by the election of three department com-
manders, Col. Milton Stewart, now of Chicago, in 1885; Judge
W. P. Campbell in 1894, and Rev. Nathan E. Harmon in 1910,
and their administration was creditable and honorable to the
department.

The officers for this year are : Nathan E. Harmon, Wichita,
department commander ; A. M. Fuller, Topeka, senior vice-com-
mander; D. E. Reid Hutchinson, junior vice-commander; Rev.
W. C. Porter, D. D., Fort Scott, chaplain; A. A. Raub, Fort
Dodge, medical director ; J. M. Miller, Topeka, assistant adjutant
general; W. L. Appling, Wichita, assistant quartermaster gen-
eral; T. P. Anderson, Kansas City, judge advocate; C. A. Week,
Wichita, department inspector. The membership as reported at
the last department encampment in May last was a little less than
10,000. We are at this time on account of the age of the veterans
losing heavily by death, but are gaining by muster and reinstate-
ment about as many as our losses, so that we are about holding
our own.

During the present summer and fall a great many reunions
have been held in different parts of the state which have been
very helpful and well attended, but it has been noticeable that
there was a falling off in the attendance of the comrades as com-
pared with former years on account of age and death. The
Sons of Veterans are beginning to take more interest than in
former years and in many places new camps have been instituted.
The department commander is taking great interest in the Sons,

539

540 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

which is telling for good in that organization. The W. R. C.
and Ladies of the G. A. R. throughout the state are both in fine
condition and doing good work in their line, which is greatly
appreciated by the department commander and the comrades
generally. Peace, harmony and good will prevails throughout
the department, for which I am devoutly thankful.

N. E. Harmon, Commander G. A. R., Department of Kansas.

THE VETERANS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY.

The soldiers of 1861 to 1865 on being mustered out of service
found it necessary to "get a start in life."

Kansas offered them a fine field for beginning the new phase
of life's struggle.

Many of the early settlers of Sedgwick county were of this
bold and enterprising class. In 1881 for the mutual assistance
and for friendship the Garfield Post of G. A. R. was organized
and has proved a great boon to its members. It now enrolls 412
old boys whose average age is about 70 years. In 1883 the
Woman's Relief Corps, No. 40, was organized as assistant to the
Garfield Post. Many needy soldiers and their families have been
helped in the hour of suffering and death by this band of mis-
sionary angels. Many helpless children have been cared for and
placed in comfortable homes by these noble women, who always
respond promptly to any call for relief. They freely join with
the G. A. R. in literally exemplifying the G. A. R. motto, "Fra-
ternity, Charity and Loyalty."

As bees "swarm," so Garfield Post sent out Eggleston
Post in 1893, which now numbers 244 members. The Relief Corps
at the same time furnished members for the organization of the
Caroline Harrison Circle Auxiliary to Eggleston Post. The names
of these two are known throughout the city and many do and
will continue to rise up and call them blessed. As the years
rolled by the old soldiers and their wives gradually became bur-
dened with disease and feeble powers. To perpetuate the history
of their declining years and to strew their graves with flowers,
in 1892 the Anson Skinner Camp of Sons of Veterans and the
Ladies' Auxiliary of the Sons of Veterans were organized. These
flourishing camps are active in their efforts, growing in numbers
and will be a power in perpetuating the memories of their fathers
and mothers. Many old soldiers live in Wichita and its vicinity

THE G.A.E. IN KANSAS 641

who have never united with either of these G. A. R. Posts. These
persons are making a mistake, as in the hour of need, sickness
or death they have not the administering care of post or corps.
The present official roster is as follows : — C. A. Meek, commander ;
J. M. Naylor, adjutant; W. T. Buckner, quartermaster; J. E.
Conklin, chaplain ; W. H. Payer, senior vice-commander ; S. M.
Barnes, junior vice-commander ; L. Laverty, surgeon ; James
Blain, officer of the day; J. B. Fishback, patriotic instructor.
Regular post meetings are held in the court house at 2 o'clock
p. m., on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.

WOMAN'S RELIEF CORPS, NO. 40.

Mrs. Betty Rogers, senior vice-president; Mrs. Eugenia Love-
land, junior vice-president ; Miss Alice Huffman, secretary ; Mrs.
Lizzie Brown, treasurer ; Miss Mary Parker, chaplain ; Miss Eva
Gard, conductor; Mrs. Mary R. Buckner, patriotic instructor.

Corps meetings are held in the basement of the court house,
the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

EGGLESTON POST, NO. 244.

W. L. Appling, commander; John McCray, senior vice-com-
mander; E. Dye, junior vice-commander; J. H. Alexander, sur-
geon; W. A. Bosworth, chaplain; J. A. McElhaney, quartermas-
ter ; D. E. DeRoss, officer of the day ; J. E. Miller, adjutant. Post
meets second and fourth Tuesdays at 2 p. m., at the A. 0.
U. W. hall.

Mrs. Maggie Merrill, president; Miss Salathie Appling, senior
vice-president ; Mrs. Barbara Grubb, junior vice-president ; Miss
Anna Bennett, secretary; Miss Minnie Dell, treasurer; Mrs. Mary
Snyder, conductor; Mrs. Mary Thatcher, chaplain. Meets first
and third Tuesdays in the Odd Fellow hall, at 3 :30 p. m.

ANSON SKINNER CAMP, NO. 49, SONS OF VETERANS.

H. C. Carnahan, commander ; Louis Bulkley, senior vice-
commander; James H. Smith, junior vice-commander; W. W.
Brown, secretary ; M. J. Sweet, treasurer. Meets every second
and fourth Tuesdays in basement of court house. M. J. Sweet,
of this camp, is now serving his second term as division com-
mander of the state of Kansas.

542 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

LADIES' AUXILIARY OF THE SONS OF VETERANS.

Mrs. C. S. Pratt, president. The old soldiers are rapidly an-
swering the final roll call. They have finished life's battles and
the G. A. R. 's as an active organization will soon cease to exist.
But the Sons of Veterans will take up the battles of loyal citizen-
ship and carry on the existence of our nation to its full fruition
among the nations of the earth.

J. M. Naylor, Adjutant Garfield Post.

CHAPTER XLIII.

THE COLORED SOLDIER OF SEDGWICK COUNTY IN THE
SPANISH AMERICAN WAR.

By
CAPTAIN SAMUEL W. JONES.

The days that marked the opening or beginning of the Spanish
American War in 1898 were anxious ones indeed to many a
patriotic Afro-American then residing in Wichita, for as has al-
ways been the case when our country is thrown into war her
negro citizens, ever patriotic, are among the first to volunteer
their services. The first colored American to offer his services in
this city was Harry Holmes, the second was James Gage. These
two men, bosom friends, applied to the enlisting officer the second
day after the office or recruiting station was opened here. They
were refused, were told by the recruiting officer that he had no
authority to enlist other than white men. Holmes and Gage
were quite disappointed indeed, and came to me asking that I
write an article to be published in the daily papers asking why
it was that as war had been declared they, as colored men, should
be denied the privilege of serving their country. I suggested to
these two men that they wait a while, and I was satisfied that
before the war was over they would have a chance. Such we now
know proved to be the case, for it was not many days as we might
say, there came the second call for volunteers, and under that call,
the appointment to Kansas was eight hundred and seventy-five
men.

At that time I was associated with W. A. Bettis in the pub-
lishing of a weekly newspaper known as the "National Reflector."
We had but two months previous bought a newspaper and job
office from that old pioneer, Judge S. M. Tucker. We had
moved the office or outfit to rooms over 403 East Douglas avenue,
had just become established and were doing a good business when
the war cloud cast itself over the country. By reason of the

543

544 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

fact that the paper had always taken an independent stand in
politics, Bettis, my partner, who was associate editor, had allied
himself somewhat with the Populist movement and had man-
aged in this way to get in touch with John W. Leedy, the Pop-
ulist Governor. The very day it was known Kansas was to
furnish her second quota of men, Bettis began writing the gov-
ernor urging upon him to make the new organization a colored
regiment. Other colored men began doing the same, and finally
on July 2, 1898, Bettis received a letter from Governor Leedy
authorizing him to begin the enlisting of colored volunteers.
When Bettis had read the letter over he handed it to me with
the remark that he wanted me for captain because of my former
experience as a captain of an independent militia company here.
I tried to urge upon him to take that place, declaring to him
at the same time I would be satisfied with the honor of being
the first man to sign the enlistment roll. This honor he granted
me. Together we rented the storeroom directly across the street
from our office, and while I remained in the office to carry on
the business Bettis went out and began the enrolling of volun-
teers. By reason of the fact it seems that Gage and Holmes had
been refused enlistment the colored boys were a little loath to
sign their names. Bettis came back to the office rather dis-
couraged, had but three or four names on the roll among whom
was Charles R. Stewart, known at that time to nearly every
man as "Pappy Stewart." We called "pappy" into the office,
and after a conference it was agreed that he was to be made
first sergeant of the company if he would lend his efforts toward
enlisting of a company. "Pappy" went to work with a will.
The next evening he and Bettis came into the office declaring
that they were meeting with little success, as any number of the
boys whom they had approached were members of the inde-
pendent militia company would not enroll unless they knew 1
was going to be captain. Bettis declared he knew his unfitness
for the place and insisted that I allow the boys to know I would
accept the place. The result of this conference was we closed
the printing office, hired some drums and drummers and set to
work with a will. As soon as we had twelve men enrolled I be-
gan the work of drilling them in army tactics. July 4th and 5th
we worked hard indeed, with the result that on the morning of
the 6th when the recruiting officer arrived we had thirty-nine
men to be examined by the examining physician, Dr. E. Harrison,

THE COLOEED SOLDIER 545

who lent his services in securing more men. The next morning
while I continued the work here, Bettis went to Winfield and
Arkansas City. About noon on the ninth of July our little band
of forty-nine soldiers to be marched from the city hall to the
Santa Fe depot where amid the tears and good-byes of mothers,
wives, sisters, sweethearts and friends boarded the train for
Topeka.

The law at that time was that each company should be com-
posed of 106 enlisted men and three commissioned officers. We
had forty-nine, were of course sixty men short of the requisite
number, and then came the struggle of my life time it seemed to
get those sixty men. There were seven other companies foraging
about, we might say, to get men to fill out their number so they
might be mustered into service ; some nights I would lay down to
sleep with nearly enough men to make out my company only
to awaken in the morning to find that all perhaps but the faith-
ful forty-nine had gone into other camps or partial companies.
I wrote an appeal to Dr. Harrison to enlist some more men here
in Wichita and send them to me, he responded by sending up nine
more, thus swelling our number to fifty-eight faithful ones. This
band of fifty-eight remained true to me, as firm as the rock of
Gibraltar. On July 12, the old war horse of Wyandotte county,
Corvine Patterson, came marching into camp at the head of 162
men from Kansas City, and out of this number I secured enough
men to fill out my company and win the place I had set out to
win for them and myself, the first place in the Second battalion.

July 14, 1898, is a day I shall never forget, for it was on
that day my company was mustered into the service of the
United States volunteer army. The men sworn in on that
day as Company E, 23rd Kansas volunteer infantry, were as
follows: Samuel W. Jones, Captain; William A. Bettis, First
Lieutenant; William Green, Second Lieutenant; Charles R.
Stewart, First Sergeant; Thomas A. Dupart, Quartermaster
Sergeant; Giles Anderson, Second Sergeant; Henry Sheairills,
Third Sergeant; Harry Holmes, Fourth Sergeant; Thomas H.
White, Fifth Sergeant; Napoleon Starnes, Artificer; Henry W.
Gilbert, Wagoner; Corporals, William H. Stell; John McBride,
Edgar Franklin, Charles Staten, James Gage, James W. Turner,
Isaac McAfee, Frank E. Green, James W. Thompson, Lee Toms,
George R. Cowen and Leonard C. Martin; Musicians, Wallace
Bernal and Bert Burns; Privates, John B. Anderson, Mack An-

546 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

derson, William Allen, William K. Arnold, Benjamin Barnes,
James Barnes, Frank Barber, Lewis Bass, John Bell, James H.
Bransen, Henry Brayden, James B. Brown, William A. Brown,
Alfred Buford, Henry Bynum, Thomas W. Campbell, William
Carter, Charles Childs, David Chinneth, Anderson Crump, Peter
C. Danforth, Henry C. Dixon, James Dozier, Edward Drain, Ora
Earle, Clarence Estes, Samuel Farmer, Richard Fintch, Ollie Fin-
ley, Leroy Franklin, George W. Gardner, George Garr, Ceabron
Greenwood, Samuel Hall, Thomas Harris, Charles Herring, Duff
Herrington, Ben Hickey, Clifford Hill, John Hoard, Elliott
Holmes, John T. Howard, Walter H. Howard, John Hudson, Al-
len Jackson, James C. Jackson, Joseph Johnson, McDonald
Johnson, Stanton James, Frank K. Jones, William M. Love, John
E. Majors, William Masir, John R. Martin, Abraham McAfee,
Fred Martin, Walter Marshall, Henry I. Meredith, John Midina,
Joseph Millford, George Murphy, William Weely, William Over-
street, Nelson S. Patterson, James Porter, Bevley M. Perry, Frank
H. Ray, Henry Roeark, Eugene Reed, Ky Richards, Andy Simms,
Henry Robinson, Lewis Robinson, John A. Rodgers, Samuel
Sheairills, Dallas Thurman, Jones Vaughn, David Washington,
James Warren, Frank West, Horace G. Wilder, Eugene R.
Whitted, Charles Williams and Joseph Williams.

Company E was at first called by the men in the other com-
panies "raggety company E," by reason of the fact that every
man in the company had been advised by me to dispose of all
his clothing except his most worn suit for army regulations for-
bade a soldier having citizen's clothing in his possession and
when their uniforms should be issued what clothing they had
must at once be disposed of. The quartermaster's department
at Leavenworth was so slow in issuing uniforms I must admit
that ere long the majority of the men were wearing clothing but
little better than rags, hence the name "raggety company E."
It wasn't long, however, until I had by hard and patient work,
drilling my men, carefully explaining every move in drill, tak-
ing them off to themselves during drill hours and there instruct-
ing them, until I had the acknowledged best drilled company in
the regiment. Whenever any honors were to be won it was
Company E that could be depended upon to carry off the laurels.

Just a little incident to bear out this statement. August 3
it was announced through orders that General Monnehan would
arrive in Topeka to pay the regiment. Something of a secret

THE COLOEED SOLDIER 547

order so far as I was concerned went the rounds of the camp,
that the best drilled company, the one making the best showing
should have the honor of escorting the first paymaster from the
city to the camp ground. Company A was made up entirely of
colored men who resided within the city limits of Topeka. The
camp was two and a half miles from town, and Captain Reynolds,
of Company A, was quite anxious of course to go up town and
"show off" his company at this the first opportunity. Well, he
didn't go. Only three days before my men had received their
now uniforms and rifles, and that morning they seemed to be
in perfect trim. When drill hour had come and passed Colonel
Beck, commanding the regiment, prompted by Captain Allison,
U. S. army (retired) who was instructor to the officers of the
regiment, issued the order for E company, the Wichita company
to go at once to quarters, get dinner and be ready to march
promptly at twelve to the city and escort the paymaster. This
was a gala day for my company, for myself, for when I reached
the paved part of Kansas avenue I began putting my company
through almost every movement possible for a company to make
in drill, receiving the plaudits of the thousands who watched us
from the sidewalks.

August 20, 1898, came the welcome news that we had been
ordered to New York, there to take a transport for Santiago de
Cuba. With the coming of daylight, Monday, August 22, we
began breaking camp, and by seven o'clock were in light march-
ing order ready to march to the city. A few minutes after
seven we were on the march to the capitol where Governor Leedy
delivered a very touching address, and then the march was taken
up to the Santa Fe depot. That was a day I shall never forget;
on the platform were mothers, fathers, wives, children, sisters,
brothers and friends weeping, handshaking and saying good-
bye. At last there came the call all aboard, and the journey
toward Cuba had begun. Wednesday, August 24, we reached
New York, were ferried over to pier 22 Brooklyn, where the
transport Eigilancia was moored awaiting our coming. By 8
o'clock men and baggage were aboard, the lines were cast off
and we dropped down the bay to anchor ground. With the com-
ing of daylight the anchor was raised and we started on our
journey of more than 3,100 miles to Cuba. After seven days
steaming, during which time the men on account of cramped
quarters and seasickness suffered a great deal and during which

548 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

time too our vessel was storm tossed by one of those terrible
hurricanes peculiar to the West Indies we, in spite of the fact
that we had been reported lost in the terrible storm, steamed
by the Moro castle, the wreck of the Rena Mercedes and Captain
Hobson's sunken Merrimac on up the bay to the city of Santiago.

On the morning of September 1, we began disembarking, and
by 4 o'clock men and baggage were on Cuban soil. About 6
o'clock we went aboard the train made up of four very crude
passenger cars and a number of cattle cars, and by 9 o'clock
the journey of twenty-seven miles had been completed and we
were in the city of San Luis.

Arrived at San Luis each company was assigned to quarters.
These quarters were nothing more than the stone sidewalks
surrounding the old Spanish barracks, covered by a wooden
awning which by the way was so narrow when lying down my
feet were left out in the rain which came down almost the entire
night through. The next morning we marched out to the new
camp grounds, pitched our tents, took up our garrison duty in
Cuba.

During our first three weeks on Cuban soil, we were at times
sorely pressed for food, on account of the limited number of
vessels then at the disposal of the commissary department. Many
were the times our meals consisted solely of very rancid bacon,
rice badly damaged by contact with coal oil. After a while,
however, we began getting fair rations. In the month of De-
cember we began getting our first fresh meat, beef that had been
put in cold storage aboard the refrigerator ships as early as the
latter part of the previous June. We lived through this however
as well as through the disagreeable rainy season when it actually
rained every day.

For six months to a day we were in service in Cuba, when
at last the welcome news came for us to break camp and set
out for home. February 28, 1899, the regiment took the train to
Santiago; arrived there, went aboard the transport Minnewaska,
bound for Newport News, Virginia, at which place it arrived
March 5. Here the regiment took the train which brought it
to Fort Leavenworth, arriving there on the morning of March 9.

January 1, 1899, Maj. George W. Ford commanding the sec-
one battalion was granted leave of absence to come to the United
States; at the same time Lieutenant Bettis was granted sick
leave, accompanying the major to the states. This placed me

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THE COLORED SOLDIER 549

in command of my battalion with the rank and pay of major.
A short time afterward I was stricken ill, and on January 21,
was granted sick leave, in fact much against my wishes was
ordered to the government hospital at Hot Springs, Ark., to
undergo treatment for gravel and diabetes. I left Santiago on
the morning of January 27, 1899. At 3 o'clock the evening be-
fore the thermometer on General Wood's palace registered 82
in the shade. I arrived at New York January 31, where the
thermometer registered 3 below zero. This sudden change in
climate came near costing me my life. I was not able to con-
tine the journey to Hot Springs, remained here at home where
I was confined to my bed for weeks. Finally rejoined my com-
pany at Fort Leavenworth on the morning of March 9, 1899.
During the absence of myself and Lieutenant Bettis from the
company, the command fell upon my Second Lieutenant, William
Green, who saw them through and turned the company over to
me again with the loss of but one man, private George Gaar, who
died in Cuba.

We remained at Fort Leavenworth from March 9 until April
1, expecting daily orders to again take the train and steamship
for the Phillipine Islands. At last, however, orders came for
us to be mustered out and this was done April 10, 1899.

As stated above, with the exception of one man, Company E,
23rd Kansas volunteer infantry, the Wichita company, made the
long journey to Cuba and return. Since that time the members
of the company have become scattered to the four winds of the
earth so to speak. The grim reaper, death, has gathered unto
the fold many of the members, while some of us are yet to be
found on the old camp ground, Wichita, where first our hearts
were thrilled with the news of war and our patriotism prompted
us to serve faithfully and well our flag, our country.

Capt. Samuel W. Jones.

Commanding Co. E.
Late 23rd Kans. Vol. Inf.

CHAPTER XLIV.

CLAIMED THAT KANSAS MAN IS ORIGINAL
"BUFFALO BILL."

By

J. R. MEAD.

Friends of Reticent Resident of Wichita Say He Was Known by
Appellation Years Before William F. Cody Succeeded to
Title — Fed Starving Plainsmen with Spoils of the Chase —
Was Indian Fighter of Renown, Saving a Train of Immi-
grants Who Were Attacked on the Santa Fe Trail.

Wichita, Kan., June 23. — Marking of the old Santa Fe trail
through Kansas by the Daughters of the American Revolution
has revived public interest in the history of the state. It has
also caused the people to wonder where the hardy pioneers of
the early days have drifted. There are but few of them alive.

Probably the least known, yet greatest of them all, is living
a quiet and retired life in his old homestead within the city of
Wichita. This man is William Mathewson, the original "Buffalo
Bill." Closely associated with him is his one-time associate,
James R. Mead, scout, pioneer, Indian trader, historian and
hunter.

It matters not to Mr. Mathewson that another bears the name
he rightfully achieved, or that few know that the deeds of such
men as "Wild Bill," "Pawnee Bill" and William F. Cody would
sink into obscurity beside his achievements in a time when Kan-
sas was a wilderness of all that was dangerous. He tends his
garden and orchard with the same tenacity that led him to suc-
cessfully pass through the strenuous times of border warfare.

With Mr. Mead it is different. He first became known in
Kansas as a commercial man. He is now living a quiet life and
as vice-president of the Kansas Historical Society is of great
assistance in collecting historical data for that society.

Of the life of the original "Buffalo Bill" little is known.
At times he will talk of the past, but only to his intimate friends.

550

KANSAS MAX OKIGINAL "BUFFALO BILL 551

He was born in Broome county, New York, on New Year's day,
1830. Thirteen years later he was in the then unknown West,
and wound up one of the greatest trips over North America with
Kit Carson near the present site of Denver, Colo.

TRADING POST ON THE ARKANSAS.

It was near the site of old Fort Zaro that "Buffalo Bill" first
struck the Santa Fe trail. There he built a trading post on the
bank of the Arkansas river, near where the city of Great Bend
is now located. It was from the timbers of the building he con-
structed that the government post was built. Here he met and
entertained such men as Kit Carson, General Custer and General
Sheridan.

At Cow Creek ranch he encountered Satanta, the blood-
thirsty Kiowa chief, and gave him a severe beating. After the
encounter he became known among the Indians as Sinpah Zill-
pah, the "Long-Bearded Dangerous Man." It was here in the
big bend of the Kansas Nile that he made the famous ride which
Sheridan declared to be the bravest act in the history of the
West. To an intimate friend, the old warrior, whose eyes have
lost none of their luster, Mr. Mathewson described the ride :

"During July of '64," he said, "a band of about 700 Indians
made a raid on my ranch. We drove them away and killed a
lot of them. There was a big government supply train of 135
wagons and 155 men camped out in the bottom east of the ranch
on the Santa Fe trail. The Indians went after that train and
came near massacreing the whole outfit. In that train were about
twenty wagons loaded with Sharpe rifles and a lot of ammuni-
tion. I knew it, but the men with the train didn't. You see,
being the owner of one of the regular posts along the trail, I
was kept posted as to what was being taken over the road to
the West,

ARMED HELPLESS FIGHTERS.

"Those Indians had just about scared the teamsters out of
their wits. With their old guns they hadn't killed enough In-
dians to attract the buzzards. I got on my horse, and I had a
fine one, and rode to the help of the wagon train. Keeping in
a slough, I got within a half mile of the train before an Indian
saw me. Then the shooting started. I gave the Indians close
to me as good as they sent, but I thought that my hair would be

552 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

lifted at any minute. I got through and armed the men with the
Sharpe rifles, and we scattered those Indians like sheep. Talk
about Sheridan's ride," and he left his chair and walked to a
favorite bench near the old pine tree in his yard to hide the fire
of battle that had leaped to his eyes.

His title of " Buffalo Bill" was gained by supplying the starv-
ing settlers of the plains with buffalo meat during the bitter cold
winter of 1860 and 1861. William F. Cody, the present "Buffalo
Bill," gained the title a few years later almost in the same way.
Mathewson does not care. He lives contented on his old home-
stead and excludes reporters and camera men from his premises.

One of the most interesting incidents in the last few years of
his life was when he was called upon to kill a cross buffalo bull
that had been kept at the Union Stock Yards for several years.
The once famous hunter fired one shot at the huge beast and
then walked away, leaving the animal standing in the same posi-
tion as before he fired. The spectators jeered him, but he gave
no heed. Thousands who had gathered to see the original "Buf-
falo Bill" show his skill denounced him as an imposter.

CONFIDENT OF THE SHOT'S EFFECT.

In answer, he simply said, "AVait and see." Five minutes
after the buffalo pitched to the ground dead, and the eyes of
the old frontiersman were flashing with the glint of victory.

In a spacious residence near the homestead of William Math-
ewson lives another man, who gave years of the best part of his
life helping to develop the plains. This man is James R. Mead.
He, too, is growing old, but does not live altogether in the mem-
ories of the past. Coming to Kansas from Iowa in 1859, he early
saw the great profit that would result from hunting, trapping
and trading trinkets to the Indians for robes and furs. At this
time Mead was but 23 years old, but wise beyond his years in
the ways of the West. He was born in Vermont and made the
trip to Iowa in a wagon with his parents when a child. The
names of 25 per cent of the small creeks of Kansas were given
following his explorations. Along the course of the Smoky Hill
river, in northern Kansas, Mead killed his first buffalo. In his
life on the plains he probably shot more buffalo than any other
man of his time.

"The warm blood of youth warms for adventure," he said.

KANSAS MAN OBIGINAL "BUFFALO BILL 553

"Here was an opportunity to satisfy my longing to make my way.
My impatient rifies longed to show their mettle. Later they had
their fill, for to my shame be it recorded that they laid low 2,000
buffalo and other of God's creatures in proportion during many
years of service."

KILLED BUFFALO FOR GAME.

It was Mead who first planned to kill buffalo for their hides
and tallow in the southwestern part of Kansas. It was Mead's
wagon train that took the first large consignment of buffalo hides
to Fort Leavenworth from the valley of the Little Arkansas
river, where the city of Wichita is located. He camped on the
Santa Fe trail with Kit Carson.

Like William Mathewson, he was a friend of the wild Indian,
and had as many friends among the red men as among the whites.
Unlike Mathewson, he never played an important part in the
struggles between the soldiers and the Indians. He has said
that the years of bloodshed and strife between the government
and the Indians were the result of ignorant diplomats and worse
statesmen. [j ;

His old homestead in what is now the heart of Wichita was
taken by Mr. Mead when Wichita was the headquarters of the
Wichita Indians. On the exact spot where he built his cabin
there is now being erected a Catholic cathedral that is to cost
not less than $100,000.

The lives of these two men and the many thrilling scenes
through which they passed will never be known. It is seldom
that they will talk of the past. Mead is yet actively engaged in
managing his properties. Mathewson was a frontiersman, and
as such is a typical specimen of J. Fenimore Cooper's ''Leather
Stocking. ' '

Note: Since the above article was written, James R. Mead
has passed to the Great Beyond.

CHAPTER XLV.
PAYNE'S DREAM CAME TRUE.

By
FARMER DOOLITTLE.

Every time I look at the picture of the brave, generous Cap-
tain Payne I am reminded of a speech made at a banquet given
by the "Wichita Union Livestock Exchange at the Commercial
Club rooms about a year ago. It was said that many of the great
achievements accomplished by men were at first but dreams in
the mind of somebody, and adding that the Wichita of today is
the realization of the dream of Marsh Murdoch. I remember
when my friend, Captain Payne, gave me the picture and in-
scribed his name thereon. What was said about Col. M. M. Mur-
dock and Wichita would apply with equal truthfulness to Capt.
David L. Payne and Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City of today
is a realization of the dream of Captain Payne.

Payne was not a salesman or a builder of a state. He was a
bold pioneer who suffered hardships and risked his life to secure
homes for the people and I feel sad when thinking of the rough
treatment this generous pioneer received at the hands of the
cattle men and the federal army — but this is not telling about
the dream of Captain Payne. I think it must have been in the
fall of 1877, two years before the opening of old Oklahoma to
settlement, that Payne told me of his dream of a city. We were
walking around one pleasant moonlight night and it was well
along towards midnight when we sat down on the edge of the old
Santa Fe depot and continued our conversation. I said: "Cap,
is this Oklahoma business all a fake, and why are you collecting
money from these prospective settlers with the promise that they
will secure some rights in the founding of a city?" Then Payne
explained that this part of the Indian Territory called Oklahoma
was really a good land and some day it would be the home of

554

PAYNE'S DEEAM CAME TKUE 555

thousands of happy, prosperous people. He said these people who
were paying small amounts of money for memberships in the
colony would not receive any rights. He said the money would
be used to finance raids into Oklahoma and keep up the agitation
until the country was opened up to settlement. By standing
together he thought the colony of "Oklahoma Boomers" would
be able to control "Oklahoma City." It was only a name then.
Just a dream in the mind of Captain Payne. My old friend
became enthusiastic, or, rather, more sanguine as he talked. He
said the spot which they had selected on which to found the city
was just the right distance from Wichita. The streams and
valleys were like the location in Wichita. Oklahoma City, he said,
would be a second Wichita and the line of great cities would be
Chicago, Kansas City, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth and
Galveston. That was the dream of Captain Payne and no man
ever believed more firmly in a prohecy than did Payne believe
that his dream would be fulfilled to the letter. I wish he could
have lived until now to see how correctly he reasoned and
dreamed.

The above, from the pen of the well known writer, "Farmer
Doolittle," is gladly given a place in these columns; Farmer
Doolittle, whose real name is George Litzenberg, is a prolific and
accomplished writer of many years' experience on the local press.
Captain Payne was his intimate friend. He writes from a close
personal friendship and experience. — Editor.

THE NEW COUNTRY SOUTH OF US.

It was a fondly cherished dream of Capt. D. L. Payne, Colonel
Cole, and his associates, that the opening of the new country
south of Kansas would greatly enhance the agricultural pros-
pects of Sedgwick county and all of southern Kansas as well.
Payne organized his Oklahoma boomers in Wichita. This was the
seat of the Oklahoma Colony; here was the seat of the rallies
that culminated in the various raids made upon the promised
lands and headed by the redoubtable Captain Payne himself.
Just east of Wichita was the home of Captain Couch, who was
Payne's chief of staff. Here lived Nugent and Oklahoma Harry
Hill and many others whose names are associated with Payne in
the opening of Oklahoma.

It was contended that the plowing of the prarie south of us

556 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

and the tilling of the soil, and the planting of trees, and the
consequent evaporation would temper the hot winds and cool
the air blowing from the south; all this has been accomplished;
Payne is dead, many of his followers and companions have
passed to the great beyond, but their efforts live after them in
the memory of countless men and women who have found happy
homes in Oklahoma, that fair land to the south of us whose crops
seldom fail and whose acres now teem with a most abundant
harvest. Oklahoma has one great advantage over Kansas — it
raises all that Kansas can raise, and in addition that queen of
the South, "cotton"; but the whole country owes a lasting debt
to the man of Sedgwick county and the press of Sedgwick county,
who, early and late, in season and out of season, worked for the
opening of Oklahoma. — Editor.

THE CHEROKEE STRIP.

The opening of the Cherokee strip in Oklahoma on September
16, 1896, was an epoch in "Wichita. The Cherokee strip is a strip
of land two counties wide along the south line of Kansas in the
new state of Oklahoma ; many people in Wichita and southern
Kansas had gazed at the strip with longing eyes ; some of the
great cattle pastures owned by Kansas people were in the Chero-
kee strip. One Wichita man had a pasture in the strip south of
Caldwell, Kan., twenty miles square. The efforts of Capt. David
L. Payne and his associates had forced the opening of Oklahoma,
the Cherokee strip only remained as a barrier between Kansas
and what afterwards became the great state of Oklahoma. The
pressure on Congress to open this magnificent stretch of virgin
soii was intense ; this pressure was resisted by the wealthy cattle
barons, whose herds had cropped the rich grasses and thrived
upon the strip for many years. At last the strip was opened and
on the day of its opening there was a rush for homes and claims ;
new towns sprung up like magic, and new farms opened out.
Wichita had been the head center of this agitation; for many
years all of this surrounding country had been lined up by the
lectures of Captain Payne, General Weaver and the powerful
press of Wichita and southern Kansas. A few short years has
produced a wonderful change in the Cherokee strip ; busy marts
of trade, flourishing towns and fertile fields take the place of the

PAYNE'S DREAM CAME TRUE 557

big steer and his sister; and what is the result? The hot winds
tempered by the cultivated soil on the south of us, a new field
and a growing population, immense productions of corn, wheat,
oats, Kaffir corn, cane and alfalfa, hogs and cattle, and all trib-
utary to Wichita. Captain Payne, General Weaver, Billy Couch
and all of the Oklahoma boomers builded better than they
know. — Editor.

CHAPTER XLVI.

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY.

BOOSTERS BROUGHT IN THE RAILROADS.

By
0. H. BENTLEY.

Wichita has always made a strenuous struggle for railways.
It should have been on the main line of the Santa Fe, but fate
decreed otherwise. When the Santa Fe was built to Emporia,
Wichita, a mere hamlet in those days, tried to get it, but failed.
Newton, then a lively frontier town, got the road, and from that
point it gradually extended to the westward.

Later on, however, as Wichita grew, the Santa Fe, ever jeal-
ous of its territory, projected the Wichita & Southwestern to this
point. This line was hastily constructed from Newton to Wich-
ita. The people here would have given half the town to the rail-
road company to get them in. The building of the pioneer rail-
road into Wichita made it almost in a day the greatest primary
wheat market in the world, drawing the wheat wagons for a
hundred miles to the south and southwest, and later the renowned
cattle shipping point, the end of the Texas cattle trail.

The early fathers of Sedgwick county saw the blue stem
grass sweeping their saddle horns as they rode the trail from
Newton and Emporia into Wichita, and they realized then, as
the present generation now realizes, that there is only one crop
of land. Later on the Santa Fe extended its line to Mulvane,
and then diverged, building one line to Wellington and the other
to Winfield. This extension of the Santa Fe was supposed by the
early fathers to be the ruination of Wichita, but a few patient
men pulled themselves together and reached out for the St. Louis,
Wichita & Western, now the Frisco, which was built into this
city in the early part of 1880. Wichita had great hopes of this
line from competition in freights and so on, but when the line

558

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 559

staggered into town and laid its rails to the Santa Fe depot on
Oak street, the bubble bursted, and all Wichita pronounced the
road a fake.

Later on the building of the Kansas Midland from this city to
Ellsworth divorced the Santa Fe and Frisco lines, the Frisco
acquiring the Midland under a lease of ninety-nine years, since
which time the Frisco has maintained its own terminals and
depot in this city. In 1884 and 1885 Francis Tiernan, of Fort
Scott, projected the Missouri Pacific into this town from the
eastern border of Kansas, and later on came the building of the
Wichita, Anthony & Salt Plains Railway and the line to the
Northwest, known as the Wichita & Colorado, projected by Wich-
ita men. These lines were all consolidated into the Missouri
Pacific Railway, as now operated into and out of this city. About
this time A. A. Robinson, then at the head of the Santa Fe, came
to Wichita and said that his company was about to build direct
from Sedgwick to Kingman. Then there was some very lively
hustling among Wichita people. It was finally proposed that if
this line should be built out of Wichita that Wichita would pro-
cure the right of way to the west line of Sedgwick county. This
was done and the Wichita & Western Railway, so long owned
jointly by the Santa Fe and Frisco, became a fixed fact.

In 1886 a few Wichita men, Senator Bentley, Governor Stan-
ley, J. 0. Davidson, C. R. Miller, Robert E. Lawrence and others,
projected and promoted the Kansas Midland Railway from Wich-
ita to Ellsworth. This line was built largely by Hartford and
Boston capital, aided by the municipalities along the line. It is
now a part of the Frisco system. In the meantime the Santa Fe
had not been idle. It built from Eldorado to Augusta and from
there to Mulvane, thence westward to Englewood in Clark
county, Kansas, under the charter name of the Leroy & Western
Railway Company. Where they got the name is a mystery to
the oldest inhabitant. At this time they operate this line by a
division superintendent located at Wellington, and they handle
the Wichita & Western in the same manner. The early plan of
the Santa Fe was to occupy this portion of Kansas with a net-
work of railways which should tap every county seat. They
aimed to build a large number of towns, and no large ones, for
the reason that as soon as a town attained any size it became
ambitious, and at once reached out for other railroads.

Wichita and Sedgwick counties were ambitious for railroads

560 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

from the very start. No railroad ever knocked at the doors of
Wichita or Sedgwick county in vain. We voted liberal aid to the
Rock Island, and without a murmur saw our stock given in
exchange for Sedgwick county bonds worth par, in the Chicago,
Kansas & Nebraska Railway, the name under which that line was
constructed in Kansas, wiped out, and the property absorbed by
the present parent company. In fact, in the natural order of
railway building in the West, we rather expected this, regarding
the getting of the road as a fine investment. And so from its
earliest history Wichita and Sedgwick counties have been in the
very forefront of the struggle for railroads. It has been one long
history of voting bonds and railway aid and getting right of way
and promoting these great enterprises, which in the aggregate go
to the making of great marts of trade and great and populous
cities.

When a new railway or great enterprise was exploited in
Wichita, the patient property owners were told that the building
of the great artery of commerce, or the completion of the pro-
posed great enterprise, would double the value of their prop-
erty. So with the greatest patience these property owners dug
up the coin and subsidized themselves and their neighbors for
the betterment of a great cause. Now, as they think back and
recall all of these things, they scratch their heads in perplexity
and wonder how much worse off than nothing they were when
they started and before the coming and completion of the great
enterprise. But with all of these great lines completed and in
operation, the Orient in full swing and rapidly opening up to
this city a new great territory, with the Rock Island, Santa Fe,
Frisco and Missouri Pacific systems here, with Orient shops and
the Union Pacific in the very near future, it seems to the conserv-
ative and loyal citizen of Wichita that in the railway situation
Wichita has reached the fruition of her hopes. Ten great trans-
portation lines radiate out of Wichita, like the spokes of a great
wheel, and the next year will probably see three more added to
the list. It has been a struggle, but it has paid. The game was
worth the candle. The energetic citizen has made good. The
city is building fast and its basis is a permanent one.

Two possessions are necessary for a western town : First and
foremost it must have the county seat, and, second, it must have
ample railway facilities. Both of these qualifications are pro-
duced by the rustling men who make and build the town. In a

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 561

store window in Denver the other day I saw this legend: "Live
fish swim up stream, the dead ones float downward with the cur-
rent." The struggle has been a long one. Work has been un-
ceasing, strenuous, week in and week out. To no particular men
or set of men belongs the credit of the work accomplished, but
the credit is due to the great masses who have patiently worked
and waited and paid taxes, and theirs be the victory.

"And everybody praised the duke,

Who this great fight did win.
'But what good came of it at last,'

Quoth little Peterkin.
'Why that I cannot tell,' said he,

'But 'twas a famous victory.' "

MAKING RAILROADS IN THE EARLY DAYS.

During the years of 1886 and 1887, Kansas saw a wonderful
period of railroad building. New roads, actual, imaginary and
paper, were projected. The Rock Island was building great
transportation lines across Kansas, the Santa Fe was building-
branch lines to protect its territory. Promoters of new lines were
in the field. Each town of any prominence conceived the idea
that it was a future railway center. It was in the air. It was
a microbe which was contagious. It affected the most conserva-
tive men of the state. In common with its neighbors, Wichita
also got the fever and a bunch of men in Wichita projected the
Omaha, Abilene & Wichita Railway. The idea was to get around
the Kansas City pool, to get away from the basing line of the
Missouri river at Kansas City, to reach Omaha instead of Kansas
City. The utility of the plan was often doubted, but that made
no difference.

Later on, when William G. Dacey was brought here from
Boston to finance the Omaha, Abilene & Wichita Railway, and a
meeting of the various people along the line was held in Topeka,
the meeting was informed by M. A. Low, of the Rock Island, that
the Rock Island would occupy much of that proposed line. Mr.
Dacey then called the entire project off. 0. H. Bentley was in
the meeting and appeared as counsel for William G. Dacey. Mr.
Dacey was about to take the train for his home in Boston when
he was induced by Mr. Bentley to come to Wichita. The Wichita

562 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

people wanted to build a railroad. They wanted it to be a Wich-
ita affair, and they wanted to build it out of Wichita. Mr. Dacey
consented to visit Wichita and a meeting was called at the Man-
hattan Hotel. In this meeting the following named gentlemen
participated : Governor Stanley, Senator Bentley, J. Oak David-
son, Robert E. Lawrence, Charles R. Miller and H. G. Lee, all of
Wichita, and Wm. G. Dacey, of Boston. A preliminary organiza-
tion was effected and the Kansas Midland Railway Company was
formed. C. R. Miller was made president, H. G. Lee vice-presi-
dent, J. Oak Davidson treasurer and 0. H. Bentley secretary and
general attorney. This organization was continued and the rail-
way built, and the entire enterprise carried to a successful ter-
mination. A distance of 104 miles of main line was built and
suitable depots and water service constructed.

The building of this line spans the gap from Wichita to Ells-
worth, where the main line of the Union Pacific is reached. It
called into being the towns of Bentley, Patterson, Buhler, Medora,
Wherry, Saxman, Pollard, Frederick, Lorraine and Phipps. All
of these towns are tributary to Wichita. Excepting a short belt
of sand hills north of Burrton, the line bisects a veritable garden
spot of Kansas. The building of this line and its acquisition by
the Frisco under a ninety-nine-year lease effectually divorced the
Frisco from the Santa Fe and gave the Frisco some
very valuable terminals in the city of Wichita. The
Midland was built by the Kansas Construction & Improvemeat
Company, a corporation organized under the laws of New Jersey,
aided and fostered by the local railway company, formed and
chartered as above stated. For three years 0. H. Bentley put
in his entire time in the building of the Kansas Midland Railway.

The Kansas Construction & Improvement Company, which
built the Kansas Midland Railway, had its principal office in
Jersey City and William G. Dacey was its president. A. A.
Phipps, of Boston, was its secretary, and 0. H. Bentley was its
counsel. The stock of this company was held in Hartford, New
York and Boston, with the Farmers' Loan & Trust Company of
New York as its fiscal agent. This company successfully under-
wrote its bonds and furnished the capital to build the railway.
In common with the other lines radiating out of Wichita, the
Kansas Midland Railway has been a potent factor in the up-
building of the city.

EAILEOADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 563

FIRST TRAIN ON THE SANTA FE.

When Wichita was yet a spraddling village scattered over
the virgin prairie near the conflux of the Big and Little Arkansas
rivers, the first railway came into the city. There was great re-
joicing among the residents of all Sedgwick county on that
memorable occasion when the first train steamed into the town.
That was away back in 1873, nearly forty years ago. The train
came in on rails laid by the Wichita and Southwestern Eailway
Company. This company built a line from Newton to Wichita
and finally disposed of it to the Santa Fe Company. The Wich-
ita and Southwestern Eailway Company was organized in 1871.
The charter was secured June 22, 1871, and the capital was
$500,000. Wichita men who are well known to the present gen-
eration, organized the company and built the road. J. E. Mead
was president; C. F. Gilbert, vice-president; H. C. Sluss was
secretary, and William Griffenstein was treasurer. The con-
tract for the construction of the twenty-eight miles of track
from Newton to Wichita was let September 9, 1871. T. J. Peters
secured the contract, which called for the completion of the
line into Wichita, July 1 of 1872. It was nearly a year later
when the line was completed and trains were in operation.

The Santa Fe south of Wichita was built umier the charter
name of Cowley, Sumner and Ft. Smith railway. The company
incorporated to build this extention was capitalized at $1,500,000.
It was organized in October of 1878, and a few years later suc-
ceeded in reaching Caldwell, fifty miles south of Wichita. The
officers of the Cowley, Sumner and Ft. Smith railway, were:
Thomas Nickerson, president ; W. B. Strong, vice-president, and
Edwin Wilder, secretary and treasurer. When the railway
reached Wichita from Newton, it was placed in operation by
the Santa Fe. The first agent at Wichita was E. J. Waterhouse,
whose headquarters were at Newton while the line was build-
ing. Mr. Waterhouse 's title was terminal agent. On May 16,
1872, Mr. Waterhouse sent W. J. Kennedy to Wichita to take
charge of the station. Mr. Kennedy's title was freight cashier.
He made his reports back to Waterhouse, who was still term-
inal agent. A short time later Asa P. Baldwin was ap-
pointed agent at Wichita, but after a few months he was
sent to the southern terminus of the road. He was suc-
ceeded by Charles Marsh, who is still a resident of the city.

564 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The succeeding agents of the road in Wichita up to 1886 were
as follows : C. E. Warriner, H. L. Pierce, John C. Lyth and
H. B. Keeler.

The oldest Santa Fe time card for Wichita in existence was
issued in 1882. This showed one passenger and one freight train
each way daily. Now the Santa Fe operates eighteen passenger
trains and fourteen freight trains into and through Wichita
every day. The first shipment of freight made out of Wichita
was thirteen carloads of cattle.

When .the Santa Fe began operating trains into Wichita, the
engines in use had 12 and 14-inch cylinders, weighed 70,000
pounds and had a tractive force of 10,000 pounds. The engines
now in use on this line weigh 215,000 pounds and have a tractive
force of 35,000 pounds. Thirty years ago, ten or twelve cars
constituted a load for any engine. Now seventy-five to ninety
loaded cars are hauled. The early passenger trains carried three
and four coaches. Now the average is eight to fourteen coaches
of much larger size. The original depot of the Santa Fe stood
just north of Douglas avenue, opposite the present passenger
station. This early day station was about like that maintained
by the company at Valley Center. Some time after 1882 a new
station was built near the Santa Fe tracks at Oak street. This
was the city's first union station, it being occupied jointly by
the Santa Fe and Frisco. This Oak street station was abandoned
about 1890 when the present stone passenger depot was built.
It was used as a freight depot for a time till the old freight
house, abandoned last month, was built. At one time, imme-
diately following the arrival of the Santa Fe in Wichita, this
was the greatest cattle and grain shipping point in the United
States. There were no railways into the vast territory to the
south and west of Wichita. Hence cattlemen and farmers
brought their products overland to the nearest shipping point.
Wheat farmers hauled their grain for 50 to 100 miles to load it
onto cars in Wichita. Cattle were driven from deep into Texas
by the thousands to the railway terminus in this city. Later
all this business was transferred to Caldwell.

The Santa Fe men in Wichita are: O. A. Brown, division
freight agent; H. A. King, city passenger agent: R. O. Miner,
local freight agent; E. S. Gunn, traveling freight agent; C. R.
Gilfellen. traveling live stock agent, and O. L. Cope, soliciting
freight agent.

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 565

The Santa Fe Railroad, was the pioneer railway line into Wich-
ita; it was built from Newton to "Wichita under the name of the
Wichita and Southwestern Railway Company and large aid was
voted to this line by Sedgwick county. It was then the cus-
tom of that railroad to have local directors in various com-
panies and William Griffenstein was one of them for Sedgwick
county, also J. R. Mead. This line was built in considerable
haste from Newton to Wichita, many of the ties were laid upon
the prairie sod and the rails spiked to them; the line was ex-
tended southward as the Cowley, Sumner and Ft. Smith railroad
and the building of this line to Wichita created the greatest
primary wheat market in the world. The extension of this line
to Winfield and Wellington, as was then supposed ruined Wich-
ita ; the number of times that Wichita has been ruined is mar-
vellous but, like the fabled Phoenix, it always arose from its
ashes. The pronounced policy of the Santa Fe was to build in
Kansas a number of towns and to discourage the building of
any large ones, presumably upon the theory that large towns
become ambitious ; as Wichita grew and waxed in size the Santa
Fe gradually surrounded it with lines, notably the line from
Augusta to Mulvane and the building of the Mulvane extension ;
and they even threatened to construct the Wichita and West-
ern from Sedgwick to Kingman. Our people early recognized
that the Santa Fe was against Wichita becoming a large town,
but in later years this policy was in part abandoned. The rela-
tions of the town and the railroad became somewhat reciprocal ;
Wichita was recognized as one of the leading stations along the
entire system and time will develop a greater friendship for
Wichita, under a liberal management, and a greater tonnage.

EARLY RAILROADS HAD TO STRUGGLE FOR AN
EXISTENCE.

The railways of a city are its chief asset. The more railways
a city possesses the greater are its possibilities. Each additional
railway secured by any city opens a new channel of commerce.
And commerce rules the world. Hence it is not strange that
the little frontier town of Wichita, springing up on the prairies
scarcely vacated by the Indians, should in its infancy seek to
become the railway center of Kansas. One railway came to
Wichita in 1872. The second line came 11 years later. This

566 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

second road was the St. Louis, Fort Scott & Wichita railway,
now owned and operated by the Missouri Pacific system. It was
at the beginning of the boom days when this line built into
Wichita. A surprising change had been wrought in the topo-
graphy of the county at the conflux of the Big and Little
Arkansas rivers. A city of some 15,000 souls had sprung up in
the 11 years following the arrival of the first railway.

Then on July 4, 1883, the first train on the St. Louis, Fort
Scott & Wichita steamed into the city. At that time through
service was inaugurated between Wichita and Fort Scott, a dis-
tance of 150 miles. With the arrival of the first train on July
4 there was a great celebration. Wichita men had assisted
materially in the construction of the line and their achievement
was heralded as the beginning of Wichita's supremacy on the
plains. The St. Louis, Fort Scott & Wichita railway was built
by the Mallory Construction Company. J. W. Miller was gen-
eral manager of the road, and the general offices of the com-
pany were located in this city. These were the first general
railway offices the city ever possessed. The opening of the new
road placed Wichita 52 miles nearer St. Louis. Not only that
but it opened for development a vast, rich territory which was
and is tributary to the commercial interests of this city. Fine
grazing and farming lands were opened and Wichita reaped the
benefit of their development.

Just as the St. Louis, Fort Scott & Wichita railway was be-
ginning to prosper with the wonderful development of Southern
Kansas there was a sudden pause of activities. The collapse of
the boom came swifty. With the crash the St. Louis, Fort Scott
& Wichita railway went into the hands of the receiver. It could
no longer pay running expenses and interest on indebtedness.
Shortly afterward new capital was secured and the railway
company was reorganized. Operation of trains was resumed
but the name of the line was changed to Fort Scott, Wichita &
Western. That name still survives, although the public generally
knows the road as a part of the Missouri Pacific. Finally Jay
Gould purchased the road and it was incorporated in the Mis-
souri Pacific system. Mr. Gould realized the vast possibilities of
Southern Kansas and extended the line southwesterly from Wich-
ita to Kiowa, 86 miles. This branch was completed in 1886.

During the same year local capitalists, farmers and stock-
men organized a company for the construction of a railway north-

EAILEOADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 567

west toward Hutchinson. The road was first completed and
operated to Colwich, 14 miles northwest. Later the line was
finished into Hutchinson. It was originally intended to build
this line to Colorado as indicated by the name, Wichita & Colo-
rado railway. While the Wichita & Colorado railway was under
construction another company was building the Salina, Hutchin-
son & El Paso railway southwesterly from Salina. This line
met the Wichita & Colorado road at Hutchinson and both roads
were purchased by the Gould system. The Goulds were at that
time building a Colorado line and the Salina, Hutchinson & El
Paso line became a part of it. This ended the building of any
lines by the Missouri Pacific system that were directly connected
with Wichita. Since the completion of the Hutchinson branch
only one stretch of new line has been added. This is the Hardtner
extension of 10 miles completed this summer and now in opera-
tion with through service to Wichita.

THE SANTA FE IN WICHITA.

Two thousand passengers are handled in and out of Wichita
every day by the eighteen passenger trains operated into and
through this city. That means that this road brings in and takes
out something like 750,000 people per year. And that is a nifty
little business for any railway in any city. Of the eighteen trains
operated through Wichita by the Santa Fe eight are on the
main line, four on the Panhandle branch, two on the Englewood
branch and four on the Wichita and Western line. Seven years
ago there were but four main line trains, two Panhadle trains
and two on the Wichita and Western, or ten altogether. A bet-
ter comparison to show the rapid growth and development of
the territory southwest of Wichita is this : Seven years ago the
Panhandle line had one three-car passenger train and one mixed
train. These two handled all the business. Now there is one
nine-coach passenger train operated to Amarillo and another
train of equal size operated through to Carlsbad, N. M. Both
of these are big shopper trains for Wichita.

A few years ago one accommodation train did all the freight
and passenger business on the Englewood branch. In the past
five years the big ranches in that section of the state have been
cut up into farms. This shows up in the additional passenger
business on the Englewood branch, which required a passenger

568 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

train each way daily. The freight business is handled separately
by two local trains. It is a rare occasion when every seat in
the Englewood train is not taken. The express business on this
branch is especially heavy. For its length the Wichita & West-
ern is the prize branch of the Santa Fe. Three hundred people
are handled on each of the two trains operated on this line
every day. The mixed train also does a good passenger busi-
ness. The main line passenger business of the Santa Fe has
grown enormously in the past ten years. In 1900 there were
but two trains each way daily. Now there are four each way.
Not only that but every train carries larger and heavier equip-
ment and more of it than did the trains of a decade ago.

SANTA FE TONNAGE.

From the standpoint of tonnage handled and money received
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway is the greatest indi-
vidual concern in Wichita. How great a concern the Santa Fe
is one can hardly realize even when considering that the com-
pany's business in Wichita totals two and one-quarter millions
of dollars annually. Briefly the Santa Fe is Wichita's greatest
railway asset. Not that this road turns more money into the
city than any other line, for it does not. It is only greatest
from the amount of tonnage handled and from the amount
of money collected for the service rendered. Some idea of
the vast amount of business transacted by a great railway
like the Santa Fe may be gained from actual record figures.
For instance the in and out tonnage handled by the Santa Fe
for the first seven months of this year totaled 408,000,000 pounds
of freight. The total for the twelve months of 1909 was 536,-
000,000 pounds. The increase of tonnage for the first seven
months of this year over the same period of last year was 62,-
000,000 pounds.

The remarkable increase in the business done by the Santa
Fe in this city is the talk of the entire system. For the past few
years the annual gain in tonnage and receipts has been from
50 to 75 per cent. For instance in the first seven months of this
year the company hauled into Wichita 5,639 cars of freight and
took out 2,622 cars. During the corresponding period of 1909
the road received 3,432 cars of freight and forwarded 1,754 cars.
The above figures are exclusive of live stock. Of this latter

BAILBOADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 569

item the Santa Fe brought in and forwarded 7,447 cars of hogs
and cattle for seven months of this year. For the corresponding
time of last year the road received and forwarded 7,279 cars
of live stock. The transfer freight business of the Santa Fe in
Wichita is also heavy. So far this year 22,000,000 pounds of
through freight has been transferred by the local freight hand-
ling force. Indications are that the total transfer business of the
year will be in the neighborhood of 45,000,000 pounds. This is
a healthy growth over the transfer business of last year. It
requires ten regular and half a dozen extra freight trains daily to
handle this enormous amount of business. These trains con-
sist of from 75 to 90 cars or an average tonnage of 2,000 tons
per train.

A MILLION AND A HALF IN TERMINALS.

Eleven years ago the Missouri Pacific had practically no
buildings of any consequence in Wichita. The passenger depot,
located at Second street in Wichita, was a low, rambling struc-
ture of wood built in the early 80 's when the road reached here
from the East. The freight depot was of the same nature in the
same vicinity.

Today the Missouri Pacific has the finest passenger station in
the city, the largest and best equipped round house and shops,
and one of the best and largest freight handling warehouses any-
where in the Southwest. All of these were built within the past
eleven years. It was just a dozen years ago that Wichita began
to recuperate from the terrible shock of the boom. Building
operations recommenced, the population began to increase, and
there was evidence of returning prosperity on every side. At this
juncture the Gould system began its rebuilding in Wichita.

The first to go was the old frame passenger station. This was
replaced by a handsome, three-story brick structure fronting on
Douglas avenue. The station cost $55,000, which was an enor-
mous sum to spend on one building in Wichita at that time.
Trains were dispatched from the new depot following its dedi-
cation by Miss Helen Gould in 1899. In this depot offices were
provided for the division superintendent and his force, for the
train dispatcher and his operators, for the division engineer, for
the trainmaster, for the passenger agent and baggage master.
The station is still large enough for the business of the road in

570 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

this city, but at the present rate of increase it will soon be tuo
small. In the year following the dedication of the new passenger
station the finest and largest freight warehouse in Kansas was
built. This fronts on First street and extends northward almost
to Second street. This building was built of brick and equipped
with all modern warehouse appliances. The cost was $20,000.
All local freight "business is handled through the offices in this
building.

About six years ago the down town freight yards of the Mis-
souri Pacific became too small for the tonnage the road was han-
dling. The switching of trains through twelve blocks of business
and residence districts where the old yards were located, was a
constant source of inconvenience to the company and a nuisance
to the public. In consequence a large tract of ground was secured
at Twenty-fifth street for the building of a new freight yard,
roundhouse and shops. More than $100,000 was expended by the
company to improve this property. Today it is the finest and
most compact freight yard in the city. Twelve miles of switch
tracks were built in the new yards, where all trains are now made
up and broken up. An eighteen-stall roundhouse shelters the
motive power maintained there for service on the Wichita divi-
sion. One hundred men are constantly employed at the shops
operated in connection with the Twenty-fifth street yards.

These improvements, along with the rebuilding of tracks, bal-
lasting and other things, represented a direct expenditure of over
$200,000. The thirty-seven miles of trackage maintained by the
Missouri Pacific within the city has a value of $25,000 per mile.
This brings the total valuation of the company's Wichita prop-
erty close to the $1,500,000 mark. One of the more recent depart-
ures of the company is the location of the bridge department
for the Wichita division at Wichita. The materials for bridge
building occupy several acres of ground in West Wichita. Bridge
gangs and wrecking crews are maintained here and swift relief
can be given in the event of an accident.

The Missouri Pacific reached Wichita in 1883 from the East,
was extended to Kiowa in 1886, was extended to Geneseo in 1887,
has division headquarters in Wichita, employes 500 men in the
city, pays them $55,000 monthly, owns Wichita property valued
at $1,500,000, operates sixteen passenger trains in and out of
Wichita daily and twenty-two freight trains every day; has
twelve miles of double track in the city, has a total trackage of

EAILEOADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 571

thirty-seven miles, handled 420,000 tons of freight in and out of
Wichita in 1909 ; business increase over 1905 was 200 per cent.

THE MISSOURI PACIFIC BEGINS REBUILDING OF ALL
ITS LINES.

There was a time when the Missouri Pacific Railway was the
laughing stock of all Kansas. No one thought of riding on the
line if it was possible to avoid it. The roughness of the roadbed
and the uncertainty of the trains were to blame for this unpopu-
larity. But all has changed now. Last year the company spent
more than a million dollars bettering its lines in Kansas. The
improvement of roadbeds is still going on and will continue till
every branch is entirely rebuilt with heavier rails and ballasted
with something heavier than dirt. This summer and fall the
Missouri Pacific is spending several hundred thousand dollars
for heavier rails and ballast. At the present time eighty-five-
pound rails are being laid between Wichita and Fort Scott. This
will be completed this fall and the Missouri Pacific will then have
a first-class line from this city to Kansas City and St. Louis.

Of peculiar interest to Wichita is the rebuilding of the Kiowa
and Hutchinson branches. Eight gravel trains are now hauling
ballast from Colorado to rebuild the Hutchinson line from Wich-
ita to Geneseo, a distance of eighty-six miles. The Kiowa branch
is scheduled to have new seventy-five-pound rails and a new coat
of ballast just as soon as the company can get around to it. One
of the biggest and most important improvements now under way
by the company is the rebuilding of the Colorado line across
Kansas. This is in preparation for the heavy transcontinental
freight and passenger business that the company expects to
handle over its recently completed Western Pacific Railway.
Wichita will profit by this improvement in that through Pullman
service to Salt Lake and San Francisco will be established late
this fall. Old wooden bridges of the Missouri Pacific are now
being replaced with steel and concrete structures. This is with
the view of using heavier and faster motive power as soon as
the new rails are laid and the roadbeds have settled.

From these facts it is evident that the Missouri Pacific is
building its Kansas lines for the future development of the
country. The road is no longer the laughing stock of the state.
It runs trains on time, has few wrecks and serves a vast terri-

572 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

tory not reached by other lines. As Col. E. E. Bleckley puts it:
' ' Like the mighty oak which from a little acorn grew, so has the
Missouri Pacific grown from a little branch road to a mighty
trunk line, but in a much shorter period than required by the
oak." The officials of the Missouri Pacific in Wichita are A. H.
Webb, division superintendent ; S. H. Kilgore, commercial freight
agent; Col. E. E. Bleckley, passenger and ticket agent; W. R.
Davidson, division train master ; E. A. Sites, train dispatcher ; W.
K. Walker, division engineer ; C. P. Hale, local freight agent.

Thirty-eight passenger and freight trains enter and depart
from Wichita over Missouri Pacific lines every day of the year.
Of this number sixteen are passenger trains and twenty-two
are freight trains. The loading and unloading of these thirty-
eight trains, with passengers and merchandise, represents the
day's work for the Missouri Pacific's force in this city. Being
at the junction of three important lines of the system Wichita is
an important passenger terminal for the Missouri Pacific. Pas-
sengers from St. Louis, Kansas City and eastern Kansas bound
for points on the Geneseo or Kiowa branches must necessarily
stop over in Wichita, as the bulk of the trains on these two
branches are made up in this city. Of the eight passenger trains
that depart from Wichita every day five are made up here. Kan-
sas City and St. Louis trains all run through to Geneseo. Con-
nections for Colorado, southeastern Kansas and McPherson are
all originated in Wichita. The Kiowa branch has three trains
each way daily; the Hutchinson branch has two trains each way
daily; the McPherson branch has one train each way daily; the
main line east has two trains each way daily.

The Missouri Pacific lays claim to the most direct route and
the shortest mileage to St. Louis. The mileage to Kansas City
is practically the same as that of other lines. When the rebuild-
ing of the Colorado line is completed the Missouri Pacific will
have one of the very best services to the Rocky mountains. By
1911 through Pullman service will be established from St. Louis
to San Francisco and it is likely that service out of Wichita will
be arranged so that passengers from this city may make connec-
tions with the through train at Geneseo.

From a local standpoint the Missouri Pacific is one of the
greatest roads entering the city. It has three lines, each reaching
into a rich agricultural section that is tributary to the Wichita
jobbing interests. To serve this territory 420,000 tons of freight

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 573

are hauled into and out of Wichita every year. It requires the
handling of 26,000 cars every month in the Wichita freight yards
to care for this enormous business. It requires 1,650 cars per
month to haul the merchandise used in Wichita alone; that
is, from territory reached by the Missouri Pacific lines. In the
past five years the business of the company in and through
Wichita has doubled twice. The average annual increase since
1905 has been 40 per cent.

The Wichita & Colorado Railway. The building of the Wich-
ita & Colorado Railroad from Wichita northwest marked a new
era for the northwestern portion of Sedgwick county. For many
years this project was agitated by various companies; and vari-
ous bodies of men in Wichita and Hutchinson had projected the
line, along the old diagonal road, running from South Hutchin-
son toward Wichita, but all efforts had proved futile, until the
matter was taken in hand by the Big Four, which consisted of
M. M. Murdock, N. F. Neiderlander, A. W. Oliver and M. W.
Levy, who formed a company for the purpose of building this
line. In this enterprise these men were aided by many men
holding interests along the line, notably Kos Harris, Robert E.
Lawrence, Tom Randall, Dan E. Boone, George Steenrod, C. F.
Hyde, Wick Anderson, George Anderson, Leroy W. Scott, Walter
S. Pratt, James P. McCormick, and many others who owned farms
and other property along the proposed line. This line made Maize,
Andale, Colwich, Mt. Hope, Haven and the other towns along
this line from Wichita to Hutchinson; its projectors originally
designed to run the line directly west from Elmer, in Reno
county, bisecting the rich territory in Stafford county and south
of the Great Bend of the Arkansas river, but the Hutchinson
people, headed by Sam Campbell, L. A. Bigger, John Puterbaugh
and others went into New York and saw Jay Gould in person,
and as the line was being built under the fostering care of the
Missouri Pacific Mr. Gould had the call and the line was deflected
northward from Elmer and was built into Hutchinson, much to
the disgust of the projectors, and was at that point hitched onto
the line from Geneseo, Rice county, Kan., which line was built
through Lyons and Sterling under the name of the Salina, Ster-
ling & El Paso Railway, making thereby a continuous line from
Wichita to the Colorado line of the Missouri Pacific Railway,
creating thereby a most advantageous line for Wichita and on to
the mountain regions. This new line of the Wichita & Colorado

574 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Railway opened out a new and most prosperous country and a
fine lot of towns in Sedgwick and Reno counties, that are natur-
ally tributary to Wichita ; it was also an important factor in the
development of the farms and agricultural resources of a mag-
nificent territory. This was in line with the spirit of Wichita at
that time; the Wichita Board of Trade and its enterprising
business men were reaching out to control the territory contigu-
ous to the town; this they accomplished and the Wichita & Colo-
rado was only one of the numerous railway lines radiating out
of Wichita like the spokes of a wagon wheel; to this railway
spirit and forethought of those men, of the big four who built this
line, and their associates who so largely contributed to its final
success, and to those other business men who from time to time
put their strong shoulders to the wheel of progress and gave of
their time, and money and energy, Wichita, the progressive and
beautiful city of today, owes its supremacy as a business center.
The St. Louis, Fort Scott & Wichita Railroad. In line with
the rapid development of Sedgwick county and its shire town of
Wichita, railroads often knocked at its doors. The St. Louis, Fort
Scott & Wichita Railroad began construction at Fort Scott, Kan.,
in 1881 ; Francis Tiernan was its moving spirit and president of
the line; it reached Toronto, Kan., in April, 1882, and Eldorado,
Kan., early in 1883. At this point Mr. Tiernan had great induce-
ments offered to build direct from Eldorado to Newton ; he was a
shrewd and far-seeing man, and early saw the possibilities of
Sedgwick county and its adjoining territory; the Arkansas val-
ley looked good to him and he was not to be deflected from his
original plan and purpose. He came to Wichita and here he met
with the encouragement of our people ; generous aid, right of
way and other concessions were granted to him and his asso-
ciates. It is a fact not generally known that L. M. Bates, a
merchant prince of New York City, loaned to Francis Tiernan
the first $40,000 on which he pushed this road out of Fort Scott
westward ; this road reached Wichita July 4, 1883, and at that
time and on that day all of its men were paid off in the city of
Wichita. Its first depot was near the corner of Second and
Wichita streets; Ad N. Jones was the agent in charge and so
continued for several years. Under his management the road at
once obtained a big business and became immensely popular with
the business men of Wichita. Later on Mr. Tiernan severed his
connection with this line and engaged in other enterprises, but

EAILKOADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 575

Wichita will always have a warm place for Francis Tiernan.
Later on the road came under the management of J. W. Miller,
who extended the line to Kiowa under the name of the Wichita,
Anthony & Salt Plains Railroad. The entire line then, as is
usual, went into the hands of a receiver, but, righting itself,
became a part of the Missouri Pacific system, and for many years
it has been under the management of that very popular railway
superintendent, A. H. Webb.

The Wichita, Anthony & Salt Plains Railroad. Where the
projectors who were the auxiliary people of the Missouri Pacific
Railway ever got this name is a mystery, but they found it and
built the line from Wichita to Kiowa under that name. The Mis-
souri Pacific was built into Wichita from the east; the line was
built to Hutchinson, and J. W. Miller was the superintendent of
the new line. He was a hustling man, ambitious to construct
more line, and he had a side partner named Jones, who was a
caution to old people in Kansas; Jones laid out several lines of
business along the Missouri Pacific, notably the Bandera Stone
Quarry, just out of Fort Scott ; Jones also inflicted the name
Annelly upon a town on the Newton branch of this road, up in
Harvey county: the name Annelly is a compound of the names
Ann and Nelly, the wife and daughter of Mr. Jones. Jones had
been a mate of Miller's upon salt water and his influence over
"Jack," as he called him, was unbounded; and so Miller started
in to build from Wichita to Anthony and Kiowa; he surveyed
the line, he got the right of way, he called to his aid Judge
Bayne, of Anthony, and he named a town after him ; he called to
his aid James P. Royal and Newton H. Robinson, and they laid
out the town of Oatville. It has always been a wonder why the
railroad runs directly north and south at Oatville and through
the farm of James P. Royal ; it is easy to answer when you know
that Royal was one of the original town company; and after
Baynesville came Clearwater, and what a flurry the real estate
people of Wichita, headed by H. G. Lee, got up over Clearwater,
and Ed Magill and Herman Bliss at once opened a big general
store at Clearwater ; and after that came Millerton, a town named
in honor of the superintendent of the road ; and then came Con-
way Springs, abounding in fine soft water, and a good town just
west of Slate creek. Here Nick Neiderlander and some other
real estate men made a pot of money as the road went to the
southwest ; and then came the other towns, and Anthony and

576 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Corwin and Hazelton and Kiowa, the Queen of the Border ; all of
which made a fine feeder for the parent road and new territory
for Wichita.

The Wichita & Western Railway. In the early eighties it
was impressed more and more upon the business men of Wichita,
that it was of the very highest importance to have connection
with the fertile country to the west of the city; hence the news
that the Santa Fe Company designed building such a line was
hailed with much joy by our people. This joy, however, was of
short duration when it was learned that the Santa Fe had placed
a band of surveyors in the field and was running a line from
Sedgwick southwest to Kingman. A. A. Robinson, who was then
the general manager of the Santa Fe, was seen and at his instance
a hurried meeting was held in this city, to which came A. A.
Robinson and other officials of the Santa Fe Railroad. It was
then developed that the Santa Fe was about to pursue its well
defined policy of building around Wichita, and it was further
impressed upon our people that the railroad policy in Kansas was
still in vogue ; that policy was to build up a number of small
towns along the various lines, for the reason that as soon as a
town became large it became ambitious and began to reach out
for more lines of railway. Something had to be done and done
quickly; it was then proposed that Wichita should secure the
right of way from Wichita to the west line of Sedgwick county,
and in that case the road would start at Wichita, instead of
Sedgwick City. To that end the business men of this city then
bent their energies and the Wichita & Western was an accom-
plished fact ; it was built under that name to Kingman, and from
that point westward to Cullison it was built under the name of
the Kingman, Pratt & Western Railway. It has been an impor-
tant factor in the upbuilding of Wichita. It ran the usual gamut
of a receivership, during which time a federal judge, much to the
disappointment of the people along its line, permitted a portion
of the line from Cullison to Pratt eastward, to be taken up and
sold and the proceeds applied to the payment of costs, receiver's
fees and attorney's fees. However, this line of railway has been
since its building a very active and important line to Wichita ;
the building of the line brought into being the towns of Goddard,
Garden Plain and Cheney, all active and prosperous towns, the
town of Cheney being at this time the second town in size and
importance in Sedgwick county.

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 577

Prior to 1880 it was thought that the country in western
Sedgwick county, west of the Arkansas river, was simply adapted
to grazing, and not good for diversified farming ; this idea was
long since dispelled, as western Sedgwick is the most fertile and
reliable crop portion of Sedgwick county. Its farmers are espe-
cially prosperous and its soil is well tilled and productive ; wheat,
corn, oats, rye and alfalfa are raised in abundance, and the Wich-
ita & Western Railway, by reason of the prosperous country con-
tiguous thereto, is a wonderful feeder to the prosperity of
Wichita.

St. Louis & San Francisco. The passenger service of the
Frisco out of Wichita is first-class to points east and southeast.
Superior train service is maintained to St. Louis and other eastern
and southern points. This road has the only solid through train
out of Wichita to St. Louis. All through trains carry elegant
dining cars under Fred Harvey management.

For eastern points the following fast time is made by the
Frisco passenger service : To St. Louis, 18 hours and 19 minutes :
to Cincinnati, 28 hours and 40 minutes ; to Detroit, 31 hours and
20 minutes ; to New York, 43 hours and 25 minutes ; to Boston,
45 hours and 30 minutes. Since the opening of vast tracts of
land in Florida for settlement the Frisco has enjoyed a heavy
passenger traffic in that direction out of Wichita. Accordingly
fast trains are operated by the system to the principal cities of
the Southwest, as follows : To Memphis, 19 hours and 5 minutes ;
to Birmingham, 26 hours and 45 minutes; to New Orleans, 30
hours and 55 minutes; to Atlanta, 33 hours and 25 minutes; to
Jacksonville, 41 hours and 45 minutes. On the Frisco in Wichita
are : Division passenger agent and 1 assistant, 2 ; city passenger
agent, 1; division freight agent and 3 assistants, 4; traveling
freight agent, 1 ; soliciting freight agent, 1 ; local freight agent
and 28 assistants, 29 ; division road master and 1 assistant, 2 ;
engineers and firemen, 12 ; division foreman mechanical depart-
ment and assistants, 60; conductors and brakemen, 20; section
men, 30 ; crossing watchmen, 4 ; total employes in city, 166 ; total
payroll monthly $15,000.

Personnel of the Frisco in Wichita is : F. E. Clark, division
passenger agent ; E. E. Carter, division freight agent ; H. F. Bas-
come, city passenger agent; R. H. Phinney, local freight agent;
E. M. Riley, city freight solicitor. — Beacon.

578 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The St. Louis, Wichita and Western Railway. Wichita was
a one railroad town until the building in of the present line of
the Frisco in the year 1879. This railroad was built under the
name of the St. Louis, Wichita and Western Railway from
Oswego, Kan., to Wichita and was designed to run one line North-
west and one Southwest from Wichita when first proposed ;
Hobart and Congdon, of Oswego, Kan., were the main contractors
of the line. Later on a disagreement arose between the con-
struction Company and the county commissioners and Wichita
became the western terminus of the line. Had the line been
built out of Wichita as at first contemplated, it might have
changed the whole railroad map of Kansas. Great things were
expected by our people from the building of this line, but when
late in 1879 it staggered into town and run its siding up to the
Santa Fe depot, then North of Oak street now called Murdock
avenue, great was the disappointment of the people of Wichita ;
it was said that instead of being a competing line (and that in
Kansas is simply a figure of speech), it simply became an adjunct
and feeder of the Santa Fe. Capt. C. W. Rogers, a hale and
hearty but somewhat profane man, was the general manager
of the Frisco at that time, but he was handicapped because many
of the interests and stockholders of the Santa Fe and Frisco were
identical; later on the Frisco St. Louis trains were run over the
Santa Fe to Sedgwick and from that point to Halstead over a
cut off built for that purpose, all of which confirmed the pre-
vailing opinion, that the Frisco was simply a feeder for the
Santa Fe. Later on after the usual receivership course, the
Frisco built its own depot in Wichita, and now seems to be
independent of that line, having spent a short interim as an
adjunct of the Rock Island. However, at this time the Frisco
is a good line for Wichita having a commodious depot, yards
and round houses in this city, and being a fine connection for
this city and its territory to St. Louis, the East and Southeast.

The Orient Railway Company. It was a lucky day for Wich-
ita, when A. E. Stillwell, of Kansas City, projected and built
the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway southwest from
Wichita. At this time our people fondly hope that Wichita
will remain its Eastern terminus for many years. This line
which is built entirely independent from any of the great rail-
way systems entering Wichita, at this time forms a continuous
line from Wichita to San Angelo, Texas. It places a new field

EAILEOADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 579

at the door of this city, a new field for our wholesale merchants
who are not slow to see the advantages of the new line ; Wichita
is also anxious and will without doubt secure the main shops
of this line. Mr. Stillwell, the projector and builder of the new
line, is a well meaning and earnest man, a thorough believer in
himself and his own energy and resources, and is said to be an
ardent follower of Christian Science. Be that as it may he is
a very popular man in Wichita, and it matters little to this city
weather his religous tenets are Christian or Moslem so long as
he succeeds in this great interprise.

So interested has Wichita been in a close range view of the
Orient railroad, such, for instance, as exactly when the big
shops will be completed in this city, that the larger view, such
as the relation of this trans-continential line among other great
railway systems of the country, has received little local attention.

William E. Curtis, special correspondent of the Chicago
"Kecord-Herald," recently wrote for his paper a long descrip-
tive story of the Orient's possibilities, of which the following
is part : ' ' The Orient, as it is familiarly known, runs through
an entirely new country for a distance of 1,650 miles, and in-
stead of paralleling established roads, it will cross several im-
portant lines with which its management can doubtless make
traffic arrangements of mutual value. At Emporia is crosses
the Missouri Pacific ; at Wichita and Anthony it crosses the
Santa Fe, the Fort Worth and Denver at Chillicothe; the Texas
and Pacific at Sweetwater; a branch of the Santa Fe at San
Angelo, and the Southern Pacific at Pisano Summit. In Mexico
it crosses the Mexican Central at Chihuahua; at San Bias the
new Harriman road which runs south from Arizona, parallel with
the Pacific, and the Chihuahua and Pacific at Minlaca.

"More than thirty new towns with populations of 1,000 to
2,500 have sprung up along the tracks in Oklahoma. All of
them are agricultural settlements, and the population are practi-
cal farmers. In Texas as many more new towns have started up
on the virgin soil. Where a few years ago was open prairie, of
doubtful agricultural possibilities, with here and there a ranch-
house and a herd of cattle, are now fields of wheat, corn and
cotton, inclosed by fences, with farm houses, barns and shade
trees on every quarter section. No part of the country has ever
been settled so rapidly or by a better class of homesteaders than
have taken up farms along the line of the Orient road in Okla-

580 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

homa. They brought money with them. Very little human
driftwood lodged along the right of way. This fact will be
demonstrated when the census enumerators report upon the
development of a section of about 800,000 acres between Wich-
ita, Kan., and Sweetwater, Texas, which is already under plow
and is supporting thirty-two enterprising towns. San Angelo in
Texas is the headquarters of the largest wool industry in the
country, which has been increasing rapidly, both in the number
of sheep and in the quality of the wool. The cattle industry is
also very important in Texas, and is still more important across
the borders of Mexico, where the road runs through the
two largest and most famous ranches in the world, one
of them has several million acres in pasturage and brands
between 75,000 and 100,000 calves every spring. It is no
uncommon thing for him to ship 50,000 head of cattle to
market at one time. He is not only the largest individual
land owner in the world and the largest cattle owner in
the world, but the richest man in Mexico and one of the richest
men in America. The daughter of Don Louis Terrazas is the
wife of Don Enrique C. Creel, recently ambassador to the United
States, and now governor of Chihuahua. Mr. Creel also has
very large land, cattle and mining interests along the right-of-
way of the Orient road, of which he is vice-president and one
of the largest stockholders.

"The Zooluaga ranch, which is second only in area to the
Terrazas, lies west of Chihuahua, with headquarters at a place
called Bustillos. No railroad in existence has a larger variety of
agricultural, forestry, pastoral, horticultural and mineral re-
sources scattered along its right-of-way, from the cornfields of
Kansas to the fisheries of the Gulf of California, which, by the
way, are unsurpassed, but have never been worked on account
of lack of a market. Topolobampo may never be a great ship-
ping port for Asia and Central and South America, as some of
the people interested in this new road have predicted. The com-
merce of San Francisco, Portland and Seattle is not likely to
be transferred to that port, but the Orient railway will open up
more different sources of wealth than any road that has been
constructed since the first track was laid across the continent.
It will be unique for another reason. It has been built without
the aid of a dollar from Wall street. Thus far it has cost about
$20,000,000, which has been raised by the sale of stock and sub-

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 581

sidies from the federal government of Mexico, and the states,
counties and towns through which it passes."

ORIENT BRINGS IN TRAINS OF STOCK.

The growth of the Orient railway and the development of the
country it serves makes a wonderful story of achievement. Seven
years ago there was no Orient so far as Wichita was concerned.
Then the company's steel rails came creeping up from the South
and finally landed well laden passenger and freight trains within
the city. From nothing to an important factor in the commerce
of the Southwest is the history of the Orient for the past decade.
No fertile farms and ranches awaited the coming of the Orient
in western Oklahoma. The railway went into those lands and
carved out farms and cities from the virgin soil. In 1904 the
Orient began hauling freight into Wichita. In that year the
road hauled just 27 carloads of live stock to the Wichita market.
In about that proportion other farm products were hauled to
this city. In the following year 384 cars of live stock were hauled
to the Wichita stock yards. That was a monster increase and
all other commodities were handled in increasing amounts. The
gain in 1906 over 1905 was slight, yet there was a gain. Then
in 1907 live stock shipments increased more than 100 per cent,
969 cars having been handled that year. In 1908, 1,672 cars
of cattle and hogs arrived and last year 2,462 cars arrived.

These figures on live stock demonstrate the rapidity with
which the Orient territory developed into an asset for the com-
mercial interests of this city. Thriving towns sprang up along
the line all through Oklahoma and Texas as the road was built
south. Practically everything used by these towns for 800 miles
along the Orient is purchased through the Wichita wholesale
houses. For instance, last year the Orient hauled out of Wichita
merchandise to the amount of 30,000,000 pounds. That with
the inbound business of the road almost equals the tonnage of
some older railways operating through territory settled years
ago. The freight service offered the Wichita jobbers by the
Orient is first-class. Today's shipments of goods will be in
Altus, 300 miles distant, before store closing time tomorrow. On
the second day they will be on the counters in towns at the
southern terminus of the line. Passenger service on the Orient
consists of one train each way every day. These trains are

582 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

operated through to San Angelo, Texas, which is now the south-
ern terminus of the line. The company contemplates the re-
establishment of another passenger train, which was discontinued
a year ago for lack of equipment. The traffic on the one pas-
senger train is becoming so heavy that the second train will have
to be established soon.

In one instance, where five years ago, or before the advent
of "The Orient, " the town consisted of a small settlement, today
stands a little city sending 1,000 school children to its public
schools and is spending $100,000 on its court house and twice
that amount for a water works system, piping water a distance
of over eight miles. Where Wichita used to send them an occa-
sional shipment, the Peerless Princess now sends them over a
carload of provisions daily. These are not exceptional cases ;
dozens of towns have sprung up, growing vigorously and mak-
ing daily requisition on the merchants of Wichita for the neces-
sities of life. As the Orient pushes its rails farther into the
Southwest, so follow the goods of our merchants. The Orient
has carried the products of our mercantile establishments into
a section of country whose door heretofore was closed to us. Peo-
ple are now drawing supplies from the Peerless Princess who,
before the coming of this road, had hardly heard of our city.
They have found a market in Wichita for long trains of cattle
and grain which formerly went elsewhere.

ARTHUR E. STILWELL.

President Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway Company.

(The following message to Wichita was written by President
Arthur E. Stillwell, of the Orient, especially for the New Home
number of the "Beacon." It is evidence that Mr. Stillwell places
a high estimate upon Wichita as the commercial metropolis of
the great Southwest and that in the plans made by the Orient
officials, Wichita will always be considered.)

The Orient road, when completed, will have a mileage from
Kansas City, through Wichita, to Topolobampo of 1,659 miles,
being approximately 500 miles nearer the middle West to Pacific
coast tidewater than any other line.

Nearly 900 miles, or more than one-half of this mileage is
completed and in operation, the longest stretch being from Wich-
ita to San Angelo, Texas. The line is being rapidly constructed

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 583

from this point to Del Rio on the Rio Grande river, from which
point it will make connection with the National lines of Mexico
and will be very much the shortest line from Wichita to the city
of Mexico, the capital of our sister republic.

Work is being pushed from San Angelo to El Ora, which is
also on the Rio Grande river, and on the direct or main line to.
the Pacific coast through Chihuahua, Mexico. The Orient road,
on the Pacific Coast division, passes through boundless fields of
oranges, bananas, lemons, grapes, and the strawberry season,
which is at its height in that country during the months of No-
vember, December and January, can be transported with other
tropical fruits and vegetables, in a very short time, enabling the
people of Wichita to enjoy all the good things of the tropics
during the mid-winter.

The Orient road will have connections with not only the
ports of the Gulf of Mexico, but also an adequate steamship
service to and from the Orient, including the Hawaiian Islands
and Australia, thereby placing Wichita in direct communication
with commerce equaling any inland city on the continent.

The Orient is proud of Wichita, and hopes that Wichita
reciprocates. The rich deposit of precious minerals in the Re-
public of Mexico, together with other resources, will attract a
large volume of business to that country, to say nothing of the
pleasure and tourist business from the middle and Eastern states,
all of which will pass through Wichita.

It is the hope of myself and of Vice-President and General
Manager Dickinson that the Orient road will be completed entire
within two years.

ARMY OF MECHANICS BUILDING THE SHOPS.

There is no longer any doubt in the minds of Wichita people
in regard to the Orient railway's intentions toward this city.
Everyone is perfectly satisfied that the Orient shops are going
to be built, that Wichita will be the northern terminus of the
line for some years and that the railway is strictly a Wichita
proposition. When the Orient officials came into the city about
eight years ago, secured bond issues for terminals, bought ground
for these terminals and announced that the main shops of the
railway would be located here, there was general rejoicing. The
terminal bonds were passed without protest. But this slipped

584 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

by and there was no evidence that the shops, for which bonds
were voted, would be built. The time limit on the bonds was up
and still no shops appeared. Then the bonds were voted a sec-
ond time but with more difficulty. A second time the company
began to wane. Finally the people were asked for a third time
to vote Orient shop bonds. That was in the early part of this
year. The officials of the road declared positively that the first
unit of the shops, costing $300,000, would be built this year.
Despite these announcements there was much skepticism in "Wich-
ita and it was feared that the shop bonds could not be carried
a third time.

But they were and the contract for the erection of the finest
and largest railway shops in Kansas was let to Westinghouse,
Church Kerr & Company, of New York City. The actual build-
ing of the shops was commenced early this summer and several
hundred artisans have constantly been employed by the con-
tractors. The first building of the shops is now ready for the
roof. It is built of steel and concrete and is over 200 feet long
by 160 feet in width. This is the locomotive shop. Other build-
ings of the shops system are the power house, car shops, turn-
table, machine shop, foundry and a dozen smaller buildings.
Every building of the system is being built on the unit plan.
That is, space is allowed each building so that it may be enlarged
to twice its original size. Temporary ends of wood are being
built in each of the buildings, whose general construction is of
steel and concrete. When the shops are completed, as they
probably will be within the next six years, they will represent
an investment of $1,000,000.

The Rock Island Railway. The Rock Island Railway was
built into Wichita in 1887. The line was built under the name
of the Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska Railway Company. As such
it issued its stock in exchange for the good municipal bonds, of
which several millions were voted in Kansas ; then went into the
hands of a receiver. The stock was cut out in the suit and the
road went to the parent company, where it was originally in-
tended to land, and everything was lovely. Here was a lesson
in high finance furnished the entire state, but the turn was so
much antitcpated and the various cities and municipalities were
so pleased to get the road that very little was said about the
stock deal. Wichita and Sedgwick county were indeed fortu-
nate to get on the main line of this system from Chicago to the

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 585

Gulf. The Rock Island is a great highway of traffic. It runs
through Sedgwick county; it is an up-to-date railway and we
condone the stock deal from the fact that it has been a most
important factor in the development of Sedgwick county.

The Kansas Midland Railway. The years 1886 and 1887 were
lively years in railway projection in the city of Wichita, and our
people early saw the importance of controlling the territory adja-
cent to Wichita; a number of business men projected the Omaha,
Abilene & Wichita Railway. The late Dr. Furley was the presi-
dent and leading projector of this line. The present Texas line of
the Rock Island covers the old route of the Omaha, Abilene &
Wichita Railway.

A prominent Boston capitalist came here to contract to build
this line, and at a meeting in Topeka, at which there were pres-
ent various representatives from the towns along the proposed
line, it was learned that the Rock Island proposed to cover at
least sixty miles of the proposed line ; this being the case the
Boston man withdrew his proposition and at the solicitation of
O. H. Bentley and others came to Wichita, where the Kansas
Midland Railway Company was formed, a meeting being held for
this purpose at the Manhattan Hotel in Wichita. The incorpora-
tors of the new line were J. 0. Davidson, William E. Stanley,
C. R. Miller, H. G. Lee, 0. H. Bentley and Robert E. Lawrence.
An organization was at once perfected by the election of C. R.
Miller as president and 0. H. Bentley as secretary. Later on
H. L. Jackson was appointed as chief engineer and 0. H. Bentley
as counsel for the Kansas Construction & Improvement Company.
The latter named company at once contracted with the railway
company to build its line from Wichita northward through the*
counties of Sedwgwick, Harvey, Reno, Rice, Ellsworth, Lincoln,
Mitchell, and Jewell, to Superior, Nebraska, to a connection with
the B. & M. line of railway in Nebraska. It was always a dream
of the Wichita business men to have a great north and south line
from the Dakotas to the Gulf, running through Wichita; it was
thought that by the building of the Kansas Midland Railway to
the north of Wichita that this dream was about to be realized.
Construction contracts were made and certain Wichita men gave
their whole time to the project. Surveys were run; aid was voted
and the municipalities along the line responded nobly. A solid
line of subsidies to the extent of almost $4,000 per mile were
voted, from Wichita to Superior, Nebraska, and so strong was

586 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the aid voted, that it exceeded the statutory limitations and five
enabling acts were passed by the Kansas Legislature to enable
the municipalities to deliver the aid voted beyond the limitations
of the law, and the matter rapidly assumed shape. New, railroads
were projected everywhere over the state; the Rock Island was
building its great transportation lines to the south and west of
Wichita; the C. Wood Davis project, known as the Chicago, St.
Joseph & Fort Worth Railway, was in the field voting subsidies ;
the Fort Smith, Wellington & Northwestern, a line from Welling-
ton through Garden Plain and on to Hutchinson, was also in the
field. The Salina, Sterling & Southwestern was also on deck, and
other proposed lines, too numerous to mention, were in the saddle
and a wild era of railway building and paper railroads was on
the state. Indeed, some people doubted that there would be any
land left for farming after the railroad and townsites were taken
out; but the Santa Fe was busy and jealous of its territory. It
built from Strong City to Superior, heading the Midland to that
point. The Rock Island built its lines and the Midland was con-
structed by the New Jersey Construction Company, headed by
William G. Dacey, for a distance of 104 miles to Ellsworth, Kas.,
and to a connection with the Union Pacific at that point. Subse-
quently it was leased to the Frisco and remains to this day a part
of that system under a ninety-nine-year lease. It was a potent
factor in the development of the northwestern part of Sedgwick
county. Bentley, named after the secretary of the line ; Patterson,
Medora, Buhler, Wherry, named after and in compliment of
Frank P. Wherry, of St. Louis, for years private secretary of
Captain Rogers, general manager of the Frisco Railway ; Pollard
and Lorraine, named after a daughter of Governor W. E. Stanley,,
came into being and are all prosperous towns, naturally tributary
to the city of Wichita. To this enterprise the people along the
line gave the most loyal support. Such men as John T. Carpenter,
James Beard, J. E. Howard, W. O. Vanarsdale, Dr. Hunt, John
Shive, A. B. Buhler, Fred Cooper, C. W. Silver, Ira E. Lloyd,
Charles J. Evans, and many others along its line and in the towns,
gave their money, their time and their influence to complete this
line. The Kansas Midland was and is another spoke in the wheel
which brings commerce to a great city, and its projectors and
builders are indeed entitled to their share in the glory of Wichita
as a great commercial and growing metropolis.

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 587

A CRYING NEED.

By

J. J. BARRETT.

I have lived in several states and have seen localities de-
velop and grow, and for several years past I have lived in the
Indian Territory part of Oklahoma. For several years I have
been attracted to Wichita, and for months past have made this
city my home. I therefore speak as an observer and also actuated
by self interest. "What Wichita needs at this time is cheap fuel.
It is true we have natural gas, but the lasting quality of natural
gas is limited ; this is the history of natural gas in all of the
American fields ; it is also suspected that the natural gas of Wich-
ita and other adjoining towns is furnished from what is known
as the Iola Quadrangle, and upon this Quadrangle have been
located some of the greatest gas consumers in Kansas ; they are
still making a constant drain upon this supply, to such an extent
that an effort is now being made to tap a field further south in
what is known as the Hog Shooter District. At any rate, Wichita
needs as a growing town connection with the rich coal fields to
the southeast of Kansas. These fields are found in the old Indian
Territory along the line of the Midland Valley Railroad. This
line reaches now from Fort Smith to Arkansas City, Kan., and
should be built to Wichita. This would give Wichita a direct line
to the coal fields ; these coal fields are located in Haskell and Le-
Flore counties, in Oklahoma, and these counties are traversed
by the Midland Valley Line; these fields are the most extensive
in the new state. In addition to tapping these rich mineral
fields, the Midland Valley reaches fine timber belts, all of which
is needed by this city as a growing and expanding town. The
Midland Valley Line also taps the Osage country, and a number
of growing towns like Tulsa and Muskogee ; Tulsa is in the
Arkansas valley and Muskogee at the junction of the Verdigris
and Grand rivers, where they join the Arkansas. Both towns are
also in the rich oil fields of the Indian portion of Oklahoma;
therefore, the building of that short gap of railroad from Arkan-
sas City to this city would place all of these commodities at our
very door. The importance of the extension of the Midland Val-
ley Railway from Arkansas city to this city cannot be over-
estimated.

588 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

SURVEYING A NEW ROUTE TO WICHITA.

By

CHARLES H. BROOKS.

The ambition of the city of Wichita has for twenty years been
to obtain direct connections with the coal and lumber regions
lying to the southeast and also to link itself more closely by direct
railway connections with western and northwestern Kansas.
From time to time attempts have been made looking to a fulfill-
ment of these ambitions, but nothing has ever come of it. It is
apparent to every thoughtful man that Wichita, in order to main-
tain its commercial supremacy, must extend its railway connec-
tions into that portion of Kansas which is naturally tributary to
it. At one time the lines extending into Oklahoma gave Wichita
practically the command of the trade in that territory. Of late
years the competition along those lines has become stronger and
our business men and manufacturers are confronted with the
necessity of reaching out into new fields and tapping new terri-
tory which has hitherto been neglected. People are beginning
to see that Wichita, in order to enjoy all the advantages to which
its location entitles it, must become more of a Kansas town.

The extension of the Midland Valley Railroad from Arkansas
City on the south to a connection with the Union Pacific Railroad
on the north would be an important step toward the realization
of these ambitions. The Midland Valley Company now owns and
operates a line of railroad between Arkansas City, Kan., and
Fort Smith, Ark. It passes through the Osage Nation, where
countless herds of cattle roam and fatten, and taps along its route
the richest coal fields in the West. Its connections pierce the
great lumber districts of Arkansas and Louisiana. By the con-
struction of a railroad across a gap of about 250 miles in a south-
erly direction from Fort Smith the company will have a direct
line to New Orleans. The region traversed by the road in Okla-
homa is not only rich in agriculture, but embraces the greatest
oil, coal and gas fields in the United States. By establishing
direct connections with the Union Pacific on the north all of
northwestern Kansas now closed to Wichita merchants and
traders will become tributary territory.

The city of SaliDa is eighty-six miles north of Wichita and 186
miles from Kansas City. From Salina branches of the Union

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 589

Pacific cover northwestern Kansas. This connection would place
all of that productive district 100 miles nearer Wichita than
Kansas City. The immense advantage of this to Wichita is appar-
ent. Not only would an immense area be added to Wichita's
jobbing territory, but Wichita would become the principal mar-
ket for the vast quantities of grain and live stock produced in
that part of the state. This connection would also give Wichita
a direct line to Omaha and the shortest line to Denver. While
the mileage to be constructed is comparatively short, no railroad
project could be proposed which would contribute so much to the
upbuilding of the trade and commercial supremacy of this city.
The plan of the owners of the Midland Valley contemplates not
only the extension of their line to a connection with the Union
Pacific on the north, but also to fill in the gaps on the south,
which when completed will give them a direct short line from the
wheat fields of southern, northern and western Kansas through
Wichita, through the great coal, gas, oil and timber regions, to
the great market of New Orleans.

The hearty co-operation of the people along the line of this
proposed extension will insure its speedy construction. The peo-
ple of Wichita should awake to the importance of this enterprise
and see that nothing is left undone to make it a certainty. The
company which proposes to build this line from Arkansas City to
McPherson is composed largely of Wichita business men. Early
in August the Wichita, McPherson & Gulf Railway Company was
chartered and organized. The capital of the company is
$2,500,000. A subsidiary company was organized at the same
time. This corporation is the Midland Construction Company,
and its purpose is to build the proposed Wichita, McPherson &
Gulf Railway. The officers of these two companies are: C. E.
Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, president ; Frank C. Wood, of Wichita,
vice-president; A. W. Lefeber, of Muskogee, treasurer. For the
construction company the officers are : C. E. Ingersoll of Phila-
delphia, president; J. W. McCloud, of Muskogee, vice-president;
A. W. Lefeber, of Muskogee, treasurer ; W. C. Edwards, of
Wichita, secretary. Charles H. Brooks, of this city, will be
general counsel for both companies. Already the company is at
work with the preliminary surveys for the road. A corps of
fifteen engineers has been at work between Wichita and McPher-
son for the past month. Right-of-way men will be sent out

590 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

shortly, as it is the intention of the company to build the line
as quickly as possible.

Proposed Railway Lines. Four lines of railway are now pro-
jected in and out of Wichita. The Wichita, Kinsley & Denver
Air line, the Orient from this city Northeasterly to Kansas City,
the Kansas Northwestern from here to Great Bend, thence to
Benkelman, Neb., and the Yankton, Wichita & Gulf Railway.
The latter project is known as the Fremont Hill line, and Mr.
Hill has been across the water for some time in the interest of his
project. The latter line would be a most wonderful line for Wich-
ita, Sedgwick county and the belt of country traversed. It would
be a rate breaker and would move the basing line from Kansas
City westward. The Orient line eastward is regarded as a cer-
tainty— as it completes the links in the chain of a great trans-
continental line, 1,600 miles long. The Kinsley project if it fell
into the hands of one of the existing trunk lines, like the Union
Pacific or B. & M., would make a short line to the Northwest
and the intermountain region. The Kansas Northwestern would
serve the same purpose and occupy a most important territory
for Wichita, and the Yankton line would create a great north
and south line from the Dakotas to the Gulf of Mexico. An-
thracite, lignite and grain to the south, and lumber and cotton
to the north.

With her present railways and the proposed lines completed
Wichita's position in the great interior West would be a magical
one, and a most commanding one. She would easily fulfill the
predictions of Colonel Murdock, the great editor of the Wichita
"Eagle," when he named her "The Magical Mascot of the
Meridian."

WICHITA IS FIRST AS RAILWAY CENTER.

As to transportation facilities, the city of Wichita, so far as
steam railroad transportation is concerned, has few if any equals
among the western cities. It will no doubt surprise many people
in Wichita to learn that there is no city in the state that has as
many steam railroads and electric lines entering it, and from all
points of the compass. And these railroads are so arranged
that it is possible to reach every city of any importance in the
state of Kansas without any trouble. And also directly every
city west of the Mississippi, and extending to the Pacific ocean.

EAILEOADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 591

There are at the present time five railroad systems radiating
from Wichita, three more are proposed and being pushed along
rapidly, and there are two interurban electirc lines in prospect
with one interurban in course of construction. These railroads
offer facilities better than any other city in the state of Kansas
or any adjoining state. The new lines in course of construction,
the many improvements that are being made in the way of
shops, freight yards, stations, etc., together with the several
railroads that are now proposed, will add largely to the freight
and passenger traffic into Wichita, and when completed to the
extent planned will not be excelled by any city in adjoining
states. It will materially change, alter and reduce many of the
inconveniences of the outbound and inbound shipments to and
from the city of Wichita, and not only that, but will add largely
to the appearance of the city.

The Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad is now making
an extremely large expenditure on its shops and roundhouse now
in course of construction. When completed the Orient shops
will be among the best shops this side of St. Louis and as a
result a colony will be formed in that part of the city of the
many men who will be employed there. All the railroads will
be at an enormous expense in building the proposed elevated
tracks and union station. When the union station is completed
it will be one of the most commodious, convenient and safe pas-
senger stations in the state and the railroads can with a greater
degree of safety handle a greater number of passengers in the
same length of time. Another thing to be considered is that
Wichita is situated in a locality where it will control the greater
portion of the trade traffic to the Southwest. Bounded on all
sides by fertile farms, in the center of the wheat belt, command-
ing the trade from all parts of the state for the reason that its
railroad facilities reach to all parts of the state, there is no city
in the Southwest that offers so great advantages to the manu-
facturing and other shipping interests as does the city of Wichita.

It can be truthfully said that the authorities operating vari-
ous railroads in the city of Wichita have never been unreasonably
arbitrary, but have always been ready to receive and consult
with their patrons. The higher authorities of each road have
also been very considerate of the welfare of the citizens of
Wichita and its patrons, feeling that fairness and justice are
the best paying investments that could be made by any public

592 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

utility and therefore the most humble patron or shipper has
always had access to the officer or officers of these various com-
panies, has had a hearing and, as a rule, just treatment. With
the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient, the Fort Scott, Wichita &
Western, and the Frisco to the east; the Chicago, Rock Island
& Pacific and the Orient to the south ; the proposed Wichita,
McPherson & Gulf, proposed Yankton, Wichita & Gulf, Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe and the proposed Arkansas City Interurban
to the southeast; Fort Scott, Wichita and Western and the Santa
Fe to the southwest ; the Missouri Pacific and the proposed Wich-
ita, Kinsley, Scott City & Denver, also many connections with
other railroads to the west; and the Frisco, Santa Fe and Rock
Island, together with the proposed Yankton, Wichita & Gulf,
proposed Wichita, McPherson & Gulf, and the interurban now in
course of construction to Hutchinson, Wichita can touch any part
of the state and demand a greater traffic than any other city in
the state or than most western cities of other states.

CENTRAL POINT FOR RAILROADS.

The railway center of Kansas is Wichita. More trains, both
passenger and freight, run in and out of this than any other
city in the state. The volume of business handled by all of these
lines exceeds the business handled by all lines of any other city
in the state. These are broad statements, but railway officials
who are acquainted with conditions in every surrounding city
declare them to be true. As the railway metropolis of Kansas,
Wichita has an average of 110 freight and passenger trains in
and out of the city every day.

Although but two of the five companies maintain divisions
here the total number of railway men in the city is upwards of
1,500. These men draw salaries totaling nearly $100,000 per
month. A large number of them live in their own homes.
Within the limits of the city there are seventy-five miles of
trackage, including main lines, sidings and switches. Several
miles more are to be constructed during the present year. The
switch tracks of the stock yards terminal association are now
being entirely rebuilt. The biggest item on the railway calen-
dar for the coming year is the elevation of tracks over Douglas
avenue and the building of a union station. The railways have
been considering this matter for six months and are now making

RAILROADS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY 593

plans and estimates for the improvement. A board of appraisers
has been at work in the city for several weeks securing valu-
ations of all railway property and adjacent ground that will be
necessary for a large union station.

There are four roads in the proposed joint elevation of tracks,
the Santa Fe, Rock Island, Frisco and Orient. The Missouri
Pacific, having a suitable location of its own, has not yet decided
to join in the union station proposition. The entire improvement
of elevated tracks and union depot will cost between three and
four millions of dollars. Second in interest is the Orient shops
proposition. "Within the past week actual work on the con-
struction of these large repair shops was commenced. It will
require at least six months to finish the first unit of these shops,
which will represent an outlay of $1,000,000 when finished.
The unit to be finished this year will cost $300,000. A third
notable improvement for this year will be the removal of the
Rock Island yards from their present location south of the
freight house to a new location north of the packing houses.
Ground has already been purchased for this change and the work
of transferring the present yard facilities will begin shortly.
This road expects to spend $200,000 improving its freight han-
dling facilities during the next six months. Another improve-
ment which this road is making is the ballasting of its line from
Caldwell to Herrington by the way of Wichita. This will mean
a much smoother roadbed and faster service.

The Missouri Pacific also is ballasting its southern Kansas
lines. Before summer closes the entire Wichita division will
have been reballasted. Three work trains are now ballasting
the Kiowa branch from Conway Springs to Wichita. A large
portion of the Wichita division is now being rebuilt with 85-
pound rails. The Santa Fe is just completing its new freight
house, which cost the company, ground and building, $150,000.
It is one of the largest and best equipped freight houses in the
Southwest. With the removal of the freight offices to the new
home the old freight house is to be torn down. It will be
replaced either by the new union station or with switch tracks
if some other location is chosen for the union depot. The Rock
Island is badly in need of a new freight house and plans are
now being prepared for a modern railway warehouse. Con-
struction will be delayed, however, till the union depot matter is
definitely settled.

CHAPTER XL VII.
THE UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU.

By
RICHARD H. SULLIVAN,

Local Forecaster, Weather Bureau, Wichita, Kan.

Institution and Expansion of the Service — Establishment of a
First- Class Observing Station at Wichita, in the Heart of
Sedgwick County — Climate of Wichita and Sedgwick County
— Accepted Scientific Views Regarding Change of Climate.

INTRODUCTION.

As a matter of historical interest to the people of Sedgwick
county and to prospective residents of the future, it has been
deemed best to confine the discussion of the meteorological serv-
ice of the United States to three parts, under the following
headings :

Part I. Scope of the National Weather Service. The rea-
sons for its establishment and its subsequent expansion as a
working force in the interests of the public.

Part II. The Climatology of Wichita and Sedgwick County.
Establishment, equipment and work of the station at Wichita,
together with climatological data collected during the period
July 1, 1888, to May 1, 1910. Aside from incidental changes
from time to time, the averages will be standard for a long time
to come.

Part III. So-called Change of Climate. The subject is
treated wholly upon the basis of scientific research and observa-
tion, and the conclusions are the consensus of opinions of
authorities of international reputation.

The above arrangement was made for the convenience of
parties desiring information regarding the general work of the
Weather Bureau, and each division is relatively complete in
itself.

594

UNITED STATES WEATHEK BUREAU 595

SCOPE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

The meteorological service of the United States, now known
as the Weather Bureau, was established in 1870, congress appro-
priating $20,000 for the maintenance of a few observing stations
scattered throughout the country. In the early days there were
stations at Fort Leavenworth and Dodge City. Public demands
have since resulted in an organization that now operates upwards
of 200 stations, with 1,500 employes, costing an annual sum of
$1,600,000. At the present time there are stations at Concordia,
Dodge City, Iola, Topeka and "Wichita, Kan., and the station at
Fort Leavenworth was transferred to Kansas City, Mo., during
the late eighties. The work was originally inaugurated for the
benefit of navigation alone, but its scope was soon increased to
include all agricultural and commercial interests. The congres-
sional act transferring the meterorological service from the War
Department to the Agricultural Department in 1891 specifies in
detail the field to be occupied by the Weather Bureau, the chief
duties of which are to forecast weather changes, issue warnings
of severe storms, floods in the rivers, cold waves in winter and
frosts in spring, and to collect climatic data for public dissemi-
nation, and also to make extended research for the advancement
of meteorological science.

Bi-daily observations taken throughout the country are
assembled at designated centers for the preparation of the fore-
casts and publications of the service, and by international inter-
change similar reports are received from Canada, the Azores,
Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Great Britain, Germany, France, Por-
tugal, European and Asiatic Russia, the Philippines, Hawaii and
Alaska, so that each morning the observations present a rela-
tively complete panoramic weather picture of the whole of the
northern hemisphere. In addition to these observations, records
are made in season of temperature and precipitation throughout
the corn, wheat, fruit, tobacco, cranberry, sugar, rice and mar-
ket gardening belts of the country, and the collected informa-
tion is published daily for the benefit of all concerned.

The climatological branch of the service is divided into
forty-four local sections, each section generally covering a single
state, with a regular observing station as a center. At the cen-
tral stations are collected various kinds of data from over 3,600
co-operative stations located at intermediate points between the

596 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNT Y

regular stations. These data then become available to the public
in the "Monthly Weather Review," the "National Weather Bul-
letin," the "Snow and Ice Bulletin," and other publications
issued by the central office at Washington.

FORECASTS.

There is not an individual or possession in the cities or in the
country that is not affected directly or indirectly by weather
changes, the forecasts of which are available for the asking to
nearly 4,000,000 addresses daily; these are reached by mail, the
telephone and the telegraph, wholly at the expense of the gov-
ernment and separate and distinct from the vast numbers
reached daily by the great newspapers and press associations.

When the public service begins to noticeably affect the pub-
lic purse, then all lines of industry thus affected make it their
business to become more conversant with the methods pursued
by that service. From the time the agriculturalist begins his late
summer and autumn plowing until he turns the products of his
labors into necessities obtained of the city merchants and de-
posits his profits in the bank for future needs, weather changes
affect every crop his efforts produce, as well as the market price.
Meantime, the same weather changes are affecting the distri-
bution of his products through the various avenues of trade.
This being the case in a country where every drop of moisture
is of prime importance, it follows that foreknowledge of moisture
conditions for crops and temperature changes which affect the
evaporation of that moisture are also of the first importance in
the cities as well as in the daily routine on the farms.

The forecasts of this service are the best that science can
devise. It has been found that prognostications beyond a period
of forty-eight hours are impracticable, except under special
phases of storm movements, when the periods can be extended
several days or a week. Upon the basis of specified time limits,
the verifications of forecasts range between 85 per cent and
88 per cent, and sometimes as high as 92 per cent. Occasional
failures are unavoidable, due to deflection in storm movement
that cannot be foreseen. No other known system can equal this
record. Physicians have the advantage of technical examina-
tion, while the forecasters are forced to deal with the unseen
elements of an atmosphere that is in constant motion and is 100

UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU 597

miles or more in depth; yet, sad to relate, the doctors' failures
exceed 12 per cent or 15 per cent. Stock raisers, wheat growers
and the various brokers are absolutely unable to foresee market
fluctuations from day to day, notwithstanding the fact that
statistics furnish tangible evidence of supply and demand ; hence,
so many failures on 'change.

As the matter now stands, all ifs, ands, buts, isms and super-
stition have been eliminated, so that the weather service of the
United States has come to be recognized as the model of the
world, and students of its methods are sent to the central office
at Washington from every progressive civilized nation.

SPURIOUS FORECASTS.

Planting crops in the signs of the zodiac or under certain
phases of the moon are astrological relics of medieval super-
stition. The bases of almanac and all other so-called long range
forecasts are myths. Herchell's moon-phase and weather tables
were repudiated by himself when it was found that there was no
definite scientific connection between weather on the earth and
the several phases of the moon. Flammarion, the French astrono-
mer and versatile writer on scientific subjects, could find no con-
nection between the earth and the moon sufficient to make prac-
tical forecasts possible. Planetary meteorology and the anti-
quated idea of so-called equinoxial storms have no scientific bases.
No astronomer of reputation has ever observed the mystic planet,
Vulcan, although the most powerful telescopes of the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries have been used to search the heavens
during favorable periods. While the astronomers have been able
to predict the return of Halley's comet to the nicety of an hour,
and have been able to detect it while yet hundreds of millions
of miles distant, these same observers are unable to find a planet
that was at one time thought to be about 13,000,000 miles from
the sun and about 3,500 miles in diameter. The existence of this
so-called planet is absolutely necessary in the development of a
sufficient number of equinoxes or assumed attractive influences
of the various bodies composing the universe, so that the plane-
tary influences may increase the storm periods on the earth.
Yet, so far, the planet Vulcan remains undiscovered.

After reviewing the opinions of many accepted scientific-

598 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY"

authorities, Prof. E.B. Garriott, chief of the forecast division of
the U. S. Weather Bureau, concludes his remarks as follows :

"The application of past and present astronomical and me-
teorological knowledge to the theory and practice of long range
forecasting leads to the following conclusions :

"1. That systems of long range weather forecasting that
depend upon planetary meteorology, moon phases, cycles, posi-
tions or movements, stellar influences or star divinations ; indica-
tions afforded by observations of animals, birds and plants, and
estimates based upon days, months, seasons and years, have no
legitimate bases.

"2. That meteorologists have made exhaustive examinations
and comparisons for the purpose of associating the weather with
the various phases and positions of the moon in an earnest
endeavor to make advance in the science along the line of prac-
tical forecasting and have found that, while the moon, and
perhaps the planets, exert some influence upon atmospheric tides,
the influence is too slight and obscure to justify a consideration
of lunar and planetary effects in the actual work of weather
forecasting.

"3. That the stars have no appreciable influence upon the
weather.

"4. That animals, birds and plants show by their condition
the character of past weather and, by their actions, the influence
of present weather and the character of weather changes that
may occur within a few hours.

"5. That the weather of days, months, seasons and years
affords no indications of future weather further than showing
present abnormal conditions that the future may adjust.

"6. That six and seven day weather periods are too ill-
defined and irregular to be applicable to the actual work of
forecasting.

"7. That advances in the period and accuracy of weather
forecasts depend upon a more exact study and understanding of
atmospheric pressure over great areas and a determination of
the influences, probably solar, that are responsible for normal
and abnormal distribution of atmospheric pressure over -the
earth's surface. .

"8. That meteorologists are not antagonistic to honest, well
directed efforts to solve the problem of long range forecasting;
that, on the contrary, they encourage all work in this field and

UNITED STATES WEATHEE BUREAU 599

condemn only those who, for notoriety or profit, or through mis-
directed zeal and unwarranted assumptions, bring the science of
meteorology into disrepute.

"9. That meteorologists appreciate the importance to the
world at large of advances in the period of forecasting and are
inclined to believe that the twentieth century will mark the
beginning of another period in meteorological science."

PRACTICAL USES OF THE FORECASTS.

Forecasts of cold waves result in protection of many millions
of dollars in property on the farms, in the warehouse and in
transfer by the transportation companies. Greenhouse boilers
are heated. The general service plants prepare for increased
demands. Fuel dealers prepare their commodity for quick deliv-
ery. The ice factories reduce their output. Commission firms
and -shippers of perishable goods stop consignments, and retail
merchants prepare goods most suitable for the season. All
cement and concrete work is stopped. Charity organizations
prepare to minimize the sufferings of the poor. Live stock con-
cerns advance or delay shipments in transit and provide shelter
for stock in the yards. "Warning of a single cold wave some
years since resulted in saving over $3,500,000 in property that
would otherwise have been damaged or destroyed.

The general forecasts are used by multitudes of farmers in
hog-killing time, by sheepmen for transfer to pasturage and in
lambing and shearing time, and by cattlemen raising stock over
widely scattered areas. Broomcorn deteriorates under rainfall
in open fields. It is common practice for alfalfa growers to
consult the forecasts for probable rains. Lime, cement, brick,
tile and sewer piping must be protected from rain during manu-
facture. Physicians are guided by the forecasts in connection
with many maladies, and many invalids become familiar with
their use. Stress of weather during the heat of summer is espe-
cially enervating to infants and the aged, and their friends and
professional advisers are in constant touch with the work of this
service.

Much of the success of the fruit and market gardening indus-
tries are dependent upon the frost warnings during critical sea-
sons. In California, Colorado, Florida and in portions of the
fruit districts of Kansas large sums of money have been expended

600 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

for tents, screens and heating, smudging or irrigating apparatus
for the protection of tree fruits and gardens, and these are put
into use during the period for which frost is announced. The
value of orange bloom, vegetables and berries protected and
saved during a single night in a limited area in Florida, as a
result of freezing temperature warnings of the Weather Bureau,
was reported as exceeding $100,000.

We are pleased to relate that artificial methods of preven-
tion of damage by frost are being very generally considered by
the horticulturalists of Sedgwick county and elsewhere, especially
since the disastrous spring frosts of 1907 and 1909, and in some
localities in 1910. Late experiments in the Thomas and Kunkel
orchards show that temperatures can be controlled 4 to 5 degrees
with a distribution of fifty smudge pots to the acre, and 8 to 12
degrees with a distribution of seventy-five pots to the acre, thus
allowing for a freezing temperature as low as 22 degrees outside
the heated area.

Many millions of dollars are involved during the floods in
the rivers of this country, and one set of flood warnings is known
to have saved $15,000,000 worth of property. During one of the
greatest floods in the Mississippi watershed, lasting from March
to June, warnings were issued from four days to three weeks in
advance, and in no case did the predicted stage vary more than
four-tenths of a foot from the actual height of the water recorded,
notwithstanding the vast volumes of water with which the fore-
casters had to deal. The flood forecasts are based upon reports
received from about 500 special river and rainfall stations.

The marine underwriters have estimated that ocean shipping
saves $20,000,000 annually as a result of the forecasts and storm
and hurricane warnings, a sum, indeed, sufficient to maintain
this service at the present expense for fourteen years.

The miscellaneous climatological data are used in scientific
studies of the relation of weather to health, life and human
endeavor, by railroads in adjustment of claims, by contractors
in settlement of accounts, in settlement of cases in and out of
court, in dry farming and soil culture investigations, in prac-
tical agriculture, in the preparation of historical records, in
studies of life histories of noxious insects, by investment com-
panies in determining loan values of farm lands and other inter-
ests that space forbids enumerating.

UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU 601

RESEARCH OBSERVATORY.

At Mount Weather, Va., a research observatory has been
established for the investigation of atmospheric problems, includ-
ing solar radiation, solar physics, magnetism, etc., as well as
studies of the phenomena of the upper air by means of kites and
balloons carrying recording instruments. One of the kites has
reached an altitude of 23,000 feet, and the balloons have reached
ten miles or more in height. It is expected that this work of
investigation will result in a marked increase in our knowledge
of atmospheric conditions and a decided improvement in the
accuracy of the weather forecasts. In this respect the United
States again leads the world, as this observatory is the only one
of the kind in existence.

CLIMATOLOGY OF WICHITA AND SEGWICK COUNTY.

Location and Equipment of Station.

The climate of a place is the aggregate of weather conditions,
or the combination of all the weather elements and atmospheric
constituents into a general working factor or volume. The cli-
mate of Wichita and vicinity is relatively the climate of Sedg-
wick county, and for purposes of reference and comparison dur-
ing the coming years the records of the local office may be used
in this connection.

Wichita is situated in the Arkansas valley at the junction of
the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers, near the center of the
eastern half of Sedgwick county, latitude 37° 41' north; longi-
tude 97° 20' west; mean solar time at this point is 29 minutes
slower than at the nineteenth meridian, or central standard time.
The altitude of the city proper is 1,300 feet, as measured from
the bench mark at the Santa Fe railway tracks crossing Douglas
avenue; the needle of the barometer in the local weather office
is 1,377 feet above sea level, or 77 feet above the ground.

The Arkansas valley trends the county from northwest to
southeast, and in the vicinity of Wichita is flanked on either side
by ridges or gently sloping hills about 10 feet above the river.
The Little Arkansas river, draining portions of Harvey, Reno,
Rice and McPherson counties, flows into the county from the
north. The station is 832 miles above the mouth of the Arkansas

602 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

river, and 502 miles below Pueblo, Colo. The drainage area
above Wichita is 40,551 square miles.

The weather observatory was established on July 1, 1888,
by the U. S. Signal Service, with offices on the fifth floor of the
Sedgwick Block, corner of First and Market streets, where the
station remained until its removal to the seventh floor of the
Murdock-Caudwell Building on March 31, 1908. Since July 1,
1891, the meteorological work has been under the supervision of
the chief of the U. S. Weather Bureau. The instrumental equip-
ment is that of a station of the first class station and consists of
standard barometers, barograph, thermometers, thermograph,
instrument shelter, anemometers, anemoscope, electric sunshine
recorders, self-registering rain gauge and quadruple register, and
the station is fitted throughout with all the necessary appliances
of a first-class meteorological office. Daily readings of the height
of the Arkansas river have been recorded since July 1, 1897, and
a standard river gauge is now attached to the north end of the
east pier of the new concrete bridge at Douglas avenue. This
office is now the center of the Wichita river district and has
supervision over the river stations at Dodge City, Great Bend
and Hutchinson, and the special rainfall stations at McPherson
and Medora, which report heavy rains or high water, as the case
may be, during the period between April 1 and August 31 each
year and on special occasions in the interim.

CLIMATIC DATA.

The meteorological record covering the period from July 1,
1888, to May 1, 1910, shows the following climatological features :

The mean annual temperature is 56.1°.

The warmest summer was that of 1901, with a mean tem-
perature of 81.6° ; the coolest, that of 1891, with a mean of 74.2°.

The coldest winter was that of 1904-5, with a mean of 26.7° ;
during the winter of 1898-9, one of the coldest on record, the
average was 27.8°. The mildest winter was that of 1907-8, with
a mean of 38.3°. Other notably mild winters were as follows:
1889-90, with a mean of 37.2°; 1895-6, with a mean of 37.1°;
1896-7, with a mean of 36.4°, and 1905-6, with a mean of 36.1°.

The warmest month was July, 1901, its mean temperature
being 6.4° above the normal. During the same month the maxi-
mum temperatures ranged between 99° and 104° daily from the

UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU 603

7th to the 17th and from the 21st to the 24th, and there were
thirteen dates on which the thermometer registered 100° or
above.

February, 1899, was the coldest month, having a mean tem-
perature of 21.2°, or 11.8° below the normal. It was during this
month that the longest period of extremely cold weather was
recorded, the daily minimum temperatures being near or below
zero from the 1st to the 6th and from the 11th to the 15th.
March, 1906, is the coldest month of the name since the record
began, the mean temperature of 34.2° being 9.9° below the nor-
mal and 3.6° below the previous lowest record in 1891 ; March,
1907, averaged 20.4° higher than in 1907, with a maximum tem-
perature of 92° on the 22d, the highest March maximum on rec-
ord. This was followed by the coldest April on record, with an
average temperature of 50.0°, or 6.6° below normal, and also the
coldest May on record, with a mean of 59.1°, or 6.8° below
normal.

The highest maximum temperature for the station was 106.4°,
on August 17, 1909. The maximum temperatures have risen to
90° or above on an average of 47 days per year, and to 100° or
above on an average of four days per year.

The lowest minimum temperature ever recorded was 22° below
zero, on February 12, 1899. The temperatures have fallen to 32°
or lower on an average of 99 days annually, and to zero or lower
on an average of three days annually. Since the record began
there have been but ten dates on which the temperatures have
fallen to 10° below zero or lower.

Mean annual precipitation, 31.04 inches.

Seasonal precipitation: Winter, 2.88 inches; spring, 9.58
inches; summer, 11.83 inches; autumn, 6.75 inches. Total average
during the crop season, March 1 to September 30, inclusive, 24.24
inches.

Greatest annual precipitation, 39.46 inches, in 1898; least,
18.19, in 1893. Greatest monthly, 10.33 inches, in May, 1902;
least monthly, several traces too small to measure, in March,
1910; in November, 1894, the amount was but 0.01. Greatest
during any 24 consecutive hours, 4.74 inches, on November 12-13,
1909; other heavy rains fell as follows: 4.32 inches, on August
26-27, 1908; 3.98 inches, on May 31, 1908. Greatest excessive
rainfall at a rate of 1 inch per hour and over, 2.87 inches, on
August 22-23, 1889.

604 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Mean annual snowfall, 14.3 inches. Greatest annual, 25.6
inches, in 1892 ■ least annual, 0.8 inch, in 1908. Greatest monthly
amount, 13.9 inches, in December, 1892. The heaviest snowstorm
that ever occurred in this vicinity since the record began pre-
vailed on March 8-9, 1909, when 12.0 inches of snow fell; at 12
noon there was still a depth of 10 inches of snow on the ground.
Latest date in spring that snow was recorded, May 5, 1905, the
only time in May that snow was recorded ; earliest in autumn,
October 12, 1893.

Average number of days annually with 0.01 or more of pre-
cipitation, 87 ; with 0.04 inch or more, 66 ; 0.25 inch or more, 27 ;
1.00 inch or more, 6. Average number of thunderstorms
annually, 51.

Mean annual relative humidity, 69 per cent.

Average number of clear days annually, 168 ; partly cloudy,
115; cloudy, 82. Normal sunshine, 63 per cent; greatest, 75 per
cent, during September; least, 54 per cent, during November;
average during the winter, 60 per cent; average during the
summer, 69 per cent.

The latest killing frost in spring on record occurred on May
15, 1907, with a minimum temperature of 33° in the city; earliest
date on which the first killing frost in autumn occurred, Sep-
tember 23, 1895. Average date of last killing frost in spring,
April 8 ; first in autumn, October 19. Number of days between
average spring and autumn killing frosts, 194.

During the period December to March, inclusive, the prevail-
ing winds are from the north ; during the remainder of the year,
generally from the south.

Mean annual wind movement, 80,812 miles, or an average
hourly velocity of 9.2 miles. Greatest wind movement during
any one month, 10,957 miles, during April, 1909, or 15.2 miles
per hour ; least, 4,009 miles, during August, 1894, or 5.4 miles per
hours. Greatest wind movement during any one year, 99,560
miles, in 1909 ; least, 74,347 miles, in 1905. The highest maximum
velocity for a five-minute period ever recorded was 62 miles per
hour, from the northwest, on January 29, 1909.

Miscellaneous phenomena : Total number of days with dense
fog since 1888, 197; hail, 74; solar halos, 71; lunar halos, 82.
The only aurora ever observed was a light reddish glow in the
northeast between 8 and 9 p. m., February 13, 1892.

The annual rise in the Arkansas river, due to the melting

UNITED STATES WEATHEE BUREAU 605

snows in the Rocky mountains, usually begins during the last
week in May or the first week in June, and the waters seldom,
if ever, cause much damage. During the past five years the
highest stage was 6.0 feet, in June, 1905, and there has been
practically no water in the river during the summers of the past
few years. On account of the unusually heavy rains over the
drainage area of the lower Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers
during the early part of July, 1904, a large portion of Wichita
was under water from the 6th to the 14th of that month. The
highest gauge readings were 10.1 and 10.2 feet, on the 8th and
9th, respectively, and water flowed across Douglas avenue at
Topeka avenue, and across Main at Second street between the
7th and 13th. Aside from interruption of mercantile pursuits
and the inconveniences due to lack of aquatic facilities, no serious
damage was done. Early reports state that Wichita was under
water during May 18, 19 and 20, 1877, when the stage is reported
as 11 feet.

Wichita has never been visited by a tornado. What is known
as the Goddard tornado was observed in the southwest from the
buildings of the city during the late afternoon of May 26, 1903.
The funnel cloud first touched the ground when in a position
some three miles west of Goddard, about twelve miles west, in
this county, and moved in a north-northeasterly direction, dis-
appearing in the north near Valley Center. There was no loss
of life.

SO-CALLED CHANGE OF CLIMATE.

Relative Stability of Climate.

The atmosphere, in constant motion over land and water sur-
faces, expanding and contracting with heat and cold, absorbing
moisture in one region to precipitate it in another, and swirling
into the valleys and over the mountain ranges of the earth,
resolves the peculiarities of its lower levels into a general average
that we call climate. It gives marine climates to oceans and
contiguous territory, and continental climates to the great
interiors.

Climates originated in the adjustment of the primitive atmos-
phere to the ancient geological surfaces during the early period
of world making, and climatic changes have been as numerous as
the epochs in geological history. But these changes occurred in

606 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

such multiples of ages ago that the lapse of time must be meas-
ured in thousands or in millions of years. If the ancient ances-
tors of the mound builders could be aroused from their slumbers
their medicine men would relate a hoary legend to the effect
that the waters of the southern seas once tossed over the western
plains and the great Southwest and washed the feet of the
Rockies. It is said that Greenland, in the process of construc-
tion of the earth's crust, is rising at the rate of one foot per
century. No climatologist, however, has had the hardihood to
assert that any appreciable change in the climate there could be
detected at the end of the longest lifetime, or even at the close
of a millenium. In all the years since the time of Aristotle, the
sage and scientific observer who flourished about 2,300 years
ago, there has been no record of a permanent change of climate
in any part of the known world.

SUPERIORITY OF SCIENTIFIC RECORDS OVER MEMORY
IN MATTERS OF CLIMATE.

Notwithstanding these and the vast volumes of other evidences
that have been published from time to time, nearly every com-
munity contains a few individuals that are repeatedly affirming
that changes have taken place for better or worse during the
past twenty, thirty or forty years. How can they know when
they are compelled to rely upon recollection? But the man with
$1,000 to invest in farm land and the bank that assists him to
carry a larger proposition are unwilling to accept recollection as
collateral and come to the "Weather Bureau for proof. In such
a case, the Weather Bureau, after carefully investigating the
records, makes a statement that climates do not perceptibly
change, warning the prospective investor and his financial backer
that they should have complete knowledge of the climatic con-
ditions that will likely surround the locality in question. We
know that the meteorological records of the world, covering sev-
eral hundreds of years, show recurring periods of dry and wet
weather, ranging from periods of ten or eleven years to still
greater stretches of thirty-five or thirty-seven years, followed by
periods of contrary conditions.

When such a statement is made, however, there arises a host
in protest, without record, relying upon memory, uppermost
in which is the abnormal of bygone times, and reaffirming that the

UNITED STATES WEATHER BUEEAU 607

climate has changed permanently. Here and there will be found
a man that declares that a correct statement by government
officials hurts his business. We answer, "How about the man
with $1,000 to invest and the banker behind him?" Everybody
knows that memory is defective.

A casual comparison of the values in the rainfall diagram
under the heading "Climatology of W7ichita and Sedgwick
County," and the tables that have been prepared giving vari-
ations in precipitation, wind velocity and relative humidity, will
plainly show that it is wholly beyond the capacity of the brain
to retain details of weather without record.

INSIGNIFICANCE OF MAN'S INFLUENCE UPON CLIMATE.

Western Asia, northern Africa and portions of North America
were called deserts in remote ages, and we still believe they will
continue deserts during the vast periods of time to come. The
Chaldeans, ancient Persians, Ninevites and Egyptians exerted
untold effort in producing verdure that succeeding peoples have
allowed to disappear before the blistering desolation. Geological
evidence shows that extensive forests once flourished in these
regions, and remains of highly creditable irrigating works have
lately been discovered in the Arizona desert. But man's efforts
did not change the climate in these regions ; when his efforts
ceased, the desert reoccupied the territory which had for a time
yielded to his needs.

The earth's atmosphere is pressed down by gravity so that
about one-half of its mass is confined below an elevationn of
18,000 or 19,000 feet above sea level, although its total depth is
100 miles or more. Practically all life is propagated in this
lower strata of the atmosphere, and, while the upper half moves
constantly from west to east, the lower half flows in great eddies
or whirls, called anti-cyclones, having wind directions with the
hands of a watch, and cyclones having wind directions contrary
to the hands of a watch. The former are attended by cold or
colder weather and the latter by warm or warmer weather, the
thermal changes bringing about hot and cold waves, with storms
of rain, hail, sleet or snow, according to the season and the
intensity of the changes. These eddies of the lower atmosphere
carry the dust from the lands to the upper regions, whence it is
sometimes wafted vast distances. South American dust has been

608 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

found in Africa. The volcanic dusts from the crater of Kra-
katoa, Sumatra, in 1883, were distributed through the atmos-
phere of the earth by the winds, resulting in the great sunset
glows noted in all countries in 1883, 1884 and 1885.

If we can imagine a great cyclone affecting the country from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, over an area of 3,000,000 square miles,
such as the great storm of 1889, originated by intermingling of
masses of warm air from the equator and cold air from the
north, and which cover a greater extent of the earth's surface
than the territory of the United States, and then imagine the
influence of any plains state lying in the pathway of such a dis-
turbance, we can then understand that a whole series of states,
much less the man with his plow, is unable to control climate.
The great semi-arid West is contending against stupendous forces
in the form of great air currents that are charged with billions
of tons of moisture and dust before they come within a thousand
miles of the middle West. Each state contributes its proportion
of dust and moisture to the geenral air mass as it proceeds east-
ward, and these are carried away with the speed of the winds
blowing at the time. It is evident, then, that the cultivation and
forestation of the dry regions of the West, even though they
had proceeded much farther than they have, could not change
the climate.

It is hardly necessary to more than mention such authorities
as Prof. F. M. Ball, of the University of Minnesota, Prof. W. M.
Davis, of Harvard, Dr. Julius Hann, professor of cosmical physics,
University of Vienna, editor of the "Austrian Meteorological
Journal" and author of "Handbook of Climatology," and Prof.
Willis L. Moore, who has been chief of the U. S. Weather Bureau
during the past sixteen years. Prof. Moore says: "Our people
want the truth, so that they may not be misled by those who
honestly, but nevertheless ignorantly, claim that hot winds and
drouths will never come again; or by those who, when periods
of deficient rainfall come, as they have in the past and as they
certainly will in the future, preach discouragement and the aban-
donment of lands which, on the average of a long period of
years, it would be profitable to cultivate." Dr. Hann says:
"The United States seem to offer the most favorable conditions
for answering the question as to the extent to which increasing
cultivation of large districts of country may result in change of
climate. In the East there has been an extraordinary decrease

UNITED STATES WEATHEE BUKEAU 609

* * * in territory formerly covered by forests ; while, on
the other hand, a good deal of planting has been done in the
western prairies and plateaus. No corresponding change in
temperature or in precipitation has, however, thus far been
demonstrable."

QUANTITY OF MOISTURE.

The eastward drift of all storms and the increasing elevations
eastward from the Mississippi river have made it possible for
extensive forests to flourish in that region. But the vast area
under the lee of the Rocky mountains receives its moisture from
the far western storms after they have precipitated much of
their water content on the higher elevations before they can be
replenished by the moisture laden winds from the Gulf of
Mexico.

The buffalo grass, eking out its living on an inch or two of
parched plain, was too dry to produce dew, except well toward
morning, and then only under the most favorable conditions. The
imported species of grasses, planted in deep-plowed soil, go down
and bring up conserved moisture for their sustenance, throwing
their whole bodies to the air and presenting cool surfaces for the
deposition of dew while the flattened bodies of their cousin are
stunted from lack of moisture.

So the grass has spread, and orchard and shade trees have
outstripped their suffering brethren on the dry run. The shack
of the pioneer gave way to a comfortable home as he made head-
way against his difficulties. The receptive surface of the newly
cultivated farm allowed the moisture to percolate into what was
once a sun-baked desert. At the spot upon which each leaf fell
from the trees the evaporation ceased in proportion as it had gone
on untrammeled before. The rigors of climate have been over-
come by man, and the last twenty-five years have inclosed numer-
ous plains cities in copses of trees surrounded by some of the
most valuable farm lands in the world.

It is the man that has changed, not the climate, and the face
of nature has changed with efforts far exceeding those of the
early eastern pioneers. The western man that has observed the
wilderness blossom as the rose -decries his own power when he
charges to the account of change of climate the blessings result-
ing from his own initiative. It required more than the buzzing
of the drones while the climate was changing to make orchards,

610 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

meadows, grain fields and vineyards in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colo-
rado, Nebraska and the Dakotas. Perseverance placed the city
of Denver on the site of the Indian tepee in the valley of the
upper Platte, and "change of climate" did not plant Salt Lake
City in the deserts of Utah.

The present-day western cornfield is not like its grandfather
of thirty years ago and not like the present-day cornfields of the
Ohio valley states. The difference is due simply to the fact that
the latter region receives ten to fifteen inches more rainfall
annually than in the semi-arid West, where the agriculturalist
has learned to govern his cultivation according to this deficiency.
Thirty years ago there was no system of dry farming. As the
old sod plow and the wood-tooth rake have given way to modern
farming implements, so have the vast majority of farmers dis-
carded antiquated methods for those best suited to the climatic
surroundings.

Therefore, we do not say that the western country will revert
to its former condition as a buffalo range, and that the hardships
and -isolation of the pioneers will come again. Perish the
thought ! But we are forced to say that dry seasons will inevi-
tably recur in the semi-arid states, just as they have occurred
even in the East, where abundant rainfall may reasonably be
expected.

Drouths, hot winds and high temperatures are not impossible
in any section at any time. Francis Parkman says that during
the summer and fall of 1764, at the time of Pontiac's War, a
great drouth prevailed over the region north of the Ohio river,
and British soldiers suffered great hardships in navigating the
streams. Yet the settler had not then had much chance with
his ax, and the lands were covered with an interminable forest.

Prof. Alfred J. Henry, in ' ' Climatology of the United States, ' '
says:

"The greatest drouth this country has experienced in the
last 100 years, both as to intensity and extent of territory cov-
ered, culminated in the middle Mississippi and Missouri valleys
in 1894, and in the lake region and Atlantic coast districts in
1895. The drouth of 1894 was the culmination of a period of
deficient precipitation and high temperatures that began during
the early summer of 1893. The subsoil from which the surface
soil, by capillarity, draws a portion of its moisture, had become

UNITED STATES WEATHEE BUBEAU 611

appreciably desiccated, and the way was open to a disastrous
drouth should the spring and summer rains fail."

In September, 1908, the Susquehanna river was lower than it
had been in more than 100 years, and instances were published
of boys playing ball in the bed of the upper Ohio. A list pub-
lished in connection with this great dry period enumerates twenty-
three drouths, ranging from 23 to 123 days, that were experienced
in some parts of the eastern states between 1621 and 1876.

In the middle states, as well as the entire region between the
Bocky mountains and the Mississippi river north of Texas, the
great hot wave of July, 1901, broke all records in many sections,
the temperatures ranging from 109° to 116° in the shade. These
figures were published by the Weather Bureau at the time and
clearly show that abnormally high temperatures or hot winds
are not confined to any particular locality.

In looking over the published reports we find that heavy rains
and floods occurred in some portion of the plains states in 1785,
1811, 1826, 1844, 1845, 1851, 1877, 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908 and 1909.
At Fort Leavenworth, Kan., during the three months of June, July
and August, 1844, nearly 29 inches of rain fell, while the normal
is only 31 inches. In June, 1845, over 15 inches fell at the same
station, and in May, June, July and August, 1851, nearly 27
inches were measured. The great floods of 1903, 3904, 1907 and
1908 from the Missouri river watershed and adjacent slopes were
undoubtedly more disastrous than former inundations on account
of the vast quantity of valuable property involved. The old
settlers state, and the records show, that the early pioneers
suffered nearly as much from floods as they did from drouth,
and that a very large proportion of the heavy rains rushed over
the hard surfaces into the runways, inundating what little culti-
vated ground there was in the bottoms. While floods still occur,
a very much greater percentage of the heavy rains is conserved
in the largely increased acreage of cultivated lands, not only in
the valleys, but also on the open prairies.

TEMPERATURE.

French records dating into the fourteenth century show noth-
ing more than periodic variations in temperature. During the
100 years, 1775-1875, the average vintage date at Aubonne was
ten days earlier than during the preceding two centuries, and

612 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

now it is the same as in the sixteenth century. Similar data at
Dijon show a range in the vintage date of not over five days,
October 25-30. The mean temperatures of stations scattered over
the entire world show warm periods during the past century as
follows: 1791-1805, 1821-1835 and 1851-1870, with cool periods
between the series. The variations in climatic temperatures for
the whole world do not range more than 1° on either side of the
true mean, and the same relative values will apply to the United
States, with a somewhat more pronounced change in the plains
states. In Kansas, the range from the 21-year normal is — 1° to
+2° ; Oklahoma, 15-year normal, — 1° to +2° ; Nebraska, 32-year
normal, — 2° to +3° ; South Dakota, 18-year normal. — 3° to -f 4° ;
North Dakota, —2° to +3°.

With few exceptions, March, 1906, was the coldest March in
the middle plains states for forty years ; and March, 1907, the
warmest, followed in April and May by the most disastrous series
of killing frosts ever experienced by orchardists. January, 1907,
was the coldest January in Montana and the Dakotas in fourteen
to seventeen years. Records for the past 122 years at Boston
show but five Februarys colder than February, 1907. Several
well-known citizens of Wichita traveled 1,700 miles from snow in
Kansas to witness the first snowstorm in fifty years in the City
of Mexico during the winter of 1907. Records at Fort Leaven-
worth since 1832 show a minimum of — 30°, and minima of — 10°
to — 29°, according to latitude, have not been at all uncommon
in the plains states within the last forty years. The great North
American cold waves over the eastern slopes of the Rocky moun-
tains still maintain their old-time vigor in season. As a particu-
lar instance, on March 2, 1904, the temperature at Wichita fell
from 80° at 5 p. m. to 12° above zero the following morning.
The dwellers on the steppes of Russia still experience similar
rapid and widespread changes in temperature in season.

CONCLUSION.

We are led to the conclusion that the so-called changes in
climate have been nothing more than irregular oscillations ; that
a succession of dry years has given way to recurring wet years;
that there are alternating series of warm and cool years ; that
thus far there are imperfect seasons of maximum winds attending
low-latitude storm movements, with turns to minimum winds

UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU 613

attending high-latitude storm movements; that drouths and floods
are possible in any part of the country at any time, winter or
summer, and that it is beyond the power of memory even to
chronicle the abnormal in weather, without considering its appli-
cation to climate.

Wichita, Kan., May 1, 1910.

THE WEATHER BUREAU.

Wichita likes things that are right up to the minute. In this
respect nothing is excepted, not even the weather. Kansas
weather is a rather unstable creature with many curious turns
and rapid changes. Hence it is not at all easy to keep right up to
the times as regards clouds, sunshine, precipitation, dews, frost*
and humidity.

Yet W7ichita manages to keep well alongside of Kansas
weather. Indeed, Wichita very frequently runs ahead of old
Dame Nature and makes ready for whatever sort of temperature
and conditions the old lady brings along when she visits this
section.

In keeping even with or just a little ahead of Kansas weather,
Wichita is very ably assisted by Richard H. Sullivan, govern-
ment weather forecaster for Wichita and vicinity. Mr. Sullivan
knows all the tricks of the wind currents, the clouds, storms and
calms. He views them with the eye of an expert from the top of
the Murdock-Caldwell building every morning and then sends
out bulletins announcing his findings to the people of the city.

It is hard to say what Wichita would do without her weather
man. Should the government decide to take him away the
washer-woman never would know when to hang the clothes on
the line; young folks never could be sure of a clear day for a
picnic ; hunters would have difficulty in picking the right sort of
mornings for ducks to be flying; and father could never be sure
whether to carry his overcoat, his rain-stick or his fan to the
office in the morning.

But seriously, the Wichita weather office is one of the most
valuable assets of Sedgwick county. Few people realize the
scope and importance of the work carried on by Richard H. Sulli-
van. All through the spring and summer the farmers and truck
gardeners turn to the weather man for advance information on
the next day's temperature and its dryness or wetness. If it

614 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

is a cold spring the gardeners want to know if it is likely to frost ;
if it is dry, they want to know when it is likely to rain; if wet,
they are sure to be anxious as to when it will be dry enough for
them to cultivate their fields.

In the winter everyone is interested more or less in the
weather. The average householder watches the weather forecast
as closely as Mr. Sullivan watches the barometer. Everyone is
eager for advance "dope" on blizzards. It gives them oppor-
tunity to fill the coal bin, lay a supply of kindling in the dry and
make things generally shipshape about the place.

In the winter season the produce men are keenly alive to
weather conditions. They never make important or large ship-
ments of perishable goods without first learning the forecast for
the weather that probably will maintain until the shipments are
delivered. In addition to his regular reports Mr. Sullivan gives
hundreds of special forecasts to the produce men during the
winter.

During the budding season last spring Mr. Sullivan rendered
invaluable service to the orchardists of this vicinity. He pre-
dicted every killing frost that arrived and thus enabled the
orchard men to save thousands of dollars' worth of fruit by
raising temperatures in their orchards with smudge fires.

There are some who still look upon the United States Weather
Bureau as a joke. These are few, however, and becoming fewer.
The fact that 90 per cent of the predictions made by the bureau
come true is sufficient argument to prove the usefulness and
indispensability of weather forecasts. — "Beacon."

CHAPTER XLVIII.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF SEDGWICK COUNTY.

By

0. H. BENTLEY.

The Ninnescah Valley.

"There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet
As the vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet ;
0! the last ray of feeling and hope shall depart
Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart."

Sedgwick county is indeed fortunate in its valley land, fertile
and productive, responding readily to the hand of the tiller and
the toil of the intelligent husbandman. The Arkansas flows
southeasterly through the county. The great river starts in the
Rockies and brings down the cool waters of the mountains. It
blesses the country through which it runs. In the western part
of Sedgwick county the north fork of the Ninnescah enters the
northwest corner of Grand River township and flows in a south-
erly direction through Morton township, where it meets the
waters of the south fork of the Ninnescah river, thence pursuing
its way southeasterly just south of Clearwater, leaving the county
at the corner of Ninnescah township, in its meandering forming
a large expanse of rich valley land as good as there is in the
entire state of Kansas. The waters of the Ninnescah are espe-
cially pure and clear. In an early day it was famed among stock-
men as a specially fine stock stream. It runs over a white sandy
bottom and with cultivation and improvement its rich bottom
lands will equal in fertility those of the Cowskin and Little
Arkansas rivers.

At this time some of the very best farms in this portion of
Kansas are located in the valleys of the Ninnescahs, and in these
later years the waters of the Ninnescahs have been carefully

615

616 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

stocked with fish, and black bass, crappie, channel and mudcat
are abundant in these streams.

THE BIG FOUR.

There are four big townships in Sedgwick county, made up
largely of German farmers. They are Attica, Garden Plain, Sher-
man and Union. They are located in square and compact form
and are twelve miles each way. The parish Catholic church at
St. Mark is centrally located to serve all of this territory. The
railway stations of these townships are Goddard and Garden,
on the Santa Fe line, and Andale and Colwich, on the Missouri
Pacific Railway. The territory embraced is principally employed
in wheat and corn farming, though diversified farming and the
raising of alfalfa is most successfully carried on. The old-time
German farmers of the Big Four have grown rich and prosperous.
Their sons have grown to manhood and by the aid of their parents
have oftentimes gone out into new fields to locate and improve
new farms, and each instance they have carried to the new homes
the thrift and energy of their ancestors. The German farmers
of the Big Four are among the most energetic, reliable and thrifty
farmers of Sedgwick county, and for that matter their superiors
cannot be found in the entire state of Kansas.

THE TOWNSHIP OF AFTON.

Afton township, in Sedgwick county, is the only township in
the county not touched by a railroad. Some of the townships are
bisected with the iron rails, others are touched on the corners,
but Afton has no railroad, nor has it a postoffice within its bor-
ders. Its postoffices are Goddard and Garden Plain, in the town-
ships on the north. The township is finely watered by Clear
creek and its branches, and along this stream are raised many
fine fields of alfalfa. A number of Wichita people, notably
C. W. Southward, Coler L. Sim and C. L. Davidson, have arranged
a pleasant fishing preserve on Clear creek and have set trees and
built summer homes on the banks of an artificial lake, where they
dam the waters of Clear creek. To this resort they often go with
their families and their intimate friends. To this resort is a
most pleasant ride by automobile. Chas. A. Windsor, S. L. Nolan,
W. B. Throckmorton, J. R. E. Payne, Taylor and Crawford, W. H.

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 617

McCluer, A. Leichart and John Keifner are familiar names in
this locality. Some of them are dead, but the good farms they
tilled and the improvements they made survive them, blessing
the landscape and charming those who come after them.

AND ALE.

In an early day in the history of Sedgwick county two impor-
tant families occupied lands in the neighborhood of the Fifth
Parallel school house in Sherman township. These families were
the Andersons and the Dales, and when the Wichita & Colorado
Railway was built from Wichita to Hutchinson these families
were recognized in the name of An-Dale, which is a compound
of the two names. Andale is located upon the northeast of sec-
tion 15, in Sherman township. This township is largely settled
by German farmers, who have by constant attention to business
and by thrift and careful farming grown prosperous and fore-
handed. Upon the opening of the new country to the south the
Andersons and Dales went southward. Their good farms have
passed into the hands of strangers, but the good lands are there
and no history of Sherman township can be written without the
mention of the Andersons and the Dales, who were among the
early pre-emptors of that section. Andale is a prosperous trading
point and a grain center. It has a most prosperous Catholic
church and a good, strong parish. It is in the midst of a wheat
farming district and there is no better farming community in the
state of Kansas. M. Lill, A. M. Richenberger, Ellis Shaner and

M. B. Hein are familiar names in this township.
i

ANNESS.

Anness is in the southwest corner of Sedgwick county. Some
years since, when the Santa Fe built the Mulvane extension, then
called the Leroy & Western, and pursuing its policy of building
around Wichita, instead of into it, or out of it, this company ran
a line from Augusta to Mulvane and from Mulvane west to Engle-
wood, in Clark county, Kansas. This line of railway from Mul-
vane west cut the south tier of townships in Sedgwick county.
Out in Erie township a man named W. H. Wilson, a nervy land
man living in Arcade, N. Y.. had purchased through the old land
firm of Jocelyn & Thomas 5,000 acres of land and was rapidly
putting it in cultivation. The new line cut his land in Erie

618 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

township, all of which caused him much disgust. As the writer
of this article had encouraged Mr. Wilson to purchase this land
in the first instance, he came into the writer's office to do a good
bit of rag chewing and was bewailing the fact that the line of
railway cut his land. After giving the matter some thought,
and, in the language of Sam Kernan, "mature reflection," the
writer suggested that Mr. Wilson go with him that night to
Topeka and make the Santa Fe people a townsite proposition.
This was done, the trip was made and the usual deal was per-
fected with the Arkansas Valley Town Company, which is the
land company of the Santa Fe Railway. This deal was made
upon the usual terms, to wit, that the railroad company at once
acquired the big end and the control of the town. Then came
the inquiry as to what the name of the new town should be. As
Mr. Wilson had furnished the land and had given the railway
people 51 per cent of it to establish a depot on the same, by
Mr. Edward Wilder, then the treasurer of the railway company,
he was accorded the privilege of naming the town. He said that
he would like to name the town after his wife. He was asked
by Mr. Wilder what was the name of his wife. He replied, Ann
S. Wilson. Call the town Anness, said Mr. Wilder, to which
suggestion all parties present at once agreed, and so the town
was named and will be so called to the end of the chapter.
Anness is located in the wheat belt of Kansas. It is surrounded
by fertile farms and its citizenship is of the best. U. E. Baird,
A. Small, H. D. Compton, William Gawthrop, Russ Baird, B. F.
Forrest and M. L. Coates are prominent farmers in the vicinity of
Anness.

BAYNEVILLE

The early settlers of Sedgwick county, and the early buffalo
hunters purusing the noble game on the divide between the
Cowskin and the Ninnescah away to the southwest of Wichita,
saw a level plain with an imperceptible slope to the southward
where flows the Ninnescah river. Originally this divide was
regarded as poor and undesirable land; the settlers were sparse
and few, and a large area was used for pasturage for large herds
of cattle which were grazed there.

Franklin Fay was one of the early settlers in this region,
and so was W. H. Baughman, the late Judge Wall who early
had a good nose for land and was a natural land man by reason

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 619

of his early training in Cumberland county, Illinois, became an
investor in the lands near Bayneville. This town came into
existence upon the building of the Missouri Pacific railway
from Wichita to Conway Springs and southward to Kiowa and
the station of Baynesville was laid out and a town established
upon the southeast quarter of section 5 in Ohio township.

Judge Wall at one time owned some land directly west and
north of the depot at Baynesville. The town was named for
Judge Bayne, of Anthony, who procured a large portion of the
right of way for the railroad company. Cultivation has changed
the entire face of the landscape and good crops are now the
rule around Baynesville, which was once the favorite feeding
ground of the American bison.

THE TOWN OF BENTLEY.

Bentley is a town and trading point in Eagie township in
the northwest portion of Sedgwick county. In 1887, the Kansas
Midland Railway was built from Wichita to Ellsworth, a distance
of 107 miles, and the building of this line bisected Eagle town-
ship and established a depot and town on section 11, Eagle
township. The town was named in honor of 0. H. Bentley, of
Wichita. The local railway company was composed of Wichita
men; the directors were ex-Governor W. E. Stanley, J. Oat
Davidson, Robert E. Lawrence, Charles R. Miller, Orsemus H.
Bentley and H. G. Lee. When organized this railway company was
officered by C. R. Miller, president; J. Oak Davidson, treasurer,
and 0. H. Bentley, secretary. It was constructed by the Kansas
Construction and Improvement Company, an aggregation of Hart-
ford and eastern capital. The line is now operated as a part of
the Frisco system under a 99-year lease. The building of this
line called the town of Bentley into existence and it is located
in what is known as a very fertile portion of Sedgwick county.
Its surrounding farms are finely adapted to the raising of corn,
hogs and cattle, and the farmers of Eagle township are a pros-
perous and contented people. Not only do the farmers of that
region raise hogs, cattle and corn, but many of them own auto-
mobiles and they are often seen upon the streets of Wichita.
From Bentley to Wichita is eighteen miles by rail and by wagon
road a little over twenty miles. A short hour's run by automobile
from Bentley to Wichita via Valley Center, carries the tourist

620 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

over a fine road, past some beautiful, well kept farms, with just
enough grit and sand in the road to make the tires take hold and
keep the machine from skidding.

CHENEY.

A Good Town in a Good Locality, With Fine Homes and
Good Farms.

Cheney is perhaps the largest town in the county outside of
"Wichita. Its population is approximately 750 and everyone of
them is a booster. The thriving little city is located on the
Santa Fe, Wichita & Western branch, twenty-seven miles west
of Wichita, and is the last town on that road in that part of the
county. The progressiveness of the county is demonstrated in
the fact that a short time ago the Milling Company organized
and formulated plans for an electric light plant that has become
a success in every way. The plant has been in existence for about
seven weeks and since its beginning nine arc lights have been
placed on the streets in different parts of the city, besides the
company has over 600 smaller lights scattered throughout the
city in residences and stores. The plant is equipped with a 100-
horse power Monarch Corliss engine and a 50-kilowat dynamo.
The lighting of Cheney is operated on the same scale as it is
in other small towns throughout the United States, that of a
moonlight schedule. The city council will probably have several
more arc lights of 500 candlepower placed around on other
streets in the near future. The location of Cheney is ideal and
the land lying around it for several miles is all owned by pros-
perous farmers who raise everything that can be raised in the
temperate zone. Wheat is the principal product however, and
this year's crop was far better than for the past three seasons.
A great quantity of fruit is also raised in the vicinity of Cheney
and although the late frosts of last spring hurt the fruit crop, yet
it did not so affect it that it was utterly ruined. Many fine apple
orchards are seen throughout that section of the county. A great
deal of corn is also raised and will yield a far better per cent in
bushels per acre this year than last despite that fact that rains
were scarce during the hot months. Cheney has stores of every
description, all of them substantial buildings.

Cheney has two banks, four general stores, two large hard-

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 621

ware stores, two livery barns, one drug store, two hotels, two
blacksmith shops, one weekly paper, one grocery store, two ele-
vators, four churches and one large school with an enrollment of
nearly 275, two restaurants, one grain and feed store, several
doctors and one dentist, one large mill and electric power plant,
three real estate agents who do a large business, one exclusive
furniture store, two photographers, two lumber yards, one gents'
furnishing store, one shoe store, two barber shops, one harness
shop, one coal yard, one undertaker and several miles of cement
sidewalks. The combined deposits of both banks are placed at
a little over $250,000 and the wealth of the officers, directors
and stockholders will greatly exceed $1,500,000. Both banks
show a decided increase in deposits on their last statements over
the ones previous. The most influential business men and farm-
ers in that vicinity are the stockholders. They are men who have
spent the greater part of their lives in Sedgwick county and
have been instrumental in making this county what it is today
— the greatest county in the state. And it is without one
exception.

Cheney's greatest need is more people. Although there are
not over three vacant houses in the city today, yet the business
men of the city would be glad to see new houses going up. An-
other thing that the city needs and which would be of great
advantage to it, is more store rooms. While some, and in fact
most of the business concerns are located in substantial build-
ings, there are a few that are not. It would be necessary for
them to move into some hastily erected building during the
erection of a new business block, were they to have one built.
Several new residences have been built in the city during the past
year — and all of them were rented or sold before the foundation
was laid, so therefore it is absolutely essential that new build-
ings be built soon. The freight receipts have more than doubled
during the past six months, which is a good indication of a city's
growth. There has been at least a 20 per cent increase in the
postal receipts too during the last quarter. Another illustration
that Cheney is growing and forging to the front. It is expected
by the older residents and some of the newer ones that the popu-
lation will be 1,500 within the next year.

One thing that the business men and residents of the city
would like to see is an interurban road from Wichita to their city.
The Santa Fe only operates one passenger train a day over their

622 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

road, leaving Wichita in the evening and returning the follow-
ing morning. It is necessary for the people of that section of
the county to remain in Wichita thirty-one hours if they go there
with the intention of visiting any of the theaters. The train
reaches Wichita at 10 :30 in the morning and leaves for Cheney
and other points along the line at 5 :20 in the evening, which is
rather an inconvenience. An interurban road would operate
cars at least once every three hours over the road and while
the fare would not be any less than it is at present, it would be
a great help to shoppers and theater goers of the towns along its
line. It has been hinted by people who know that if an inter-
urban is projected the business men and farmers of Cheney and
vicinity would help further it to the entire satisfaction of the
promoters. Their one cry continually is better train service and
more of it. If the Santa Fe would operate two trains each way
every day it would satisfy them to some extent, for there is plenty
of travel along the lines, in fact, too much for the present serv-
ice, for about three days out of every week the train from Pratt
for Wichita is packed by the time it reaches Cheney and people
coming to Wichita would be compelled to stand up all the way
during their trip. Something should and must be done shortly to
satisfy them, for not only the residents of Cheney but of all the
towns along the line have the same complaint. Cheney is one
of the best towns in central west Kansas and is the best town in
Sedgwick, outside of Wichita, of course, which is saying a great
deal for Cheney. Tom Grace, Nate Hern, D. M. Main, Joe
Goode, Ode Northcutt and Wm. O'Brien are familiar names in
Morton township, where Cheney is located upon section No. 8
of that township.

"Bound about it orchards sweep,
Apple and peach tree fruited deep."

AN EARLY INCIDENT OF CHENEY.

The old-timers of Sedgwick county and especially those in
the western portion of the county will recall John Coffey, one of
the early justices of the peace in Morton township. M. L. Gar-
ver never tires of relating the early incidents connected with the
courts of Judge Coffey. Judge Coffey then lived in the western
part of Sedgwick county at the confluence of the two Ninne-

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 623

scahs rivers ; in the early days of Cheney he was the justice who
presided in that town and before him was settled many of the
disputes and contentions of that region. He was a man of won-
derful common sense, and sterling integrity. He used to say after
the lawyers had argued the case and presented the law, "Boys
let us apply a little common sense and some prairie law to this
case." The first lawsuit ever tried in the town of Cheney was
tried before Judge Coffey. Harry Strahm, of Kingman, and
0. H. Bentley, of Wichita, were the opposing counsel; upon
Bentley complaining of the ruling of the justice, he was very
gravely informed by the court that the last ruling was for him
and added the court, "I will rule for Harry this time," and this
was final. He divided his rulings and the lawyers could not get
him to swerve from this rule. At one period of the trial Judge
Coffey became impatient and said, "Hurry up boys, you know
that every time I take up my pen it means costs." This case was
tried in a lumber office and the jury retired to deliberate upon
their verdict to a convenient lumber pile, but since that time there
has been many changes in Cheney. Lafe Jones was there then,
so was Ed. Gobin. Many of the old-timers still remain. Those who
stayed have reaped their reward in this world's goods, and it
has been measured to them again in the fulness of the seasons
and the ample return of the husbandman, but Judge Coffey
has gone to his reward. The old time Coffey farm at the confluence
of the two rivers, where the bright waters meet and mingle,
those waters as pure as the distillations of the dew, has passed
to strangers, but it will be many years before the eccentricity
and sturdy honesty of Judge Coffey will be forgotten.

CLEARWATER.

Clearwater, seventeen miles southeast of Wichita, with a popu-
lation of 600 inhabitants is one of the principal towns in the
county. It has all the advantages of the larger towns, inasmuch
as it has natural gas and electric lights, two banks, four general
stores and a host of smaller places. It has three churches and
a fine school building with an enrollment of ever 300. Clear-
water is the best town in the southern and southwestern part of
the county. The town is located on two railroads. The Santa
Fe and the Missouri Pacific passing through Clearwater do a
large freight and passenger business. The Santa Fe enters the

624 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

town from the east, going to Clearwater from Wichita via Mul-
vane, while the Missouri Pacific goes there direct. The latter
is the most direct route and carries the most passengers. The
country around Clearwater is well adapted for the raising of
corn, oats, wheat, barley, and fruits of all kinds. A great deal
of garden stuff is also raised. All the farmers living in the
vicinity of the city are prosperous and nearly all own their own
farms. The city has two large elevators well filled with grain,
which finds a ready market in Wichita and other cities east of it.

The bank deposits in the two banks will exceed $150,000.
They are both state banks and have been in existence for many
years. Never once during the career of either bank have the
deposits ever decreased — that is, on statement days. They always
show a marked increase, which is the best indication that Clear-
water is prosperous and growing. There are two very large hard-
ware stores, in fact larger than any other town in the county
can boast of — Kirk, Mathews and Company and the Smith-Mc-
Laughlin stores. The latter, however, is the largest, carries
the most stock and has been in existence for several years. It
is located on North Main street. Among the general stores those
of Ross and Company and the Racket are the largest, while in
the harness line, the store of A. H. Wood is a credit to any city
twice or three times the size of Clearwater. The city also has
a large and up-to-date livery barn which does a tremendous
business at all times of the year.

The postal receipts of the city have made a twenty per cent
increase during the past quarter. The rural routes are in exist-
ence and have an average of eighty families each. They cover
a distance of over thirty miles and the mail is always heavy.
There are two lumber yards in Clearwater, the Farmers and the
Hill-Engstrom Company. Both carry large stocks and do a
lucrative business. The city has one large and well stocked drug
store, besides the above mentioned business houses, two hotels,
one millinery store, two restaurants, one weekly newspaper with
a large circulation, one real estate firm, one opera house and lodge
hall and a score of smaller places.

Most of the business men of the thriving little city are pio-
neers and have lived there for the greater part of their lives.
Among them are some of the founders of Sedgwick county. Clear-
water wants more people. It has the room and there is lots of
valuable ground around it for the city to spread. There are very

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 625

few empty houses in the town, but as the business men say, there
is lots of lumber there to build new ones with and they want to
see the new ones going up. More people is the constant cry of
the residents. Among the active business people of the town
in the past and present may be mentioned F. Herroion, Magill
and Bliss, Hammers Bros., A. Bauter, Jesse Elliott, T. McCready
and the Howard Milling Company, while H. R. "Watt and the
Chambers Brothers are prominent farmers in its vicinity. John
R. Stanley is the very accommodating postmaster of the town.

COLWICH.

By

DAN E. BOONE.

In the early eighties there was a bunch in Wichita called the
"Big Four." This Big Four was made up of Col. M. M. Murdock,
N. F. Neiderlander, M. W. Levy and A. W. Oliver. Of this aggre-
gation of men who did things, M. W. Levy is living in New
York and A. W. Oliver and N. F. Neiderlander are living in St.
Louis. Colonel Murdock, the able editor of the Wichita "Eagle"
for many years, has passed to the great beyond. The Big Four
exploited and promoted the Wichita and Colorado railway from
Wichita to the northwest. It was originally designed to go west-
ward leaving Hutchinson six miles to the northward. When the
line reached Elmer, six miles south of Hutchinson, L. A. Bigger
and some of the business men of Hutchinson got busy. They
went to New York and personally saw Jay Gould, the wizard
of Wall street at that time ; Gould was then, as his heirs are now,
the moving force behind the Missouri Pacific railway. The "Big
Four" had a deal on hand with the Missouri Pacific people to
lease the Wichita and Colorado railway to them, and this was
subsequently done ; suffice it to say that the Hutchinson influence
turned the line into that town.

Early in the building of that line and the second station out
of Wichita, was established the town of Colwich. This name was
made of compounding the two names Wichita and Colorado ;
only the founders turned the name around. The town was
established on sections 15 and 16 in Union township. The land
was purchased of Lewis Rhodes; the first town company was
made of the following named well known citizens of Union town-
ship and Wichita: C. F. Hyde, Geo. W. Steenrod, Henry Haskins,

626 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Dan E. Boone, Kos Harris, M. W. Levy, L. D. Skinner, N. F.
Neiderlander, and M. M. Murdock. The railway company put in
the railway and the town company put in the land. Henry
Haskins was the first postmaster. N. A. Sterns is now the post-
master of Colwich. The town is the center of a very fine farming
country.

DAVIDSON.

Once upon a time when the Kansas Midland railway built
from "Wichita to the northwest, just north of Wichita, it passed
what was then known as the Burton Car Works. The Car Works
had been promoted by J. 0. Davidson, who was also the treasurer
of the Kansas Midland Railway Company. The Construction
Company then building the Kansas Midland railway, and John
B. Dacey its manager, thought it would be a nice compliment
to Mr. Davidson to name the station at the car works "David-
son." This was done and a nobby depot was erected at that
point.

The hard times came on and the car works faded away; the
houses began to take wings, the works closed down, many of
the houses were moved to farms, some went to Oklahoma on
wagons and some were torn down and thus moved away. It
began to dawn upon the people of Wichita that the manufacture
and repair of cars miles away from fuel and material was an
abnormal condition of affairs. With sorrow they saw what
promised to be a successful manufacturing plant gradually fade
from the landscape. The Burton Car Works are no more, and
having no further use for the depot at Davidson, the railway
company moved it to another point, and now the Frisco trains go
by Davidson without even whistling. The siding has gone and
nothing remains of Davidson except a very fine patch of alfalfa
which probably pays better returns than the station.

DERBY.

By

J. FITCH HOUCK.

The history of Sedgwick county would certainly not be com-
plete without some mention being made of the town of El Paso,
now Derby, situated ten miles south of Wichita on section 12,
township 29, range 2 east.

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 627

The first settlers on the land were John H. Huffbauer and
J. Hout Winnich. They laid out the town and had it platted in
the spring of 1871. The first store to locate in the place was a
general merchandise one, established by Schlicter and Smith,
who immediately proceeded to fail in business when they sold
out to Neely and Vance. About this time a ferry-boat was put
in operation so that the people from the west side of the river
could get into town, but in 1873 the two townships, Rockford and
Salem, with the help of the county commissioners built a fine
bridge. This, of course, put the ferry boat out of commission,
but during the flood of 1877 the bridge went out and for two
years El Paso was without communication from the west side.
At this time another bridge was put in which answered all purposes
until the present fine steel bridge was built. The first train to enter
was the A. T. & S. F. July 18, 1879. The next improvement being
a depot building built the following November. On the first
of March, 1879, the town saw its first fire, which nearly destroyed
every building in the place, but the citizens being men of the
get up and push variety, the town was soon rebuilt and a new
town company organized. From this time on the place seemed
to jump and some of its inhabitants fondly hoped and actually
believed it would beat Wichita. When the town was reorgan-
ized, George Litzenberg (afterward known throughout the state
as Farmer Doolittle), started a general merchandise store, and
after running it successfully for several years sold out in order
to take up his new occupation, that of writing for the press.
His first endeavor in that line being on the Wichita "Eagle."
E. F. Osborn, now residing in Mulvane, built the first hotel but
did not run it long until he sold out. Joseph Mock built the
first blacksmith shop and did all the plow sharpening for miles
around.

As was the custom in those days every town, no matter how
small, had to have a place where wet goods were disposed of and
so as to be in the push L. E. Vance opened up a saloon and it is
needless to say did what in those days was called a landoffice
business. In 1880, the Santa Fe railway changed the name of
the town from El Paso to Derby, and from that day to this, Derby
has always kept in the lime-light so to speak. John Brunton
built and operated the first grain elevator which afterward
burnt down but was rebuilt by other parties. In 1872 Judge
McCoy settled in that town and being the only student of Black-

628 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

stone soon had all the legal business of the community to attend
to. The judge had one son, eight years of age, who attended our
public school and in a short time he became our fourth of July
orator. In after years he studied law and was admitted to the
bar, but the practice of law did not seem to agree with him so
he gave it up in order to accept a clerkship in the Wichita
postoffice, and by strict attention to business he has steadily
advanced to assistant postmaster, which position he holds at the
present time.

Among the early settlers of the place were Osborn, Eaton,
Me Williams, Snyder Bros., Woodard, Pittman and Garrett. Anna
Mary Garrett having the distinction of being the first white child
born in the county.

The first timber used in the place was hauled from Salina,
118 miles, but at the present time we have a large lumber yard
of our own, run by Davidson and Case Lumber Company. In
the early seventies the Tucker Bros, came from Ohio and located
here, H. C. being a doctor started a drug store and until the
time of his death had all the practice in the southern part of
the county. John and Wayne went to farming. John in after
years held the offices of county clerk and treasurer.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was instituted in
1874, and at the present time is in a flourishing condition, own-
ing their own property, a fine two-story building. The Methodist,
Presbyterian, Baptist, German Lutheran and Catholic all have
churches of their own, which would be a credit to any town of
twice the size of Derby.

FURLEY.

Furley is a hamlet on the Rock Island railway, in Lincoln
township. It was named in honor of Dr. C. C. Furley, since
deceased, and at one time an eminent physician of Wichita. In
an early day the medical firm of Furley & Russell was widely
known in this locality. Dr. Furley was identified with a pros-
pective railway company, known as the Omaha, Abilene and
Wichita RailM-ay Company. It proposed to unite the towns named.
When the Rock Island came into Kansas it covered a large por-
tion of the new company's proposed line. In the adjustment
of routes the naming of Furley fell to Dr. Furley and his asso-
ciates, and so the town was named Furley, and it perpetuates
the name of an eminent surgeon and an early settler. The town is

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 629

located upon the northeast quarter of section 16, in Lincoln
township, and it is fortunate in being upon one of the great
trunk lines of railway. There are railways and railways, and
branch lines and feeders and all that, but it is not every town so
fortunate in its location as to be upon a great trunk line, and it
means something. The building of this line of the Rock Island
developed the country fast. It gave the farmers a new market ;
it gave them easy access to Wichita, the shire town of the great
county of Sedgwick. Around Furley are fine farms. Uncle
Philo Griffin is one of the old settlers. D. R. Bump is a
prosperous farmer on the southwest. The Harrison estate owns
extensive land holdings near Furley; Jasper Howrey lives east
of the town ; Obediah Jordan, Chris Shepard, William Hiser,
H. I. Merrell, Owen Yazel, James McGrew, Oren Smith, and
Oscar Matson are familiar names in Lincolr. township.

GARDEN PLAIN.

Garden Plain sprang into being upon the building of the
Wickita & Western railroad from Wichita to Kingman.

Its citizenship is made up largely of a thrifty German popu-
lation, who own fine farms in its vicinity. Garden Plain, situated
midway between Cheney and Goddard, on the Santa Fe, Wichita
& Western branch, twenty-one miles west of Wichita, is an ideal
place to live. The environments are delightful and the climate
agreeable. The little city has a population of about 350, and has
some of the finest store buildings in the county. It is an old
town, having been in existence for over a quarter of a century.
The little town has three large and well stocked general mer-
chandise stores, one exceptionally large hardware store, one large
drug store, one livery stable, one hotel, one bank, one lumber
yard, two elevators, one millinery store, two meat markets, one
restaurant, three churches and large and commodious school
house, which is practically new. The bank has the largest de-
posits of any town its size in the state, and is constantly increas-
ing them. The stockholders are all influential farmers and busi-
ness men of the community and men who have lived there the
greater part of their lives. It is located in a handsome one-story
brick building, erected a few years ago, and its officers and
directors have been connected with it ever since its organization.
The country immediately surrounding Garden Plain is well adapted

630 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

to the raising of corn, oats, wheat and garden stuff. Wheat being
the principal product, it finds a ready market in Wichita, for
the elevator is never allowed to fill up. Before that is accom-
plished the grain is shipped to Eastern markets or to nearby
towns. Corn also finds a ready market, and a great quantity of
the grain is shipped annually.

Reaching Garden Plain upon the railroad the traveller always
sees the familiar figure of Billy Taylor, who is the postmaster
and who carries the mail to and from the trains. Among the
active business men of Garden Plain may be named, Wulf Bros.,
Hahn Bros, and Martin Oebel.

GODDARD.

Goddard is located on section 31 in Attica township. It was
laid out and a railway station established upon the building of
the Wichita & Western Railway. It became a good trading
point from the first, and the tourist upon the trains running
through that town always expects to see Henry Williams and
Smith, the landlord, at the depot. They meet all trains and the
town would be lonesome without them. Chris Shepard used to
be there and buy hogs and cattle, but growing easy financially
he bought some land at Furley and now enjoys the results of his
strenuous labors. In an early day Orrin Herron run a livery
stable in the town; Orrin used to drive the various candidates
about that portion of the county and in those days he could
pitch bundles, load hay or feed a threshing machine. Al Lyman
used to live there and William Black used to live north of the
town; he was a county lawyer and was in all of the early law
suits of that section. Goddard is fourteen miles west of Wichita ;
the country around is essentially a wheat raising country.
Ferdinand Holm, Charles M. Miles, Martin Holm, John Roeder,
O. M. Pittinger, M. L. Henshaw, Samuel Eberly, Sam Nolan, and
C. P. Schafer are familiar names in this township.

GREENWICH.

Greenwich is a hamlet in Sedgwick county, and it has a popu-
lation of about 100 souls. It contains schools and churches and
several good stores. The building of the St. Louis, Fort Scott &
Wichita railroad called Greenwich into being, it is about twelve
miles east of Wichita. The railroad is now operated by the Mis-

TOWNS AND VILLAGES . 631

souri Pacific Railway Company. Greenwich is located upon the
southwest quarter of section 15 in Payne township; this town-
ship was named in honor of Capt. David L. Payne, the original
Oklahoma boomer. Payne's ranch, one of the old time ranches
run by Captain Payne, was located in this township a little south
and west of Greenwich. Payne township is a fine body of land,
and is in a high state of cultivation. Mess Phillips and son
carried on a general store in Greenwich for many years. The
Phillips family, Devores, Herman Herr, H. W. Ruble, and Hjadens
are very familiar names in and about Greenwich. Payne town-
ship is a full congressional township and is six miles east and
west and six miles north and south. The township raises hogs
and cattle, small grains of all kinds grown in this part of Kan-
sas and Greenwich afford a most excellent grain market.

THE TOWN OF HATFIELD.

It was back in 1883 that a small, but determined bunch of
men in Wichita headed by the redoubtable Col. J. W. Hartzell,
projected a line of railway from Wichita to McPherson, to a
connection with the Union Pacific at that point, and in an ex-
uberant moment they drove Colonel Hartzell 's black team to
Mt. Hope, where a railroad meeting was held, attended by Bill
Daily, Tom Randall and Jim McCormick, and the farmers for
miles around; Uncle Cooney McCormick was there and so was
Uncle Vincent from over the line in Haven township. This
meeting was most enthusiastic, and it was resolved to build this
line at once. Then began an era of rustle and hot haste along
the proposed line, and aid was voted by the townships of Delano,
Park, Union and Haven joined, and under the stress of the time
and of the prospects, Bill Williams and Henry Haskins put their
farms into a town site and the town of Hatfield was placed upon
the map of Sedgwick county. The first store was placed in a corn
field, streets were laid out and some Wichita men showed their
faith in the town to the extent of building several buildings in
Hatfield. Grant and Luckel put in a general store and a post-
office was applied for and everything looked favorable for a
town; but Colonel Hartzell was a financier only on paper, the
railroad was not built on the line proposed, Colwich overshadowed
Hatfield, Andale and Maize were actual towns on a sure enough
railroad. The Grant and Luckel store was moved to Maize, the

632 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

town site relapsed into a corn field, it seems that providence
never intended it for anything but a corn field. It could not
escape its manifest destiny, a corn field it was, and is, and always
will be, to the end of time. Exit Hatfield.

HUCKLE.

Huckle is now numbered among the extinct towns of Sedg-
wick county. It was located in Ohio township. This station was
located through the efforts of Hon. R. J. Huckle, of Sumner
county, who owned a fine farm to the south of the station; it
was at the time of the building of the Leroy & Western Railway,
a subsidiary line of the Santa Fe system. At one time the Santa
Fe Company projected a numerous lot of lines, so many that it
was thought there would not remain sufficient farm land after
the proposed lines were constructed. Suffice is to say that the
Leroy & Western was projected westward from Mulvane. This
line was built to Englewood, Kan., on the southern border of
Kansas; illy advised people at that time claimed that this line
should have been built out of Wichita, but the Santa Fe pursuing
its policy of building up a large number of towns and no large
ones, thought proper to build this line westward from Mulvane
and operate their trains from Wichita southward to Mulvane, and
then turning a square corner and running westward from that
point. The ways of railway projectors are past finding out, and
in this way the Leroy & Western was operated at this time. But
we were speaking of Huckle, which was laid out at this time and
flourished for a season, but the Rock Island came along and
crossed the Santa Fe at Peck, this was too near to Huckle, and
after a vain and inglorious struggle, Huckle gave up the ghost
and faded from the map, it is now only a memory. A weary and
unsightly pile of cinders now marks the spot where once was
a station at Huckle ; the railway company made some kind of a
right-of-way deal with Mr. Huckle and they still hang onto
that. The Leroy & Western Railway Company has been absorbed
by the Santa Fe, and they usually do as they please in Kansas,
at least that is what Bob Huckle thinks. Some months since
Huckle began a suit against the Santa Fe in the district court,
but after one or two hitches at it, the case petered out and like
its namesake had faded from the map, this case faded from the
records. Today not a single building exists upon the town site

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 633

oL' Huekle, but the railway company still hangs onto the 200
feet right-of-way through the town.

JAMESBURG.

The early settlers of Sedgwick county will recall the town of
Jamesburg; the main distinguishing feature of this town was
that it was situated near the Cowskin creek and not far from
the farm of Aaron Seiver. All around it was some of the very
best land in Sedgwick county and the fine bottom lands of the
Cowskin. North and northwest it was settled by a very thrifty
German class of farmers and west of it Esquire McCallister, in
an early day, held court in his front yard. In this court it was
the habit of Frank Dale, Dave Dale, T. B. Wall, 0. H. Bentley,
W. E. Stanley and others of the early day lawyers of Sedgwick
county to appear and try law suits of various kinds and en route
to Esquire McCallisters they always crossed the Cowskin creek,
just west of the town of Jamesburg.

There was in those days an angling road leading eastward
from Jamesburg towards Wichita. This was the main artery
of travel, and after a case was tried in Esquire McCallister 's
front yard, the jury usually retired to a convenient straw stack
to deliberate upon their verdict. In those days there was no
convenient jury room, properly warmed and lighted, but only
the sighing of the summer wind as it whistled around the cor-
ner of the stack in Esquire McCallister 's field. The personnel
of this court was never complete without the presence of Will-
iam Black, of Garden Plain township, who could scent a lawsuit
for miles away, and who always in some way took a hand in
any lawsuit from his locality, which embraced the four Town-
ships of Attica, Afton, Union and Garden Plain, and he some-
times deadened over the line. Later on the fifth parallel neigh-
borhood passed away, the railway was built and the towns of
Colwich, Andale, Goddard, Bentley and Mt. Hope were built, and
Esquire McCallister court faded away with Jamesburg. The old
Justice and William Black were gathered to their fathers, the
old-timers went to the territory and Jamesburg today is but a
memory in the minds of the old-timers.

KECHI.

The hamlet of Kechi, is located upon sections 12 and 13, in
Kechi township in Sedgwick county, and it is a station upon the

634 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Rock Island Railway; fortunate indeed is any hamlet in Kansas
located upon a great trunk line of railway; Kechi is located in
one of the best townships in the state of Kansas, it is in the
alfalfa belt; the Santa Fe, Frisco & Rock Island railways cross
the township and the Missouri Pacific cuts its southeast corner.
Because of its nearness to Wichita, Kechi will never hope to
make a large town, but it has a good market, good agricultural
surroundings and is a pleasant place to live, send the children to
school and raise a family. It is a Christian community, and all
of the surroundings are strictly moral. The following named
are well known and well-to-do farmers of that locality : Garrison
Scott, Henry Tjaden, Jacob Rockey, and C. E. Mull.

MAIZE.

By

J. C. MAJOR.

Maize, became a station upon the Wichita & Colorado rail-
way, now the Missouri Pacific, when that line reached its present
site and a town company was formed, depot grounds laid out
and a railway station built. Wm. Williams was the first post-
master, a nucleus for a small hamlet was formed, a general store
was started and soon after its location, Maize Academy was
erected and flourished for a season, however, the location of
the town was only nine miles from Wichita; everything seemed
to centralize in the larger town and Maize never became a large
hamlet. Henry Loudenslager, his brother, Sam Loudenslager,
Lewis Rhodes, Leroy Scott, L. B. Dotson and Cornelius Oldfather
resided in or near the town and the hamlet felt the influence of
their thrift and energy. Later on R. B. Warren, H. B. Marshall,
uncle Joe Norris and others took hold of the town, but it still
remained a hamlet and will likely do so until the end of the
chapter. It is a prosperous farming community around Maize,
and a pleasant place to live, however the men like Frank Doffle-
meyer and Cal Major upon retiring from their farms moved to
Wichita. Maize is the Indian name for corn and Maize, Kan.,
is truly in the corn belt and this fact gave it its name, which
was suggested by the promoters of the Wichita & Colorado Rail-
way. Maize is located on section 19, in Park township. For a
long time J. C. Major was postmaster. The original town com-

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 635

pany consisted of N. F. Neiderlander, president; Cornelius Old-
father, vice-president; M. W. Levy, treasurer, and Kos Harris,
secretary. J. C. Major started the first store in the town and
sold out to Tapp Bros. ; the first church was a Congregational.

THE TOWN OF MARSHALL.

The old residents of Sedgwick county will recall the location
of and the town of Old Marshall, on the Ninnescah river, in the
western portion of the county. It was on the banks of the north
Ninnescah river hard by the flouring mill, of Bill Hays. Lafe
Jones was one of the moving spirits of the town, so was John
Gader and Fritz Kuhl. Marshall had great hopes of the future,
its founders expected to make the large town, between Wichita
and Kingman, but the Santa Fe Railway system, then under
the management of A. A. Robinson, kept a careful eye upon the
tributary territory of the system; that railway company early
saw the possibilities of the Ninnescah valleys, the Wichita &
Western railway was projected from Wichita to Kingman and
westward. The road was originally projected from Sedgwick
to Kingman, but the Wichita hustlers took the matter up and
were instrumental in securing the right of way from Wichita to
the west line of Sedgwick county, this fixed the line and old
Marshall a town for great possibilities for the future was left
about two and one-half miles to the north east. The railroad was
its death knell. Cheney sprang into being, a good location, the
railroad, and a fine territory tributary to Cheney lias made it the
second town in size in Sedgwick county; Marshall has dwindled
away; its mill moved away and only a fine grove of cottonwood
trees marks the spot of a once flourishing village. It was the evo-
lution of the town, from the prairie sod the favorite feeding ground
of the buffalo, then a town with its streets and mill, its business
houses and its hopes of the future, now back to the buffalo sod.
When Marshall was in its prime, the patriotic citizens projected
a fourth of July celebration, the morning opened with the usual
firing of anvils and fire crackers and all the incidentals of such
a celebration in the country. A young lawyer from Wichita was
the orator of the day and stood upon a wagon in a grove of
cottonwood trees and made his speech, the trees were so small
that the bald head of the orator of the day, stuck out above the
tree tops. Today some of those trees are more than one hundred

636 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

feet high. Marshall has gone, it is only a memory but the grove-
is there as a land-mark ; a few scattered cellars and small excava-
tions mark the spot of the early village, the village of Marshall
beside the softly flowing river.

MOUNT HOPE.

Mount Hope, located on the Missouri Pacific Railway, Wich-
ita-Geneseo branch, is twenty-five miles from Wichita and is one
of the most prosperous towns in the county. It is a thriving little
city of about 700 wide-awake and progressive souls. It is per-
haps the only city in the United States that has the four main
corners of the town on that many different sections of land. Years
ago when Mount Hope was laid out by the founders they bought
up four sections of land and began to build houses of every de-
scription on them. Later on the First National Bank Building
was erected. The plot of ground on which the bank now stands
was then the northeastern point or corner of one of the sections
of land. A little while later the building now occupied by the
Race Mercantile Company was erected on the southwestern
corner of another section. Following that the buildings now
owned and occupied by the Kennedy General Merchandise Com-
pany on the northwestern corner and the restaurant of W. C.
Fauss on the southeastern part of another section were built,
thus making the four principal corners of the city occupying
four different parts of different sections. As the city grew and
spread out these sections were sold out gradually until today
the former owners of those sections of land have no interest in
them whatever.

Mount Hope is prosperous in every way. It has up-to-date
business concerns, fine churches and an excellent school building.
The enrollment this year exceeds 300, which is remarkably well
for a town of its size. In one part of the business section three
different business concerns are located in the same building. They
are the office and printing establishment of The Clarion, the store
rooms of C. A. Marshall and E. E. Tyler. The town itself lies
some distance back from the railroad, and the street up which
one passes on his way to the business part, is lined with beau-
tiful shade trees of every description. Mount Hope is really, in
a botanical sense of the word, the greenest town in Sedgwick
county. It has the prettiest shade trees of any town in the-

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 637

county for its size. Tall stately cottonwoods and maples line
both sides of Main street from the depot all the way up town and
far beyond the main corners, which are really beautiful to behold
when they are covered with their foliage during the summer
months.

Two banks, one of them a national bank and the only one
in the county outside of Wichita; three restaurants, one weekly
newspaper, general merchandise stores, one drug store, an in-
dependent telephone system, two first class hardware stores, two
barber shops, one men's furnishing goods store, one jeweler, one
meat market, two livery barns, one elegant opera house with a
seating capacity of 600, one lumber yard, two blacksmith shops,
one photograph gallery, one millinery store, two elevators and
several doctors. Mount Hope's opera house is one of the finest
in the state. It is fitted up with opera chairs, seats which are
seldom found in theater buildings in much larger places, and a
stage 40x30. Three elegant sets of scenery and all the property
and furniture necessary to produce some heavy attractions are
to be found within the building. It has two floors and a fine
lighting system. The building which is also used for the city
hall as well as the opera house, was erected at a cost of over
$8,000.

No history of Mount Hope would be complete without a men-
tion of Thos. H. Randall, its founder, long since gathered to his
fathers, full of years and with the earnest respect of his friends
whose name was legion. William A. Daily, Jas. P. McCormick
and C. C. Thomas were always at the front in anything concern-
ing the welfare of Mount Hope. This town is the natural half-
way station between Wichita and Hutchinson.

MULVANE, KANSAS.
By
J. A. WHITTY, in Kansas

Mulvane, Kansas, is located on the county line between Sum-
ner and Sedgwick counties, five miles west of the corner of Sum-
ner, Sedgwick, Cowley and Butler counties. The city was laid
out by the Mulvane Town Company in August, 1879, and was
named in honor of Joab Mulvane, a prominent Santa Fe official
who was instrumental in locating both AVichita and Mulvane on

638 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the line. Mulvane was incorporated as a city of the third class
by the Sumner County District Court under Judge E. S. Torrence
on the 27th day of September, 1883. The first city election was
held on the 6th of November, 1883, at which time A. D. Doyle
was elected mayor. There is no better farming country in the
United States than that which surrounds Mulvane.

The Santa Fe Railroad has recognized Mulvane as one of the
important points on her system. This is evinced by the fact that
nearly $100,000 have been spent there during the past year on
the yards, new brick depot and electric switch plant. The Mul-
vane Mutual Telephone Company is owned and successfully op-
erated by local people and with local capital. The Mulvane Ice
Company is noted for the purity of its product. The Petrie
Poultry Packing Company, packers of eggs and poultry, does an
immense business.

The Mulvane State Bank, established in 1886, is one of the
soundest banking institutions in Sumner county. It has a capital
of $25,000.00 and a surplus of $12,500. W. C. Eobinson is its
president and C. F. Hough is cashier. C. F. Hough, cashier of
the Mulvane State Bank, is also treasurer of the Mulvane Ice and
Cold Storage Company and secretary of the Mulvane Mutual
Telephone Company. The town has no bonded debt. Chas.
Hodgson has served the people of Mulvane as postmaster for
twelve years. Mulvane citizens boast of the fact that their town
was the former home of Governor W. R. Stubbs. S. F. Fields, the
present mayor, came to Mulvane in 1880. He is a thorough-
going business man with modern ideas. He is greatly admired
by his fellow citizens, which enables him to render valuable serv-
ice to the town.

Mulvane is indeed to be congratulated upon locating the Hel-
vetia Milk Condensing Company. There is ample assurance that
Mulvane will be located upon an interurban railway between
Wichita and Winfield within a year from the present time. It
is understood that the Interurban Construction Company of Wich-
ita and the Siggins Company, of Arkansas City and Winfield,
are securing right of ways that will pass through Mulvane. Both
companies are road builders. The Wichita concern is now build-
ing a line from Wichita to Newton. The Siggins Company is well
backed financially and has several elegantly equipped roads al-
ready in operation and upon a paying basis. Mulvane has most
excellent public schools. '

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 639

FARMER DOOLITTLE IS INSPIRED OVER MULVANE.

By Farmer Doolittle.

Wichita people know that this city is growing and they are
firm in the belief that the Peerless Princess is now and will con-
tinue to be the gateway to the great Southwest. There is, how-
ever, one pleasing feature of the growth of Wichita that a good
many people overlook, and that is the growth of surrounding
towns. A great city is always surrounded by large towns. This
fact was presented to me in a rather forcible manner when I
attended the old settlers' meeting at Mulvane last Thursday. I
carried one end of the surveyor's chain through the tall prairie
grass about a quarter of a century ago that set the bounds of
the main business street of Mulvane. The town today has a popu-
lation of a little less than 2,000, but on every hand there are evi-
dences that this town which Mrs. Clay Hilbert elected should be
named for J. R. Mulvane, of Topeka, is going in the near future
to become a considerable city.

Mulvane is modest and hides its fine residence section on the
higher land east of the railroad behind the finest trees. Back of
these forest trees the town has the appearance of the newer
parts of Wichita. There are fine cottages, cement walks and
nicely kept lawns. Here one can see what nice things a railroad
can do for a town. The Santa Fe has raised the grounds about
the fine new passenger depot. In some places the fill is about
thirteen feet and the wide switch yards are the prettiest I have
ever seen. This company has five roads running out of Mulvane.
There are a great many trains passing through the town every
day. Elmer Emery, who opened the first Santa Fe office in an
old box car, has charge of all the railroad business of the town.
If all the railroad men were as reliable and accommodating as
Emery it would be an easy matter to account for the popularity
of this great railroad. The milk condensing factory recently es-
tablished there is an immense affair, but it will soon be enlarged
to about double its present capacity. There are numerous fine
residences just completed and others are being erected. I will
refer to two men who illustrate the wisdom of Horace Greeley's
advice: ''Young man, go west and grow up with the country."
Mr. Robinson, who opened the first dry goods store and sold
prints, overalls and picket ropes to the first settlers, is now the

640 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

merchant prince, doing business in his own brick block. And Dr.
Shelly, who used to ride a pony out to see the people when they
caught the malaria from the mosquitos, now rides in a fine auto-
mobile and owns a big dairy farm east of the city. They did
not get ahead of the growth of the country, but they kept neck
and neck with it.

Mulvane is on the border of Sedgwick county. The town has
recently made a fine forward movement. Its people are very
energetic and prosperous. Farmer Doolittle is one of the best
writers in Kansas, and an editorial writer of great experience on
the Wichita Eagle, the leading daily of the Southwest. — Editor.

OATVILLE.

A history of Sedgwick county would be incomplete without
a write-up of Oatville. When J. W. Miller first laid out his plans
to build the Wichita, Anthony and Salt Plains Railroad (what a
name for a railroad), the first station out of Wichita to the south-
west was named Oatville. This station was upon the land of James
P. Royal. The weary traveler through this vale of tears, embark-
ing at Wichita upon a Missouri Pacific train, with his life in his
hands, as he nears the town of Oatville always wonders why the
railway there runs upon a direct north and south line. He is
riding upon what was once the Wichita, Anthony and Salt Plains
Railroad, now the Missouri Pacific Railway. The influence of
James P. Royal and his old-time partner, Newton H. Robinson,
put the iron rails upon a half section line through the land of
Mr. Royal and upon his half section line. These men named the
town and platted it upon the section line running east and west
between Sections 11 and 14 in Waco township. James P. Royal
still lives upon his fine farm just west of the town. Newton H.
Robinson, one of the brightest men in Sedgwick county, has passed
to his reward. Bernell Bigelow is the postmaster at Oatville ;
he has held this place for many years. Oatville without Bernell
Bigelow would be like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out.
The coming generation around Oatville, and the boys now wear-
ing kilts, twenty-five years hence will probably get their mail
at Oatville from Bernell Bigelow, postmaster. By reason of its
contiguity to this city, Oatville will probably never make a
metropolis, but it is a pleasant place to live, in sight of the lights
upon the Boston Store, and most any day James P. Royal and

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 641

his family can hum into town in his automobile. The Bigelows,
Carrs and Turleys are familiar names about Oatville.

PECK.

Peck is one of the few towns in Sedgwick county that has
the distinction of being on two railroads and in two counties.
It is located fifteen miles south of Wichita on the Rock Island
and is twenty-one miles from the same place via the Santa Fe
by way of Mulvane. The fare, however, is the same over both
roads from the county seat. The postofnce, one general store,
blacksmith shop and a lumber yard are in Sumner county, while
the rest of the business houses are in Sedgwick county. Peck
really belongs to Sedgwick, despite the fact that the postoffice
is in the other county, for most of the people live on this side of
the line.

The little city has a population of approximately 300 and was
incorporated several years ago. It has a mayor and city council
and takes on all the airs of a city several times its size, and well
it might, for it has boosters living in it. Every resident of that
thriving little city is a booster and has been ever since he has
lived there. Within the Sedgwick county side of the town are
located one large elevator, two general stores, one restaurant,
one hardware store, a livery barn, one drug store, one pool hall,
one hotel, and the bank. The city has a large and handsome
school building and two churches with large congregations. The
depot is situated some little distance from the main part of the
town, but that is owing to the fact that the Santa Fe and Rock
Island cross several hundred yards from that part of the city.
Both roads use the same depot. The fine farm holdings of Henry
Stunkel are near Peck ; the Kerley brothers are prosperous stock
dealers and farmers in and near Peck ; the Roll brothers reside
to the northward of the town, while William Roll is an active
business man in Peck. Everybody knows Hiram Hitchcock, the
most genial man in Sumner county. His fine farm is just south
of the town. There is no finer farming land in Kansas than the
valley of the Ninnescah, adjacent to this town.

SCHULTE.

Schulte sprang into existence upon the building of the Orient
Railway from Wichita southwest. It is a hamlet located in a

642 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

fine portion of Waco township, on the section line directly west
of Oatville. The town is named for Peter Schulte, a well known
German farmer of that locality. The location is upon section 7
of Waco township. Here is located a fine Catholic church and
a strong German parish of this church; also several stores, an
elevator and blacksmith shop. Fine farms abound and the people
are prosperous. John Springbob, Henry Gadeke, Charles Zim
and D. W. Wilson are prominent farmers in this township and
in the vicinity of Schulte.

SEDGWICK.

That part of Sedgwick which is in Sedgwick county is located
on the northwest quarter of section 3 in Valley Center township.
Most of the town is in Harvey county, which bounds Sedgwick
county upon the north. Sedgwick as a village contains about
700 people. It is a delightful village, peopled by a prosperous
community, and borders on the Little Arkansas river, one of the
most beautiful streams in Kansas. It contains banks, schools
and churches and also some live merchants and very pleasant
homes. Valley Center township is one of the most fertile bodies
of land in Sedgwick county and its fine farms are unsurpassed
in the entire state.

Quite a large grain business is done in Sedgwick, which has
very fine grain shipping and elevator service. An interurban
line of railway is already completed from Wichita to Sedgwick
and this line is also projected to Newton and Hutchinson. Its
natural diverging point is at Sedgwick, whose people are hoping
for great things upon its completion. The Sedgwick nurseries
are famous over the state. The Little river valley affords fine
water, shade, and excels in the raising of alfalfa. Ordinarily it
produces fine crops of corn. Sedgwick is located midway
between Newton and Wichita and seventeen miles north of the
latter place upon the main Texas line of the great Santa Fe
system. The town was laid out when the latter line was built
from Newton to Wichita.

ST. MARK.

There are four German townships in Sedgwick county. They
are Union, Sherman, Garden Plain and Attica township. The
Germans who farm in these townships, and they are among the

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 643

best farmers of the state of Kansas, are largely Catholics. Near
the center of the territory embraced in these townships is located
the town or hamlet of St. Mark. This point is the seat of a
magnificent Catholic church and school. The parish is a large
one and a most prosperous one. Some of the wealthy German
farmers of this section reside here. They are the great wheat
raisers and their farms are in a fine state of cultivation. This
town has no railway, but that does not matter, for there are fine
railway facilities all around them and they are growing richer
and more prosperous each year. J. Smarsh, John B. Simon, John
Betzen, Peter Betzen, Moses Jay and Peter Strunk are familiar
names in this locality.

SUNNYDALE.

Sunnydale is a postoffice in Grant township. It is located
upon the southeast quarter of section 15, in this township, and
adjoins the well known McCracken fruit farm. The business
consists of a general store and a cluster of houses. Grant town-
ship has no railroad and the Hamlet of Sunnydale lacks railway
facilities. The farming country surrounding the town is first
class and in a high state of cultivation. S. H. Harts, Isaac T.
Ault, William McCracken and J. 0. Mead are familiar names in
Grant township. Many of the old settlers have become well off,
still own their farms, which are rented, but their owners reside
in Wichita.

VALLEY CENTER.

Valley Center, as its name implies, is situated in the valley of
the little Arkansas river, ten miles north of Wichita. When the
Santa Fe line of railway was built from Newton to Wichita, E. P.
Thompson was a member of the legislature from Sedgwick county.
Mr. Thompson, owning a large body of land in Kechi township, was
importuned to go into a townsite deal with the railway company
for a townsite several miles south of the present location. Being
of a highly sensitive nature and fearing that his motives would
be misconstrued, Mr. Thompson refused. His refusal located the
present town of Valley Center on section No. 36, in Valley Center
township, and this town has both the Santa Fe and Frisco lines.
For many years the Carpenters and the Dewings and the Beaches
were the leading families of Valley Center. Henry C. Boyle was

644 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

a leading spirit of the town, so were "Willis Davis and Orville
Boyle, the present head of the Chamber of Commerce. The town
has a staunch friend in the person of Mr. Boyle, who is at this
time promoting and building the Interurban line from Wichita
to Newton and Hutchinson via Valley Center. The grade is
almost completed at this time from Valley Center to Wichita
and the project is being pushed as fast as possible. The early
settlers are all away, some of them are dead. Al Johnson, one
of the old landmarks and business men of the town, is in Wichita.
But still the town goes on, fully illustrating the old theory that
"No man is a necessity." Around the town are expansive fields
of alfalfa and this industry is in a most flourishing condition in
Valley Center, Grant and Kechi townships. Fine farms are the
rule and the soil is a perfect garden spot, while the Little
Arkansas river meanders to the west of the town. 0. G. Jacobs,
S. I. Perrin, H. W. Eeynolds and George R. Davis are business
men and land owners in Valley Center and its neighborhood.

VIOLA.

Years ago upon the building of the Englewood branch of the
Santa Fe Railway in Viola township, on section 33 it established
a depot and called it Viola. The town slumbered for years, eon-
tent with a small trading point where Nighswonger & Robinson
sold most of the things in a mercantile way and one or two stores
transacted the business of the town. But there came a change in
matters; the Orient Railway headed out of Wichita, it crossed
the fertile Ninnescah valley and crossed the Santa Fe at Viola.
The town woke with a start, new people came in, new buildings
were built, new blood was infused, and Viola became a thriving
village. It found itself upon a great trunk line of railway from
Wichita to Old Mexico, and in direct communication with the
metropolis of southern Kansas. Viola township is a fine body of
land; it excels in the raising of wheat and corn. The Nighs-
wongers, Robert Little, C. Wood Davis, M. R. Davis, Miller
Dobbin, James Grimsley, Manford Miller, W. H. Ware and W. L.
Porter are familiar names in Viola township.

WACO.

Waco is located in Salem township and there is no better
farming country in the state of Kansas. It is the fertile valley

TOWNS AND VILLAGES 645

of the Cowskin. Waco at present has no postoffice. It is sup-
plied by rural delivery from Peck. John Deihl, whom most
everybody in that locality knows, carries on a general store at
Waco. There is also a blacksmith shop here. The hamlet is
located at the junction point of sections 20-21, 16 and 17, in
Salem township. Here is also located a commodious town hall
and a roomy school house, where the kindergarten politicians
of Sedgwick county often hold meetings and inflict their small
oratory upon the farmers and practice upon the people. The
town is also noted for good yellow-leg chicken dinners, served in
the town hall by the good housewives of Salem township. To
these feeds are always invited the ambitious young lawyers of
the county capital, who after the feed and when full of chicken,
berry pie and frosted cake make the welkin ring, greatly to the
delectation of Wilbur Huff, Tom Green and Uncle John Copner.
Waco is now fondly hoping for a railroad and an interurban line
from Wichita would be most acceptable to the people of Waco
and Salem township.

WICHITA HEIGHTS.

Six miles north of Wichita, on a section line which in Wichita
is Lawrence avenue, where the Frisco line of railway crosses the
highway on its way to Valley Center, is now a flag station known
as Wichita Heights. During the building of this railway in
1887, on the land now owned by Isaiah Smyser, was located the
future great city of Wichita Heights. The entire 160 acres of
land, then the old William McCollock farm, was purchased by
some Boston men, who laid out the entire quarter section. They
had Ransom Brown survey it, lay out the corners and take out
the lots. This enterprising surveyor drove pegs all over that
hill and a town company was formed which was capitalized at
$150,000. A rather pretentious depot building was built, the
building being a rustic affair, and considerable good steel rails
were wasted in locating and laying out extensive yards at this
point. A general store was put in operation and a postoffice
was established. It was a town of great expectations, but there
was really no call for Wichita Heights. With the waning of the
boom the town waned. It is an old and very trite saying that
the stream cannot rise higher than the fountain, and today
Wichita Heights is but a memory. The company, however, left

646 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

one desirable thing on the townsite. It planted a fine grove of
trees near the crossing, and this grove with its maples and
cottonwoods alternating is now a refreshing thing to the weary
traveler upon a hot day. The greatest returns ever made to
the company from this townsite was on one occasion when
Charley Simmons paid them $17 for hay cut on their land.
Wichita Heights has faded away; gone like a hard trotting
nightmare of finance, down the back alley of time. Adios, Wichita
Heights.

WESTERN SEDGWICK COUNTY.

There is no denying the fact that the western portion of Sedg-
wick county is the most fertile portion of the county and now
produces the best crops of the county. The time was in the early
history of the county when the old settlers at that time declared
that the western portion of Sedgwick county was only fit for
the ranging of cattle. This was at a period of time when G. W.
C. Jones, Judge Tucker, Hank Heiserman and others used to
hunt buffalo down on the Ninnescah river, in' the locality where
Clearwater now is. But notwithstanding this avowal of the
old settlers, the tide of immigration flowed in it, flowed westward
and crossed the Arkansas. The buffalo were pushed westward,
the settlers pushed out into range 4, later on into Kingman
county, and finally the loan companies began to loan money on
farms as far west as range 8 west. In the meantime the western
part of Sedgwick county was put under the plow. The sod was
turned, sod corn was planted and in the fall following all of this
land was put into fall wheat. A good yield followed and western
Sedgwick county took its place as a fertile agricultural country
and has since remained so. Corn, oats, wheat and alfalfa abound,
Kaffir corn and cane is grown in abundance, the buffalo sod gave
place to crops, the buffalo was driven from his ancient pasture
field, his place was taken by the big steer and his sister, towns
and villages sprang up, postoffices were established, and later on
mail routes reached nearly every farm house. At this time in
western Sedgwick are good farms, good farm houses, and big
red barns7 Shorthorn and Hereford cattle, and fat hogs galore.

CHAPTER XLIX.
AGRICULTURE IN SEDGWICK COUNTY.

By
THE EDITOR.

In this age when everybody works extremely hard to keep
from working, it is very refreshing to turn to agriculture as a
theme, not as an avocation. Sedgwick county with its thriving
city of Wichita making a vast market place for the products of
the farm, with its perfect network of railways bisecting every
portion of Kansas, and a fast increasing population, makes of
this county and agricultural empire.

The early fathers realized the possibilities of the soil of
Sedgwick county; the early settler was a wheat raiser, but the
later settler and occupier of the land does diversified farming.
His first inclination was to raise wheat and corn, later on he
began to raise oats and rye, and later on the average farmer
raises all of the crops grown in this latitude and moves most of
his grain to market on the hoof. East of the Arkansas river,
upon the upland east of Wichita, very little wheat is raised;
corn, Kaffir corn, oats and alfaTfa are the rule ; west of the Big
Arkansas River more wheat is raised. This section also runs
largely to alfalfa. Ordinarily the wheat fields are excellent pas-
ture; stock thrives unusually well upon wheat pasture, where
are also located some good old straw stacks. Sedgwick county
at this time is well fenced and well cultivated. The farmers of
late have fallen into the habit, and it is a good one, of cutting
their corn and shocking it up. They find that it makes most
excellent feed. As the times goes by the average farmer in Sedg-
wick county will more and more preserve and save his feed.
Some day the old-fashioned silo will be introduced into this
county. For many years past the green wheat pasture has taken
the place of the silo, but the silo will come. With it will come
the cow pea and the soy bean and more alfalfa, and the more

647

648 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

alfalfa the more profit and the more success in agriculture in
Sedgwick county.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE FARM.

In Sedgwick county and in all of Kansas there has been a
very distinct and striking evolution of the farm. First came
the sod house and the dugout, and this lasted through the first
decade. The first frame house, usually in a school district, was
the school house. This was necessarily a frame structure. It
was usually built upon some prairie swell. It was utilized for
schools, church services, Sunday School gatherings and picnics,
and here the young campaign orator was wont to fly his lin-
guistic kite and practice upon the dear people. Soon the sod
houses and dugouts gave way to more commodious frame struc-
tures and soon the railroad came along, and as under the Kansas
law the taxes paid by the railroad goes to the various school
districts through which the railway runs, the frame school house
rapidly gave way to one of brick, and the school house in Kan-
sas in its betterment and evolution led the farm house. But the
farm house came, with its windmill and barn and outbuildings
and all that goes to make a home and make that home enjoyable.
The early fathers were great on planting trees. First they
wanted shade, and the old-time reliable cottonwood was the
tree planted. Later on came the box alder, the elm and catalpa,
and the locust in its various varieties, for shade and posts, and
later on for fuel. So that today the entire landscape has
changed. "Where once was an almost boundless prairie stretching
away to the horizon's rim are now comfortable homes, cultivated
fields and shady groves, which are a continual delight to the eye.
Surely the man who owns a good home in Sedgwick county and
has his stock around him has his lines cast in very pleasant places.

KAFFIR CORN.

Of late years Kaffir corn has been one of the very best crops
raised in Sedgwick county, and in fact, in this portion of Kansas.
A few years ago the farmers in the arid belt of Kansas began
casting about for a dry weather crop. It was then discovered
that Kaffir corn, or, as it was then called, rice corn, was such a
crop. It was soon discovered that Kaffir corn made good flour

AGEICULTUEE IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 649

and that its flour made excellent pancakes. Dr. Workman, of
Ashland, Clark county, Kansas, claims to have introduced this
crop into Kansas. The doctor, who now resides in Morraine
Park, Colo., still makes this claim, and raises this crop exten-
sively on his ranch in Clark county, Kansas. Since its introduc-
tion it has been extended to all parts of Kansas and is raised
very successfully in Sedgwick county. It can be sown from the
first of April to the first of August, and is often sown after the
wheat is taken off the field. One fine characteristic of this
crop is that it will curl up and wait for a rain. During dry
weather Kaffir corn stands still and when the rain comes it goes
on. Each head of cultivated Kaffir corn equals an ear of corn.
Drilled with a wheat drill this crop makes the very nicest kind
of hay; as a forage crop it is unsurpassed, does not sour with
rain and damp weather after being harvested, like cane, and is
eaten with great relish by all kinds of stock. Ground into meal,
it makes fine calf and hog feed, and is especially relished by
young stock. It also makes good horse feed. Kaffir corn is
now almost a necessity and it is growing in favor with the
farmer as the years go by.

ALFALFA.

The introduction of alfalfa into Kansas made agricultural
history in the state. Sedgwick county as one of the leading
agricultural counties of Kansas early took an active part in the
planting and culture of this truly great forage plant. No plant
in the interior West excels alfalfa as an all-around forage and
feeding plant. Wichita and Sedgwick county are located in the
very heart of the alfalfa belt. Alfalfa is best raised upon a soil
with a porous subsoil; in fact, this porous subsoil is an absolute
necessity for a continuous growth, and while upon other soils
the plant may make a partial success, upon a rich soil with a
porous subsoil it js a lasting and perpetual crop. The writer
was shown a field of alfalfa which was being cut for the first
time on the 28th day of March that it was claimed had been in
this crop and successfully so for 300 years. This field is located
just north of the City of Mexico. Alfalfa makes its best growth
as a forage plant in a medium season with a medium rainfall.
In dry weather it makes a seed crop, which is even more val-
uable than the forage crop. Sam Forsha once told me that in

650 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

digging a well upon the Forsha ranch in Reno county, this well
being located in an old alfalfa field, that he found the roots had
gone down thirty feet. In this belt, wherein is located Sedgwick
county, four crops per season is the usual yield. In an unusually
wet year five crops can be cut. There are few animals upon the
farm that will not eat alfalfa. Poultry of all kinds will eat it.
Hogs will live upon alfalfa hay and it is medicine to a sick cow.
Horses and mules thrive upon it and are maintained in prime
condition upon alfalfa without grain. The Kansas farmer who
can raise alfalfa is always thrifty. The returns of the crop
exceed his wildest dreams of avarice. In addition to this, this
crop has proven a most excellent fertilizer; it renews the soil
and brings it back to its former fertility; it renews the humus
in the soil.

In many parts of Colorado, where it is most successfully
grown by irrigation, and in the old world, alfalfa is called
Luzerne. It matters little what it is called. Under proper con-
ditions it is a perpetual crop, and is probably the surest and best
crop that the Kansas farmer can raise. Its friends become its
earnest advocates and their praise is so unstinted that they are
often termed alfalfa cranks. So be it, but observation teaches
us this lesson, that all of the Kansas farmers who have stuck to
this crop have attained a competence and are beyond want.
Fortunate indeed is that farmer who can successfully raise
alfalfa, and fortunate indeed is that county which, like Sedg-
wick county, is in the very heart of the great alfalfa belt.

THE RAISING OF ALFALFA.

By

CHARLES CHANCE.

For the past ten years Sedgwick county has rapidly forged
to the front in the raising of alfalfa. Its soil is peculiarly
adapted to the raising of this wonderful plant. The raiser of
alfalfa becomes so enamored with the crop and its product that
his friends look upon him as a crank. No man can long culti-
vate this plant without becoming an enthusiast. More good
money is taken off from a field containing a good stand of alfalfa
than any crop that can be raised in Kansas. Sedgwick county
is in the very heart of the great alfalfa belt. It other places it

AGRICULTURE IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 651

can be raised, possibly with success, moderate success, but in this
great natural belt of country it can be most successfully grown
without any artificial means. In many portions of eastern Colo-
rado and New Mexico this plant is raised by irrigation. Not so
in Sedgwick county, where, carefully planted and grown, it turns
off usually four good- forage crops and becomes a perennial
plant. Its product is used for manifold purposes upon the farm,
being feed for all kinds of stock, and no grain is needed for
horse feeding, as it is known as a balanced ration by the state
agricultural college of this state. Alfalfa hay is the equal of
good bran and is so denominated. Alfalfa can be sown at any
time during the growing season when you have the ground
ready, but experienced alfalfa raisers usually sow in April in
spring sowing and in August for fall seeding. The latter month
is preferable. Alfalfa raising is excellent for restoring worn
out ground and its cultivation for a number of years upon barren
and worn out soil restores the humus, and the plowing up of
this crop followed by a crop of wheat or corn brings most abun-
dant crops. I can safely say that all the crops raised by the
Kansas farmer, and especially the skilled farmer, in Sedgwick
county, alfalfa is the favorite.

ALFALFA AN IMPERIAL FORAGE PLANT.

Alfalfa, though a comparatively new product in the United
States, is as old as the civilization of man. It has been cultivated
since the dawn of ancient history. It was familiar to the Egyp-
tians, Medes and Persians. It followed Xerxe's invasion into
Greecil, 470 B. C. Prom Greece the Romans procured it and
Caesar planted it as forage for his cavalry in his military cam-
paigns. It is known in parts of Europe as Luzerne or Lucerne,
which name is said to be taken from a river valley in northern
Italy. The Spanish name alfalfa is the one adopted in this coun-
try. It followed the Spanish invasion of South America into
Mexico, Peru and Chili, from whence it found its way into
Southern California about 1854, and from whence it has grad-
ually traveled eastward until it is now grown in almost every
state in the Union. But in no state do all conditions conspire for
the successful growth of this plant so completely as in Kansas.

Alfalfa is not a tame grass, but belongs to the family of
Leguminosae. Leguminous plants differ from the tame grasses

652 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

in two essential points. First, they bear their fruit or seed in a
pod, like the pea or bean, and, second, they obtain nitrogen from
the air through the roots, by the aid of small microscopical
insects that burrow in the roots of the plant. The anatomical
construction of these little insects is such that in breathing the
air they separate the nitrogen and feed it to the plant, while the
plant in turn supports the insect, they living in symbiosis, depen-
dent one upon the other, hence soil that is porous or well aired
is necessary for the successful growth of the plant. Alfalfa is
the deepest rooting plant of any with which the farmer has to
do. Where the earth is free from stones the roots will penetrate
twelve feet or more to water. I have a photograph of roots of a
four-year-old plant showing them to be twelve feet and six
inches long. Hence the plant's great resisting powers against
drouth. Under favorable conditions the life of the plant seems
unlimited. There are fields in Kansas thirty years old and in
Mexico some reported seventy-five years old, which produce on
an average four or more crops a year, yielding one or more tons
an acre each crop. Little attention was given in this country to
the growing of this most profitable crop until within the last
ten years, as is shown by the assessor's returns for this state.
The returns show for the state in 1891, 31,384 acres, in 1899 the
acreage had increased to 278,477 acres, and in 1910 more than
1,000,000 acres. During this time agricultural and scientifie
institutions have done wonders in showing the value and possi-
bilities of agricultural products and especially of alfalfa. They
tell us that 95 per cent of the land in Kansas will grow alfalfa
with varying degrees of success; that one ton of prime alfalfa
hay is equal in feeding properties to thirty-five bushels of corn;
that alfalfa hay, fed with corn to fattening hogs is worth $35 a
ton with pork at 5 cents a pound; that nitrogen is the most val-
uable fertilizer known and the most difficult to obtain, and that
by the operation of these little bacterial insects, spoken of above,
the nitrogen is separated from the oxygen of the air, given to
the plant for its nourishment and returned by the plant to the
soil, thereby increasing rather than diminishing its fertility from
year to year. We are told that alfalfa contains a greater per-
centage of protein, the element in feed that produces blood,
bone and muscle, than any other known food; that fed with
corn, as a balanced ration, it has no equal in the production of
meats, and this is equally true in the production of eggs, milk

AGKICULTUKE IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 65<i

and poultry; that for young, growing animals, where healthy
and rapid growth are desired, with good bone, blood and muscle,
there is no feed so valuable as alfalfa, owing to its large digestive
and protein content ; that of all the forage plants known, alfalfa
loses least of its feeding value in curing from the green to the
dry state; that no hay is so succulent and palatable in winter as
alfalfa and so much relished by stock. So much for the history
and habits of this plant. Now for the practical application.

Alfalfa is a voracious feeder on the salts of the soil, such as
lime, phosphorus, potash, magnesium, etc., found in the soils of
Kansas in such great abundance, and more especially in the river
and creek bottoms of the state, where the soil is known as
"gumbo."

I desire to speak more particularly of this Arkansas valley
and of that part of it in and around Wichita. It is admitted by
all who are competent to judge that this Arkansas valley in and
around Wichita is the most desirable and productive alfalfa
land, all things considered, in the state. The soil is deep, black
and rich, very open, often in dry weather cracking to a depth of
three or four feet, thus affording air plentifully to the little insect
spoken of that lives on the root of the alfalfa plant. Inex-
haustible sheet water is found ten to fifteen feet from the sur-
face of the ground, with no rock underneath the soil, thus allow-
ing the roots of the plant to penetrate to perpetual moisture.
In my residence of twenty-five years I have never seen an alfalfa
plant wither in hot or dry weather. During last July the mer-
cury rose six consecutive days to an average of 104 degrees, but
the alfalfa plants showed no signs of wilting. In dry times I
have seen the sunflower and ragweed wilt, but the alfalfa, never.
In the growing season I have seen the alfalfa in this valley grow
from a half an inch to an inch a day. Alfalfa seed is a very val-
uable crop, worth $10 to $12 a bushel, when it can be raised, but
it has not proven a profitable crop in this valley for the reason
that the growth of the plant is so vigorous that it makes too
much straw and not enough grain. Seed growing is more profit-
able on the higher lands that are not so fertile and have less
moisture. Four crops a year can be easily grown here, averaging
a ton an acre for each crop. I have seen grown in one season,
with four cuttings, six and one-fifth tons on an acre. Hay is
selling now for from $8 to $12 per ton. However, the prudent
farmer is the one who carefully pastures his alfalfa fields eight

654 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

months in summer and winters his stock the other four months
on the cured hay. Wichita, in the production for market of
alfalfa, is the leading city on this continent. The success of this
enterprise is due more to the sagacity and clear-headed business
management of our fellow townsman, Mr. Otto Weiss, president
of the Otto Weiss Alfalfa Stock Food Company, than to any
other man. A few years ago Mr. Weiss began, in a small way,
the grinding of alfalfa hay and compounding it with grain,
making a poultry food. To this he soon added food for stock.
His business grew so that about three years ago he organized the
company named above, with $50,000 capital, since which time
he has shipped his stock food to most of the eastern and southern
states in car lots. Recently he has doubled his capacity and
capital to meet the steady and rapid demands for his feeds.

This company grinds the alfalfa and compounds with it corn,
oats and other grain, making a balanced ration, as by the
approved feeding tables of the day. This milling of alfalfa hay
promises to grow into one of the most important branches of
trade at an early day, making Wichita as famous for her alfalfa
milling as Minneapolis is for flour milling. The American Ware-
house Company has a large mill for the grinding of alfalfa in
Wichita and it finds ready sale for its products. There are at
least half a dozen smaller mills running to their full capacity.
It was always a question for debate with the Greeks as to which
was the greater gift to man, "the olive or the horse." If I
were asked to name the most valuable food for stock, all things
considered, I would name alfalfa, for with no other single food
can the farmer and stock raiser accomplish so much. Horses
and mules can be grown to perfection on it, without grain; so
can hogs, cattle and sheep be grown ready for the feeding yards
without the use of other food, and the same is true of poultry.
So important a part does alfalfa play in the production of poul-
try and meats for the market that no intelligent farmer or stock
man nowadays thinks of leaving alfalfa out of his feed rations,
if it is possible to procure it. Hence it is hardly in the mind of
man to conceive the future wealth and prosperity of this Arkan-
sas valley, when 25 per cent of our lands are planted to alfalfa
and the products used for the support and comfort of man.
Wichita can safely calculate on alfalfa as one of her most
valuable assets for future growth. — Robert M. Piatt.

AGRICULTURE IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 655

IS THIS A FRUIT COUNTRY?

This is a query often propounded. The soil seems right, the
climate seems right, the moisture is sufficient, but the late frosts
sometimes get the fruit in bloom, and sometimes after it is set.

A Wichita man who visited the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific fair at
Seattle was greatly attracted by the fruit exhibit there made
and asked the cause and the whys of the situation. He was told
by those in charge that the fruit raisers of Washington and
Oregon has as much late frost as we have in Sedgwick county,
Kansas, but by the use of the frost meter they were warned of
an approaching frost and fall of the temperature. The plan
is this, set your frost meter at 40 degrees and when the mercury
falls to that point the meter rings a bell at the head of the
owner's bed. Thereupon the owner jumps out, gets into his
clothes, rouses his family, and with his wife and children at once
lights all of the smudge pots in his orchard. This tempers the
air and wards off the frost. Mr. Sullivan, the government
weather observer at Wichita, has a very reasonable and scientific
theory on this subject. He has made a careful study of this
situation. He says that the best fruit is raised inside of the
frost line; common observation teaches this. Mr. Sullivan is
an ardent advocate of the use of the smudge pot in the orchard,
and so for the past few months this theory of warding off the
frost by the use of smudge pots has been followed by the
orchardists and fruit growers of Sedgwick county. Those who
have adopted this method speak highly in its praise, and those
who have used it think that Sedgwick county is a fruit country.
By the above means are produced nearly every year fine fruit
and especially apples, in the valley of the Grand river in Colo-
rado, at North Yakima, in the state of Washington, and in the
far-famed Hood River valley, in the state of Oregon. Why not
in Sedgwick county?

CHAPTER L.
FRUIT RAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY.

By

FRANK YAW.

I came to Wichita as a tramp. I had no home and no place
to go to; no one to care for me and no money to speak of. I
tramped into Wichita and tramped ont again, as I had no other
way of going. I could have taken a claim close to Wichita, but
I had no use for one, although I could see great possibilities in
the Arkansas valley. After leaving Wichita I tramped to Colo-
rado and New Mexico and went to work on a cow range for
Stephen Jones, of Las Animas, Colo., now of Strong City, Kan.
Later I worked on a cow range for Judge R. W. Moore, of Las
Animas, now deceased. In all the years in which I was a reckless
cowboy I had a love for Wichita. I used to look at the wild
flowers, such as people grow around their homes, and say to
myself: "Well, if I had a home I would have just such flowers."

Reason told me that I had no excuse whatever for not having
a home, so I finally left the cow range in Colorado and came
back to Wichita with the determination to have a home. At
first I went to work on the Santa Fe Railroad under old Mr.
Streeter as foreman, with the words ringing in my ears con-
tinually, "Get a home!" But it takes money to get a home and
I had none. Still reason and common sense stayed with me and
told me that where there is a will there is a way. So what little
money I got from the railroad company after my board and lodg-
ing was paid I invested in two lots on North Water street, a little
north of Oak street, in Wichita, on the installment plan. In due
time I had the lots paid for, and then the next question was how
to get a house. I had no money to build a house with, but was
not discouraged. My reason told me that "where there's a will
there's a way."

I next went to work on a farm for Dr. Minturn, sixteen miles
northwest of Wichita. Dr. Minturn advanced me $500 to build
a house on my two lots, and I was to work on his farm at $20 a

656

FKUIT RAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 657

month until the $500 was paid back. E. B. Jewett, probate judge,
drew up the contract. Then Dr. Minturn's hired girl, Miss Mary-
Alice Adamson, and I were married, the ceremony being per-
formed June 23, 1883. We went to housekeeping in our own
home, which was paid for then. During the Wichita real estate
boom we traded our little home for twenty acres of land five
miles south of the city. This was in the spring of 1889. The
owners of the land valued it at $150 per acre. AA7e valued our
little home at $3,000, and they gave us $200 bonus. That money
built us a little house that kept us dry and warm. We bought
a plug horse, had a good cow, and bought what few tools we
could not get along without. We plowed and planted our land.
Everything grew that we planted and everything looked prom-
ising until May 7, 1889. Then came one of the worst sand storms
that Kansas has ever seen. We did not know how to guard
against this or how to keep the sand from drifting, and all our
growing crops were destroyed. It looked discouraging and my
wife was discouraged, but as St. Paul the Apostle said, so did I :

"Come, let us reason together. We have no hired hands to
pay; we have no interest to pay; we will manage to live." We
planted again and raised a whole lot of good things to eat, plenty
of feed for our cow and horse and pigs and chickens, and our
twenty acres stocked itself with fruit trees. One of our neigh-
bors told us that we were cheated out of our little home in the
city, as our land would not grow corn. My reply was: "If it
will not grow corn it will grow something else," and the finest
cherries that were ever placed on the Wichita market were grown
on the ground that the neighbor said would not grow corn. We
can show a good growth of trees and as good and profitable a crop
of fruit as anyone else in the United States. To be sure, we have
freezes and floods, and sand storms and hail storms, but they
have them elsewhere just the same. In 1904 we had a freeze in
April, two hail storms in May and June, and a flood in July.
All these killed 200 cherry trees twelve years old, and yet we
sold enough fruit from our twenty acres that year to pay our
honest debts and take our two daughters to the World's Fair at
St. Louis. To be sure, there are injurious insects and fungus
diseases, but they have the same elsewhere, but these can be
controlled if one goes about it in the right manner.

Now, with Wichita expanding, with her packing houses, manu-
facturing, her railroads, with machine shops and roundhouses,

658 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

and her big wholesale center, it will be but a few years until the
city is built out to our twenty acres, which is known far and
wide as "Yaw's Fruit Farm," because of a big sign we have on
our barn next to the Rock Island Railroad.

Here are some of the varieties of fruit which I have suc-
cessfully grown on my place in Sedgwick county :

Cherries — Dyhouse, Black, Tataran, Royal Dukes.

Apples — Ben Davis, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, Maiden Blush,
Yellow Transparent, Lowell, York Imperial, Rambo, Missing
Link, and others.

Peaches — Salway, Early Amsden, Alberta, "Wonderful, Early
June, Chinese Red Cling and ordinary Clingstone.

Plums — Burbank, Wild Goose, Damson, and the ordinary wild
plum.

IRRIGATING SMALL FRUITS WILL PAY.

Although my experience has been principally with blackber-
ries and strawberries, I am convinced that what will do for
blackberries will do equally well for other bush fruits. Straw-
berries, however, are in a class by themselves ; so, too, are vege-
tables. With vegetables we can irrigate and get results in a few
days, but not so with fruit; for that you must begin the year
before. We must first learn the nature of the plant that we have
to deal with. My first trial on blackberries was last fall. Owing
to the delay in putting in a pump we did not get the water on
until October. For best results it should have been done in
August; as it was, it tided the plant along with vitality, but it
was too late to make cane growth. One must have cane growth
to get fruit. Let us stop and learn the nature of the blackberry.
The cane never fruits but once, then dies after the fruit is off.
A new cane starts early in the spring to take the place of the old
one, to bear fruit the following year. This year I turned the
water on in July to keep that cane growing that it may be fully
developed for the next crop that is to come next year. I am well
satisfied with results, as the canes started a new growth in a few
days after the irrigation was commenced and they were kept
growing until the rain came. Another time when they must have
water is when the fruit is ripening. This is the most critical time
of all. The plant must have an abundance of moisture during
the fruiting season or the berries will be undeveloped, and near
the last will dry up and become worthless. One may have a

FRUIT RAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 659

good crop in a year of severe drouth, but the following year is
when he will fall short, no matter how much rain he gets during
the season. "We hear men ask: "What is wrong with my black-
berries this year? There is no fruit to speak of. Did I prune
them at the wrong time? Did I work them out at the wrong
time?" The pruning and working had nothing to do with the
failure this year. These persons are looking for the cause this
year when they should look back to last year for the cause. We
have had two years of severe drouth in succession. The canes
are in a very weak condition. They showed that when the new
canes came out in the spring. They will be worse next year.
Many of the plants will die outright. It will take them two years
to recover, no matter what the conditions may be during the next
two years. You may expect only light crops. I mean on all old
plantings. The handwriting is on the wall, so don't ask questions
next season as to the cause of the failure. Of the new plantings
set last spring and this, they are simply fine. They have made a
good growth, and are in good condition. I don't see how they
done as well as they have.

With strawberries we have a somewhat different proposition
to face. It makes its fruit buds the fall before, unlike the bush
fruit which makes buds in the spring. It puts forth its fruit
stems with its first leaves. It is but a few days later when we
have the luscious red strawberry, the first fruit of the season,
and oh how anxious we all are to see them. It is with the grower
himself to say, to a great extent, what that fruit stem shall be.
He must see to it that the plant is making a strong, vigorous
growth in August and September, the year before fruiting. It
is then you can make strong fruit stems and many of them. It
is too late to do it in October and November when it is getting
cold. If the natural conditions are not right one must make
them right by preparing to irrigate in time so the plants may
have an abundance of water at ripening time. It is then when
you can eliminate the small berries and make them all large.
We all know what a change it makes in small fruit when we get
a good deal of rain during the picking season. Nothing is more
sensitive to even a light rain than the strawberry. It is at that
time we must see to it that they get water in liberal supplies,
as the berry is nearly all water. You can see what a strain it is
on the plant to make large berries of all its fruit when the
ground is dry. The reason we have so many small berries on

660 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the market is that there is a lack of water in the fruiting season.
I irrigated my strawberries in July this year. Now I am getting
strong, vigorous plants. I may have to irrigate again later to
keep them going. In irrigation there should be no "off years"
in small fruit culture. Unless it is a large crop and that followed
by a light one, there should be no light crops. It is not every
year that irrigation is required here to grow the plants or even
in the fruiting season, but that one should be prepared to do so
if need be goes without saying. I quit the strawberry business
last year for good, but since putting in a pump I am planting
again.

Mr. Frank Robbins has been irrigating strawberries three or
four years and he has made a success of it from the start. As
far as I know he is the pioneer in the irrigation of strawberries
in this section. I commenced with no knowledge of how it should
be done; only a theory. Can I win? Well, that remains to be
seen. It is often the case that when small fruit is ripening we
have a dry, warm time. It is not only true of central Kansas,
but it is true of all the central West, and it becomes a trying time
for the grower. In the strawberry belt of Missouri the writer
has often heard men say: "If we don't have rain in three or
four days I'm ruined." That was when all they had depended
on a strawberry crop. It is only too true that the dealers and
consumers know but little about the trials of the grower, but I
know of no locality between here and the Atlantic where one
can overcome this lack so well as in this valley. Do the people
in the Arkansas valley know the possibilities in store for them
in the silent underflow? The writer believes that the cheapest
water to be found in the West for irrigating purposes is in this
valley. With the continual advance in land values it is a ques-
tion of time, and but a short time only, when the small fruit
grower must go out of business or turn his attention to irriga-
tion.— Thomas McNallie. in "The Beacon."

HOW TO IMPROVE APPLE ORCHARDS.
By

E. G. HOOVER.

Judging from the subject assigned me the editor of "The
Beacon" must have been spending his spare time riding through
the farming districts of this vicinity. If so, it requires no great

FEUIT RAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 661

mental effort to ascertain the why and wherefore of the assign-
ment. If any section that can grow fine fruit, combining both
quality and quantity, stands in need of improvement in its orchard
methods this section is the one. It requires no great knowledge
of the science of orcharding to understand why this county does
not take its proper rank in fruit growing, especially in the grow-
ing of apples. Here are several of the causes of the failure :
Lack of study, application, cultivation, pruning, spraying, poor
location as to soils, poor nursery stock and too many varieties.
These causes all may be laid to one great lack or necessity of
practical fruit growers. By lack of study is meant a lack of
knowledge of the tree, its insect and fungus enemies, soil con-
ditions, etc. By lack of application is meant that those who
make a specialty of growing fruit are too few. The majority
do not confine themselves to fruit growing, but are in fact better
termed general farmers, who grow all kinds of crops, and if
greater neglect is given one thing over another the apple orchard
is usually the one that receives it. Pruning is the bath of the
tree. Neglect of this important essential to apple culture bears
the same relative value to the tree as neglect of the bath to the
human body. A jaunt through the country will readily convince
the skeptical as to the truth of this assertion. You will see
many, and in fact, nearly all, orchards overloaded with brush
and water sprout so thick as to exclude the sun's rays and even
the free circulation of the air — prime necessities to the growing
of fruit, the quality of which is to go on the table of the modern
epicure. Cultivation follows hand in hand with pruning and
it is the crash towel that produces the glow and exhilaration of
the properly grown apple. Cultivation is absolutely necessary,
and it should commence early in the spring and be followed up
consistently until July 10. Later cultivation than this is not
good, as it causes too late a growth of the trees and an uneven
coloring of the fruit. Also, bare ground causes a reflection from
the sun that is antagonistic to high color — therefore injurious to
the quality.

Spraying is the family physician. A call from him at the
right time and a use of the right "dope" is the insurance of
the apple crop. Modern management of an apple orchard con-
siders the spraying machine a most desirable aid to high class
fruit culture. The use of the spraying machine and materials
requires a knowledge of the insects and fungi that prey upon the

662 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

tree and fruit. A small gasoline spraying plant is not costly and
it is the most economical in the end, as only by constant, steady
pressure can the proper distribution of the solution be made and
a thorough job be done. About the greatest mistake that has
been made in fruit growing in this section is the large number of
varieties that are to be found in almost every orchard. Varieties
that are not suitable for this climate are most prevalent. About
nine out of ten varieties that were planted here in the past did
well in the East, where most of the settlers came from and the
varieties that they were familiar with back there were the ones
planted here in addition to new beauties of the illustrated cata-
logue of the canvasser. In my judgment there are three varieties
of summer apples that pay, two varieties of fall apples, and three
or four varieties of winter apples. I doubt if there are any two
men in this section who would agree with me as to the varieties
I have in mind for a very successful commercial orchard. As to
what, in my judgment, would be the proper course to pursue in
the improvement of the orchards of this section, I would say
that a tree puller and the grubbing hoe would be very proper
instruments in the improvement of a great many orchards. Prac-
tical fruit growers who understand the business is the prime
requisite — men who love trees and all that pertains to them.
These men and the right varieties and right soils for the varieties,
with pruning, cultivation, spraying and the unsparing use of
common sense.

FRUIT AND TRUCK FARMING WILL PAY.
By

MARCELLUS PIATT.

The vast areas of government land once accessible to the man
wanting a farm has now been exhausted. The result is that
smaller tracts of land must be made to yield a living to young
men building new families. The large centers of population that
are engaged in mining, manufacturing, merchandising, etc., must
be fed. The great increase in population by immigration and by
birth into this country makes it imperative that intensive farm-
ing be resorted to, that all may be fed and clothed and housed.
Fruit farming, truck farming, or these combined with dairying,
poultry, bees, etc., goes largely to solve the great problem of

FBUIT BAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 663

furnishing employment and good homes to the millions of our
people. Mr. Arthur J. Bill reports to the Illinois Farmers' Insti-
tute the success of a woman, Mrs. Leona Hucldleston, near Spring-
field, in the matter of intensive farming. This woman has shrewd
business tact. Great, strong men with a little business gumption
ought to do equally as well.

Mrs. Huddleston bought forty acres of rough, hilly land four
years ago for $7,000, with only $2,500 to pay down. She has since
sold the coal right for $1,000 and has refused $10,500 for the
place. She began on this land without experience and without
help. She began work in the fields and developed a dairy, fruit,
vegetable and poultry business. She drives the delivery wagon
herself to private customers in Springfield. She keeps a hired
man during the rush of the season and extra help in berry pick-
ing and harvest times. Two hundred apple trees, many peach
and cherry trees, five acres of blackberries and small fruits,
including strawberries, were set. She milks eight cows. One of
these has made as high as seventeen pounds of butter per week,
and has raised twin calves three years in succession. She has
refused $165 for the cow. The morning milk is sold in the town,
most of it bottled, at 7^/2 cents per quart. The night's milk is
separated and made into butter. About fifty pounds a week is
sold at 35 cents a pound, the year around. The fruit and truck
business combines well with the milk delivery. Orders are taken
for truck while delivering milk and these delivered next morning.
Five hundred chickens were raised this year, many sold before
July, the first at 50 cents each. Less than one-sixth of an acre
of asparagus yielded $57. Less than one-tenth of an acre of
ground returned $100 worth of cucumbers last year. Fruit vari-
eties of special value are bought or developed and bees are to be
added. Clover, oats, corn and such field crops are also raised.
No waste, all is utilized. She says "the road to success is to
work for yourself and not for somebody else. There is an open-
ing here for a large number of people to engage in the fruit
business or fruit, truck, etc., combined. There is no better place
for it than the Arkansas valley, and right here at Wichita. The
worst trouble is the undertaking of too much. Ten to twenty
acres of an apple orchard is enough for one man. Cultivating,
pruning, spraying, harvesting and marketing his products will
require every moment of his time, but he can have the satisfaction
of knowing that he has done it well and that is worth a great

664 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

deal. I like specialties. Raise onion sets. Our Mr. Wilson out
on the Arkansas river raises onion sets and disposes of all he can
raise readily at a good figure. His income from a few acres is
$1,500 to $2,000 per annum; enough to support a large family.
Onions alone is a good truck crop. This crop will net the raiser
about $500 an acre. Tomatoes are always in demand at good
figures. Potatoes is another good crop. Among the fruit crops,
apples are important, and many men in this vicinity are mak-
ing a success of apple growing. It is true that difficulties
are in the way, but men no longer grope in the dark, for the
past few years has brought us over the experimental era to that
of the scientific. There is not enough suitable orchard land in
the United States to produce apples for the whole country, and
there is only a small per cent of the apple land utilized, so that
we need never fear an overproduction of apples for this country.
Walter Wellhouse, secretary of the Kansas State Horticultural
Society, says that the world's supply falls several million bushels
short each year, and that there never was a better time to engage
in commercial apple growing. Peaches, pears and all the berry
fruits thrive well in this valley and yield good returns with
intelligent culture. — From "New Home Edition."

GRAPE CULTURE IN SOUTHERN KANSAS.

By

G. W. COLLINGS.

Among all the fruits the grape is one of the most important.
Indeed it is the most important with the solitary exception of the
apple, and it has probably had more to do in shaping the world's
history than all other fruits combined. It is the one fruit that
seems to have been cultivated and in use long before any other.
"Long before research folded back the curtains of time; long
before the breath of history crystallized incidents and events,
the 'amethyst clusters' of the grape ripened under sunny skies.
Veiled in myth, clothed in the shades of the past, gleaming from
legend and fable, it comes to us breathing suggestions of sylvan
deities. Greek festivals and Egyptian rites." The cultivation
of the grape must have long preceded the knowledge of wine
making, and it will be recalled that the making of wine antedates
the time of Noah. The cultivation of the grape must have reached

FEUIT RAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 665

a high degree of perfection at the time the children of Israel
were wandering in the wilderness, since it required two of the
spies that Moses sent to search the land of Canaan to bear back
a single bunch of grapes that they found growing in that country.
In the fact that this particular variety has not been preserved
horticulture has sustained an incalculable loss. In the time of
Christ grape culture was practiced to such an extent that at least
some of the people seem to consider it "bad form" to have a
wedding without wine. You will recall the embarrassment that
was caused by the want of wine at the marriage in Cana of Gali-
lee, when Jesus and his disciples wanted wine and there was
none, and how Jesus relieved the embarrassment by making six
flagons of wine on the spot.

"The water saw its Lord,

And blushing turned to wine."

And now the ease with which grapes can be grown, the excel-
lence of the fruit, and its many uses, would indicate that every-
one who has a few square yards of ground, and who does not
grow a supply of grapes for home use, is failing to embrace one
of his best opportunities. The grape will succeed over a larger
extent of territory than any other fruit, unless it may be the
strawberry. All varieties of grapes do not succeed in any one
locality, but there are so many varieties that among them may
be found a few that will succeed almost anywhere. The growing
of grapes does not require more skill than the growing of corn
or potatoes, and does not require more work. The right varieties
succeed admirably in Kansas and particularly in this valley.
Grapes, like other fruits, are not grown from the seed, except for
the purpose of originating new varieties. The plants are pro-
duced in three ways : By layers, by cutting and by single eyes.
The latter method is not often used. If only a few plants are
required they can best be made by layers. This is clone by cover-
ing a cane with earth without detaching it from the parent plant.
In the spring before the growth starts make a little trench three
or four inches deep and in the bottom of this lay a cane and
secure it with two or three stalks with hooks attached. After
the shoots that will spring up at each joint of this cane are
grown six or eight inches cover the cane with earth and the job
is done. Roots will be formed at each joint and in the fall the

666 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

plants can be taken up and cut apart, each shoot making a sepa-
rate plant. "Where plants are wanted in quantities they are
usually made from cuttings. This is a simple operation. Make
the cutting in the winter, or at least while the vines are dormant.
They are to be made from the growth of the preceding year.
Cut them with three or four joints to the cutting, usually fifteen
or sixteen inches in length. Cut the best end off square and
within about a half inch of the joint. They may be buried out
of doors or in a box of damp sand in the cellar. When vegetation
begins to grow nicely in the spring, say about corn planting time,
they should be planted out. Before planting the ground should
be put in good tilth. Then plow a deep furrow, and in this place
the cuttings. Lean them at an angle against one side of the
furrow and set them deep enough so that one joint will be near
but just about the top of the ground when it is leveled down.
The matter of having the one joint above ground is important,
as if it is all covered the plant will not start. Pack the dirt firmly
around the cutting and particularly at the bottom of them, and
keep them well cultivated during the summer. If all the details
of this process are carefully attended to a very large per cent
of the cuttings ought to grow and make plants.

Most people who want grape vines will want to buy the plants
already started. In this case it is advisable to get two-year-old
plants. The difference in cost is trifling, and one year is gained
in the time for their coming into bearing. The bad feature
about buying the plants is that labels of a great many nursery-
men mean nothing. Use your best endeavor to buy from a reli-
able nurseryman. If a judicious choice of varieties is made, one
can have ripe grapes every day from about the first of August
until the foliage is killed by frost. If a number of plants are to
be set, the best way is to plow a deep furrow to set them in.
Make the rows eight feet apart and a good average distance for
the plants in the row is eight feet, although some of the rank
growing varieties would do better to have more room and some
of the weaker growing varieties do not require so much. After
the plants are set, rub off all the buds but one, and during the
first year tie this shoot to a temporary stake. Before the growth
starts the following spring the permanent trellis should be put
up. The common way of making the trellis is to set posts in
the line of the plants; and if the plants are set eight feet apart
then the posts should be sixteen feet apart, thus allowing two

FRUIT RAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 667

plants between each two posts. Great care should be, taken to
have every plant exactly in line, as well as to have every post
in line with the plants. This will avoid trouble in cultivating
the vineyard.

To the posts two vines should be attached, some vineyardists
use only one wire, but two is very much better. A good wire
to use is a No. 12 galvanized. These wires may be fastened to
the posts with staples, but a better way is to make a hole
through the post and pass the wire through, as staples will often
come out and let the wire down when it is loaded with the foliage
and fruit of the vine and when it is exceedingly hard to get it
back to its place. "With the wire through the post this cannot
happen. The grape will respond to good cultivation and fer-
tilizing as well as corn or any other crop. In cultivating a vine-
yard, the cultivator should not go very deep, as many of the
roots of the plant are near the surface.

Most of the enemies of the grape, both insect pests and vari-
ous diseases, may be quite successfully controlled by spraying.
As to varieties. Among the black grapes Moore's Early and
Campbell's Early will be the first to ripen. Early Ohio and
Champion will ripen equally as early, but the quality is so poor
that they cannot be recommended. Then will come the Worden
and the Concord. The Concord is probably the most general
purpose grape of them all. Then will come Cynthiana, once very
popular on this market, but now not so popular as formerly.
Among the red grapes there is the Brighton, ripening soon after
Moore's Early — a good yielder if fertilized with some other
variety, and a grape of excellent quality. The Salem is a large
red grape with a peculiar aromatic flavor that is very pleasant,
but with me it has not been healthy either in plant or fruit.
The Goethe is a light pink colored grape, very large and very
late, and to my taste the best of all the grapes, but it is subject
to so many diseases that it is not a profitable grape to grow
commercially. Among the white grapes Moore's Diamond and
the Niagara are the best for this locality. The Green Mountain
is a better flavored grape, but the berries are small, and as most
buyers are governed by the size more than quality it is a poor
seller. It should always be included in a collection intended for
home use. The pruning of the grape vine is the most difficult
thing to learn about grape culture, but the limit of this article
does not permit me to discuss it.

668 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

SEDGWICK HAS AN ENTOMOLOGY STATION.

One of the newest and most important state institutions
located in Wichita is a branch of the state department of ento-
mology. The office was opened here about the first of last June
and has been remarkably busy during the entire summer and fall
assisting the farmers of the county in getting rid of their orchard
pests. Prof. S. J. Hunter, of Kansas University, is at the head
of the state department, and the Wichita branch, which is the
most important branch in the state, is in charge of Mr. C. B.
Twigg, who is giving his entire time and energy to the work in
this part of the state. Mr. Twigg is a man of extensive training
and experience in the field of entomology and his work is being
recognized as a work of vast importance to the farmers and fruit
raisers in Sedgwick and adjoining counties. One of the prin-
cipal duties of this department is to advise and assist farmers in
ridding their orchards and fields of the troublesome pests. There
have been times when the farmers and fruit raisers in Kansas
have suffered heavy losses because of plant destroyers which have
flourished in the fields where crops were being produced. Scien-
tific investigations have demonstrated that these pests can be
eliminated and that the crops they destroy from year to year
can be saved to the farmers of the state if the proper methods
are used. Those methods are the things that the department of
entomology are prepared to teach. Farmers and fruit raisers
are coming to see the importance of this kind of protection and
an increasing number of them are adopting the methods which
the state department of entomology describes to them. Professor
Twigg occupies five days each week in actual field work, and each
Saturday he keeps an open office in the rooms of the horticul-
tural society in the Sedgwick county court house to consult with
the farmers and fruit raisers who seek his advice and assistance.

URGES GROWING OF ONIONS HERE.

The following interesting paper was read at the last meeting
of the Sedgwick county horticultural society by Richard Wilson :
"This paper is especially prepared for onion growers, and I
would say that there should be a dozen or more onion growers
in the county than there are now, and each one should harvest
each year from 1,000 to 1,200 bushels of onions. I had a talk

FEUIT RAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 669

with the produce commission men of Wichita, and I found that
they can take care of about nine carloads each season. If our
members could find in their hearts to start and grow this quantity,
this would mean for Wichita $19,000 a year increase in produc-
tion. I see no reason why people will not take this important
plant life into consideration, any more than many other crops. Any
normal crop of onions will clear any man $400 per acre.

"I would advise the people to get their seed ready, for the
season for sowing will soon be upon us. I find that the best
time for sowing onion seeds is the first of April. Plow the soil
evenly, then harrow it well, then go over it with a leveling board.
Sow the seed with a drill in rows about twelve inches apart,
and sow from seventy-five to eighty pounds per acre. Now
comes the important part of weeding. Run the hoe through
the patches three or four times during the season, and then
hand-weed them all twice. Personally, I perfer boys to do my
weeding I can get as good service out of boys during onion weed-
ing as I can out of a man. I prefer feeding boys five times a
day, as six hours is too long for any boy to work in the sun and
drink cold water. If you want to see a pleasant smile on the
face of mother's boy, take him a piece of pie and a drink of
tea about 10 o'clock in the forenoon, and repeat the same about
3 :30 in the afternoon.

"You can save lots of time and money by always keeping
ahead of the weeds. Pull the onion sets as soon as they are
large enough and before the tops die down too much. The rea-
son why I mention onion sets only is because in this country
they bring twice as much money as large onions. Any man who
has any gumption can afford to buy ten acres of land and pay
$200 per acre for it, and own the same in two years by putting
three acres into onion sets and the other seven acres in other
vegetables, as the onions sets will easily net him $1,000 per year.
One onion set grower is getting the price of $1.75 per bushel.
I have given you what I consider a fair setting forth of onion
growing. Onions are something we can not do without, because
they are good for the physicial system. They can make the
hardest hearted people in Sedgwick county shed tears ; they have
a strong taste and a strong odor, and above all these, a strong
money flavor. Much of the soil of Sedgwick county is adapted
to the raising of onions."

670 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

THE FROST METER IN SEDGWICK COUNTY.

Many people and among them many of our old settlers have
grown sceptical about Sedgwick county being a successful fruit
raising district. We have the trees and they are mature enough
to bear, but the bloom comes so early that the trees are subject
to the late frosts. This has been repeated so often that our
people have largely lost faith in fruit prospects, but those who
travel abroad have discovered that the successful fruit raisers
of the Hood river country in Oregon, and the best fruit regions
of Colorado and Washington, raise fruit each year and they do
so by the simple device known as a frost meter. Each orchardist
has a meter which is simply a thermometer, and it is usually
set at 40 degrees ; when the mercury falls to this point, the little
machine rings a bell, usually stationed at the head of the owner's
bed, and thereupon the orchardist calls up his wife and children
and with handy torches all prepared, the smudge pots scattered
about the orchard are lighted and as a result the temperature is
so regulated in the orchard that the fruit buds escape the frost
and hence it follows that the fruit is saved. The smudge pots
are loaded with crude oil, which is an inexpensive fuel for this
purpose; the expenditure of a few dollars at the proper time
has saved hundreds and thousands of dollars' worth of fruit in
Sedgwick county. Enterprising orchardists like Frank Yaw,
J. F. Fager, Albert Kuncle, Ed. Hoover, Ed. Cooley, Steve Balch
and other well known fruit raisers in Sedgwick county, have
this past spring adopted the smudge pot system and the result
has been most satisfactory to them. This system has been in
use for years in the Grand Junction (Colorado) orchards, and
those people raise fruit each year. It is also a well known
fact that the temperature in an orchard is the lowest about 4
a. m. Any system that will make the moisture into dew
instead of frost saves the fruit. It has also been discovered by
careful scientific tests that the velocity of the wind may be ten
miles an hour outside of the orchard and only two miles per hour
in the orchard; as the currents of air are being controlled, and
as the weather is being foretold, and the rainfall predicted,
so the coming of the frost and the fall of the temperature can
be predicted to a nicety. Careful research, and the application
of good judgment to the growing of fruit in Sedgwick county,,
will in my judgment make it an abundant success.

FEUIT EAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 671

KANSAS CROP FIGURES.

Sedgwick county, rich as it is in agriculture and all the other
essentials of an independent and prosperous community, is but
a small portion of the great commonwealth of Kansas, much of
which is equally fertile and productive. In a large measure the
prosperity of Wichita and Sedgwick county is due to this same
thrifty and fortunate condition of the state as a whole, for into
this city as a gateway to the markets of the world, pour the
products of the farms and ranches in half a hundred counties,
adding to the volume of business here and helping to enrich all
concerned.

Some idea of the enormous crops of Kansas may be obtained
from a report recently issued by F. D. Coburn, secretary of the
state board of agriculture, regarding the products of Kansas
farms during the past twenty years. This report shows that the
farms of Kansas last year produced nearly one-third of a billion
dollars' worth of crops and live stock. Counting the population
of the state at two million, this gives each man, woman and child
in the state $154 to add to their bank account for the year, just
from the farms alone. Although in point of quantities pro-
duced last year, the crop was not the greatest in the history of
the state, the money value of it exceeded that of any other year's
crop by thirty million dollars. The following table shows what
Kansas did in the way of crop and stock raising last year :

Products. Quantities. Values.

"Winter wheat, bushels 80,226,704 $ 75,338,255

Spring wheat, bushels 732,036 602,935

Oats, bushels 23,588,220 10,254,230

Corn, bushels 147,005,120 83,066.905

Eye, bushels 355,807 256,491

Barley, bushels 3,786,455 1,724,530

Emmer ("speltz.") bushels 1,448,601 581,185

Buckwheat, bushels 4,187 4,148

Irish potatoes 7,026,896 5,008,739

Sweet potatoes, bushels 553,228 461,219

Castor beans, bushels 90 90

Cotton, pounds 18,750 815

Flax, bushels ' 354,647 383,550

Hemp, pounds

672 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Tobacco, pounds 4,245 '424

Broom corn, pounds . . ; 17,094,535 1,181,868

Millet and Hungarian, tons 424,943 1,966,914

Sugar beets, tons 102,462 512,310

Sorghum 3,766,195

Milo maize, tons 202,328 959,259

Kafir corn, tons 1,776,155 7,150,081

Jerusalem corn, tons 8,775 36,169

Tame hay, tons 2,052,927 14,343,933

Prairie hay 1,497,793 7,456,781

Livestock products 88,624,467

Horticultural products, etc 3,856,672

Totals $307,538,165

This table gives the aggregate values for the past twenty years.

Winter wheat $ 759,708,739

Spring wheat 11,011,802

Corn 974,633,144

Oats 141,355,959

Rye 17,383,520

Barley 20,241,415

Emmer ("speltz") 1,018,792

Buckwheat 216,336

Irish potatoes 63,440,953

Sweet potatoes 5,457,298

Castor beans 932,623

Cotton 170,881

Flax 21,224,970

Hemp 35,359

Tobacco 166,980

Broom corn 12,118,736

Millet and Hungarian 40,072,206

Sugar beets 1,213,440

Sorghum 57,934,754

Milo maize 2,987,087

Kafir corn 84,142,755

Jerusalem corn 1,128,430

FRUIT RAISING IN SEDGWICK COUNTY 673

Tame hay 123,476,100

Prairie hay 117,558,915

Livestock products 1,261,780,555

Horticultural products, etc 43,858,574

Grand total $3,763,270,323

Annual average 188,163,516

YIELDS, IN BUSHELS FOR TWENTY YEARS.

Wheat.

Years Win. and Spr. Corn.

1890 28,801,214 51,090,229

1891 58,550,653 139,363,991

1892 74,538,906 138,658,621

1893 24,827,523 118,624,369

1894 28,205,700 66,952,833

1895 16,001,060 201,457,396

1896 27,754,888 221,419,414

1897 51,026,604 152,140,993

1898 60,790,661 126,999,132

1899 43,687,013 225,183,432

1900 77,339,091 134,523,677

1901 90,333,095 42,605,672

1902 54,649,236 201,367,102

1903 94,041,902 169,359,769

1904 65,141,629 132,021,774

1905 77,178,177 190,519,593

1906 93,292,980 187,021,214

1907 74,155,695 145,288,326

1908 76,808,922 150,640,516

1909 80,958,740 147,005,120

Totals 1,198,083,689 2,942,234,173

Yearly averages 59,904,184 147,112,158

Years. Rye. Oats.

1890 2,274,879 29,175,582

1891 5,443,030 39,904,443

1892 4,042,613 43,722,484

1893 1,063,019 28,194.717

674 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

1894 978,658 18,385,469

1895 1,655,713 31,664,748

1896 998,897 19,314,772

1897 1,661,662 23,431,273

1898 2,153,050 21,702,537

1899 1,754,406 26,046,773

1900 1,945,026 31,169,982

1901 2,955,065 20,806,329

1902 3,728,296 32,966,114

1903 2,962,392 28,025,729

1904 1,110,378 21,819,257

1905 1,114,390 29,962,987

1906 711,118 25,560,919

1907 353,417 14,104,194

1908 361,476 16,707,979

1909 355,807 25,588,220

Totals 37,623,292 529,254,508

Yearly averages 1,881,164 26,462,725

CHAPTER LI.
NATIVE FOREST TREES OF THE STATE OF KANSAS.

By

G. W. COLLINGS, PRESIDENT OF THE SEDGWICK COUNTY
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

(Paper read before society.)

Mrs. Partington said that her husband knew all about hogs,
because he had been brought up among them. By the same kind
of reasoning I ought to know all about forest trees, because I
was born and brought up in a country that was covered with
forest trees. A great part of my early life was devoted to de-
stroying forest trees and clearing the land of the trees so that
it could be utilized for the growing of crops. We had too many
trees. Trees were everywhere. Indeed I never saw an acre of
prairie land until I was grown. When I was a boy I knew at
sight all the trees that grew in the vicinity, and could give the
names (the local names) of all of them. I could not do that now.
But these were not the native trees of Kansas. About the Kansas
native trees I do not know much. During the time that I have
lived in Kansas my attention has not been especially directed
to the trees. I have not been engaged in any business that called
for any knowledge of the native trees. My travels over the state
have been limited and so have had very little opportunity of
observing the native trees even if my attention had been directed
to them. From 1867 to 1870 I lived in the northeastern part of
the state, in Brown and Nemaha counties. I know that native
forest trees were at that time much more plentiful in that part
of the state than they have ever been in this vicinity. I had a
sister who came with her family to Brown county in 1858. I ar-
rived there on the fifth day of July, 1867, and worked on the farm
for my brother-in-law until time to begin the district school which
I taught that fall and winter. A part of the work that I helped

675

676 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

to do was to build a fence around a large pasture. The wire
fence had not come into general use at that time and we built
the fence of rails — not the old fashioned rail worm fence that
I had been used to in Indiana, but we put in posts and nailed
the rails to them. The rails used were oak rails which my brother-
in-law bought of the Kickapoo Indians, his farm being near
the Kickapoo reserve. At that time the Kickapoos were making
a considerable quantity of rails to sell to the farmers. The rails
were fairly good ones but of what variety of oak they were made
I do not now know. A nephew of mine helped to make that fence.
He is still living in that vicinity. He has been a farmer and
land owner and has had a good deal to do with "The Native For-
est Trees" Thinking that he would be able to give me some in-
formation on the subject I wrote to him. In answer he says, in
part: "First, I will say that forty-five years ago the residents
of this part of the country did a good deal of work to protect
the timber from prairie fires, thinking that as the country settled
up the timber would become very valuable, but the expectations
did not materialize; largely on account of the introduction of
barbed wire. Now in the last twenty years the people have been
getting rid of their timber. As land advanced in value they do
not consider the timber a paying proposition. The more valuable
kinds, such as black walnut, burr oak and white oak, have become
very scarce, except in occasional groves of small young trees, that
are not large enough to be of any value, except where poles
can be used.

"As to the varieties : We have the white or water elm, red elm,
black oak, some ash, a few sycamore, linn or basswood, cotton
wood, box elder, honey locust, hackberry, white and shell bark
hickory. I have two small groves of iron wood. I would say that
not many cottonwoods or elms that are good enough to make
lumber of are left, so that nearly all the timber that is left is only
fit for fuel or some temporary work. As to the value of timber
I do not know what to say. I do not think that any good culti-
vating land with timber on it adds anything to the value of the
land." I will add that during my residence in that part of the
state I saw growing on the hills along one of the streams a large
number of some kind of an evergreen. What particular variety
I do not know. They were mostly small, many of them very
small. I also saw growing there in the creek bottom quite a
number of pawpaws, and in the forests two or three varieties

NATIVE FOEEST TEEES 677

of haws and some wild plums — not the sand plum of this part
of the state, but a very handsome tree bearing a very excellent
red plum. A grandson of the sister that I speak of and who was
born and raised in that part of the state has been for some years
in the lumber business in Leavenworth. I also wrote him for
information about Kansas - forest trees. Here is a part of his
answer :

"In the part of the state in which I was raised the following
constitute the principal native trees, and are given, the most
plentiful first and so on down to those which are scarcer:
oak, black and white ; hickory, at least two kinds, one commonly
called pig-nut, growing a small smooth surface, bitter meated
nut, not good for anything that I know of; the other shell-bark,
so called because of the shelly bark to distinguish it from the
smooth barked pig-nut species, and is the one which bears the
small hickory nuts which are so good to eat, but so small and
hard to get out of the shells. Black walnut and elm, red and
white, come next in quantity. Then you would find more or
less scattered in various parts of the state a few sycamores, hack-
berry, mulberry, wild cherry, cottonwood, box elder; and in this
vicinity where I am now living there are occasionally a persimmon
tree and a very few pecans. There is also another variety of oak
known as the burr oak. This is the kind that has the big acorns
and is such excellent post timber. Of coure, none of these appear
in commercial quantities or sizes, although locally there is cut
into lumber a little of the oak, elm, sycamore and walnut for
farm building of sheds, etc. The walnut is the most valuable
of them all and sells readily if found of any size, and in any
quantity.

"The catalpa is being grown somewhat in some parts of the
state commercially for ties and posts but so far as I know it does
not appear as a natural forest tree, all that I have seen being put
out by the hand of man.

"The matter of forest trees getting distributed over a treeless
country presents a study in itself. There are many curious and
strange, wonderful and interesting facts about it, In considering
the matter we must premise that every tree that starts into life
must start from a seed. But where do the seeds come from?
I have seen an old cottonwood standing on a high point on the
brink of a canon in Comanche county, standing alone, old and
gnarled and knotty as if it was one of the old guard standing

678 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

as a sentinel on the outpost of civilization. How did the seed get
there from which it grew? It is true that nature has provided
a means for the distribution of forest tree seeds, as well as other
seeds, in the arrangement of the seed itself making it easily
carried by the wind. We can thus see how seeds are distributed
for short distances around the parent tree, but when the distance
becomes hundreds of miles we are puzzled."

In 1884 I took up a pre-emption claim in Comanche county.
There was a company of about a dozen of us that went together.
My claim was located forty-five miles due south of Kinsley.
Kinsley was our nearest railroad point and from there we pro-
cured our supplies. At first we followed a trail around by Greens-
burg, but this took us six or eight miles too far east, so we
conceived the idea of making a trail of our own straight across
the prairie to Kinsley. In the company was a young man who
was a civil engineer. He procured a transit and one morning
early a number of us met by previous agreement and proceeded
to make the trail. The engineer got on a section line and with the
assistance of the necessary flagmen started to run a line due
north ; I followed him with a plow and we ran a furrow out across
the prairie about twenty miles. Another man came along with
a wagon to carry the lunch and other supplies and to furnish
a way for us all to ride back when the work was done. All
day, along that entire distance, was not a settler in sight. Now
I am coming to the point. You all know that on an unsettled and
an uncultivated prairie, the kinds of weeds that grow on culti-
vated land are not found. I passed along this trail the next
summer after it was made and found growing on the soil that had
been turned out by the plow the entire length of the trail the
same kind of weeds that grow on cultivated land, but you would
seek in vain for one of them anywhere else on the prairie. Where
did the seed come from? And how did they get there? When
I went to my brother-in-law's place, as already stated, in 1867,
there was a bit of ground — probably two acres — that sloped down
towards the creek, and that was covered over about as thick
as they could grow with hickory sprouts from six inches to five or
six feet high. There were no hickory trees of a nut bearing size
in the vicinity. I did not think anything about it then, but when
I think of it now I wonder where the seed came from and how
they got there, that started those sprouts. And when I wrote to
my nephew, a part of whose letter I have given you, among other

NATIVE FOBEST TEEES 679

things I asked him was in regard to these sprouts, and here is his
answer :

"In reply to your last question, I will say that I do not know
how the little trees that you speak of got started. They probably
started a good many years prior to the time you speak of. They
were burned off most every year by prairie fires until settlers
provided fire guards to protect the young timber. The ground
where they grew was full of large roots making it very difficult
to grub and get in shape to plow. Those same bushes you speak
of, where they have been let alone, are now thirty to forty feet
high, and from six to ten inches in diameter."

"We have recently been reading and hearing a good deal about
forestry. Forestry has to do with the matter of growing and
caring for forests — growing timber. Of late years the United
States government has had a department of forestry and much
attention has been given to the subject. Many of the states have
departments of forestry. Kansas has two forestry stations, one
at Dodge City and one at Ogallah. I know very little what they
are doing, but from the little that I know I have formed the
idea that they are inefficient and are doing very little. A few
years ago a few of the people of the United States were awakened
to the fact that our timber supply was being rapidly exhausted
and that at present rates it would be but a few years until we
would have no timber. I recently read a statement in some gov-
ernment publication to the effect that the timber of the United
States was being used twice as fast as it was being produced,
and that the supply ahead would not last at the present rate
more than twenty-five or thirty years. If any of you have been
building you doubtless are painfully aware of the fact that the
price of lumber has been soaring skyward. The great part that
timber plays in our civilization, its use for building, for rail-
road ties, for telegraph and telephone poles and for making of
paper, and for the hundred and one other things for which it
seems indispensable gives to the subject of forestry the greatest
importance. It is something in which every citizen has a vital
interest, and an interest that will grow as the years go by. We
must either devise a plan to get along without timber, or we
must devise a plan by which the increase of timber will keep
pace with the amount used. We who have been brought up in
the forest have a real veneration for forest trees.

A long time ago I went to see the play of "Rip Van Winkle,"

680 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

and have ever since gone to see it whenever it comes around.
You all know Eip Van "Winkle as the drunken vagabond of the
Katskills. After forbearance had ceased to be a virtue, his wife
drives him out into a storm one night and he staggers off in his
drunken way and is next seen in a splendid forest up in the
mountains. The stage scenery shows the forest trees that sur-
round him magnificently. He is sobered now. He looks around
and recognizes the trees. He takes off his old and torn hat and
bows to them, saying: "Here are my old friends. They do not
drive me away! How are ye, old fellers!" And seeing his ven-
eration for the trees you forget that he is a worthless, drunken
vagabond.

CHAPTER LII.
THE LIVE STOCK INTERESTS OF THE INTERIOR WEST.

By

THE EDITOR.

The herding of that now almost extinct animal, the American
buffalo, in countless thousands upon the great plains of the "West,
and the growth of the most nourishing and nutritious grasses,
led the first ventursome cattlemen to range their herds over
portions of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and
the Indian Territory.

The valleys of the Platte, the Blue, the Republican, the Kaw,
the Saline, the Smoky Hill, the Arkansas, the Cimaron, the
Canadians and the Red rivers, with their tributary streams in
Nebraska, Kansas and the Indian Territory, furnish as fine
natural feeding ground for cattle as exist in the West.

The Indian warrior of the past, standing upon the banks of the
softly flowing river, noted its countless herds of fat buffalo and
saw no discontent for himself or his tribe. He was the original
cattleman. His herd was a little wild, but it supplied his needs,
and the market never worried him. He had never heard of the
Big Four, or of any beef combine. When he wanted meat an
arrow drawn to the very notch did the work, and his stock fed
and watered itself. The fact that certain prairies of the great
West were for years the favorite feeding ground of the buffalo,
made them the favorite pasture field for the American steer.

The buffalo passed away, the Texas steer came with his slab-
sides and his broad horns ; later came his half brother, a rounder,
smoother, better favored animal. Closely following the intro-
duction of the steer upon the prairies of the Great West, came
the hog. ill favored at first, with a razor-back and a long snout,
now a round, favored animal, a cross of the Berkshire, Poland
China, and Chester White varieties and an animal which fattens
rapidly. The western hog and the western steer go to market
side by side, and often in the same car.

681

682 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

As the western country was settled and opened out to culti-
vation, at first grain growing was the fashion. It soon dawned,
however, upon the western farmer, that the proper way to market
his grain was upon the hoof. The successful farmer in the West
is the man who feeds his grain to his own hogs and cattle,
and thus takes it to market in the shape of fat hogs and cattle.
Only such farming succeeds in the West. The farmer who has
closely followed this rule has no mortgage on his farm.

From a small beginning this interest has finally grown to
immense proportions. It is now a cause of wonder to the average
Eastern man where all of the cattle and hogs come from. Take
up any of the great daily newspapers and scan the market reports
concerning the movement of live stock! One is astonished.

The development of this great industry called for markets.
For a long time Cincinnati was the great hog market of this
country, but time demonstrated that the seat of the manufacture
should be near to the source of supply. Soon Chicago began to
grow as a live stock market. Chicago is always great in all that
she undertakes. The first great necessity of a live stock market
is the supply of hogs and cattle, next comes the railway facilities.
It has been demonstrated beyond any question that it is an im-
possibility to build a great live stock market, save upon a com-
peting point of great lines of railway. Hence, other things being
favorable, the great live stock interests of the West have centered
at Chicago, and later on, at Omaha, Kansas City and Wichita.
We hear frequent complaints, in these times of great injustice
and wrongs, perpetrated by the various stockyards' companies.
It is probable that the injuries are mostly imaginary, for the
stock yards of the West are a great blessing to the western
farmer. They furnish a sure and ready market for all of his
cattle and hogs. Wipe them out and he would be at sea, as to
his chief and most important products.

A careful reading of the daily press will furnish him at all
times reliable reports as to the exact state of the market. Twelve
hour's time over one of the great lines of railway will put him
with his product into the market.

A glance at the growth of the great live stock markets of the
West may be of interest. As everybody knows, Chicago leads
in every thing. As to her continuing this supremacy will depend
on many things. She has the competing lines of railways, one
of the great factors of this trade. She taps the surrounding

THE LIVE STOCK INTERESTS 683

country with her railways, all converging to her and draining
the surrounding territory for many, nay for hundreds of miles.

For the last few years, Omaha has made wonderful progress
in building up a live stock market.

Her growth in this direction has been a surprise to her com-
petitors, and a source of gratification to her friends.

Her location is favorable, she drains a large corn producing
territory. Early in 1884 a number of capitalists associated them-
selves together with a view to the development of these natural
facilities. The outcome was the organization of two separate
companies, composed chiefly of the same parties, and including
in their number some of the most enterprising capitalists of
Omaha, Chicago, Cheyenne, Boston and St. Louis. It was in-
tended that these two companies, known as the Union Stock
Yards Company and the South Omaha Land syndicate should
work in harmony with each other, and they purchased a large
tract of land comprising 260 acres, lying immediately south of
the city limits of Omaha. The stock yards company commenced
the building of yards, while the land syndicate laid out a town
site, giving it the name of South Omaha. The original capital
of the stock yards company was $700,000, but with the rapid
development of the industry, the capital has been increased to
$2,000,000, and new stockholders have been added to the list.

The Omaha yards opened for business in August, 1884. Their
receipts and business was flattering from the very start. The fol-
lowing is their present capacity for live stock : 10,000 cattle, 20,-
000 hogs, 5,000 sheep, 500 horses and mules per day. The follow-
ing figures of receipts and shipments at the Omaha yards are
almost incredible.

It was the Hon. Jerry Simpson, of Kansas, who said quoting
the old adage, "That figures never lie but that liars make figures."
However I believe that the figures below are authentic.

LARGEST RECEIPTS OF STOCK IN ONE YEAR.

Cattle, 1890 606,699

Hogs, 1890 1.673,314

Sheep, 1889 159,053

Horses and Mules, 1889 7,595

Cars, 1890 54,283

684 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

TOTAL RECEIPTS OF STOCK FOR SEVEN YEARS.

Years Cattle Hogs Sheep H&M

1884, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. 36,898 1,863 4,188 466

1885 114,163 130,867 18,985 1,959

1886 144,457 390,487 40,195 3,028

1887 235,723 1,011,706 76,014 3,202

1888 340,469 1,283,600 158,503 5,035

1889 467,340 1,206,605 159,053 7,595

1890 606,699 1,673,314 156,186 5,318

Total 1,995,749 5,698,442 613,124 26,603

TOTAL SHIPMENTS OF STOCK FOR SEVEN YEARS.

Years. Cattle Hogs Sheep H&M

1884, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. 81,955 500 1,273 417

1885 83,233 71,919 8,408 1,415

1886 73,120 187,369 17,728 1,857

1887 151,419 140,726 56,444 1,856

1888 206,064 333,228 118,208 3,799

1889 227,921 179,916 103,250 6,744

1890 283,880 275,638 94,464 4,935

Total 1,107,592 1,189,296 399,775 21,023

With the stock yards always goes its twin industry, the pack-
ing house. Four great meat packing establishments are now in
operation at South Omaha. The aggregate cost of the buildings
and equipments exceeds $2,000,000, independent of the value of
the ground occupied by the plants. About 3,000 men are em-
ployed in the stock yards and packing houses of Omaha. If the
hog and cattle market of Omaha is a surprising one, what shall
I say of that of Kansas City, known all over the land as the sec-
ond largest great live stock market of the Union? In twenty
years the growth of the live stock market of Kansas City has
been enormous. Beginning in 1871 with 120,827 cattle, 41,036
hogs, 4,527 sheep, 809 horses and mules and 6,623 cars, the year

1890 showed 1,472,229 cattle, 76,568 calves, 2,865,171 hogs, 535,-
869 sheep, 37,118 horses and mules, with 108,160 cars handled.
The total receipts for the year 1890 have simply been enormous

THE LIVE STOCK INTERESTS 685

and there has been a steady increase each year since. The ques-
tion arises, Where does all of this stock come from?

VALUATION OF STOCK HANDLED AT THESE YARDS IN
TWENTY YEARS.

1871 $ 4,210,605.00

1872 9,175,071.00

1873 9,133,399.00

1874 8,692,337.00

1875 6,574,473.00

1876 7,210,033.00

1877 9,129,047.00

1878 7,721,999.00

1879 10,635,231.00

1880 14,277,215.00

1881 23,595,276.00

1882 32,660,445.00

1883 35,824,499.00

1884 41,145,551.00

1885 39,181,940.00

1886 35,340,150.00

1887 43,514,050.00

1888 55,949,004.00

1889 59,554,276.00

1890 75,503,119.00

And the number has increased each year since. For years
the rich and prosperous valleys of the Missouri, the Platte, Re-
publican, Kaw, Arkansas, Canadians and Red rivers, the rich
pastures of the Cherokee outlet and the plains of the Texas have
poured their trainloads of hogs and cattle into the yards of this
great city. Can it be wondered at that she has flourished and
waxed strong and opulent, draining all of this magnificent area
of territory? Immense packing houses have sprung into exist-
ence, and we see here today all that is needed to continue to en-
large the present tremendous business and market at this point.
Born of the needs of the traffic and the product of that rule
which regulates supply and demand and which naturally, all other
things being equal, will place the manufactory close to the source
of supply, a new Richmond has lately entered the field.

686 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The "Wichita Union Stock Yards is the largest candidate for
public favor as a live stock market. Located in the heart of the
corn belt and starting in a small way, the success of the Wichita
yards has been a surprise to their founders. Following closely
upon the location of the yards at Wichita came the immense
packing plants of Jacob Dold & Sons and the Cudahys, with an
invested capital in the plants and machinery of many thousands
of dollars. The Dold and Cudahy packing companies at Wichita
have been very important factors in building a live stock market.
They have at all times been liberal buyers. With few favors
from the great railway lines centering at Wichita they have built
up an extensive trade. Their meats seek all of the southern and
western ports, and their hams have a reputation as broad as the
continent. Time has shown that those points which are natural
grain centers can easily maintain themselves as live stock mar-
kets. For instance, look at Chicago, Omaha, Kansas City, and
later at Wichita. Wichita is a wheat and corn center. Wheat
produces bread, but corn makes both pork and beef. That coun-
try which will raise corn will make a live stock market.

So that we can reasonably say that the territory tributary to'
the four points named will continue the present great live stock
interests there. If consumption and markets increase production,
and we know that this is so, no man can measure the growth of
the live stock markets of the great West. There is, however, one
great question that must be handled — that is the question of
railway transportation. Its importance in connection with the
movement of live stock cannot be underestimated.

CHAPTER LIIL
HISTORY OF THE WICHITA UNION STOCK YARDS.

While Wichita, the gateway of the Southwest, has many large
wholesale houses which supply the trade for hundreds of miles
around, no one class of business is so great or has so far-reaching
an effect in building the city as has the Wichita stock yards.

This is essentially a stock-raising and grain-growing territory,
and the elevators and grain men are doing much in bringing
trade to Wichita, yet it will be conceded that no one of them is
doing as much as the Wichita Stock Yards Company, nor any
combination of any single business doing as much as are the stock
men and packing houses of the North End. For they have prac-
tically made a market for all kinds of live stock and to the push
and enterprise of the stock yards management is largely due the
upbuilding of a gigantic industry second to none in this territory.

It means the bringing to Wichita of thousands of dollars; of
bringing to the city, and finding employment for them, of hun-
dreds of men, and the bringing to the city of countless people
who, were it not for the stock yards, would go elsewhere to spend
their money. The men of southern Kansas and Oklahoma ship
their products here, and in return Oklahoma and southern Kan-
sas are encouraged to purchase their supplies of all kinds from
other firms throughout the city. The stock yards are far reaching
in their effects, not only to the advantage of a few men directly
engaged in the stock business, but to the city in general. And it
means a good market close at home for all southern Kansas, Okla-
homa and northern Texas. This is one advantage which is felt
by all cattle raisers, for long hauls and risks of selling on a falling
market are things of the past. Better rates proportionately are
given here than in Kansas City. In some instances so fierce is
the rivalry between buyers that even Kansas City prices are
equaled and never is the market more than a fraction below that
city. The shipper who passes Wichita and sells to Kansas City
does it at a loss and is beginning to realize the fact.

687

688 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The stock yards were established in "Wichita in 1887 upon
twenty-eight acres of land north of Eighteenth street and on both
sides of Emporia avenue. Here hog pens and cattle sheds were
erected and a three-story brick exchange put up. But disaster
met the infant enterprise almost at its completion, for the day
after the yards were opened the whole caught fire and burned
down. Not in the least dismayed, the company immediately be-
gan rebuilding and by January 1, 1888, three months later, were
ready to receive stock. In 1900 the yards were removed to their
present location on Twenty-first street, where ten acres of land
were covered with sheds for all kinds of live stock. In this same
year the exchange building was erected. Four years later, June
2, 1904, the yards burned a second time, but were immediately
rebuilt.

William R. Dulaney was the first superintendent and retained
the management of the yards until four years ago. He assumed
his duties in 1888 and remained until April, 1906, a period of
eighteen years. The organization was effected in the first instance
with J. 0. Davidson, president; Robert McQuitty, secretary;
Taltom Embry, general manager ; W. R. Dulaney, superintendent,
with the following additional directors : W. R. Dulaney, G. L.
Pratt and George Hutchinson. The yards were located on ground
belonging to George Hutchinson. In 1889 forty more acres were
added and seven years ago several more were purchased, making
in all seventy-five acres belonging to the company. The same
year the stock yards opened up Jacob Dold built his packing
house, which provided a local market for hogs and butchers ' stuff.
In the fall of 1889 Whittaker established his packing house, but
closed it in 1893, when he was succeeded by John Cudahy, who
continued the business until November, 1906, when the business
was turned over to the Cudahy Packing Company, which is plan-
ning many extensive improvements. The capacity of the Wichita
stock yards at present are sufficient for 2,000 cattle, 2,000 sheep
and 5,000 hogs daily. The yards and pens are well built and care-
fully kept, so that stock received here are well cared for. The
hog sheds are all covered and the cattle pens have all been given
a solid floor of brick.

In 1890, for the convenience of the great business being done
in the stock yards and packing houses, the railroads entering the
city pooled together and established the joint railway station on
Twenty-first, operated by the joint railways, and handling the

THE LIVE STOCK INTEEESTS 689

business of all the roads. The value of this method is now begin-
ning to be fully appreciated. For years the company seemed con-
tent merely to take what came and give the gods thanks. True, it
was a vast scheme, and one worthy of commendation — the work
done in early days by the infant industry, but it was with the
advent of the new company that plans were made for branching
out and inducing business to come here which had been going
elsewhere. A most enterprising system has been inaugurated,
and instead of allowing other cities to hold the lead in stock,
Wichita began a strenuous effort to show to shippers that they
could not only save money but also make money by shipping here
instead of to other points.

In the furtherance of this scheme agents have been sent out
to post the people with regard to the facts in the case, and the
result is already apparent.

The Wichita market, with its short haul, small freight rates,
which means to you less shrink, less expense, less time and more
money, is being recognized as one of the best markets in the West.
The Wichita market is located in the heart of a great corn and
alfalfa raising country, also close to the greatest grazing lands in
the United States. Wichita has two large packing houses, viz. :
the Cudahy Packing Company and the Jacob Dold Packing Com-
pany, which have a capacity of 700 cattle and 5,000 hogs daily.
Located as it is, and with the packing capacity it has, there can
be no question but what you can find a ready market for any
class of stock you may have. Also it is the best market to buy or
sell your stock ers and feeders. Why? The rate to market is
less; the rate to the feeding and grazing country is less; conse-
quently the seller can well afford to take as cheap a price for his
stockers and feeders on this market as any other market, as his
expenses and shrinkage are less in getting them to market. The
buyers can afford to pay better prices for them here, for the rea-
son that they are close to his pastures and feed lot. He not only
saves in expenses, but he can deliver his cattle at home in better
condition on account of short haul and less handling. Wichita
also has this advantage : You can ship your stock with the privi-
lege of the Missouri river markets. With the present shipping
rules, the greater per cent of the cattle passing through our mar-
ket have to be unloaded and fed en route, and if billed with
Wichita privilege you do not lose any time or incur any addi-
tional expense by showing your cattle on our market, thereby get-

690 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

ting the benefit of two markets. The Wichita market now has a
magnificent live stock exchange building, just completed, in which
is located a national bank which will make a specialty of handling
cattle paper. This will give the shipper the benefit of any accom-
modation that can be extended to him in any market. — From the
"Arkansas Valley Farmer."

LARGEST RECEIPTS IN ONE DAY.

Cattle— November 8, 1909 4,041

Hogs— January 20, 1909 7,186

Sheep— March 1, 1900 ;. . . 3,124

Horses and mules — November 24, 1909 158

Cars— November 8, 1909 193

LARGEST RECEIPTS IN ONE WEEK.

Cattle— Ending October 23, 1909 7,566

Hogs— Ending January 23, 1909 22,735

Sheep— Ending March 6, 1909 3,662

Horses and mules — Ending November 27, 1909 321

Cars— Ending November 13, 1909 422

LARGEST RECEIPTS IN ONE MONTH.

Cattle— October, 1909 27,319

Hogs— January, 1909 80,952

Sheep— October, 1909 5,657

Horses and mules — November, 1909 669

Cars— November, 1909 1,599

LARGEST RECEIPTS IN ONE YEAR.

Cattle— 1909 184,659

Hogs— 1909 751,560

Sheep— 1899 22,796

Horses and mules— 1909 3,645

Cars— 1909 14,083

RECORD GROWTH IN LIVE STOCK BUSINESS.

The accompanying tables of figures tell more quickly and
more clearly than words the wonderful growth of the Wichita

WICHITA UNION STOCK YARDS 691

live stock market during the past sixteen years. These figures
are taken from the records of the Union Stock Yards Company
and are authentic. They show that the total amount of business
handled by the yards has increased 700 per cent in the sixteen
years from 1893 to 1909. No other market in the United States
can show such a large percentage of business increase in a like
period. The most remarkable growth appears in the hog trade.
In 1893 the average yearly crop of hogs at the Wichita market
was 80,000. Last year over 750,000 hogs were yarded and mostly
sold in Wichita. The increase in the sixteen years is just 925 per
cent. The cattle growth has not been so marked during the same
period. A decade and a half ago the average yearly receipts of
cattle were 30,000 head. In 1909 the receipts were 184,000, show-
ing the increase to be something over 600 per cent for the period.
Half of the stupendous growth made by the Wichita live stock
market in the past sixteen years has come in the last three years
of the period. In three years, from 1906 to 1909, cattle receipts
made a gain of 400 per cent. In the same time the hog business
made a gain of 150 per cent. These are remarkable figures and
they become more remarkable from the fact that the greater por-
tion of the increased supply of hogs and cattle was consumed by
the Wichita packing houses. In fact, the growth of the live
stock market is merely a reflection of the increased activities of
the Wichita packers. For instance, in 1893 nearjy half of the
hogs received were shipped on to other markets for want of buy-
ers here. Last year less than one-seventh of the total receipts
went past this market. Sixteen years ago hardly one-fifth of the
total receipts were consumed here. Last year one-third of the
supply was used by the Wichita packers.

These facts are but an index to the coming greatness of the
Wichita live stock market. It is only in the past three years
that the live stock industry has really begun to grow in Wichita.
Although Wichita has but two packing plants, both are growing
in size and capacity at a remarkable rate. In the past two years
these two plants have increased their capacities for the slaughter
of cattle and hogs fully 50 per cent. To secure this additional
capacity they have expended considerably more than a million
dollars. In order to keep pace with the enormous growth of its
business the Union Stock Yards Company has been compelled to
build acres of new pens and sheds every year. The average an-
nual budget of new improvements at the stock yards is $50,000,

692 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

most of which goes for additional yardage. At the present time
Wichita has one of the best equipped stock yards to be found in
the United States. Ninety per cent of the yardage has been built
in the last four years after the most modern methods of drainage
and sanitation. The entire twenty acres of pens are paved with
brick. Each pen is furnished with individual watering and feed-
ing troughs. Within the past year many southern cattle have
been marketed here. This has called for the expenditure of
many thousands of dollars for the improvement and enlargement
of the quarantine division of the yards. A thousand head of
southern cattle can be easily cared for now and additional pens
are being built this fall. Less than a year ago the stock yards
company finished one of the finest exchange buildings of the coun-
try. In this building are located the offices of fifteen commission
firms, a national bank, stock yards company offices, the Wichita
Terminal Railway Company and branch offices of the packing
houses.

YEARLY SHIPMENTS BY THE RAILROADS.

Year. Cattle. Hogs. Cars.

1893 41,013 37,561 2,453

1894 27,689 14,645 1,343

1895 25,078 15,315 1,034

1896 9,947 12,924 495

1897 17,741 19,994 779

1898 13,088 91,143 1,291

1899 20,637 84,025 1,496

1900 19,604 119,767 2,270

1901 19,278 113,211 2,196

1902 28,749 61,884 1,923

1903 27,439 45,025 1,510

1904 22,271 41,037 1,313

1905 26,460 67,797 1,862

1906 29,432 34,246 1,476

1907 71,394 28,849 2,625

1908 80,880 142,026 4,202

1909 125,685 93,290 3,976

Totals 606,385 1,023,239 33,244

WICHITA UNION STOCK YAEDS 693

WICHITA'S PROMINENCE AS A STOCK AND FEEDER
MARKET.

As a stocker and feeder market "Wichita has sprung into
prominence with unusual rapidity during the past five years.
Even three years ago the stocker and feeder business transacted
at the Wichita yards was almost a negligible quantity. Now a
very respectable portion of the annual business is in the stocker
and feeder division. Adverse freight rates and discriminatory
interpretation of tariffs has hindered the growth of the market
not a little. However, recent adjustments have been made along
this line and the effect is already showing in the greater activities
of the stock cattle market. Recently the Wichita transportation
bureau secured a favorable ruling for the manner of handling out
shipments of stocker and feeder cattle. The tariff rates on this
class of business are 75 per cent of the fat cattle rate into the
market. Owing to a rigid interpretation of the provisions of this
rate Wichita cattle men were not able to take advantage of it.
This obstacle has been removed, however, and now stock cattle
may be shipped anywhere from the Wichita market at 75 per cent
of the rate charged for bringing them into the market.

Another sweeping change in the manner of handling stock
hogs is being made at the Wichita yards. In fact, Wichita is in
a fair way to become an open market for the sale of stock hogs.
Quarantine laws have prevented any such thing in the past, but
the discovery of cholera preventatives promises to revolutionize
the stock hog business. At the present time Wichita has a market
for stock hogs in a restricted sense. The state live stock sanitary
inspector recently appointed Charles Fay as local inspector for
stock hogs. Under the supervision of Mr. Fay stock hogs may
be removed from the Wichita yards into certain territory for
feeding purposes. This gives Wichita a much freer market for
stock hogs than has ever existed prior to this year. It is believed
that in time the new cholera preventative will make it possible to
handle hogs just as native cattle are handled. Stock hogs will
be shipped to market subjected to a test of one week or ten days
during which time they will be innoculated with cholera preven-
tative and then taken anywhere for feeding. Perhaps the great-
est opportunity of the Wichita market lies in the building up of a
great stocker and feeder market. The country to the south and
west of Wichita is rapidly developing along the line of intensive

694 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

farming. In the past five years thousands of great ranches have
been cut into small farms. With the changing of cattle ranges
into corn and wheat-producing sections there comes a change in
the class of live stock handled. The rough western steer is giving
place to the highly bred meat producing animal. Corn and alfalfa
are rapidly becoming the chief products of Arkansas valley soil.
From them comes the 1,500-pound steer and the 300-pound hog.

The officers of the Wichita Union Stock Yards : C. H. Brooks,
Wichita, Kan., president ; J. A. McNaughton, South Omaha, Neb.,
vice-president; Wallace P. Bache, Wichita, Kan., secretary-treas-
urer ; G. B. Albright, Wichita, Kan., general manager ; H. E. New-
lin, Wichita, Kan., traffic manager.

STOCK MARKET THAT SATISFIES.

Wichita has passed the preparatory stage and has become one
of the great packing centers and live stock markets of the West.
It spent a good many years in the preparatory struggle, but the
Wichita packers are now reaching out to new territory for cattle
and hogs to supply the demand for their products. When an
army invades a country it first secures a base; rations are col-
lected, new regiments, brigades and divisions are added to the
fighting strength of the army before it makes a final movement
toward the interior of the country. These are important things
for the army, just as it is important for the packing centers and
live stock market from which it can get its daily supply of cattle
and hogs. A packing house without a regular live stock market
is bound to be a failure. It cannot keep a large force of work-
men and depend on buying its live stock in the country. It can-
not go out after the stock, but the stock must come to it. When
the Cudahy and Dold Packing companies enlarged their plants
and the word went out that they were going to buy all the stock
that came to this market "that was a notice that the army had
completed its preparations and was ready to move into the in-
terior and capture the country." The Wichita packers have ad-
vanced and they are everywhere winning victories. In the past
eighteen months they have spent nearly a million dollars enlarg-
ing their plants. The stock yards company has spent a quarter
of a million dollars building new cattle and hog pens and a mag-
nificent new exchange building, wherein will be housed commis-
sion firms and all the adjuncts of a great live stock market, in-

WICHITA UNION STOCK YAEDS 695

eluding a national bank. The Wichita stock yards are among the
best equipped institutions of the kind in the West. The pens are
all paved with cement and brick and the stock is furnished with
clear, pure water. The Wichita packers for a year past have been
pushing out into new territory and nearly every day one sees
new shippers on the yards who have never been here before. One
very promising feature is that about all of these new shippers go
away pleased with their experience until the Wichita market has
come to be spoken of among stockmen as "the market that satis-
fies."

The Wichita packers have pushed their lines far into the
Southwest ; they have moved north into what was formerly Kan-
sas City's territory and on the west into Colorado; they have gone
into the fine grazing and feeding section east of the Flint hills
and are getting export steers that two or three years ago the
owners of which did not know that they had a market this side
of Chicago. The increase of cattle for the year 1909 over 1908
was 75,245 and 10,219 more hogs were received in 1909 over
1908. There are a few reasons why this market has a favorable
location, but they are important. It is located one hundred miles
north of the famous cotton belt of the South, so that a packing
house here is getting near the southern section where good hogs
are successfully raised, and again Wichita is in the very center
of the great corn and alfalfa belt, which includes southern Kan-
sas and the north half of Oklahoma. The same effort put forth
here that is being used at other packing centers is bound to make
the great packing center of the Southwest. G. B. Albright, gen-
eral manager of the Wichita Union Stock Yards, has grasped the
situation and he is spending the money of the company lavishly
to put the yards in shape to take care of the stock that he knows
will seek this market in the years to come. He knows that his
yards are located in the very center of a great live stock section
and that shippers will take advantage of the profits to be derived
from the short haul. He is even now calling attention of shippers
to this advantage and his words fall upon willing ears, because
the shippers have learned from experience what the long haul
costs in shrinkage and freight charges. When the Wichita market
will furnish 700 cattle and 5,000 hogs six days of each week the
capacity of the Cudahy and Dold plants will have been supplied,
but before that time arrives the big packing houses will be en-
larged to meet the increased demand. These wideawake packers

696 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

intend to keep in advance of the development of this section,
which has already become a factor in supplying the world's food
products. When southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma have
been fully developed there will be the cattle and hogs to make
Wichita the greatest packing center in the world. — From the
"Daily Beacon."

DEVELOPMENT OF PACKING INDUSTRY.

Without a doubt Wichita's greatest industry lies in her two
great packing houses. Together these two plants employ more
men, pay them more wages, handle more business for a greater
amount of money than any other industry of the city or the state
of Kansas. Figures tell something of Wichita's greatest indus-
try, but they cannot tell all. For instance, an army of 1,200 men
earn their daily bread in the two packing plants. How many
others are supported by these packing houses is hard to say. Con-
servatively, however, 4,000 persons get their living from wages
and salaries paid by the Wichita packers. These 4,000 persons
have $25,000 weekly to spend with the Wichita merchants. An-
nually they spend a million and a quarter dollars. Running at
capacity the two houses can easily slaughter 5,000 hogs and 1,000
cattle every working day of the year. The average daily slaughter
runs between 3,000 and 4,000 hogs and about 600 cattle. Before
snow flies the daily average of cattle will be boosted to 1,000
head. Last year the two plants slaughtered 600.000 hogs, con-
verting them into 80,000,000 pounds of bacon, hams, sausage, lard
and other products. For these 600,000 hogs they paid to the
farmers of southern Kansas and Oklahoma an average of $15 per
head, or a total of nearly $10,000,000. The output of two such
plants as are located in Wichita is stupendous. An average of
thirty cars of finished products are shipped every day. Each car
contains an average of 25,000 pounds of meat, worth not less
than $2,000. This brings the total annual business of the Wichita
packing houses well over twenty millions of dollars. This is for
hog products alone. Beef products will bring the total up to
$25,000,000.

These figures show a little bit of what the packing industry
means to Wichita. The stock yards form one of the auxiliary in-
dustries, which employs 500 men and handles upwards of 1,500,-
000 head of live stock every year. The stock yards bring a vast

WICHITA UNION STOCK YAEDS 697

amount of trade to Wichita merchants other than live stock. A
large portion of the money received by farmers for stock is spent
with Wichita business houses. The rapid growth of the North
End is due largely to the activity and prosperity of the packing
industry. Hundreds of homes have been built and paid for in .
this part of the city by the men who handle the knife, the meat
hook and the loading truck at the packing houses.

To the late Jacob Dold belongs the credit for Wichita's pack-
ing industry. It was he who read the signs some thirty years ago
and conceived the Wichita live stock market as it is today. Not
only did Jacob Dold believe that Wichita was destined to become
the greatest live stock and packing center of the Southwest but
he gave up hard cash and hard work to make it so. Every person
who has lived in the city of Wichita for five years knows the story
of Jacob Dold, the pioneer packer. Time and again has it been
told how he peddled sausage of his own making on the streets of
Buffalo; how he gradually built up one of the largest packing
industries in New York and then branched out with plants at
Kansas City and Wichita. The Jacob Dold packing plant was
the first big manufacturing industry to locate in this city. In
the early eighties Jacob Dold, then a rich man from his large
interests at Buffalo, came into Kansas to locate a plant in a new
country with a future. From the first Wichita looked good to
him. When his plant was built he believed that Wichita was
destined to become another Chicago. From year to year Jacob
Dold returned to Wichita to look over his growing property.
What he saw increased his faith in the future of the city. Finally
he came to see the ashes of the great packing house he had erected.
Still he was undaunted. He reiterated his faith in the city and
her people. The burned plant was rebuilt on a much larger scale
and the ideals of Jacob Dold began to come true. Few realized
the battle Jacob Dold made for the establishment of a creditable
live stock market in this city. For years and years he was the
only buyer of hogs and cattle on this market and no matter what
price his buyers might offer the bulk of the live stock passed*
through Wichita to larger markets, where there was competitive
buying. These were years of trial for the veteran packer. One
packing house, built after the Dold company was established,
closed its doors at the collapse of the boom. It was ten or more
years before they were opened again. During this time Jacob
Dold held faith. He looked ahead and saw the time when the rich

698 HISTORY OF* SEDGWICK COUNTY

lands of the Arkansas valley would blossom with corn and be
dotted with feed lots. In these feed lots he saw thousands of
sleek fat cattle and thousands of fattening porkers. Sustained
by this vision he kept the Wichita plant running. At times there
were not enough hogs and cattle offered on the Wichita market to
keep the house running full time one day in the week. Then came
the fire in 1900, which destroyed practically the entire plant. This
left the Wichita market entirely without a buyer. Two years
after the disastrous fire Jacob Dold and his sons had rebuilt the
Wichita house with twice the capacity of the old plant. This was
one of the signal proofs of his belief in Wichita and the ultimate
greatness of the live stock industry in this immediate vicinity. A
year ago this month Jacob Dold, Sr., died. He was an old man
who had long since removed the burden of his wealth and its man-
agement to the shoulders of his stalwart sons. His death was
universally regretted throughout the packing world of America,
for Jacob Dold was one of the pioneers of America's packing in-
dustry as well as the pioneer for that business in southern Kan-
sas. Into the shoes of Jacob Dold, Sr., stepped Jacob Dold, Jr.
Young Jake, as he is familiarly known, had been acting head of
the great Dold packing industries for several years prior to his
father's death. In the reorganization he was made president of
the company, being the eldest of the five sons.

The policy of the Dold Packing Company remains the same,
although the man who formed the policy is dead. Toward Wichita
this policy is to grow with the live stock market, whose growth,
by the way, has been keeping things rather lively in packing
town these past three years. To say that the original Dold pack-
ing plant has grown and spread out till it is four times larger
than at the beginning would be telling only part of the truth.
The actual growth to the city and to the live stock industry of
the Southwest is the true index. For five years the Dold company
has been constantly building to the Wichita plant. Every depart-
ment of the hog slaughtering portion has doubled its capacity in
that time. Two thousand hogs can be killed daily where a few
years ago 1,000 head formed a big day's work. This fall beef
cooler capacity is being tripled so that three times as many cattle
may be slaughtered. In five years the Dold company has estab-
lished nearly thirty branch houses in various parts of the United
States. These extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from
Denver to the Gulf. A large portion of the product from the

WICHITA UNION STOCK YAEDS 699

Wichita plant is disposed of through these branch houses. Three
years ago this fall the Wichita live stock market was given a tre-
mendous impetus. It was that that sent the receipts at the Wichita
Union Stock Yards soaring to a figure double that of four years
ago. It was an impetus that is still working wonders in the live
stock industry of the Southwest. And that impetus was the ad-
vent of the Cudahy Packing Company into Wichita. It was just
three years ago this fall that the Cudahy company bought the old
and dilapidated John Cudahy packing plant. Immediately things
began to liven up in packing town. Where John Cudahy had
carried on a desultory beef and pork business in a ramshackle set
of buildings the Cudahy company started in to make improve-
ments. The first thing the Cudahy company did was to enlarge
the hog capacity. This was done simply by the installation of
modern machinery and the rearrangement of the hog killing floor.
Then the Cudahy company began buying hogs and converting
them into hams, bacon and lard.

Originally the plant operated by the Cudahy company was a
small affair. It was built in the eighties by the Whittaker Bros.
Packing Company. For a few years the plant did a monster
business. Then came the hard times at the end of the boom days
and the plant was closed. It remained in disuse a number of
years and was finally purchased by John Cudahy, of Chicago.
After a thorough renovation the plant was reopened for busi-
ness. Few changes were made in the original arrangement of
things and little modern machinery was added. In this fashion
the plant worried along six or eight years, slaughtering a few
hundred head of hogs per day and perhaps a score of cattle. In
1907 came the Cudahy company to take possession.

During the first year's occupancy of the plant the Cudahy
company ran it at capacity all the time. New machinery was
added in every department and improvements to the old build-
ings and equipment were under way -constantly. When the old
plant had been thoroughly renovated plans were commenced for
more buildings.

What the arrival of the Cudahy Packing Company did for the
Wichita market three years ago the increased capacity of the
Wichita plant is going to do over again in the near future. For
the new portion of the plant, built these last two years and just
now going into operation, is more than twice the size of the old
portion built years ago by the Whittaker Brothers. Briefly, the

700 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Cudahy Packing Company has built in the past two years the fol-
lowing factories : Beef house, with a capacity of 500 cattle a day ;
monster lard refinery; glue house; fertilizer; box house; cooper-
age shop ; a huge cold storage warehouse ; a large office and
numerous other smaller buildings. These improvements with the
machinery necessary for their equipment have cost the Cudahy
Packing Company approximately one million dollars. And they
are not all. More buildings are already planned for construction
within the coming year. These will include a large modern ice
plant and a stable for the Cudahy herd of horses. One must visit
the Cudahy packing plant in order to thoroughly understand its
bigness. One must see the four cleanly dressed hogs that leave
the killing floor for the coolers every minute if he would appreci-
ate the vast amount of labor required for the work accomplished
and the dispatch with which this work is carried out. One must
visit the beef house and see one beef per minute sent fully dressed
into the great coolers that will hold several thousand carcasses.
Results accomplished prove the worth and greatness of anything.
Hence it is the finished products of the Cudahy Packing Company
which truly show the greatness of the plant. From the loading
docks of the company in this city an average of seventeen loaded
refrigerator cars are sent into all parts of the United States every
day. On occasion the loading force can get out thirty or forty
cars a day. On one Saturday less than a year ago sixty-three cars
were loaded and shipped. At the present time the Cudahy com-
pany employs 600 men. The weekly pay roll averages $15,000.
At one time when plenty of hogs were coming 785 men were em-
ployed. Just now neither the hog nor beef houses are running
at capacity, the former because not enough hogs are coming and
the latter because the cooling capacity is too small. But the
Cudahy Packing Company is the biggest individual corporation
in the city. And it is growing bigger every day. In one year
this firm pays to the farmers of the Southwest something like
$5,000,000 for hogs and half as much for cattle. It ships out
5,000 carloads of products annually, which are worth in the neigh-
borhood of $10,000,000.

While Wichita has been a packing town for two decades, it
was not a packing center till the advent of the Cudahy Packing
Company proper, in the fall of 1906. Then, and not until then,
was there any assurance that there was to be a great packing
center and live stock market built up here for the Southwest.

WICHITA UNION STOCK YAKDS 701

The trials and tribulations of the embryo packers and commission
men reads like a page in the histories of many western towns
that had- visions of becoming a Chicago or a Cincinnati. How-
ever, Wichita has been one of the very few cities to realize the
dream of large abbatoirs, expansive hog and cattle pens and a
beautiful exchange building. "When the plant now owned by the
Cudahy interests was built it was with assistance from the city.
Inflated prosperity and the boom spelled doom to the first ven-
ture. After a few years John Cudahy acquired the plant, but
as he was a market speculator instead of a packer he did not push
either trade or operations. Following a market reverse he closed
the plant. During this time the Dold Packing Company was al-
ways in the market and a consistent buyer, but owing to the lim-
ited purchases by the other house Wichita was known as a "one
man market," with the result that shippers would not stop their
stuff here in spite of the fact that the Dold buyers always bought
in line with the river markets. A stir was created by the
"Beacon" in the fall of 1906 when it came out with the story that
Cudahy officials were here from Omaha for the purpose of taking
over the old plant, but the people had received so many false
promises that little exaltation was felt. Then came the work of
overhauling the old plant. After a few weeks killing was begun
and a new era in the local packing industry had commenced.
Shippers soon began to note the increased demand here for hogs
and within a short while 2,000 to 3,000 head were being sold here
daily and at prices close up to those being paid at Missouri river
points. After a while both the Dold and Cudahy concerns began
to see that receipts up to 7,000 head per day could be brought
here when shipments were running heavy. They at once began
to make plans for the enlargement of their plants. A few months
passed and work was started on improvements that would in-
crease the hog killing capacity, and now it is nearly 4,000 head at
each plant. Until lately enough hogs have been received here
to supply the demand, but the dearth in the hog crop all over the
country is being severely felt. Then came the attempt to make
Wichita a cattle market. Cudahy and Dold had been doing a
good business on a limited capacity. It was found that new beef
business could be secured and that unless enlargements were made
they must pass it up. Cudahy interests were the first to act. An
envoy was sent to Chicago to lay the already prepared plans be-
fore Mike Cudahy, the rex of the large Cudahy packing concerns.

702 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

He was told that if he spent a half million of his many millions
here he would develop a great market in the Southwest. Three
weeks were consumed in demonstrating the feasibility of the
project. His consent was given, and as usual the "Beacon" was
again the first with the story that meant that Wichita was to be
the packing town of the Southwest.

On Saturday, August 28, 1909, the Cudahy company invited
the people of Wichita and the shippers of the Southwest to be
their guests at the opening of the big new plant which had cost
over a half million in improvements and was then easily worth
a million dollars. Ten thousand persons attended. They saw in
Wichita a packing plant that cannot be excelled in the West.
In the building of the plant the slogan was "bigger and better
than Kansas City." The new buildings gave a hog killing ca-
pacity of 3,500 to 4,000 against a former capacity of 2,000 ; a cat-
tle killing capacity of 600 against a former capacity of twenty-five
to fifty, and a capacity of 1,000 head of sheep and calves against
a former capacity of nearly nothing. The important new build-
ings, numbering eight, included two new coolers and chill rooms,
a new beef abbatoir, a new glue factory, a new fertilizer and bone
house, a new power plant, a new smoke house, a new office build-
ing, besides a hog killing house built over the old walls and is
practically new. No better equipped plant is to be found in the
world. Two hundred yards to the south is located the Dold plant,
that is now in every way the equal of the Cudahy plant. The suc-
cess of the Cudahy beef extension and the increased receipts in
butcher cattle caused Jacob Dold to make an appropriation for
more cattle capacity here. He died before his plans could be car-
ried out, but last spring his sons took up the improvement. To-
day the new beef beds are rapidly nearing completion and in ca-
pacity will be equal to the Cudahy institution. The increased cat-
tle killing capacity of the packing plants was soon felt at the
stock yards. Receipts since the new demand was created have
been several times what they formerly were. Shippers from cen-
tral Oklahoma, west to New Mexico, and from the Arkansas river
in Kansas south to the middle of Texas were awaiting the big
event. The continued shipping by these cattle raisers to here is
ample evidence that they found "The Market That Satisfies."
Now with the opening of the new Dold cattle house there will be
an increased demand and likewise a better bidding spirit, yet in
the past no shipper has had cause to complain. At times during

WICHITA UNION STOCK YAEDS 703

the past year competition was so keen that prices were above
those that the same grade of stuff brought on the river markets,
and in several cases cattle have been purchased there for local
packers for less than desirable stuff was bringing here. Wichita
is the gateway to the East and the natural trend of all live stock
is in that direction. No shipper ever ships out of line to try a
market, and for this reason Wichita is fortunate. Shipments
can best be stopped here for feeding and water, and at the same
time try the Wichita market without risk. The market here is
making friends at a rapid rate, satisfied shippers returning to
their ranches every day. The opening of the new beef houses,
together with the increased hog killing capacity, means a great
deal to Wichita. This power of absorption is making the city a
packing point of the first magnitude. They will pull all of the
direct line stuff out of Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle and, of
course, western Kansas. Wichita cannot be hurt by the new
plants that are jumping up in the Southwest. A market is not
built in a day but in years. Again, shippers are slow to ship to a
new plant, as a one-man market means unsatisfaction. A one-man
market is often the case where two plants are located if they
happen to belong to the packing combination known as the "Big
Four." Wichita is blessed that its plants are not in this notori-
ous collection. — "Beacon."

CHAPTER LIV.
BIOGRAPHY.

A. J. Adams, attorney at law, of Wichita, Kan., with offices at
No. 410 Barnes building, is a native of Illinois, where he was
born at Mason City, Mason county, on December 6, 1870. His
parents were Ambrose and Margaret J. (Hilbourne) Adams,
natives of Massachusetts and Ohio, respectively, who moved to
Illinois shortly after their marriage, and who came to Kansas
in 18^80 and settled on a farm in Cowley county. The elder
Adams died in 1881 at the age of forty-nine. His widow is still
living. A. J. Adams was educated in the public schools and in
the Southwestern (Kansas) College, from which he was graduated
in the class of 1896. He afterward took a course at the "Wichita
Commercial College, read law, and was admitted to practice in the
Sedgwick county bar in 1901. Since then he has continued the
practice of law in the city of Wichita. He is a strong worker
politically in the Republican ranks. Fraternally he is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (Betton Lodge, No.
583) and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is
also a member of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce.

Robert T. Adams, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of St. Joseph,
Mo., where he was born on May 20, 1867. His parents were
William and Sarah (Bailey) Adams, natives of Kentucky and
West Virginia, respectively, who moved in the '60s to Buchanan
county, Missouri, where the father was engaged in farming until
1872, when the family removed to Burden, Cowley county, Kansas,
and remaining until 1881, when he removed to Sedgwick county,
where Mr. Adams, Sr., has been a gardener. Robert T. Adams
was educated in the public schools of Kansas and early took to
farming, first locating in Wichita township, where he engaged
in farming until 1893, when he became interested in the manu-
facture of hominy, which he has conducted successfully with a
plant costing $1,000. He has an output during the season of 200
gallons per day, which is all marketed in Wichita and vicinity.

704

BIOGRAPHY 705

This plant has the distinction of being the only one in the state
of Kansas. Fraternally Mr. Adams is a member of the Modern
Brotherhood of America. He was married on August 10, 1893,
to Miss Ola Childs, daughter of Worthington and Johana (John-
son) Childs. One child has been born of this union, William
Worthington.

Phil P. Aherne, Jr., druggist, of Wichita, Kan., was born at
Leavenworth, Kan., on July 13, 1878. His parents were Phil P.
and Helen (Carpenter) Aherne, natives of Ireland and Brooklyn,
N. Y., respectively. They moved to Kansas in 1870, afterward
to Kansas City, Mo., and to Wichita in June, 1890. The father
of the family was a druggist. Phil P. Aherne received his educa-
tion in the public schools, the Wichita High School and Lewis
Academy, and completed a course in the University of Kansas
School of Pharmacy, from which he was graduated in the class of
1900. His first employment was in George R. Parham's drug
store, which was purchased by the elder Aherne, with whom the
son continued for a time. He left this to go as drug clerk in
the store of Archie McVicker, with whom he remained for two
years, when he accepted a position as city salesman with the
Southwestern Drug Company. Two years later he entered the
employ of the Cookson & Vincent Pharmacy as salesman, and
after one year with this concern went to Colorado Springs, Colo.,
where he continued in the same line of business for a short time,
returning to Wichita and again entering the employ of Archie
McVicker, with whom he continued until June, 1909. On July
29, 1909, Mr. Aherne purchased his present store at No. 1147
South Lawrence avenue. This store was opened originally by
W. S. Henion, run as the Brown Drug Company, later as the Wil- '
son Drug Company, and later as the Fox Drug Company, the
latter conducting the business until purchased by Mr. Aherne.
Fraternally Mr. Aherne is a member of the Benevolent and Pro-
tective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 99, A. F. and A. M. On Jan-
uary 7, 1908, Mr. Aherne was married to Miss Mildred Moffat,
daughter of the late J. W. Moffat, of Wichita. They have one
child, Phil P. III.

Augustus D. Allen, who for some years has been actively
engaged in the real estate business in Wichita, has two fads.
One is that of owning and driving good horses, and the other is
that of selling Kansas farms. This latter, however, is a business,
and selling Kansas farms nowadays puts a man in the class of the

706 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

diamond broker or corn king. Mr. Allen is a native of Illinois,
he having been born in Hancock county, that state, on March 21,
1865. The lad's parents died when he was small, and he had
to make his own way in the world. His education was acquired
in the public schools of Carthage, 111., and in the Gem City Busi-
ness College, of Quincy, 111. After leaving school Mr. Allen
obtained a position as clerk in a store at Tioga, 111., and he
remained there for seven years, leaving to engage in the mer-
cantile business at Keokuk, la., where he remained seven years.
He then engaged in the wholesale egg business, in which he
remained three years, and then entered the real estate field, sell-
ing land in Bureau county, Illinois, until 1900, when he came to
"Wichita, where for a time he was connected with the Kansas
Bureau of Immigration and later with the B. D. Allen Realty
Company. About three years ago Mr. Allen started in the real
estate business for himself and has since conducted a large busi-
ness. Mr. Allen is methodical in his affairs and keeps book rec-
ords of all his business. In nine years of business he brought
into Kansas from other states 3,700 people, over 50 per cent of
whom remained permanently. Since he was fifteen years old
Mr. Allen has owned every minute of that time some sort of a
horse. One of his horses, Midnight Denmark, has been shown
in the model class nine times and brought home seven blue rib-
bons and two reds. Mr. Allen was married in 1905 to Miss Emma
Shindler, of Wichita.

Bennett D. Allen, president of the B. D. Allen Realty Com-
pany, has been a resident of Wichita, Kan., for thirty-four years,
possesses the unique distinction not only of never having sought
public office, but of actually having declined it after it was
offered him on a silver platter, so to speak. Mr. Allen was born
in Hardin county, Kentucky, February 8, 1842. His parents
were Noah and Abagil (DeWitt) Allen, and his early education
was obtained in northwest Missouri. He served in the Civil
War in the Union army, having enlisted in the Missouri state
service two years and in the Eleventh Volunteer Cavalry, and
after four years' service, partly bushwhacking in Missouri, partly
in Arkansas, was mustered out at New Orleans in 1865. He
landed in Allen county, Kansas, in 1868, but it was not until 1876
that he made the acquaintance of Wichita, and there was not
much of the city then to make acquaintance with. It looked
good to him, however, and he at once began to operate in real

BIOGEAPHY 707

estate. In 1883 he, with Cal Graham, formed the Allen & Graham
Company, dealers in real estate, in a shack where the Manhattan
Hotel now stands. Mr. Allen is the oldest real estate dealer in the
city in point of service, save only Mr. Healy. For a while he was
in the implement business, but the rest of the time loans, insurance
and farm lands have been his specialty. With Oscar Smith
he formed the concern of Smith & Allen, and eleven years
ago the present firm of the B. D. Allen Realty Company.
He has seen the city go up, go down and go up again, but whatever
the vicissitudes through which it has passed he never lost his faith
in its ultimate future. Mr. Allen was married in May, 1867, to
Miss Cliffie A. Howard, of Oxford, Ohio. Of this union there have
been no children, but they have one adopted daughter, Mrs.
C. A. Truex.

James Allison was born in Columbiana county, Ohio. He lived
on the farm from the age of six to twenty-one, in Morrow county,
Ohio. Received his education in the Ohio Wesleyan University
at Delaware. For four years after leaving college he superin-
tended the public schools in Fredericktown, Ohio. Then on
account of failing health he was compelled to give up his chosen
profession. A few years later he engaged in the wholesale and
retail lumber business at Mansfield, Ohio, and continued in this
business twenty years. He located in Wichita March, 1886,
twenty-four years ago. All these years he has been actively
engaged in the real estate and loan business. He has always
stood for "greater Wichita." An earnest worker in the Board
of Trade and Chamber of Commerce.

He has represented the Fifth ward in the City Council and
in the Board of Education. He has always been a Republican.
For many years he was a leader of his party in the Fifth ward.
He was the United States commissioner from the State of Kansas
to the World's Exposition held in Paris in 1900. He was dis-
tinctly a champion of the West Side. He led the forces to pave
West Douglas avenue, Seneca street and University avenue, the
latter two being the first residence streets paved in Wichita.
He helped in many ways to locate Friends University in what
was formerly known as the Garfield University property.

He has been an active leader in building Trinity M. E. church,
one of the finest and largest churches in the city, now having a
membership of about 800 and over one thousand enrolled in

708 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

her Sunday School. The best thought and energy of his life
has been given to superintending Sunday Schools thirty-six years.

Samuel L. Anderson, physician and surgeon, of Wichita, Kan.,
is a native of Fairton, N. J., where he was born February 11,
1876. His parents were Rev. S. R. and Elinor (Sawyer) Ander-
son, natives of Kingston, Canada, and Tuckerton, N. J., respec-
tively. Samuel M. was educated at the public schools of Kansas,
Emporia College, Kansas, where he received the degree of A. B.
in the class of 1900, and received his medical education at the
College of Physicians and Surgeons, University of Illinois, from
which he was graduated in the class of 1903. After graduating
he was an interne at the West Side Hospital in Chicago for one
year, and in 1904 went to Wichita, where he has since success-
fully continued his practice. Dr. Anderson is a member of the
American, Kansas State and Wichita Medical Associations.
Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Modern Woodmen. In 1903 Dr. Anderson was
married to Miss Maud B. McCully, daughter of Joseph E.
McCully, of Eldorado, Kan. Of this union three children have
been born, Eleanor O., Ernest S. and Esther M. Rev. S. R.
Anderson and family came to Kansas in 1882, where he filled a
pastorate at Caldwell for eight years, and was killed by a train
in Wichita in 1902, at the age of sixty-one. His widow survives
and lives in Wichita.

Henry Anthony, who is associated with J. F. Warren in the
ownership of the Western Iron & Foundry Company, of Wichita,
Kan., is a native of the Hawkeye state, having been born at
Davenport, la., on October 2, 1873. His parents were John and
Anna (Martin) Anthony, both natives of Germany, from which
country they came to the United States in the latter part of the
'50s, locating in Iowa, where they still reside. Henry Anthony
received his education in the public schools of Davenport, and
after leaving school learned the carpenter's trade with his father
and later developed into a mastery of the pattern-making trade,
working for the Eagle Manufacturing Company, of Davenport,
la., and Williams, White & Co., of Moline, 111. In 1893 he moved
to Moline, 111., where he continued to work as patternmaker and
foreman until 1901. In the spring of that year he came to
Wichita and with his present partner purchased the Globe Iron
Works. They organized the Wichita Manufacturing Company,
having as associate C. L. Grimes. Three months later Mr.

BIOGRAPHY 709

Grimes withdrew, and the business was continued with Messrs.
Anthony and Warren as proprietors. In September, 1902, the
firm was again reorganized, with George H. Bradford as presi-
dent, Ted Miles as secretary and Mr. Warren as vice-president.
This firm continued business until 1904, when G. C. Christopher
joined the firm, Messrs. Bradford and Miles withdrawing, the
firm then being made up of Messrs. Christopher, Anthony and
Warren. This arrangement continued until 1908, when the firm
was again dissolved and Messrs. Anthony and Warren became
sole owners and proprietors of the business, which is now known
as the Western Iron & Foundry Company, one of the prosperous
manufacturing plants of Wichita. The firm manufactures struc-
tural and architectural iron, and the output of its establishment
is distributed through many states. Among the fraternal orders
Mr. Anthony is a member of the Red Men, the Independent Order
of Foresters, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and
the Sons of Herrmann. He is also a member of the National Asso-
ciation of Engineers and the Fraternal Aid. Mr. Anthony was
married October 26, 1898, to Miss Tinnie Lage, daughter of Her-
man Lage, of Moline, 111. From this union one child has been
born, viz., Augusta C.

J. A. Armour, of Bentley, Kan., is a native of the Hoosier
state, where he was born in Vermillion county on January 13,
1868. His parents were James and Jane (Stewart) Armour, the
father being a native of Scotland, born in Girvan, July 11, 1830,
and his mother, a native of Ireland, being born in Grayabby,
November 12, 1830.

The mother's father, John Stewart, was the first white man
to die in Ninnescah township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, who
died in 1872, and her mother dying in the same township in
1901 at the age of 97 years. The father and mother of J. A.
Armour are both living, at the age of eighty years., They had
a family of eight children, all of whom are living: John, Jane,
Susan, Joseph, Robert, Samuel, James A. and Margaret. John
is living in Harvey county, Kan., and has two children, J. C.
Armour and Mrs. Mable Murdoch, both of Wichita, Kan. Jane
is married to Samuel Irons, and has one adopted daughter.
Susan ^s married to A. Sautter, of Wichita, and has a family of
two children : L. J. Sautter, of Clearwater, Kan., and Mrs. Dr.
L. P. Warren, of Wichita. Joseph lives in Clearwater, Kan., and
has a family of three daughters. Robert lives at Galena, Okla..

710 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

and has a family of one son and four daughters. Robert is
county commissioner of Woods county, Oklahoma. Samuel lives
at Sedgwick, Kan., having a family of eight children. Margaret
is married to F. E. Cutting, of Clearwater, Kan., and has a family
of three sons and one daughter.

J. A. Armour's early education was obtained in the district
schools of Harvey county, Kan., and later at the Commercial
College of Wichita. He remained under the paternal roof until
twenty-nine years old, when he crossed the line into Sedgwick
county, locating on a farm in Section 5, Eagle township, where
he remained until January 29, 1908, when he moved to Bentley,
Kan. He engaged in the grain business in January, 1903, in
Bentley, Kan., and operates one of the largest elevators in that
part of the country at the present time. Mr. Armour is a mem-
• ber of the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows, the Rebeccas and the Modern Woodmen of America. He
was married on June 19, 1895, at Sedgwick, Kan., to Miss Sophia
K. Redinger, a daughter of John and Margaret Redinger, of Hal-
stead, Kan. Of this union have been born four children, viz. :
Alexander R.. born September 10, 1897. Mildred Esther, born
February 16, 1904. Gernaine Margaret, born January 5, 1907,
and Alline Josephine, born April 8, 1910.

Mrs. Armour was educated in the district schools of Harvey
county, Kansas. Mr. Armour has held minor offices as follows :
Trustee of Eagle township, four years, holding that office at the
present time, 1910; served a term as clerk of the township and
on the school board of Sedgwick county for two years. In poli-
tics Mr. Armour is a Republican and is active in the interests of
his party.

J. A. Armour is one of the old settlers of Kansas, having
moved with his parents from Indiana in 1872, arriving in Harvey
county March 13, 1872. He comes of a long-lived family, as all
of his relatives on both father and mother's side lived to an old
age. His father and mother are both over eighty years old.
They have eight children, twenty-eight grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren, and have never had a death in the family.

Dr. Byron E. Artman, physician and surgeon, of Cheney,
Kan., was born September 19, 1853, in Indianapolis, Ind. His
parents were A. and Mary Artman, of Kansas. On the paternal
side the ancestry of the family is traced back to the Puritan
stock, the paternal great-grandmother of the doctor having' come

BIOGEAPHY 711

to this country from Holland with William Penn. The maternal
ancestry is traced to Scotland. The parents of the doctor located
in Westport, Mo., in 1851, but later moved to Olathe, Kan., where
the elder Artman is now living, a successful carpenter and con-
tractor, at the age of eighty. Byron E. Artman 's education was
acquired in the district schools of Kansas. He entered the
Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1880, and grad-
uated in the class of 1888 with the degree of M. D. He began
practice first in Henry county, Missouri, where he remained one
year, and then removed to the state of Oregon, where he remained
six years and built up a successful practice. He then returned
to Kansas and located in Garden Plain, Sedgwick county, in 1894,
and practiced his profession there nearly ten years, and in
December, 1904, located in Cheney, where he enjoys a large and
lucrative practice, built up by the successful treatment of his
patients. In Cheney he maintains a hospital where he has from
one to five patients all the time, and since the hospital was estab-
lished he has never lost a patient. Fraternally the doctor is a
member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is
a member of the Eclectic Medical Association of Kansas and
Oregon and the National Eclectic Association of the United
States. He is entitled to practice in four different states by
virtue of his diploma, viz., Kansas, Oregon, Missouri and Ohio.
John S. Ayers, retired farmer, of Cheney, Kan., is a native of
Kentucky, where he was born on December 9, 1836, in Bourbon
county. His parents were Samuel Hales Ayers and Lucinda
(Bondurant) Ayers. Both were natives of Virginia, the father
having been born and reared in Buckingham county. The parents
at an early day removed from Virginia to Jackson county, Mis-
souri, John S. Ayers at the time being twelve years old. From
Jackson county the family removed to Shelby county, Missouri,
where the father died in 1848. His widow died in 1868 in Illinois.
John S. Ayers was one of a family of fifteen children, all of whom
are dead except himself. John S. Ayers was educated in the
subscription schools of Kentucky and Missouri, and at the age of
nineteen left home and worked on a farm for a year, receiving
from 25 cents up to $10 a month for his labor. He then went to
Green county, Kentucky, to a friend of his father's, who paid his
way to Missouri, and in 1848 he landed at Palmyra. An uncle
knew of his coming and met him there. It was the intention of
John S. Ayers to explore the "West and visit Pike's Peak, but his

712 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

uncle persuaded him not to go and to stay with him, which he
did, working on a farm and cleaning it up in Scotland county,
Missouri, to which place he accompanied his uncle. As compen-
sation for his labor John S. was to get one-fourth of the proceeds
of the farm, which amounted to $35 the first year, $25 and board
and clothes the second year and $40 the third year. In 1860 he
was married to Miss Margaret Piper, of Scotland, Mo. Of this
union there were born three children, two of whom are now living
viz. : Lewis Samuel Ayers and Mary E., now Mrs. Hogarth. Mrs.
Ayers died early in 1865, and in the same year Mr. Ayers married
Miss Lucinda Rogers, a cousin of his first wife, in Schuyler county,
Missouri. Of this union there were born thirteen children, four
of whom are living, viz. : George, Thomas, John and Margaret.
George is living in Oklahoma and has a family of two children;
Thomas is living in the state of Washington and has two children ;
John lives in Portland, Ore., and has one child. After marrying
his second wife, who was living in Illinois at the time, Mr. Ayers
went back to Missouri, but returned to Illinois and located in
Tazewell county, where he remained one year and then came to
Kansas and located in Woodson county in 1868, where he home-
steaded and lived nine years up to 1877. He then sold out his
farm and moved to Reno county, Kan., where he built a comfort-
able home and lived there up to 1906, when he removed to Cheney
and built a fine residence, where he lives retired, enjoying the
sunset of an upright career. Mr. Ayers owns other valuable
property in Cheney. He is a member of the Masonic Order, and
a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. When the Civil War broke out he
acknowledged allegiance to the Confederacy and in 1863 enlisted
in a Missouri regiment and served for two years under General
Price, Army of the Missouri. Mr. Ayers was taken prisoner at
Little Rock, Ark., and sent to Fort Riley, Kan., where he took the
oath of allegiance to the Union and returned again to his home
in Missouri. Mr. Ayers' second wife died several years ago, and
he is residing alone in Cheney.

C. L. Baird,* cashier of the State Bank of Bentley, Sedgwick
county, Kan., was born July 5, 1861, in Perry county, Ohio. His
parents were Robert H. and Isabella (Lyons) Baird, both natives
of Ohio. On the maternal side the family traces its ancestors to
Scotland. Robert H. Baird, the father, moved from Ohio to Kan-
sas in 1884 and resided a short time in Wichita, and then in
Sunnyside, Kan., until 1901. He had the advantage of a common-

BIOGRAPHY 713

school and academic education, and taught school several years
of his life. He was a consistent member of the Presbyterian
church for sixty years, and during nearly all that time officiated
as elder. Mr. Baird was an upright citizen, who aspired to give
his children all the advantages he could. For the greater part
of his life he was engaged in farming in a small way. He was
born October 28, 1825, and died April 15, 1906. His wife was
born April 15, 1831, and now resides in Pawnee, Okla. Mr. Baird
and his wife were the parents of three children, viz. : Calvin L.,
Sidney E. and Mary H., all of whom are now living. Calvin L.
Baird obtained his education in the common schools of Perry
county, Ohio, the Madison Academy at Mt. Perry, Ohio, and a
business education in a college at Wichita. He began his career
as a school teacher and followed that occupation for twenty years,
teaching three years in Ohio and seventeen in Kansas. He con-
tinued as a teacher until 1902, when he bought the interest of
Mr. Jorgenson, now cashier of the First National Bank of Mt.
Hope, Kan., and accepted the position of cashier in the State
Bank of Bentley, which position he now holds. Mr. Baird is a
member of two banking associations. Fraternally he is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen
of America, and the Fraternal Mystic Circle at Wichita. He
owns a valuable farm near Bentley. Mr. Baird was married on
May 24, 1903, to Miss Avis Smith, a daughter of Thomas J.
Smith, of Bentley. One child has been born of this union : Amzie,
born March 11, 1904, and now attending school. Mrs. Baird is a
highly educated woman, taught school for several years, and is
prominent in the Rebekah Lodge and Maccabees. She and her
husband are members of the United Brethren church in Bentley.
Sidney E. Baird, superintendent of Highland Cemetery,
Wichita, Kan., is a native of Ohio, having been born at Perry, that
state, on October 1, 1865. His parents were Robert H. and Isabelle
(Lyons) Baird, natives of Ohio, who moved to Kansas in 1885,
locating in Grant township, Sedgwick county, and there resided
until 1887, when they moved to Wichita. Robert H. Baird died
September 15, 1907, at the age of eighty-one. His widow survives
and is now living at Pawnee, Okla., with her daughter, Mary H.,
who has been a teacher in the Indian school at that place for ten
years. Sidney E. Baird was then second child of a family of three,
the others being Calvin L. Baird, of Bentley, Sedgwick county,
and Mary H. Baird, of Oklahoma. Mr. Baird was educated in the

714 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

public schools and at Madison Academy, Mount Perry, Ohio, and
afterward taught in the schools of Sedgwick county from 1884
to 1896. His first year at teaching was in Ohio. In 1896 Mr. Baird
took up cemetery work under Willis L. Taylor, now superinten-
dent of Maple Grove Cemetery. When the division of the ceme-
tery was made and the Wichita Cemetery was reorganized and
changed to Highland Cemetery, Mr. Baird was chosen as its super-
intendent. This was in 1908. The first organization of the
Wichita Cemetery was in 1870, and the two now known as High-
land and Maple Grove Cemeteries were under one corporation or
management from 1899 to 1908, when the division was made. Mr.
Baird was married in 1889 to Miss Lorah E. Wright, daughter of
Samuel and Permelia Wright, of Indiana. Of this union five
children have been born, viz. : Elsworth E., Amzie P., Lorain E.,
Russell M. and Katherine E.

Charles A. Baker, proprietor of the plumbing, steam, hot
water and gas fitting business which bears his name in Wichita,
Kan., is a native of Wisconsin, where he was born in Rio, Columbia
county. His parents were Thomas and Jennie Baker, who left
Wisconsin when Charles A. was only three months old, and came
to Kansas, locating at Arkansas City, September, 1870, and the
early education of young Baker was obtained in the grade schools
of Wichita. The first business venture of Charles A. Baker on
his own resources was at Hutchinson, Kan., in 1900, where for two
years he did a big business in the plumbing line under the firm
name of Wilson & Baker. Eight years ago he formed the co-part-
nership in Wichita of Baker & Isbell, and for the past four years
has been alone as Charles A. Baker. He has swung some of the
largest of the very big jobs in Wichita during that time, among
them being the Eagle plant, plumbing and heating apparatus ; the
Innes Block, Boston Store, new Michigan Building, Riverside
Club, Daisy Block, and in residences the Fred Stanley home, C.
M. Beachy, Y. L. Branch, C. W. Carey and many others. Mr.
Baker has two fads — baseball and the National Guard. He has
seen service in the state militia for seventeen years, having entered
the service in 1893. He has remained in continuous service ever
since, and is regimental quartermaster of the Second Regiment,
Kansas National Guard. He rose to the office of first lieutenant
of Company A, the Wichita company, and would have been cap-
tain soon had he not been elevated to the higher regimental office

BIOGRAPHY 715

he now holds with conspicuous credit to himself and the honor of
the service.

He married Lillie E. Bennett, December 5, 1895, daughter of
George W. Bennett, a pioneer plumber of Wichita. To this union
one child, a daughter, Marcia Helen, born June 21, 1901. Mr.
Baker is a member of Albert Pike Masonic Lodge, Wichita Con-
sistory, No. 2 ; Midian Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. ; Wichita Lodge,
No. 427, B. P. 0. E. ; Knights of Pythias ; Knights of the Macca-
bees ; Riverside Club.

David Walker Basham, is a prominent physician and surgeon
at Wichita, Kan. A native of Breckenridge county, Kentucky, he
was born in 1854, and is a son of Nathan Claybourne and Helen
Josephine (Haddock) Basham. His maternal grandfather was a
physician, and his father a business man and farmer. He had good
educational advantages and after finishing his preliminary studies,
was graduated from the Kansas City Medical College in 1884.
Going to Rich Hill, Mo., Dr. Bashan practiced his profession there
one year, after which he pursued a course of study in the Univer-
sity of New York, where he was graduated in 1890. He then spent
some time in Philadelphia in practice and research and later con-
tinued his studies in surgery in Paris, France. Dr. Basham
returned hither in 1895 and made his home at Neal, Kan., till 1902,
when he settled at Wichita, spending much of the interval in
Philadelphia and New York. Dr. Basham is widely known as a
learned and skillful surgeon and maintains a suite of offices at
Nos. 205, 207 and 209 East Douglas avenue, Wichita, and is on£
of the surgeons practicing in St. Francis Hospital. He is also
active in fraternal and social organizations, being a Mason of
high degree, and holding membership in the Country, the River-
side and the Commercial Clubs, and belonging to the Chamber of
Commerce of Wichita.

In 1902 Dr. Basham married Miss Katherine Genevieve, a
daughter of Francis and Honora Dailey, formerly of Eureka, Kan.,
but at that time residents of Helena, Mont., and they have two
children named, respectively, David Walker, Jr., aged four and
one-half years, and Francis Claybourne, aged one year.

H. C. Baughman, of Cheney, Kan., a veteran of the Civil War,
was born December 4, 1837, in Stoverton, Muskingum county,
Ohio. His parents were John Baughman and Sarah (Stover)
Baughman. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his
mother of Virginia, her family belonging to the F. F. V.'s The

716 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

elder Baughman died in 1879 and his widow in 1899. H. C. Baugh-
man obtained his early education in the public schools of Ohio.
In 1860 he removed to Illinois, where he taught school for four
months. He then enlisted in Company F, Fifty-ninth Illinois
Infantry, as a private, at Hazel Dell, and went to the St. Louis
arsenal, where the regiment remained three weeks for equipment.
It was then sent to Booneville, Mo., and was in the Fremont cam-
paign to Springfield, Mo. The regiment was then transferred
from the Department of Missouri to the Cumberland, and partici-
pated in the battles of Perryville, Ky. ; Stone River, the Tullahoma
campaign, the battle of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and
Mission Ridge. It was then sent on a forced march to the relief
of the siege of Knoxville, and after this was sent back to Chatta-
nooga to join the Atlanta campaign under Sherman. When the-
latter started on his March to the Sea the Fourth Corps and
Twenty-third Corps were started back to Nashville, Tenn., under
General Thomas. The Fifty-ninth Regiment was in the Fourth
Army Corps, in which Mr. Baughman was enlisted and partici-
pated in the last battle of the war on December 15 and 16, 1864,
at Nashville, Tenn. In the following June the whole corps was
sent to Texas under General Stanley and mustered out of th&
service at New Braunfels, Tex., December 8, 1865. The regiment
kept together from June 24, 1861, to January, 1866, when it was
paid off in full at Springfield, 111. Mr. Baughman entered the
service as a private, became second sergeant August 6, 1861 ;
orderly sergeant January 1, 1862; second lieutenant October 15,
1862, and captain February 15, 1864. After his term had expired
Mr. Baughman returned to Casey, 111. On March 20, 1866, he was
married to Miss Rosannah Frazier, of Zanesville, Ohio, a daughter
of William Frazier, of that city. He then returned to Illinois and
located in Jasper county, where he was engaged in the milling
business three years and in farming three years. He then went
to Piper City, 111., where he conducted a general store up to 1878.
In that year he removed to Kansas and located in Reno county,
where he engaged in farming on a 160-acre farm which he owned.
He was postmaster in Mona for twenty-three years. In 1901 he
moved to Cheney and retired from active business. Mr. Baugh-
man built himself a handsome residence in Cheney which is kept
up in first-class style, and still owns a farm in Reno county. He
and his wife are prominent in church circles, both being members
of long standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church. John W.,

BIOGEAPHY 717

one of his three living children, is a large land owner in Kansas,
Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming, with offices at Liberal, Kan.,
and Plains, Kan. Harry S. lives on a farm in Grant county, Okla-
homa, and Jesse G. lives at Plains, Kan., and is engaged in the
automobile business.

Charles W. Beatty, of Wichita, Kan., head of the Beatty Realty
Company, is a native of the Keystone state, having been born at
Huntingdon, Pa., in 1868. His parents were Elliot D. and Susanna
(Lefferd) Beatty. His education was obtained in the public
schools and the Southwestern Business College, of Wichita. He
came to Kansas with his parents in 1879, when only eleven years
old, and has ever since been a resident of Wichita. After com-
pleting his education he entered the service of the Crystal Ice
Company, with which concern he was connected sixteen years.
After leaving the ice company he was with the Badger Lumber
and Coal Company for a time, having charge of the plant. With
Rodolph Hatfield he had charge of the ice output of the Dold
Packing Company from 1896 to 1902. In the years following he
was for a time connected with the Wichita Ice and Cold Storage
Company, and in the flour agency business at the corner of Santa
Fe and Louis streets. In 1908 Mr. Beatty established the Beatty
Realty Company, the firm members being Charles W. and his
brother, J. A. Beatty. The offices of the firm are at No. 122 South
Market street, Wichita. Mr. Beatty is a member of the Chamber
of Commerce.

W. E. Bennett, photographer, of Cheney, Kan., was born April
1, 1864, in Watertown, N. Y. His parents were A. J. and Mary
(Greneson) Bennett. The father was a native of New York and
the mother a native of Switzerland. On the paternal side the
family traces its descent back to Scotch, English and Irish ances-
tors. The education of W. E. Bennett was acquired in the common
schools of Michigan. In 1866, when W. E. Bennett was two years
old, his parents left New York and moved to Neenah, Wis., and
afterwards moved to Newaygo county, Michigan, in 1868, where
the father homesteaded eighty a,cres and resided on his farm from
1870 to 1882. He then bought land in Erie township, Sedgwick
county, and January 2, 1884, came to Kansas, his family coming in
1885, where he lived up to the time of his death in 1904. Mrs.
Bennett died in Michigan in February, 1881. They had a family
of ten children, viz. : A. J., Jr., W. E., Mrs. Lillian M. Gawthrop,
Mrs. Bertha R. Sellon, Inez R. (deceased), Mrs. Jennie G. Prown,

718 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Mrs. Adelia Pierson, John N., Mrs. Vira Althoff and Mrs. Myrtle
Hart. A. J. Bennett was a prominent citizen wherever he resided.
He acted as Justice of the Peace in Erie township for six years, and
he filled the same position when he lived in Michigan. He was a
public-spirited citizen, and a member of the official board of the
Wichita State Fair, in which he always took much interest. He
was a close student of history and well posted on current topics.
Fraternally he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and in politics he was a Republican. He was a devout
member of the Methodist Church in his youth, but on coming to
Kansas joined the Christian Church. In early life he learned the
trade of a blacksmith, and while in Neenah, Wis., conducted a shop
of his own. Afterwards he took up the carpenter's trade, in which
he became proficient, and helped to build the roundhouse and
bridges on the line of the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad and
also on the Chicago, West Michigan & Lake Shore railroad. W. E.
Bennett came to Kansas in 1885, and took up a claim in Grant
county, which he afterwards disposed of and came to Sedgwick
county, where he took up his old business as a photographer,
which he had learned in Michigan. In 1888 he entered the gallery
of his brother-in-law in Cheney, and in 1904 bought the gallery
and still conducts the same, turning out work equal to that which
can be obtained in any of the large cities of the country. Mr.
Bennett is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
Subordinate Lodge, No. 254, and of the Twenty-ninth Encamp-
ment at Wichita. He is a Republican in politics. He was married
to Miss Edna S. Herrington, of Oklahoma, on November 9, 1904,
in Wichita, Kan., at the residence of Judge Enoch. Of this union
two children have been born, viz. : Myrtle Edna, four years old,
and Walter Francis, one year old.

Josiah M. Bird, of Wichita, was born in Muskingum county,
Ohio, on July 27, 1846. He is a sonof Jonathan andNancyH. (Down-
ing) Bird, his father being a native of Pennsylvania and his
mother of the state of Delaware. The great-great-grandfather of
Josiah M. was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and fought
under Washington. The father of Josiah M. in his early life was
a Whig and afterwards became a Republican, to which political
faith he adhered the remainder of his life. He was known as an
upright man in the community and lived an honored and useful
citizen until his death in 1870. His wife died on February 7, 1866.
Josiah M. Bird came from Ohio to Sedgwick county, Kansas, in the

BIOGRAPHY 719

fall of 1884, and located in Minneha township, where he bought
110 acres of land in Section 26 and moved on the same in 1885.
He was married on January 15, 1873, in Muskingum county, Ohio,
to Miss Elizabeth A. Downs, a daughter of Isaac and Rebecca
Downs, of the same county. Three children have been born of this
union, two of whom are now living, Harry S., born October 26,
1873, now a clerk in the postoffice at Wichita, Kan., and Chalmer
Downs, born August 8, 1876, who now lives on his farm (joining his
father 's) . Mr. Bird is a successful farmer, and he and his wife are
faithful and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. They have both taken a deep interest in the Sunday-
school and both have been teachers in it for years. In politics Mr.
Bird is a Republican.

Jacob Bissantz is known as one of the public-spirited citizens
of Wichita, Kan., and one who has taken an active interest in all
that pertains to the upbuilding of the city. He was born March
19, 1846, in Germany, his father being Adolph Bissantz. It was
not until 1868 that Mr. Bissantz came to the United States. While
in Germany he had learned the trade of a tinsmith, and this he
followed for a time after arriving here. His first location in
America was at Long Island, but he only remained there a short
time when he concluded that the West was the field for his ener-
gies and he migrated to St. Louis, Mo. After a short stay in the
Missouri metropolis Mr. Bissantz moved to Sedgwick county, Kan-
sas, where he homesteaded 160 acres of land and proved the same
up to the completion of his title. In the meantime he became
interested in various business enterprises in Wichita. He con-
ducted for himself a restaurant for two years and afterwards
formed a partnership in the tire and hardware business with J. R.
Butler under the firm name of Bissantz & Butler. The partnership
was dissolved and Mr.. Bissantz continued the business for himself
until he again formed a partnership with George Mathias under
the name of Bissantz & Mathias. This firm continued in business
for seven years, when its dissolution took place, Mr. Bissantz con-
tinuing the business alone for four years and then retiring. Mr.
Bissantz has always been much interested in the growth of Wichita
and has taken a keen pride in the same. In all matters pertaining
to the government of the city he has also taken a great interest,
and has been a member of the school board for four years. Politi-
cally he is a Republican and has been active in the affairs of his
party. He belongs to a number of fraternal orders, among which

720 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

may be mentioned the Knights of Pythias, the Knights and Ladies
of Security, Knights of Honor, Sons of Herrmann, and Woodmen
of the World. Mr. Bissantz was married August 1, 1869, to
Albertina Kammerer, who died February 11, 1905. Of this union
four children were born, of whom two are living : Lena Albertina
and Oscar Rudolph.

Earl Blake, of the firm of Blake & Ayers, lawyers, of Wichita,
Kan., with offices at No. 451 Bitting Block, is a native of Iowa,
having been born at Bedford, that state, on September 11, 1866.
His parents were Daniel and Eliza A. (Akers) Blake, who moved
from Indiana to Iowa in the '40s, and from the Hawkeye state to
Nodaway county, Missouri, in 1880, and to Kansas in 1884, where
they located at Kingman. Both are now deceased. Earl Blake
came to Kansas with his parents, entering Garfield University in
1889. His parents came to Wichita in 1892, and he has ever since
resided in the city. He was educated at the public and high
schools of Hopkins, Mo., and Kingman, Kan., and at Garfield
University Law School, from which he was graduated in the class
of 1891. Mr. Blake was admitted to practice at the Sedgwick
county bar in 1891, and entered the employ of the law firm of
O 'Bryan & Gordon, and continued with them during the years
1891 to 1894, inclusive. He was Assistant County Attorney dur-
ing the years 1895 and 1896, and a partner of John D. Davis from
1895 to 1898. He then formed a partnership with William A.
Ayers under the firm name of Blake & Ayers, which partnership
still continues, and in which he is now also associated with his
brother, Walter A. Blake. During the years 1903 and 1904 Mr.
Blake was City Attorney of Wichita. Mr. Blake is a thirty-
second degree Mason. He has also filled all the offices in War-
wick Lodge, No. 44, Knights of Pythias, and has been a trustee
of the same for fifteen years. He is also a member of the Ancient
Order of United Workmen and of the Fraternal Aid Association.
Mr. Blake was married in 1894 to Miss Minnie M. McKibben, the
City Librarian of Wichita. Of this union four children have been
born, viz. : Harold L., Marjorie L., Ralph B. and Louise M. Blake.

Charles A. Blakely, a native of Galena, 111., was born in 1862,
and is the third child of a family of eight children born to John
M. and Susan B. Blakely, who settled in Wichita with their
family in 1880. Here the father engaged in business as a con-
tractor, with Mr. W. Smith, under the firm name of Blakely &
Smith, but withdrew from active business in 1890 and now lives a

BIOGEAPHY 721

retired life at the age of eighty-three years. Our subject acquired
his education in the public schools and after finishing his school-
ing learned the carpenter's trade, working with his father. Begin-
ning in 1893 he was for fourteen years in the employ of the West-
ern Planing Mill, and left that concern in 1908, to become a
member of the firm of Burley & Blakely. This firm is located at
No. 209 West First street, and its business, that of general con-
tracting, comprises among other things the manufacture of high-
class cabinet work and interior finishings and fixtures.

Mr. Blakely devotes himself closely to his business and is
known as a reliable, conscientious and straightforward man.

In 1888 he married Miss Emma C. Webber, of Red Wing,
Minn., and they have one child, Mildred E. by name. Mr. Blakely
is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

Gillman L. Blood, of Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in
Maine, May 31, 1832. His parents were Leonard and Elizabeth
(Gove) Blood. Leonard Blood was born in Massachusetts Decem-
ber 17, 1789, and died March 7, 1847. His wife was born in
Maine on August 15, 1809, and died August 20, 1856. They
moved to Peoria county, Illinois, in 1836, and lived there the
balance of their lives. Gillman L. Blood remained in Peoria
county, Illinois, until 1871, when he came to Sedgwick county,
Kansas, and pre-empted 160 acres in Section 28, Waco township,
where he still lives. On December 9, 1856, he married Ellen L.
Almarood, who was born in Quebec, Canada, on May 1, 1837. She
was a daughter of George L. and Priscilla (Kyle) Almarood, her
father being an American and her mother English. Her father
died in 1842 and her mother in 1846. Mr. Blood and his wife have
six children, four of whom are living. The children are: Mrs.
Lizzie Thurston, of McPherson county, Kansas; George L., of
Waco township; Edward H., of Waco township; Everett E., of
Waco township; Mrs. Carrie Perham, deceased. Mr. Blood for
many years did diversified farming and stock raising, but of late
years has devoted much time to horticulture, having forty-five
acres in fruit — apples, peaches, pears, plums — and has about five
acres in asparagus. Mr. Blood has practically retired, while
Edward, his son, has leased the place. Mr. Blood is a Republican,
but never sought or held office.

John W. Blood, of the legal firm of Blood & McCormick,
Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Sunflower state, in which he was
born, near Toronto, in 1877. Mr. Blood's education was acquired

722 HISTOEY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

in the public schools of Woodson county, at the Emporia State
Normal School and the State University. He received his legal
education at the latter institution and was admitted to the bar
in 1906. In the same year he moved to Wichita and formed a
partnership with Ross McCormick under the firm name of Blood
& McCormick, which still continues. Mr. Blood had charge of
J. H. Graham's campaign in the spring of 1907. He was secretary
of the Republican County Committee and had charge of the cam-
paign in Sedgwick county in 1909. In the latter year Mr. Blood
was appoinnted election commissioner. Fraternally Mr. Blood
is a member of the Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen
of America. Mr. Blood was supervisor of the 1910 census of
Wichita.

George M. Boll, vice-president and manager of the Kansas
Metal Granary Company, was born in Worth county, Mo., on
May 3, 1881. His parents were G. W. and Susan (Sharp) Boll,
the father being a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of
Indiana. George M. Boll's education was acquired in the public
schools of Kansas, his parents having moved to the state in 1884.
They first located in Clark county, but in 1887 moved to Sedg-
wick county and in 1907 to Wichita, where George M. Boll became
one of the organizers of his present business, which he has man-
aged successfully. The office and plant of the Kansas Metal
Granary Company is located at the corner of William and Wichita
streets, Wichita. The company was established in 1908 as G. M.
Boll & Co., but was reorganized April 8, 1909, under the name
of the Kansas Metal Granary Company, with G. W. Boll as presi-
dent; George M. Boll, vice-presiderjt and manager; J. D. Peck-
ham, secretary and treasurer; George A. Hinkle and Charles
Waltercheid, directors. The company manufactures grain storage
bins, known as the Equity grain bin, made of metal, which admits
of nothing like rust or insects of any kind. The bins are light-
ning and damp proof, and are also a dryer to damp grain, etc.
They are sold throughout southern Kansas. The establishment
also manufactures metal tanks of all kinds. Steel bins were
originated in Sedgwick county in 1907. G. W. Boll was the
patentee of the Equity grain bin first in 1908, and other patents
were obtained in 1909 and 1910.

George L. Blood,* a prosperous farmer and stock raiser of
Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in Peoria county, Illinois," on

BIOGRAPHY 723

January 17, 1858. His parents were Gillman and Ellen (Alma-
road) Blood. The father of Gillman Blood was Leonard Blood,
who was born December 17, 1789, and died March 7, 1847. His
mother was born August 15, 1809, and died August 20, 1856.
George L. Blood came to Kansas with his father in 1871 and
remained at home until about twenty-eight years old. In 1883
he bought eighty acres of land in section 33, Waco township. He
has added to the original purchase until he now owns 280 acres
in Waco and Salem townships. On January 25, 1887, Mr. Blood
was married to Miss Emma J. Dunkin, who was born in Cass
county, Indiana, on January 7, 1865. Mrs. Blood was a daughter
of Benjamin and Jane (Rhine) Dunkin. Her father was born
in Virginia and her mother in Ohio. They were married in
Indiana, where Mr. Dunkin had pre-empted a homestead, on
which he died on August 12, 1895. His widow died July 16, 1906.
Mr. and Mrs. Blood have four children, viz. : Bessie B., born May
22, 1888; Ethel M., born November 14, 1890; Harold D., born
January 26, 1894, and Frank E., born December 26, 1903. Mr.
Blood has farmed and fed stock for the market, averaging from
seventy-five to 150 head each year. He has a fine orchard of
about eight acres. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient
Order of United Workmen.

Frank S. Boone, who is a worthy representative of one of the
pioneer families of Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a prosperous,
energetic farmer of Union township, and is highly esteemed
throughout the community. He has been a typical representative
of the United States soldier, and during his service in the Spanish-
American War displayed such conspicuous bravery while under
fire and in battle that he received the highest praise from his
superior officers. He was born October 29, 1876, and is a son of
Daniel E. Boone.

Elroy Boone, grandfather of Frank S., was a native of Ken-
tucky and a direct descendant of the same family of which Daniel
Boone, the famous frontiersman and hunter, was a member.
When a young man, Elroy went to New York State, and while in
Oneida county married Catherine De Long. In 1858 they moved
to Knox county, Illinois, where they spent many years carrying
on farming operations. He sold out in 1872 and moved to Union
township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, where he was one of the early
settlers. He purchased a half section of land, upon which he
made extensive improvements, and his fellow citizens recognized

724 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

in him one of the leading farmers of Sedgwick county. His
latter years were spent in quiet retirement, and his death, which
occurred in 1899, was deeply deplored by his many friends, who
knew him as an honest and upright man and a good neighbor.
His wife passed from this life in 1879. Mr. Boone had been twice
married and by his former wife had two children, while the fol-
lowing were the issue of his last marriage : Marietta, Daniel E.,
Emery G., James H, Maggie and Alice.

Daniel E. Boone was born in Cortland county, New York,
November 12, 1852, but when he was a lad of six years his
parents moved to Knox county, Illinois, where he received his
early schooling. He also took a course in the business college at
Galesburg, and during his vacations assisted his father in operat-
ing the farm. He accompanied his parents to Kansas in 1872
and has continued to reside in Sedgwick county ever since. He
pre-empted the northwest quarter of section 25, upon which he
lives at present, and as a result of many prosperous years of toil
he is uoav the owner of 640 acres of fine farming land. He raises
considerable grain and live stock, and is one of the most progres-
sive farmers in Sedgwick county. Mr. Boone was joined in wed-
lock, December 25, 1873, to Katie Carpenter, a native of Cali-
fornia, who is a daughter of Horace and Mary (Emery) Car-
penter— the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of
Vermont. Mrs. Boone was born September 1, 1853, and of her
children Frank S. is the oldest. The others were Mabel and
Daniel, and two who died in infancy. Mr. Boone is an influential
citizen of the community and in political affairs is one of its
leading Republicans. His fellow citizens have honored him by
election to many minor offices and has served as county treasurer.
In religious matters he is liberal in his views.

Frank S. Boone has spent the greater part of his years work-
ing on his father's farm, and during his early youth entered
Maize Academy, from which he was graduated two years later.
He then took a business course at Wichita University, and later
spent a year at Garfield University. He enlisted March 21, 1896,
as a private in Company E, 16th Regiment, U. S. A. After two
years in the service he was promoted to be a corporal, May 25,
1898, at Tampa, Fla. ; while at Huntsville, Ala., he was advanced
to a sergeancy — the latter promotion taking place October 11,
1898. He was active in the assault on San Juan Hill, on July 1,
and on July 2, 3, 10 and 11 he was in the front at Santiago. In

BIOGEAPHY 725

these two engagements he distinguished himself as a gallant non-
commissioned officer. His valor won much praise both from his
comrades and his superior officers, and his daring deeds are still
fresh in the minds of many who were there engaged. Upon his
discharge from service he was presented with several testimonials
(with recommendations) as to his gallant conduct while in battle.
From two of his superior officers he received the following :

"Camp Shipp, Anniston, Alabama,

December 29, 1898.
To Whom It May Concern :

I take great pleasure in testifying to the gallant conduct of
Sergeant Frank S. Boone, Company E, 16th Beg. Infantry, while
acting corporal of that company, in the attacks on the San Juan
fortifications on July 1, 1898. He, with one other soldier, was at
the head of the charge which resulted in the capture of the San
Juan Block House and too much credit cannot be given him for
his bravery on that day and throughout the entire operations
before Santiago. I have been in constant observation of Sergeant
Boone for over two years and believe him eminently fitted for the
position of Second Lieutenant of the Regular Army, which his
gallant conduct certainly merits during the operations before
Santiago. I served as Lieutenant in Co. E, 16th Inf.

(Signed) E. C. Carey,
Captain and Assistant Adjutant General United States
Volunteers."

"Huntsville, Ala., October 25, 1898.
"Sergeant Boone has been a member of my company for the
past three years. I know him to be a young man of good moral
character and intelligent and thoroughly reliable. After the
battle of Santiago I recommended him for conspicuous and gallant
conduct in the assault upon San Juan fort July 1, 1898. Upon
this occasion he was one of the first men to ascend the hills and
was far ahead of the main line. I saw him on the crest of the
hill, coolly firing with effect upon the Spanish soldiers in their
trenches not thirty yards away. In whatever capacity the Gov-
ernment may employ him, I am satisfied that he will perform his
duty conscientiously with courage and intelligence.

(Signed) W. C. McFarland,
Captain 16th Inf., commanding Co. E."

726 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The following article in the Wichita papers was copied from
^e Lexington (Ky.) "Herald" and was told by a Kentucky
officer :

"Sergeant Boone, of Wichita, Kan., seemed to bear a charmed
life. He was in the thickest of the fight and one of the first to
reach the trenches. He helped dress his captain's wounds and
carried his comrade Fleming to the rear. After the death of
Lieutenant Ord, Sergeant Boone showed great bravery."

These articles are only a small part of the many kind expres-
sions made concerning Mr. Boone, as he is in possession of many
other writings which relate his daring deeds on the battlefields
and commend him for his intrepid action as a soldier.

October 3, 1900, Mr. Boone was joined in marriage with Mollie
Lawson, a daughter of Peter and Mollie (Christopher) Lawson.
Mrs. Boone is a native of Sedgwick county, Kansas. Socially
Mr. Boone is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Maize Lodge,
No. 217, of Maize, Kan.

Winfield M. Booth,* farmer, of Salem township, Sedgwick
county, Kansas, was born in Sullivan county, Indiana, on Decem-
ber 28, 1857. His parents were John G. and Susanna (Nelson)
Booth, both natives of Indiana. John G. Booth brought his fam-
ily from Indiana to Salem township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, in
a wagon in 1872, and bought a claim of 160 acres of land in
section 16. His wife died in 1879 and her husband survived her
until 1906. The elder Booth's last five years were spent in Wil-
son county, Kansas. Winfield M. Booth was about fourteen years
old when he came with his parents to Kansas, and he lived at
home until about twenty-five years old. On February 6, 1884, Mr.
Booth married Miss Laura B. Parker, who was born in Butler
county, Ohio, on November 12, 1863, a daughter of William and
Eliza (Myers) Parker. Mrs. Booth's father was born in New
York and her mother was born in Butler county, Ohio, on January
15, 1834. The Parker family moved from Illinois to Kansas in
1878, where the father died on December 26, 1899. Mr. and Mrs.
Booth have nine children, viz. : Villa M., William P., Bertha M.,
Hallie M., Elida S., Nellie E., Marie G., Leroy M. and Archi N.
After leaving home Mr. Booth was for about two years in the
mercantile business in Zyba, Sumner county, Kansas, after which
he returned to his farm, on which he has since continued to live.
This farm he bought in 1888. Mr. Booth was township trustee for
about ten years. In politics he is a Democrat.

BIOGRAPHY 727

Joseph Bowman, of Wichita, Kan., register of deeds of Sedg-
wick county, has been described as "one of the most amiable
fellows in Wichita." Mr. Bowman was born in Lancaster, Pa.,
his parents being Joseph and Elizabeth (Parker) Bowman. His
early education was obtained at Lancaster and in Licking county.
Ohio, and his first occupation was at farming. He swept silently
into Wichita in 1886 and without unnecessary noise about it has
managed to keep staying here ever since. By profession he is an
expert accountant, and his first activities in that line in the city
were at the Wichita National Bank before the boom. When the
old Bank of Wichita was nationalized and called the Fourth
National Bank, Mr. Bowman went over to it as head bookkeper
and clearing house manager. With the reorganization of the
Fourth from top to bottom following the resignation of all the
officers, Mr. Bowman went out, too, and was at once called into
the Citizens' Bank, now the Kansas National Bank. A few
months later he was asked to return to the Wichita National,
where he remained until it closed its doors. Then Mr. Bowman
went to the Wichita Wholesale Grocery Company, where he
remained for fifteen years, resigning after his election in Novem-
ber, 1908, to the office of register of deeds. Mr. Bowman served
all through the War of the Rebellion, having enlisted in Com-
pany E. 184th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and taken part in the
campaigns of the close of the war. For many years he has been
a member of Garfield Post, No. 25. He is also a member of Betton
Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., Republican in politics, a member of the Con-
gregational Church, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
In 1886 he married Miss Jennie Lemmon. They have three
daughters — Ethlyn, Lillian, Marguerite.

George H. Bradford, of Wichita, Kan., is one of the powers
in the political life of Wichita and Sedgwick county, where he
has been a resident for fourteen years. Combining ability of a
high order with a thorough knowledge of political affairs, gained
from years of experience ; agressive and loyal to the Republican
party, Mr. Bradford possesses all the qualifications which go to
make up a party leader. Mr. Bradford was by no means a tyro
in politics when he came to Wichita. He had rendered signal
service to his party in St. Joseph, Mo., where he formerly resided,
and was a delegate from that district to the state convention in
1896 ; also delegate in 1902 to the state convention at Springfield,
Mo.; also, 1888, at Chillicothe, Mo. He has been honored by

728 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

election to two terms in the city council of Wichita, in the years
1906 and 1908. His record while in office was clean and highly
creditable. Mr. Bradford was born at Monroe, Mich., on Feb-
ruary 21, 1866. His parents were George W. Bradford and
Adelia (Kimball) Bradford, and his early education was obtained
in Monroe, Mich. After finishing his education he engaged in
civil engineering; assistant engineer W. S. S. & A. Ry. under
John F. Stevens, who was afterward chief engineer, Panama
Canal. Mr. Bradford is an eminently successful business man.
He is president of the Wichita Construction Company, which
does a large business in municipal contracting. He followed the
same business for ten years in St. Joseph prior to his removal to
Wichita. He was married in 1896 to Miss Linnie M. Speece, of
Wichita, and of this union two children have been born, viz. :
Edwin P. and Marguerite.

Fraternally Mr. Bradford is a member of Wichita Lodge,
No. 99, A. F. & A. M.; Wichita Consistory, No. 12, Potentate
Midion Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. ; Mt. Olivet Commandery, No.
12 ; trustee Wichita Lodge, No. 427, B. P. 0. E. ; Betton Lodge,
I. 0. 0. F. ; Lodge No. 22, A. 0. U. W. ; Lodge No. 44, K. of P. ;
second vice-president of National Order of Travelers' Associ-
ation; national director American Society of Bridge Contractors.

Charles H. Brooks, a member of the legal firm of Houston &
Brooks, of Wichita. The firm to which he belongs is one of the
most talented and best known law firms in Sedgwick county,
which includes Wichita. Mr. Brooks is a native of California,
having been born at Auburn, in that state, in November, 1859.
He comes of sturdy New England stock and he can trace his
ancestry back to the Revolutionary War, in which a number of
his forebears were participants. His father was Julius P. Brooks,
who was born in Windsor county, Vermont. After his marriage
Julius P. Brooks went to California, which was then in the
height of its gold excitement, and there the elder Brooks fol-
lowed mining until his death in 1861. He left a widow and two
sons, and the widow immediately returned to her home in Ver-
mont. It was there that Charles H. Brooks was educated. He
attended Montpelier Seminary, and while yet a young man
moved to Marion, la., where he entered upon the study of law
with J. C. Davis, and was admitted to the bar in 1883. He then
began the practice of law with his preceptor and continued with
the latter until 1886, when he moved to Wichita, Kan., during its

BIOGEAPHY 729

early boom days. He at once formed a partnership with David
Smythe, under the firm name of Smythe & Brooks, which was
afterward changed to Smythe, Brooks & Coffin. The last named,
C. F. Coffin, afterwards removed to Indianapolis. Later Mr.
Brooks and Judge T. B. Wall formed the firm of Wall & Brooks,
and in 1898 the present firm of Houston & Brooks was organized,
Mr. Brooks' partner being Joseph D. Houston, which firm still
continues and enjoys a leading practice. Corporation law is Mr.
Brooks' specialty, and his firm is now a very important cog in
that vast legal machine, the counsel end of the Santa Fe Railroad.
The firm is also connected in both a business, commercial and
legal relation with many other powerful corporations whose
influence ramifies throughout the nation. Mr. Brooks' executive
capacity is well displayed in his responsible position as president
of the Wichita Union Stock Yards Company, where his keen
insight into difficult problems of transportation, freight rates,
etc., has been invaluable. Mr. Brooks has been a director in the
Kansas National Bank, is now president of the newly organized
Stock Yards National Bank, and is a director in several local
organizations. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and a
Knight Templar. He is married, his wife having been Miss Jane
Lillie, daughter of W. L. Lillie, of Marion, la. From this union
four children have been born: Willard L., Helen, Catharine and
Josephine.

Charles W. Brown, vice-president of the Fourth National Bank
of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Jefferson county, New York,
where he was born on, May 29, 1836. His parents were Cyrus
and Tamer (Bent) Brown, natives of Pennsylvania and Lewis
county, New York, respectively, and who moved to Illinois in
1856. Young Brown was educated in the public schools of
Jefferson county, New York, and spent the early years of his life
on a farm. He remained on the farm until 1868, when he
engaged in the banking business with his brother, George W.
Brown, at Clarence, la., under the firm name of Brown Bros.
He remained at Clarence until 1871, when he removed to Kansas,
locating in Butler county and starting a bank at Augusta, which
was continued under the management of Brown Bros, until 1874,
when Charles W. Brown withdrew from the firm. He again
became a partner in the bank in 1883 and continued in it until
1890, when he removed to Wichita. Here he became interested
in a number of large enterprises. For one thing, he engaged in

730 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

sheep raising on a large scale, at one time having as high as
15,000 head on his ranch. He also engaged in the banking busi-
ness, and for a time was vice-president of the old Kansas National
Bank, later becoming president of the National Bank of Wichita,
and since 1909 has been vice-president of the Fourth National
Bank of Wichita. Mr. Brown was married in 1872 to Miss Anna
McKibbin, daughter of Alexander McKibbin, of Clarence, la.
Mrs. Brown is a native of New York state. From this union
there have been three children: Margaret, who married Walter
Lines, of Wichita; Anna, wife of D. P. Woods, of Wichita, and
George M. Brown, manager of the Crystal Ice & Fuel Company,
of Wichita, a position he has filled since 1908.

James K. Brown, one of the well-known citizens of Wichita,
Kan., where he has resided for many years, is a native of Illinois,
where he was born in Montgomery county, April 4, 1846. His
parents were James and Mahala (Harper) Brown. Both his
parents were natives of Tennessee, while his remote ancestors on
the paternal side were Scotch, while his great-great-grandfather
on the maternal line was English. James K. Brown is the young-
est of a family of eleven children born to his parents. He acquired
a limited education in the public schools of Illinois up to his
twentieth year, and remained under the paternal roof until he was
twenty-two years old. In 1874 he decided to go to Kansas and
located first in Payne township, Sedgwick county, where he
bought half a section in Section 19 of that township. Here he
resided for twenty-seven years. He took a conspicuous part in
the affairs of the township, having been a member of the school
board for several years, and having served three terms as a
member of the board of township trustees. In Masonic matters
Mr. Brown has attained high rank, being a thirty-second degree
Mason, and also a member of the Consistory, No. 2, of Wichita.
In politics Mr. Brown is a Democrat. He resides now in his
beautiful home at 427 North Lawrence avenue, Wichita.

James R. Brown, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Green Isle,
where he was born on May 13, 1844. His parents were William
and Nancy Brown, natives of Ireland. Mr. Brown came with his
parents from Ireland to the United States in 1848, when he was
only four years old, and settled in Lycoming county, Pennsyl-
vania. The father of James R. died April 3, 1854, and the mother
on August 5, 1865, both in Lycoming county. James R. Brown,
after the death of his parents, with nine other friends, sought a

BIOGRAPHY 731

home in the West, and the point selected was Sedgwick county,
Kansas. Previous to coming west he enlisted in the army when
the Civil War broke out in 1861, in Company D, Eleventh Penn-
sylvania Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was equipped in
Harrisburg, Pa., and afterwards it was ordered to Annapolis,
Md., where it spent its first months in the service doing patrol
duty. The regiment then was placed in McDowell's division,
First Army Corps, in Virginia. Mr. Brown participated in sev-
eral severe engagements, among others Cedar Mountain, Va. ;
and the second battle of Bull Run. Oh August 30, 1862, at
Cedar Mountain, he received a severe wound in his right side
and was removed to the hospital at Alexandria, Va., where he
remained four months. He fought at the battle of Gettysburg
from the beginning to the end of that severe struggle. His regi-
ment was then placed under General Reynolds, in General Wads-
worth's division in the First Army Corps. The regiment then
made a raid in North Carolina, and on August 1, following the
battle of Gettysburg, Mr. Brown was made second sergeant, and
afterward he was detailed to the pioneer corps of General War-
ren, of the Fifth Army Corps headquarters. He participated in
the battle of Appomattox and after this engagement he veteran-
ized in the same regiment for three years. He lost his arm at
Petersburg June 18, 1864. Altogether he spent in the service
of the government three years and eleven months. He was dis-
charged on August 7, 1865, and returned to his home in Jersey
Shore, Pa. Then he went to Philadelphia and took a course in
a business college in stenography and telegraphy, after which he
went to Torus, Me., organized the Soldiers' Home and was
superintendent until 1870. He then, with the friends above men-
tioned, came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and located first in
what is now known as Eagle township, where he homesteaded 160
acres of land in Section 28, where he dwelt until 1887 with his
family. Mr. Brown was married on December 21, 1874, at
Wichita, Kan., to Miss Ada Winters. Miss Winters was a native
of Ohio, and ten children were born of this union, eight of whom
are living, viz.: Carrie, W. W., Elta, Maud, Edith, Lulu, Erma
and Hazel. Mr. Brown politically is a solid and substantial
Democrat. In 1887 he was elected register of deeds in Sedgwick
county and served two terms. After the expiration of his term
of office he returned to his home at Colwich, Kan., where he owned
a large body of land, and lived there until 1909. During that

732 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

year he took up his permanent residence in Wichita and lives at
No. 1751 North Lawrence avenue. Mr. Brown is a member of
the G. A. R.

John W. Brown (deceased), father of Howard Brown, of Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, was born in August, 1830, in Clinton county,
New York. The father of John W. Brown moved to Michigan
when it was still a territory in 1836, and located at Kalamazoo,
then known as Brtmson, where he bought government land at
$1.25 an acre, and lived on the same up to the time of his death,
which occurred in 1878. J. W*. Brown was twenty-one years old
when he left the paternal roof. He learned the trade of a car-
penter in Michigan and followed this occupation while living
there and in Illinois. He received a limited education in his
native state and may be called a self-educated man, for he was
literary in his tastes and a great reader, studying history and
keeping in close touch with the current events of the day through
the newspapers and magazines. He was married in 1857 to Miss
Electa Wellman, of New York, at Vicksburg, Kalamazoo county,
Michigan, Miss Wellman 's parents being from New England.
Two children were born of this union, of whom one is now living;
G. W., deceased, was the editor and proprietor of the first news-
paper ever printed in Cheney, Kan., and was an able, educated
man, public-spirited, and took a delight in every enterprise that
would benefit his town and county. L. W. Brown is now living
and a resident of Kingman county, Kansas. The wife of J. W.
Brown died in 1864 and in 1865 he was again married to Miss
Martha Hopkins, of St. Joseph county, Michigan.

Three children were born of this union, all of whom are living,
viz. : Howard, Robert and Mary. In the fall of 1867 he moved
to Lawrence, Douglas county, Kansas, for a short time, but after-
wards returned to St. Joseph county, Michigan, and lived there
until the fall of 1878, at which time he moved to Erie township^
Sedgwick county, Kansas. There he successfully farmed a tract
of land that was purchased by Mr. Jewett and is now called the
" Jewett Estate" land. When it was purchased Mr. Brown moved
to Morton township, working at his trade as a carpenter all the
time as well as farming. He bore the reputation of being a good
carpenter, his services were sought for and his trade was profit-
able. Mr. Brown bought a half section in Morton township, where
he resided till his death, which occurred in 1893. He held several
important offices during his life. He was a justice of the peace

BIOGEAPHY 733

and assessor while he lived in Michigan, and trustee in Morton
township three times. In early life he was a Whig, but after-
wards became a Republican, which he was at the time of his death.
Howard Brown is a Democrat in politics when that party has
good candidates. Robert lives on a farm close to Howard and
both are successful farmers of Sedgwick county.

Will W. Brown, cashier of the Stock Yards Bank, of Wichita,
Kan., is a native Kansan, having been born in Sedgwick county
on March 8, 1878. He is a son of James R. and Ada (Winter)
Brown, who came to Kansas from Illinois in 1871, locating in
Eagle township, Sedgwick county. Mr. Brown, Sr., served as
register of deeds for Sedgwick county two terms, and made his
permanent residence in Wichita in 1889. Will W. Brown was
educated in the public schools of Sedgwick county, and after his
graduation taught in the country schools of the county for a
period of four years, after which he took up a business course,
and was bookkeeper in several banks in the counties of Sedgwick
and Reno. He came to Wichita in 1889, and was first in the
employ of the Hockaday Hardware Company, and then for seven
years filled the responsible position of cashier at the Morton-
Simmons hardware establishment. In 1907 Mr. Brown organized
the Stock Yards State Bank, and has since acted as its cashier.
The other officers of the bank are : Garrison Scott, president,
and George T. Cubbon, vice-president. Mr. Brown is a member
of the Chamber of Commerce of Wichita, the Riverside Club, the
Young Men's Christian Association and the Knights of Pythias.
He was married September 12, 1907, to Miss Marie G. Kenargy,
daughter of L. H. Kenargy, of Wichita. Of this union there has
been issue one child, Raymond K. Brown.

Albert A. Buck, painter and decorator, No. 209 St. Francis
avenue, Wichita, Kansas, is a native of Georgia, in which state he
was born in Union county on September 18, 1875. His parents
were Azro A. and Fannie (Bur gin) Buck, natives of Vermont and
North Carolina, respectively. The father was Captain of Com-
pany F, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Vol-
unteer Infantry. He died at Winfield, Kan., January 2, 1880.
His widow is still living and made a successful run at the opening
of the Cherokee Strip on September 16, 1893. Albert A. Buck
was educated in the public schools and came to Kansas in 1879,
remaining a short time at Winfield, then to Arkansas City, then
to Newton, and located in Wichita soon afterward. He learned

734 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the painter's and decorator's trade in 1896, which he has since fol-
lowed successfully. Mr. Buck established business for himself at
No. 209 St. Francis avenue in 1904 and has gained a fine patronage
in the general line of decorating and painting. He has been a
member of the Masonic Order since 1909, and also belongs to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Buck enlisted as a
private for the Spanish-American War on June 18, 1898, was
mustered in December 10 of the same year. He was married on
January 10, 1899, to Miss Bertha Duncan, of Halstead, Kan.

Fred Buckley, proprietor of the American Cornice Works,
114-116 West Second street, Wichita, Kan., is a native of Windsor,
Ontario, Dominion of Canada, where he was born on May 15, 1861.
His parents were Reuben and Anna Buckley. He spent his boy-
hood days in Windsor and was educated at the public schools of
the city. In 1882 he came to the United States and located first
at Kansas City, Mo., where he learned the tinner's trade with
A. K. Sweet. In 1883 he came to Wichita and first obtained em-
ployment with the Bissantz Hardware Company, continuing at the
cornice business until 1885, when he began for himself, and has
since continued the management of one of the largest and most
successful businesses of its kind in Wichita. Mr. Buckley has
been a member of the Knights of Pythias for a quarter of a cen-
tury. He is also a member of the Masonic Order and of the
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. On September 13, 1888,
he was married to Miss Mary Travis, a native of Illinois. Of this
union two children have been born, Roy B., assistant city attorney
of Wichita, and Mert T. Buckley.

Mr. Buckley moved into his present quarters in August, 1910,
where he occupies the entire building, upstairs and downstairs,
covering 6,500 square feet with a storeroom of 2,500 square feet.

William T. Buckner, attorney at law, of Wichita, Kansas, with
offices in the Anchor Trust Building, is a native of Ohio, having
been born at Washington Court House, Fayette county, on Janu-
ary 2, 1846. His parents were William M. and Jane E. (Morri-
son) Buckner, natives of Virginia. They went to Ohio in the
early forties. The elder Buckner was a lawyer and a leading^
land attorney, devoting his time to perfecting titles to numerous
large tracts of land in the states of Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky
and Tennessee. William T. Buckner was educated at Greenfield,
Highland county, Ohio. When the civil war broke out he enlisted
in 1861 in Company I, Seventy-third Ohio Regiment. Being dis-

BIOGRAPHY 735

abled in the service, he was discharged before his term of enlist-
ment had expired. He re-enlisted in Company F, One Hundred
and Seventy-fifth Ohio, and served as a private until the close
of the war. He was in many of the hard-fought battles of the
war, besides several skirmishes. After his discharge from the
army he returned to the home farm in Ohio, which was being
conducted by his mother, his father being dead. He assisted his
mother in conducting the farm and took up the study of law
under the direction of Hon. Robert M. Briggs, of Washington
Court House. He followed this by a course at the Cleveland Law
School, from which he graduated in 1871, when he was admitted
to practice in the United States courts and all courts in Ohio.
He began his legal practice in the city of Cleveland, where he
remained from 1872 to 1884, when he came to Kansas and located
at "Wichita, and conducted a general practice until after the
boom. Mr. Buckner was elected probate judge of Sedgwick
county and served two terms of 1889 to 1893, since which time
he has devoted his time to the real estate and law business. Mr.
Buckner is a member of Garfield Post, No. 25, Department of
Kansas, G. A. R. He was married on June 6, 1883, to Miss Mary
J. Wadsworth, a native of Morrow county, Ohio. Two children
have been born to this union, Dora A. and Susan E. Buckner.

Frank S. Burt is a well known and enterprising citizen of
Wichita, Kansas. He was born at Urbana, Illinois, June 23,
1862, and is a son of Jesse and Alma C. (Hall) Burt. He had
good educational advantages and supplemented his preparatory
studies by a course at the University of Illinois, where he was
graduated with the class of 1884. In March, 1885, Mr. Burt
settled at Wichita in the real estate and insurance business, with
offices at 416 East Douglas street. In 1896 he was appointed by
the state commissioners, chief of police of Wichita and served
till 1898. Resuming his insurance business, he continued it till
1901, when, under the administration of Mayor McClain, he was
again made chief of police, serving four years. After that till
1909 he gave his attention to his real estate and insurance mat-
ters, and then for the third time was appointed chief of police by
Mayor Davidson and served till September 1, 1910, when he
resigned the office.

After the opening of the Spanish-American War, in 1898, Mr.
Burt served some nine months as commissary clerk under Capt.
S. N. Bridgeman, first at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where twenty-

736 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

two thousand men were cared for, and afterwards at Atlanta,
Georgia.

In 1886 Mr. Burt married Miss Catherine E., daughter of
Mrs. Rebecca Bolick, of Wichita. They have had four children,
of whom two died in infancy. The surviving children are named
respectively, Ora D. and Jesse F.

Mr. Burt is an active member of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks and is connected with the local lodge, No. 427.

Antonio S. Buzzi, a member of the Sedgwick county bar, was
born in Arkansas City, Kansas, in the year 1876, and is the
son of Antonio and Adeladia Buzzi. His parents, originally from
Switzerland, came from Algiers, Africa, to the United States in
1864, and settled at Meriden, Conn., from whence they moved to
St. Charles, Mo., but later returned to their former home in Con-
necticut. In 1871 they moved to Chicago, coming to Arkansas
City, Kan., in 1872, among the early settlers of that community.

Our subject received the common and high school education
at Arkansas City, after which he spent six years in the state uni-
versity at Lawrence, Kan., graduating from the law school in
1902, at which time he was admitted to the bar. After traveling
two years through the Western, and Central states, in 1904 he
settled in Wichita and opened an office at 401 East Douglas
avenue, for the practice of his profession. In 1906 Mr. Buzzi was'
elected city attorney of the city of Wichita, and in 1909 appointed
to the same office by the commission, and is at the present time
serving his second term.

Mr. Buzzi is somewhat active in fraternal organizations, being
a member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and several
other secret organizations.

Albert M. Campbell, of Bentley, Sedgwick county, Kansas, is
a native of Indiana. He was born at Bluffton, Wells county, that
state, on October 3, 1869. His parents were John M. and Mary
(Falk) Campbell. The father was a native of Westmoreland
county, Pennsylvania, and the mother a native of Ohio. The
ancestry of the family is traced to Scotland and Ireland on the
paternal side, and on the maternal side to Germany. The father
of Albert M. Campbell left Indiana and moved to Sedgwick
county, Kansas, on March 17, 1871, with his wife and one child,
and there homesteaded a quarter section in Section 2, Eagle town-
ship, and there lived up to the time of his death, on April 21, 1894.

BIOGEAPHY 737

During his life he worked at his trade, that of a carpenter, of
which he was master in every particular. He followed his occu-
pation up to the time of his entering the army. He enlisted as a
private in Company B, One Hundred and First Indiana Volunteer
Militia, and after his discharge from the service returned to his
home in Wells county, Indiana. The mother of Albert M. died
in 1906. After the death of his father Albert M. Campbell con-
tinued to manage the estate, and up to recently he has rented the
home farm. He and his brother have formed a partnership under
the firm name of Campbell Bros., and are now devoting their
entire time to the manufacture of concrete tiles and blocks. They
have been kept constantly busy in supplying the demand for their
productions. The quality of their work is of the highest class,
and they have a big patronage in this vicinity and adjoining
counties. Mr. Campbell is a past grand member of the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows, Bentley Lodge, No. 446, and is a
Republican in polities.

William S. Campbell is younger than Albert M., having been
born September 17, 1873, in Sedgwick county, Kansas. He is also
a son of John M. and Mary (Falk) Campbell. William S. enlisted
for the Spanish-American War in the Forty-fourth United States
Volunteers and left San Francisco on the transport Howard on
December 31. On arriving at Manila his regiment com-
menced active operations, and during the year 1900 he was
engaged in numerous battles. He was discharged from the serv-
ice on June 30, 1901. Mr. Campbell is a Republican in politics.

John William Campbell,* Civil War veteran, of Kechi, Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, is a native of Illinois, where he was born
on October 14, 1842, in Adams county. His parents were I. F.
and Pauley (Brittan) Campbell, both natives of South Carolina.
The father was reared in the state of Tennessee and moved to
Illinois in 1849, locating in Adams county, where he lived until
his death on April 17, 1882. He was a farmer during his life and
both he and his wife traced their ancestry to Scotland. John W.
Campbell received a limited education in the old log school house
in Adams county, which he attended up to his eighteenth year,
.when he enlisted in Company D, Fiftieth Illinois Volunteer In-
fantry, which was equipped at Quincy, 111. The regiment made
many moves until it reached Pittsburg Landing, where it was in
the heat of the battle, and also took part in the battle at Corinth,
Tenn. It was then sent into east Tennessee, where it went into

738 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

winter quarters at Glenview, afterward participating in the battle
of Lookout Mountain, where its colonel and lieutenant colonel
were shot. The regiment then went with Sherman on his march
to the sea, and after going through some hard campaigning was
sent to Washington, D. C, where Mr. .Campbell was discharged.
The Fiftieth was known as the crack regiment of Illinois volun-
teers and went through the most severe fighting of any of the
regiments equipped in that state. At Louisville, Ky., where it
competed in drill with several other regiments from Illinois, it
obtained valuable prizes on account of its splendid discipline.
After his discharge, Mr. Campbell returned home to Adams
county and on March 9, 1866, at Quincy, 111., was married to Miss
Mary M. Lyons, a daughter of John W. Lyons, of Adams county.
After his marriage, Mr. Campbell moved from Illinois to Missouri,
where he lived for fourteen years as a farmer, and then moved to
Denver, Colorado, where he lived for four years. On February
17, 1884, he moved to Wichita, Kans., and afterwards to Kechi
township, and three years afterward moved to Kechi, where he
now lives in his comfortable home. Mr. Campbell and his wife
are members of the Church of Christ. Fraternally he is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the G. A. R., and
in politics is a Republican.

Merrit D. Canaday,* one of the substantial ' and prosperous
business men of Mulvane, Kan., was born in Davis county, Mis-
souri, on April 16, 1841. He is a son of John J. and Sophia
(Smith) Canaday, the father being a native of North Carolina
and the mother of Pennsylvania. They were the parents of four
children, viz. : Francis M., deceased ; Merrit D., of Mulvane ; Mrs.
C. N. Bartlett, of St. Louis, Mo., and Andrew J., who died in
California. Mrs. Canaday died in 1853 and Mr. Canaday in
1855. Merrit D. Canaday was a child of twelve years when his
mother died, and he was thrown on his own resources when a
small child. His father had moved to Bloomington, 111., where he
died, and there Merrit remained until the winter of 1858-59, when
he returned to Missouri with an uncle, and in the summer of 1860
went to Fort Scott, Kansas. From there he went to northern
Missouri, and on October 4, 1861, enlisted in Company H, Fifth
Kansas Cavalry, for three years. He served his time and then
went to Illinois and raised a new company, but before it could be
mustered in the war came to an end. After the war, Mr. Canaday
settled at Clinton, 111., where he remained until 1871. He then

BIOGEAPHY 739

came to Kansas and preempted 160 acres of land in Section 26,
Salem township. This was in the fall of 1871. On November 4,
1868, Mr. Canaday was married to Miss America J. Bowles, who
was born in DeWitt county, Illinois. She was a daughter
of Jesse P. and Maria (Bivins) Bowles, both natives of
Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Bowles came to Kansas in the
spring of 1873 and settled on Section 35, Salem town-
ship, and are now residents of Mulvane. Mr. and Mrs. Can-
aday have three children, viz. : Mrs. J. F. Hufbauer, of Newkirk,
Okla. ; Charles D., of Mulvane, and Mrs. S. C. Massingale, of
Cordell, Okla. Mr. Canaday lived on his farm until 1881, when
he moved to Mulvane and engaged in the grain and live stock
business. In 1886, in partnership with B. H. Ward, he bought out
the Chicago Lumber Company, of Mulvane, but after a short time,
Mr. Canaday 's health failing, he sold his interests to Mr. Ward.
In 1891 he bought the entire lumber interest and has since con-
ducted the business under the name of M. D. Canaday. Mr. Can-
aday has built two residences since living in Mulvane. He is a
stockholder and director in the Mulvane State Bank, and also
owns a lumber yard at Gotebo, Okla. Mr. Canaday sold his farm
in Salem township and now owns a farm of 160 acres in Harper
county, Kansas, and a summer residence at Manitou, Col. In
politics Mr. Canaday is a Democrat and he is a member of the
Church of Christ, of Mulvane.

Sherman 0. Carpenter* is one of the successful farmers and
business men of Ninnescah township, Sedgwick county, Kansas.
Mr. Carpenter was born in Chautauqua county, New York, on
July 28, 1852. His parents were Joseph S. and Malinda (Lenox)
Carpenter, both natives of New York. Mr. Carpenter, Sr., was
born May 18, 1828. They were married in New York and in 1877
came to Kansas and settled in Edwards county. Mrs. Carpenter
died June 20, 1893, and Mr. Carpenter died on September 20,
1901. Sherman O. Carpenter was raised on a farm, and when a
young man learned the carpenter's trade. He came to Kansas
with his father in 1877, and resided in Edwards county until Sep-
tember 21, 1880, when he returned to New York and remained
there until 1884. He then entered the building department of
the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad on bridge work, and
remained with the company part of one year, when he came to
Sedgwick county, and in July, 1884, bought a threshing machine
and commenced operating it. In the fall of the same year he

740 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

came to Clearwater and built a feed mill. For eighteen years
Mr. Carpenter operated his threshing outfit in Ninnescah and Ohio
townships, in partnership with M. B. Smith. In 1897 he bought
160 acres in Section 16, Ninnescah township. After three years
he sold this place and on November 30, 1901, bought the 150 acres
where he now resides in Section 13, Ninnescah township. Mr. Car-
penter was married on January 10, 1885, to Miss Juliette Warren,
who was born in New York. She died on September 12 of the
same year, and on September 9, 1888, Mr. Carpenter married Miss
Edna Wright, who was born in Indiana. Mrs. Carpenter is a
daughter of Edward A. Wright, who came to Kansas in 1876,
where he first settled in Pawnee county, and later came to Sedg-
wick county. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have one son, Myron W.
Carpenter, who was born on June 19, 1889. He is now attending
the Lawrence University. Mr. Carpenter has been a director in
the Clearwater State Bank since its organization in 1899, and
secretary of the Clearwater Lumber Company and a director in
the Clearwater Telephone Company. He has served three terms
as justice of the peace. Mr. Carpenter is a member of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and is a liberal in politics.

Claud N. Cartwright, an enterprising citizen of Wichita, Kan.,
is a great-grandson of the celebrated preacher Peter Cartwright,
and the second child of a family of five children born to Thomas
B. and Mary E. (Cloud) Cartwright, the other children being
Maude C, who was born August 25, 1868, and died September
26, 1898 ; Madge E., born April 21, 1877 ; Oliver V., born March
20, 1880, and Arthur T., born August 25, 1882.

Thomas B. Cartwright settled in Salem township, Sedgwick
county, Kansas, with his family in 1872. He lived there still 1882,
when he sold his farm and bought a quarter section of land in
Waco township, which he improved and cultivated, and where
he made his home till 1903. He then sold the farm but still lives
in Waco township. He is a man of influence in the community
and in 1888 was elected county treasurer on the Democratic
ticket and re-elected in 1890. The mother died March 24, 1905.

After leaving school Claud N., in 1889, entered the office of the
county treasurer as a clerk, and continued there till 1896, after
which he served three years as a clerk in the office of the county
clerk. In 1899 he turned his attention to business, dealing in
pumps and windmills, and continued in that line five years, with
good success. In 1904 Mr. Cartwright was nominated and elected

BIOGRAPHY 741

county clerk of Sedgwick county, on the Democratic ticket,
and re-elected in 1906. At the close of his second term, in 1908,
he opened offices in the Anchor Trust building, and turned his
attention to the real estate and insurance business, which he has
conducted with much success to the present time. In political
opinion and action Mr. Cartwright has always been a Democrat
and is active in the local councils of his party, being at the
present time — 1910 — chairman of. the County Central Committee.

The subject of this sketch was united in marriage on the
15th of May, 1901, to Miss Harriet, daughter of Aaron Bales, of
Bourbon county, Kansas.

Howard E. Case, president of the Davidson-Case Lumber Com-
pany, of "Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Empire State, having
been born at Fulton, Oswego county, New York, on June 10, 1862.
His parents were Charles and Susan (Hart) Case. The elder
Case died when his son was but five years old, and his mother
died when he was fourteen. The guardian of Mr. Case gave him
a public school education, which was followed by training at the
Cazenovia (N. Y.) Seminary, the Richfield Springs (N. Y.) Semi-
nary, and Cornell University, from which he graduated in the
class of 1884. Mr. Case came to Wichita in the same year, and
was first employed by the Oliver Bros. Lumber Company. On
March 1, 1887, he began business for himself, when, with William
Davidson, he embarked in the lumber business, the first plant
being started in Wichita. In 1889 yards were opened in Okla-
homa City and Guthrie, and after the opening of the Cherokee
strip more yards were added. The business was incorporated
in 1900 as the Davidson-Case Lumber Company, and is now
operating sixteen yards in Oklahoma and five in Kansas, with
Wichita as the base of operations, or central plant. Mr. Case is
a firm believer in the future of Wichita. He is a member of all
the Masonic bodies and a thirty-second degree Mason. He is
also vice-president of the Wichita Commercial Club and presi-
dent of the Southwestern Lumber Association. He was married
in 1887 to Miss Sarah Blair, of Huntingdon, Pa. Mrs. Case's
father, Alexander Blair, was the originator of the well known
Blair mill of that locality. Four children have been issue of
this union, viz.: Margaret B., now a sophomore at Smith Col-
lege ; Helen D., Howard, Jr., and Leslie S. Case.

Anthony E. Chambers, farmer and raiser of standard bred
horses, and veteran of the Civil War, of Clearwater, Sedgwick

742 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

county, Kansas, was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, on No-
vember 15, 1846. His parents were Ahimaaz and Jane (Patton)
Chambers, both natives of Indiana, where they passed their
lives. The grandfather, Anthony Chambers, was a native of
Kentucky, and married Nancy Blue, a native of Virginia. The
grandfather on the maternal side was Hezekiah E. Patton, a
native of North Carolina, who married a Miss Wilson. Ahimaaz
Chambers and his wife were the parents of seven children, viz. :
Mrs. Nannie B. Craig, of Clearwater, Kan.; Mrs. Mary E. Dyer,
of Ohio township, Sedgwick county; Anthony E., of Sedgwick
county; A. Worth, of Sedgwick county; Mrs. Annie Hamlin, of
Newkirk, Okla. ; Catharine C, deceased ; Jessie F., deceased.
The mother of this family died in 1857, and the father in 1890.
Anthony E. Chambers remained at home until the summer of
1863, when he enlisted in Company H, Tenth Indiana Cavalry,
and served during the war. He was wounded at a battle of South
Tunnel, four miles from Gallatin, Tenn., and was mustered out in
July, 1865. After the war Mr. Chambers returned to his home
in Indiana and remained there until 1867, when he went to Illi-
nois, and remained until the fall of 1873. At that time he moved
to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and preempted 160 acres of land,
where he now lives. On January 1, 1878, Mr. Chambers was
married to Miss Releaf E. Phillips, who was born in Pennsyl-
vania, in 1855, and came with her parents to Kansas in 1874.
One son has been born of this union, Joseph C, born February 4,
1881, and married, on September 28, 1902, Miss Belva L. Cook,
who was born in Greenwood county, Kansas, on February 28,
1884. Miss Cook was a daughter of Thomas B. and Mattie E.
(Scott) Cook, both natives of Vermilion county, Illinois. Her
father was born September 11, 1857, and her mother April 4,
1861. They were married June 7, 1877, moved to Kansas in
1880, and now live in Ninnescah township, where Mr. Cook lives
on a farm. There were five children in the Cook family, viz. :
Larkin A., deceased ; Estella F., deceased ; Mrs. Belva Chambers ;
Claude E., who lives at home, and one who died in infancy. Mr.
and Mrs. Joseph Chambers have one son, Lloyd W., born May 19,
1906. Mrs. Anthony E. Chambers died December 29, 1888.
Anthony E. Chambers in the early days served as constable,
until he refused the office, and was trustee of the township for
three terms. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order,

BIOGEAPHY 743

the Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen, and of the G. A. K. In
politics he is a Republican.

C. E. Chrismore,* of Bentley, Kan., Sedgwick county, is a son
of Virginia. He was born in that state on June 1, 1864, at Win-
chester, afterwards immortalized by Sheridan's ride. His parents
were James and Mary (Fleet) Chrismore. The father was a
native of Virginia, whose ancestors originally came from Ger-
many, while on the mother's side the ancestry was Scotch. The
elder Chrismore died in 1871 near Winchester, Va., and the
mother died the same year. C. E. Chrismore was left an orphan
at the age of seven, and acquired his education in the subscription
schools of Virginia, which he attended up to his tenth year. In
1874 he came west with his employer, J. M. Wise, in the attempt
to better his fortunes, and located at Pawnee, Kan., where he
worked as a farm hand and at herding cattle until 1883. Mr.
Chrismore was married on March 2, 1883, to Miss Carrie M.
Marshall, daughter of C. P. Marshall, of Wilmington, Del., at
Larned, Kan. Of this union seven children were born, all of
whom are now living, viz. : Emily, Mabel, Calvin, Charles E.,
Marana, Lloyd, Elizabeth, Emily, who is married to L. R. Beal,
of Bentley, Kan., a farmer, and has one child. Mabel is married
to Henry Foglestone, of the same place, a farmer, and has no
children. The two youngest children of Mr. Chrismore are at-
tending school in Bentley. After his marriage, Mr. Chrismore
removed to Sedgwick county, Kansas, on March 4, 1883, locating
east of Wichita seven miles. He farmed as a renter one year,
then moved to Eagle township, where he bought a farm on Sec-
tion 4. His specialty on the farm was raising and breeding
trotters and road horses. He now (1910) is the owner of a fine
bred stallion which he values at $1,500. After selling his farm
in 1900, he moved to Bentley and engaged with the Kansas Lum-
ber Company as yard manager, and has been in the employment
of this company for twenty-seven years. Mr. Chrismore is a pub1
lie spirited citizen, enjoying the confidence of the entire commu-
nity, and is active in the Republican party in placing good men
in office.

Ludovic R. Cole, real estate broker, of Wichita, Kan., is a
native of the Wolverine State, having been born in Michigan in
November, 1847. His parents were William M. and Mary (Simp-
son) Cole, natives of New York state, which they left in 1842
and took up their residence in Oakland county, Michigan, where

744 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

they spent the balance of their days. Young Cole obtained his
education in the public schools of Michigan, and his early life
was spent on a farm, which he left early, going to Pontiac, Mich.,
where he was a clerk in a store for eleven years. Following this
experience he was a traveling salesman for two years, after
which he left the road and returned to the retail business in
the mercantile trade. During the years from 1876 to 1880 Mr.
Cole served as deputy register of deeds of Oakland county, Michi-
gan, and the years from 1880 to 1884 he served as register of
deeds of the same county. In 1885 he came to Kansas, and after
a trip through the Indian Territory returned to Michigan ; but
in the spring of 1886 he again came to Kansas, locating at
Wichita and engaging in the real estate business, under the firm
name of E. C. & L. R. Cole, which continued in business for a
year. He was one of the original board of directors of the First
National Bank. In 1896 he again entered the real estate busi-
ness and continued with the ups and downs until November,
1900, when he became manager of the Bell Telephone Company,
which position he held until 1909, when he resigned and organ-
ized the Midland Investment Company, and has since been its
manager. During his career in the real estate business some of
the large transactions that Mr. Cole swung were the purchase
of the Tremont house, at the corner of Douglas and Emporia
avenues, and the organization of the Carey Park Land Company
and the platting of Cole's addition to Carey Park. Fraternally
Mr. Cole is an enthusiastic Mason and is a member of all the
Masonic bodies. He was married in 1885 to Miss Helen Bigelow,
of Pontiac, Mich., and of this union there has been issued two
children, viz. : Ion C. and Wade B. Cole.

Mark S. Colver,* a successful farmer and stock raiser of Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, is a native of Illinois, where he was born at
Little York, Warren county, on September 9, 1855. His parents
were Dr. Charles S. and Hadessa T. (Hamilton) Colver. Mark
S. Colver remained at home until March 27, 1877, when he went
to Page county, Iowa, and engaged in farming, remaining there
two years. He then went to Colorado and worked in the mills
three years and in the silver mines for the same length of time.
He abandoned mining to take charge of the plant that manufac-
tured gas for the lighting of Georgetown, Col., and this he con-
ducted for about five years. Mr. Colver then moved to Denver
and worked in the shops and for the gas company for about two

BIOGRAPHY 745

years. Then he embarked in business for himself, opening a
plumbing and gas fitting establishment, which he conducted suc-
cessfully until 1895. In this latter year he sold out his interests
and came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and commenced farming,
where he remained until 1900, when he moved on to his present
place of 240 acres, which he bought in 1899. Mr. Colver prac-
tices diversified farming and raises stock, and for about five years
has made a specialty of Shorthorn cattle. On June 26, 1880, Mr.
Colver was married to Miss Hannah Jane Brownlee, who was
born in Warren county, Illinois, on June 26, 1857, being a daugh-
ter of Thomas R. and Mary R. (Smiley) Brownlee. Mr. Brown-
lee was born in Pennsylvania on October 16, 1827, and Mrs.
Brownlee was born in Butler county, Ohio, on December 5, 1829.
They were married in Henderson, 111., in October, 1852. There
were ten children in the Brownlee family, eight of whom lived to
maturity, viz. : Mrs. Anna M. Moore, deceased ; Mrs. Hannah J.
Colver, of Sedgwick county, Kansas; Mrs. Alice L. Oliver, de-
ceased ; "William L., of San Francisco, Cal. ; Carl T., of Lincoln,
Neb. ; Mrs. Bessie Shaffer, deceased ; John, deceased, and Chester
R., of Oskaloosa, la. The mother of this family died on January
30, 1897, and the father on April 5 of the same year. Mr. and
Mrs. Colver have been the parents of seven children, four of
whom are living. They are Mrs. Alice Pearl Broadus, born De-
cember 12, 1882, and married June 1, 1904; Charles T., born De-
cember 27, 1885; Guy Lewis, born November 5, 1890, and died
April 17, 1892 ; Ralph B. D., born July 18, 1892 ; Elizabeth Gert-
rude, born January 22, 1899, and two who died in infancy. Mr.
Colver served as township committeeman for several years, and
in 1910 was United States census enumerator for Ohio and Nin-
nescah townships. He is a Republican in politics and a member of
the Presbyterian church.

Robert O. Colver, of Ninnescah township, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, is a native of Ohio, where he was born in Union county,
on February 13, 1851. His parents were Dr. Charles S. and
Addessa (Hamilton) Colver. Dr. Colver was born in Union
county, Ohio, on May 19, 1825, and his wife was born in Green
county, Ohio, on March 11, 1825. They were married in Ohio,
on March 14, 1848, and were the parents of eight children, two
of whom died in infancy. The children were : Robert O. ; Olive
II., deceased; Mark S. ; Charles; B. D. ; Abi H., deceased, and
Merle D. The mother of this family died January 28, 1891, and

746 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the father is living with his son, Robert 0. Colver. Prior to the
Revolutionary "War there were eight brothers of the Colver
family who came to America. Of this number, Nathaniel Colver,
the great-great-grandfather of Robert 0. Colver, was one.
Nathaniel Colver served in the war against the French and
Indians, and also served the Colonies during the Revolutionary
War. After the war he married and settled in Spencer, N. Y.,
where his son Charles was born. Charles Colver married Olive
Callander, and moved to Union county, Ohio, where he died. The
next in direct line of descent was Standish Colver, grandfather of
Robert 0., who was born in Union county, Ohio, and married
Elizabeth Lockwood. Dr. Charles S. Colver, their son, graduated
at the Starling Medical College, Columbus, 0., in 1853, and prac-
ticed medicine both in Ohio and Illinois for fifty years. He
served two years as surgeon at Vicksburg, Miss., in the United
States Army. After a long and useful life Dr. Charles S. Colver
died, September 20, 1910. Robert 0. Colver, his son, received
his education in Monmouth College, at Monmouth, 111. After
leaving school he devoted his time to farming, which he has
followed ever since, with the exception of two years, which he
spent in mining and prospecting in Colorado. In 1878 he located
a claim in Rush county, Kansas, which he sold in 1885. In the
fall of 1882 Mr. Colver moved to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and
in 1883 bought 160 acres of land in Section 10, Ninnescah town-
ship. He has added to his original purchase until he now has
590 acres, all in Ninnescah township. He has improved the
land and erected buildings until he now has as fine a farm as
there is in Sedgwick county. On January 10, 1884, Mr. Colver
married Miss Bessie Watt, who was born in Mifflin county, Penn-
sylvania, July 25, 1854. Mrs. Colver is a daughter of Andrew and
Sarah (Rudy) Watt, both natives of Huntingdon county, Penn-
sylvania. The father of Mrs. Colver was born September 4,
1804, and her mother September 17, 1817. They were married in
Huntingdon county, on October 30, 1844. After marriage their
lives were spent in Mifflin county. The mother died September
28, 1860, and the father March 30, 1864. They were the parents
of eight children, three of whom died in infancy. The others
were : Andrew C, deceased ; Mrs. William T. Likely, of Ninnes-
cah township, Sedgwick county; Hugh R., of Ninnescah
township; Mrs. R. 0. Colver, of Ninnescah township, and John
R., of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Colver have had three children,

BIOGRAPHY 747

viz. : Oken Watt, born December 1, 1886, died February 20,
1896 ; Charles V., born October 1, 1888, died April 9, 1905 ; Merle
E., born June 18, 1891. On December 29, 1909, Merle married
Miss Bertha M. Harding, who was born in Sedgwick county,
Kansas, on April 22, 1887, a daughter of Charles A. and Mary L.
.(Julien) Harding, both natives of Indiana. Mr. Harding was
born August 30, 1848, and his wife was born September 16, 1854.
Merle R. Colver attended the Southwestern Academy at Win-
field, Kan., for three years, devoting one year of this time to the
business course. His wife had taught school one year before
their marriage. They have one daughter, Bessie May. Robert
O. Colver does general farming and raises cattle, horses and hogs.
Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Order of United
Workmen. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the
Presbyterian Church.

Rufus Cone, president of the Kansas Steam Laundry Com-
pany, the plant of which is located at No. 124 South Market
street, Wichita, Kansas, is a native of Illinois, where he was
born at Farmington on September 11, 1853. His parents were
Lucius and Amanda (Woolsley) Cone, natives of Ohio and Ken-
tucky, respectively, who came to Kansas in 1890, locating at
Wichita. The elder Cone was a mechanic and died at the age
of seventy-two ; his widow is still living. Rufus Cone was edu-
cated in the public school, the primitive log school house of his
native town in Illinois. After leaving school he came to Wichita
in 1878 with the sum of $1.40 in his pocket, and obtained employ-
ment in the grocery store of Ezra Scheetz, receiving $1 per day
for his services. This store was located on the spot where the
store of Hermon & Hess is now located, and the building was
afterward removed to the corner of Main and Third streets,
where it now stands. John A. Ratliff, who came with Mr. Cone
from Illinois and was employed by John A. Wallace Implement
Company as a salesman in the spring of 1881, with Mr. Cone
bought the business of Mr. Scheetz, which was conducted under
the firm name of Ratliff & Cone, they making a payment of $500,
which they had saved out of their earnings while clerking. In
those days they delivered all goods to customers by hand, as
they could not at the time afford a delivery wagon. The firm
was continued until the fall of 1885, when they sold out to Fur-
man Allen, of Danville, Illinois. Mr. Cone was elected city
constable the same year, 1885, for a term of two years, and was

748 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

re-elected for two successive terms. While serving his third
term he was put in nomination for sheriff of Sedgwick county,
and elected on the Democratic ticket, although the county had a
majority of some 3,000 Republican voters. His term of service
was 1890-91. At the expiration of his term he entered the real
estate business and located his office in the rear of the Fourth
National Bank, and continued in this business until the fall of
1893, when he was appointed chief of police, and held this office
during the years 1893 and 1894. In the spring of 1895 Mr. Cone
bought the Palace Livery business, and conducted it until the fall
of 1896, when he was again elected sheriff of Sedgwick county,
serving the term of 1896 and 1897. In 1897 he bought a half
interest in the Kansas Steam Laundry, which business he has
since continued. At the time of purchase the business amounted
to $185 per week, but has since grown to $1,600 per week, being
one of the greatest industries of its kind in the state of Kansas.
It was at first located in small quarters and continued there
until 1901, when the company built the Cone-Cornell building,
which it now occupies, the dimensions of the building being
120x124. The company has also built the Cone-Cornell hall since
that time. In 1905 the business was incorporated with a capital
stock of $75,000, of which $45,000 was paid up. The officers of
the company are as follows: Rufus Cone, president; G. W.
Cornell, vice-president and general manager ; A. W. Stoner, sec-
retary and treasurer. Mr. Cone has been a city commissioner
since April, 1909, and is a member of the committee on finance
and revenue. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of
the Shrine, a charter member of lodge No. 22, Ancient Order
United Workmen, and a charter member of the' local lodge of
Elks. Mr. Cone was married on August 26, 1878, to Miss Ella
Center, of Chantlerville, Illinois. Of this union three children
have been born, viz. : Sylvia, wife of Frank Garrety, of Wichita ;
Edwin and Walter Otis Cone. In 1909 Mr. Cone, with his family,
made a trip around the world.

P. J. Conklin, of Wichita, Kansas, is one of the men who have
helped to build up Kansas by loaning its citizens money. Mr.
Conklin was born at Dayton, Ohio, January 2, 1854. His parents
were Joseph O. Conklin and Julia (Hunt) Conklin. The early
education of the boy was obtained at Champaign, Illinois. After
leaving school he obtained employment with the "Gazette" at
Champaign. Mr. Conklin came to Wichita in 1893, and it was

RODOLPH HATFIELD.

BIOGRAPHY 749

one of the leanest of the lean years in Wichita and the West.
He has been here ever since. In 1907 he organized the P. J.
Conklin Loan Company, and while this is in no way connected
with the old Jarvis-Conklin Mortgage Company, it is a sort of
aftermath. The P. J. Conklin Company is capitalized at $50,000,
with P. J. Conklin as president, R. L. Holmes vice-president and
A. O. Conklin secretary and treasurer. It does an annual busi-
ness of from $800,000 to $1,000,000, and now has outstanding on
its books over $3,000,000 on long-time farm loans principally.
The company does no chattel business, and it is a trust repository
for large sums of local money and pays especial attention to this
feature. The operations of the company cover scores of thickly
settled and prosperous Kansas counties, and while local deposits
are only a minor part of their resources, it desires in a large
measure to make local idle funds remunerative by placing them
conservatively on long-time loans with the very best of security.
Fraternally, Mr. Conklin is a thirty-second degree Mason, and
belongs to the Wichita consistory. Mr. Conklin was married in
Mt. Pulaski, Illinois, in 1876 to Miss Laura Capps, of Mt. Pulaski.
From this union seven children have been born — Alfred O., Ed-
ward J., Bessie Amy (now Mrs. Jay Chappie), Julia Hunt (now
Mrs. Carl Guizel), Minnie Gertrude, Dorothy G. and Stanley
Jarvis Conklin.

Warner F. Copner,* retired farmer, of Salem township, Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, was born in Warren county, Ohio, on Feb-
ruary 27, 1850. His parents were John and Nancy J. (Andrews)
Copner. The father of Warner F. was born in Warren county,
Ohio, on February 3, 1824. The mother was born in Indiana on
May 16, 1824. They were married at Waynesville, Ohio, in 1858.
John Copner moved from Ohio to Illinois and remained there
until 1871, when he moved to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and pre-
empted 160 acres of land in Section 19, Salem township. There
were six children in his family, three of whom died in infancy.
The three living are Warner F., of Salem township ; Henry C, of
Oklahoma, and Cassius L., of Salem township. The mother of
this family died April 17, 1907, and the father is living in Salem
township. Warner F. Copner remained at home until he was
twenty-one. In the spring of 1871 he moved to Sedgwick county,
and May 9 of the same year preempted 160 acres of land in Sec-
tion 21, Salem township. In 1874 Warner traded his quarter-
section for the one his father had preempted, and remained on his

750 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

claim and worked at various things. The second winter he
worked in a sawmill and for a time operated the ferry at Derby.
In 1874 he went to work for Albert Minnick, in the latter 's store
at Derby, and remained with Mr. Minnick for three years and
seven months. On February 18, 1880, Mr. Copner was married
to Miss Hulda Parker, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, on
March 26, 1858. Her parents were William and Eliza (Myers)
Parker. The father was born in Erie county, New York, on April
4, 1833, and her mother was born in Butler county, Ohio, on Jan-
uary 15, 1835. Their marriage took place February 14, 1856.
Mr. Parker came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, in 1877. Mr. Cop-
ner has devoted his life to farm work. He is now practically
retired and living on his home place.

J. C. Crawford,* farmer, of Valley Center, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, is a native of Illinois, where he was born in Lee county
on March 25, 1853. He is a son of Samuel Crawford, a native of
Ireland. Samuel Crawford, when he came to the United States,
settled for a short time at Philadelphia, Pa. Afterwards, in 1848,
he moved to Lee county, Illinois, and after a residence there of sev-
eral years, in 1871 he moved to Kansas, locating in Sedgwick coun-
ty, where he bought a timber claim in Section 6, Eagle township.
He lived on this claim until his death in July, 1906. Mr. Craw-
ford was eighty-six years old at the time of his death, having been
born on August 6, 1820. He was the father of nine children, four
of whom are now living, viz. : Lewis C, James C, Asa Dennison
and John Wesley. The early education of J. C. Crawford was
acquired in the public schools of Illinois and Kansas, which he
attended up to his twenty-third year. After that time he bought
land in Section 7 of Valley Center township — about 1875 — and has
lived on the farm up to the present time. Mr. Crawford has held
several minor township offices. He was township clerk, constable,
justice of the peace, and trustee and member of the school board
for several years. In politics Mr. Crawford is a Democrat, and
an influential and respected citizen. He was married on March
25, 1880, in Sedgwick county, to Miss Sarah E. Fry, of the same
county. Of this union eight children have been born, as follows :
Anna, Ray, Mary, Bolindo, Lucy, Burgess, Nellie and Mabel.

George W. Corn, farmer, of Valley Center, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born September 8, 1856, in Mercer county, Kentucky.
His parents were Timothy and Rachel (Yates) Corn, both natives
of Kentucky. The parents of George W. after the war moved

BIOGRAPHY 751

to Clark county, Indiana, where they remained six years, and
then came to Kansas the year after the "grasshopper" scourge.
The parents came to Kansas with a family of nine children, of
which George "W. was the second born. The father afterwards
moved to Butler county, Kansas, and remained there until his
death, on February 22, 1891. He was a farmer, an upright citi-
zen, and a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
George W. Corn was deprived of an early education and training,
but notwithstanding this deprivation, he is a well-to-do and
practical farmer. By industry and economy he bought a farm
in Section 28, Valley Center township, on which he now resides.
Mr. Corn was married on July 10, 1880, to Miss Mary Murphy, a
daughter of John Murphy, of Illinois. Five children have been
born of this union, viz. : Bertha, Nellie, Clarence, Minnie and
Alva. Fraternally, Mr. Corn is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, Sedgwick Lodge, No. 177, the Modern
Woodmen of America, and the Rebeccas. Politically, he is a
Democrat.

John H. Covault, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Indiana,
where he was born, in Blackford county, on March 4, 1870. His
parents were Nathaniel and Barbara Covault. The elder Covault
was a native of Pennsylvania, of Welsh descent, and his wife
a native of Ohio, of German ancestry. In 1878 the family
moved to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and there the parents lived
until their death, leaving behind them an honorable record for
industry and honesty. They were the parents of three chil-
dren. John N. Covault was eight years old when he accompa-
nied his parents to Kansas, where he grew to a strong and
healthy manhood. His education was obtained in the public
schools of the county. In 1893 he was married to Mrs. Ella
(Davis) Wright, daughter of Oliver P. and Martha Davis, who
are now living near Dacoma, Okla. Mrs. Covault was born in
Illinois, April 29, 1867. After marriage Mr. Covault continued to
engage in agricultural pursuits near the city of Colwich, until
1900, when he came to Wichita, and in 1904 entered the employ-
ment of the International Harvester Company of America. His
work with this company has taken him to nearly all parts of
the civilized world. In his travels he has visited England,
France, Spain, Portugal, Africa, Brazil, Uruguay, and the Argen-
tine Republic. Mr. Covault has gathered a fine collection of
souvenirs from the different places of interest that he has visited.

752 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

In 1909 he resigned from the service of the Harvester company.
Mr. Covault has taken an active part in making AYichita a greater
Wichita. He lives at No. 326 South Osage street, where he owns
a fine residence. At present he has a garage located on the
west side.

Louis K. Cowley, agent of the Cadillac automobile, with sales-
rooms at No. 114-116 North Topeka avenue, Wichita, Kan., is a
native of the Wolverine State, having been born at Lansing,
Mich., on April 26, 1878. He is a son of J. H. and Edith (Meade)
Cowley, who removed to Lansing from Detroit, and who are
both still living in Lansing, the elder Cowley being a pioneer
merchant of the latter city. Louis K. • Cowley was educated in
the public schools of Lansing and at the Michigan Agricultural
College, graduating from the latter institution in the class of
1898. He first entered the employ of Peet Bros., of Kansas City,
as a traveling salesman throughout the Southwest. He took
up the real estate business next, and made a specialty of ranches
in Butler and Cowley counties, Kansas, from 1901 to 1908. In
1907 he began in the automobile business at Winfield as a side
line, and in 1908 found that the business had grown to such
proportions that he dropped the real estate business entirely
and moved to Wichita, where he opened a salesroom, and has
since conducted business on a larger scale, making a specialty of
the Cadillac machine, and pushing sales in thirteen counties adja-
cent to and in the locality of Wichita. Mr. Cowley is a member
of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He was married
in 1902 to Miss Grace Dunnebacke, of Lansing, Mich., and of
this union one child has been born, Christine Louise Cowley.

Joseph A. Crider, farmer, of Kechi township, Sedgwick
county, Kansas, was born August 31, 1839, in Preble county, Ohio.
He is the son of Samuel C. and Catherine (Aringes) Crider. The
father died in Ohio in 1855 and the mother in 1882. They were
the parents of eight children, of whom Joseph W. was the
youngest. The Crider ancestry is traced to Germany. Joseph A.
Crider acquired his education in the public schools of Ohio, which
he attended until twenty years old, and lived under the paternal
roof until he was twenty-three. He was married on March 29,
1863, in Preble county, to Miss Anna Frantz. Ten children
have been born of this union, of whom nine are now living.
They are: Cassius E., born January 2, 1864; Thaddeus R.. single,
born January 28, 1866 ; Charles A., single, born February 9, 1868 ;

BIOGRAPHY 753

Walter T., single, born June 22, 1870; Clarence H., single, born
November 30, 1872 ; Samuel E., single, born April 21, 1875 ; Mrs.
Alpha Knebler, born October 17, 1877 ; Jesse F., single, born Sep-
tember 28, 1882 ; Joseph J., single, born July 29, 1884. Ralph, de-
ceased, was born June 10, 1888. Mr. Crider, on March 29, 1877, left
Ohio and came to Kansas, locating first in Kechi township, where
he lived six years. In 1883 he bought eighty acres of land in
Section 36, Grant township, which he afterwards sold. He then
bought 100 acres of land in Section 2, Kechi township, where
he now resides. He is a Republican in politics and active in the
interests of his party when it puts good men in nomination for
office.

Elwood E. Crossley, a retired farmer of Cheney, Kan., was
born on June 2, 1859, in Danville, Pa., of English-French ances-
try. His father came from England to the United States when
about eight years old and located in Danville, where he lived and
died. Elwood E. remained under the parental roof until he was
twenty-one. His first occupation was that of attendant in a hos-
pital. After this he was a clerk for a short time in the mercan-
tile business, and in the spring of 1880 he came to Kansas to
take up his permanent residence. He located at Cheney, which
at that time was but a small village containing only a few houses
and before the railroad was built, and worked at painting for a
living. A short time after his arrival he purchased a farm of
160 acres and on it made his bachelor quarters for about four
years. He then returned to Pennsylvania on a visit and while
there was married to Miss Hester Parsel, an accomplished lady
born at Waterford, Canada. The marriage took place at the
village of Buck Horn, on January 12, 1888. No children have
been born of this union. Mr. Crossley returned to Cheney with
his wife in 1889 and acquired more land, making in all 320
acres that he owns. After a residence of over eleven years on
the farm he engaged in other pursuits. For one year he was in
the livery business, which he sold out, and then made another
visit to his old home in Pennsylvania, and to Canada, where his
wife's relatives resided, coming back to Kansas in 1899. Mr.
Crossley then engaged in the hardware and implement business,
purchasing a half interest from D. M. Main. The firm after-
wards became Northcutt & Crossley, and then Main & Crossley,
until its dissolution. Mr. Crossley ever since he has resided in
Cheney has been known as a public spirited citizen who has had

754 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

much to do with the building up of the town. He has held
nearly all of the township and some other offices in a satisfac-
tory manner. He was treasurer of Grand River township for
one year before he resided in the village of Cheney. He was
also treasurer of Morton township for four years, and built the
town hall, and was councilman of Cheney for five years at
different times. Fraternally Mr. Crossley is a Mason, being a
member of Morton Lodge, No. 258, A. F. and A. M., and of
Wichita Consistory, No. 2. He is a member of the Scottish Rite
bodies and has filled nearly all the chairs in his lodge. Mr.
Crossley has been successful in all his business undertakings. He
helped organize, in 1900, a creamery in Cheney which proved to
be a profitable enterprise. He has taken a great interest in the
raising of stock and dealt in Norman bred horses and Shorthorn
Hereford cattle. He has been known to realize from his stock
in a single year as much as $2,800. He is a large land owner
at the present time, but likes to recall the vicissitudes that beset
him for awhile in the attempts to raise stock. He says : ''It just
appeared at one time that my calves, cattle and chickens would
take sick and die, and I was almost discouraged." But he
stuck to his work during times of panic until his luck changed
and everything he has touched in the way of raising stock since
has paid him handsomely and made him prosperous. Mr. Crossley
is a man who has proved his efficiency in everything he has
undertaken. In politics he is a Democrat of the Grover Cleveland
type.

Frank T. Culp, proprietor of the market at No. 239 North
Main street, Wichita, Kan., was born in Westphalia, Kan., on
July 17, 1884. His parents were John S. and Margaret (Watts)
Culp, natives of Pennsylvania and Illinois, respectively, who
moved to Kansas in 1878. The father was a carpenter by trade,
and he and his wife are both living. Frank T. Culp was the
fourth child of a family of six. They are: Blanche, wife of
Melvin C. Jones, of Wichita; Garnette, wife of G. B. Carrothers,
of Wichita; William W., in business at the market with his
brother ; Frank T. ; Linnie, wife of C. C. Haberson, of Wichita,
and Lucile Culp, of Wichita. Frank T. Culp was educated at
the public schools of Wichita and variously employed until he
entered the employ of "Uncle" Joe Stewart in the meat business
at No. 241 North Main street. Becoming familiar with all the
details of the business, he purchased the plant, in 1905, at 123

BIOGRAPHY 755

South Main street, and continued at the same stand until July,
1909, when he combined with the one now operated by him and
which he purchased in February, 1909. The first cold storage
room in connection with any market, and also the only one in
"Wichita prior to June, 1910, was with the Gulp market, noAv con-
ducted by Frank T. Gulp, which enjoys a liberal trade worthy
of this, one of the leading markets of the city of "Wichita. Mr.
Culp is a member of the "Wichita Commercial Club. He was
married in December, 1904, to Miss Josephine Hoover, daughter
of J. Q. Hoover, of Wrichita. Mr. and Mrs. Culp have one
child, John, born April 20, 1908.

Hon. Charles L. Davidson, the first mayor to serve under
"Wichita's commission form of government, was born in Cuba,
Allegheny county, New York, November 22, 1859. He is a son of
S. L. and Susan R. (Hampton) Davidson. The first twelve years
of his life were spent in his native state. The father, desiring
to locate in the West, went on a tour of inspection and decided
on "Wichita as the place to make his future home, the family
arriving on October 22, 1872. Charles L. attended the "Wichita
and Lawrence, Kan., schools, and after completing his education,
entered into business with his father in the S. L. Davidson Mort-
gage Company. This was the only company in that line of
business in Wichita which remained intact and weathered the
storm after the boom. This company is still in existence, the
pioneer in its line.

Mr. Davidson has served in many official capacities in city
and state. For five years he was president of the park board and
three years president of the Chamber of Commerce. It was while
serving in this capacity in 1904 that he called a meeting in
"Wichita and the "Square Deal" movement was inaugurated,
which has spread until the entire nation feels its influence.

Mr. Davidson was councilman during the time that both Ross
and McClain filled the office of mayor. In 1906 he was elected
to the state legislature. One of the bills which he introduced
and which became a law was the new tax law, which called for a
revaluation of all property throughout the state, in this way
readjusting and equalizing the tax levy under the new valuation.
He was the author of this bill, and it is known as the "Davidson
law."

In 1909, when Wichita adopted the commission form of govern-
ment, he was selected to fill the position of mayor. The wisdom

756 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

of the people in selecting a business man for this position is shown
in the results attained. When Mr. Davidson took his place as
mayor he found the treasury empty and a deficiency of over
$300,000. These debts have all been paid, and on January 1,
1911, there will be a balance in the treasury. The public improve-
ments have been on a scale scarcely dreamed of by the residents
of Wichita. The New Forum is being built at a cost of $200,000,
with a seating capacity of 6,000. The dam on Little river has
been built at a cost of $30,000. Forty-six miles of streets have
been paved. More than 100 miles of sewers are being built, and
thirty miles of water mains have been laid. The city has voted
bonds and the land has been bought on which to build the new
city workhouse and jail.

Mr. Davidson has arranged a uniform city plan under which
all future improvements will be promoted. He has arranged
with the different railroads entering the city for the elevating
of their tracks and the building of a union depot for the accom-
motion of the public.

While Mr. Davidson has spent a very busy life so far as busi-
ness is concerned, he has not neglected the social part. He is a
thirty-second degree Mason and is active in the co-ordinate
bodies of the Scottish Rite. He is also a member of the Chamber
of Commerce and the Commercial Club. He is an ardent autoist,
a good fisherman and has spent weeks at a time hunting big
game in the mountains of Colorado. In addition to this, he is
one of the leading members of St. Paul's Methodist church, a
liberal contributor to the same, and for twenty-five years the
superintendent of its Sunday school. Organized League of
Kansas Municipalities, of which he is serving his second term as
president. Vice-president of League of American Municipalities.

John A. Davidson, Civil War veteran, of Valley Center, Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, was born December 10, 1843, in Logan
county, Illinois. His parents were John B. and Anna (Simpson)
Davidson, both natives of Scotland. John B. Davidson, the
father of John A., was one of a family of twenty-one children,
and came to the United States and located at Newburyport, R. I.,
where he remained up to the time of his removal to Logan county,
Illinois, in 1840. He was a farmer, and this trade he followed
up to the time of his death, on January 18, 1881, in Logan
county, Illinois. His widow died in 1901. John A. Davidson
received his education in the public schools of Illinois, and sub-

BIOGRAPHY 757

sequently attended an academy at Wheeling, Va., for four years.
He enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Sixth
Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the regiment was equipped
at Lincoln, 111., it was sent South and placed in the Army of the
Mississippi, and in West Tennessee was engaged in several im-
portant battles. It fought at Jackson, Tenn., Porters Cross
Roads, and then was sent to Vicksburg, Miss., where it was kept
busy digging rifle pits and throwing up earthworks to protect
itself from the enemy's shot, being in close quarters. The regi-
ment was then assigned to the Sixteenth Army Corps and General
Grant sent it up the Yazoo river. Afterwards the regiment
operated in the Mississippi campaign, and also at Little Rock,
Hot Springs and Benton, Ark. Often it was engaged in chasing
General Shelby's Confederate troops. After this the regiment
was under Gen. Powell Clayton up to July, 1865, when it was
discharged at Springfield, 111. Mr. Davidson has held many hon-
orary positions in the G. A. R. He was appointed assistant dep-
uty commander in January, 1910. He is now past commander
of E. E. Warner Post, No. 335, Valley Center, Kan. Mr. Davidr
son located in Sedgwick county in 1882, and has filled various
business positions up to the present time. His residence has been
in Valley Center since 1885. He was elected mayor in 1898 and
1899. He was also a justice of the peace one term and has been
the police judge of Valley Center for seven years. Fraternally,
Mr. Davidson is a member of the Masonic order, Valley Center
Lodge, No. 364; of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
Valley Center Lodge, No. 223, of which he is now past grand,
and also of the Rebeccas and Eastern Star. In politics he is a
Democrat with independent inclinations.

J. Oak Davidson, one of the most prominent citizens, of
Wichita, Kan., was born in Cuba, N. Y., on March 4, 1850. His
parents were S. L. and Susan (Roda) Davidson. The father of
J. Oak Davidson was a man of some wealth and was able to give
his son the advantage of a good education. In 1872 the parents
moved from New York to Wichita, Kan., where the father em-
barked in the real estate and loan business. In 1880 the firm of
S. L. Davidson & Co. was organized, the son, J. Oak Davidson,
being the company. In 1883 J. Oak Davidson organized the
Davidson Loan Company, with a paid up capital stock of $100,000.
About this time Mr. Davidson bought the northwest corner of
Main street and Douglas avenue and organized the Citizens State

758 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Bank, of which he was elected president. The bank erected
the building now occupied by the Kansas National Bank. The
Citizens bank occupied the building until 1896, when the institu-
tion was liquidated and Mr. Davidson bought a controlling
interest in the Kansas National Bank, moving it into its present
quarters. At the same time Mr. Davidson became president and
a director of the latter-named bank. In 1902 Mr. Davidson sold
his holdings in the bank and retired from its directorate. While
in the Citizens bank, in 1886, Mr. Davidson conceived the idea
of opening an addition on the west side of the river, and bought
about 500 acres. To reach this property he built a bridge across
the river at Oak street. Mr. Davidson has always been a lover
of horses, and on this property he built a half-mile track. The
balance he subdivided into lots and many of the best residences
in the city have been built on this property. In 1887 Mr. David-
son built the residence now occupied by Tipton Cox. In 1885
Mr. Davidson and others organized the Riverside & Suburban
Street Railway Company, building the first standard guage in
Wichita. This road ran from Douglas avenue north on Market
street to Pine, and west to the race track and Riverside. It was
later extended two and a half miles north to the Alamo addition.
During this same year (1886) Mr. Davidson negotiated with an
electrical company in St. Louis to electrify the road, but the
work was so crude that it resulted in failure. In January, 1887,
Mr. Davidson went to New York and engaged the Thompson-
Houston Company to equip two and a half miles of the road.
This was the first successfully operated electric street railway in
the United States. In 1887 Mr. Davidson added to his street rail-
way holdings by purchasing the road running to Fairmount and
also to the Burton Car Works, making fifteen miles of electric
street railroad he owned. In 1890 he effected the consolidation of
the three systems in operation in Wichita, rebuilding the narrow
guage, making it standard, and operating the entire system by
electricity. These holdings were taken over by the Wichita
Electric Railway Company, of which Mr. Davidson was president.
He held this position until 1893, when he retired from the com-
pany. The same year he went to Coffeyville, Kan., and purchased
oil and gas leases, accumulating 33,000 acres. The next five
years of Mr. Davidson's life were spent in Chicago, where he
organized a company to handle his gas leases in Kansas and
induced the Wichita Natural Gas Company to lay its pipes to

BIOGRAPHY 759

the field at a cost of $4,000,000, in this way supplying Wichita
with plenty of cheap gas. The company also piped to Newton
and Hutchison. Mr. Davidson bought the holdings of the Arti-
ficial Gas and Electric Company of Wichita and relaid all the
mains and rebuilt the electric plant, Mr. Davidson being the presi-
dent of this company. In 1909 the company sold its gas and
electric holdings in Wichita to an eastern syndicate. When the
Burton Stock Car Company was ^coking for a location to build
its shops Mr. Davidson induced it to locate on land about four
miles north of Wichita by giving the company seventy acres of
land and agreeing to be responsible for a bonus of $200,000. The
Board of Trade and people of Wichita assumed $50,000 of this
and substantially paid that amount. The balance was paid by
Mr. Davidson. At one time the car company employed between
500 and 600 workmen, and had a little city of 250 homes. On
account of the inconvenience of returning cars for repair, the
company moved its shops to Chicago. Mr. Davidson was a stock-
holder and director in the car company. He is also president
of the Hutchinson Gas and Fuel Company, which supplies Newton
and Hutchinson with gas. Mr. Davidson was married in 1876
to Miss Ida F. Fitch, a daughter of Joseph P. Fitch and Frances
E. (Guyer) Fitch, of Eldora, Kan. Of this union one son, Frank
O. Davidson, was born in 1877. The latter was married to Miss
Elsie Bell, of Chicago, and lives in Wichita, where he is engaged
in the insurance business. Mr. Davidson's wife died in 1883, and
in 1887 he was married to Miss Bessie Carver, of Jacksonville, 111.,
by whom he has had two children — Oakley, attending a young
ladies' school in the East, and a son, James Ogden, attending the
public schools in Wichita. Fraternally, Mr. Davidson is a mem-
ber of the Masonic order, being a member of the Wichita lodge
and the Wichita consistory. He lives in a beautiful home at No.
935 North Lawrence street.

David Davis,* one of the early settlers of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, is a native of Indiana, where he was born in Jackson
county on July 14, 1848. His parents were James and Nancy C.
(Cummings), both natives of Indiana. The elder Davis was a
farmer and spent his life in Jackson county. He and his wife
were the parents of five children, viz. : Mrs. Margaret Ball, of
Oklahoma ; Drury, who died while in the army during the Civil
War ; David, of Ninneseah township, Kansas ; James H., of Jackson
county, Indiana, and Mrs. Sarah C. Nolte, of Oklahoma. The

760 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

father of David Davis died when the latter was about ten years
old, and the latter at that tender age commenced work for his
living. He remained in Indiana until January, 1876, when he
came to Sedgwick county, and preempted 160 acres of land in
Section 32, Ninnescah township. He has since added to this until
he now owns 240 acres. In December, 1871, Mr. Davis, was
married to Miss Hannah Finley, who was born in Indiana. They
have seven children, viz. : E% Mrs. Eva Chapter, of Missouri ;
William, of Ninnescah township ; Lawrence, of Montana ; James
Andrew, of Sumner county, Kansas; Otto, of Kansas City, and
Jesse, of Milan, Kan. Mrs. Davis is deceased. Mr. Davis has
conducted general farming and stock raising on his place. Fra-
ternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Politically, he votes for the best man in local affairs, but is a
Democrat in national affairs. He is a member of the Baptist
church.

John D. Davis, attorney at law, with offices at No. 209 North
Main street, Wichita, Kan., is a native of Pennsylvania. He was
born at Minersville on July 25, 1857, and was reared at Ashland,
Pa. His father was David Davis, a coal miner, who was killed
in a mine accident in the anthracite coal fields in 1869. His
mother was Ann Williams, both the parents being natives of
Wales. Mr. Davis' mother is also dead. He entered the State
Normal School at Bloomburg, Pa., and took a course at the Lock
Haven (Pa.) State Normal, from which he was graduated in the
class of 1880. He then took a two years' course at Hopkins Pre-
paratory, New Haven, Conn. He studied law and was admitted
to practice in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in April, 1885,
and in May of the same year came to Wichita and began practice,
and has since been a strong and worthy member of the Sedgwick
county bar. Mr. Davis has practiced alone with the exception
of seven years, when he was associated with Judge Dyer. He
served as county attorney during the years 1895 and 1897. Mr.
Davis is a member of the Sedgwick County Bar Association; of
the Masonic order, and has been loyal and done faithfully his
part in the promoting of all matters pertaining to the welfare of
Wichita. He was married in 1885 to Miss M. Alice Hain, of
Reading, Pa. From this union two children have been born —
Winnifred, a graduate of Fairmount College, and now a teacher
in the city schools of Wichita, and Grace.

BIOGBAPHY 761

William E. Davis, general merchant, of "Wichita, Kan., is a
native of Edgar county, Illinois, where he was born on December
6, 1864. He is a son of William and Lydia (Gossett) Davis,
natives of southern Ohio, who, after their marriage, removed,
in 1864, to Edgar county, Illinois, and engaged in farming. In
1865 the parents removed to Champaign county, Illinois, and
remained there until February, 1877, when they moved to Kansas,
locating on a farm in Valley Center township, Sedgwick county,
where they resided until January, 1893, when they removed
to Montreal, Mo. In 1898 they moved to Wichita, where they
have since resided. Mr. Davis, Sr., is retired. He has been
active in politics. William E. Davis is the fourth child of a
family of six, four of whom are living. He was educated in
the public schools of Sedgwick county, remaining on the home
farm until he was twenty-one. He taught six terms in the pub-
lic schools of Sedgwick county, and engaged in farming in
Valley Center and Waco townships, Sedgwick county. In De-
cember, 1891, he moved to Wichita, where he has since resided.
He first attended the Southwestern Business College and after-
ward began clerking "in a general store, August 1, 1893, and
continued until August 7, 1907, when he organized his present
store, general merchandise, on the west side, which he has since
conducted successfully at No. 1005 West Douglas avenue. Mr.
Davis is a member of the West Side Commercial League. Fra-
ternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
Encampment Modern Woodmen of America, and the Rebekas.
March 20, 1889, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Mary C. Sweney,
daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Garrison) Sweney, of Sedg-
wick county. Four children have been born of this union, viz. :
Lawrence L., Ethel N., Warren M. and Glenn H.

John A. Davison, president of the Commercial Bank of
Wichita (Kan.), is a native of Iowa, where he was born, at
Wappelo, on September 18, 1850. He is a son of Mark and
Eliza (Linton) Davison, his father being a native of England
and his mother of Pennsylvania. His parents went to Iowa in
the '40s, where the elder Davison was engaged in the mer-
chandising and banking business for nearly half a century.
John A. Davison was educated in the public schools of his native
town, after leaving which he attended the Wesleyan University,
of Mt. Pleasant, la., graduating in the class of 1873. He first
began commercial life in the retail lumber business and later

762 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

went to Texas, where he engaged in railroad contracting. It was
in 1887 that he came to "Wichita and became interested in the
old West Side National Bank, continuing with the bank until
the change came in 1890, when he secured the fixtures and
opened the West Side Bank in the same room. This he con-
tinued as a private bank until 1895, when he removed the bank
to No. 145 North Main street, and renamed the institution the
Commercial Bank, under which name it has since continued
business successfully, with Mr. Davison as president. He pur-
chased the building occupied by the bank in 1895. This is one
of the six private banks doing business in the state of Kansas.
Mr. Davison was married in 1875 to Miss Blanche L. Myers,
daughter of S. D. Myers, of Burlington, la. Of this union two
children have been born, E. L. and G. M. Davison.

Alvin A. Dewey, general merchant, of Cheney, Kan., is a na-
tive of Illinois, where he was born, in Adams county, on May 6,
1856. His parents were L. D. and Amanda (Fletcher) Dewey,
natives of New York and of Ohio, respectively. The remote
ancestors on the paternal side were French and on the maternal
side German. The father of Alvin A. moved from New York to
Clermont county, Ohio. He was a miller boy by occupation and
this industry he followed for a number of years. He was the
father of seven children, four of whom are living, viz. : William
F., Jesse B., Alvin A. and James Arthur. Alvin A. was the
third child born. The elder Dewey moved with his family from
Ohio to Adams county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming
and milling. After a residence of several years there, in 1884
the family moved to Cheney, Kan., where the father engaged
in the mercantile business, under the firm name of L. D. Dewey &
Son. Mr. Dewey, Sr., died in 1892; his widow is still living, in
good health. Alvin A. Dewey obtained his early education in
the public and high schools of his native state, and then took a
business course in the Gem City Business College, of Quincy, 111.,
graduating from that institution when he was just twenty-one
years old. He had learned the milling business in Illinois, which
he followed until the firm of L. D. Dewey & Son began the mer-
cantile business. Before the death of his father he bought the
latter 's interest in the store and continued the business alone
for about three years, when he sold out and purchased the flour
mill in Cheney in partnership with J. B. Miller, which partner-
ship continued for five years, when Mr. Miller bought the interest

BIOGRAPHY 763

of Mr. Dewey. In 1899 Mr. Dewey entered the mercantile busi-
ness again under his own name, and in 1907 his store and con-
tents were destroyed by fire with a net loss of $9,000. Mr. Dewey
rebuilt and took in as a partner C. J. Hessel, and the firm is now
Dewey & Hessel, which is doing an extensive merchandise busi-
ness, having the largest general store in Cheney. Mr. Dewey is
a Mason, being a member of Morton Lodge, No. 258, A. F. and
A. M., and is also a member of Wichita Consistory, No. 2. He has
filled all the chairs of the Blue Lodge. He is also a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Wood-
men of America. Mr. Dewey and his wife are also members
of the Christian church of Cheney. Mr. Dewey was a member of
the city council of Cheney for one year and a member of the
school board for three years. He is a public spirited citizen and
intensely proud of his town and county. He was married on
February 21, 1882, to Miss Eva C. Bagly, daughter of George
Bagly, at Kirkville, Mo. One child, a daughter, Alta N., has
been born of this union, who is married to C. J. Hessel, Mr.
Dewey's partner. They have two children, a boy and a girl.
Politically Mr. Dewey is known as a Jeffersonian Democrat.

Jeremiah W. Dice is one of the enterprising business men of
Wichita, Kan. He is a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania,
and was born in 1877, to Benjamin F. and Susan (Wineman)
Dice, the latter of whom died in 1883. The father moved to
Dickinson county, Kansas, in 1884, and engaged in farming two
years, after which he entered the ministry of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, and at the present time — 1910 — has charge of a
church at Alma, Kan. Our subject acquired a good prelimi-
nary education, attending various schools, and in 1898 was gradu-
ated from Baker University, at Baldwin, Kan. After leaving
school he entered the employ of the Fourth National Bank of
Wichita as a bookkeeper. He occupied various positions in the
bank ten years, and in 1908 resigned as discount clerk to accept
his present office as cashier of the Merchants' State Bank, located
at the corner of Douglas and Emporia avenues, Wichita. Mr.
Dice is recognized as a man of high business and social standing
and is an active member and steward of St. Paul's Methodist
Episcopal church. In 1904 he married Miss Maybelle P. Hall,
daughter of R. W. Hall, one of the early bankers at Sedgwick,
Kan. Mr. and Mrs. Dice have two children, named, respectively,

764 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Robert and Marsden, and have a beautiful home at No. 1035
North Emporia avenue, Wichita.

John E. Diehl, of Waco, Sedgwick county, Kansas, is not only
its leading merchant but has taken a prominent part in the
affairs of the town. Mr. Diehl was born in Oakland county,
Michigan, on July 21, 1864. His parents were Adam and Char-
lotte (Openo) Diehl. His father was born in Germany, August
5, 1827, while his mother was born under the British flag, on
the ocean, while her parents were coming to this country, in
1829. The elder Diehl came to America when seventeen years
old and settled in Ohio. The Openo family went to Illinois and
settled at Fort Dearborn, where Chicago is now located. They
remained at Fort Dearborn but a short time, going from there
to Detroit, Mich., and from there to Sandusky, 0. The family
remained at Sandusky until 1849, when they moved to Oakland
county, Michigan, where Joseph E. Openo, the head of the
family, was the first bona fide settler to negotiate for the pur-
chase of his land from the Indians. Settlers were few and far
between in those days, and it was necessary for the family to
pack all its supplies from Detroit, thirty-six miles away. Mr.
Openo lived there the remainder of his life, as did his wife.
In Sandusky, 0., in 1849, Adam Diehl married Charlotte Openo,
moving with her parents to Oakland county. While living in
Sandusky Mrs. Diehl taught school for two years, and after
going to Oakland county taught for a number of years. Mr.
Diehl bought 240 acres of land in Oakland county, where his
family of eight children were born and raised. These children
are Mrs. Frank Chase; Mrs. J. G. Hurlbutt, wife of a Methodist
Episcopal minister ; Mrs. William Lott, of Eaton Rapids, Mich. ;
Charles P., of Milford, Mich. ; John E., of Salem township, Kan-
sas; Rev. W. W. Diehl, a Methodist Episcopal minister, now
located at Sterling, 111. ; Mrs. S. L. Holmes, of Grand Rapids,
Mich., and Miss C. M. Diehl, of Chicago, 111. The mother of this
family died May 7, 1891, the father April 26, 1907. John E.
Diehl remained at home until twenty-one years old, when he
moved to Finney county, Kansas, and preempted 160 acres of
land, and where he lived three years. During this time he served
one year as county surveyor, and in that capacity surveyed Gar-
field county and took the vote which established the county
seat. In 1888 he sold his claim and came to Waco, Salem town-
ship, Kansas. After moving to Waco, Mr. Diehl worked on the

BIOGRAPHY 765

farm one summer and then was employed in the flouring mill
in the town for a year. He was then engaged by the Union Co-
operative Association to manage the general store at Waco, which
he did for four years, after which he bought the business, and
still conducts it. He was postmaster at Waco for sixteen years
and has been justice of the peace for six years. Mr. Diehl has
been twice married, the first time in 1892, to Miss Cora E.
Kriebel, of Waterloo, la., a daughter of George D. and Susan
Kriebel, who came to Sedgwick county when their daughter was
about two years old. Three children were born of this union :
Paul A., Oscar J. and Clifford K. Mrs. Diehl died May 7, 1899,
and August 26, 1901, Mr. Diehl married Miss Emma Kriebel, a
sister of his first wife. Mr. Diehl is a member of the Presby-
terian Church, and the only fraternal order to which he belongs
is that of the Modern Woodmen. In politics he has always
been a Republican.

Dr. William E. Dixon, one of the well-known physicians of
Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a native of the Empire state, where he
was born at Hemlock Lake on June 23, 1860. His parents were
Adam and Ann (Lightfoot) Dixon, both natives of the north of
England. The father of William E. was born in 1822 and his
mother in 1826. They were married in England and then came
to the United States and settled in New York, where the mother
died in 1866. There were six children born of this marriage,
three of whom are Irving, viz.: J. K., John L., and Dr. William
E. By a second marriage, there was one son, Robert V. William
E. Dixon received his medical education in the Omaha Medical
college, graduating in the class of 1892. He practiced at Mead,
Saunders county, Nebraska, until 1894, when he came to Derby,
Sedgwick county, where he is still in practice. On December 5,
1888, Mr. Dixon was married to Miss Catherine Morton, who was
born in Michigan on August 21, 1869, a daughter of Max and
Fannie (Sprague) Morton. Dr. and Mrs. Dixon have three
daughters, viz.: Maud M., born April 10, 1893; Mary M., born
March 26, 1895, and Madge, born January 23, 1898. Dr. Dixon
is a member of the Nebraska State Medical Society. Fraternally
he is a member of Mulvane Lodge, No. 201, A. F. and A. M., and
Consistory, No. 2. He is a Republican in politics and a member
of the Presbyterian church.

Fred W. Dold, manager of the Jacob Dold Packing Company,
of Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Empire State, having been

766 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

born at Buffalo, N. Y., on December 14, 1872. He is a son of the
late Jacob Dold. Fred W. Dold is the manager of one of
Wichita's largest business interests. He received his educational
training in the Buffalo public schools, and, under his father's
supervision, began early in life to devote himself to business
pursuits. Entering his father's concern, the Jacob Dold Packing
Company, he served in every department, from the lowest up.
At the age of twenty-one he became a stockholder, and October
1, 1899, was elected manager of the Wichita branch of the
Buffalo house. This extensive business enterprise was conceived
and carried into execution by Jacob Dold, the elder. Beginning
when a poor boy, trading in cattle, selling both beef and hides,
in 1888 he founded the stock company which bears his name.
In the same year a branch was established at Kansas City, and
the Wichita house was also founded, being now among the most
substantial in the country. In 1900 the last frame building was
replaced by more substantial structures of brick and stone. A
more extended mention of the plant is given in the historical
portion of this work. Fred W. Dold, the manager, has a high
reputation for business ability, and is an important factor in the
business life of Wichita. The officers of the company are as
follows : Jacob C. Dold, president ; Fred W. Dold, vice-president ;
Edward F. Dold, second vice-president and treasurer; Charles H.
Dold, third vice-president; Philip B. Dold, secretary — Fred W.
Dold being manager of the Wichita branch. Jacob Dold died
in October, 1909. After the death of George P. Dold, Fred W.
came to Wichita and took charge of the plant. Mr. Dold is a
thirty-second degree Mason and a Knight Templar. He is also
a member of the Commercial Club, the Riverside Club, and tho
Country Club. He was married in 1901 to Miss Lena Cox, daugh-
ter of Hon. L. M. Cox, who was mayor of Wichita. Of this
union two children have been born, Frederick L. and Richard C.
Dold.

Richard N. Dorr, proprietor of the Baseball Headquarters,
Wichita, Kan., is a native of Kentucky, having been born at
Marion, in the Blue Grass State, on June 29, 1874. His parents
were R. B. and Sallie K. (Stewart) Dorr, natives of Kentucky,
who moved to Kansas in 1898 and later removed to California.
The elder Dorr died December 29, 1909, at the age of sixty-four.
Richard N. Dorr was educated at the public schools of Marion
and first began work in the service of the Ohio Valley Railway

BIOGRAPHY 767

Company in the passenger department. He moved to Kansas and
entered the traffic department of the Missouri Pacific railway,
and in an accident, March 8, 1904, lost both legs. Mr. Dorr was
elected city clerk of Wichita in 1905, a position which he filled
with credit for four years. He purchased his present business,
known as the Baseball Headquarters, at No. 127 South Main
street, of Holland & Isbell, in January, 1910. Fraternally Mr.
Dorr is a member of the Masonic order, in which he is a member
of the Consistory and Shrine, of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and was made a life member of Lodge No. 427, Benevo-
lent and Protective Order of Elks, in August, 1906. Mr. Dorr
was married on November 18, 1895, to Miss Jessie Degraffenreid,
a native of Kentucky. Of this union six children have been
born, viz. : Fayellena R., Wilson E., Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Richard
N., Jr., and Rodgers B.

Shelby P. Duncan, attorney, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of
Kentucky, where he was born in Fayette county on March 2,
1856. His parents were Harvey and Mary (Bowden) Duncan,
natives of Kentucky, where they resided until the Civil War
broke out, when they removed to Evansville, Ind., where the
father died. Mrs. Duncan died at Evansville, Ind. She was a
sister of the late Judge Bowden, of the Supreme Court of
Kentucky. Shelby P. Duncan was educated at the Canton (111.)
High School and at the Peru (Neb.) Normal School. He taught
in the public schools of Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, and read
law while teaching and afterwards in the office of his uncle,
the late Judge James H. Bowden, of Kentucky. He was later
law clerk to George Gillhan, in Memphis, Tenn., having been
admitted to the Russell ville (Ky.) bar in 1875 and in Tennessee
in 1876. Mr. Duncan opened an office at Fairview, Fulton county,
Illinois, in connection with Charles H. Robinson, and there
practiced law until 1884, when he moved to Kansas, locating in
the village of Nescatunga, Comanche county, which was at that
time a rival county seat. In 1888 Mr. Duncan removed to Cold-
water in the same county, where he was prominent, holding sev-
eral public offices. He was honored with the office of United
States commissioner, police judge, justice of the peace, probate
judge and county attorney. He was also a member of the
Republican Congressional Committee. May 31, 1898, Mr. Duncan
moved to Wichita, and after a time again took up the practice
of law, which he has since continued. He was married in 1881

768 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

to Miss Kunegunda Kuehn, of Fulton county, Illinois. Two
children have been born of this union, Nellie B. and Flora K.
Fraternally Mr. Duncan is a member of the Knights of Pythias.

Henry I. Ellis, president of the Ellis Construction Company,
of Wichita, claims the Empire State as his native domain, having
been born at Buffalo, N. Y., on May 13, 1875. His parents were
Gottlieb and Mary (Burger) Ellis, the father being a native of
France and the mother claiming Germany as the land of her
birth. Young Ellis was educated at the public schools of Buffalo,
and at the age of fifteen began to learn the carpenter's trade,
for which he had displayed an early aptitude. After having
served his apprenticeship he followed the trade for seven years,
but in 1905 the call of the West appealed to him and he came to
Wichita. Here he entered the employ of the Wurster Construc-
tion Company, and was superintendent of this company until
July, 1909, when he organized the H. I. Ellis Construction Com-
pany. Since that time, among other notable works that the
company has undertaken, has been the erection of the Michigan
building, the Huber building, the Giwosky building, the Grace
Presbyterian church and other buildings. Mr. Ellis also had
charge of the construction and erection of the Boston Store
building, the Murdoch building, the Young Men's Christian
Association building and the Western Biscuit building. In the
fraternal orders Mr. Ellis belongs to the Knights of Columbus.
He was married in 1904 to Miss Kate Reilly, of St. Louis, Mo., and
from this union there has been issue one child, Mary U.

Elmer F. Emery, railroad man, of Mulvane, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, on July 3, 1855.
He was a son of Thomas F. and Mary (Plymell) Emery, both
natives of Ohio, where the father was born July 10, 1814, and the
mother May 13, 1817. Mr. Emery's parents were married in
Illinois in 1839 and resided there until 1871, when they traveled
overland by wagon from Decatur, 111., to Wichita, Kan., arriving
at the latter place in February, 1871. (The elder Emery pre-
empted 160 acres of land in Rockford township, Section 28, where
he lived until 1882, when he sold his farm and moved to Mulvane
to live with his son Elmer F., his wife having died on January 18,
1889. Mr. Emery, Sr., died March 9, 1893.) Elmer F. Emery
came with his father to Kansas in 1871 and worked on the farm
until 1874, when his railroad career began. He went to Colorado
with the Denver & Rio Grande railroad as station agent at Wal-

BIOGRAPHY 769

senburg, and remained there until 1878, when he was transferred
to Mulvane, where he opened a station September 15, 1879. His
first office was in a box car, and in this the business of the road
was handled for a short time until its first station was completed,
a structure which is now used as a freight station. Mr. Emery's
office was in that building until 1909, when the railroad built its
present station. Mr. Emery has held his position in Mulvane
thirty-one years. He was married August 14, 1881, to Miss
Fannie G. Parker, who was born in Chicago February 11, 1858, a
daughter of Cale H. and Mary Parker. Mr. and Mrs. Emery
have two children — Elizabeth M., born May 29, 1882, and Norma
H., born June 8, 1889. The eldest daughter is a teacher in the
Mulvane High School. Mr. Emery served as the first clerk of
Mulvane when it was incorporated. Fraternally he is a member
of the Masonic order, Mulvane Lodge, No. 201, A. F. and A. M.,
of which he is past master ; Wichita Chapter, No. 33, R. A. M. ;
Mount Olivet Commandery, No. 12, and Wichita Council, No. 12.
He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr.
Emery is a Republican in politics.

Josiah D. Emerick, of Wichita, Kan., was born in Fulton
county, Ohio, on September 16, 1846. His parents were James P.
and Mary A. (Humphrey) Emerick, both natives of New York
state. One the paternal side the ancestry of the family is traced
to Germany. On the maternal side one of the ancestors came
over in the Mayflower, while the mother's grandfather's father
served in the Revolutionary War. Josiah D. Emerick served as a
soldier in the Civil War. He enlisted in 1863 in Company K,
Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and received a wound
in the battle of Entory Creek from which he has never entirely
recovered. After his discharge he returned to his home in Fulton
county, Ohio, and in 1870 he came to Kansas and located in
Wichita. After a short residence there he homesteaded 160 acres
of land in what is now Section 10, Kechi township, which he
afterward sold and bought 160 acres in Section 5 of the same
township, which he now owns and has added forty acres to, all in
Section 5. Mr. Emerick was married on March 14, 1878, to Miss
Elizabeth E. Johnson, in Sedgwick county, Kansas. Four children
have been born of this union, viz. : J. Horner, born September
17, 1880 ; Robert G., born November 27, 1884 ; Eliza M., born July
14, 1888, and Edson H., born June 27, 1894. Mr. Emerick is a
member of the G. A. R., of the Masonic order, Valley Center

770 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Lodge, No. 364, and Consistory No. 2, Wichita. In politics he is
a Republican and active in the interests of his party. He has
served three years as a trustee of Kechi township and has held
other minor township offices.

Elmer Ellsworth Enoch, a leading member of the bar of
Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Buckeye State, he having been
born at Morristown, Belmont county, Ohio, on February 10, 1864.
His early education was obtained in the public schools of the
state, and at Franklin College, Ohio, from which he was gradu-
ated in the class of 1885 with the degree of bachelor of arts.
After leaving college Mr. Enoch began the study of law at St.
Clairsville, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar of the state in
1888. In the same year he removed to Wichita, Kan., with whose
interests he has ever since been prominently identified, and began
the practice of his profession. His abilities won early recogni-
tion, and he soon built up a lucrative practice. His first political
office was as clerk in the probate court of Wichita, in which
capacity he served during the years 1895-97-1901-04. He was
elected to the office of justice of the peace and served in that
position during the years 1897-99, inclusive. In 1903 Mr. Enoch
was elected probate judge of Sedgwick county, of which Wichita
is the county seat, and served on the bench during the years
1904-07, inclusive. After retiring from the bench Mr. Enoch
again resumed the practice of law, which he has continued to the
present time. Mr. Enoch was married in 1888 to Miss Ella
Douglas West, a daughter of the late State Senator Henry West,
of Ohio. From this union five children have been born. They
are: Edith, who married J. L. Fox, of Joplin, Mo., where she
now lives ; Mary, Henry S., Alfred W. and Elmer Ellsworth, Jr.
George W. Ernest, superintendent and manager of the Wichita
Hydraulic Stone and Brick Company, was born at Whiting, Kan.,
on December 21, 1881. His parents were John J. and Alice M.
(Smith) Ernest, natives of Altoona, Pa., who came to Kansas
in 1879, locating in Jackson county, where the elder Ernest was
engaged in contracting and building. Mr. Ernest died in 1906
at the age of forty-nine. George W. Ernest acquired his educa-
tion in the public schools of Whiting and the Atchison Business
College. His first employment was as telegraph operator and
agent for the Rock Island railroad at Hoyt, Kan., and afterwards
as baggageman for the same road at McFarland. This was
followed by five years in the position of yardmaster, when he

BIOGRAPHY 771

became assistant yardmaster at Topeka, later going to the Santa
Fe in the capacity of passenger rate clerk in the general offices
of the company. Mr. Ernest came to Wichita in 1909, and in
December of that year became interested in the Wichita Hydrau-
lic Stone and Brick Company as a stockholder, succeeding to the
business management of the concern, which is incorporated with
a capital stock of $10,000. The officers of the company are as
follows : President, F. C. Dymock ; secretary, W. L. Brown ;
treasurer, J. W. Craig; superintendent and manager, George W.
Ernest. The yearly output of the company amounts to $75,000
and it gives employment to twenty hands. The output of the
company is about equally divided between the city and shipping
trade. The plant was first organized in 1905. Mr. Ernest is a
member of the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias and the
Fraternal Aid. He was married in 1904 to Miss Bess Deck,
daughter of John and Mary Deck, of Cricksville, Kan.

Josiah F. Fager, farmer, of Waco township, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born in Ogle county, Illinois, on April 26, 1849. His
parents were Conrad and Mary (Myers) Fager. The father was
born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and the mother
in Washington county, Maryland. The parents were married in
Ogle county, Illinois, where they both spent the balance of their
lives. Josiah F. Fager remained in Ogle county until 1871, when
he moved to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and pre-empted 160 acres
of land in Ohio township. He lived for two years in Wichita,
when he sold his claim in Ohio township, and in 1875, in partner-
ship with W. W. Hays, built a flour mill, the second built in the
county, at what is now Haysville. The first postoffice at Hays-
ville was established in 1876 and was kept in the mill. Mr. Hays
was postmaster and Mr. Fager was deputy. Mr. Fager was
interested in and worked in the mill until 1883. when he sold his
interest and moved on his present farm, having bought 160 acres
in 1880. He now has 220 acres. On this place he has an orchard
of 100 acres in apple and pear trees. Aside from the Hoover
orchard Mr. Fager has one of the largest in the county. On
December 25, 1877, Mr. Fager married Miss Antonia Shaw, who
was born in Shelby county, Illinois. Mrs. Fager is a daughter
of Caleb and Mary A. Shaw. Her father came to Sedgwick
county in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Fager have one son, Clinton C,
born January 6, 1879, who lives on the home place. Fraternally,
Mr. Fager is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

772 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

He is a Republican in national politics and a liberal in local
affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Fager are members of the Christian church.
Edward Forward, a well-known resident of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born in Cayuaga county, New York, on July 19, 1839.
His parents were George and Sarah (Cager) Forward, both
natives of England, where the father was born in Sussex, on
October 30, 1806, and the mother on October 30, 1809.
They were married on June 22, 1828, and came to the United
States in 1833, settling in Cayuaga county, New York. They
sailed on the Duke of Brunswick on May 4, 1833, and were on the
water seven weeks. They were the parents of twelve children,
nine of whom are living, viz. : George, born in England Septem-
ber 9, 1829, and now living in Illinois, at the age of eighty-two ;
Charlotte, born June 22, 1832, deceased ; William, of Illinois, born
September 5, 1834 ; Franklin, of Clinton county, Michigan, born
August 11, 1838 ; Edward, of Ninnescah township, Sedgwick
county, Kansas, born July 19, 1839 ; Mrs. Fannie Bunker, of Delano
township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, born August 1, 1840 ; Charles
N., of Goddard, Kan., born January 30, 1843 ; Mrs. Mary Beard, of
Delano township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, born August 8, 1845 ;
Lewis, of Mt. Hope, Kan., born November 13, 1852; Adelbert, of
Grand Rapids, Mich., born July 16, 1855; Sarah, deceased, born
August 7, 1847 ; one child died in infancy. The father of this fam-
ily died in Michigan on September 15, 1881. The mother is living
in Delano township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, at the age of 102
years. Edward Forward remained at home until 1858, when he
went to Yorktown, Bureau county, Illinois, where he remained till
1861, when he enlisted in Company B, First Battalion, Yates
Sharpshooters, which in 1864 was veteranized and called the Sixty-
fourth Illinois. Mr. Forward was in thirty-three different engage-
ments. At the battle of Corinth a minie ball seared his right
cheek. The same day three balls passed through his blouse and
one tore the heel off his shoe. The sharpshooters were in groups
of four, and Mr. Forward was the only one left out of his group,
the other three being killed. He was with Sherman on his march
to the sea, and was discharged with a commission as second lieu-
tenant on July 18, 1865. After the war Mr. Forward returned
to Illinois and resumed work at his trade of mason and brick-
layer, where he remained until 1877, when he came to Kansas
and located in Mitchell county, but returned to Illinois. In 1878
he returned to Kansas and located three miles west of Wichita,

BIOGRAPHY 773

in Delano township, where he bought a farm and lived eighteen
years. He then sold his farm and bought a farm in Waco town-
ship near Bayneville, where he lived until 1909, when he sold it
and bought 220 acres in Section 21, Ninnescah township. On
March 1, 1873, Mr. Forward was married to Miss Margaret A.
Gramphin, who was born in Niles, Mich., on November 10, 1852,
a daughter of Watkins and Elizabeth (Granger) Cramphin, both
natives of Cayuaga county, New York; Mrs. Forward's father
was born June 6, 1817, and her mother May 23, 1819. Her father
died June 21, 1890, and her mother September 3, 1897. Mr. and
Mrs. Forward have five children, viz. : Mrs. Alma Parsons, born
July 26, 1876; Edward W., born March 12, 1878; Mrs. Walter
Brazill, born May 22, 1880 ; Mrs. Frank Coulson, born August 21,
1883, and Mrs. Raymond Lucas, born September 14, 1885. All
the children live in Sedgwick county, Kansas. Mr. Forward has
devoted his entire attention to farming since coming to Kansas.
He has held no political positions except trustee of his school
district, which he held for a number of years. Fraternally, he
is a member of Yorktown Lodge, No. 655, of Tampico, 111. He is
a liberal in politics, always voting for the best men in local
affairs, but is a Republican in national affairs.

Harvey J. Freeman is a native of Butler county, Kansas, and
was born in 1870 to Henry and Emma (Hart) Freeman, the
former a native of England and the latter of Canada, who settled
in Butler county in 1869, where the father died in 1907. Our
subject is the seventh child of a family of twelve children. He
acquired his preliminary education in the district schools, then
pursued a course of study at Lewis Academy and later was grad-
uated from the Southwestern Business College of Wichita. After
his graduation, in 1893, in connection with the institution last
named, and under Mr. E. H. Fritch, he organized a school at
Guthrie, Okla., where he remained two years. Then associating
himself with the Wichita Commercial College, he established a
school at Oklahoma City and continued with it two years. Re-
turning to Wichita in 1897, he held a position as instructor in the
institution there till the spring of 1905, when he and Mr. T. W.
DeHaven purchased the school. In the fall of that year, Mr. H,
S. Miller also became financially interested in the school. Under
this proprietorship, the school was carried on till 1909, when Mr.
Miller sold his interest to his partners, who have conducted the
school since that time. The school, in its various departments,

774 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

occupies the entire third floor at Nos. 508-16 East Douglas street,
and has an enrollment of from 200 to 225, with a yearly attend-
ance of 500 pupils. He was a member of the city council on the
Republican ticket for a period of two terms, and was president
of that body for the term ending April 1, 1906. He has been a
member of the board of the Kansas state poultry board for the
past five years, and on January 1 last, was elected president of
the state board, which position he still holds. Mr. Freeman is
a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and is a past grand of the order. He also belongs to the
Woodmen of the World. In religious faith, he is affiliated with
the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1896 Mr. Freeman married
Miss Evelyn Peoples, a daughter of Dr. D. A. Peoples, of Guthrie,
Okla., who removed thither from Philadelphia in 1889. They
have one child, Louise, who was born in 1897.

Farley A. Gackenbach is a wideawake and progressive citizen
of Wichita, Kan. He is a native of Allentown, Pa., and was
born in 1866, to Charles W. and Jane (Schenck) Gackenbach.
The father was a carriage manufacturer and the son learned
that trade, though he never followed it. He started out for
himself in 1884, going to Atchison, Kan., and spending two years
as traveling salesman for Messrs. Sterner & Co., cigar dealers.
He then, in 1886, went to Arkansas City, Kan., and spent one
year in the real estate business. Here our subject traded some
real estate he had acquired for a stock of groceries located at
No. 933 South Emporia street, Wichita, Kan. He carried on the
grocery trade till 1889, when he sold the business and engaged
in the cigar business, first at No. 119 South Main street and after-
wards at No. 227 East Douglas street. He conducted this
business till 1907, when he sold out his interest and accepted
the position of deputy grand master of the Ancient Order of
United Workmen, having been, for nine years previous to this
time, financial agent of the local lodge, No. 22. Mr. Gackenbach
stands high in fraternal circles, being a member of the Mystic
Shrine, a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the
Wichita Consistory. He also belongs to Wichita Lodge, No. 93,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and many others.

In 1906 Mr. Gackenbach was elected a member of the Wichita
Board of Education, and re-elected in 1908, and served as its
president till 1909, when he resigned. He has the credit of es-
tablishing separate schools in Wichita, but the case being re-

BIOGRAPHY 775

versed by the Supreme Court the matter was dropped until such
time as the law was amended.

William H. Gaiser, carriage maker, of Wichita, Kan., is a
native of Illinois, having been born in the city of Alton, that state,
in 1862. He is a son of John and Celia (Hanna) Gaiser, the
father being a native of Germany, who came to the United
States when young and settled in Illinois. William H. Gaiser
received his education in the public schools of Alton, and began
to learn the trade of carriage making when a boy. He came
to Wichita in 1887, where he was first employed by J. M. Mc-
Kenzie and later by J. M. Washburn. Mr. Gaiser was in the
employ of the latter for seventeen years, when he was taken
into partnership, the style of the firm being Washburn & Gaiser.
This arrangement continued until the death of Mr. Washburn,
when Mr. Gaiser succeeded to the business. The business plant
was formerly located at Nos. 114 and 116 St. Francis avenue, but
the constantly increasing business made larger and more modern
quarters imperative, and in 1910 Mr. Gaiser built the present
up-to-date plant at Nos. 217 and 219 St. Francis avenue, the
most modern to be found in the Southwest. The structure is a
two-story brick, covering a ground area of 42x125 feet, and is
complete in every detail. The shops are filled with all the equip-
ment required in the carriage business. Facilities are here to be
found for the building and repair of all kinds of vehicles, from
a wheelbarrow to an automobile. The floors are of concrete,
there is an elevator for the transport of vehicles from one floor
to another, while the paint and varnish rooms, carriage top and
repairing department, and a modern forge, all go to make up
a new and twentieth century equipment. The works are an
illustration of what can be accomplished with enterprise and
push. Mr. Gaiser was married in 1887, to Miss Julia Doyle, of
Missouri. Three children have been born of this union, viz. :
George, Harry M., and Paul.

James B. Gardiner, cashier of the Valley Center State Bank,
Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born March 30, 1878, at Garden
Plain, Kan. His father, who is now deceased, was George H.
Gardiner, and his mother's maiden name was Laura V. Pope.
Both parents were natives of Illinois. Mr. Gardiner obtained
his education in the public schols of Wichita, Kan., afterward
taking a business course at the Southwestern Business College,
St. Louis, Mo. He began his business career in the private bank

776 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

of S. F. Greene & Co., of Kane, 111., and afterward holding
a position for a few years with the Continental & Com-
mercial National Bank of Chicago, 111. Upon his return
to Kansas he was made cashier of the State Bank of Peck, Peck,
Kan., and in 1908 accepted his present position. Besides being
cashier of the Valley Center State Bank he is director in five
other banks in Sedgwick county. Fraternally Mr. Gardiner is a
member of the Masonic order — King Solomon's Lodge, No. 197,
Kane, 111., A. F. & A. M.; La Fayette Chapter No. 2, R. A.
M., Chicago, 111.; Palestine Council, No. 66, R. and S. M.,
Chicago, 111. ; Wichita Consistory, No. 2 ; thirty-second degree and
Midian Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. He is also a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Valley Center Lodge, No. 164.
In politics Mr. Gardiner affiliates with the Democratic party.

James K. Gardner, of Cheney, Kan., where he is actively en-
gaged in the real estate and loan business, was born May 2, 1849,
at Cadiz, 0. He is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Leard)
Gardner. His father was a native of Virginia, and on the mater-
nal line his remote ancestry is traced to Scotland. The parents
came from Virginia to Ohio and afterwards removed to McLean
county, Illinois, where the father was engaged in farming up
to the time of his death, which occurred in 1885. He lived an
exemplary life, being strong and well grounded in Methodism.
He was a Republican, and took a decided interest in the affairs
of his party. James K. Gardner left his home in Illinois and
removed to Morton township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, in 1882,
and the same year he married Miss Emma L. Rankin, a daughter
of W. H. and Elizabeth Rankin, of Bloomington, 111. Four
children have been born of this union, two boys and two girls,
only one of whom is now living, Caroline L., now attending the
Illinois Wesleyan University, at Bloomington, 111. When Mr.
Gardner first located in Morton township he had barely enough
money to buy a team of horses. He worked at painting for
two years. He purchased 160 acres of land and for three years,
while working on the farm, he also worked at the trade of
painter. He then moved into Cheney and opened up the real
estate, insurance and loan business, and was successful from the
start. In 1909 the firm of Gardner & McCue, real estate and
loans, was organized, and the firm is now transacting a large
and lucrative business in these lines. Fraternally Mr. Gardner is
a Mason, belonging to Morton Lodge, No. 254, A. F. and A. M.,

BIOGKAPHY 777

in which he has filled all the chairs. He is also a member of
"Wichita Consistory, No. 2, and of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows. He is a director in the Citizens' Bank of Cheney,
has been a member of the city school board for fifteen years,
city councilman for three years, city treasurer for three years,
and police judge for two years, which latter position he now
holds. Mr. Gardner is a Republican in politics. He has several
times been a representative to the Masonic Grand Lodge. He
is known as a public spirited, enterprising man, and successful in
all his undertakings. He is a faithful member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, a strong worker in the denomination, and has
contributed liberally to its support. He has been a superin-
tendent in the Sunday school of his church for fifteen years.

Alexander Garrett, farmer, of Rockford township, Sedgwick
county, Kansas, was born in Monroe county, Ohio, on March 4,
1845. His parents were J. E. and Mary J. (Gilmore) Garrett,
both natives of Ohio, where they lived until 1869, when they
moved to Ottawa county, Kansas, where they lived until their
death. The elder Garrett died in 1873, and his widow in 1874.
In September, 1869, Alexander Garrett went to Rockford town-
ship, Sedgwick county, and filed on 160 acres of land in
Section 12, on which claim he still lives, being the only man in
Rockford township in 1910 living on his original claim. Mr.
Garrett's first house was built of logs hewn by himself. He
made the shingles himself and hauled cottonwood logs to Wichita,
where he gave half to have them sawed into boards to make
windows, doors and floors. On September 26, 1866, Mr. Garrett
was married to Miss Margaret Dixon, who was born in Monroe
county, Ohio. They have two children, Anna Mary, born in
March, 1870, the first white child born in Rockford township, and
Herman, born in January, 1876, who lives on a farm adjoining
his father. Mr. Garrett has spent his life in agricultural pur-
suits, has had a strenuous career, and is today one of the
respected and representative citizens of Sedgwick county. He
is a Republican in politics, but has never sought nor held office.
He owns 1,040 acres in Sedgwick county and 200 acres in King-
man county, and markets from 75 to 150 fat cattle each year.

Ichabod P. Garriss, of Mulvane, Kan., a retired farmer and
pioneer, is a native of North Carolina, where he was born in
Wayne county, on March 14, 1842. His parents were Wiley and
Elizabeth (Pearson) Garriss, both natives of North Carolina.

778 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Joshua Garriss, the father of Wiley, came from England at an
early date and settled in North Carolina, where he lived and
died, Wiley also spending all his life in the .same state. The
mother also died at the same place. Ichabod P. Garriss lived
in his native state until March 12, 1868, when he moved to Willow
Springs, Kan., where he remained until 1871. Before coming to
Kansas and while living in North Carolina he was conscripted in
the Confederate Army, Company K, North Carolina Infantry, and
served until May, 1865. In 1871 Mr. Garriss came to Rockford
township, Sedgwick county, and laid the foundation of a house
on Section 13. In the fall of 1872 he preempted this 160 acres
and moved on the place. He paid 25 cents per tree and hauled
the logs twelve miles and built his home. He lived on this
farm until 1901, when he retired from farming and moved into
Mulvane, where he has a pleasant home and enjoys the rest he
has earned. On October 18, 1861, Mr. Garriss married Miss
Elizabeth Bradbury, who was born in North Carolina. Mr. and
Mrs. Garriss had one daughter, Mrs. Cora McCullough, born on
March 18. 1866, and who now lives in Rockford township.
On August 2, 1902, Mrs. Garriss died, and on December 7, 1903,
Mr. Garriss married Mrs. Annie M. Greene, who was born in
England, a daughter of James 0. and Thirza (Meade) Pearce,
both of whom were natives of England, and came to Holden,
Mass., in 1849. They lived at different times in Rhode Island and
Connecticut, and then came to Douglas, Kan., where they died.
Mrs. Garriss was married first March 8, 1864, to Albert A. Greene,
and came to Kansas in 1872 to Rose Hill, Butler county. Mr.
Greene died March 14, 1898. Albert A. Greene was a soldier
in the Union Army in the First Rhode Island Cavalry, Company
D, and served till the close of the war, when he received his
honorable discharge. Mr. Garriss passed through all the trials
and hardships of frontier life and has earned the rest he is now
taking. He is a Liberal in politics and both he and his wife are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Martin L. Garver was born at Scotland, Pa., May 16, 1844, and
passed his early life on the home farm. After a short military
service he was discharged, in the latter part of 1863, and soon
thereafter entered the freshman class in Whittenburg College,
Springfield, O., graduating with the class of 1866. Mr. Garver
became a Master Mason, having passed the degrees in Chambers-
burg, Pa. On April 11, 1871, he married Miss Kate B. Emminger,

BIOGRAPHY 779

of Mansfield, 0., and came to Topeka on their trip from there.
M. L., in company with Judge T. F. Garver, still of Topeka, and
his brother, made a trip to Wichita by mule team, and camped
just south of where the Second street bridge is now located,
and bought Buffalo steak at 25 cents a basket. In October, 1874,
he moved from Pennsylvania to Mansfield, 0., and in April, 1879,
he again turned his face westward, locating at Columbus, Kan.,
in the real estate and loan business, as local representative of
Wilson & Toms, loan brokers, of St. Louis, Mo., but soon there-
after, in 1879, they transferred him to Wichita as their local
manager for southern Kansas. Wilson & Toms later on organized
as the Wilson & Toms Investment Company, and' still later as
the Central Trust Company of St. Louis. Mr. Garver repre-
sented these people out of Wichita until they went out of busi-
ness, in the early '90s, when he engaged in the same line of
business in Wichita, on his own account. In March, 1896, he
signed a contract with the Deering Harvester Company, of
Chicago, to look after their Oklahoma collections. July, 1898,
he entered the employ of the Deming Investment Company, lo-
cated at Oklahoma City, as business manager. July 1, 1901,
he returned to Wichita, accepting a position with the Monarch
Trust Company, since reorganized as the Monarch Loan Com-
pany, as examiner of farm securities, which position he still holds,
serving as its vice-president. There were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Garver four children : Mary L., married to Chas. J. McKenzie, of
Wichita ; George J., secretary and treasurer of the Monarch Loan
Company, single, and lives in the family home ; James L., single,
engaged in the chicken and pigeon business at the family home,
900 Mathewson avenue, Wichita, Kan., and Charles L., married,
and living at Barstow, Cal., and is in charge of the Santa Fe
Refrigerator Dispatch Company's business at that place.

Fred W. George, one of the enterprising business men of
Wichita, Kan., was born in New Hampshire, in 1876, and is a son
of Fred and Ella (Holman) George, natives of England and
Massachusetts, respectively. They moved to Kansas in 1876 and
settled on a farm in Sedgwick township, Sedgwick county, but
four years later left the farm and moved into the village of
Sedgwick, where the father became connected with the hard-
ware business of S. W. Shattuck, in which line of trade he has
since continued, being now — 1910 — proprietor of the Wichita
Iron Store.

780 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Our subject acquired his education in the village schools and
began his business career as a clerk in the store of Mr. Shattuck.
Later he was traveling salesman for the Robinson Heary Hard-
ware Company, of St. Joseph, Mo., and after that, till 1904,
represented the Massey Iron Company, of Kansas City, Mo. In
July, 1904, Mr. George, with his former employer, Mr. Shattuck,
organized the Shattuck-George Iron Company, whose business is
located at Nos. 138 and 140 North "Wichita street, Wichita,
occupying a three-story building and carrying a full and com-
plete stock of heavy hardware and blacksmith's supplies, and, in
fact, everything found in an up-to-date business of its character.
The officers of the company are : F. W. George, president ; S. W.
Shattuck, vice-president; S. W. Shattuck, Jr., secretary, and
W. R. George, treasurer.

Our subject stands high in business circles and is active in
social and fraternal organizations. He is a thirty-second degree
Mason, a member of the Wichita Consistory, and of the Albert
Pike Blue Lodge. He is also a member of the Commercial
Club of Wichita, president of the Wichita Association of Credit
Men, and treasurer of the Wichita Transportation Bureau.

In 1898 Mr. George married Miss Sadie Damon, a daughter of
L. E. Damon, of Wichita, and they have two children, named,
respectively, Ralph Damon and Edith Frances, and occupy a
beautiful home at No. 1355 North Water street.

Christopher Gerhards,* farmer, of Union township, Sedgwick
county, Kansas, is a native of Germany, where he was born March
31, 1869. He is a son of Valentine Gerhards, also a native of
Germany. Christopher Gerhards came to the United States on
May 26, 1886, and first located at Lake Linden, Michigan, where
he worked for a time in the copper mines. He left the copper
mines to enter the employ of Armour & Co., of Chicago, and in
1901 came to Russell county, Kansas, where he bought land and
farmed for a time. This land he afterwards sold and bought 240
acres in Section 4, Union township, and has since lived on the
same. Mr. Gerhards was married in August, 1891, to Miss Susan
Schaass, a native of Michigan. Seven children have been born
of this union, of whom five are now living. The children are :
Mary, born November 10, 1892 ; Matthew, born January 13, 1894 ;
John, born August 11, 1895 ; Benjamin, born May 20, 1897; Ma-
hannah, born March 18, 1900; Henry, deceased, born June 6, 1906.

BIOGRAPHY 781

Mr. Gerhards is the present trustee of Union township. He is a
member of the Catholic church and is a Democrat in politics.

John S. Giwosky, proprietor of the People's Cleaning and
Dye Works, of Wichita, is a native of Russia, where he was born
in 1873. His parents were S. and Frederika Giwosky. They came
to America in 1885, and to Barber county, Kansas. Mr.
Giwosky 's education was acquired in Russia and Kansas. He
came to Wichita in 1887, and went to school and helped his
father in his store. Mr. Giwosky embarked in business for him-
self as a tailor in 1897, and for eight years conducted this busi-
ness successfully. In 1905 he broke out of the tailoring business
and plunged into the cleaning and dyeing industry, in a tiny
room at 129 North Lawrence avenue, and with less than $300 in
capital. Today the business occupies an imposing new home on
South Lawrence avenue. This is a fireproof three-story concrete
block which has been erected at a cost, including land value, with
its equipment, the plant is valued at $40,000. All this has been
accomplished in a little over five years, the new building being
completed in June, 1910. The business gives employment to an
average of fifty persons. The out-of-town business of the con-
cern has assumed large proportions. Mr. Giwosky, while closely
applying himself to his business, is never unmindful of his public
duty, nor of the joys of a whim or a hobby. His are automobiling
and fine horses, in both of which he has time and ability to indulge
himself. His five city delivery wagons are hauled by the best
horse flesh he can buy. He was married in 1900 to Miss Viola
Rockfouer, of Wichita, and they have two children — Marguerite
and Harry. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and the Chamber
of Commerce.

Edgar A. Goodin is a native of Van Buren county, Iowa, and
was born March 25, 1858, to Asa and Caroline (McBlhaney)
Goodin. The father died in Iowa and the mother died in Wichita
in 1899. On attaining his majority our subject rented a farm
and carried on farming in Iowa till he was twenty-seven years
old. He moved to Kansas in 1885 and the next year settled in
Wichita, and with two teams of horses which he owned, and
others which he purchased, engaged in the work of grading
streets. The business was financially successful ; but Mr. Goodin
invested his profits in Wichita property, and when the financial
panic came he was caught in the crash and his entire holdings
were swept away. He, however, found work as engineer for

782 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the Eagle Publishing Company, and in 1891, having saved a
small sum of money, rented eighty acres that had been subdivided
into town lots and for two years gave his entire attention to
raising hogs. This venture was followed by another year at
farming, and in 1884 he joined the rush to Oklahoma. Failing
to get a claim, he returned to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and with
$1,500 he had saved purchased a quarter section of land, paying
one-half cash and mortgaging it for the other $1,500, which he
paid off in three years from his profits through feeding stock.
In 1897 he bought eighty acres, to which he added 240 acres in
1898. In 1901 he further increased his holdings with the pur-
chase of eighty acres, and in 1909 by another purchase of 320
acres, making his total holdings of land 720 acres, being
480 acres in Section 33, 160 acres in Section 34 and
80 acres in Section 32, all in Gypson township, in Sedgwick
county, and all purchased with the profits of his farming, in
which he has given his chief attention to raising and feeding
cattle and hogs. In 1909 his sales of cattle, hogs and wheat
amounted to $13,000. In 1905 Mr. Goodin erected a beauti-
ful and commodious farmhouse, where he made his home five
years. The place is also improved with fine barns, outbuild-
ings and sheds and thoroughly equipped with all that pertains to
a modern farm. Mr. Goodin still has the general supervision of
his farm, though his sons have charge of the farming operations,
and during 1910 he moved into his beautiful and spacious bunga-
low, which he built on the township road on the south line of
his property in Section 33. This home is thoroughly modern in
all its appointments, and is equipped with every appliance looking
to comfort, utility and convenience. A cistern with a capacity of
700 barrels supplies water for a complete water system through-
out the premises; a hot-air furnace supplies the heat, and the
the place is lighted with gas. Among other conveniences is a
handsome garage for housing his new automobile, which is the
third machine Mr. Goodin has possessed.

In 1879 Mr. Goodin married Miss Mary, daughter of Mr.
William L. Foster, who settled in Lee county, Iowa, in 1854,
and who died in 1891. His widow still lives in Iowa. Of seven
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Goodin, Delia, born in 1880, died
in 1888, and Dewitt, born in 1894, died in 1896. Of the surviving
children, Maggie, born in 1882, is married to Mr. Charles Lane,
of Wichita. They have one child, Ruth by name. Roy R. was

BIOGRAPHY 783

born in 1885 ; he married Miss Mabel Russell, and they have one
child, Clark. They live on the homestead; Collier, who was
born in 1888, married Miss Luella Urban, and also lives on the
home farm. Lee, who was born in 1899, and Grace, born in 1901,
both live with their parents and are attending school.

Mr. Goodin stands high in the Masonic order, and is a member
of the Wichita Consistory. In politics he is a Democrat, inde-
pendent in his actions and opinion.

Cutler W. Goodrich, M.D., of the medical firm of Goodrich &
Wilhoite, No. 123 South Main street, Wichita, Kan., is a native of
Ohio, where he was born in Athens county on September 11, 1841.
His parents were Bingham and Elizabeth (Griffith) Goodrich,
natives of Ohio and Maryland, respectively, the latter being of
Scotch descent. The mother came when a child with her parents
to Ohio, and went to Missouri in the early seventies. After her
marriage to Bingham Goodrich and some time spent in Missouri,
the couple moved to Kansas in 1880, locating on a farm in Harper
county. Mr. Goodrich died at the age of eighty-seven and his
widow died at the age of seventy-six. Cutler W. Goodrich was
educated at the Ohio public schools and also received an academic
course. He enlisted July 31, 1862, in Company A, Ninety-second
Ohio Regiment. He was first sergeant for two years, and in his
last year of service was promoted to first lieutenant. He was
discharged from the army June 10, 1865, at Washington, D. C.
During his service Dr. Goodrich was at the battles of Hoovers
Gap, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Marietta, Ga., and wound
up at Bentonville, when Johnson surrendered to General Sher-
man. He received slight wounds, but braved it through every
campaign, his hardest being with Sherman, Thomas and Grant.
The medical education of Dr. Goodrich was received at the Physio-
Medical Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he graduated
in the class of 1874. He began practice in Athens county, Ohio,
moved to Missouri in 1875, and for seven years practiced at
Houstonia, and then removed to Harper county, Kansas, where
he continued practice until 1894. The doctor then moved to
Grant county, Oklahoma, where he followed his profession until
1903, when he moved to Wichita and formed a partnership with
Willis F. Wilhoite under the firm name of Goodrich & Wilhoite,
and has since continued in practice. Dr. Goodrich is a member
of the G. A. R., the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of
United Workmen. He was married to Miss Nancy J. Clark,

784 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

of Athens, 0., who died in 1874. Two children were born
of this marriage — Iola C, wife of J. H. Martin, of Oklahoma,
and Abbie E., wife of F. H. Brubaker, of Hobart, Okla. In June,
1876, the doctor was married to Miss Hattie B. Martin, of Ohio.
Of this union the following children have been born: Bingham
G. Goodrich, conductor in the Pullman car service for the Wabash
railroad; Lottie B., Wichita; Ethel E., wife of G. B. Erwin, of
Oklahoma City ; Elizabeth, wife of M. L. Marley, Coldwater, Kan.,
and Elvaretta, of Wichita.

Timothy Goodrich, grandfather of the doctor, was a soldier
in the War of 1812, and participated in the Indian wars. He
was a native of Litchfield county, Massachusetts, and was reared
in Vermont. He was one of five brothers who came from England
and landed at Cape Cod. Three of the brothers went north and
two south. He moved to Ohio shortly after it became a state,
going to Athens, Ohio, where he passed the rest of his life, dying
at thev age of eighty-five years, December, 1865.

Walstein D. Goodrich,* of Wichita, Kan., is a native of New
York state, where he was born in September, 1844. His parents
were H. B. and Rachel (Valentine) Goodrich. The remote an-
cestors of both parents were Germans. The father of Walstein
D. Goodrich moved from New York to Wisconsin with a family
of three children and located in Dodge county in 1846. He was a
farmer there until his death in 1856, when he was killed in a mill
accident. Walstein D. Goodrich remained at home after the
death of his father until his enlistment in the army on August
11, 1862, in the First Wisconsin Cavalry. This regiment was
equipped at St. Louis and at Cape Girardeau, Mo., where it
remained one year, and was transferred in June, 1863, to the
Army of the Cumberland. Mr. Goodrich was with Sherman in
the campaign at Atlanta, Ga., and then was sent back to Nash-
ville, Tenn., to intercept General Hood of the Confederate army,
and remained there until the battle of Nashville, and then fol-
lowed Hood to the Tennessee river. After this he was with
General Wilson in the wind-up of the war at Macon, Ga., and
served some time after he was entitled to his discharge, not know-
ing the war was over. The regiment was busy protecting govern-
ment property and was fighting almost every day while in the
Army of the Cumberland. The regiment was finally discharged
at Nashville, Tenn., in 1865, and Mr. Goodrich returned to his old
home in Wisconsin. After a residence there of four years, he

BIOGRAPHY 785

moved to Neosha, Kan., in 1869, and afterwards to Sedgwick
county, where he homesteaded 160 acres in Keehi township, Sec-
tion 6. Mr. Goodrich, since becoming a resident of the township,
has held many minor offices. He is a member of the G. A. R.,
Valley Center post, and in politics is a Republican. He is now
president of the bank at Valley Center and is a prominent citizen.
Mr. Goodrich was married in March, 1865, at Beaver Dam, Wis.,
to Miss Sophia A. Kirkham, of Oak Grove, "Wis. Of this union
seven children have been born, of whom six are now living, viz. :
Thaddeus, Wallace, Myrtle, Eugenie, Willard and Clyde.

Thomas J. Grace, stock raiser and farmer, of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born August 14, 1867, in Zanesville, Ohio. His
parents were Thomas J. and Hannah (Males) Grace. The father
was a native of Pennsylvania and the mother a native of Ohio.
The remote ancestry of the family on the maternal side is traced
to England. The parents in an early day came from Pennsyl-
vania to Ohio, and settled in Muskingum county, where the father
lived until his death, on August 1, 1876. His widow died Septem-
ber 1, 1910, on the old home farm in Muskingum county. The
elder Grace was a wealthy contractor, farmer and stock raiser.
The early education of Thomas J. Grace was obtained in the
public schools of his native state. He remained at the old home-
stead for three years after he was married on March 5, 1891, to
Miss Margaret Butler, a daughter of F. C. Butler, of Zanesville.
Two children have been born of this union, a daughter, now
sixteen years old, and a son, now three years old. The daughter
is attending high school in Cheney, Kan. Mrs. Grace is an edu-
cated and cultured woman, being a graduate of the Zaneszille
College for Young Ladies. Fraternally, Mr. Grace is a Mason,
thirty-two degrees, and has occupied all the chairs of the Blue
Lodge. He is a member of Wichita Consistory No. 2, of the Royal
Arcanum and of the Woodmen of America. Politically he is a
lifelong Republican. He is known extensively throughout Sedg-
wick county as a successful stock raiser and dealer and a prac-
tical farmer. Mrs. Grace is a member of the Reformed church
of Cheney.

Aaron T. Green,* farmer, of Salem township, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was bom in Belmont county, Ohio, on April 5, 1847. His
parents were John and Isabella (Fuller) Green. Mr. Green left
Ohio in 1865 and went to Illinois, and from there to Iowa, but
soon returned to Illinois. In these two states he worked until

786 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

1871, when, with another young man, he bought a team and drove
overland from Illinois to Wichita. In the fall of 1871, he pre-
empted 160 acres of land in the northwest quarter of Section 21,
Salem township. He broke about five acres of land and raised a
crop of corn and hay, but a fire that was started on the prairie
burned his stable, hay and corn. Mr. Green then went to work
for Mr. Copeland, with whom he remained that winter, and in
the spring he sold eighty acres of his land and later sold the re-
maining eighty acres and bought eighty acres in Section 25, which
he farmed one year. That happened to be the "grasshopper"
year, and Mr. Green sold his eighty acres to Edgar W. Phillips
and returned to Ohio. He only remained in Ohio until spring,
when he returned to Kansas and has remained ever since. On
February 5, 1885, Mr. Green was married to Mrs. Nettie Culver
Winslow, who was born in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Winslow was the
widow of Lewis Winslow, a soldier in the Civil War. By her
marriage to Mr. Winslow, she was the mother of five children,
viz. : Charles, of Oklahoma City ; Leon, of Shawnee, Okla. ; Mrs^
Gilmore Price, of Alva, Okla.; Grace, at home, and Albert, of
Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. Green have no children. Since his
marriage, Mr. Green has lived on his present place in Section 23
and eighty acres in Section 29. In politics he is a Republican.

Andrew F. Grimsley, farmer, of Sedgwick county, Kansas,
was born in Ash county, North Carolina, on January 20, 1852.
His parents were Lowry and Catherine (Koons) Grimsley, both
natives of North Carolina. Both the father and mother were
born in 1810. They lived in North Carolina until 1866, when they
moved to Missouri. In 1868 the family moved to Johnson county,
Kansas, where the mother died in 1882. The rest of the family
lived in Johnson county until the fall of 1890, in which year
Andrew F. Grimsley moved to Sumner county and lived until
1900. In that year he bought 120 acres of land in Section 13,
Ninnescah township, and has since bought eighty acres more in
Section 32. On March 15, 1879, Mr. Grimsley was married to
Miss Ludema Paisley, who was born in Missouri. Five children
have been born of this union, viz. : Mrs. F. C. Hare, of Sedgwick
county; Mrs. Ethel Dobbin, of Viola township; Charles R., at
home; Mrs. Bonnie Hetrick, of Ninnescah township, and Lefa
Fern, at home. Mr. Grimsley does general farming and stock
raising. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen

BIOGRAPHY 787

of America. He is a Democrat in politics and a member of the
Baptist church.

Elvin Spencer Hadley, attorney, of Wichita, Kan., is a native
of the Hawkeye State, having been born at Eichland, Keokuk
county, Iowa, on November 11, 1868. His parents were Spencer
I. and Louisa W. (Ecroyd) Hadley, Mr. Hadley, Sr., being a native
of North Carolina and Mrs. Hadley of Pennsylvania. They came
to Kansas in 1879, and in the fall of that year took up a section of
government land in Kingman county, but later moved to Reno
county, where they now reside. Elvin S. Hadley obtained his
early education in the public schools of Iowa and Kansas, and
in the high school of Sterling, Kan. He came to Wichita in 1903,
and for a short time was employed in the mercantile business,
but abandoned this for the field of real estate, in the meantime
pursuing .the study of law in the office of Stanley & Stanley,
and was admitted to the bar in June, 1909. His career furnishes
a good illustration of what a young man, with energy and brains
and a determination to succeed, can attain to. Mr. Hadley was
married in 1891 to Miss Madge Eastman, of Lawrence county,
Indiana. From this union four children have been born, viz.:
Mabel, Irdle, Vern and Wayne.

W. S. Hadley, president of the Citizens' State Bank, of
Wichita, Kan., was born in Richland, la., on January 18, 1866.
His parents were Noah A. Hadley and Louisna (Hadley). The
elder Hadley was a native of North Carolina, who came to Kansas
in 1876, settling at Beloit. He died in 1905, at the age of seventy-
two years. W. S. Hadley acquired his education in the public
schools of his county and at Grelette Academy, Glen Elder, Kan.
After graduating from the latter he taught school in Mitchell
county; as principal of Glen Elder High School for five years
and public schools for a period of five years. He was appointed
county treasurer of Mitchell county and served during the years
1892 to 1896, in the latter year being elected register of deeds,
in which office he served until 1900. At the expiration of his
term he engaged in the drug business in Beloit, Kan., which he
conducted for a year. In 1901 he came to Wichita and organ-
ized the Citizens' State Bank, with a capital of $10,000, which
opened its doors for business on the west side in 1902. This was
in the days when there was no street paving in that locality and
the bank building was surrounded by sunflowers. The officers
of the bank at the time of its organization were as follows:

788 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

President, W. S. Hadley; vice-president, J. H. Turner; cashier,
A. H. Stout. In 1908 the cash capital was increased to $25,000,
and W. C. Kemp succeeded Mr. Stout as cashier. The year
1910 finds this banking house a prosperous institution with a
surplus of $10,000 and deposits amounting to $290,000. Mr.
Hadley is one of the progressive men of the west side. He has
been president of the West Side Commercial League since its
organization in 1908, and takes a lively interest in all that
pertains to a greater Wichita. He is a member of the Kansas
Bankers' Association, the State Bankers' Association, and secre-
tary and director of the Friends University; also vice-president
of the Y. M. C. A. and chairman of the Religious Work Commit-
tee. Mr. Hadley was married August 29, 1888, to Miss Lillian E.
Outland, daughter of Thomas and Mahalia Outland. From this
union one child has been born, Beulah M. Hadley.

Earl Hahn, plumbing, steam and gas fitting, with an estab-
lishment at No. 151 North Emporia avenue, Wichita, Kan., is a
native of Kentucky, where he was born, in Washington county,
on November 27, 1869. His parents were William and Mary A.
(Dinsmore) Hahn, natives of Kentucky. The Hahns are of
German descent and the Dinsmores English. The elder Hahn
was a chair maker by trade and died at the age of eighty-four.
His widow died at the age of eighty-six. Earl Hahn was the
youngest of a family of eleven children, six girls and five boys, of
whom five are still living. He was educated at the public
schools of his native town and in 1887 came to Wichita. A year
later he began to learn the plumbing business, entering the
employ of the Wichita Plumbing Company. At the end of four
years the business was purchased by Glaze & Buckridge, and
Mr. Hahn continued in the employ of this firm for five years,
when the business again changed hands and was purchased by
the firm of Bertram & Bertram. Mr. Hahn continued with this
firm for another period of five years, when he embarked in
business for himself, and organized the firm of Bosworth, Hahn &
Co., their place of business being at No. 127 North Market street.
At the end of two years they removed the business to No. 152
North Market street, where the firm continued for seven years.
Mr. Hahn then sold his interest and continued in business for
himself, locating his establishment at No. 151 North Emporia
avenue, where he has conducted a successful business since 1907.
Mr. Hahn is a member of the Masonic order and the Benevolent

BIOGEAPHY 789

Protective Order of Elks. He was maried in 1881, to Miss
Anna Buellow, a native of Berlin, Germany, then a resident of
Ellis county, Kansas. Of this union four children have been
born, viz. : Cecil, Lucille, Frances and Arthur Earl Hahn.

James A. Hampson, a prosperous farmer of Grant town-
ship, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born February 29, 1856, in
Tazewell county, Illinois, and is one of a family of ten children
born to Henry J. and Nancy (Haines) Hampson. Our subject's
paternal grandparents were James and Christiana (Peppers)
Hampson, natives of Pennsylvania and Maryland, respectively.
The grandfather was a farmer in Ohio till 1837, when he settled
in Tazewell county, Illinois, and there carried on farming, being
prominently identified with the pioneer history of the state. He
died there March 8, 1874, at the age of sixty-five years. His
widow survived till February 28, 1887, and died at the age of
seventy-five years. They had a family of eleven children, of
whom Henry J., our subject's father, was the second. He was
born in Ross county, Ohio, April 8, 1829, and grew up on the
family homestead in Tazewell county, Illinois. On October 14,
1850, he married Nancy Haines, who was born in Licking county,
Ohio, February 13, 1833, the youngest of a family of three chil-
dren born to John and Nancy (Larramore) Haines, who were
both natives of Virginia. Henry J. and his wife settled on a
farm in Tazewell county, Illinois, and lived there till 1876, when
they removed with their family to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and
settled on a tract of 240 acres of unimproved railroad land in
Grant township. Here they established their family home and
reared their children. He was a man of influence in the com-
munity and a thrifty, sucessful farmer, having his farm well
stocked with Norman and Percheron horses, Durham cattle and
Poland-China swine, improved with fine buildings and thoroughly
equipped with every needed convenience and appliance. He was
a Democrat in political opinion and filled various local town-
ship offices. His death occurred March 31, 1909. His wife died
March 14, 1907. She was a devoted Christian woman and a
member of the Baptist denomination.

James A. lived at home till he was thirty years old, acquiring
his education in the district schools in Illinois and Sedgwick
county, after the family removed thither. At his father's death,
in 1909, he was appointed administrator of the estate, and car-
ries on general farming and stock raising. Mr. Hampson is

790 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

a Democrat in political sentiment and is somewhat active in the
local council and affairs of his party. He has filled various local
offices, having served twelve years as clerk of the school board
and serving now his fourth year as township trustee.

On May 25, 1886, Mr. Hampson married Miss Anna Ryder,
daughter of Jonathan and Lucy (Rice) Ryder, of Harvey county,
Kansas. The mother was a descendant in direct line of Revolu-
tionary ancestors. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hampson are affiliated in
religious faith with the United Presbyterian church at Sunnydale.

William H. Harper, farmer, of Sedgwick county, Kansas, was
born February 27, 1858, in Harvard county, Indiana. His parents
were Theodore and Ruth (Yeakly) Harper, the father being a
native of Ohio and the mother of Indiana. The remote ancestors
on the paternal side are Scotch-Irish and on the maternal side
German. The parents of William H. settled in Lyons county,
Kansas, in 1858, and afterwards removed to Chase county, Kansas,
after his father had sold his real estate in Kansas William H.
Harper came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and took up his resi-
dence. He bought 160 acres of land two miles south and one
mile west of Mt. Hope, on which he has erected a modern house
of eight rooms, which is one of the most attractive houses in the
township. Mr. Harper is an enterprising farmer and by hard
work and industry has bought and paid for one of the best farms
in the county. Mr. Harper was married on February 27, 1895,
to Miss Nancy J. Barnett, a daughter of Josiah Barnett, an
honored citizen of Missouri and a Civil War veteran. Mr. Barnett
served faithfully five years in the army. He was a member of
Company F, Twelfth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and partici-
pated in many severe battles. Ten children have been born to
Mr. Harper and his wife, viz. : Fannie, Grace, Nellie, Mary, Jesse,
William, Ray, Earl, Mabel and Ermon. Mr. and Mrs. Harper
are members of the Christian church of Mt. Hope, of which he
has been a member thirty-seven years. He is an independent in
politics.

Thomas C. Harrington, stock raiser and farmer, of Sedgwick
county, Kansas, was born in Alexander county, North Carolina,
on April 9, 1859. His parents were E. R. and Mary (Jones)
Harrington, both natives of the Tar Heel State. The father of
Thomas C. was born on October 26, 1826, and his mother was
born on March 4, 1837. They were married in North Carolina
in 1857, and in 1869 moved to Missouri. In April, 1870, they

BIOGRAPHY 791

settled in Cherokee, Kan., where the mother died on October 13,
1871. In August, 1873, Mr. Harrington was married a second
time to Miss Sallie Boyd. By the first marriage he had six chil-
dren, viz.: Thomas C. ; Mrs. M. G. Kitchel, of Clearwater;
Columbus C, of Ninnescah township ; James W., Henry M., both
of Ninnescah township, and Mrs. Ida L. Swinehart, of Norwich,
Kan. By his second marriage Mr. Harrington was the father of
four children, viz. : Charles A., of Oklahoma ; Mrs. Laura B.
Yearsin, deceased; Robert B., of Beaver county, Oklahoma, and
William R., of Anthony, Kan. Mr. Harrington, Sr., came to Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, in the fall of 1873, and preempted 160 acres
in Section 30, Ninnescah township. He added to this until at
the time of his death, in June, 1903, he owned an entire section.
Thomas C. Harrington remained at his home on the farm until
his marriage, which occurred on December 22, 1881. His bride
was Miss Maggie E. Parker, who was born in Iowa, on April 19,
1862. One child was born of this union, Claude E., who was born
on December 8, 1882. Mrs. Harrington died on February 5,
1886, and in January, 1891, Mr. Harrington married Miss Nettie
King, who was born in North Carolina, in June, 1859. One child
was born of this union, Charles R., born June 26, 1893. The
mother died in January, 1895, and December 12, 1896, Mr.
Harrington was married to Miss Nela Meadows, who was born
in North Carolina, on April 28, 1878. Of this marriage there
was issued four children, viz.: Henry P., born December 1,
1897; Walter C, born February 17, 1900; Zulu May, born July
31, 1908, and Arthur F., born June 8, 1902. Thomas C. Harring-
ton bought his first farm in 1882, in Section 28, Ninnescah town-
ship, 160 acres, and he has added to it until he now owns 1,000
acres. He does general farming, with about fifty acres of alfalfa.
He also raises stock, making a specialty of the Shorthorn variety
of cattle, with Royal Butterfly at the head of his herd. He has
a herd of seventy-five Shorthorns, and also raises feed steers
for market. He also raises thoroughbred Percheron horses, hav-
ing Hectolitre, an imported stallion, for a sire. Mr. Harrington
is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Baptist Church.

George E. Harris is probably one of the best known men in
the city of Wichita, Kan., which he has served officially in some
of its most important offices. He is an Englishman by birth,
having been born in the parish of Woking, near the city of
London, England, on February 16, 1832. He came to America

792 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

in 1864 and located first at Aurora, 111. In October, 1865, he en-
listed in Company I, Seventy-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
and was placed in charge of the general wards of the hospital.
He became managing commissary, in which capacity he served
until he was finally discharged. Mr. Harris is a man of liberal
education and well posted on all the current events of the day.
He was engaged in the mercantile business in Pana, 111., until he
moved to Kansas, in 1869, when he located at Chetopa. In 1871
he moved to Wichita. Here he took up the manufacture of
soda water and was very successful in this business, selling both
wholesale and retail, together with the ice business, in which he
was engaged at the same time, being the only one in the business
until 1886. Mr. Harris has erected two residences and a row of
English flat buildings in Wichita, and has taken great pride in
the growth and improvement of the city and county ever since
he has been a resident. In his official life Mr. Harris has served
as deputy sheriff of Sedgwick county, superintendent of city
parks for six years, appointed as city treasurer of Wichita and
served from 1901 to 1909, councilman for five terms, and the
third mayor of Wichita, in 1875. His business administration
has given the people satisfaction, and he has built up a host of
friends who have known him for many years. Despite his ad-
vanced age, Mr. Harris is a well preserved man, looking not to
exceed sixty years. He was married in England, June 10, 1860,
to Emma Elizabeth Lee, a daughter of John Lee. Four children
have been born to them, of whom only two are now living, Ernest
E. and Cecil H. Harris. Fraternally Mr. Harris is a member of
the Eagles and is a thirty-second degree Mason and member of
Wichita Consistory, No. 2. He is a Republican in politics and
active in the interests of his party.

Sylvester Harsh, retired, of Mt. Hope, Sedgwick county, Kan-
sas, was born August 7, 1828, in Litchfield, Bradford county,
Pennsylvania. His parents were Cornelius and Jerusha Harsh,
both natives of the state of New Jersey. Sylvester Harsh ac-
quired a limited education in the common schools of Bradford
county, and at his majority learned the trade of a mason, at
which he worked up to the time he entered the army during the
Civil War. He enlisted, in 1863, in Company I, One Hundred and
Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and remained in the
service until the close of the war. The regiment was placed
under the command of General Grant and was in the battle of

BIOGRAPHY 793

City Point (Va.), in which severe engagement the ranks were
decimated. After this battle the regiment participated in skir-
mish engagements until the close of the war. In the ranks, while
on parade, Mr. Harsh received a severe injury to his hip, which
compelled him to go to the hospital, where he remained in a
critical condition for months. The injury necessitated a surgical
operation, in 1909, which has greatly reduced his strength and
has left him in a disabled condition. In 1878 Mr. Harsh removed
from Pennsylvania to Russell county, Kansas, where he worked
at his trade and engaged in the mercantile business. In 1905 he
moved to Sedgwick county, bought property in Mt. Hope and
now lives in his comfortable home with his wife. Mr. Harsh
has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Mariah Prince,
to whom he was married in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, on
March 6, 1852. Five children were born of this union, of whom
two are now living, viz. : Charles, who lives in Reno county, Kan-
sas, and Flora, who is married to a Mr. Crawford and lives next
door to her father. She has two children. Mr. Harsh was again
married, to Mrs. Mary B. Stacy, a widow, whose maiden name
was Sergeant, and whose parents were natives of England. No
children have been born of this second marriage. Mr. Harsh
is a devoted and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. For over thirty-five years he was superintendent of the
Sunday school and for over twenty-five years a class leader. He
has been strongly identified with the temperance party and is
looked upon in the community as an upright and exemplary
citizen.

Hon. Rodolph Hatfield, attorney at law, of Wichita, Kan., is
a native of the Buckeye state, having been born at London, Mad-
ison county, Ohio, October 6, 1854. He is a son of Renssalaer R.
and Eliza Ann (Coultas) Hatfield, and the eldest of the family
of six living sons and two living daughters. His father was a
native of Indiana and his mother a native of Ohio.

The parents were married in Ohio in 1852, and in 1859 set
their faces westward for life's betterment, and settled in Logan
county, Illinois, where they purchased a farm and engaged in
Agriculture, remaining there till 1877, when they again took the
pioneer fever and removed to a farm which they purchased in
Grant township, Sedgwick county, Kansas. They resided upon
said farm till about 1893, when they sold out and moved to
"Wichita and there continued to reside till the death of the father,

794 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

April 13, 1903. The mother still survives (1910) and enjoys a
reasonably healthy and happy time in her declining years. The
subject of this sketch received his education in the common
schools of Logan county, Illinois, completing same in Lincoln
University, from which he graduated with degree of Ph. B. in
June, 1876.

The circumstances of his entering college are interesting.
When a lad of fourteen, he was called as a witness to testify in a
case of assault and battery against his teacher for whipping a
grown-up pupil. The court proceedings greatly interested young
Hatfield and he then and there determined to become a lawyer,
and on his way home from the trial so announced to his father,
who had already planned that he should be a farmer. However,
when the father saw with what avidity his son acquired knowl-
edge from the meager stores and sources of a farm home, making
the most of every opportunity to fit himself for his chosen calling,
he promised to send him to college, if he accomplished an assigned
task of farm work in raising crops and mastered his teacher in
mathematics the ensuing winter. By studying hard during the
summer, when the farm help was asleep, on rainy days and at
every spare moment in a busy time of the work on the farm, he
succeeded, as foreman of the farm, in raising the crops, and by
dint of closely applied study, soon had a statement from his
teacher that he had led him in arithmetic as far as he could.
He has often declared the time he received his longed-for and
hard-earned permission to attend college, when his tasks were
performed on the farm and in the country school, the proudest
achievement of his life.

Soon after entering college, he became aggressive and au-
dacious in debate, quickly discerning the weak places in his op-
ponent's arguments, studying public questions with enthusiasm,
and recognized by his associates as a fit representative of his
college in the literary contests of his school, in which he came off
victor and bearing the honors always, with one exception. His
eloquence and force of expression were then, and are now, di-
rected to men's understanding, rather than their imagination or
passions, though he possesses much imaginative power and vividly
portrays, divining the thoughts and purposes of his hearers.

Mr. Hatfield's characteristic strenuous efforts to enter college
and acquire an education have marked his entire life, so that
whatever is undertaken by him is given vigorous and intelligent

BIOGRAPHY 795

attention. In appearance, he is prepossessing, with an unusually
musical and vibrant voice which attracts and holds the attention
of an audience. In conversation, he is brilliant and versatile,
his range of reading being very wide and comprehensive, and his
mind concerns itself with an almost infinite variety of topics, as
he possesses one of the best selected private libraries in the South-
west and is never more at home than when consulting it. In dis-
position, Mr. Hatfield is noble and generous, with an exuberance
of vitality. His presence is distinguished, his manners winning
and affable, impressing those with whom he comes in contact as
possessing a kindly individual interest and sympathy, which in-
sure him a general welcome and render him, recognizedly in
Wichita, as the most ready and available emergency speaker for
all classes of occasions, calling for discussion of political issues,
educational addresses, convention welcoming addresses, or ban-
quet responses and toasts.

Mr. Hatfield began the study of the law first in the Wesleyan
University, of Bloomington, 111., law department, completing same
in the law offices of Hoblit and Foley, of Lincoln, 111., and receiv-
ing admission to the bar before the Supreme Court of Illinois in
June, 1878.

In July, 1878, Mr. Hatfield went to Trinidad, Col., where he
first swung his law sign to the breeze and began the practice of
his chosen profession. Having been reared in an agricultural
country, and in the midst of Republican associates, he was not
pleased with the barrenness and Democratic majorities of south-
ern Colorado, and removed from there to Wichita in September,
1879, opening his law offices in Wichita January 20, 1880, where
he has since resided. While Mr. Hatfield has engaged in the gen-
eral practice of the law, he has specialized in corporation practice,
in which he is considered an accepted authority.

Mr. Hatfield's first law co-partnership in Wichita was with
Noah Allen, now United States attorney for Southern District of
Texas, but did not continue the said partnership for more than a
few months, dissolving same and remaining alone till November
20, 1884, when he formed a co-partnership with Hon. 0. H. Bent-
ley, which still continues, and is said to be the oldest continuous
law co-partnership now in the state of Kansas.

Mr. Hatfield has always been a student of public questions
and has held many positions of honor and trust in Kansas, being
returned to some of them many times, showing popular confi-

796 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

dence in his ability and integrity. In November, 1884, he was
elected to the Kansas house of representatives, and re-elected to
same position in 1886. In the session of 1887, he lacked only five
or six votes of being elected to the speakership of the house, and
failed only because he steadfastly refused to yield to the political
demands of the railroad companies, then dominant in Kansas
politics. In 1889 he was appointed by Governor Humphrey a
regent to the Kansas State Normal School, at Emporia, serving
as the president of the regency for his full term of four years.
Though not an avowed candidate, nor making any personal effort,
the press of Kansas, in 1892-93, very generally mentioned and ad-
vocated the election of Mr. Hatfield to the United States senate.
In 1898, he was elected a member of the board of education of
the city of Wichita, serving thereon for five consecutive terms
of two years each, being elected by said board as its president for
five consecutive terms of one year each, and until his retirement
therefrom.

On June 17, 1878, Mr. Hatfield was united in marriage with
Hattie E. Harts, who was an associate graduate with him in the
university, born near Reading, Pa., March 23, 1855, a daughter of
John and Rachael (Minsker) Harts, both natives of Pennsyl-
vania. By this marriage six children were born : Rodolph H., of
Chicago ; Merle E., of Denver ; Herbert H., of Wichita ; Paul C,
of Chicago ; Rachel N., of Wichita, and Kenneth E., of Wichita.
Mrs. Hatfield, the mother of said children, departed this life Jan-
uary 19, 1906.

January 4, 1910, Mr. Hatfield was united in marriage to Mrs.
Allie M. Morehead, who was born at Marion, Linn county, Iowa,
September 29, 1867, a daughter and eldest child of John and
Charlotte (Miller) Fitch, the former a native of Pennsylvania and
the latter a native of Iowa. Both are living, and in health,
though the father served his country in the War of the Rebellion
as a member of an Iowa regiment.

Mrs. Hatfield has been a respected resident and efficient edu-
cator of the city of Wichita since 1887 ; is the mother of an only
child and son, Howard L. Morehead, residing at Wichita, by her
first marriage. Mrs. Hatfield is very well and favorably known
in Wichita, having been principal of one of the public schools of
the city for several years prior to her marriage to Mr. Hatfield.

Fraternally Mr. Hatfield is a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows and has filled all the chairs of the subordinate

BIOGRAPHY 797

lodge of that order. Also of the Modern Woodmen of America,
having likewise filled all the chairs of the local camp of that
order. Also of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of
the Knights and Ladies of Security. He is a member of the First
Presbyterian church of Wichita, is an elder of said denomination,
has served some thirty years as superintendent of Sabbath schools
in said denomination, and was a commissioner to the general as-
sembly of the church at Saratoga, N. Y., in 1896. In politics Mr.
Hatfield is and always has been a Republican. By reason of his
active participation in the state campaigns and in delivering
many educational lectures, he has a very wide acquaintance in
Kansas.

Clarence A. Hattan, secretary of the Wichita Supply Company,
and one of its organizers, is a native of Indiana, where he was
born in the town of Charleston in 1868. His parents were D. H.
and Margaret J. (Walker) Hattan, natives of Indiana, who left
that state and came to Kansas in 1870, locating at first in Butler
county, from whence they removed in 1880 to Sedgwick county.
Both are now deceased. Clarence A. Hattan was educated in the
public schools and early learned the printers' trade, which he fol-
lowed in Wichita for fifteen years. He then engaged in the hard-
ware and implement business in Mt. Hope, Kansas, which he
continued until 1900, when he returned to Wichita and engaged
in the harness and hardware business until 1907, when he became
interested in the organization of the Wichita Supply Company,
which handles machinery supplies, gasoline engines, etc. The offi-
cers of the company are as follows : Charles Waltercheid, presi-
dent ; Daniel Martin, vice president ; C. A. Hattan, secretary ; E.
R. DeYoe, treasurer. Mr. Hattan was married on December 30,
1908, to Miss Cora A. West, of Wichita. Fraternally Mr. Hattan
is a member of the Masonic lodge.

Edward J. Healy, head of the firm of E. J. Healy & Co., live-
stock commission merchants at the Wichita stock yards, bears
the distinction of being the pioneer stockdealer of Wichita and of
Sedgwick county. Mr. Healy is a native of the state of Daniel
Boone, having been born in Woodford county, Kentucky, on July
6, 1851. His parents were J. P. and Elizabeth (Drew) Healy, who
were natives of Ireland, and who came to Kentucky in 1848. Here
the elder Healy engaged in business as a contractor, but removed
to Illinois in 1855, and later to Kansas, where he settled in Brown
county. Both the parents of Mr. Healy are now dead. Edward

798 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

J. Healy acquired his education in the public schools of Mt.
Sterling, 111., and after leaving school became engaged in farming
and stock raising, which he prosecuted successfully until 1886,
when he decided that Kansas offered a larger field for his efforts.
On leaving Illinois he chose Wichita as his location, and at first
engaged in the real estate business, which he conducted with
success for the next three years. In 1889 Mr. Healy decided that
the livestock commission business offered a larger field for his
activities. Wichita was growing and the cattle business was an
important factor in the city's trade. He was one of the pioneer
dealers of the Wichita stock yards, and became successful from
the very start. He has now the largest business of the kind in
the city of Wichita. In addition to his livestock business Mr.
Healy is treasurer of the Wichita Livestock Exchange, a position
which he has held since 1889, and is also a large stockholder in
the Union National Stock Yards Bank, of Wichita. Mr. Healy
was married in June, 1881, to Miss Alicia Fitzsimon, of Mt. Ster-
ling, 111. From this union there have been seven children, viz. r
Mary E., wife of Albert Ford ; Ida, John P., Edward J., Jr., Alicia,
Emmet T. and George Healy.

David Heenan, of Wichita, Kan., is a good type of the resource-
ful class of Irishmen who come to America and achieve inde-
pendence with no capital but their brains and industry. Mr.
Heenan was born August 15, 1868, in Belfast, Ireland, his father
being David Heenan, a native of the green isle. After acquiring
a rudimentary education in the old country Mr. Heenan came to
America in 1889. He stopped at Kansas City, Mo., for a short
time, but left that city and came to Wichita the same year, where
he has ever since resided. The essential characteristics of Mr.
Heenan are energy, pluck and perseverance. He has taken a full
hand in connecting himself with and organizing some of the lead-
ing enterprises of the city of Wichita, and while possessing some
of the peculiar traits of the Irishman, has shown good judgment
and a high degree of business efficiency in all of his endeavors.
He began his business career in Wichita as correspondent for
J. W. Hawn, and in 1892 formed a partnership with E. K. Nevling
under the style of the Nevling Grain Company. He afterwards,
in 1899, took a prominent part in the organization of the Nevling
Elevator Company, and became secretary and treasurer of the
company. Later on he formed a partnership with J. Sidney Smith
under the name of David Heenan & Co., and this firm is now

BIOGKAPHY 799

doing business in Wichita. Mr. Heenan has been secretary and
president of the board of trade and is now a director in the same.
He was the organizer of the clearing house and a director of the
Clearing House Association. Mr. Heenan is a member of the
Masonic fraternity and of Albert Pike Lodge of "Wichita. In
politics he has not identified himself with either of the two great
parties, preferring to remain an independent and vote as judg-
ment dictates.

Louis Helmken, proprietor of the Model Grocery and Market,
No. 1043 St. Lawrence avenue, Wichita, Kan., is a native of Ger-
many, having been born near Bremen on March 18, 1869. His
parents were George and Meta (Murhen) Helmken, natives of
Germany, where the elder Helmken was a farmer, and the family
had resided on the same farm, located near Bremen, for about
three centuries. The elder Helmken died in 1870 when but thirty-
eight years old, at which time Louis Helmken was only one year
of age. His widow is still living. Louis Helmken was one of a
family of six boys, all of whom are living. He was educated in
the country schools of his native country and left home in 1885
and came to the United States, locating in the city of New York,
where he served an apprenticeship in the grocery business. Five
years later he moved to Chicago and for a couple of years clerked
in grocery stores. In 1892 he opened up in the grocery business
for himself, and in 1896 found himself without a penny. He again
began as a clerk, and in 1900 began again for himself with a small
capital, and in four years ' time had a chain of stores on the south
side of Chicago, all paying well and employing a large number
of salesmen and delivery employes. In 1905 he sold all his mer-
cantile interests in Chicago and removed to Oklahoma. There
he organized a company to build a large cement mill with $150,000
capital, of which he was president and manager for three years.
Then he sold his interest and came to Wichita and bought the
Cottage Grocery on South Topeka avenue, and after two years
bought the store at his present location of W. H. Shoemaker, re-
moved the old building, and by August, 1909, had completed his
present building, the only one in Wichita built expressly for the
business, and which represents an investment of $25,000. The
store is a model of its kind, and is equipped with every modern
appliance and sanitary device and convenience known to the
retail grocery business. Mr. Helmken does a strictly cash busi-
ness and has a force of ten employes in the carefully-kept,

800 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

hygienically clean and finely-managed food emporium. Neatness,
cleanliness, pure, fresh stocks of goods, courteous, obliging man-
ners of proprietors and employes, all have united to make this
store a model one, a credit to the genius of the owner and to the
advantage of the large patronage he enjoys. Mr. Helmken is a
thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Shrine and of the
Woodmen of the World. He is the president of the Wichita
Grocers' Association and a member of St. Paul's Evangelical
Church. He was married on September 23, 1900, to Miss Emelie
Golk, of Chicago. Of this union five children have been born, viz. :
Meta, Elnora, Martha, Louisa and Louis, Jr., the latter being
deceased.

Richard Heinig, of Goddard, Kan., is a native of Germany,
where he was born on February 26, 1868. His father was Gottlieb
Heinig, a native of Germany. His parents immigrated from Ger-
many to the United States in 1870 and located in Orange, N. J.,
where they remained four years. In 1874 they came west and
located permanently in Sedgwick county, Kansas, where the
father bought a quarter-section of land in Attica township, and
before his death added two other quarter-sections. He died Janu-
ary 16, 1905. In religious belief he was a Lutheran, and in political
belief a life-long Republican. His wife died June 10, 1889. Mr.
Heinig, Sr., served in the German army eight years. He had a
family of nine children, seven of whom are now living, viz.
Richard, the oldest child; Rosa M., born February 21, 1870
William T., born October 1, 1871 ; Anna, born August 17, 1874
Mary, deceased; Charles, deceased; George O., born September
14, 1881 ; G. Arthur, born October 26, 1883 ; Alfred T., born May
1, 1886. Richard was seven years old when he came west with
his parents to Kansas. He received a common school education
in Sedgwick county and remained with his parents on the home
farm until he was twenty-seven years old. At that time he rented
land of his father up to the time of the latter 's death. After that
he bought the interests of the heirs to the home place of 160 acres
in Section 27, Attica township, and is now residing there. He
is a bachelor, a public-spirited citizen, and fraternally is a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows' Lodge No. 266, the
Knights of Pythias and Rebecca Lodge No. 78 of Goddard, Kan.,
and the Warrick Lodge No. 44 at Wichita, Kan. In politics Mr.
Heinig is a Republican, and a director in the Goddard State
Bank.

BIOGEAPHY 801

Harry S. Henderson,* veteran of the Spanish- American "War
and farmer by occupation, of Valley Center, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born March 20, 1882, in Sumner county, Kansas. His
parents were Harry H. Henderson and Clara (Fassett) Hender-
son, both of genuine Yankee stock. The elder Henderson died in
Rogers, Ark., to which state he had gone for his health when his
son was nine years old. After a residence of four years in Ar-
kansas with his father, Harry S. Henderson came back to Kansas
and made his home with his grandfather, Lewis Fassett, who
owned 160 acres in Section 10, Grant township, and afterward
moved to Texas. On January 8, 1901, Mr. Henderson enlisted for
the Philippine War in B Troop, Fifteenth Cavalry Regiment, or-
ganized about February 15, under the command of Colonel
Wallace, as a private for three years. Mr. Henderson left
Wichita when he enlisted and was sent to San Francisco, and on
March 18, 1901, sailed for the Philippine Islands, arriving at
Manila bay on April 17. His regiment was placed in General
Wood's expedition on Jolo Island from August 27, 1901, to Au-
gust 31, 1903. Mr. Henderson served three months as a special
prison guard. The regiment being divided up into battalions, he
was placed in the First Battalion, where he served up to the time
of his discharge on October 15, 1903. Mr. Henderson was mar-
ried on February 14, 1906, in Sedgwick county, to Miss Mabel
W. Bingham. Two children have been born of this union,
Florence Lavina, born April 9, 1907, and Ceres Irene, born No-
vember 9, 1909. Fraternally Mr. Henderson is a member of the
Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Sons of Veterans.
He is the owner of a well-improved farm in Section 10, Grant
township, and is a well respected man in the community in which
he lives.

Nathan B. Hern, real estate operator of Cheney, Kan., was
born January 7, 1866, in west Tennessee. He is a son of George
W. and Mary C. Hern, and traces his remote ancestry back to
England. His parents removed from Tennessee to Reno county,
Kansas, when he was a small child, and there he was reared with
the benefit of a common school education. At the age of fifteen
he left home and spent several years on a cattle range in western
Kansas. In 1885 he took up his residence in Cheney and obtained
employment as a clerk in a hardware and implement store con-
ducted by D. M. Main, for one year, when he engaged as salesman
for the McCormick Harvesting Machine company, and remained

802 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

in that capacity up to 1907, when he engaged in real estate,
which business he is engaged in at the present time. The firm
of Hern & Northcutt, of which he is a member, transacts a large
business, selling and buying ranches running into thousands of
acres. Mr. Hern holds large real estate interests in Kingman
and Sedgwick counties, Kansas. He is modest in recalling his
successful career in real estate, yet no man in the state is better
posted on realty values than he, and through careful operations
he has accumulated a large fortune. Fraternally Mr. Hern is a
Mason, a member of Morton Lodge No. 258, A. F. & A. M., in
which lodge he has occupied all the chairs, and is a member of
Wichita Consistory No. 2. On February 3, 1893, Mr. Hern was
married to Miss Nellie M. Marble, of Cheney, daughter of A. S.
Marble. Mrs. Hern was born at La Cygne, Linn county, Kansas,
on April 20, 1875. On her father's side her ancestry is Scotch,
and on her mother's German. No children have been born of
this union. Mr. Hern is a Democrat of the Jefferson school.

Severen E. High, a prosperous and substantial farmer of Rock-
ford township, in Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a native of Van
Wert county, Ohio, and was born in 1853 to Lewis and Erga
(Mattox) High. The father was a native of Pennsylvania and a
plasterer by trade. In 1877 he settled with his family on a quar-
ter-section of land in Rockford township, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, and lived there till his decease in 1889. He enlisted as a
private and served four years in the Civil War and was mustered
out as second lieutenant of Company K, Sixty-fourth Regiment
Ohio Volunteers. He belonged to Wichita Post, Grand Army of
the Republic. The mother died in Ohio in 1859.

Our subject lived in Ohio and Illinois during his early life and
first came to Sedgwick county in 1876. He then returned to
Illinois and went thence to West Virginia in 1878, and there mar-
ried Miss Mary Powell, a daughter of Mr. John Powell. Return-
ing to Illinois he lived on a rented farm till March, 1880, whence
he came again to Sedgwick county and settled on his father's
farm in Section 9, in Rockford township. Four years later he
bought a quarter-section in Gypsum township and lived there
till his father's death in 1889, when he sold it and returned to
the family homestead, where he has since continued to live. He
afterwards bought 160 acres in Section 4, 80 acres in Section
5, and 80 acres in Section 9, making a total of 480 acres, which
he now owns in Rockford township. Mr. High carries on general

BIOGRAPHY 803

farming and stock raising, and has made his money by the sale
of cattle and hogs. He has made a financial success of his farm-
ing operations and lives in the enjoyment of a beautiful home,
surrounded with all the comforts and conveniences of the modern
prosperous farmer. In politics he has always been a Democrat
and has served as trustee of Gypsum township and treasurer of
Rockford township.

Of four children born to Mr. and Mrs. High, Charles P., born
in 1879, married Miss Izah, a daughter of Mr. George Rickerds.
They have one child, Helen, and live on the father's farm in Sec-
tion 4. Glenn, who was born in 1881, married Miss Nellie, a
daughter of Mr. Elias Mitchell. They live on the father's farm
in Section 9, and have two children, Ruth and Severen. Carl
C, who was born in 1888, died in 1906, and Lemuel, born in 1884,
passed away when three years of age.

A. H. Hill, president of the Hill-Engstrom Lumber Company,
of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Illinois, having been born in that
state on March 29, 1864. His parents were Asa L. and Charlotte
(Pratt) Hill, of Pittsfield, 111. His early education was obtained
in Pittsfield, 111. After leaving school he was engaged during
1890-1891 as cashier of the Winona bank, Winona, 111. In 1892
he went into the lumber business, and in 1907 he came to Wichita.

Mr. Hill organized the corporation which bought out the old-
time lumber interests of ex-Mayor Ben McLean, added to the
capital and yards under control and started a career of consolida-
tion that places him now in a class all his own — that of having
handled and transformed, united, expanded and consolidated
probably more interests in large figures than any other man in
the city in his line, or perhaps in any line. Since coming to
Wichita he has acquired interests in or consolidated nineteen
line yards. His own company has a string of sixteen yards and
is adding to or rearranging the system all the time. Mr. Hill
has been for nineteen years in the lumber business. His first busi-
ness venture, a small yard at Winona, 111., he clung to until 1908,
when he sold it. He operated many yards in Illinois, and then
acquired control of the Chihuahua Lumber and Manufacturing
Company, of Old Mexico, which operated a string of sawmills,
sash and door factories, and owned 20,000 acres of fine standing
timber. Mr. Hill has now closed out all his Mexican holdings,
his yards in Illinois and Missouri, and has centered and con-
solidated all his interests in Wichita, where he has built a beauti-

804 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

ful home. He is president and general manager of the syndicate
whose headquarters are in this city, where supplies and purchases
are all made for the yards scattered throughout Kansas and Okla-
homa. Mr. Hill, besides his lumber interests, has large land hold-
ings in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and is a stockholder in
several plants and companies, including the Portland cement in-
dustry, and is a member of the chamber of commerce. He was
married in 1891 to Miss Alice Vaughn, of Winona, 111. They have
two children, Ruth and Roland.

I. N. Hockaday, of Wichita, Kan., president of the Hockaday
Paint Company, of that city, is the head of a concern of which
the city is proud, and so also are the stockholders. The concern
is only five years old, but already its trade extends all over the
Southwest, and into the far Northwest and the Pacific slope. Mr.
Hockaday was born in 1868 at Plattsburg, Mo. His parents were
I. N. and Fanny (Lincoln) Hockaday, and his early education
was obtained at Plattsburg College, Plattsburg, Mo. After fin-
ishing his education Mr. Hockaday located at Kingfisher, Okla.,
in 1889, where he went into the hardware business and had the
first store of that kind in the territory. In 1899 he came to
Wichita, and the first wholesale hardware store in this section of
the Southwest was organized through his efforts and was known
as the Hockaday Wholesale Hardware Company. The company
at once entered upon a remarkable period of growth and dividend
paying business. Five years ago the hardware house was bought
out by a syndicate, but Mr. Hockaday would not leave the
city, and saw then, as now, incalculable possibilities in its future.
So the Hockaday Paint Company was organized, and has been
even a greater success in its brief career. It is the only concern
in the city, probably, except the packing houses, whose products
reach such a wide extent of territory. Large branch houses are
maintained in Denver and Kansas City. Mr. Hockaday is a thirty-
second degree Mason.

He was married in 1901 to Miss Birdie Bohart, of Plattsburg,
Mo. They have three children.

Ferdinand Holm, a successful farmer of Sedgwick county,
Kan., was born June 17, 1846, near Meldorf, Germany. His parents
were Hans and Margaret (Jurgan) Holm. He is in line of direct
descent from the house of Piel, who were court officials under
Adolphus of Sweden. Mr. Holm received his education in Ger-
many, after which he entered the wholesale and retail grocery

BTOGEAPHY 805

business in Meldorf, Germany. Because of ill health he left this
work and spent the next seven years on the ocean, stopping at
all ports of the commercial world. He came to the United States
in 1869 and located first at Pittsburg, Pa., where he spent three
years mining. On February 4, 1872, Mr. Holm was married to
Miss W. Elizabeth Lorenz von Frederickshof, Eddelac, Germany.
This was the culmination of a romance which had begun in their
school days. Miss W. Elizabeth had come to New York in 1871
with school friends.

In July, 1872, Mr. and Mrs. Holm came to Sedgwick county,
Kan., and preempted 160 acres of land in what is now Section 23,
Attica township. Seven children were born to this union, of
whom five are now living, viz. : Lily, Emma, Ida, Florence and
Elizabeth. Two boys are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Holm together
braved the pioneers ' struggles and won the land from the prairie
to make it their own. Fraternally Mr. Holm is a member of the
Masonic order, being a member of Florence Lodge No. 86 of
"Wichita, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of God-
dard, Kan.

E. F. Holmes, of Wichita, Kan., is the head of one of Wichita's
best known and most successful retail clothing stores. "There
is no place like Holmes," has become a household word in
Wichita and Sedgwick county. Mr. Holmes was born in Michigan,
His parents, Robert and Elizabeth (Fisher) Holmes, being resi-
dents of Livingston county, coming from England. The early edu-
cation of young Holmes was acquired in the public schools of his
native town. About 1881 he decided that a better career was
open to him in the West and came to Kansas. Here he remained
for four years, during which time he had a mixed career as a
farmer, school teacher and stock raiser. In the fall of 1885 he
returned to Michigan and took up mercantile training, with the
result that again he migrated to Kansas in the spring of 1886
with Charles M. Gregory, and the two started the firm of Holmes
& Gregory at Cottonwood Falls, this partnership continuing for
seventeen years. In 1891 Mr. Holmes again went into stock rais-
ing on a large and valuable ranch in Chase county with great
success, and there he remained for ten years. In 1902 Mr. Holmes
withdrew from the firm of Holmes & Gregory and came to
Wichita. Here he formed the firm of Holmes & Jones. Three
years later Mr. Jones retired and Mr. Holmes became the sole
owner of the Holmes company. From the start the highest pos-

806 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

sible standard of merchandising was adopted and the utmost
liberality of treatment was extended to customers. In the eight
years in which the company has been in existence the volume of
its business was trebled. Mr. Holmes has always taken a deep
and generous interest in boys and young men. At Cottonwood
Falls he organized the "Holmes Boys' Band," which won the
first prize of $100 in its class in a tournament at Topeka. Mr.
Holmes is a life member of the Young Men's Christian Association
of Wichita, and a strong believer in its ideals. He is also a mem-
ber of the Commercial Club and the Country Club, K. of P. and
K. N. L. of S. He was married in 1886 to Miss Alberta McMillen,
of Livingston county, Michigan.

Alonzo B. Hope, farmer, of Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a
native of the Dominion of Canada, having been born at Toronto
on December 24, 1861. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth
A. (Young) Hope, natives of England. The father was born
February 22, 1825, and the mother February 11, 1823. They were
married in England on May 15, 1847, and immigrated to Canada
in 1850. After living in Canada fifteen years they moved to
Ohio in April, 1865, and to Kansas in 1872. In Kansas the elder
Hope preempted 160 acres of land in the southwest quarter of
Section 21, Ohio township, where he lived the rest of his life.
He died July 28, 1886, and his widow died October 13, 1906.
They Avere the parents of nine children, five of whom are living.
The children were : Mrs. Jane Mackey, of Gray county, Kansas ;
Herman, deceased; Walter, of Michigan; Stewart A., of Labett
county, Kansas ; Leonard, deceased ; Augusta J., deceased ; Alonzo
B., of Ohio township ; Mrs. Anna Walter, deceased ; Bert, of Gray
county, Kansas. Alonzo B. Hope bought the old homestead in
1891, where he now lives and owns 320 acres. On May 3, 1898,
Mr. Hope married Miss Alice Robinson, who was born in Illinois
December 12, 1871, a daughter of Samuel and Sybel (Burke)
Robinson. Mrs. Hope 's father came to Sedgwick county, Kansas,
in 1886, and settled near Oatville, where he worked at his trade
as a blacksmith. He died October 31, 1898. His widow still lives
and resides with Mr. and Mrs. Hope. The latter have had six
children, viz. : Rachel A., born February 13, 1899 ; Ruth E., born
July 19, 1900 ; Clifford J., born April 1, 1902 ; Stewart A., born
August 19, 1903 ; Leonard J., born October 31, 1906, and Nancy
J., born August 26, 1909.

Claude F. Hough, cashier of the Mulvane State Bank, Mulvane,

BIOGRAPHY 807

Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born at "Woodland, Barry county,
Michigan, on March 24, 1873. He is a son of Christopher A. and
Minerva J. (Rowlader) Hough. Christopher A. Hough, the father,
was born in Ohio on January 25, 1846. The mother was born in
Woodland, Mich., on May 18, 1854. They were married at
Woodland on July 3, 1871. Joseph Hough, grandfather of Claude
F., was born in Pennsylvania on April 21, 1821, and married Miss
Ann N. Monasmith and moved to Woodland, Mich., where he
died on April 15, 1886. His widow died on April 9, 1901.
Christopher A. Hough, father of Claude F., learned the trade
of carriage and wagon maker, at which he worked in Woodland.
He served four years as county treasurer of Barry county, and was
a member of Co. "C," One Hundred and Ninety-eighth 0. V.
Infantry. In 1889 he was elected cashier of the Farmers' and
Merchants' Bank at Nashville, Barry county, Michigan, which
position he still holds. Claude F. Hough attended school at
Hastings, Mich., and in 1890 began work in a bank as bookkeeper,
which position he held until December 1, 1899, when he moved
to Mulvane, Kan., and accepted the position of cashier of the
Mulvane State Bank, which position he still holds. On March
4, 1896, Mr. Hough was married to Miss Mildred C. Rowlader,
who was born in Woodland, Mich., on October 31, 1876, a daughter
of Washington and Catherine (Miller) Rowlader. Mrs. Hough's
father was born in Herkimer county, New York, on December
8, 1830, and her mother was born in Ionia, Mich. Mr. and Mrs.
Hough have two children, Helen L., born October 2, 1900, and
Claude F., Jr., born September 22, 1909. Mr. Hough is a director
and treasurer of the Mulvane Ice and Cold Storage Company and
secretary and a director of the Mulvane Mutual Telephone Com-
pany. Fraternally he is a member of Mulvane Lodge, No. 201,
A. F. & A. M., of which he is past master. He is a Republican
in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Joseph D. Houston, of Wichita, Kan., is the senior partner in
one of the most prominent legal firms practicing in the South-
west, that of Houston & Brooks, organized in 1898, with offices
in the First National Bank building. The firm engages in a gen-
eral practice, but its specialty is corporation law, and acts as
counsel for many of the large corporations of Wichita and other
parts of the state of Kansas. Mr. Houston is a native of Ken-
tucky, having been born in Bourbon county, that state, on March
17, 1858. His parents were F. W. and Fannie L. (Simpson)

808 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Houston. Mr. Houston obtained his education in .the public
schools of his native state and at Kentucky University. After
his graduation from the latter in 1879 he began the study of law
at Shelbyville, Ky., with the firm of Caldwell & Howard, a noted
legal firm in the state, and afterward supplemented this by a
course in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Law School. He was admitted
to the bar in 1879 and has since continuously practiced his pro-
fession. Finding the field in Kentucky rather restricted, Mr.
Houston looked about for a larger one, and in 1880 removed to
Kansas. He located at Wichita and at once opened an office
for the practice of his profession and has been successfully
engaged in general practice since that time. Mr. Houston was
married on April 8, 1885, to Miss Fanny Eddy, of Hillsdale,
Michigan, and from this union there has been issue two children :
Aleen and Gwendolyn Houston. Mr. Houston has taken an
active interest in the Masonic Order, being a thirty-second degree
Mason and a Shriner.

J. E. Howard, of Wichita, Kan., is one of the millers of
Wichita, commencing business about fifteen years ago, when mill-
ing Kansas hard turkey wheat was drawing the attention of the
world to Kansas as a great wheat producing state.

The first export bill of lading out of Wichita on a car of
Kansas flour was put through one of the Wichita banks by the
Howard Mills Company in 1895, or soon thereafter, when their
mill was located on East Murdock avenue. Their business has
expanded by virtue of the high grade of flour produced by them
until in 1900 the present plant of 300 barrels capacity was
erected on West Douglas avenue. There the company's brands
have grown in favor and are sold at nearly all points within fifty
miles of Wichita.

Mr. Howard is a native of the state of Ohio, where he was born
the 3d of March, 1848, and is a son of Jeremiah E. Howard, Jr.
Mr. Howard's education was acquired in a common school in
Ohio. He moved to Burrton, Kan., the fall of 1874, and resided
there until 1901, when he moved to Wichita, Kan., and has resided
there since that date.

Mr. Howard married Ellen Hicks, of Ashtabula county, Ohio,
in 1869. They have three children, C. R. Howard, an officer and
one of the active managers of The Howard Mills Company ; Fannie
A. Howard, who resides at home with her parents, and Florence
Howard, who is married and lives in the city.

BIOGRAPHY 809

Mr. Howard is a member of the Modern Woodmen and the
A. 0. U. W. He has been president of the Chamber of Com-
merce, also of the Wichita & Southwestern Fair Association,
county commissioner, and has been president of the Associated
Charities since its organization ten years ago, excepting about
eighteen months.

He was one of the first to stir up public interest in the com-
mission form of government. His great hobby has been freight
rates and the removal of discrimination against the transporta-
tion interests in southwestern Kansas, and until the final consum-
mation of what is known as the Hepburn Law was enacted he
was a member of the executive committee of the National Inter-
state Commerce Law Convention and at its dissolution at the
enactment of the above law Mr. Howard was vice-chairman of the
organization.

This organization had 400 and over commercial organizations
throughout the United States, all working under the direction of
this committee. This organization was the only one in active
operation and did so much to bring pressure on congress to
enact favorable legislation for the shipping interests.

Daniel S. Howe, who is counted among the successful business
men of Wichita, Kan., is a native of St. Lawrence county, New
York. He was born in 1848 and is the eldest of a family of three
children born to William S. and Eliza (Stratton) Howe. The
father was a native of the Green Mountain state and settled in
St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1842. He was a carpenter
and contractor and a successful business man. He was descended
in direct line from John Howe, who settled in Plymouth in 1623.
Daniel S. acquired his early education in the schools of St. Law-
rence county and later was graduated from the Eastman Com-
mercial College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and in 1866 went to St.
Joseph, Mo., where, for three years, he was engaged in the fire
insurance business. Returning to St. Lawrence county, New
York, in 1869, he lived there three years, engaged in the dairy
business, and then, in 1872, went to Boston, where he dealt in
horses, cattle and hogs. From 1885 till 1896 Mr. Howe was
employed traveling through the central western states as buyer
for the Erie Preserving Company, of Buffalo, N. Y., and then
took up his residence in Wichita, his present home. Here he has
devoted himself to loaning money on city property, exclusively,

810 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

with eminent success. He is an active member of the local lodge
of Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

In 1869 Mr. Howe married Miss Abbie Brown, a daughter of
Mr. Tyler Brown, of St. Lawrence county, New York. Of four
children born to them, William T. lives in Spokane, Wash. ; Le-
land M. resides in Chicago ; Mabel is married to Mr. Leon Courser,
and Bernice is the wife of Mr. Louis Stark, and both live in St.
Lawrence county, New York.

In 1901 Mr. Howe married Mrs. Jennie Myers, of Kansas City,
and they have a beautiful home at No. 1218 Bitting avenue,
Wichita.

Charles C. Hoyt,* merchant, of Kechi, Sedgwick county, Kan-
sas, was born July 21, 1867, in Indiana. His parents were Benja-
min F. and Mary (Flint) Hoyt, the father being a native of In-
diana and the mother of Michigan. The ancestry on the paternal
side is traced to England, and on the maternal, to Holland.
Charles C. Hoyt was the eldest of three children. His parents
moved to Kansas and located in Grant township, Sedg-
wick county, and afterwards moved to Wichita, where the father
died in 1908. His widow died August 5 of the same year.
Charles C. Hoyt attended the public schools of Indiana up to his
seventeenth year and afterwards worked as a laborer for some
time. He was married February 5, 1895, in Wichita, to Miss
Elizabeth Widder. Two children have been born of this union,
Reece and Irene. Mr. Hoyt engaged in the mercantile business in
Wichita in 1896 for himself, and continued in a general store
there for ten years. He then disposed of his business and went
to New Mexico, where he engaged in the real estate business.
Coming back to Sedgwick county, he bought out the general store
of G. S. Warner at Kechi, and has been conducting it ever since.
He and his wife are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Hoyt is
an independent in politics.

Myron L. Hull is the director of the Metropolitan School of
Music of Wichita, Kan., which was established by Mr. Hull
March 1, 1905. In its first year the school had an enrollment of
100, which was increased to 300 in 1910. The school specializes
on the piano, brass and stringed instruments. Mr. Hull was
born in Butler county, Kansas, on August 24, 1874. His parents
were Lewis and Eliza (St. Clair) Hull, natives of Ohio, who came
to Kansas in 1873 and located in Butler county, where they resided
until the death of Mr. Hull in 1902, at the age of sixty-one.

BIOGRAPHY 811

Myron L. Hull was the fourth child of a family of seven, all of
whom are living. He was educated in the public schools of
Butler county, the Augusta High School and the Great Bend
• (Kansas) Normal School, and also received a commercial train-
ing. His musical education was begun at the College of Music
in St. Joseph, Mo., and while there he studied violin and voice
culture. In 1903 Mr. Hull went to Chicago, where he studied
with Prof. F. W. Root, Signor Tomaso and Joseph Kneer, the
latter being for years associated with the Thomas Orchestra. He
then went to Philadelphia, Pa., where he had charge of the
Osborne Conservatory of Music for the term of 1904. While in
Philadelphia Mr. Hull also studied with Mr. F. W. Wurtele, of
that city, and afterward supplemented this with a course of
instruction under W. A. Fritschy and Samuel Siegel, of New
York City. After this Mr. Hull returned to Kansas and opened
a chain of schools, including Wichita and Oklahoma City. The
Wichita school grew to such proportions that Prof. Hull was
obliged to devote his whole attention to it, and from this begin-
ning the Metropolitan School of Music developed and has become
one of the leading institutions of its kind in the Southwest.
Prof. Hull is well known in musical circles and has sung with
the Apollo Club in recital and also in the church choirs of
Wichita. He was for three years with the Masonic Quartet and
is frequently a singer at Jewish services. Prof. Hull has also
devoted considerable time to composing. Two of his compo-
sitions for mandolin, an instrument which he has adopted as his
especial favorite, "Lullaby, A Token," and "Barcarolle, The
Gondolier's Dream," have been especially well received.

Alvin C. Hunter, proprietor of the Cash Meat Market, fancy
groceries and delicatessen, No. 217 East Douglas avenue, Wichita,
Kan., is a native Kansan. He was born on a farm in Delano town-
ship, Sedgwick county, on August 7, 1873. His parents were
Bazil W. and Thursey (Richcreek) Hunter, natives of Ohio and
Indiana, respectively, who came to Kansas in the '60s and took
up a claim in Delano township. They sold their farm in 1874
and moved to Wichita, where the elder Hunter died soon after
at the age of thirty-nine. His widow survived him until April 8,
1906, when she died at the age of sixty-six. Alvin C. Hunter
was the youngest of a family of three children, two boys and one
girl, all of whom are living. Mr. Hunter was educated in the
public schools of Wichita and began work when still young in

812 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the slaughter house of J. L. Moore & Son, where, after learning
the butcher business, he began for himself in company with his
brother, V. J. Hunter, and opened a shop on the West Side four
years later. After conducting this market for two years they
sold it out. Alvin C. Hunter then went to Oklahoma and his
brother to Colorado. In Oklahoma Alvin C. took up a claim and
proved it up, when he sold it out and returned to Wichita, where
he again embarked in the butcher business, adding groceries,
etc. On October 10, 1904, he located at his present stand, and
has since that time more than doubled his stock to meet the
increasing demands of his trade, and he now has one of the lead-
ing places of its kind in the city. Mr. Hunter is a member of
the fraternal order of the Modern Woodmen of America and is
also a member of the Christian Church. He was married in 1894
to Miss Minta A. Anderson, of Mt. Hope, Kan. Of this union one
child has been born, Thursey Lenora Hunter.

Prank Isbell, proprietor and sole owner of the Wichita base-
ball team, with headquarters at 127 South Main street, Wichita,
Kan., is one of her citizens in whom Wichita takes a justifiable
pride. "Izzy, " as he is familiarly known, has won his fame in
the baseball world, in which he takes high rank as an important
figure. He is a native of the Empire state, having been born at
Delevan, N. Y., on August 21, 1875. His parents were John N.
and Julia B. (Lawton) Isbell, who were natives of New York.
They removed to Minnesota in 1880 and after a residence there
of ten years decided to locate in Kansas. Young Isbell 's edu-
cation was acquired in the public schools of North Branch, Minn.,
and McAlister College, St. Paul, Minn. As a boy he was always
devoted to athletic sports. He began his baseball career as a
pitcher at Virginia City, Minn., in 1896, with the Iron Range
team, where he won thirteen out of fourteen games in which he
played. His brilliant work attracted the attention of Charles
Comiskey, who was then manager of the St. Paul club in the
Western Association, and the latter signed young Isbell in the
fall of 1896, playing him in the outfield. In 1898 Comiskey sold
Isbell to the Chicago National League, where he was utilized as
pitcher and utility man. In August of the same year Isbell was
sold back to the St. Paul team and remained with the club until
the end of the season of 1899. In the spring of 1900 the American
League was organized and Comiskey took his team to Chicago.

BIOGRAPHY 813

Isbell remained with this club during the years 1900 to 1909,
inclusive, and in the latter year came to Wichita.

In the spring of 1905 Dr. Shively, president of the "Western
Association, endeavored to raise capital for the purchase of the
Pittsburg, Kan., franchise, on condition that Isbell would take
charge of the club. Several prominent citizens were interested
and the necessary capital was quickly subscribed and the fran-
chise turned over to Isbell, but it was impossible for the latter to
leave Chicago. So he called W. J. Kimmell, of Enid, Okla., who
came to Wichita and assisted by the business men organized a
stock company and took over the franchise. In the fall of 1907
Mr. Isbell and John Holland paid $7,100 for the club and Mr.
Holland took charge. Kansas was placed in the Western Asso-
ciation territory in 1905. Holland and Isbell got busy, put a
deal through and got into the Western League in the spring of
1909. In the spring of 1908 Isbell remained with the club until
June 25, when he went to Chicago and played with the White
Sox during the seasons of 1908 and 1909. In the spring of 1910
Comiskey, through friendship, granted Isbell an unconditional
release, and he returned to Wichita and bought Holland's inter-
ests. Thus he was able to hold the fort at Wichita and is now
sole owner and proprietor of the club. "Izzy" made a record
in the world series of 1906, making four successive two-base hits
in one game, which has never been equaled. In selecting a site
for a home for himself he was able to secure and build on the
spot occupied by the diamond in the early eighties. Mr. Isbell
is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty-
second degree, and is a Shriner. He is also a member of the
Young Men's Christian Association, the Benevolent and Protec-
tive Order of Elks, the Knights of Maccabees, and the Chamber
of Commerce of Wichita. He was married in 1898 to Miss Addie
A. Baker, of Wichita, and is the father of one child, James
LaFloyd Isbell.

E. W. Jewell, furniture dealer, of Mount Hope, Sedgwick
county, Kan., was born June 25, 1860, in Princeton, Mo. He
is a son of D. W. Jewell, a native of New Jersey. The mother
was a native of Ohio. The remote ancestors of the family in
the paternal line were English. D. W. Jewell was born on the
Monmouth battlefield in 1813. He moved from New Jersey to
Ohio with his parents in 1817, where they settled for a time at
Middletown. The father of E. W. Jewell was married twice, the

814 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

first time to a Miss Shaffer, of Middletown, Ohio. Of this union
eight children were born, four of whom are now living. In 1835
the elder Jewell moved to Cass county, Michigan, and engaged
in farming. In 1852 he again moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa,
where his first wife died in 1850. Mr. Jewell's second wife was
Miss Sarah Clapp, a daughter of Newton Clapp, of South Whit-
ley, Ind. Four children were born of this union, A. W., E. W.,
Mary and D. I. In 1852 the elder Jewell started for Oregon,
but on account of sickness and the Border Ruffian war he was
unable to proceed further than Princeton, Mo., where he lived
twenty-three years. In June, 1878, he moved to Sedgwick county,
Kansas, near Mount Hope, and lived there up to the time of his
death in 1884. He was a successful farmer and held the office of
County Clerk at Princeton, Mo., for two years. His second wife
died in 1901. E. W. Jewell obtained his education in the common
schools of Missouri and Kansas, which he attended up to the age
of twenty-one. He was then for two years clerk in a store at Mount
Hope and then was clerk in a furniture store with Mr. Bardshar
nine months, and in 1884 purchased the latter 's interest in the
business. He is now the sole proprietor of one of the largest
retail furniture stores in southern Kansas, having a big trade
in Kansas and Oklahoma. Mr. Jewell is a member of the Masonic
Order, Blue Lodge, No. 238, in which he has been Junior Deacon
and Senior Deacon. He is a Republican in politics and active
in the interests of his party. Mr. Jewell was married to Miss
Elma Kennedy, of Ravenna, Mo., on September 8, 1886. Mrs.
Jewell was educated in the common schools of that place and in
a musical college at Des Moines, Iowa, and Leavenworth, Kan.
For several years she has taught instrumental music in Mount
Hope and is known as an accomplished musician. Six children
have been born of the union, all of whom are living. They are :
Nellie, Carrie, Gladys, Mary, Edwin A. and Gertrude. The
oldest, Nellie, is now (1910) attending the Mount Carmel Insti-
tute at Wichita. The other children are attending the city
schools of Mount Hope.

Frederick M. Johnson, wholesale and retail dealer in coal,
hay, feed and building material, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of
Illinois, having been born at Peoria, that state, on August 3,
1858. He is a son of John M. and Lucinda 0. (Ayers) Johnson,
his father being a native of Norway, while his mother was a
native of Vermont. The elder Johnson was born and reared in

BIOGRAPHY 815

southern Norway, about fourteen miles from Christiania. He
was born in 1830 and at the age of twenty came to the United
States, first locating at Lawrence, Mass., where he met and
married Miss Ayers. The elder Johnson was a building con-
tractor and a man well versed in business affairs. After their
marriage the couple removed to Peoria, 111., where the balance
of Mr. Johnson's business life was spent. He died January 18,
1898, and his widow later came to "Wichita, where she died
April 3, 1902, at the age of seventy years. Frederick M. Johnson
was the eldest of two children, and his brother, Charles F. John-
son, is now a resident of Freeport, 111. Frederick M. Johnson
acquired his education at the public schools of Marseilles, 111.,
and the Dixon (111.) Business College. He began at the age of
seventeen to learn the contracting and building business with
his father, and after a period of ten years with him
became superintendent for large firms, which he followed
successfully for another ten years, in the meantime acquir-
ing several interests on his own account. Failing health
brought him to Kansas in 1900, and becoming infatuated
with the country and the possibilities which he saw in
Wichita, he returned to his Illinois home, where he arranged
to close up his business affairs and in 1902 came to Wichita,
where he has since resided. On his arrival in Wichita he at once
began operations in the contracting business, which he continued
until he established his present business in 1906. His offices are
at No. 812 West Douglas avenue and his yards are located at
No. 120 North Handley street. Mr. Johnson was elected the
first alderman from his ward when Marseilles, 111., was made a
city. He is a member of the West Side Commercial League, of
Wichita. On his mother's side his family dates back to the old
line families of both England and the New England states, the
famous jurist, Salmon P. Chase, being in the same line.

Wallace W. Johnson,* retired farmer and Civil War veteran
of Derby, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in Jefferson county,
Ohio, on December 16, 1831. His parents were William and
Nancy (Pomfert) Johnson. In March, 1871, Mr. Johnson came
with his father to Sedgwick county, Kansas, where both pre-
empted 160 acres of land. The father's land was in Rockford
township, Sedgwick county, while that of Wallace W. was in
Gypsum township. The latter did not stay in Gypsum township
long, as he sold his land and moved to Rockford township, where

816 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

he lived till he moved to Derby. Mr. Johnson enlisted in the
spring of 1863 in Company I, Forty-first Ohio Infantry, and served
until the war closed. He was wounded while in action at Reseca
and New Hope Church. After the war, Mr. Johnson returned to
his Ohio home, where he remained until he came to Kansas, and
has spent his life in farming until a few years ago, but is now
living retired in Derby. Mr. Johnson has never married. He is
a member of the G. 4- R« Post at Derby, a Republican in politics
and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Charles W. Jones, proprietor of the Jones Bicycle and Sport-
ing Goods House, of "Wichita, Kan., is a native of the city, having
been born in 1880. He is the son of G. W. C. and Minnie (York)-
Jones, natives of New Zealand and England, respectively, who
came to Wichita in the early 70s. The elder Jones was for a
time prosecuting attorney of Sedgwick county. Charles W.
Jones was educated in the public schools of Wichita, and while
gaining an education acted for five years as a carrier boy for
one of the newspapers of the city. While so employed the
paper started a voting contest, offering as a prize a scholarship
in a correspondence school. Young Jones had every one of his
long line of customers campaigning for him and he easily won
by a large majority, and selected electrical engineering. Mr.
Jones' first employment was with the firm of Musselman Bros.,
then the only bicycle and sporting goods concern of any size
in Wichita. He remained with this firm for some years, leaving
it to go with the Wichita Auto Company in the repair depart-
ment, and became thoroughly skilled in all the intricate details
of any sort of motor mechanism. In the fall of 1909 he left the
automobile company and organized his present business at No.
209 North Main street. From the start he was more than suc-
cessful. The first morning he opened up and before his fixtifres
or half the stock had arrived he sold three bicycles and a lot of
supplies that made him gasp at the rosy inauguration. Mr.
Jones is an eager sportsman, a hunter, rod and fly expert, base-
ball enthusiast, bicyclist, and lover of every athletic diversion
where one can absorb pure fresh air. He is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce and an enthusiastic member of the
Masonic fraternity. He was married in 1908 to Miss Edith
Fegtly.

James M. Jones, one of the pioneers of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, is a native of North Carolina, having been born in

BIOGRAPHY 817

Alexander county, that state, on May 28, 1843. His parents
were Calvin and Miriam (Watts) Jones, both natives of the
Tar Heel state. The elder Jones was born June 7, 1811, and
his wife on May 27, 1814. The father of Calvin Jones, John
Morley Jones, came from Wales in Colonial times, he and his
father, Thomas Jones, settling near Baltimore, Md., coming to
North Carolina after the close of the War of the Revolution.
John Morley Jones' wife's maiden name was Ruth Basket.
Calvin Jones resided in his native state until after the close of
the Civil War, in 1866, when he moved to Missouri, leaving
Missouri in 1870 and settling in Crawford county, Kansas, in
which county both he and his wife died, the latter in 1873 and
the former in 1897. James M. Jones came to Kansas with his
parents, and came to Sedgwick county in 1875 and pre-empted
the 160 acres on which he is now living. To his original quarter
section he added another, and is now the owner of 320 acres.

On December 20, 1868, Mr. Jones was married to Miss Rox-
anna Russell, who was born in Missouri. Four sons have been
born to them, viz. : Joseph C, of Viola township ; M. Hall, of
Jones City, Okla. ; T. Elmer, who is now taking a seminary course
in the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Kan., and R.
Lee, who is now in the Ottawa University, Ottawa, Kan. Mr.
Jones has served as Justice of the Peace for several years, and
is now (1910) serving his third term as trustee of Viola town-
ship, having recently been re-elected for the fourth term. While
farming he devoted his time to grain and stock raising, but is
now practically retired, his son Joseph attending to the farm.
Fraternally Mr. Jones is a member of Viola Lodge, No. 518,
Independent Order of Odd Fllows, in which he has passed the
chairs and is now Past Grand of the order and a member of the
Grand Lodge. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a member of
the Baptist Church.

Oliver Winslow Jones, County Treasurer of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, and member of the Board of Education, Wichita, Kan.,
is a native of New York state, he having been born at White
Plains, Westchester county, April 10, 1862. His parents were
Oliver Jones and Miriam (Austin) Jones. The education of Mr.
Jones was obtained in what is now the borough of Brooklyn, a
part of Greater New York City, where he attended the public
schools, and at Sterling, Kan. In 1875 the family decided to move
to Kansas and located at Sterling, where Mr. Jones was engaged

818 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

in school work. In 1886 he was appointed principal of the
Hutchinson schools, where he served for five years with the
utmost satisfaction to the community. He resigned this position
to go to Mulvane, Kan., to occupy a similar position with the
schools of that city at a higher rate of compensation, and where
he remained five years, leaving Mulvane to come to Wichita in
1896. In that year M. J. Loyd appointed Mr. Jones his assistant
as County Treasurer, and for eleven years he served faithfully
and ably in this capacity, being retained in the position through
the administrations of two years with D. E. Boone and all of
Euodias Webb's administration. He was nominated on the
Republican ticket in 1908 for County Treasurer and elected, and
re-elected November, 1910. Term expires October, 1913.

He was married in 1888 to Minnie W. Bush. Four children
have been born to this union, Kenneth K., Donald F., Miriam and
Dorothy. Fraternally Mr. Jones is a thirty-second degree Mason,
a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a member of the
Chamber of Commerce and the Riverside Club.

Winfield Scott Jones, deceased, was born at North Village,
Lincoln county, Maine, on July 9, 1848, and died at his home near
Mt. Hope, Kan., on July 12, 1909, at the age of sixty-one years.
Mr. Jones was married to Mrs. Minnie Dorch on February 12,
1871, at Preston Lake, Minn. Seven children were born to this
union, three boys and four girls, six of whom are now living:
Warren S., Lucy, Alta, Edward, Iva and Lillie. Warren S. mar-
ried Miss Jennie Hart and lives in Oklahoma. They have two
children. Lucy married W. H. White and they have three chil-
dren. Alta married R. W. Peavey and they have no children.
Edward married Mrs. Edythe Dunlavy and they have no children.
Iva lives with her sister, Lucy, on the home place. Lillie married
J. F. Mighario and lives at Wellington, Kan., and has one child.
Winfield Scott Jones was a member of the G. A. R. He enlisted
in the Fifteenth Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, on Febru-
ary 22, 1864. After a residence of ten years, he, with his family,
came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, where he bought 160 acres
of land, and at the time of his death owned 240 acres two and a
half miles east of Mt. Hope. His wife died October 31, 1900.

Henry Jorgensen,* cashier of the First National Bank of Mt.
Hope, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born February 15, 1848, in
Germany, and came to the United States in May, 1870. He had

BIOGRAPHY 819

learned the trade of machinist in the old country and, locating
in New York, worked at his trade until 1875. In that year he
moved to Mercer county, Illinois, and farmed as a renter until
1878. On August 14, 1878, Mr. Jorgensen moved to Sedgwick
county, Kansas, and bought 160 acres of railroad land near Mt.
Hope. He remained on this land until 1900, and after retiring
from agriculture was the owner of about 1,100 acres of improved
land in Sedgwick county and elsewhere. He was a successful
general farmer. After retiring from farming, Mr. Jorgensen
became interested in the State Bank of Mt. Hope as a stockholder,
which bank afterwards became the First National Bank of Mt.
Hope, and in 1899 he became its cashier. The bank has a capital
of $25,000 and a surplus of $10,000. Mr. Jorgensen is one of a
family of four children, three of whom are living. Sophia Dora
is deceased ; Antonia lives in Germany. Mr. Jorgensen was con-
scripted in the military service in Germany and on examination
proved his right to a discharge, his father paying for his educa-
tion while in the military service. The family can trace its rec-
ord back three hundred years. Mr. Jorgensen was married to
Miss Mary Ball, a daughter of Peter Dall, of Germany, in New
York city, September 2, 1871. Mrs. Jorgensen is also a native of
Germany. Eight children have been born of this union, five of
whom are now living. Those living are : Henry J., born July 20,
1872, a farmer, married and father of one child ; Charles S., born
August 20, 1874, a farmer, married, with one child ; Fritz C, born
November 21, 1876, married, with one child; John F., born Decem-
ber 12, 1883, married, with one child, and Mary, now Mrs. Porter,
of Greeley township, and mother of one child. Fritz C. and John
F. are assistant cashiers in the bank with their father. Mr. Jor-
gensen was a trustee of Greeley township for three years and on
the school board ten years. He is a member of the Congregational
church and a Democrat in politics.

Worth Kautz, of "Wichita, Kan., is known to all devotees of
the automobile in the city, where he operates an extensive garage
and automobile business. Mr. Kautz is a native of the Hoosier
state, having been born at Rising Sun, Ind., on March 28, 1851.
His parents were Jacob and Mary Ann (Walker) Kautz, the
father born in Ohio. The family originally came from Switzer-
land, and his mother tracing her origin to Scotland. The senior
Kautz moved to Illinois from Indiana in 1853, and in 1859 the
family moved to Missouri, where the father remained until his

820 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

death, which occurred in Caldwell county, Missouri, in 1890. The
elder Kautz was a cooper by trade, and was the father of nine
children, seven of whom are still living. Worth Kautz was the
eighth child born to his parents, and his early education was
obtained in the public schools of Jacksonville, 111. After the
family moved to Missouri Mr. Kautz remained with his parents
for some years, but finally decided to strike out for himself, and
moved to Kansas. He located in Sedgwick county, where he
bought eighty acres of school land in Greeley township. He
afterwards homesteaded a quarter section in Oklahoma, and
after proving up his claim sold the property and took up a resi-
dence in Mount Hope, Kan., where he was engaged in the hard-
ware and implement business for three years. He then moved
to Kechi township and bought 210 acres in Sections 34 and 35,
on which he remained until 1908, when he came to Wichita and
engaged in the garage business. Mr. Kautz and his step-son are
the sole owners of the Southwestern Auto Company, with offices
at 427 North Main street. Mr. Kautz has been married twice.
His first wife was Miss Annie Little, of Mount Hope, to whom he
was married on October 3, 1881. After the death of his first
wife Mr. Kautz was again married in May, 1898, to Mrs. Mattie
Clements, of Mount Hope, Kan. Two children have been born of
this latter union. Politically, Mr. Kautz may be called an Inde-
pendent, but his affiliations are generally with the Populists. He
is a member of the Christian Church.

John W. Keene, general contractor and cabinetmaker, of
Wichita, Kan., was born in Madison county, Kentucky, on April
8, 1878. His parents were Robert and Polly (Pinkston) Keene,
natives of Kentucky, who moved to Champaign county, Illinois,
in 1894 and there engaged in farming. John W. Keene was
educated in the public schools of Champaign county and began
to learn the carpenter's trade in 1897. He worked for various
firms until 1905, when he branched out for himself and has since
conducted a prosperous business. In 1908 he moved to Wichita,
where his shop is located at No. 307 West Douglas avenue. He
makes a specialty of general contracting, cabinet and interior
work for first-class buildings. Fraternally Mr. Keene is a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Woodmen of
the World. On June 25, 1904, Mr. Keene was married to Miss
Marie L. Carroll, daughter of Daniel Carroll, of Normal, 111.
One child has been born of this union, Lawrence C. Keene.

BIOGRAPHY 821

William H. Kelchner, owner and proprietor of Kelchner 's
Meat Market, of "Wichita, Kan., is a native of Pennsylvania, hav-
ing been born at Harrisburg, the capital of the Keystone state,
on June 24, 1864. He is a son of John and Christina Kelchner,
natives of Pennsylvania, and is the eldest of a family of ten chil-
dren. Only three of the brothers came to Wichita, viz. : David L.,
J. 6. Ross and John. The elder Kelchner died in Pennsylvania in
1904 at the age of sixty-eight. William E. Kelchner was educated
in the public schools of his native city and began in the meal,
business at the age of fourteen. He was first employed in the city
market in the city of Harrisburg. He came to Wichita in 1887
and opened a market at No. 607 North Market street, and a
year later changed his location to No. 448 North Main street,
where he conducted business for seven years. He then moved
to No. 131 North Main street, and seven years thereafter to No.
406 East Douglas avenue, and here continued until June 1, 1910,
when he removed to his present spacious quarters in the Daisy
Building, Nos. 115 and 117 South Topeka avenue, where he now
conducts one of the largest and most modern plants of the kind
to be found in the United States, the fixtures and equipment
having been installed at a cost of $25,000. The market occupies
the entire first floor of the Daisy Building, the dimensions of the
room being 50 by 130 feet. Through the center runs a partition.
In the front part is the display room, and in the back room the
cooler, cutting room and refrigerator plant. The floor is tiled,
the pillars are marble, and the beams, wainscoting and all fur-
niture and cases are quarter-sawed oak. The plant is equipped
with Brecht's refrigerating machine. All the equipment is of
the latest make and design. It comprises a sixteen-ton refriger-
ator, a cold storage room 20 feet wide and 40 feet long, which is
kept at a uniform temperature of 2 degrees above freezing, a
freezer 16 feet by 16, a modern fish department, the temperature
of which is 20 degrees below freezing, and a cooler 12 feet by 12
for cheese. Carcasses of beef and all heavy pieces of meat are
transported to the cooler and cutting-rooms on an automatic
overhead track. The refrigeration is sanitary, no ice being used.
All meats are cut in the back room. The refrigerator counter is
40 feet in length, and the display case 40 feet long, 12 feet angle
and 5 feet clear, with beaded glass plate doors, and all electric
lighted. The plant is sanitary throughout and complies with
the most rigid requirements of the pure food laws. Mr. Kelchner

822 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

is a Mason, a member of the Consistory, of the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, of the Red Men, the Maccabees, the
Sons of Hermon and the Fraternal Aid. He is also a member
of the Young Men's Christian Association, the Wichita Commer-
cial Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the
Reformed Church and a member of the School Board of Wichita.
Mr. Kelchner was married on December 25, 1889, to Miss Jennie
Hinkle, daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Hinkle, formerly of New
Orleans. Mrs. Kelchner was born in Illinois.

W. C. Kemp, one of the prosperous young business men of
Wichita, Kan., is a native of Park county, Indiana. He was born
in 1883, and is a son of A. K. and S. J. Kemp, both of whom were
natives of Indiana. They settled on a farm in Kiowa county,
Kansas, in 1884, where the father also opened and conducted a
general store, and served as postmaster, and also ran a line of
stages between Kiowa and Wichita before the railroad was built.
In 1902 he helped to organize and incorporate the Citizens' State
Bank of Wichita, of which he was made vice-president, and in
1903, removed to Wichita with his family and became president of
the bank, and filled that office till his decease in 1907. His widow
now lives there with her son. Our subject acquired his early
education in the schools at Kiowa and supplemented this with two
years' study at the Friends' University at Wichita. On leaving
the University he entered the bank as assistant cashier, and in
1908 was promoted to the office of cashier, which he now fills.
This bank is reckoned among the substantial financial institutions
of Wichita, its present officers being W. S. Hadley, president;
G. E. Outland, vice-president, W. C. Kemp, cashier, and H. C. Out-
land, assistant cashier. In religious faith Mr. Kemp is affiliated
with the Friends' Church of Wichita. In 1906 he married Miss
Blanche, a daughter of Mr. C. W. Jones, of Wichita, and they
enjoy the comforts and pleasures of a happy home, with a choice
circle of friends.

Patrick Kennedy, Civil War veteran, of Valley Center, Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, was born in Ireland on December 26, 1843.
jHe is a son of Patrick W. Kennedy, who immigrated to the
United States when his son was three years old. The elder Ken-
nedy located first in New York, where he remained ten years, and
then removed to Marysville, Union county, Ohio, where he lived
until his death in 1873. He was the father of six children, three
of whom came with him to this country. Patrick Kennedy had

BIOGRAPHY 823

but a limited education, and worked as a laborer until he
enlisted in the army in 1863. He entered the service as a private
in the First New York Light Artillery, which after being
equipped for duty was sent to Washington. There it was attached
to the Army of Virginia, and took part in the Battle of the
Wilderness, where General Wadsworth fell mortally wounded.
The regiment was also in the engagements of Coal Harbor, Mine
Run, Hotchkiss Junction and Weldon railroad, and took part in
all the battles and skirmishes in the rear of Petersburg. It was
very close to the mine called "Fort Hill" when it was blown up,
in describing which Mr. Kennedy says: "I thought the earth
was sinking away from my feet. ' ' Mr. Kennedy received a severe
wound while in the service, from the effects of which he has never
fully recovered. After serving his time of three years in the
army Mr. Kennedy returned to his former home, where he
remained until 1871. During this year he located on a quarter
section of land in Grant township, Sedgwick county, Kansas,
and while here he worked as a laborer on the railroad. In 1874
he purchased 160 acres in Section 30, Grant township, where he
now resides. Mr. Kennedy is a member of the G. A. R. and
present Post Commander in Valley Center. He is also a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On April 29, 1875, Mr. Ken-
nedy was married to Miss Eliza L. Allen, of Sedgwick county.
Ten children have been born of this union, of whom eight are
living. The children are : Charles, Rosa, Edgar, David, Grace,
Willie, Jessa and Virgil. Rosa is now Mrs. Will Lemin ; Grace is
now Mrs. Clark, and has two children. Mr. Kennedy is a Repub-
lican in politics with an inclination to be Independent of late
years.

Samuel B. Kernan, who has filled a prominent place in the
affairs of Wichita and Sedgwick county, is a native of the Key-
stone state, having been born in Monongahela City, Pa., on May
26, 1851. He is the son of F. F. and Margaret J. (Pattern) Ker-
nan, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Samuel B. Ker-
nan was educated in the public schools of Monongahela City, and
after leaving school was engaged in farming in Pennsylvania
until the spring of 1883, when he came to Kansas and located in
Wichita. His first business venture was to engage in the real
estate business, but after a short time he abandoned this to
embark in the mercantile line, and continued in this line for
twenty years in the city of Wichita. At the end of this time

824 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

he again entered the real estate business, in which he has since
continued. Mr. Kernan has always taken an active interest in
the political affairs of his city and county, and in 1905 was elected
a county commissioner, and in 1907 was again renominated and
elected. During his term of office he had much to do with the
construction of the concrete bridge over the Arkansas river to
the West Side, and proved himself to be an important factor in
many other improvements for the betterment of the city of
Wichita and the county of Sedgwick. Other political offices held
by Mr. Kernan have been those of treasurer of the city of Wichita
and president of the School Board. Mr. Kernan has also taken a
keen interest in fraternal orders, and is a prominent Mason,
besides being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Kernan was married in 1874
to Miss Emma J. Warne, of Monongahela, Pa., and from this
marriage there has been issue one son, Dr. J. F. Kernan, of
Wichita.

Ellwood D. Kimball, who has achieved a prominent place in
the mortgage loan world of Wichita, Kan., is a scion of the
Granite state. He was born at Nashua, N. H., on September 29,
1859. The family is an old and historic one, tracing their ancestry,
back to the Puritan days of 1640. The parents of Mr. Kimball
were John G. and Betsy Chandler (Spalding) Kimball, both of
whom spent their entire life in New England. Young Kimball ac-
quired his early education in Nashua, where he went through the
grammar grades, the Nashua High School, after graduation from
which he went to historic Dartmouth College, from which he
received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1861 and Master of
Arts in 1884. His first occupation was that of a teacher of Latin,
in which capacity he served the Ray en (funded) High School at
Youngstown, Ohio, during the years 1882-83-84. Mr. Kimball
came to Wichita in December, 1884, and at once engaged in the
loan business as a clerk in the office of Judge W. C. Little.
During the years 1885-86 he was engaged as a clerk, but in 1887
he was admitted to a partnership, the style of the firm being
Little & Kimball. This partnership continued until 1890, when
the firm organized the Wichita Loan and Trust Company, with
Mr. Little as president and Mr. Kimball as treasurer. The com-
pany continues in business until the present time, but in 1891
Mr. Kimball withdrew and engaged in the mortgage loan busi-
ness, in which he has been successfully engaged ever since. Mr.

BIOGRAPHY 825

Kimball has been actively identified with affairs in the city and
county and is a member of the Commercial Club, the Country
Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Masonic fraternity,
including the commandery and consistory. He is also a Shriner.
Mr. Kimball is also a life member of the New England Historical-
Genealogical Society, of Boston, Mass., and the Kansas State
Historical Society. Mr. Kimball was married on September 12,
1888, to Miss Luella A. Johnson, daughter of Levi L. Johnson, of
Burton, Ohio. Mrs. Kimball is president of the Colonial Dames
of the State of Kansas.

Harvey 0. Kimel,* farmer and thoroughbred horse breeder, of
Ninnescah township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in Illi-
nois on January 22, 1867. His parents were Thomas K. and Re-
becca (Mounts) Kimel. Thomas Kimel, the father of Harvey 0.,
moved from Illinois to Kansas in 1873 and preempted 160 acres
of land in Section 8, Ninnescah township. Harvey 0. Kimel came
to Kansas with his father and remained at home on the farm until
1892. On February 17, 1892, Mr. Kimel married Miss Dora T.
Grimsley, who was born in Missouri on January 22, 1871, a daugh-
ter of James and Tinsey C. (Ross) Grimsley, who came to Sedg-
wick county from North Carolina in 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Kimel
have three sons, viz. : Chester L., born January 2, 1893 ; Herschel
R., born May 16, 1895 ; Donald T., born August 5, 1900. In the
spring of 1891, Mr. Kimel bought 320 acres of land in Section 4
and later bought 160 acres in Section 9. For a number of years
Mr. Kimel has made a specialty of Aberdeen Angus cattle, but is
now interested in the breeding of Percheron horses, Charmant,
Jr., being at the head of his stud. He also has a fine thorough-
bred two-year-old, besides several registered mares. Aside from
his interests in horses, Mr. Kimel does general farming. Fra-
ternally Mr. Kimel is a member of the Modern Woodmen of
America. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church.

O. D. Kirk, the present incumbent of the Probate Court at
"Wichita, Kan., is a native of Monticello, White county, Indiana,
and was born March 29, 1849, to Henry C. and Mary A. Kirk.
He acquired his early education at Battle Ground, Ind., and then
took up the study of law at Lafayette, where he was admitted to
the bar April 18, 1875. Mr. Kirk began the practice of his pro-
fession at Lafayette, but in 1877 removed to Wichita and opened
an office at No. 103 West Douglas street. In 1899 he was elected

826 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

judge of the City Court. At the close of his term, in 1901, he
resumed his practice and continued it till 1906. He was then
elected judge of the Probate Court for two years, and at the close
of his term, in 1908, was re-elected for a second term. In politics
Judge Kirk has always been a Democrat. On August 18, 1878, he
married Miss Mary E. Viele, of Schuylerville, N. Y. Their only
child, Viele, born in June, 1883, married Miss Edith Seamans, of
Wichita, and is now employed with the Long-Bell Lumber Com-
pany. Judge Kirk is a Mason, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows,
Grand Army of the Republic, and also belongs to the Wichita
Chamber of Commerce.

R. F. Kirkpatrick, head of the Cement Stone Manufacturing
Company, No. 505 West Douglas avenue, Wichita, Kan., is a
native of Ohio, having been born at Decatur, Ohio, on January
24, 1861. His parents were Newton and Sallie (Sutton) Kirk-
patrick, both natives of Ohio, and who were both lifelong resi-
dents of Brown county, in that state. R. F. Kirkpatrick was
reared on a farm, where he was engaged in the cultivation of
tobacco until the age of thirty-two. Much of his education was
obtained at night by private study after the day's work was
ended. In the spring of 1893 he came to Kansas and for a short
time resided at Mount Hope, in Sedgwick county, but in the fall
of the same year he removed to Johnson county, Nebraska, where
he farmed for one year. At the opening, in 1893, of the Cherokee
Strip in Oklahoma in 1894 he took a chance on the new country,
and bought a quarter section in the northeast corner of Garfield
county. He built a sod house, removed his family thereto, and
began life in a primitive fashion, improving the land until it
became one of the best farms of the locality. In the spring of
1897 the sod house was supplanted by a modern frame house and
other improvements, in keeping with the demands that labor and
energy had brought about. Mr. Kirkpatrick still owns this farm.
December 19, 1903, Mr. Kirkpatrick came to Wichita and began
his concrete plant in the spring of 1904, manufacturing the first
cement stone on March 6, 1904, and has since manufactured
everything needed as to size or style in the cement line for
Wichita and the nearby towns. After getting the plant in opera-
tion he had a working capital of only $40. The business of the
first year amounted to $12,000, and it has continued to progress
until it has now reached $100,000 annually. Mr. Kirkpatrick is
a member of the Central Christian Church. He was married in

BIOGEAPHY 827

1882 to Miss Mary J. McEfresh, of Dayton, Ohio. Of this union
two children have been born, Myrel, wife of William Williams, of
Saratoga, Okla., and Bessie P. Kirkpatrick, of Wichita, who was
married November 6, 1910, to Leroy Solander, of Wichita.

Samuel Kockel, Civil War veteran, of Mount Hope, Sedgwick
county, Kan., was born July 14, 1843, in Stark county, Ohio. His
father was Isaac Kockel, a native of Pennsylvania. The ancestry
on both sides of the family is traced to Holland. A great-great-
grandfather of Mr. Kockel fought in the Revolutionary War and
was at the battle of Brandywine. The father of Mr. Kockel
moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio in an early day and first
located in Massillon. After a residence there of ten years he
moved to Defiance county, Ohio, and lived there up to the time
of his death in 1884, his wife having died in 1847. Samuel Kockel
obtained a limited education in the public schools of Ohio, and
began his career as a farm laborer in Ohio, which pursuit he
followed until 1860. In that year he moved from Defiance county
to Allen county, Indiana, and remained there one year, when he
returned to Defiance county, Ohio. In the spring of 1861 Mr.
Kockel enlisted in Company F, Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, and was sent to Camp Dennison, where the regiment
remained two months, thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the regi-
ment took a steamer for Paducah, Ky., where it was equipped
for service. The regiment was then ordered to Pittsburg Land-
ing, and was one of the advance regiments that arrived on that
famous battlefield, where it fought for two days and nights with-
out intermission, and followed up the rebel retreat clear to
Corinth, fighting every inch of the way. From Corinth the regi-
ment was sent to Memphis, Tenn. ; thence to Holly Springs, Miss. ;
thence up the Yazoo river to Arkansas Post ; thence up the Mis-
sissippi river to Miliken's Bend; thence back to Vicksburg, Miss.;
fought in the engagements of Magnolia Hills, Champion Hills and
Black River Bridge, and back to Vicksburg. After some expedi-
tions from Vicksburg the regiment was ordered to New Orleans
and was in the fight on Red river at Mansfield, La. Mr. Kockel
was taken prisoner there and was sent to Fort Tyler, Tex., and
was exchanged in 1865. He went back to New Orleans and
received a thirty days' furlough to return home. After the expi-
ration of his furlough he reported at New Orleans and was sent to
Galveston, Tex. ; from there to Pensacola, Fla. ; then to Houston,
Tex.; then to Galveston, from which point the regiment was

828 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

sent to Columbus, Ohio, and was discharged. In the battle of
Shiloh Mr. Kockel received two severe wounds. He was a brave
soldier and remained in the service until the close of the war.
After his discharge he returned to Defiance county, Ohio, and on
March 29, 1868, was married to Miss Eliza Hanna, of that county.
Of this union two children were born, both of whom are now
deceased. After his marriage Mr. Kockel removed to Ford
county, Illinois, where he farmed two years and then moved back
to Ohio and farmed there for eight years. He then sold his prop-
erty and in 1878 moved to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and bought
160 acres of railroad land, which he has occupied ever since and
brought to a high degree of cultivation. Mr. Kockel has been a
successful farmer. In 1895 he removed to Mount Hope, where he
now lives in his own beautiful residence.

Frederick Otis Ladd, of Cheney, Kan., manager of one of the
largest grain elevators in Sedgwick county, was born February
4, 1850, in Dearborn, Mich. His parents were Daniel and Mar-
garet (James) Ladd. His father was a native of Vermont, while
on the maternal side the ancestry is traced back to England.
The elder Ladd went to Canada West, now the province of
Ontario, and then moved to Dearborn, Wayne county, Mich.,
where he followed his trade of a millwright. He later removed
to Pratt county, Kansas, where he now resides. Frederick 0.
Ladd obtained a common school education, and then, following
in the footsteps of his father, learned the millwright's trade
under John Webster, of Detroit, Mich. In 1873 he went to Min-
neapolis, where he worked on the large flour mills of that city
for five years. He then returned to Kansas and located in
Wichita, where he was engaged in mill building for some time.
In 1885 he went to Lyons, Rice county, Kan., where he operated
a mill for five years for Corning & Done. He left Lyons in 1890
and went to Pratt county, Kansas, where he operated and man-
aged a mill for John McGruder for four years, and then settled
on a farm owned by him, on which he worked for one year. He
then came to Cheney and became manager of the Cheney Grain
and Elevator Company, which was organized in 1900 and built
by Mr. Ladd. This he has managed ever since. The concern
does an extensive business and is one of the largest in Sedgwick
county. Fraternally Mr. Ladd is a Mason, having for twenty-one
years been a member of Dearborn Lodge, No. 172, of Dearborn,
Mich. Politically he is a Republican. Mr. Ladd was married on

BIOGRAPHY 829

March 11, 1893, to Miss Etta McGruber, daughter of John
McGruber, of Cairo, Kan. His wife is a native of Missouri. One
son, Fred D., has been born of this union and is now fifteen years
old. The father of Mrs. Ladd is proprietor of the flour mills at
Cairo, Pratt county, Kan.

John Laurie,* farmer and stock raiser, of Salem township,
Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in Scotland, February 4, 1841.
His parents were William and Mary (Martin) Laurie, both natives
of Scotland, where they spent their entire lives. John Laurie re-
mained in Scotland until March 25, 1870, when he came to the
United States. He first settled in Knox county, Illinois, where
he remained only a short time, and in June of the same year went
to Abilene, Kan., where he bought a pony and rode to Sedgwick
county, and preempted 160 acres of land in Wichita township.
He remained on this land until 1878, when he went south of Clear-
water, in Sumner county, and bought a quarter-section of grass
land for his stock, where he lived seven years. He then returned
to his farm in Wichita township, where he lived until 1888, when
he sold his original claim and bought 320 acres in Section 26,
Salem township, where he still lives. On June 22, 1866, Mr.
Laurie married Miss Isabella McCracken, who was born in Scot-
land in 1838. Of this union four children have been born, viz. :
William, of Douglas county, Missouri ; Robert, who died in Scot-
land ; Mrs. Mary Mason, in Washington, and Thomas M., who lives
on the home place. Mrs. Laurie died February 17, 1906. Mr.
Laurie spent many years in the stock business and of late years
feeds about one carload of cattle and two carloads of hogs. Be-
sides this, he does diversified farming. For a number of years he
raised Shorthorn cattle and is now raising pure Berkshire hogs.
Mr. Laurie has never aspired to office. He was elected justice of
the peace, but declined to serve. He has been on the school board
for several years, and was treasurer of the Farmer's Alliance for
some years. He is a member of the Presbyterian church.

Ezra D. Leasure, general manager of the Rock Island Lumber
& Coal Company, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Pennsylvania,
where he was born on January 3, 1857. His parents were Daniel
and Rebecca (Jamison) Leasure, natives of Westmoreland
county, Pennsylvania, and Scotland, respectively. Abram Leas-
ure, Ezra D.'s grandfather, was a native of France, and came
from Switzerland to Pennsylvania nearly a century ago. Ezra
D. Leasure was educated in the public schools of Iowa, to which

830 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

state he had removed with his parents in early childhood, the
family locating at Des Moines. Mr. Leasure grew to manhood
in Jefferson, Green county, Iowa, where he remained for eighteen
years. In 1877 he went to the Black Hills and soon after to San
Francisco, where he was employed by the Wells-Fargo Express
Company, returning to his home in Iowa two years later. In
1879 Mr. Leasure moved to Kansas and was engaged for two
years with S. A. Brown & Co., at Fredonia, in the lumber busi-
ness, in the capacity of treasurer and auditor. He was next
employed by G. B. Shaw & Co., a Chicago firm operating in
Kansas City, Mo., as traveling auditor. Later he became local
manager for this firm in offices at Burlington, Coffeyville, Chanute
and Elk City, Kan. October 23, 1886, Mr. Leasure became man-
ager of the Rock Island Lumber & Coal Company, and has been
continuously in the employ of that company since, either as local
manager or traveling auditor. In May, 1909, he came to the
"Wichita office as general manager of the business in Kansas and
Oklahoma. The lumber business was established in Wichita in
April, 1886, succeeding John B. Carey. Mr. Leasure is a member
of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows. He was married in 1883 to Miss Orlena M. Campbell, of
Fredonia, Kansas. They have one son, Charles A. Leasure, trav-
eling auditor for the Rock Island Lumber & Coal Company.

Lea A. Garrett, local manager of the Rock Island Lumber &
Coal Company, is a native of Missouri, where he was born Feb-
ruary 3, 1872. He moved to Wichita in the spring of 1903, began
as yard man with the company, later bookkeeper and superin-
tendent of yards, and local manager since June, 1909.

Fred J. Cossitt, cashier of the Rock Island Lumber & Coal
Company, was originally in the employ of Mr. Carey as early as
1882, and is the only one of Mr. Carey's employes to continue
with the new company.

William T. Logsdon, M. D., of No. 116 East Douglas avenue,
Wichita, Kan., is a native of Indiana, having been born at Eureka,
that state, on August 9, 1858. His parents were Samuel and
Cyrene (Osborn) Logsdon, natives of Kentucky and Indiana,
respectively. The father was a land owner and merchant and
died in 1877, at the age of fifty-five. His widow died in 1907
at the age of eighty-six. The doctor's early education was
acquired at the public and high schools of his native town, after
leaving which he obtained employment as a drug clerk and was

BIOGRAPHY 831

engaged in mercantile pursuits for the next ten years, when he
decided upon a professional career and took up the study of
medicine. He received his medical education at the University
of Louisville, Ky., from which he was graduated in the class of
1889. Later on he took a four years' course at the Chicago
Homeopathic College, from which he graduated in the class of
1902. His medical practice began at Eureka, Ind., continuing
for thirteen years and up to the time that he began his addi-
tional course of training at Chicago. In 1902 the doctor decided
to move to Wichita, but after a stay of two and a half months
he returned to Indiana and located for a time at Rockport, where
he built up a large practice. The fascination of the Southwest
and its possibilities was ever with him, however, and in 1905 he
again became a resident of Wichita and a partner of Dr. 0. J.
Taylor, under the firm name of Taylor & Logsdon, which part-
nership continued until 1908, when each established separate
offices. Dr. Logsdon is a member of the Kansas State Medical
Society, the American Medical Association and the Sedgwick
County Medical Society. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree
Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is also a
member of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1879 the
doctor was married to Miss Ora E. Ireland, daughter of Dr. J. M.
Ireland, of Francisco, Ind. Of this union three children have
been born, viz.: Ora, wife of W. J. Weiss, of Wichita; Dr.
Ronald O., practicing physician at Bentley, Kan., and Glenn T.
Logsdon.

Nathaniel W. Longenecker, veterinary surgeon, of Wichita,
Kan., was born in Lancaster, Pa., in 1850. His parents were
Emerald and Martha (Hershey) Longenecker, natives of Penn-
sylvania, and on the maternal side the ancestry of the family can
be traced back for 250 years, some of the ancestors holding
claims to land which were signed by William Penn. The Longe-
neckers were of Swiss origin, and the ancestors on that side are
traced back for several centuries. Emerald Longenecker, father
of Nathaniel W., moved to Kansas in 1873. Nathaniel W. Longe-
necker is also numbered among the pioneers of the state, to which
he moved in 1868, locating first in Wilson county, when the
county seat contained but two houses. In 1873 Mr. Longenecker
made a trip to Texas, and in November of the same he returned
to Kansas, then back to Pennsylvania, where he remained till
1887, when he returned, locating in Wichita, where he has since

832 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

resided, taking up the profession of a veterinarian and running
large stables and a feed barn in connection. His present building
at No. 500 West Douglas avenue was remodeled and enlarged to
a brick structure in 1904. Mr. Longenecker has followed his
chosen profession since 1869.

Henry H. Loudenslager, farmer, of Maize, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, is a native of the Keystone state, having been born in
Juniata county, Pennsylvania, on November 7, 1841. His parents
were Samuel S. and Hetty (Rowe) Loudenslager, the ancestry
on the paternal side being traced to Switzerland and on the
maternal to Germany. Mr. Loudenslager, with a family of three
children, came from Pennsylvania in 1871 and located on Section
18, Park township, Sedgwick county, where he homesteaded 160
acres of land. He still lives on the original homestead, but has
added to it other land in Section 19, so that he now owns 230
acres of as valuable land as is found in Sedgwick county. Since
he has been a resident of the township Mr. Loudenslager has
held several minor offices. For a long time he has been a mem-
ber of the school board, has always favored good schools and has
done all in his power to promote them. He was the founder
and builder of the Maize Academy, and Was second to none to
furnishing the capital to build it. Mr. Loudenslager was mar-
ried January 7, 1864, in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, to Miss
Susan B. Smith, a daughter of Jacob and Catherine Smith. Of
this union seven children have been born, all of whom are living.
They are : Emma B., Adda M., Cora E., Hetty C, Cline S., Louis
H. and Murray O. Mr. Loudenslager is a member of the Knights
of Pythias, the Fraternal Aid Society and the A. H. T. A. He is
a member of the Lutheran Evangelical Church, and in politics a
strong Republican and active in the party. He became a mem-
ber of the Pennsylvania militia in 1862 and took part in the Civil
War, his regiment being commanded by Colonel Lee. The regi-
ment was attached to the Army of the Potomac and was at
Antietam. After that battle it did patrol duty for one year,
when Mr. Loudenslager was discharged. He then re-enlisted for
three months, was at the battle of Gettysburg, and after that the
regiment did patrol and guard duty up to the time of its dis-
charge at Reading, Pa., in 1863. Mr. H. H. Loudenslager also
founded and located the town of Maize in the year of 1886.

Charles A. Magill, secretary and treasurer of the Johnson &
Larimer Drygoods Company, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Illi-

BIOGRAPHY 833

nois, having been born at Chicago on December 29, 1861. His
parents were Charles and Esther (Chalker) Magill, natives of
the Bermuda Islands. The elder Magill was a sea captain, who
located at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1856, and in Chicago soon afterward.
Both he and his wife are now dead. The education of Charles A.
Magill was obtained in the public schools of Chicago. He came
to Wichita in 1878, at the age of sixteen, and clerked for John
Dunscomb until the latter went out of business, and then for
A. Hess, in the wholesale and retail grocery business, until 1882,
when he went to Kingman, Kan., and entered into business for
himself. At Kingman he started in the mercantile business under
the firm name of Magill & Smyth, but Mr. Magill later purchased
the interest of his partner and the business is now conducted
under the name of the C. A. Magill Mercantile Company. "While
still conducting this business Mr. Magill has been secretary and
treasurer of the Johnson & Larimer Drygoods House, the largest
in the Southwest, and which is described in the historical chap-
ters of this work. Mr. Magill has been associated with this
house in the capacity of secretary and treasurer since January 1,
1902. He was one of the original partners to purchase the John-
son interests. The present officers of the company are as follows :
John L. Powell, president; W. E. Jett, vice-president; C. A.
Magill, secretary and treasurer. Mr. Magill is a member of all
the Masonic bodies and is a thirty-second degree Mason. He is
also a member of the Commercial and Country Clubs, a director
of the Young Men's Christian Association, and junior warden of
St. John's Episcopal Church. Mr. Magill is a firm believer in
the future of a Greater Wichita. He was married in the Ber-
muda Islands on January 25, 1888, to Miss Evangeline Ward, of
Hamilton, Bermuda. Of this union there has been issue four
children, viz. : Edmund C, R. Ward, Gladys E. and Mary Esther
Magill. He has just finished a beautiful home of ten rooms,
colonial style, of stucco material, located at 1208 North Emporia.
Dr. Francis Milton Mahin, of Cheney, Kan., is a practitioner
of the regular school. He was born August 4, 1869, in White
county, Indiana. His remote ancestors on the maternal side are
traced to Germany and on the paternal side to Scotland. His
parents emigrated from Indiana to Elk county, Kansas, in 1880,
and resided there twelve years, when the father went to Arkansas
City, Kan., and resided until 1908, and from there to Chicago, 111.,
where he now lives and is engaged in the commission business.

834 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The early education of Dr. Mahin was acquired in the schools of
Elk county and at the Baker University, at Baldwin, Kan. He
graduated in the State Normal School at Emporia in the class of
1898, and while there represented the State Normal School in the
Interstate Oratorical contest. He then entered the University
of Louisville, Ky., from which he was graduated in the class of
1904, with the degree of M. D. After the doctor acquired his
education he began practice in Baldwin, Kan., where he remained
one year ; then in Arkansas City one year, and came to Cheney in
1906. Dr. Mahin is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church
of Cheney, a member of the board of trustees, and the choral
leader of the Sunday School. He is a Republican in politics but
not a hide-bound one, as if he thinks there are better men' nomi-
nated on the opposing tickets he will vote for them. Dr. Mahin
was married on June 13, 1905, to Miss Margaret Tangeman,
daughter of William and Margaret Tangeman, both natives of
Germany. Mrs. Mahin is a cultured and literary lady. Her
education was acquired in the public schools of Newton county,
Kansas, and at the State Normal School at Emporia. Dr. and
Mrs. Mahin have two children — Margaret and Jane.

The doctor is specially fitted to treat chronic diseases, having
all the latest equipment, such as is found in the larger cities.
He keeps his reading up to date through his large library and
the leading scientific and medical journals of the day. He now
controls a large general practice.

Fraternally the doctor is a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is
the medical examiner for the following life insurance companies :
Union Central, Hartford Life, Bankers' Life of Iowa, Mutual of
New York and the Modern Woodmen.

D. M. Main, of Cheney, Kan., was born November 20, 1850, in
Calhoun county, Mich. His parents were Joseph A. and Emma C.
Main, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of New
York. On the paternal side Mr. Main traces his ancestry to
Scotland. The father of Mr. Main removed from Adrian to Cal-
houn county, Michigan, and died there at the age of ninety-two.
D. M. Main was one of a family of eight children. His early edu-
cation was obtained in the public schools of Michigan and in the
high school at Battle Creek. In his early career he worked as a
laborer and after accumulating $1,000 he concluded to try his
fortune in the West. In 1879 he came to Kansas and located at

BIOGRAPHY 835

Mulvane, where he engaged in the hardware business, and with
David Badger formed a partnership under the firm name of
Badger & Main, which lasted for three years. In 1883 Mr. Main
removed to Cheney and engaged in the hardware business, which
he conducted for twenty years. The business afterwards became
Main & Northcutt, later being changed to Main & Crossley. Mr.
Main retired from the business eventually and took up farming
in a general way, living on his farm, a short distance from
Cheney. He now owns 290 acres of valuable real estate, which
he rents and derives a handsome revenue from. Mr. Main was
married on August 22, 1882, to Miss Eva McCart, of Mulvane, a
daughter of Robert McCart. Mrs. Main traces her ancestry on
the maternal side to one of the descendants of the Mayflower.
Mrs. Main is a lady of culture and refinement, having been
educated in the State University of Fayetteville, Arkansas, where
she graduated in the class of 1875. For several years previous
to her marriage she was a successful teacher. In politics Mr.
Main is independent. Fraternally he is a member of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of
America.

A. S. Marble, of Cheney, Kan., a veteran of the Civil War, is
a native of the Empire state, having been born in Steuben county,
New York, on January 25, 1842. His parents were -Sidney and
Phobe (Bullock) Marble. Sidney Marble was one of three
brothers who came to the United States from Scotland at an
early day. He left New York in 1844 and located in Michigan,
where he died in 1861, his wife surviving him until 1898. The
early education of A. S. Marble was obtained in the public
schools of Michigan, which he left at the age of nineteen, and
went to Champaign county, Illinois, where he was engaged in
teaching school. He then enlisted in the Tenth Illinois Cavalry,
Company I, and was sent with his regiment to Camp Butler and
Quincy, 111. From there the regiment was sent to St. Louis, Mo.y
and thence to the Army of the Southwest. Mr. Marble partici-
pated in the following engagements : The battle of Pea Ridge,.
Little Rock and Perry Grove. Under his enlistment he served
three years and in 1864 he re-enlisted and was commissioned sec-
ond lieutenant of Company I, Tenth Illinois Cavalry, the same
regiment he was in before. During his first term of service he
enlisted as a private and rose to the rank of corporal, then sear-
geant and then orderly sergeant. During Mr. Marble's second

836 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

term of service his regiment performed scouting duty. It was at
Little Rock, Ark., from there it was sent to Louisville, Ky., thence
to Nashville, Tenn., then back to northern Tennessee, then to New
Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., then back to New Orleans again
and then up the Red river to San Antonio, Tex. Mr. Marble was
mustered out of the service January 6, 1866, and went back to
Michigan. He was married in 1864 to Miss Mary E. Duncan, of
Fawn River, Mich. Of this union two children were born,
Thomas S. being the only one living. Mrs. Marble died July 4,
1869, and in 1885 Mr. Marble was again married to Miss Alice J.
Gott, daughter of John R. Gott, of Farlinville, Kan. One daugh-
ter has been born of this union, who is now the wife of Nathan B.
Hern of Cheney. After his marriage to his first wife Mr. Marble
lived in Linn county, Kansas, where he was in the mercantile
business for eight years; he then removed to Wyandotte, Kan.,
for four years and in 1885 moved to Cheney. He there for two
years engaged in the lumber business for the Arkansas Lumber
Company, who sold out to W. M. Pond & Co., with whom Mr,
Marble remained twelve years, and has since that time been
practically retired. He has built himself a handsome residence
in Cheney, where he now resides, and devotes most of his time
to the interest of lodge work. Mr. Marble is a member of Mor-
ton Lodge, No. 258, A. F. & A. M., of the Eastern Star, the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Daughters of Rebecca.
Of the latter his wife is also a member. Politically Mr. Marble
is a Republican.

Fred W. Martin, manager of the Martin Metal Manufacturing
Company, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Kansas, in which state
he was born on October 19, 1874. His parents were W. J. and
C. C. (Martin) Martin. His education was acquired in Leon
High School and he came to Wichita in 1899. When the Hocka-
day Hardware Company was organized in Wichita eleven years
ago Mr. Martin was the assistant manager and made good.
When the Hockaday Company sold out to the Morton-Simmons
Hardware Company Mr. Martin went along as an indispensable
factor in the upbuilding of the new organization. Mr. Martin
was secretary of that concern for one and a half years, and then
resigned to become treasurer and manager of his present con-
cern, which he was a prime factor in organizing. The Martin
Metal Manufacturing Company has a capital of $75,000, and in
the first year of business outgrew its big plant at 130 North

BIOGRAPHY 837

Mosley avenue, and in the spring of 1909 began the erection of
its immense factory and warehouse at Nos. 300 to 310 Mosley
avenue, which is 140 by 160 feet and two stories and basement.
The company is organized as follows : Ed. Hockaday, King-
fisher, Okla., president ; E. T. Battin, vice-president ; I. N. Hocka-
day, secretary; Fred W. Martin, treasurer and manager. The
company employs at all times at least thirty men, with three
travelers on the road. It converts from raw material into fin-
ished products from 250 to 300 of metal of various shapes per
month. Its principal lines are roofing of all sorts, galvanized
tanks, corrugated culverts, metal roofing and siding. Mr. Martin
is a member of the Wichita Commercial Club and Chamber of
Commerce, Masonic Arch Consistory and Shriners. Mr. Martin
was married in 1894 to Miss Irene May Sullivan, of Salina, Kan.
Three children were born to them : Lillian May, Hazel Carroll and
Fred W, Jr.

Ola Martinson, of Wichita, Kan., is one of those American
citizens of Scandianavian birth whose labors have done so much
for the upbuilding and development of the great West. Mr.
Martinson was born September 20, 1844, in Gustav Adolph's
parish, Kristianstad, Sweden, being a son of Hokan Martin
Hakanson and Kjirsti Olson. He came to America in 1866 and
for a short time lived in Chicago, 111., where he obtained a busi-
ness education. While in Chicago he obtained work in the estab-
lishment of S. B. Chase & Co. In June, 1869, Mr. Martinson
moved to Emporia, Kan., and the following year came to Wichita,
where he embarked in the bakery and confectionery business,
which business he conducted for three years. In 1871 he pre-
empted a government claim of 160 acres in section 29 of Delano
township, Sedgwick county, and after living as a bachelor on
the same for three years was married April 4, 1876, to Miss
Sarah Kroffloch, daughter of John Kroffloch. Three children
were born of this union : Ola E., William C. and Charles G.
Mr. Martinson remained on his claim for seven years after his
marriage, when he and his family moved to Wichita. His farm,
to which he moved then was contiguous to the city, being only
one mile from Main and Douglas streets. For the past six years
Mr. Martinson has been actively engaged in the real estate busi-
ness, operating for himself and for others on a commission basis.
He has recently laid out a beautiful subdivision in West Wichita
in valuable town lots, and is rapidly disposing of the same. Mr.

838 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Martinson is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America,
the Fraternal Aid Society and the West Wichita League. He
is a public-spirited citizen, an independent in politics and was
brought up in the Lutheran faith.

William E. Matteson, assistant cashier of the Farmers' Bank,
Mt. Hope, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born September 28,
1869, in Germany, of which his parents were both natives. His
parents came to the United States in 1872 and located at Moline,
111., where the father farmed for eight years. In 1880 the family
removed from Illinois to Sedgwick county, Kansas, where the
father bought an eighty-acre tract, which he farmed up to the
time of his death, which occurred on December 5, 1904. His
widow is now living with her son, William E. At the time of
the father's death he was the owner of 240 acres of improved
land in Sedgwick county. William E. Matteson is one of a
family of seven children, of whom six are now living. Their
names are : John P., deceased ; William E. ; Tenna, now Mrs.
D. C. Howe; Emma, now Mrs. Elmer Howe; George, living in
Holy, Colo. ; Sophia, at home, and Henry, also at home. During
the life of the father he was a Democrat. The early education
of William E. Matteson was acquired in the common schools of
Kansas (fall 1890 and 1891) . After leaving school he took a course
in the Southwestern Business College, of Wichita, Kan., after
which he attended the opening of the Cherokee Strip and resided
there from September 16, 1893, until June, 1898, when he proved
up, after which he came back to Mt. Hope, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, and farmed until in 1899 he went with the McCormick
Harvesting Machine Company as traveling salesman and after-
wards became connected with the Champion Harvester Com-
pany. He afterwards returned to the old home place in Sedg-
wick county and looked after the interests of his folks. In
1909 he sold all of his personal effects in the farm and organized
the Farmers' State Bank, of Mt. Hope, Kan., with a capital of
$12,000, and was afterwards appointed its assistant cashier, which
position he now holds. Mr. Matteson is a bachelor. He is a
member of the Masonic Order, Mt. Hope Lodge, No. 238, of Mt.
Hope, and its present secretary, and of Wichita Consistory No. 2.
Politically he is a Democrat and takes an active part in the
affairs of his party. He is now the county committeeman of
Greeley township. He was turnkey at the jail for three years

BIOGBAPHY 839

under Cogswell's official time, and has been a delegate often in
county and state conventions.

Le Roy Matson, president of the Bank of Kechi, Sedgwick
county, Kansas, was born August 14, 1859, in Princeton, 111. He
is a son of Enos and Helen (Westbroke) Matson, his father being
a native of Ohio and his mother of Pennsylvania. Mr. Matson
received a limited education in the public schools of Illinois, and
lived with his father, who was a prominent stock dealer in Illi-
nois, until he was twenty-one. After leaving the home, he
worked on a farm as renter up to the time he left his native state
to finally make Kansas his home. He came to Kansas in 1896 and
bought land in Payne township, then in Section 7. After a time
spent in Wichita, he concluded to make Kansas his permanent
home and went back to Illinois, where he married Miss Etta
Schroeder, of Bureau county. Three children have been born of
this union, viz. : Marie H., Enos and Paul. Fraternally Mr. Mat-
son is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is
president and director of the Bank of Kechi. For ten years he
has been a member of the school board of his township and is
greatly interested in good schools. Mr. Matson is the owner of
640 acres of choice farm land in Payne township, Sedgwick
county, Kansas. He was elected president of the Henderson Oil
and Gas Company, but the market price of petroleum being so
low it was thought best to suspend operations until it advanced
in price. Mr. Matson for a long time was successful in raising
hogs and cattle on the farm, but conceived the idea of breeding
fast horses and is devoting much of his time to this business, find-
ing it profitable. He commenced breeding from a single mare,
which produced a colt afterwards known as Rushville, which sold
for $1,000. Another colt of his breeding he sold for $500, and
had offers of $1,000 for Sercher M. Some of the horses Mr. Mat-
son has bred have made records of 2 :20y± and 2 :25. Sercher Boy,
which he disposed of to George Pulis, of Wichita, Kan., made the
time of 2:171/4. Previous to his marriage to Miss Schroeder, Mr.
Matson was married to her sister, who died January 30, 1896.
To this union one child was born, Harry L.

Charles McCallum, president and manager of the Wichita
Electric Construction Company, No. 119 North Market street,
Wichita, Kan., is a native of Kansas, having been born in Cloud
county in 1878. His parents were G. L. and Mary E. (McMickel)
McCallum. The education of Mr. McCallum was obtained in the

840 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

public schools of Kansas City, after which he was employed in the
in the electrical business, Kansas City. It was not until 1905
that he came to Wichita, and the same year he organized the
Wichita Electric Construction Company, of which he has been
president and manager since May, 1909. The business of the
concern is electrical engineering, and it operates one of the
largest plants of its kind in Wichita. Fraternally Mr. McCallum
is a member of the Masonic Order and of the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Chamber
of Commerce and of the Christian Church. He was married in
1906 to Miss Anna Morris, daughter of Clark Morris, of
Sheldon, Mo.

Charles C. McCollister, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Kansas,
having been born in the city of Wichita on July 20, 1879. His
parents were Madison M. and Helen (Lester) McCollister, of
Wichita. Mr. McCollister was educated in the public schools of
Wichita and began his business life in the restaurant trade. He
then took up the undertaking business, and enlisted in the Second
Kansas Volunteer Infantry, Battery F, serving for three years
and receiving his discharge February 19, 1903. After this Mr.
McCollister entered the employ of the Wells-Fargo Express Com-
pany, leaving this company to go with the Domestic Laundry,
and for the past seven years he has been with the Peerless Laun-
dry. He is also interested in the sale of electric pianos. Mr.
McCollister was married on March 5, 1903, to Miss Neva Maude
Raymor, daughter of John Raymor, of Junction City, Kan. Of
this union two children have been born, Raymond C. and Helen
M. McCollister.

Madison M. McCollister, Coroner of Sedgwick county, Kansas,
and a resident of Wichita, is now (1910) serving his twelfth year
as Coroner. He was first elected in 1891, and served two years,
again elected in 1899 and then served five years successively,
again elected in 1903 and again in 1909. During the time he has
been in office Mr. McCollister has empaneled over 200 juries. He
was a deputy sheriff under Judge Reed. Mr. McCollister was
born in Jamestown, Ohio, on October 27, 1846. His parents were
Rev. John and Mary (Shook) McCollister, natives of Ohio and
Kentucky, respectively. The parents spent their early married
life in Ohio and Iowa, and then moved to Wichita, where the
father was killed by an accident at the age of seventy-eight. His
widow survived for six years and died at about the same age.

BIOGRAPHY 841

Mr. McCollister was educated at the public schools of his native
town and in Iowa. In 1873 he went to the range, and four years
later moved to "Wichita, locating on a farm in Waco township.
Seven years later he received an injury which laid him up. In
1861 Mr. McCollister enlisted in Company A, Eighth Ohio Regi-
ment, for three months' service. He re-enlisted with his father
in the following June in Company K, Ninety-fourth Ohio Regi-
ment, and served in the battles of Perryville and Stone River.
He was injured at States Ferry, having his collarbone broken,
and was taken prisoner by Morgan's Cavalry. This injury
resulted in complications from which he has never recovered.
The father was wounded at the battle of Stone River, the injury
resulting in permanent deafness, which brought about his fatal
accident. Mr. McCollister is a member of Garfield Post, G. A. R.,
No. 25. He was married in 1877 to Miss Helen Leiter, a daughter
of Andy and Sarah Leiter. Of this union the following children
have been born, viz. : Charles C, Grace M., Mary M., Nellie M.,
Eveline L., John A., Georgia M., Ralph W. and Sarah, the latter
being deceased.

Fred G. McCune, of Wichita, did not begin his business life
as an architect, but it must have been foreordained that he
should become one. He is one of the high art architects of the
city, whose tastes, training and temperament peculiarly fit him
for his profession. Mr. McCune was born at Corydon, Wayne
county, Iowa, his parents being W. E. and Mary Jane (Kirk)
McCune. His early education was obtained in Corydon, Iowa,
and he later graduated from Architecture College. After leav-
ing school he was engaged in carpenter and steel construction
work. Twenty-six years ago, in 1884, he came to Wichita, and
for several years was employed in an executive capacity with the
Rock Island and Santa Fe railroads, in the department of main-
tenance and construction. Nine years later, in 1893, he took up
his permanent residence in the city, having left the employ of
corporations and entered the field of contracting and architecture
on his own account. It was then a field of meager pickings, most
of the buildings that men were putting up in those days being
constructed with a jack knife, a hammer and a handsaw. Archi-
tecture was then exceedingly primitive. But Mr. McCune stuck
to it, and today some of the largest jobs in the city of Wichita
and beyond its gates have been planned and the work of con-
struction carried to successful culmination by him. Aside from

842 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

architecture Mr. McCune's only hobby may be said to be fine
horses, which he loves and usually owns. He is a member of the
Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias among the fraternal
orders, and is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Mr.
McCune was married in 1893 to Miss May Walter, of Kingman,
Kan. From this union six children have been born, viz. : Nellie,
Guy, Howard, James, Fred, Jr., and Dorothy May.

He has under construction the Grow Street School. He built
the College of Music, also dormitory for girls for same building,
Whitlock Block, South Emporia ; the Ratcliffe Block, at Cunning-
ham, Kan. ; Thomas Kirse Block, Medford, Okla. ; furnished plans
for schoolhouses at Spivey, Kan. ; Sawyer, Kan. ; Hazelton, Kan.,
and Mays, Kan., and residences innumerable. He built the fine
$25,000 residence of W. F. Kuhn, on University avenue, one of
the finest in the state. He also built the Bolte Block, on South
Lawrence, also the apartment house of A. W. Stoner, on Ninth
and Market streets.

George F. McCurley, contractor and builder, of Wichita, Kan.,
is a native of Missouri, having been born in Benton county, that
state, in 1872. His parents were Thomas J. and Priscilla L.
(Boyett) McCurley, natives of Tennessee, where they lived until
the time of the Civil War, when they moved to Missouri and there
spent the remainder of their days. Young McCurley was edu-
cated in the public schools of Missouri, and after leaving school
learned the trade of a carpenter. At the age of twenty-two he
moved to Springfield, Mo., where for the next five years he was
employed on contract work, building railroad bridges, depots, etc.
He next took up the building of elevators with P. H. Pelky, at
Winfield, Kan., and continued at this for the next five years in
Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas. In January, 1904, Mr.
McCurley came to Wichita, continuing in the employment of Mr.
Pelky until February, 1907, when he branched out in business
for himself in the contracting and building line. Since that time
he has erected several fine churches and schoolhouses, besides
doing a large quantity of general work. August 1, 1909, Mr.
McCurley took charge of the Peerless Construction Company
offices, located at No. 509 Winne Building, East Douglas avenue,
the officers of which are: G. F. McCurley, president and man-
ager, and Charles H. Reed, secretary and treasurer. Mr. McCur-
ley is a firm believer in a greater Wichita. In fraternal orders
he is a Past Grand of Wichita Lodge, No. 93, Independent Order

BIOGRAPHY 843

of Odd Fellows, a member of the Rebekahs, etc. He was married
in November, 1904, to Miss Myrtle McBride, of Oklahoma, and is
the father of two children, Alva Ray and Ruth Helen.

Archibald E. McVicker, one of the well-known druggists of
Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Dominion of Canada, having
been born in Carleton county, Province of Ontario, on September

15, 1867. His parents were Archibald E. and Caroline (Sullivan)
McVicker, natives of Carleton county, Ontario, who came to
Kansas May 12, 1870, locating in Kechi township, Sedgwick
county, where they resided for a period of seventeen years. Mr.
McVicker, Sr., died July 4, 1877, at the age of forty-three. His
widow died March 9, 1909, at Cripple Creek, Colo., at the age of
seventy-three. Archibald E. McVicker was the fifth child of a
family of nine, four of whom are living, the others being Robert
A., in Wichita, and Allen M. and John R. McVicker, at Cripple
Creek, Colo. Mr. McVicker was educated in the public schools of
Sedgwick county, studied while engaged in drug store and
received his diploma from State Board, began in the drug busi-
ness in Wichita June 26, 1884, with the firm of Swentzell &
Douglas. He remained with this firm for three years, leaving
them to enter the employment of George Van Werden, with whom
he remained for the next nine years. In 1898 he embarked in
business for himself with a stock of goods at No. 314 North Main
street, continuing at this location until 1904, when he removed to
No. 500 East Douglas avenue with a greatly enlarged stock, and
has since continued as one of the most successful druggists of
the city of Wichita. Fraternally Mr. McVicker is affiliated with
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He was married on
December 25, 1895, to Miss Estella Cobb, daughter of Dr. Joseph
Cobb, of Wichita. From this union there has been issue two
children, Russell A., born June 9, 1897, and Kenneth, born March

16, 1903.

Hildreth C. Meeker, hardware merchant of Wichita, Kan.,
whose establishment is located at No. 822 West Douglas avenue,
is a native of Iowa, where he was born at Eddyville on August 5,
1859. His parents were Isaac and Amelia C. (Jennings) Meeker,
natives of Zanesville, Ohio, and Baltimore, Md., respectively.
They reared a family of nine children, all of whom were born in
Ohio, Hildreth C. Meeker being the sixth child. It was in the
early '60s that the family removed to Iowa, and it was some ten
years later that they came to Kansas, locating at Atchison,

844 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

where the father of the family continued work at his trade of a
carpenter. Both of Mr. Meeker's parents are now dead. Hil-
dreth C. was educated in the public schools of Atchison, and in
1876, after leaving school, he came to Wichita in search of his
fortune. He was first employed in a grocery store conducted by
W. S. Corbitt. Seven years later he went to Pueblo, Colo., but
after remaining there three years he returned to Wichita and
entered the employ of D. J. Chatfield, who was engaged in the
hardware business. Mr. Meeker was placed in charge of a branch
store conducted by Mr. Chatfield in Cheney, Kan., as its man-
ager, and this arrangement continued from 1882 to 1885. At the
end of this time Mr. Meeker returned to Wichita and accepted a
position as clerk in the postoffice mail service, a position which
he held for eleven years consecutively. In 1905 he established
himself in the hardware business on the West Side, a business
which he has since conducted successfully. Mr. Meeker is a
member of Sunflower Lodge, No. 86, A. F. and A. M., and also
is a member of the Consistory, Fraternal Aid and the West Side
Commercial League. He was married on December 25, 1883, to
Miss Mattie A. Walker, only daughter of Judge W. F. Walker.
John F. W. Meyer, familiarly known in Wichita, his home
city, as "Billy" Meyer, is a native of Bassum, Germany, and was
born in 1862, the son of A. R. Meyer and Sophia Meyer. He
attended school in his native place, and when nineteen years old,
in 1881, came to the United States and settled at Wichita, Kan.
He first found employment as a clerk in the dry goods store of
Thomas Lynch and later with Messrs. Innes & Ross. From 1890
until 1896 he was employed as bookkeeper by Messrs. Mahan
Bros., and re'signed that position to accept the office of deputy
sheriff. After one year's service he returned to the employ of
Mahan Bros. In 1898 he was the candidate on the Democratic
ticket for City Clerk, but failed of an election. When in 1902
the business of his former employers was incorporated as the
Mahan Supply Company, Mr. Meyer became its vice-president
and manager, and so continued until the company transferred
its business to Kansas City in the spring of 1907, when he dis-
continued connection with the company. In the fall of that year
Mr. Meyer associated himself with and was made secretary of the
Cox Bottling Company, located at No. 115 South Rock Island
avenue, and still retains that relation. He is also financially
interested in and treasurer of the Wichita Vinegar Works Com-

BIOGRAPHY 845

pany, and besides has interests in several other commercial enter-
prises of Wichita.

Mr. Meyer is active in fraternal organizations, being a mem-
ber of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Knights of
Pythias, Eagles and Sons of Herman societies of the city and
state. He also holds membership in the Commercial Club. He
is one of the most prominent German- Americans of Wichita and
widely known all over Kansas. In 1896 he was elected Grand
President of the Sons of Herman (a strictly German lodge) for
the state of Kansas and from 1901 to 1909 he was Grand Repre-
sentative of the State Grand Lodge to the National Grand Lodge,
in which body he held an office for four years. In 1893 he visited
his early home in the Fatherland and in 1894 he married Miss
Nellie Murphy, of Fulton, N. Y., and enjoys the comforts and
pleasures of a happy home. Again in 1909, accompanied by his
wife, he visited his old home and parents and at the same time
made an extensive trip through Germany, Switzerland, France
and Italy. Mr. Meyer, although proud of his native country and,
a lover and defender of the German customs, is a true German-
American, always ready to boost the country of his choice, and
above all his home city, Wichita.

Charles M. Miles, of Goddard, Sedgwick county, Kan., was
born March 8, 1835, at Goshen, Conn. His parents were William
and Harriet (Collins) Miles, both natives of Connecticut. The
grandfather of Charles M. on the paternal side was a soldier in
the War of 1812. On the maternal side the ancestors were Scotch-
Irish. The father of Charles M. died in 1849 and the mother in
1864. Charles M. Miles possesses an academic education and
began his business career as a clerk in DeWitt, Iowa. In 1857 he
went to Pike's Peak and spent two years prospecting for gold.
After this he returned to Connecticut, where he was married on
March 8, 1864, to Miss Mary A. Lyman, a daughter of William
and Mary A. Lyman, of Goshen, Conn. Nine children were born
of this union, of whom six are now living. The names of the
children are : Mary L., deceased, born February 15, 1865 ; Nelson,
who married Laura Shores, born November 23, 1866 ; John C,
deceased, born February 11, 1868; Lucy S., deceased, born
November 18, 1870 ; Charles W., born February 29, 1872, married
Winnie Duncan; Edgar M., born June 1, 1874; Helen C, born
November 23, 1876 ; Lucy S., born November 3, 1879 ; Frances A.,
born September 13, 1882 ; Helen C, married to Howard C. Shafer,

846 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

mother of one child. After his marriage Mr. Miles came West
again, settling at El Paso, 111., where he was engaged in the
milling business for seven years. In 1872 he came to Sedgwick
county, Kansas, with a family of two children, and pre-empted
160 acres of land in what is now Attica township, Section 33.
By hard work and frugality he has added to this farm fourteen
other quarter sections and an eighty-acre tract, the land being in
different townships but all in Sedgwick county. Mrs. Miles also
owns two quarter sections in Illinois township and two in Garden
Plain township. Her father was also an early settler in Sedgwick
county, coming to Kansas in 1873. He owned land in Section
24, Afton township, and was a highly respected citizen. In his
early days he was a Whig, but afterwards became a Republican.
He cast his first vote for William Henry Harrison for President
and his last for Benjamin Harrison. Mrs. Miles' father died on
August 7, 1890, and her mother on April 10, 1907, at the age of
ninety-four. At the time Mr. Miles came to Attica township there
were three other men here, viz.: Ferd Holm, W. M. Shafer and
Charles Setzer. All took up farms in the same section, where
they all raised families, their children all being highly educated
and some of them being efficient teachers and musicians. Mr.
Miles is a Republican in politics. He was a trustee of Attica
township for four terms, and a member of the School Board for
fifteen years.

Frank M. Mitchell, a prosperous farmer of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born October 4, 1856, to Martin and Honorah
(Gagin) Mitchell, who immigrated from Ireland at an early day
and settled at Ottawa, 111., and thence went to Dubuque, Iowa.
In 1861 the family moved to Nebraska and from there to Missouri,
where the father died in 1867. Six years later, in 1873, the
mother moved with her family to Kansas, and pre-empted the
southwest quarter of Section 14, in Illinois township, Sedgwick
county, and there established the family home, where she passed
the remainder of her life, her death occurring on January 12,
1883. Our subject grew up on the farm and in 1876 pre-empted
a quarter section of land in Morton township, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, and lived there till 1878, when he sold it and returned to
the family homestead, where he has since made his home. He
later bought the northwest quarter of Section 26, Illinois town-
ship, and now owns 320 acres there, the quarter section last
named being farmed by his son.

BIOGEAPHY 847

Mr. Mitchell is a thoroughly up-to-date farmer, and his farm
is finely improved with a commodious farmhouse, substantial barn
and other buildings and supplied with every needed equipment
and appliance, and well stocked. He is a man of influence in his
community and for more than twenty years has served on the
local School Board. He has always been a Democrat in political
belief, and is identified with the Roman Catholic Church.

On October 1, 1882, Mr. Mitchell married Miss Julia A.,
daughter of Thomas and Mary (Conroy) Manning, who came
from Ireland, their native land, in 1840, to Manchester, N. H. ;
moved to Iowa in 1860, whence they moved to Illinois township,
Sedgwick county, Kansas, in 1874.

Of nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, Mary, born in
1883, is married to Mr. Louis Scheier, of Kingman county, has
one daughter, Julia, born in 1909 ; Martin A., born in 1885, mar-
ried Miss Lizzie Polard and has one child, Alice, born in 1909;
Lizzie, born in 1888, is married to Mr. Adolph Scheier, has two
children, William, born in 1909, and Bernard, born in 1910; and
Maggie, born in 1890 ; Irene, born in 1893 ; Catherin, born in
1897 ; Louis, born in 1899 ; Edna, born in 1902, and William, born
in 1906, all live at home with their parents.

George A. Morey, manager of the Long-Bell Lumber Company,
of Wichita, Kan., claims Iowa as the state of his nativity, having
been born at Waverly, that state, in 1874. His parents were
D. A. and Malissa (Loomer) Morey. Mr. Morey 's education was
obtained in the public schools of Waverly, and after leaving
school he obtained employment in the lumber business at Wav-
erly. He remained at Waverly until 1898, when he went to Min-
neapolis, Minn., to take a position with the Citizens' Lumber
Company, of that city. In 1900 Mr. Morey left the employ of
the Citizens' Lumber Company to enter the employment of the
Long-Bell Lumber Company, he first being stationed at Muskogee,
Okla. Here he remained until 1905, when he was transferred to
Wichita as manager of the plant in this city and has remained
here ever since. The Long-Bell plant is a branch of the one in
Kansas City, Mo. He was married in 1895 to Miss Ida Wole.
To this union was born one son, who died in infancy.

George O. Morgan, of Wichita, Kan., is known as the pioneer
horse and mule dealer of Sedgwick county. He is a native of the
Badger state, having been born in Wisconsin in 1856. His parents
were Henry and Winifred C. (Jones) Morgan, both natives of

848 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

"Wales, who immigrated to Wisconsin, where the elder Morgan
engaged in farming, he and his wife later moving to Iowa, where
both died. George 0. Morgan was one of a family of eight
children, four of whom are still living. He was educated at the
public schools of Iowa, and in 1875, almost as soon as he had
finished his schooling, he engaged in the horse and mule business,
which he has ever since continued. His first experience was in
Cass county, Iowa, where he succeeded in building up a fine trade,
and in 1884 he came to Wichita, being among the pioneers in the
horse and mule industry of this section. With unflinching cour-
age Mr. Morgan withstood the trying times incident to the boom
days. He had faith in the future of Wichita and Sedgwick
county, and in company with many others through his own efforts
won success. Mr. Morgan now conducts the largest business of
its kind in Sedgwick county. In 1903 he suffered a heavy loss by
fire, when his stable was consumed with a large number of valu-
able animals. He now occupies his third location since coming to
Wichita, at No. 414 West Douglas street. Mr. Morgan is a promi-
nent member of the Masonic Order and is a member of all the
Masonic bodies. He was married in Lewis, Iowa, to Miss Eliza-
beth Black, daughter of Milton Black, of Cass county, Iowa. Of
this union there has been issue: Benjamin F., of Chickasaw,
Okla. (merchant) ; Leo and Theo, twins, and Wichita merchants;
and Dr. Walter A. Morgan, dentist, Wichita.

Alfred G. Mueller, undertaker and embalmer, of Wichita,
Kan., is a native of the Empire state, having been born at Buffalo,
N. Y., on September 27, 1865. He is a son of Paul J. and Mary
(Chappurs) Mueller, natives of France and Switzerland, respec-
tively, who are now numbered among the pioneers of Wichita.
They first came to Kansas in 1867, returning to New York state,
and again came to Kansas, locating at Wichita in 1889, where
they have since resided. Alfred G. Mueller was educated in the
public schools of Williamsville, N. Y. After leaving school, which
is now over a quarter of a century ago, he began to learn the
undertaking business with D. W. Wherle, of his native state, and
continued with him for five years. He then went to New Haven,
Conn., where he followed the same busines for a period of three
years. In 1888 he came to Wichita, and in the fall of that year
opened an establishment of his own in the undertaking business,
which he has since conducted until he has one of the leading
establishments of its kind to be found in the Southwest. The

BIOGRAPHY 849

building now occupied by Mr. Mueller at No. 142-4 North Market
street, was built exclusively for the purposes of his business, and
is complete in every detail, having all the latest paraphernalia
and equipment, such as chapel, morgue, casket display rooms,
. office, etc., a total of twenty-two rooms being occupied by the
business. Mr. Mueller is a member of all the Masonic bodies,
vice-president of the Kansas Funeral Directors' Association, and
a representative of the Kansas Funeral Directors' Association to
the National Association. He was for many years president of
the State Board of Embalmers, and is a member of the various
commercial bodies of the city of Wichita.

Charles P. Mueller, florist, of Wichita, Kan., is sometimes
called the Burbank of Wichita, because of his expert knowledge
of horticulture. Mr. Mueller is a native of Erie county, New
York, where he was born on June 13, 1862. His parents were
P. J. and Mary P. Mueller. Charles P. Mueller's early education
was acquired in Erie county. After leaving school Mr. Mueller
engaged as a florist in 1875. He left Buffalo and came to Wichita
in 1883. There have been times since then when it was difficult
for the citizens to buy potatoes and cabbage, and cut flowers and
hot house luxuries were read about, but not known. But Mr.
Mueller was never discouraged. Out in a cornfield near Alamo
he built a tiny greenhouse. Now, out on Ninth street, is a green-
house and botanical garden plant, under 50,000 square feet of
glass, with every modern device known for propagating rare
flowers. In Mr. Mueller's downtown display rooms has been
perfected an exhibit of all that the painter's art, the sculptor's
skill and the decorator's imagination can conceive. Mr. Mueller
is the only life member in Kansas of the Society of American
Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists, and his model plant is
the largest and finest equipped in the state. Forty per cent of his
large and expanding business is mail orders. Fraternally Mr.
Mueller is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Knights
of Pythias, Fraternal Aid, A. 0. U. W. and Fraternal Union. He
is also a member of the Commercial Club and the Chamber of
Commerce.

George Muller, farmer and stock raiser, of Mulvane, Kan., was
barn in Bavaria, Germany, on November 15, 1845. His parents
were Peter and Barbara (Phillips) Mailer, both natives of Ger-
many. Peter Muller came to the United States in 1847 and set-
tled on a farm near Springfield, 111., where he remained until

850 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

1865. He then went to Lincoln, 111., where he remained until
July, 1878, when he came to Sedgwick county, Kansas. In Sedg-
wick county he and his son George bought 440 acres of land in
Sections 31 and 32. Mrs. Muller died on March 13, 1861, while
the family was living in Illinois, and Peter Muller died April 3,
1888. Peter Muller and his wife were the parents of five children,
all of whom are dead except George, who remained with his
father and with him bought the farm in Sedgwick county, and
who now owns this farm, besides 400 acres additional he has since
bought, making 840 acres which he now owns. Mr. Muller raises
Shorthorn cattle, horses and Jersey Red hogs, and does diversified
farming. He has an orchard of about 200 apple trees, 150 peach,
with a variety of other fruits on his place. On August 22, 1867,
Mr. Muller was married to Miss Catharine Seyfer, who was born
in "Wurtemberg, Germany, on January 5, 1847. Mr. and Mrs.
Muller have had eight children, seven of whom are living, viz.:
Peter, deceased; George F., of Rockford township; John W., of
Denver, Colo.; Mrs. Emma B. Ott, of "Wichita; Flora K., William
F., Frank J., and Charles P., all of Rockford township. Mr.
Muller is president of the Mulvane Farmers ' State Bank. He is a
liberal in politics, voting for the best man.

Hans M. Nelson, farmer, of Ninnescah township, Sedgwick
county, -Kansas, was born in Denmark on April 4, 1849. Mr. Nel-
son immigrated to the United States in 1873, going first to Warren
county, Illinois, where he only remained a short time, and arrived
in Wichita, Kan., on January 2, 1874. On April 4 of the same
year, he preempted 160 acres of land in Section 6, Ninnescah
township. He followed his trade of a shoemaker in Wichita un-
til 1877, at the same time working his claim. On account of his
health, he was obliged to abandon work at his trade and went on
his claim, working his own claim and that of a brother. On
October 21, 1881, Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Sina Nelson,
who was born in Denmark and came to the United States the
same year she was married. Of this union eight children have
been born, viz. : John, William, Harry, Otis, Mary, deceased ; Oney,
Angie and Orie. Mr. Nelson has added to his original tract of
land until he now has 1,200 acres, on which he does general farm-
ing. He is a member of the Lutheran church.

William Riley Nessly, superintendent of the Peerless Lumber
Company, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Buckeye state,
having been born at Fairview, Gurnsey county, Ohio, on May 24,

BIOGRAPHY 851

1864. He was the son of the Rev. J. F. and Elizabeth (Wade)
Nessly, his father being a native of Ohio and his mother claiming
Pennsylvania as her native state. The Rev. Mr. Nessly was a
pioneer Methodist minister of Wichita, having made his first trip
to the city by stage, and later he came with his household goods
on the first train to enter the city over the Santa Fe Railroad.
His previous ministerial charges were at Ottawa, Kan., and
Olathe, Kan. He died at Tekao, Wash., at the age of eighty
years. His widow still survives and resides there. William Riley
Nessly was but eight years old when his parents came to Wichita.
His education was obtained in the public schools of the city,
and he has since made his home in Sedgwick county. It was
in 1872 that the Rev. Mr. Nessly pre-empted a claim in Illinois
township, Sedgwick county, it being the south half of Section 1
of the township. The Rev. Mr. Nessly, after one year in the
ministry in Wichita, found himself broken in health, and this
led to his resignation and the plan of taking up the claim. Soon
after this he was elected city clerk of the city of Wichita, and
his son, William R., took charge of the affairs of the new farm
and continued doing so until he was twenty-one years old, when
he entered the employ of S. D. Pallett, a lumberman of Wichita,
and continued in his employ in various capacities for the next
ten years. This lumber business was purchased by B. F. McLean,
and Mr. Nessly continued as foreman until 1901, when he became
foreman of the Davidson & Case yards for a period of five years,
in the meantime purchasing a farm of 160 acres in Ohio town-
ship. In 1901 he again returned to the McLean yard as fore-
man, a position he held until the business was purchased by the
Peerless Lumber Company. He has since been the manager of
the yard and plant, which is located at No. 802 West Douglas
avenue. This plant was originally established in 1902 by S. S.
Kensler and Frank Bradshaw, and was known as the West Side
Lumber Company. Mr. Nessly is a member of the school board
of Wichita. He was married on April 21, 1887, to Miss Isola
Helen Lane, daughter of J. M. and Sylvia (Champlin) Lane,
natives of Illinois. Of this marriage there has been issue four
children, viz.: Mayme E., Blanche and Bernice (twins), and
Howard E.

Benjamin F. Nichols, of Wichita, Kan., can lay claim to being
one of the pioneers of Kansas. He was born May 20, 1845, in
Lowell, Lake county, Indiana. His parents were Abraham and

852 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

S. J. (Fuller) Nichols. On the paternal side he can trace his
ancestry to France, while on the maternal side he traces it to
Germany. During the Civil War Mr. Nichols enlisted in the
Union Army, joining Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-
Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in 1863, and serving until the
close of the war, when he was honorably discharged. Mr. Nichols
was in the battles of Buzzard Roost, Dutton Snake Creek Gap,
Rinca, Cossville, Dallas, New Hope Church, Lost Mountain, Kene-
saw and its numerous battles, Crossing the Chattahootchee River,
Decatur, Atlanta with its half-dozen battles, Jonesborough and
Love joys, on what is termed the celebrated Atlanta Campaign.
He was also in the chase after Hood and Hood after him, result-
ing in the battles of Columbia, Spring Hill, Franklin and Nash-
ville, where he hoped to annihilate Hood's army. His company
was transferred to the Department of North Carolina, huddled in
box cars like hogs and cold as Greenland. They were shipped
from Washington to North Carolina by ship, and from Newbern
they were sent without transportation to meet the enemy at
Wisesforks and then on to Goldsboro, where they met their old
commanding general, and then on to Raleigh and made Johnson
surrender. Mr. Nichols was always found at the front and his
captain, John T. Powell, says, "I am proud of your record. You
did your full share in making my name one of the best skirmish-
ing captains in the army." His memoirs, which form a part of
this sketch, give his army record in greater detail. After the
war Mr. Nichols moved to Woodson county, Kansas, where he
remained five years. Leaving Woodson county, he took up his
residence in Elk county, where he also spent five years, and
from thence he came to Sedgwick county, where he permanently
located in 1885 at Garden Plain. He remained at Garden Plain
six years, and since that time has been a resident of Wichita.
Mr. Nichols is the owner of a valuable stock farm and at the
present time is practically retired from business and living with
his family at 410 South Market street, Wichita. He is a thirty-
second degree Mason and in politics is a Socialist. He has been
twice married, his first wife being Miss Nancy McCormick, six
children being born of this union, of whom four are now living.
His second wife, to whom he was married September 25, 1898.
was Mrs. May Smith, and no children have been born of this
union.

BIOGRAPHY 853

J. M. Nicholson,* of Maize, Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a na-
tive of the Blue Grass state, having been born in Lancaster, Ky.,
on October 1, 1846. He is a son of J. J. Nicholson, a native of
Kentucky. His parents removed from Kentucky to Illinois in
1859, locating in Macon county, and lived there until their death.
James M. Nicholson acquired a limited education in the common
schools of Kentucky and Illinois, and in 1870 removed to Kansas.
He first located in Butler county, where he lived four years, and
afterwards moved to Park township, Sedgwick county, where in
1875 he bought land in Section 15. In 1864, while still a resident
of Illinois, he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Fiftieth
Illinois Volunteers, and served until his discharge at the close of
the war. Mr. Nicholson was married on June 3, 1882, to Miss
Emma A. Dotson, in Decatur, 111. Mrs. Nicholson traces her
ancestry to Scotland. Nine children have been born of this union,
of whom six are now living. The names of the children are :
Josephus, Lewis J., Nora, James Clarence, Harry, Bessie, Viola,
Hattie E. and William E. Mr. Nicholson is a member of the G.
A. R. and attended the encampments at Salt Lake City and at
Denver, Col. He has been a member of the school board of Park
township for fourteen years. Mr. Nicholson is a Republican and
active in the interests of his party.

Samuel L. Nolan, president of the Goddard State Bank of
Goddard, Kansas, is a native of Indiana, where he was born on
March 7, 1863, in Lafayette. His parents were John and Sarah
(Murdoch) Nolan. The father was a native of Ireland and his
mother's family, the Murdochs, were respectable people of Tippe-
canoe county, Indiana. Samuel L. came west with his parents to
Sedgwick county, Kansas, in 1877, and soon after, the father,
whose occupation was plastering and farming, died. His widow
died in Sedgwick county in 1903. The father of Samuel L. Nolan
had a family of thirteen children, of whom Samuel L. was the
eighth. The latter attended the public schools until his fifteenth
year and lived under the paternal roof until he was twenty-one.
He started out in the beginning of his career as a clerk in a
grocery. story in "Wichita and also in a general store in Caldwell,
Kan. He then engaged in business for himself in general mer-
chandising at Goddard, Kan. He was married November 24,
1886, to Miss Daisy B. White, of Kentucky, and of this union
there has been born one son, who is now twenty-three years old
and is married to Mesa Rice. They have one child and reside at

854 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Goddard. Mr. Nolan is a public spirited citizen who has long
been a resident of Sedgwick county, and at the present time
(1910) is the Democratic candidate for the office of county treas-
urer. After leaving "Wichita, he moved to Goddard in 1884, and
has since been a resident of that village and has served as mayor
two terms. He has also held various minor township offices. He
has been a member of the city council. Mr. Nolan is the owner
of a large tract of land, over 480 acres, in Afton township. He is
a grain buyer and conducts a large elevator at Goddard under
the firm name of Nolan Bros. He was the organizer and is now
president of the Goddard State Bank, which has a capital stock
of $10,000 and a surplus of $5,000. He is known as a man of good
ability and has settled up a large number of decedent estates,
and has acted in a fiduciary capacity in handling large sums of
money in trust and otherwise, and his honesty and integrity have
never been questioned. Mr. Nolan is a Democrat in politics.
Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
He also conducts a large general store in Goddard. He is also a
director and stockholder in the Goddard Telephone Company.

Odon Northcutt, a prominent real estate dealer of Sedgwick
county, Kansas, was born June 15, 1855, in Booneville, Mo. His
parents were T. D. and Mary E. (Gatewood) Northcutt, the father
being a native of Kentucky and the mother of Virginia. They
located in Newton county, Missouri, in 1857, where Mr. North-
cutt followed farming and stock raising and continued this up
to the time of his conscription in the Confederate army. He was
severely wounded in the battle of Wilson Creek and was sent
back to his family in Newton county, Missouri, and from there he
moved to Parker county, Texas, where he resided for a time,
afterward returning to Missouri, where he is now living at the
age of eighty-three years. His wife is also living at the age of
seventy-five years. The early education of Odon Northcutt was
obtained in the public schools of Texas, which state he left in
1873 to return to Missouri. In 1878 he came to Kansas and
located in Kingman county, where he pre-empted a farm and
engaged in farming and stock raising, living there until 1898.
In the latter year he removed to Cheney, Kan., and engaged in
the hardware business with D. M. Main, the style of the firm
being Main & Northcutt, which afterwards became Northcutt
& Crossley, but later Mr. Northcutt disposed of his interest to
Mr. Main and took up farming again, which he followed until

BIOGRAPHY 855

1907. He then engaged in the real estate business in Cheney.
When on the farm Mr. Northcutt speculated extensively in mules
and horses and made considerable money by being a shrewd
trader. He is now a member of the real estate firm of Hern &
Northcutt, which does a large business in selling tracts of land
and ranches, devoting all his time now to this business. Mr.
Northcutt is a member of Morton Lodge, No. 258, A. F. & A. M.,
and of Wichita Consistory, No. 2. Politically he affiliated with
the Democratic party until the Populist movement sprang up,
when he supported that party. Mr. Northcutt was married on
February 25, 1880, to Miss Arizona Sooter, daughter of W. M.
Sooter, of Missouri. Of this union seven children were born,
three of whom are now living, viz. : Nellie, Thomas and Esther.
Nellie is married to Virgil Davis and resides in Fowler, Colo.
The other children are attending the city schools.

Edward J. Ohmer, proprietor of the Manhattan Hotel, of
Wichita, Kan., who is accounted a pastmaster in the hotel busi-
ness by the traveling public and his associates, is a native of
Dayton, Ohio, where he was born January 30, 1849. His parents
were Nicholas and Susannah (Spratt) Ohmer, his father being
a native of France and his mother of Washington, D. C. His
parents began their married life in Montgomery county, Ohio,
and are both deceased. When a boy of thirteen young Ohmer
entered the United States navy and served for nine months
during the Civil War, receiving his discharge on August 20,
1865. His service in the navy during the war was mainly on
the Mississippi, and he served on the historic gunboat Groesbeck
VIII under Commander Cornwall and Capt. Jack Adkins. The
father and uncle of Mr. Ohmer owned the old Union Depot
eating house at Indianapolis, and after the war young Ohmer was
set to work there. One of his associates at that time was Thomas
Taggart, who has since acquired fame as a Democratic politician
and hotel proprietor. Mr. Ohmer finally became superintendent
of the concern, and when he finally resigned to go to Minnesota
and engage in farming, Mr. Taggart succeded him as superin-
tendent. The life of a farmer not proving congenial to Mr.
Ohmer, he finally abandoned it and went to Hannibal, Mo., where
he engaged in the hotel business. Later he and his brother oper-
ated ten eating houses on the Rock Island Railroad, one of them
being the dining room in the depot at Wichita. When the rail-
road bought them out, Mr. Ohmer returned to Indianapolis, where

856 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

he bought a third interest in the Grand Hotel, Mr. Taggart own-
ing the other two-thirds. After a couple of years in Indianapolis.
Mr. Ohmer sold out his interest to his brother and Mr. Taggart,
and bought the Manhattan, which was then in a somewhat mori-
bund state, but which under his management has since become
one of the most popular hostelries in the Southwest. Mr. Ohmer
has now been located in Wichita eight years, having gone there
in 1903. Mr. Ohmer is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in
which he takes a deep interest. He was married in 1870 to Miss
Emma Shafer, now deceased. In 1901 he was again married to a
Miss Emma Shafer, a namesake of his first wife. From this union
there has been offspring one child, Euth C. Ohmer.

Thomas J. Owens, farmer, of Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a
native of the Hoosier state, having been born in Clay county,
Indiana, on February 26, 1859. His father was Johnson Owens,
a native of Kentucky, who lived in Clay county, Indiana, until
the time of his death, which occurred in 1900. His widow died
in 1908. Johnson Owens during his life was a successful farmer
and during his life had bought up and improved a dozen or more
farms in the Hoosier state. He was a successful contractor as
well. His services were in demand by the railroad companies
for supplies for ties, cordwood, etc. His son, Thomas J. Owens,
only obtained a meager education in the public schools of his
native place. He remained under the parental roof until he
was twenty-one years old. In December, 1881, he came to Kan-
sas. A year later, in July, 1882, he was married to Miss Mary C.
Kauffman, a daughter of Samuel Kauffman, at Wichita, Kan.
Of this union have been born eight children, of whom seven are
living. The names of the children are : Maggie M., born De-
cember 18, 1883 ; S. C, deceased ; Mimmie O., born July 17, 1887 ;
Jessa M., born July 9, 1889 ; Nora S., born August 20, 1893 ; John
T.. born April 20, 1896; Everett J., born September 6, 1899;
Elsie M., born January 9, 1902. Mr. Owens homesteaded a farm
in Section 8, Eagle township, on which he now resides. He has
held several minor offices in the township organization. He was
road boss for over six years, township clerk, member of the school
board ten years, and under his able management the schools have
been prosperous, with comfortable school rooms and efficient
teachers. Mr. Owens is a Democrat in his political belief and is
an active worker in the interests of his party. He and his wife

BIOGRAPHY 857

are members of the Christian Church, of which they have been
members for over fourteen years.

Branson William Parker, manager of the Harvard Mills Com-
pany, of Mt. Hope, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in 1875
in the Sunflower state. His father, Joshua M., was born in
Indiana and was one of the early homesteaders in the state of
Kansas, where he now resides. He was the father of ten chil-
dren, nine of whom are living. Branson William is the oldest
boy. His education was acquired in the common schools of
Kansas, after which he attended the State Normal School at
Emporia for two years, after which he taught four years. He
then farmed on land he owned in Ellsworth county, Kansas, for
two years and then moved to Harvey county, where -he bought
eighty acres. Mr. Parker sold both pieces and went to Okla-
homa, where he bought land. He was there three years and then
moved back to Kansas and operated the Clearwater, Kan., mills
for J. E. Howard, of Wichita, for fourteen months, and was trans-
ferred by Mr. Howard to conduct the same business in Mt. Hope,
where he is now engaged. While in Oklahoma Mr. Parker served
as justice of the peace for three years. Mr. Parker is a Democrat
in politics and a public-spirited citizen. He is active in church
work, a member of the Baptist faith, in which he was a deacon
for seven years and superintendent of the Sunday School for
eight years. He was married in April, 1900, to Miss Cynthia
Row, a daughter of Rev. D. P. Row, of Missouri. Four
children have been born of this union, three of whom are living,
viz. : Otto, Austin and Harry. Otto is attending school at Mt.
Hope.

Frederick Parker, of Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in
Brown county, Illinois, on September 5, 1871. He is a son of
William B. and Margaret (Haley) Parker. Frederick Parker
went with his father to Missouri in 1875, and from there to Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, in 1885, and being the youngest son,
remained with his father on the farm. On June 26, 1895, Mr.
Parker married Miss Addie B. Carson, who was born in Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, on August 1, 1877, a daughter of Jonathan
S. and Mary (Tomlin) Carson. Jonathan Carson came to Sedg-
wick county in 1872 and pre-empted 160 acres of land in Salem
township. He was born in Ohio on April 2, 1849, and his wife
was born in Illinois on December 17, 1858. They were married
in Sedgwick county, Kansas, on August 31, 1875. Of this union

858 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

eleven children were born, ten of whom are now living. The
children were: Addie B. Parker, of Ohio township; Mrs. Carrie
L. Filson, of Scott county, Kansas ; Mrs. Anna Roddis, of Denver,
Colo.; Miss Eva Pearl, of Salida, Colo.; Mrs. Hattie M. Means,
of Sargent, Colo. ; Howard J., of Salida, Colo. ; Miss Frankie F.,
Miss Inez, Miss Jeannette and Robert, all of Salida, Colo. Clar-
ence B. died when sixteen years old. The father and mother are
now living at Salida, Colo. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have three
children, viz. : William E., born February 12, 1897 ; Ray C, born
March 21, 1898 ; Edith May, born August 13, 1902. Mr. Parker
has devoted his entire time to farming. In 1900 he bought 240
acres in Section 16, Ohio township, and here he built his present
home in the fall of 1909. He has a well improved farm, with
horses, cattle and hogs. He is a stockholder in the Clearwater
Telephone Company and a liberal in politics.

William B. Parker, of Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in
Kentucky on February 7, 1830. His parents were Alexander and
Eliza (Parker) Parker. Alexander Parker was born in Virginia
in 1796 and his future wife was born in Kentucky about the same
time. They moved to Illinois in the spring of 1835. Both of
them died in Brown county, Illinois, the mother in 1861 and the
father in 1873. William B. Parker went to Missouri in 1875,
where he remained until 1885, when he came to Sedgwick county,
Kansas, and bought 240 acres in Section 17, Ohio township. It
was partially improved. Mr. Parker erected buildings and lived
on this place until the fall of 1909, when he sold it, and now
resides with his son Fred. On February 20, 1851, Mr. Parker was
married to Miss Margaret Haley, who was a native of Kentucky.
Fourteen children were born of this marriage, four of whom are
living, viz. : Alexander, of Oklahoma ; Mrs. Belle Frakes, of Ohio
township ; Frederick, of Ohio township, and Mrs. Maggie Wright,
of Oklahoma. The mother of this family died on September 27,
1879, and February 22, 1880, Mr. Parker married Mrs. Mary
Thomas, who was born in Indiana. Two children were born of
this second marriage, both of whom are deceased. The mother
of these children died on January 18, 1909. Mr. Parker has
followed farming all his life. The last fifteen years he has been
in poor health. In politics he is a liberal in local affairs, but in
national affairs he is a Republican. He is a member of the
Baptist Church.

BIOGRAPHY 859

Edgar Willard Phillips, of Mulvane, Kan., was born in Addi-
son county, Vermont, on March 28, 1847, and with his parents
moved to and settled in Knox county, Illinois, in 1855. Here he
was brought up on a farm and attended school until March 28,
1864, when he enlisted in Company B, Eleventh Illinois Cavalry,
serving until the close of the war and being honorably discharged
on September 30, 1865. Returning to his home he resumed his
occupation as a farmer until the fall of 1870, when he emigrated
to southern Kansas, driving the entire distance with a team. Mr.
Phillips settled in Sedgwick county, where he was instrumental
in organizing Salem township. He always took a prominent
part in political affairs, being a staunch Republican and serving
many times as a delegate to state, congressional and county
conventions, also being chairman of the township central com-
mittee several times. In 1885 Mr. Phillips was elected trustee of
Salem township and served in that capacity two years with sat-
isfaction to all concerned and credit to himself. He was elected
and served eleven years as school officer in District No. 40. In
the fall of 1888 he was elected representative to the state legis-
lature from the Eighty-third district, which then comprised all
the territory west of the Arkansas river in Sedgwick county
except the Fifth ward of Wichita. In 1890 he was unanimously
renominated by his party in the same district. That being the
year in which the Populist party figured so extensively in politics,
he was defeated with the rest of his ticket. The next year Mr.
Phillips purchased the Warren property and removed to Mulvane,
where he still resides. In 1908 he was nominated without oppo-
sition by the Republican party as representative of the Seventy-
fourth district in Sumner county and was elected by a large
majority. He served with credit to himself and satisfaction of
his constituents and refused the renomination in 1910. On March
24, 1868, Mr. Phillips was married to Miss Jennie E. Adams, who
was born in Harrison county, Ohio, on April 7, 1850. Mrs. Phil-
lips was a daughter of William L. and Nancy (Simmons) Adams,
who were natives of the Buckeye state. They moved to Knox
county, Illinois, where Mrs. Adams died in 1861, and Mr. Adams
about 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips have been the parents of
seven children, five of whom are living. They are : Mrs. W. H.
Duncan, born January 3, 1869, of Allamoosa, Colo. ; Mrs. Lewis B.
Price, born September 25, 1870, of Wichita, Kan. ; Arthur L.,
born April 7, 1874, of Washington, Pa.. The latter was a mem-

860 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

ber of Company H. Tenth Pennsylvania Infantry, in the Philip-
pine Islands, and was in the battle of Malate on July 31 and Au-
gust 1, 1898, and at the bombardment and capture of Manila on
August 13 of the same year. He remained with his company until
mustered out on August 22, 1899 ; Willard R., born August 20,
1880, lives at Alpine, Tex., where he is a prominent ranchman;
Edgar W., born June 30, 1885, and died in January, 1910 ; Joseph,
born August 16, 1891, lives in Wichita; their third child, Leslie
L., born February 24, 1873, died in infancy. Mr. Phillips, on
January 7, 1871, laid claim to 160 acres of Osage Indian trust
lands in Section 25, Salem township. He bought this land at
$1.25 per acre and lived on it until 1881, when he bought eighty
acres in Section 35, on which he lived until 1891, when he moved
into Mulvane. When on the farm he made a specialty of stock
raising and wheat. In 1888 he raised forty bushels to the acre.
After coming to Mulvane Mr. Phillips was interested in real
estate and in 1900 operated a grocery and meat market for about
two years, when he retired from business. Fraternally Mr. Phil-
lips is a member of Mulvane Lodge, No. 221, A. F. & A. M., the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 174, of which he has
passed the chairs and has the Veteran Jewel; of Mulvane Camp,
No. 74, Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; of Mulvane Post, No.
203, Gr. A. R., of which he has been twice commander. In politics
Mr. Phillips has always been a Republican. He is a member of
the Presbyterian Church, of which he is one of the elders.

Frank L. Porter is a native Kansan, having been born at
Burlingame on December 30, 1876. His parents are E. J. and
Martha (Ely) Porter, natives of Harrisburg, Pa., and Lexington,
Ky., respectively. They made the trip to Kansas early in the
history of the state and with difficulties besetting them on every
side. It was the time when the Civil War strife had begun to
subside and feuds were on every hand. They both came to Kan-
sas before their marriage and now reside at Lawrence, Kan.
Frank L. Porter was educated at the Emporia High School and
began his business career in the employ of D. W. Morris, of
Emporia. He afterward took charge of the drug store at the
Osawatomie Insane Asylum, and then went to Paola, Kan., where
he was engaged in the retail drug trade until 1904, when he
came to Wichita. He was with Henry Ozanne as drug clerk for
two years and a half, afterward taking charge of the store, which
was owned by the Lavander Drug Company. In the fall of 1905

BIOGRAPHY 861

lie entered the employ of Gehring & Higginson, and continued
with the change to the Higginson Drug Company, and up to the
time he became one of the proprietors in May, 1910. He is a
member of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Porter was married on
June 27, 1905, to Miss Frances Parker, daughter of John and
Mary A. Parker, of Wichita.

George L. Pratt, president of the Pratt Lumber Company, of
Wichita, Kan., was born in New York state. He came to Wichita
in 1876 and established the Chicago Lumber Company, Mr. Pratt
being the president and managing partner. The business con-
tinued under this title until 1896, when it was sold to the Pratt
Lumber Company, which was headed by Mr. Pratt as president
and treasurer and T. J. House as secretary. The yards of the
company are located at No. 158 North Lawrence avenue. Mr.
Pratt is a thirty-third degree Mason. He was the first master
of Albert Pike Lodge, No. 303, A. F. & A. M., and is a pastmaster
of Wichita Lodge, No. 99, A. F. & A. M.

Will G. Price, president of the Wichita Business College, is a
native of Ohio, having been born at Cleveland in 1878.
His parents were Edwin F. and Sophia L. (Carnegie) Price. The
early education of Mr. Price was obtained at Wichita, Kan., his
people moving here in 1879 and settling in Wichita.

The house into which they moved was on the old Indian trail
now called Washington avenue, and there were but two habita-
tions east of it, Buffalo Bill's and one on Chisholm creek.

After finishing his education Mr. Price taught for a number
of years in the county, graded and high schools of Kansas. In
1901 he, with F. A. Hibarger, acquired an interest in the Wichita
Business College, then conducted by Fazel & Adams. In a few
years Mr. Fazel 's interest was purchased. A little later Mr.
Adams sold his one-third, and January 5, 1909, Mr. Price became
sole owner. Under his management it has become known as the
most thorough, practical business training school in the West,
and its enrollment has increased until it is now the largest busi-
ness college in Kansas and Oklahoma.

This great institution differs widely from the ordinary busi-
ness college, as its complete diploma courses are arranged so as
to graduate better prepared business assistants than any other
school in the West. During the year of 1909-10 students from
the following states were enrolled : Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas,
New Mexico, Colorado, California, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana,

862 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Illinois, Kentucky, Idaho, Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan and
Kansas. Many of these young people held diplomas from other
commercial colleges, but desired to benefit by the higher instruc-
tion offered in the advanced departments of the Wichita institu-
tion. Mr. Price's policy in looking after the interests of his
students may be inferred when it is known that all time lost
on account of sickness and work is extended; that all tuition is
promptly and pleasantly refunded at the end of the first month
if the student finds he is not fitted for the work or that the
standards of scholarship or deportment are too high for him;
and that owing to the splendid reputation enjoyed by the school
no difficulty is experienced in finding good positions for its
graduates.

Mr. Price's activities have not been confined to his school,
as he has devoted considerable time to educational and fraternal
organizations in the city. After having been elected as an inde-
pendent candidate to the board of education, he was compelled to
resign before the expiration of his term, when he became sole
owner of the Wichita Business College, as the management of
the school demanded all of his attention.

In Masonic circles he takes an active part, being the youngest
past master of Wichita Lodge, No. 99, A. F. & A. M. He is also
a member of the Scottish Rite Consistory, the Eastern Star,
Knights of Pythias, and the Chamber of Commerce.

In November, 1910, he was married to Miss Eva M. Price,
daughter of S. R. Price, of Belle Plaine, Kan. While the family
name of bride and groom is the same, each belongs to a different
branch, the bride being a descendant of the southern Prices of
Colonial days, while the groom had three ancestors from the
New England states who fought in the Revolutionary War.

Charles E. Rankin, carpenter and contractor, of Cheney, Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, was born February 3, 1855, in Bloomington,
111. He is a son of W. H. and Elizabeth (Goodheart) Rankin.
The elder Rankin was a native of Tennessee and his wife a native
of Ohio. On the paternal side the ancestry of the family is traced
to Scotland and on the maternal to Scotland and Germany. The
father of Mrs. Rankin was a soldier under the first Napoleon and
participated in the battle of Waterloo. At an early day the father
of Charles E. emigrated from Indiana to Illinois and became a
prominent citizen of McLean county. He was a butcher by trade,
and when the Civil War broke out he enlisted in the commissary

BIOGRAPHY 8G3

department as a butcher, whose business it was to supply meat
to the government, which he did for some time. He then enlisted
in the Ninty-fourth Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E, and
was detailed as a special wagonmaster, serving about two years.
He recruited two companies for the service, in one of which,
Company E, he served. He was relieved on account of disability.
He then recruited another company and started to the front and
remained with this company until 1865, when he was honorably
discharged. He then returned to McLean county, where he
farmed for about seven years. He then removed to Kansas,
locating in Morton township, Sedgwick county, in 1880, and
there died in 1883. Charles E. Eankin acquired his education in
the public schools of McLean county, Illinois. After leaving
school he worked on a farm until the age of twenty-two. Then
he was married to Miss S. A. Barnett, of Seabroke, 111., on Decem-
ber 25, 1877. Four children were born of this union, viz. : William
H., Myrtle Elizabeth, John A. and Burniee E. After his mar-
riage Mr. Rankin took up a short residence in Sedgwick county,
Kansas, and afterwards was for one and one-half years engaged
in farming in Cowley county. He returned to Bloomington, 111.,
in 1880, where he was a stationary engineer for three years. He
then returned with his family to Kansas, locating at Cheney,
where he followed his trade as a carpenter and contractor, after-
wards engaging in the furniture business and conducting a store
in Cheney for fourteen years. He then farmed for a short time
on a farm near Cheney, which he cleared and improved, moving
back to Cheney in 1907. Owing to poor health, Mr. Rankin is
not engaged in any other but that of looking after his farming
interests in Sedgwick county. Politically, he is a lifelong
Republican.

Frank T. Ransom, cashier of the Union Stock Yards National
Bank, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Missouri, having been born
at St. Joseph, that state, on June 25, 1874. His parents were
A. Z. and Mary (Brenneman) Ransom, natives of Ohio and Penn-
sylvania, respectively. A. Z. Ransom was the son of W. Z. Ran-
som, who was an active figure in the upbuilding of St. Joseph, and
had much to do with the building of the first bridge across the
Missouri river at that point. He was also one of the first direc-
tors of the St. Joseph & Grand Island railroad. The parents of
Frank T. Ransom now reside in Denver, Colo. The latter was
educated in the public schools of St. Joseph, and was first

864 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

employed in 1893 by the firm of Tootle, Lemon & Co., bankers,
of that city, as a messenger boy. Having prior to that time made
a study of geology, he was a short time afterwards appointed
assistant state geologist of Missouri, a position he retained for
two and a half years, when he entered the banking house of
the Union Trust Company, of St. Louis, as passbook clerk. One
year later he accepted a position with the Mississippi Valley Trust
Company, of St. Louis, where he remained three years. He then
went to the National Stock Yards Bank, of East St. Louis, 111.,
where he remained for five years, and up to the time he took
charge of the Union Stock Yards National Bank in Wichita, as
cashier, in the spring of 1910. Mr. Ransom is well qualified for
his position, having had, as vice-president of the National Stock
Yards Bank, charge of the country banking division. There were
no accounts from banks when he began his work, but at the time
he left the bank he had brought the accounts from country banks
up to $2,000,000. His experience in stock yards business has
brought him in touch with methods of bringing together the buy-
ing and selling elements, an important feature he brings to th$,
Wichita yards. Mr. Ransom is a member of the Wichita Com-
mercial Club. He was married on December 30, 1902, to Miss
Rose Stephenson, of Linneus, Mo. One child has been born from
this union, Mary Margaret Ransom.

Virgil A. Reece,* cashier of the Goddard State Bank, of Sedg-
wick county, Kansas, is a native of the Sunflower state, having
been born in Sedgwick county on June 24, 1884. His parents
were Sylvester C. and Alice L. (Holcomb) Reece, both natives of
the state of North Carolina. Sylvester C. Reece now resides in
Attica township, Sedgwick county, where he is a large land owner
and a pioneer resident of the county. The education of Virgil A.
Reece was acquired in the public schools of Sedgwick county, in
the Sevic Academy of Wichita, and in the Wichita Business Col-
lege, where he took a business course. He then became book-
keeper for a large mercantile establishment in Wichita, and in
1907 he was appointed by the board of directors cashier in the
Goddard State Bank, the position he now holds. Mr. Reece was
married on September 7, 1909, in Clearwater, Kan., to Miss Lila
P. Yergler, a daughter of John C. Yergler, deceased. Fraternally
he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and a Repub-
lican in politics.

BIOGRAPHY 865

Arthur B. Reed,* of Wichita, Kan., is manager of the James
C. Smith Hide Company. The Smith company is incorporated,
with headquarters in Chicago, 111. Its officers are: W. H. Rich-
ards, president, St. Joseph, Mo. ; James C. Smith, vice-president ;
H. L. Page, treasurer, Topeka, Kan. ; George J. Barton, manager,
Grand Island, Neb.; H. C. Lyons, manager, Wichita, Kan.; A. B.
Reed, manager for wool, tallow, hides, furs and pelts. Mr. Reed
became manager of the Wichita office September 1, 1909. The
Wichita branch was established on June 1, 1904, and, starting with
a weekly business of 500 pounds of hides, now has a business of
three carloads per week. Mr. Reed was born in Bates county,
Missouri, April 15, 1884. He was educated in the public schools
of Missouri and Kansas, and began his business career with the
Smith company in 1902 at St. Joseph, Mo., and in 1904 was trans-
ferred to Wichita and employed as traveling salesman for the
company, covering Kansas and Oklahoma until September, 1909,
when he became local manager of the Wichita office. The Wichita
branch is one of the best paying branches of the company. Mr.
Reed was married on June 4, 1906, to Miss Elizabeth C. Fleming,
of St. Joseph, Mo.

Harry Reeder, a prosperous farmer of Sedgwick county, Kan-
sas, is a native of Quincy, 111. He was born March 28, 1867, and
is a son of Addison L. and Lucetta (Frazier) Reeder, who settled
on a quarter section of land in Sedgwick county in 1885, but who
returned to Missouri in 1890. Harry began his successful career
by buying a flock of sheep and renting a section of land in
Gypsum township, where he herded and cared for them. In
1904 he bought the southwest quarter of Section 23, in Gypsum
township, and has been eminently successful, carrying on general
farming and raising and feeding for the market cattle, hogs and
horses. He is a Democrat in political belief and is a member of
the Derby Lodge, No. 112, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1890 he married Miss Edith Sealock, a native of Indiana, and
a daughter of Mr. D. T. Sealock, who settled in Sedgwick county
in 1879.

Of two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Reeder the elder, Lee,
died in 1906, and Ray is now (1910) fourteen years of age.

Perry G. Rickard, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of New York
state, where he was born on February 3, 1848. His parents were
Lorenzo and Lucy (Parker) Rickard, the former a native of New
York and the latter of Ireland. The elder Rickard was a black-

866 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

smith by trade and moved to Wisconsin in 1850 with a family of
three children, and died in that state in 1883. Perry G. Rickard
attended the public schools of Wisconsin until his sixteenth year,
and then worked as a laborer on the farm until 1870. He was
then living in Neosha county, Kansas, and in the same year he
came to Sedgwick county and homesteaded a farm in Section 4
of Kechi township. Mr. Rickard is a member of the G. A. R. He
enlisted in the army in 1864 for 100 days' service in Company K,
Thirty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was
equipped at Madison, Wis., and did guard duty for its length of
service. After Mr. Rickard 's discharge he returned home to
Wisconsin and re-enlisted in Company H, Fifty-first Wisconsin
Volunteer Infantry. This regiment did guard duty and pro-
tected Government property. In 1865 the regiment was dis-
charged at Madison. In 1873 Mr. Rickard was married to Miss
Carrie L. Rhodes in Sedgwick county, Kansas. Mrs. Rickard
came West with her parents to Sedgwick county in 1873. Four
children have been born of this union, all of whom are now living.
They are : Ralph L., born September 14, 1875 ; Charles W., born
October 9, 1877 ; Bessie E., born September 19, 1885, and Ethel A.,
born June 29, 1888. Since the residence of Mr. Rickard in Sedg-
wick county he has held all the minor official positions of his
township. He is a Republican in politics and active in the inter-
ests of his party.

True B. Richardson, superintendent of the Red Star Mill and
Elevator Company, of Wichita, Kan., is a pioneer miller of
Wichita and southern Kansas. Mr. Richardson is a native of
Peoria, 111., where he was born December 27, 1856. His parents
were William and Mary (Dwyer) Richardson, natives of Hamil-
ton, Ohio. Both moved to Illinois with their parents when young.
William Richardson died at the close of the Civil War at the age
of fifty-eight, and his widow died in 1900 at the age of seventy-
four. True B. Richardson was the third child of a family of
four, three of whom are living. Mr. Richardson was educated in
the public schools of Peoria, 111., and the Canton (111.) High
School. He left school while in the senior class of 1875. During
school vacations he obtained employment in the old Phoenix flour
mill at Canton, and in this way began to learn the milling busi-
ness. In 1877 he went to St. Louis, Mo., for the purpose of gain-
ing a knowledge of milling machinery, and there learned to build
the new process mill. Being fully versed in this line of the mill-

BIOGEAPHY 867

ing process, together with the newer methods, he started on a
trip installing the new process mills in the state of Kansas. The
first mill of the new process to be installed in the state was at
Racine, where the old process was discarded for the new in the
existing mill. Other mills followed this one, all of which were
installed by Mr. Richardson, among them being the mills at
Great Bend and Walnut Creek. In 1879 Mr. Richardson first
came to Wichita and went with the Shelleberger mill, now known
as the Imboden Mills, located on Douglas avenue where the
Mahon Block now stands. In 1882 Mr. Richardson built the
Canal Roller Mills at Belle Plaine, Kan., and conducted this
establishment as proprietor for thirteen years. In 1894 Mr.
Richardson disposed of his interest in the Belle Plaine mill and
moved to Wichita, and the following year started the first mill
for the Howard Milling Company and was its superintendent
four years. He then built the plant now occupied by this com-
pany on West Douglas avenue and was its superintendent for
three and a half years, when failing health compelled him to
take a much needed rest for recuperation. In 1905 J. E. Howard
organized the Red Mill and Elevator Company, one of the
gigantic enterprises of Wichita, and Mr. Richardson was chosen
for its superintendent, which position he still holds. Mr. Rich-
ardson is a member of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce. Fra-
ternally, he is a member of the Masonic order and the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of St. John's Epis-
copal Church. Mr. Richardson was married on April 8, 1882,
to Miss Essie E. Farmer, daughter of Richard and Ann Farmer,
pioneers of Wichita.

George T. Riley, druggist, No. 1101 West Douglas avenue,
Wichita, Kan., was born in Illinois November 13, 1857. His
parents were Larkin M. and Elizabeth (Gardom) Riley, the
father being a native of Indiana and the mother of Pennsylvania.
The parents came to Illinois in 1846 and spent the balance of their
lives there. Both are now deceased. George T. Riley was edu-
cated in the public schools of his native town, Rileyville, the
Elgin Academy and the Eldorado (111.) High School. He began
his business career by clerking in a drug store at Gallatin, 111., in
1877, and later took a course in pharmacy at the St. Louis Col-
lege of Pharmacy, graduating in the class of 1881. In 1882 he
came to Kansas, where he was employed in the drug business with
his uncle, Samuel Gardom, at Council Grove, for a period of two

868 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

years, when he returned to his native state of Illinois, continuing
in the drug business until 1885, when he again came to Kansas.
Here he was in the drug business at Wellsville for a year, and
after a few months at Ravanna he located in Marion, where he
remained for nine years. At Marion he first entered the employ
of Taylor Riddell, and afterward became the partner of Mr.
Riddell, under the firm name of Riddell & Riley. This partner-
ship continued until 1895, when Mr. Riley withdrew from the
firm and took a course in the Kansas Medical College. In the
summer of 1896 Mr. Riley came to "Wichita and purchased the
"West Side drug store of A. F. Rowe, and has since continued
the same, enlarging as the trade of the growing city demanded.
A postal station of the postoffice was established at his store in
1901. Mr. Riley is keenly alive to the interests of Wichita and
all that tends to its onward development. He is treasurer of the
West Side Commercial League, a member of the Presbyterian
church, and fraternally is a member of the Masonic order, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was married on
September 5, 1883, to Miss Mary A. Deans, daughter of David
and Louisa Deans. From this union there has heen issue three
children, viz. : Roy M., Harry L. and Helen D. Riley.

William C. Robinson, one of the leading citizens of Mulvane,
Kan., is a native of the dominion of Canada, where he was born
in the province of Quebec on December 16, 1854. His parents
were John H. and Jane (McDonald) Robinson, both natives of
Quebec, where the elder Robinson died about 1865. His widow
came to the United States and settled in St. Lawrence county,
New York, where she died in 1870. William C. Robinson grew
to manhood in St. Lawrence county, where his education was com-
pleted, after which he was engaged in the mercantile business
with his elder brother, J. H. Robinson. He remained there until
the spring of 1880, when he came to Kansas, where he entered
the mercantile business in Mulvane in partnership with his
younger brother, Thomas. The affairs of the firm prospered, and
in 1887 the firm built the brick block in which Mr. Robinson's
business is now conducted. Thomas Robinson died in the spring
of 1889, and since that time William C. Robinson has been alone
in the business. On January 9, 1900, Mr. Robinson was elected
vice-president of the Mulvane State Bank, and on January 8, 1901,
was elected its president, which position he still holds. Mr. Rob-

BIOGEAPHY 869

inson is also vice-president of the Mulvane Ice and Cold Storage
Plant, which is incorporated with a capital of $15,000, and is
treasurer of the Mulvane Mutual Telephone Company. Mr. Rob-
inson is also interested in farming land, having 385 acres in
Sumner county and 160 acres in Butler county. On July 1, 1880,
he was married to Miss Margaret Shillinglaw, who was born in
Scotland. Her father came to the United States when Mrs. Rob-
inson was a child, and lived in Washington, D. C, and New York.
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have two children, William C, born
in 1881, and Jane M., born in 1891. Mr. Robinson has served as
mayor of Mulvane two terms. He is a Republican in politics.

Adolphus D. Russell, retired farmer and stock raiser and real
estate dealer, of Mulvane, Kan., was born in Tuscorawas county,
Ohio, on June 2, 1838. His parents were William R. and Char-
lotte (Waller) Russell. Mr. Russell, Sr., was born in Westmore-
land county, Maryland, on March 9, 1812, and his wife was born
in Sumerset county, Pennsylvania, on November 29, 1811. They
were married in Cadiz, Harrison county, Ohio, on March 10, 1833,
and their entire life was passed in Ohio, where Mrs. Russell died
on January 5, 1847, and Mr. Russell, Sr., on December 18, 1851.
Adolphus D. Russell remained in Ohio until January, 1863, when
he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and served until his discharge, in June, 1865.
After the war he returned to his home in Ohio, and in 1865 went
to Illinois, where he farmed nineteen years. In 1884 he came to
Kansas, locating in Sumner county, where he bought a farm in
Sections 1 and 2, Gore township, where he lived until 1901, when
he retired from farming and moved to Mulvane, where he engaged
in the raising of Duroc Jersey hogs. He continued this until
1910. In February and March, 1910, he platted an addition to
Mulvane of nine acres. On November 7, 1860, Mr. Russell was
married to Miss Rachel Poulson, who was born in Cadiz, Ohio,
August 14, 1840. She was a daughter of James and Maria
(Brown) Poulson. Her father was born in Maryland and her
mother was born in Donpanaha, Ireland, on February 22, 1808,
being of Scotch and Irish descent. Mr. and Mrs. Russell have
had six children, four of whom are living. Those living are :
William, of Clarence, Mo. ; Mrs. Alice Axtell, of Davidson, Okla. ;
Mrs. Anna Smith, of Corvallis, Ore., and Mrs. Nellie Dickinson, of
Mulvane, Kan. In Tazewell county, Illinois, Mr. Russell served
as township supervisor for seven years and on the board of trus-

870 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

tees as ditch commissioner; in Sumner county, Kansas, hs was
township trustee, and in 1907-08 in Mulvane one of the council-
men. He is one of the stockholders of the Farmers' State Bank
of Mulvane. Mr. Russell is a member of Mulvane Lodge, No. 201,
A. F. and A. M. He was a charter member of Hopedale Lodge,
No. 203, A. F. and A. M., of Tazewell county, Illinois. In Iroquois
county, Illinois, he was master of Sheldon Lodge seven years.
Mr. Russell is a liberal in politics and a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church.

Thornton W. Sargent, a prominent member of the bar of
Wichita, Kan., was born at Piketon, Pike county, Ohio, in 1859,
and is a son of James and Lydia Sargent. After finishing his
studies in the schools of his native town he entered the University
of Michigan, where he was graduated with the degree of bachelor
of arts in 1882. He then entered the law department of Columbia
University, Washington, D. C. (now known as the George Wash-
ington University), and there received the degree of bachelor of
laws in 1884. The following year he took a post graduate course
and was admitted to the bar at Washington.

In 1886 Mr. Sargent settled at Wichita and began the practice
of his profession, with an office at No. 124 North Main street, and
soon built up a lucrative practice, becoming known as a safe and
reliable counselor and successful advocate. His present office is
at No. 412 Barnes building, and besides conducting a general
practice, he is general counsel for the Farmers and Bankers Life
Insurance Company. In 1889 Mr. Sargent was selected to give a
course of lectures before the law classes of Garfield University.
In 1893 Mr. Sargent married Miss Emily W., daughter of Dr. R.
Wirth, of Columbus, Ohio. They have two sons, viz. : James
Wirth and Thornton W. Sargent, Jr.

August J. Saur, druggist, of Wichita, Kan., better known as
"Gus" Saur, has been longer in the business of dispensing drugs
than any other druggist in Wichita. The District of Columbia
is the place of his nativity, he having been born in the city of
Washington on December 19, 1856. He is a son of the late Dr. L.
Saur, well known in Wichita in the early days, and Mary Krauft.
Dr. Saur came to Wichita in April, 1879, and soon afterward
began the practice of medicine. August J. Saur followed his
father to Wichita in September, 1879, and first started in the
drug business between Topeka and Lawrence avenues on the
north side of Douglas avenue, and there continued until April 1,

BIOGRAPHY 871

1880, when he removed to his present location, at No. 524 East
Douglas avenue, and has since continued business successfully.
Dr. Saur died in January, 1889, at the age of seventy. The
history of the Saur family can be traced back for a period of 385
years, and while now distinctly German, was at an early date
interwoven with the French. August J. Saur has one brother,
George C. Saur, who was associated in business with him as clerk
for a period of eleven years, but is now a resident of Hennesy,
Okla., where he located in 1897. August J. Saur was educated
in the public schools of Lansing, Mich., and early in life went to
Chicago, where he began in business as a drug clerk with C.
Herman Plautz, and continued with him until October, 1874,
when he entered the employ of P. L. Milleman, and continued
with him until he came to Wichita. Mr. Saur is a member of the
Consistory, is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the
Shrine, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, the Sons of Herrmann and the East-
ern Star. He was married in 1889 to Miss Ida Redmond, of Minne-
sota, a native of Germany. Of this union two children have been
born, Edith Beatrice and Hazel M. Saur.

Edward J. Schwartz, manufacturer of cement stone, whose
plant is located at No. 559 West Douglas avenue, Wichita Kan.,
is a native of Missouri, in which state he was born at Palmyra on
February 28, 1859. He acquired his education in the Missouri
public schools and St. Paul College. He was engaged in the
wagon, lumber and implement business, and in 1885 moved to
Harper, Kan., where he had charge of the Badger Lumber Com-
pany. He continued with this company until the spring of 1887,
when he was transferred to Wichita, and worked in a lumber
yard for the same company. In 1895 Mr. Schwartz joined the
firm of Schwartz Bros., the members of the firm being F. J., E. J.
and C. A. Schwartz, in the lumber and coal business. He later
went to Iola, Kan., where he was in the lumber business till July,
1908, when he returned to Wichita in March, 1909. He began
the manufacture of concrete building stone and now conducts
one of the largest plants in the city, which he has managed suc-
cessfully, employing an average of ten hands. The product of
the plant is used in the city and also shipped to local points.
Fraternally, Mr. Schwartz is a member of the Masonic order
and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was

872 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

married in 1882 to Miss Ida Yancey, of Palmyra, Mo. Two chil-
dren have been born of this union, Harold E. and Myrl Schwartz.

Levi G. Scheetz, of "Wichita, Kan., is not only one of the oldest
real estate dealers in the city in point of service, but can fairly
lay claim to being among the pioneers of the state. He is a
native of the Keystone State, having been born at Doylestown,
Pa., in 1844. He is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (George)
Scheetz, who belonged to the thrifty Pennsylvania Dutch resi-
dents of Pennsylvania. Young Scheetz was educated at the
public schools of his native town, but the call of the West was
too strong to allow him to stay there, and in 1869 he decided to
change his location. He came to Kansas in 1869, in the days
when the state was just beginning to develop. He settled first
at Topeka, but one year later removed to Emporia, and after
remaining there a year, removed to Eldorado. Here he remained
for three years, and in 1874, attracted by the possibilities that
Wichita held out, he came to this city and engaged in the mer-
cantile business. In 1883 he embarked in the real estate business,
in which he has ever since been engaged. Besides dealing exten-
sively in Kansas and Wichita property, Mr. Scheetz has made a
specialty of handling timber lands and ranches in different states,
and has been the means of bringing many thousands of settlers
to the West.

Peter Schulte is one of the prosperous farmers of Sedgwick
county, Kansas, who has attained success by dint of hard work
and perseverance in the face of many difficulties. A native of
Germany, he was born March 18, 1851, and is a son of Peter and
Marina (Drixelves) Schulte. At the urgent persuasion of his
father, and against his own wishes, our subject, with barely
enough money to pay his passage, sailed from Bremen to
New York, with the purpose of joining a sister, Mrs. John Spin-
gob, who was then living in Sedgwick county, Kansas. Arriving
at New York, he found himself out of money and unable to get
work, and was obliged to write his sister for money to pay his
railway fare to Wichita, where he landed at eleven o'clock at
night, carrying all his possessions in a hand grip. He at once
found work and the first year earned $180, and the next, bought a
yoke of oxen. In 1875 he preempted a quarter-section in Illinois
township and built a dugout and lived there. He afterwards
built a stone house and lived there till 1891. Not meeting with
the success he desired, Mr. Schulte sold this place and bought a

BIOGKAPHY 873

quarter-section on time, making five annual payments. From
that time on he was greatly prospered and from time to time
added to his holdings until at the present time (1910) his posses-
sions in Illinois township amount to 1,040 acres, a part of this
being a one-third interest in forty acres at the village of Schulte,
which was named in honor of him. He also owns the elevator and
a fine large frame building at this place, all accumulated since
1891. Mr. Schulte has served on the local school board a number
of years. He is independent in political matters. In religious
belief he is a Catholic, and is identified with the Catholic church
of Schulte, located upon five acres of land which he and two other
men donated to the church.

In 1876, Mr. Schulte married Miss Catherine, daughter of
Thomas and Mary (Conroy) Manning, who came from Iowa in
1874 and settled in Sedgwick county. Of ten children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Schulte, William M., born March 1, 1878, married
Miss Nellie Lane, and they have five children, viz. : Lewis, Alvina,
Harold, Earl and Pauline ; Joseph P., born October 2, 1879, mar-
ried Miss Celia Faker, two children : Augusta C, born November
28, 1906, died December 7, 1909, and Alberta C. Schulte. John
P. was born March 26, 1882; Mary A. was born September 16,
1883, and is married to Mr. George Patry and four children have
been born, viz. : Leonard, Catharine and Cecelia ; Joseph P., born
February 19, 1908, died February 14, 1909. Charles M., born
January 15, 1886 ; Frances T., born January 12, 1888 ; Thomas A.,
born August 9, 1890; Celia E., born March 16, 1893, and James
B., born August 20, 1897, all alive, at home with their parents.
Anthony, who was born January 17, 1896, died November 11, 1909.

Garrison Scott, county commissioner of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in
Ohio September 12, 1851. His parents were David and Sarah
(Fuhrman) Scott. His mother traced her remote ancestry to
Germany. The father of the family had three children, of whom
Garrison Scott was the first born. The mother of the latter died
on July 4, 1909. Garrison Scott was educated in the public
schools of Illinois up to his sixteenth year. The years previous
to his marriage he worked as a laborer in Illinois. He was mar-
ried on March 31, 1874, in Bloomington, 111., to Miss Alice C.
Keefer, a daughter of H. C. M. Keefer, of Logan county, Illinois.
Two children were born of this union. Mr. Scott, after his mar-
riage, emigrated to Sedgwick county, Kansas, where he bought

874 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

a farm of 160 acres in Section 28, Kechi township, which he
afterwards traded for another farm in Section 22 of the same
township, which he now owns, and has added to this other farms,
so that he has acquired up to date 720 acres of fine land, which
he has improved with his own industry. He has been very suc-
cessful in raising hogs and cattle, and has made a specialty of
buying and selling heavy draft horses which have commanded
large prices. Mr. Scott is a Democrat in his political belief. He
has served as county commissioner, since 1906, of Sedgwick
county. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and he and his wife worship in the Christian church in
an adjoining township. Mr. Scott is a hale and hearty man,
and takes an interest in all things that benefit his home and
county.

J. Ira Sellers, of Wichita, Kan., is the proprietor of the Cement
Block Works, located on the West Side. Mr. Sellers is a native
of the "show me" state, having been born in Harrison county,
Missouri, on February 16, 1872. His parents were Levin and
Elizabeth (Milligan) Sellers, natives of east Tennessee, who later
removed to Missouri. J. Ira Sellers acquired his education in
the public schools of Missouri, and later taught for a period of
seven years in the schools of his native state. He came to
Wichita in 1898 and was variously in the employ of J. H. Turner
and others prior to opening up his present industry. It is now a
quarter of a century since the first cement building blocks were
manufactured by Martin Heller in Wichita, and since that time
rapid strides have been made in this line of manufacturing, until
now Wichita has such plants as the one conducted by Mr. Sellers
and others on the West Side. The Sellers plant was organized
and began business March 1, 1909, and during its first season
manufactured 100,000 blocks, while the outlook for the second
season points to a greatly increased production. Fraternally,
Mr. Sellers is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
He was married at Cunningham, Kan., in 1898, to Miss Estella
Watkins, daughter of E. T. Watkins. From this union there has
been issue three children, viz. : Neva W., Lela Belle and Ray
Victor.

Le Roy W. Scott, trustee of Park township, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born in La Salle county, Illinois, on August 25, 1859.
His parents were Josiah and Catherine Scott, the father being a
native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Ohio. His parents are

BIOGRAPHY 875

both dead. The elder Scott left Illinois in 1870 and located in
Park township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, homesteading 160 acres
of land in Section 21. He sold and bought up land in the same
township and lived there until he died in 1902. Le Roy W. Scott
acquired his education in the public schools of Illinois and at the
Morris, 111., academy, which he attended two years. Mr. Scott
has served his township as trustee for three terms. He is a Re-
publican and active in party affairs. Fraternally Mr. Scott is a
member of the Masonic order, of Wichita Consistory, No. 2, and
of the Shrine. Mr. Scott was married December 16, 1885, in
Fremont, Neb., to Miss Carrie Taylor. Six children have been
born of this union, viz. : L. B., Vera, Ray, Earl, Pauline and Helen.

William Sence, city clerk of Wichita, Kan., is a native of
Indiana, having been born in Cass county, that state, on Novem-
ber 16, 1863. His parents were Isaac and Amanda (Rotroff)
Sence, natives of Maryland, who moved to Indiana in 1850, and
are still residing on the same farm they acquired at that time.
Mr. Sence was educated at the public schools of his native town
and at the Northern Indiana Normal school at Valparaiso, Ind.,
and his work as a teacher in his native state continuing for three
years. In 1886 he moved to Kansas and continued teaching for
fourteen years in Sedgwick and Cowley counties. Mr. Sence
was superintendent of schools of Sedgwick county in 1901-03,
deputy county clerk 1905-09, and was appointed clerk of the city
of Wichita for the term of 1909-11. He has been superintendent
of the South Lawrence Christian Church Sunday school for six
years. Fraternally, Mr. Sence is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and a trustee of Wichita Lodge, No. 93,
and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, Wichita Lodge,
No. 44. In 1893 he was married to Miss Lizzie Hotsepillar, of
Ohio. Two children have been born of this union, Basil L. and
Virgil Sence.

William W. Shafer, a successful farmer of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born December 6, 1844, in Delaware county, Indiana.
His parents were William P and Harriet Shafer, both natives of
Pennsylvania. William W. Shafer went with his parents from
Indiana to Illinois when he was only twelve years old. His father
died in Illinois in 1849 and his mother died in 1897. Mr. Shafer
came to Sedgwick county from Illinois in 1872 and pre-empted
160 acres of land in Section 33, Attica township. He was married
April 25, 1872, in Jerseyville, 111., to Miss Keturah Magee. Two

876 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

children have been born of this union, both of whom are living.
Pearl is now Mrs. Holmes Henshaw, and lives in Kings county,
California ; Leota, her sister, is single. She possesses a good
common school education and is highly accomplished in music.
She was forced to abandon teaching music on acount of poor
health and is at present the organist of the Methodist Episcopal
church at Goddard, Kan. Mr. Shafer is a Eepublican in politics.
Thomas H. Shannon, physician and surgeon, of Cheney, Kan.,
was born October 24, 1835, in Tuscorara county, Ohio. His
parents were Enos and Malinda (Johnson) Shannon. On the
paternal side the doctor remotely traces his ancestry to Ireland,
although his father and mother were both natives of Ohio. His
father was born in 1804 and his mother in 1809. In 1850 the
doctor's parents moved from Ohio to Illinois and located at
Astoria, Fulton county, where the father bought a farm on which
he lived until his death, at the age of sixty-five. Dr. Shannon
obtained his early education in the public schools of Illinois and
studied medicine with Toler & Steel, physicians in Astoria, for
three years. He then attended the State Medical University at
Keokuk, Iowa, graduating in 1859 with the degree of M.D. The
same year he began practice and occupied the same office in
Astoria which his first preceptors had, and established a large
and lucrative practice. The doctor is a member of the Allopathic
school and on examination the Eclectic Medical College of Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, gave him a diploma to practice in that school. In
September of 1866 the doctor removed to Le Roy, Kan., where he
practiced his profession successfully for ten years, and then
removed in Wichita in 1876 and practiced there for one year,
and then located on a government claim, where he remained until
1884, engaged in his profession and farming also. He then
located in Cheney, and is the oldest physician in the place, but
one other man, Dr. Ingleman, having preceded him when the
town was first organized. On April 30, 1857, Dr. Shannon was
married to Miss Sarah M. Gallaher, of Astoria, 111. Five children
have been born of this union, of whom only one, Gertrude, is
living. She married Mr. E. D. Lieurance, an attorney of Wichita,
but later moved to Denver, Colo., and they have two children,
Leonidas, a deceased son of the doctor, left four .children. Dr.
Shannon is a Catholic in religious belief. In politics he was a
Democrat, supporting Stephen A. Douglas, but afterwards became

BIOGEAPHY 877

a strong admirer of Abraham Lincoln, and has since affiliated
with the Republican party.

S. D. Shaw, head of the S. D. Shaw Barber Supply Company,
of Wichita, Kan., is an excellent type of the men who have made
Wichita the city that it is from a commercial standpoint. With
little capital but plenty of grit, Mr. Shaw has built up one of
the largest businesses in his special line that there is in the
Southwest. Mr. Shaw is a native of Ohio, having been born at1
Columbus, the capital of the state, on January 9, 1856. His
parents were Samuel and Virginia (Lane) Shaw, natives of Ohio
and West Virginia, respectively. His early education was ac-
quired in district schools. He came to Kansas in 1871, when a
young man, and engaged in herding cattle on the plains in
Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, being in the employ of Perry
Wilson. After following this occupation for some years he
returned to Ohio and to Columbus in 1877, where he took up the
barber's trade. In 1889 he came back to Wichita and engaged
in the barber business and later in the grocery business. He
then took up the barber and barbers' supply business, which he
has since continued with success. His first location was at No.
317 East Douglas avenue, Wichita, in 1898, and he started with
a capital of $200. The business continued to thrive and grow,
until in 1907 the need of more spacious quarters became impera-
tive, and in that year the business was removed to the quar-
ters it now occupies, at No. 333 North Main street. It is now
the largest of its kind to be found in southern Kansas, employing
traveling salesmen throughout the Southwest and doing an
annual business of nearly $60,000. Mr. Shaw was married on
April 3, 1881, to Miss Racy Ingalls, of Morrisonville, 111. From
this union two children have been born, Zura and Lottie, the
former being the secretary of the Barber Supply Company and
active in the operations of the store.

Dr. S. T. Shelly, of Mulvane, Kan., is a native of Missouri,
having been born at Memphis, in that state, on May 4, 1856. He
is a son of Addison and Lucinda (Hoover) Shelly, both his parents
being natives of Virginia. The father was born in October, 1826,
and the mother was born in October, 1828. They were married
in Virginia, and went to Missouri in the pioneer days, and still
reside there. They were the parents of eight children, the five
still living being Marcellus, of Montana; Mrs. Susan Leach, of
Missouri; Mrs. Lottie Fullen, of Memphis, Mo.; Mrs. Alice Mc-

878 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Lain, of Des Moines, la,, and Dr. S. T. Shelly, of Mulvane. The
latter received his education at the State Normal School at Kirks-
ville, Mo., and the Missouri Medical College, at St. Louis, from
which he was graduated in the class of 1883. He came to Kansas
on January 22, 1880, and located at Mulvane, where he has been
engaged in the practice of his profession ever since. On Septem-
ber 4, 1879, the doctor was married to Miss Callie C. Stone, who
was born in Sacramento Valley on January 23, 1856, a daughter
of Lewis and Catharine Stone. Dr. and Mrs. Shelly have been the
parents of seven children, viz. : Gertrude, born August 16, 1880,
died February 16, 1881 ; Gerald H., born November 18, 1881, and
now a practicing physician in Mulvane ; Mrs. Jennie Nessly, born
February 16, 1884 ; Christine, born March 25, 1888, and died May
12, 1893 ; Paul, born March 28, 1890, and died October 29, 1891 j
Carroll S., born December 26, 1894, and Dorris M., born May 11,
1897. Dr. Shelly, in addition to his practice, owns a ranch of 320
acres in Rockford township, one-half mile east of Mulvane, which
is devoted to alfalfa and stock. His cattle are of the Holstein
strain. The doctor is also interested in the alfalfa mill, the ice
and cold storage plant and the Mulvane Mutual Telephone Com-
pany. Fraternally he is a member of Mulvane Lodge, No. 201,
A. F. and A. M. ; the ancient Order of United "Workmen, the Fra-
ternal Aid, and he has been the local surgeon of the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad for a quarter of a century. The
doctor is also a member of the American Medical Association, the
Kansas state society, is ex-president of the South Kansas Medical
Society and ex-president of the Sumner County Medical Society.
He is also medical examiner for a number of the old line life in-
surance companies. In politics the doctor is a Democrat and a
Presbyterian in religious faith.

Aaron L. Shew, of Cheney, Kan., veteran of the Civil War,
was born September 27, 1837, in Susquehanna county, Pennsyl-
vania. His parents were Cornelius L. and Sarah (Benedict)
Shew. The father was a native of New York and the mother of
Pennsylvania. Mr. Shew; traces his ancestry on the paternal side
to Holland. Gen. Israel Putnam was a distant relative on the
paternal side. On the mother's side his ancestors also partici-
pated in the Revolutionary War. The father of Mr. Shew, with
his family, moved from Pennsylvania to Muscatine county, Iowa,
in 1862, his wife having died in 1865 at Wilton Junction, Iowa.
The elder Shew died in Harvey county, Kansas, in 1883. The

BIOGRAPHY 879

education of A. L. Shew was limited to the public schools of Penn-
sylvania. In early life he learned the trade of a millwright,
which he followed off and on for several years. After engaging
in farming at the age of twenty-two he abandoned this to go to
the defense of his country, and on June 19, 1863, he enlisted for
three months in Company F, Twenty-ninth Volunteer Infantry,
of Pennsylvania. The regiment was on patrol duty nearly all
the time he was in the service. Mr. Shew was discharged on
August 1, 1863, and in September of the same year re-enlisted
as a private in Company H, First New York Veteran Cavalry,
and went to Camp Stoneman, near Alexandria, Va., where they
remained until February, when they went to Halltown and re-
mained until April, 1864. When the regiment was stationed at
Martinsburgh, W. Va., where General Sigel took charge, they
did picket duty near Harpers Ferry, Va. Mr. Shew was detached
from his regiment at Waterloo early in May to do special recon-
noitering work. After the engagement at Mount Jackson, May
16 and 17, 1864, the army retreated to Martinsburgh and General
Hunter took charge. Mr. Shew participated in the battle of
Piedmont, W. Va., where 1,700 prisoners were taken, and his
regiment took charge of the prisoners, taking them across the
Allegheny mountains, being four days without retions, and deliv-
ered the prisoners at Beverly. So varied were the movements
of Mr. Shew while in line of duty that it would be impossible to
do more than generalize upon them. He participated in Sheri-
dan's raid in the Shenandoah valley, and went into winter quar-
ters at Camp Piatte on the Big Kanawa run. Mr. Shew was dis-
charged at Rochester, N. Y., July 20, 1865. After the close of
the war he returned to Wilton Junction, Iowa, on a visit to his
parents, and afterwards went to Galva, 111., and managed a large
stock farm for his brother-in-law until 1869. He then returned
to Wilton Junction, where he engaged in bridge building on the
Rock Island railroad. He resided with his family at several
different places in Iowa and Kansas. In 1872, with headquarters
at Topeka, Kan., was assistant foreman of the bridge and building
department of the eastern division. In 1875 he took charge of
the bridge and building department of the Santa Fe railroad
from Newton to Pueblo, with headquarters at Newton. In 1879
he resigned his position on the Santa Fe and engaged in the
produce and commission business in Newton. After a short time
he traded his Newton business for a farm in Harvey, where he

880 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

remained until 1884, when he moved to Cheney, where he has
practically retired from a busy life. Mr. Shew and wife are
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has been a class
leader and steward for twenty-two years. In politics Mr. Shew
is independent. He was married on December 27, 1870, at Sus-
quehanna, Pa., to Miss Lizzie McLoughlin, of Iowa City, Iowa.
One child has been born of this union, Lenora L., married to H. G.
Warwick, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and she has a daughter eighteen
years old.

Charles E. Shreve, proprietor of the Cash Meat Market, No.
825 West Douglas avenue, Wichita, Kan., is a native of Ohio, in
which state he was born in Mahoning county on October 16, 1868.
His parents were Ezra D. and Celia (Petett) Shreve, who moved
to Kansas over a quarter of a century ago, first locating in Sedg-
wick county and a short time thereafter moving to Sumner
county. In 1896 the family moved to Wichita, where the father
started in the meat business under the firm name of Shreve &
Son, Charles E. being the partner. After five years the firm
changed to the cattle business, and for seven years carried on an
extensive trade in buying, trading and selling cattle. In 1903
Charles E. Shreve opened his present place of business on the
West Side, and has since enjoyed a prosperous trade. Charles E.
Shreve had only a limited opportunity for schooling, and has
obtained his education in the practical business life which he has
followed. He is a member of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce,
the West Side Commercial League and the Fraternal Aid. On
September 27, 1891, Mr. Shreve was married to Miss Lucy
Spencer, daughter of Calvin and Julia Spencer, of Eldorado,
Kan. Two children have been born of this union, Blanche H.
and Homer Shreve.

Frank W. Shuler, of the firm of Shuler Bros., contractors and
builders, No. 118 East Third street, Wichita, Kan., is a native of
Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, where he was born on August 13,
1863. His parents were Mandes and Mariana (Dubbs) Shuler,
natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. The parents
moved to Kansas in 1879, locating at Topeka, where the father
was engaged in general contracting work. The mother died in
1882 and the father in 1902. Frank W. Shuler is the third child
of a family of five. He was educated in the public schools of
Hamilton, Ohio, and began work as an apprentice at the car-
penter's trade at the age of thirteen, which occupation he has

BIOGRAPHY 881

since followed in the general contracting and building line. The
first firm organized was with his brothers, and was made up as
follows: B. M. Shuler, H. E. Shuler and F. W. Shuler, under
the firm name of Shuler Bros. This was later changed to F. "W.
& H. E. Shuler, and is now composed of B. M. & F. W. Shuler.
These brothers have operated in various towns in Kansas, coming
first to Sedgwick county in the fall of 1884, later to Clark county,
then to Topeka, and locating in Wichita in the fall of 1890,
where they have since conducted a good business. The firm has
been established at Fairmount since 1896. It has built all classes
of structures, from farm residences to churches, Fairmount Col-
lege dormitory and city residences. Mr. Shuler was married in
November, 1889, to Miss Jessie B. Williams, of Columbus, Kan.
Four children have been born of this union, viz. : Harry E. and
Elgie M., twins, and Alston W. and Algerine.

Hiram W. Silknitter is a prosperous farmer of Sedgwick
county, Kansas. A native of Indiana, he was born in 1849, and
is a son of Soloman and Catharine (Carter) Silknitter, the former
a native of Pennsylvania and of Hollandish ancestry. They moved
to Iowa in 1849 and settled on a farm and died there, the father
in 1865 and the mother in 1899. Our subject passed his youth
and early manhood in Iowa, but in 1872 removed to Sedgwick
county, Kansas, and pre-empted and settled on a quarter section
of land in Gypsum township, which he has improved and con-
verted into a model farm, carrying on general farming.

In 1883 Mr. Silknitter married Miss Anna McNeal, a daughter
of Mr. Worthington McNeal, of Iowa, who died in 1885, leaving
one child, Myrtle, who was born in 1884. She is now married
and lives in Wichita, and has one child named Montana Lillian
Kussell.

In political opinion, Mr. Silknitter is a Democrat.

Charles W. Simmons, of Wichita, Kan., ex-sheriff of Sedgwick
county, is a native of Wisconsin, having been born in Monroe,
Green county, on December 17, 1847. He is a son of C. J. and
Mary (Allison) Simmons, natives of North Carolina and Illinois,
respectively. The parents of Mr. Simmons removed to Wisconsin
from Illinois in the spring of 1847, where the father purchased
land and followed the occupation of farming. Here he reared a
family of fourteen children, thirteen of whom are living. Charles
W. Simmons was their third child. The education of the lad was
obtained in the public schools of his native town, and after finish-

882 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

ing school he remained on the home farm until he attained his
majority, when he left the parental roof and began for himself
in Buchanan county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming. It was
in October, 1870, that he came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and
camped on land which he now owns in Kechi township. He made
the trip from Iowa to Kansas in a wagon, first going to Linn
county, Kansas, and then continuing to Sedgwick county, where
he proved up a claim in Minneha township, which he afterward
sold. He then went to Caldwell for a short time, but soon after-
ward returned to his first choice, Kechi township, where he
secured a homestead which he improved. The period known as
the "grasshopper year" came as a discouragement, and he re-
turned to his native state on a visit. After the plague had
ceased he made the return trip to Kansas by wagon, and found
that his farm then gave every indication of fertility. He began
once more with renewed vigor to surmount all obstacles, believing
that Sedgwick county had a future for the -farmer. Mr. Simmons
later bought a farm in Valley Center township, and first became
a resident of Wichita in 1880, where he bought and sold hay for
a time, when he again returned after two years to Kechi town-
ship, and farming, as the boom period had made conditions rather
uncertain. He engaged in farming for a period of four years,
when he was made undersheriff of Sedgwick county under B. R.
Royce, resigning after having held the position fourteen months.
He then purchased the Mammoth Livery business in Wichita,
which he conducted until November, 1902, when he sold it to fill
the office of sheriff of Sedgwick county, to which he was elected
by a large majority that year on the Republican ticket. Mr.
Simmons served in the office for five years. Since his retirement
from office he has been engaged in the hay and real estate busi-
ness. One of the important things during his term of office as
sheriff was his efficiency in the celebrated Jester case. The only
other political office held by Mr. Simmons was that of township
clerk in Kechi township. Mr. Simmons is a member of Valley
Center Lodge, No. 364, A. F. and A. M., of the Consistory, Knights
of Pythias and Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Fra-
ternal Aid. He was married in 1873 to Miss Parilee Dadisman,
of Sedgwick county. Of this union there has been issue Daisy E.,
Lilly P., Durward C, Georgia and Charles D., the latter dying at
the age of two years.

BIOGRAPHY 883

James M. Simmons, head of the J. M. Simmons Plumbing
Company, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of West Virginia, having
been born in Roane county, that state, on April 14, 1884. His
parents were M. F. and Nellie (Daniels) Simmons, natives of
West Virginia and England, respectively. The elder Simmons
was a timberman, but has now retired from business and is still
living in West Virginia. His wife and the mother of James M.
died in 1895. James M. Simmons was the second child of a family
of four children, all of whom are living. He was educated in
the public schools of West Virginia, the Spencer High school and
the Mountain State Business College, Parkersburg, W. Va. He
began his business career in the wholesale and retail grocery
business, in which he continued for two years. He early learned
the plumber's trade, and came West in 1902, locating first in
Independence, Kan., and moving next to Winfield, where for
eighteen months he was engaged in plumbing work, at the end
of which time he came to Wichita. Here he obtained employ-
ment with the R. R. Moore Plumbing Company and remained
with it until 1905, when he established the J. M. Simmons Plumb-
ing Company, which he has conducted with more than average
success. The establishment of the company is located at No. 428
North Main street. Fraternally, Mr. Simmons is a member of
Sunflower Lodge, No. 86, A. F. and A. M., and of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows. He was married on December 25, 1905,
to Miss Bessie Sigler, daughter of William Sigler, of Floral, Kan.
From this union one child has been born, Millard William
Simmons.

Henry H. Snyder, * of Mulvane, Kan., a prosperous retired
farmer, and a prominent citizen of Sedgwick county, was born in
Whitley county, Kentucky, on February 15, 1845. His parents
were William and Jane (Martin) Snyder, both natives of Ken-
tucky. The elder Snyder was born in 1808, and his wife in 1816.
They were married at Cumberland Gap and in 1851 moved to
Missouri, near the Iowa line, where they remained until 1863,
when they came to Salina, Kan. Mr. Snyder, Sr., was a farmer
and only lived about one year after coming to Kansas, his death
occurring in 1864. His widow lived until 1879. They were the
parents of eleven children, ten of whom lived to maturity. The
children were : Mrs. Nancy Gierschand, deceased ; John, who died
when young ; Sidney, who married Perry Eaton, and is deceased ;
Sarah Morrison, deceased ; Mrs. Amanda Giersch, deceased ; Mrs.

884 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Lucinda Beard, deceased; Henry H, of Mulvane; George, of
Salina ; Mrs. Mary Osmond, deceased ; Quince, of Udahl, Kan. ;
Mrs. Julia Parsons, deceased; Mrs. Susan Pitman, of Rockford
township. Henry H. Snyder came to Kansas in 1862 and stopped
at Salina. In 1869 he came to Sedgwick county, but returned to
Salina. In August, 1870, he removed to Sedgwick county and
preempted 160 acres in Section 8, Rockford township. He
brought about 300 head of catle with him, but they all died of
Texas fever except eleven. Mr. Snyder improved his claim and
held it until 1882, when he sold it and bought 160 acres in Section
27, Rockford township, which he still owns and has added to until
he now owns 300 acres, all in Rockford township. August 1,
1867, Mr. Snyder married Miss Elizabeth Farris, who was born
in Kentucky on January 6, 1852, a daughter of Lindsey and Nancy
Farris. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder have been the parents of five chil-
dren. They are : William, who owns a farm adjoining his fa-
ther's; Charles, deceased; Amy, deceased; Fred, who is living on
the old home place, and Mrs. Ray Shafer, of Sumner county. Mr.
Snyder for many years bought and sold cattle and did diversified
farming. He served as township treasurer, but was averse to
holding office. In 1909 he built him a pleasant home in Mulvane
and retired from active life. He and his wife are members of the
Christian church at Mulvane.

Edwin I. Spencer is recognized as one of the successful men
of Wichita, Kan. He is a native of Wisconsin and was born in
1856 to B. and Philena Spencer. He passed his early life
in his native state, but in 1879 went to Colorado and for
two years was employed sawmilling, mining and freighting
with a six-mule team, jerk-line and tail-wagon. Returning
to Wisconsin, he turned his attention to farming some three
years, and in 1884 went to Russell, Kan., and began his career
as a real estate dealer, handling Union Pacific railway lands.
While thus employed he was several times called 'to Wichita,
and finally, in 1887, settled here, opening his office at No. 144
North Main street. Mr. Spencer, during the twenty-three years
of his residence in Wichita, has had varied experience and his
full share of ups and downs in business ; but always hopeful, he
kept steadily at it, with the result that he has been able to meet
and overcome difficulties and achieve, on the whole, most gratify-
ing success. Among the enterprises with which he has been
connected is the Wichita Land and Abstract Company, which

BIOGRAPHY 885

he helped to organize and with which he was for a time identified.
At the present time — 1910 — he is identified with the Tampatal
Land Company, of which the officers are : E. I. Spencer, presi-
dent ; R. H. Hutchinson, vice-president ; W. A. Rankins, secretary,
and M. D. Hatch, assistant secretary and treasurer, and which is
engaged in colonizing a tract if 23,000 acres of land it owns,
located some seventy-five miles west of Tampico, Mexico.

Mr. Spencer is the inventor and patentee of the Wichita Auto
Jack, which he expects soon to place on the market. He has his
office at No. 312 Barnes building.

In December, 1880, Mr. Spencer married Miss Eva M. Felch,
of Wisconsin. Of seven children born to them, three died in
early childhood. Those surviving are De La Mater, who is
employed in his father's office; Lucile, now in her third year in
the high school, and Maxine and Kenneth, who are pupils in the
grammar school.

Mr. Spencer is somewhat active in fraternal orders, being a
Mason and a member of the Wichita Consistory, and belonging
to the Mystic Shrine at Mexico City, Mexico. He also belongs
to the Wichita Chamber of Commerce.

John E. Stanley, concrete block manufacturer of Cheney, Kan.,
was born February 29, 1848, at Benington, Wyoming county, New
York. His parents were Edwin and Eliza Stanley, both natives
of Connecticut. On the paternal side the ancestry of the family
is traced to Wales and on the maternal to Germany. The early
education of John E. Stanley was acquired in the public schools
of Wyoming county, and he attended for two years the Wyoming
Academy at Wyoming. At the age of nineteen he learned the
trade of a painter. He came West after he had finished his edu-
cation and worked at his trade in Vinton, Iowa, one year. He
then moved to Manhattan, Kan., in 1869, and the following year
to Wichita, which he made his headquarters for a number of
years while he herded cattle in Kansas. Mr. Stanley made
several moves before he managed to find the exact spot that was
to his liking. For a time he conducted a livery business in
McPherson county, Kansas. He was married on May 27, 1877, to
Miss Amanda Pinkerton, of McPherson county. The parents of
the bride came from Missouri. Three children have been born of
this union, Thomas, Carrie and Mary. Thomas married Miss
Jeannette Wing and has three children. Carrie was married to
W. H. McCue of Cheney and has three children. Mary was

886 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

married to George Bertrand and has two children. In 1873 Mr.
Stanley served as deputy sheriff of Sedgwick county under
William Smith. His father's oldest brother was killed in the
battle of Black Rock in the War of 1812. His home was in
Buffalo, N. Y. In 1908 Mr. Stanley took up his residence in
Cheney and has resided there ever since. Mr. Stanley, politically,
is a Republican, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist
church.

Joseph W. Steiert, of the firm of Steiert & Co., Nos. 122-124
South Market street, Wichita, Kan., is a native of Pennsylvania,
having been born at Erie, Erie county, that state, on July 25, 1867.
His parents were August and Mary Steiert, natives of Germany,
both of whom are deceased. Mr. Steiert was educated at the
public schools of Erie, and at the age of seventeen entered upon
railroad work, advancing from brakeman to conductor. He was
employed upon various leading railroad lines, among others the
New York Central and Santa Fe, until 1905, when he resigned
his position to devote himself to the manufacturing business,
in which he had been interested some time before abandoning
railroad work. Mr. Steiert went to Kansas in 1903 and first
located his plant at Medicine Lodge, where the firm began the
manufacture of a fine line of men's and women's underwear.
In 1904 the plant was moved to Wichita and was located in the
Cone-Cornell building, where the business has since been con-
tinued successfully, employing from fifteen to twenty hands. The
firm manufactures the finest grade of goods, fine silk underwear,
and first grades of all kinds, which find a ready sale throughout
the southwestern states, California and Old Mexico. The same
superior workmanship is given to all goods produced by the
establishment. Mr. Steiert is a member of the Order of Railway
Conductors and the Court of Honor. The Chicago salesroom of
the firm is at No. 34 East Monroe street. Mr. Steiert was married
on February 17, 1897, to Miss Elizabeth Miller, of Albany, N. Y.

Zachary H. Stevens, banker, of Clearwater, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born at Quogue, Long Island, New York, on Decem-
ber 10, 1848. His parents were Halsey and Elizabeth H. (Hal-
lack) Stevens, both natives of New York. The Stevens family
came from England in 1638 and settled on Long Island. The
Hallacks came in 1640 and settled in the same county. Zachary
H. Stevens received a high school education and remained at
home until about 1868, when he moved to Bates county, Missouri,

BIOGRAPHY 887

where he remained ten years. From there he went to Vernon
county for two years, from the latter place to Anderson county,
Kansas, for two years, and then to Greenwood county, Kansas.
While in Missouri he farmed and in Kansas he was in the cattle
business. Mr. Stevens remained two years in Greenwood county,
and in 1887 moved to Sedgwick county, settling in Ohio township,
where he bought 560 acres of land. He farmed and raised stock
until 1908, when he moved to Clearwater and now rents his farms.
Mr. Stevens is president of the State Bank of Clearwater and
has been so since its organization in 1899. He is also president
of the Clearwater Telephone Company, which is capitalized for
$10,000. On October 10, 1872, Mr. Stevens was married to Miss
Mary A. Hammus, who was born in Woodford county, Illinois.
They have no children. Fraternally, Mr. Stevens is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was a member
of the school board of District III, Ohio township, for nine years.
He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian
church.

James Stewart,* of Mulvane, Sedgwick county, Kansas, a vet-
eran of the Civil War, was born in Ireland January 24, 1837, and
came to the United States in 1857, landing in Philadelphia, and
from there making his way to DeWitt county, Illinois, where he
remained until the war broke out. In August, 1861, he enlisted
in Company K, Forty-first Illinois Infantry, and was with General
Grant in the first battle in which that commander was engaged.
Mr. Stewart was wounded six times at Fort Donaldson and was
carried from the field. He was discharged and sent to his home
on account of being incapacitated for further service by his
wounds. Mr. Stewart returned to his home in DeWitt county and
remained there until 1871, when he came to Sedgwick county,
Kansas, and preempted 160 acres of land in Salem township, on
which he remained nineteen years. He then moved to Mulvane,
where he now lives. Mr. Stewart was married in 1868 to Miss
Susanna T. Eli. Four children have been born of this union, viz. :
Mrs. John McClelland, of North Yakima, Wash.: Mrs. W. E.
Smith, of Chickasha, Okla. ; John S., of Kansas City, Mo., and Mrs.
Ellen Schafer, of Chickasha, Okla. Mr. Stewart has sold his
homestead and is living a retired life in Mulvane, where he owns
his home. In politics he is a liberal.

Joe Stewart, of the firm of Joe Stewart & Son, Wichita, Kan.,
is a native of the Emerald Isle, where he was born in County

888 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Down on August 7, 1853. Mr. Stewart came to the United States
in 1865 and resided in Illinois until 1870, when he moved to
Kansas. He located first at Clearwater, Sedgwick county, where
he was engaged in the farming business, and in 1876 moved to
Wichita and opened a market on North Main street, which at that
time was little more than a highway with two wagon ruts for
traffic. Mr. Stewart dealt extensively in hogs for a time, and
was for six years an efficient member of the Wichita police force.
His market was conducted at No. 244 North Main street, and he
has been in active business on this street for over a quarter of a
century. October 9, 1909, Mr. Stewart, with his son, John A.
Stewart, opened his present market at No. 211 North Main street,
which is one of the finest of its kind in the city. "Uncle Joe,"
as he is familiarly called, is one of the pioneers in the butcher
business of Wichita, being in line with the other pioneer men
who have preceded him : Maddox, Scarf, Waggoner and DeNear.
In 1880 Mr. Stewart married Miss Mary Davidson, of Goddard,
Sedgwick county, a daughter of James and Belle Davidson, na-
tives of Ireland. Five children have been born of this union,
viz. : John A., Belle, Mary, Joe., Jr., and Pearl L.

Aaron W. Stoner, secretary and treasurer of the Kansas Steam
Laundry, of Wichita, is a native of Maryland, in which state he
was born on September 25, 1865. His parents were David and
Amanda A. (Funk) Stoner, natives of Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania, respectively. They moved to Illinois in 1877 and ten
years later removed to Kansas, locating in Osborn county, where
ten years later the father died at the age of sixty-nine. His
widow is still living and is a resident of Wichita. Aaron W.
Stoner received his education in the public schools of Illinois
and came with his parents to Osborn county, Kansas. In 1886
he went to the state of Wyoming, where he engaged successfully
in the mercantile and live stock business until 1904, when he
moved to Wichita, where he became interested in the Kansas
Steam Laundry, and has since been associated with the concern
as secretary and treasurer. The other officers of the concern are :
President, Rufus Cone ; vice-president, G. W. Cornell. Mr. Stoner
is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and
the Wichita Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Stoner was married in
1910 to Miss Indiana Bates, a daughter of Ezra Bates, of Wichita.

William O. Stringer, deceased, but in his life a resident of
Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born April 10, 1834, in Richwoods

I

BIOGRAPHY 889

township, Peoria county, 111. His parents were born in Louisville,
Ky. They were Scotch and German descent. He was married
on February 25, 1858, to Miss Abigail Rosetta McClallen, in
Groveland, Tazewell county, Illinois. To this union were born
five children, all but one of which were born in Richwoods, Peoria
county, Illinois. Nydia R. Stringer was born December 5, 1858,
died at the age of forty-four years. Adaline Stringer was born
December 2, 1862 ; was married to Oliver Champ June 9, 1887, at
Mapleton, 111. ; lived in East Peoria till she came to Kansas with
her family, March 6, 1907 ; settled in Illinois township, Sedgwick
county. William S. Stringer was born September 26, 1865 ; mar-
ried Ada M. Keith March 6, 1889, and lives in Illinois township.
Geo. F. Stringer was born August 26, 1872 ; married Mattie Ham-
lett Blackwood March 24, 1909 ; is living at Randlett, Okla. Clara
C. Stringer was born February 3, 1876 ; married Charles H. Dennis
April 21, 1897 ; lives in Wichita, Kan. At the time of Mr. String-
er's death, which occurred near Goddard, Kan., February 22, 1910,
he had completed a successful life, and at his death was laid to
rest in the Attica cemetery. He was the owner of 800 broad acres
of land in Sedgwick county, Kansas. Mr. Stringer moved to Kan-
sas with his wife and three youngest children in 1884, and settled
on a quarter-section in Attica township, near Goddard. In Illi-
nois he had laid the foundation of his success before becoming a
citizen of Kansas. During the war he was drafted in the army,
and paid $1,000 for a substitute. Mr. Stringer was known as an
expert mechanic, as well as a good and successful farmer. At an
early day he became interested in mechanical work and as he
grew older this trait developed until he became a master mechanic.
On May 30, 1879, while working at his trade, he met with an acci-
dent which left him a cripple for life. This accident caused him
to give up further endeavors in the mechanical line. Mr. Stringer
invented, constructed and operated the first cider mill in Rich-
woods, Peoria county, Illinois. He was a man who formed many
friends because of his reliable and sterling qualities. He was a
strong believer in Democratic doctrines up to the time of his
death. Mrs. Stringer, his widow, still lives on the old homestead.
She is the oldest of five children, and the daughter of Silas and
Abigail (Parkhurst) McClallen, who were natives of Massachu-
setts and who emigrated after marriage from the Bay state to
Illinois, locating first in Peoria, and later in Tazewell county,
when Mrs. Stringer was a child eight years old.

890 HISTOEY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

John E. McClallen, in 1872, disposed of his farming interests
in Illinois and started out overland with a team for the young
state of Kansas. Preempting 160 acres of land in Attica town-
ship, he set himself vigorously to work to cultivate the soil and to
build up a homestead. He succeeded admirably in his efforts,
meeting with uniform prosperity, and is now the owner of 1,284
broad acres, embellished with a handsome and substantial set of
farm buildings, and of late years has given his attention largely
to the raising of a good grade of cattle. He has been no unim-
portant factor in the developments of the rich resources of Sedg-
wick county, by whose people he is held in universal esteem. He
presents the anomaly of a man who has steadily declined to be-
come an officeholder, but nevertheless has his firmly fixed ideas
upon political matters, and is zealous supporter of the Republican
party. The subject of this history is a descendant of excellent
Scotch and German ancestry, and his family was first represented
on American soil during the Colonial days. He was born in
Worcester county, Massachusetts, August 27, 1839, and is the son
of Silas and Abigail (Parkhurst) McClallen, who were natives
of Massachusetts, and who migrated after their marriage from the
Bay state to Illinois, locating first in Peoria and later in Tazewell
county when their son, John E. McClallen, was a lad six years
of age. Silas McClallen, the father of our subject, was born
April 8, 1814, in Petersham, Mass., and his wife Abigail near
Dana, Mass., March 28, 1817. They were married March 25,
1836. The household included five children, namely, Rosetta, wife
of William Stringer, of Attica township ; John E., of our sketch ;
Charles I., also farming in Attica; Clara, the wife of Samual
Mooberry, who is farming in Tazewell county, Illinois, and George
T., who is married and lives on the homestead.

Mr. McClallen spent his boyhood years on the farm in Tazewell
county, Illinois, becoming familiar with its various employments,
and also acquiring a good education in the district school. He
was twenty-two years of age at the outbreak of the- Rebellion,
and on the 16th of August, 1861, enlisted for three years in the
Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry, the regiment being then under
command of Col. John Briner. Their division was led by General
Pope until after the siege of Corinth, and then our subject with
his comrades was transferred to the army of General Sherman,
the Fifteenth Army Corps, whom they followed until after the
siege and capture of Vicksburg. Subsequently, under the com-

BIOGKAPHY 891

mand of General Banks, the Forty-seventh was transferred to the
Sixteenth Army Corps, and proceeded up the Red river on the
expedition which has been made a subject of history and the
incidents of which will be clearly remembered by those acquainted
with the events of that period. Upon the return to Memphis,
Tenn., although their term of enlistment had expired, the Forty-
seventh infantry, by request of their general, engaged in another
battle at Cupola, and remained in their service two months longer,
after which they returned to Memphis and received their honor-
able discharge October 11,- 1864. Mr. McClallen participated in
thirty-one general engagements. Our subject now returns to his
home in Illinois and on the 4th of March, 1865, re-enlisted in the
Western Army Corps, under General Hancock. They proceeded
first to Washington City, and subsequently operated in the Shen-
andoah valley. After the surrender of Lee, they returned to
Washington, and Mr. McClallen was one of the guards over the
conspirators of Lincoln's assassination. Afterward he and a por-
tion of his regiment were sent to Louisville, Ky., where they had
charge of the barracks while the Kentucky soldiers were being
discharged and mustered out. Thence they repaired to Columbus,
Ohio, where they remained while the Ohio boys were being dis-
charged. Mr. McClallen was subsequently discharged at Co-
lumbus, Ohio, on the 5th of March, 1866. During his army service
he was most of the time in the brigade which the American eagle,
"Old Abe," followed through the war, flapping his pinions over
the smoke of battle and always returning to his colors after the
conflict was over. This much admired bird, it will be remembered,
was, after the war, taken to Wisconsin and died in Madison, that
state, not long ago. Our subject upon retiring from the service
engaged in farming on his father's homestead a year, and then
was occupied as clerk in a store at Mackinaw, 111., another year,
after which he purchased eighty acres of land near El Paso, and
farmed there for a period of four years. At the expiration of
this time, resolving upon a change of location, he crossed the
Mississippi, and his subsequent life we have already indicated.
John E. McClallen, a wealthy bachelor, residing near Goddard,
met his death by accident. He was struck by the eastbound pass-
enger train on%the Wichita & Western and instantly killed. Mr.
McClallen was on his way to visit his sister, Mrs. William
Stringer, who was giving a reception in honor of his aunt, Mrs.
Dolly Butterfield, from Massachusetts, his mother's sister, whom

892 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

he had not seen since he was six years old. Mr. McCllalen was
sixty-six years of age at the time of his death. Mr. McClallen, in
addition to the personal property, owned besides 1,284 acres in
this county, a number of valuable business and residence lots in
Wichita. He pre-empted the farm which has ever since been his
home (till death). After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well in the
family lot by the side of his father and mother in a beautiful
cemetery at Peoria, 111.

Cyrus Sullivan, real estate dealer, and head of the firm of
Cyrus Sullivan & Son, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Domin-
ion of Canada, having been born at Carleton, Carleton county,
Province of Ontario, on August 10, 1852. His parents were
Thomas and Adaline (Rood) Sullivan, natives of New York and
Vermont, respectively. The parents, after some fifteen years of
married life spent in New England, joined a colony which located
a few miles from Ottawa, in Canada, where they engaged in
farming until 1870. In that year they joined a colony of twenty
bound for Kansas, and on June 15, 1870, located in Kechi town-
ship, Sedgwick county, where they pre-empted a claim of the
Indian trust lands of the Osage tribe. The claim selected by
Mr. Sullivan was in Section 22, which he found to be wild prairie,
but which, by careful cultivation, he made fertile and productive,
and there he spent the balance of his life. He died in 1871 at
the age of seventy-six; his widow survived until 1894, when she
died at the age of eighty-eight. Mr. Sullivan was an educated
man, of fine character, and was prominent in occupying local
offices while a resident of Ontario. Mrs. Sullivan was descended
from noted ancestry, her great-grandfather on her mother's side
being Governor Belcher, who was sent from England at an early
day to be Governor of Vermont. Robert Sullivan, the grand-
father of Cyrus, was a native of Ireland, and came to the United
States and settled in New England about the year 1790, and was
a merchant in Ireland. Cyrus Sullivan was educated in the pub-
lie schools of his native town of Carleton, Ontario, and also at a
commercial school, and began farming early in Kechi township,
Sedgwick county. He was one of the fortunate ones in securing
a claim, a portion of which he still owns. He was actively
engaged in farming pursuits until 1904, when he removed to
Wichita, and has since been successfully engaged in the real estate
business. Mr. Sullivan is a member of the Knights of Pythias
and the Fraternal Aid. On January 15, 1872, he was married to

BIOGRAPHY 893

Miss Elizabeth Q. D. Rorison, daughter of Hugh Umstad Rorison.
Mrs. Sullivan is the youngest of a family of thirteen children.
Her grandfather, Captain Grierson, was an officer in the British
army, and was given 3,000 acres of land when he had served his
term in the navy. Three children have been born to Mr. Sullivan
and his wife, viz. : Alden Newton, Cyrus Clayton and Arthur
Douglas Sullivan, all of Wichita. Alden N. Sullivan, the eldest
son, is a member of the firm of Cyrus Sullivan & Son. He was
born April 14, 1878, in Kechi township. His education was ob-
tained in the public schools, Lewis Academy and the Wichita
Commercial College. He first began work on the farm at home,
and then entered commercial life as a traveling salesman for
W. R. Case, cutlery, of Bradford, Pa., covering the territory of
Kansas and Oklahoma. He continued this employment until 1908,
when he engaged in the real estate business with his father. The
offices of the firm are at No. 212 Anchorm Trust building. Alden
N. Sullivan was married on December 28, 1904, to Miss Fannie
Doratt, daughter of O. R. Doratt, of Wichita.

Thomas A. Sullivan, lawyer, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of
Sedgwick county, Kansas, where he was born on January 8, 1873.
His parents were George G. and Letitia (Hunt) Sullivan, natives
of Ontario, Canada, who moved to Kansas in 1869, freighted from
Emporia to Wichita by mule team, and settled on a farm in
Wichita township, locating on the northeast quarter of Section 29,
township 26, range 12, which is now known as the Lone Tree
farm, and is one of the best and most productive in Sedgwick
county. Thomas A. Sullivan now owns a portion of the home-
stead farm and devotes some of his spare time to raising regis-
tered stock. George G., father of Thomas A., held various public
offices and was a member of the school board. Fraternally, he
was a member of the Knights of Pythias and was also a member
of the First Presbyterian church. He died May 6, 1902, in his
sixty-third year. His widow is still living and is a resident of
Wichita. Thomas A. Sullivan was the eldest of a family of four
children, all of whom are living, and on holidays it is their custom
to meet in a family gathering. George G. Sullivan, father of
Thomas A., was a son of Thomas A. Sullivan, a native of Canada,
who moved to the Southwest after his son, stopping first at
Kansas City, Mo., and later joined his son in Kansas. He was a
cabinetmaker by trade and made some of the coffins in which the
pioneers were placed for their last rest. His location was in

894 HISTOKY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

Wichita township near his son. His wife's name was Adeline,
and she was of English-Irish descent. Thomas A. Sullivan was
educated in the public schools of Sedgwick county, at Lewis
Academy and Wichita University, and studied law in the office
of Amidon & Conley. He was admitted to the bar of Sedgwick
county and began practice in the city of Wichita as a partner of
C. A. Sefton, with an office in the Zimmerly building. Four years
later the firm was dissolved and Mr. Sullivan has since continued
alone. In 1889 he located his office in the Sedgwick building
and has since conducted a general practice. Mr. Sullivan was
married on December 20, 1899, to Miss Florence G. Kelley, daugh-
ter of George W. and Naurie Kelly, of Roanoke, Va. Three
children have been born of this union. Mabel, the eldest, died
in 1902, and the two living are Frances Louise and Marion.

Richard H. Sullivan was born December 11, 1863, at Madison^
Ind. His parents were William Blackmore and Mary Esther
(Hughes) Sullivan, of Virginia and Kentucky nativity, respec-
tively. He was educated in the common and high schools of
Madison, and under a private tutor in the academical and collegi-
ate branches of science, English and history. Mr. Sullivan mas-
tered the printing business and followed the profession of journal-
ism prior to entering the services of the United States weather
bureau. He passed the entrance examinations and entered the
United States signal service, war department, on September 24,
1887, and was transferred to the United States weather bureau,
department of agriculture, on July 1, 1891. Mr. Sullivan has
been stationed twice at Indianapolis, Ind., and once each at
Kansas City, Mo., Denver, Colo., Nashville, Tenn., Grand Junction^
Colo., and Wichita, Kan. He was observer and first assistant at
Denver for six years and at Indianapolis six years; observer in
charge at Grand Junction and local forecaster in charge at
Wichita. Nearly eighteen years of his professional life have been
passed in the West. Mr. Sullivan is a member of the Indiana
Society, the Sons of the Revolution, of the National Geographic
Society, and is president of the State Audobon Society of Kansas.
He has written and lectured on many subjects of a scientific
nature, some of which are the following : ' ' The Work of the
United States Weather Bureau," "Protecting Orchards from
Spring Frosts," "Conservation of Moisture for the Proper Growth
of Vegetation," "Relation of Bird Life to the Horticulturist and
Agriculturist as an Economic Proposition," and "So-Called

BIOGRAPHY 895

Change of Climate in the Semi-Arid West." Mr. Sullivan was
married to Clara A. Amberg, daughter of Charles and Susan
Amberg, of Indianapolis, at Kansas City, Mo., June 10, 1890. One
daughter, Esther Louise Sullivan ; two sons, Warwick Amberg
Sullivan, and Richard Franklin Sullivan, have resulted from this
union.

Charles W. Tallman, of Ninnescah township, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, on December
21, 1844. His parents were Charles and Isabelle (Brown) Tall-
man, both natives of the Keystone state. The father was born in
February, 1812, and the mother in March, 1813. The parents of
Mr. Tallman were married in Pennsylvania and in 1860 went to
Missouri, where they remained during the remainder of their
lives. The father died in January, 1869, and the mother died on
January 7, 1905. Charles W. Tallman remained at home until he
enlisted in the army in 1864 in Company E, Forty-eighth Missouri
Volunteer Infantry, and served during the remainder of the war.
He then returned to his home in Missouri, where he remained
about two years. He then moved to Leavenworth county, Kan-
sas, in the spring of 1868, where he remained five years, and in
the spring of 1873 came to Sedgwick county and pre-empted 160
acres of land in the southeast quarter of Section 17, Ninnescah
township,,, which farm he still owns. In 1887 Mr. Tallman moved
to Wichita and did gardening for thirteen years, and in 1900
returned to his farm in Ninnescah township. When he first came
on his claim there was about eight acres broken. Aside from that
Mr. Tallman has done all the improving, erected the buildings,
and now has a pleasant home and a finely improved farm. On
October 20, 1875, Mr. Tallman married Miss Nellie Swartz, who
was born in Leavenworth county, Kansas, on January 9, 1856, a
daughter of David and Mary (Collins) Swartz. David Swartz
was born in Indiana on March 8, 1804, a son of Michael and
Catharine (Sheets) Swartz. Michael Swartz was born in Penn-
sylvania on February 20, 1766, and his wife was born on August
15, 1777. They were married on March 1, 1798. Mary Collins
Swartz was born in New Jersey on October 11, 1814, and was
married March 5, 1838. She and her husband came to Kansas
in 1852 or 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Tallman have had five children,
four of whom are living. They are: Mrs. H. L. Boyer, born
October 14, 1876, of Viola township, Sedgwick county ; Mrs. R. B.
Russell, born February 6, 1878, of Wichita ; Samuel P., born Feb-

896 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

ruary 16, 1882 ; Grace D., born November 27, 1888, and died April
28, 1889, and Helen E., born March 15, 1892. Mr. Tallman has
served many years on the school board of his district. He is en-
gaged in diversified farming and has a fine orchard of 200 apple
trees and about 150 peach trees. He is a Republican in politics
and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church ; also a member
of the Grand Army Post at Clearwater.

Houston Lee Taylor, late of Wichita, Kan., was a native of
Concord, N. H., and was born in 1834 to John and Lucinda (Jack-
son) Taylor, who moved to Eaton, Ohio, when he was a child. He
acquired his education there, and after leaving school, in 1854,
went to Mattoon, 111., and engaged in the hardware trade. Ap-
pointed postmaster by President Buchanan in 1858, he served
in that capacity three years, studying law in the meantime and
being admitted to the bar. In 1861 Mr. Taylor responded to the
call of President Lincoln for volunteers, and was commissioned
captain of Company H, Fifty-ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteer
Infantry, and participated in the battle of Pea Ridge, the siege of
Corinth and other early engagement of the Civil War, and in
September, 1862, was promoted for gallant services to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel of the Sixty-eighth Illinois Regiment. Colonel
Taylor, after his honorable discharge, was appointed by President
Lincoln special treasury agent and assigned to duty in the Missis-
sippi valley. From 1865 to 1869 he served as United States gov-
ernment agent for the Shawnee Indians in Kansas, after which,
in 1870, he engaged in banking at Oswego, Kan., and conducted
a successful business for three years, and then withdrew from the
bank to look after his private affairs in Johnson county, Kansas,
where he held large property interests. In May, 1874, he took
charge of the Wichita Land Office under appointment by President
Grant and filled that office some five years. He also helped to
incorporate, and for one year served as a director of, the Carthage,
Oswego & Southwestern Railway Company, and about 1880 was
appointed special agent of the government to look after the tim-
ber interests in Arizona. About 1882 he engaged in the insurance
business as senior member of the firm of Taylor & Taylor, and so
continued a number of years. Colonel Taylor was one of the
progressive men of his city and entered heartily into all projects
looking to the betterment and development of the community.
He served as commissioner of elections, was on the police com-
mission under appointment by Governor Humphrey and also

BIOGRAPHY 897

served as state oil inspector, appointed by Governor Lewellen.
Colonel Taylor stood high in Masonic circles, was also a member
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the Woodmen
of the World. In politics, Colonel Taylor was a Republican till
1890, when he became a Populist, later becoming a Democrat.
His death occurred at Wichita on June 26, 1906.

On October 15, 1862, Mr. Taylor married Miss Anna M.,
daughter of J. C. and Lydia (Ogden) Walter, natives of Pennsyl-
vania, who settled in Ohio in an early day. Mrs. Taylor now
lives in the family home at No. 304 St. Lawrence avenue, Wichita.
Of four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor the eldest, Walter
Sherman, born January 5, 1864, died in January, 1884; Houston
Lee, born April 21, 1870, married Miss Lulu Wisch, of Denver, in
September, 1903, and lives at Cripple Creek, Colo. ; Raymond Lee,
born February 8, 1872, in 1908 married Miss Bessie I., a daughter
of R. P. Dodds, of Wichita. He was graduated from the high
school, then studied law with Kos Harris, and was admitted to the
bar in 1896, though he was never engaged in practice. Instead he
engaged in the railroad business, being chief clerk in an office at
Oklahoma City for a time, and from 1901 to 1906 serving as cashier
in the employ of the Missouri & Pacific Railway Company. In
1906 he was elected clerk of the district court of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, and is now — 1910 — serving his second term, to which he
was elected in 1908. The youngest child, Helen, lives at home.
She is a teacher by profession and taught six years in Lewis
Academy, Wichita.

William Seward Taylor,* the son of David and Mary S. (Cal-
lender) Taylor, was born in Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, May
14, 1858. His parents were natives of New York and Michigan,
respectively. The father died at Madison. Wis., April 3. 1891.
The death of his mother occurred in October, 1899.

William S. received a common school education in Wisconsin,
and in April, 1879, came to Kansas, hearing of the advantages
of Sedgwick county, Kansas, purchased a quarter section of land
in Section 25, Minneha township, Sedgwick county, where he has
since made his home. Since taking up his residence in this county
he has added to his original purchase another three-quarters sec-
tion, making in all a full section, which lies in Sections 24, 25
and 33.

In politics he affiliates with the Republican party, but of late
years he leans toward the Independents. Fraternally he is a mem-

898 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

ber of the "Woodmen of the World. He was a census officer for
the district in which he resides, having been appointed by the
head of the census bureau in 1910.

Thomas H. Temple, head of the firm of T. H. Temple & Co.,
dealers in agricultural implements and vehicles, of Wichita, Kan.,
whose establishment is located at No. 210 West Douglas avenue,
has the distinction of directing the largest business of its kind in
the Southwest. Mr. Temple hails from Illinois, having been
born in Pike county, that state, on January 27, 1857. He was a
son of Robert C. and Adeline T. (Fisher) Temple, both natives
of Ohio, who left the latter state in the fifties and moved to
Illinois, where the elder Temple engaged in farming. Both the
parents are now deceased. Thomas H. Temple was the youngest
of a family of six, he having two brothers and three sisters. His
early education was acquired in the public schools of Pike county,
after graduating from which he attended Lombard University
at Galesburg, 111., graduating in the class of '78. He first engaged
in farming in Illinois after leaving the university, and in 1883
decided to go to Kansas, locating first in Anderson county, where
he again engaged in farming for one year. He then came to
Wichita in a wagon, in which he spent his first night in the city,
owing to the scarcity of lodging places at that time. From
Wichita he continued his journey to Anthony, Kan., where he
obtained employment as yard manager for the Rock Island
Lumber and Manufacturing Company, soon after becoming man-
ager of the yards of the same company at Danville, Kan., a posi-
tion in which he remained for the next four years. Upon leaving
Danville he went to Stafford, Kan., where he was manager for
the D. J. Fair Lumber and Hardware Company until 1900, when
he went to Oklahoma and became manager of the Trekell & Round
Lumber Company, continuing with the latter until 1905, when he
came back to Wichita and formed a partnership with John F.
Stewart, under the firm name of the Stewart & Temple Lumber
Company, which continued until the death of Mr. Stewart in
September, 1906. This firm conducted a chain of lumber yards.
Mr. Temple next engaged in the hardware business at Mt. Hope,
Kan., in which he continued until January, 1908, when he again
returned to Wichita and established himself in the agricultural
implement and vehicle business, which has now become the largest
in the Southwest, occupying a building with four floors of 50x140
feet each. On February 1, 1910, Mr. Temple formed a partner-

BIOGRAPHY . 899

ship with R. H. Tighe, a man of ability and business push, and
the business was conducted under their joint names till August

8, 1910, when the firm was changed to T. H. Temple & Co., Mr.
Tighe retiring. Mr. Temple is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, the Fraternal Aid and the Wichita Cham-
ber of Commerce. He was married on September 5, 1880, to Miss
Maria Stewart, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Of this union four children
have been born, viz. : Robert C. ; Sarah, wife of C. J. Hinkley,
of Mt. Hope, Kan. ; Anna, wife of W. B. Borders, of Wichita, and
Mary F. Temple.

L. W. Thompson, a native of Chilhowee, Mo., was born on July

9, 1866, to M. W. and Elizabeth (Faith) Thompson, of Chilhowee,
Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson settled on a tract of land in John-
son county, Missouri, near the old postoffice of Chilhowee. Later,
in 1893, when the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad went through
that section of the country, it passed near the corner of the farm
and homeplace of our subject. A new town was established there
and about forty acres was sold off for townsite purposes, which is
now covered by the town of Chilhowee. Our subject received his
education in the public schools of Chilhowee, Mo., and from the
Normal Business College of Clinton, Mo., after which he spent
three years farming. In 1889, Mr. Thompson married Miss L.
Anna, daughter of J. F. and Martha Downing, of Cornelia, Mo.
They have five children, the oldest, Claudie, being dead. They
have four children living, viz. : Clarence P., Lloyd A., Beulah M.,
and Louis Elmo, all of whom are living with their parents in this
city. In 1892 Mr. Thompson engaged in the wholesale flour,
feed and coal business in Clinton, Mo., selling his interests there
in the spring of 1898, and moving to Wellington, Kans., where
for two years he was in the threshing business. In 1890 he be-
came traveling representative of the J. I. Case Threshing Ma-
chine Company, covering the southern territory of Kansas, and
at the same time owned half interest in the Wellington Wholesale
Produce Company. This he sold on his removal to Wichita, in
October, 1903, where he established a branch house for the J. I.
Case Threshing Machine Company, of which he had charge until
1906. In 1903 Mr. Thompson became president of the Threshers'
Association of Wichita, this association being organized for the
purpose of promoting the interests of the threshers' trade and
bringing different branch houses to the city of Wichita. He was
president of this association for four years, and the association

900 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

was successful in increasing the number of branch houses from
three to thirteen, their traveling men from about ten to forty.
During the year 1907 he was actively engaged with the Port Huron
Threshing Company, located at No. 219 South "Wichita street, of
Wichita, Kans. In December, 1907, Mr. Thompson entered the
employment of the Nichols & Shepard Company, opening up a
branch house for them in this city, which he had charge of until
July, 1909. In December, 1908, the Wichita Supply Company, of
Wichita, was organized at Wichita, Kans., and Mr. Thompson
became its president. He is still a stockholder in that company
and its vice-president. In July, 1909, he resigned his position with
the Nichols & Shepard Company and took up the sale of Halla-
day automobiles on the Kansas and Oklahoma territory for the
Streator Motor Car Company, of Streator, 111. In March, 1910,
the Halladay Motor Company, of Wichita, was organized, of
which Mr. Thompson is vice-president and general manager. Mr.
Thompson is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of
the Wichita Consistory.

J. H. Tjaden, of Ninnescah township, Kansas, may fairly be
described as one of the bonanza farmers of that favored section
of the Sunflower State. Mr. Tjaden was born in Woodford
county, Illinois, on January 26, 1858. His parents were J. H.
and Minnie (Hyden) Tjaden. J. H. Tjaden remained at his
Illinois home until he was twenty-four years old, when he came
to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and bought 320 acres in Section 22,
Ninnescah township. The land was most of it in its primitive
condition, and he at once commenced to break and improve it.
He has added to his original purchase until he now owns 2,500
acres, most of which is in Ninnescah township. On March 5,
1883, Mr. Tjaden married Miss Johanna Janssan, who was born
in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Tjaden are the parents of seven
children, viz. : Mrs. Minnie Sautter, of Sumner county, Kansas ;
Mrs. Johanna Blumenshine, of Ninnescah township ; Bertha, Jacob
H., Lena, who died on July 13, 1903; Herman L. and Janet, the
four latter being at home. Mr. Tjaden has much of his land
rented, on which is conducted diversified farming. He feeds
cattle for the market and also raises hogs. He feeds and markets
about 250 head of cattle and from 600 to 700 hogs yearly. Mr.
Tjaden has served as a school director for many years. Frater-
nally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
He is a Democrat in politics, and a German Lutheran

BIOGRAPHY 901

Sammis T. Townsdin, banker, of Derby, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born in Cloud county, Kansas, on May 2, 1869. He
is a son of John and Rebecca (Mitchell) Townsdin, the father
being born in Wales on September 18, 1845, and the mother in
Clay county, Illinois, on September 18, 1844. The parents were
married in Illinois in 1867 and came to Kansas in 1867, settling
in Cloud county, where they still live. S. T. Townsdin received
his education in the public schools of Cloud county, where for
five years he taught school, also teaching two years in Lincoln
county. He came to Derby, Sedgwick county, in May, 1907, and
organized the Farmers' and Merchants' State Bank of Derby, with
a capital stock of $10,000. The first officers were : S. T. Townsdin,
president ; A. W. Palmer, vice-president ; T. A. Wilson, cashier.
The present officers are : E. E. Beard, president ; R. R. Goodin,
vice-president; S. T. Townsdin, cashier. On April 28, 1891, Mr.
Townsdin was married to Miss Dora Wilson, who was born in
Douglas county, Illinois, on June 12, 1868. They have four
children, viz.: Ivan C, born September 3, 1896; Ernest E., born
October 14, 1897; Loran W., born March 4, 1900, and Anita L.,
born November 2, 1908. While living in Cloud county Mr.
Townsdin was township trustee and clerk for eight years. Fra-
ternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of
Wichita Consistory No. 2. He is a Republican in politics and a
member of the Church of Christ.

Mr. Townsdin 's grandfather is W. S. Townsdin, born in Eng-
land on March 7, 1825, and his grandmother, Margaret Townsdin,
was born in Wales on January 14, 1823. They are still living at
Concordia, Cloud county, having moved there in 1867, where both
the grandfather and his son pre-empted land, and both own their
original homesteads. There were eight children in W. S. Towns-
din's family, all of whom grew to maturity and seven of whom
are still living. In John Townsdin 's family were ten children,
five boys and five girls. One daughter was killed by falling timber
and one died of pneumonia. Eight children are still living.

William O. Van Arsdale is one of the citizens of Wichita, Kan.,
who has made a remarkable, not to say phenomenal, record as a
business manager and financier. He was born August 31, 1858,
in Mason county, Illinois. His parents were J. H. and Eliza
(Benham) Van Arsdale. His father was a native of New Jersey,
who traced his ancestry to Holland. His mother traced her origin
to France. The elder Van Arsdale was a farmer, and he moved

902 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

from Mason county, Illinois, to Peoria county, in the same state,
in 1865, living in the latter county until 1900, in which year he
moved to Greenwood county, Kansas. Here he bought a large
ranch, on which he resided until 1909, in which year he disposed
of his land and came to Wichita, where he now lives. William O.
Van Arsdale received only a limited education in the district
county schools of Illinois up to his twentieth year, when he went
to Mexico to manage a large ranch in which he held a one-fifth
interest. While in Mexico he developed a rare ability as a busi-
ness manager, and in five years cleaned up for himself a profit of
$60,000. He had in his employ on the ranch twenty-five men, and
raised a large number of cattle. When he returned from Mexico
in 1883 he settled at Burton, Kan., and entered into a partnership
which was known as Wilson & Van Arsdale, which continued for
three years. Then Mr. Van Arsdale sold out his interest in the
firm and became president of The Bank of Burton and held this
position until 1897. In the latter year the firm of Van Arsdale &
Osborn was organized and incorporated, and the business and
home office were moved to Wichita, where the firm now conducts
a large insurance and land business. When the firm began busi-
ness in 1897, its capital was $3,000. On Jan. 1, 1910, the
capital and surplus of the firm was $233,719.87, and in the thir-
teen years of its existence it has paid in dividends the sum of
$142,500, showing a total increase from the original capital of
$3,000 in the thirteen years of $376,219.87. Mr. Van Arsdale is
now president of the Arkansas Valley Interurban Railway Com-
pany. He is a Republican in politics and has taken an active
interest in the affairs of his party. He was married December
27, 1882, to Miss Lizzie M. Bontz, a daughter of Conrad Bontz, of
Peoria, 111. Two sons have been born to this union, J. Harry and
Leone B.

Nathan S. Van Dusen," one of the pioneers of Sedgwick county,
Kansas, is a native of New York state, where he was born on
December 30, 1839. His parents were Harry C. and Eunice
(Brown) Van Dusen, the father being a native of France and the
mother a native of New York. Nathan S. was educated in the
public schools of New York and remained at home until twenty-
one years old, when he went to Johnson county, near Iowa City,
Iowa. After a short stay there he removed to Missouri, where he
remained until December 1, 1870, when he came to Sedgwick
county, Kansas, traveling from Missouri in a wagon and bringing

BIOGRAPHY 903

his family with him. He staked a claim in Rockford township in
December, 1870, the claim being the southeast quarter of section 1.
His first house was a dugout, and there was not another house
between his and Augusta, where the land office was then located.
Mr. Van Dusen broke his land and lived two and a half years
in the dugout, which for the first few months had no door, as
lumber was scarce, so he used a blanket instead. Wolves were
plentiful in Kansas in those days, and many nights they would
come howling around the dugout. In . order to admit light into
the room he bought half a window sash. One night, when Mr.
Van Dusen awakened, he found a rattlesnake in his bed, and
being afraid to move, he called to Mrs. Van Dusen 's brother to
get up and put the window in so that he could light the light.
The young man had some trouble in getting the window into place
and the noise he made disturbed the snake, which crawled upon
the floor, and the next morning Mr. Van Dusen found it behind
the logs and killed it. The family had all the experiences of
the frontier settlement ; encountered all the hardships and priva-
tions which were incidental to the life, but have lived to see the
desolate plains grow into valuable farms and beautiful homes.
On March 10, 1886, Mr. Van Dusen was married to Miss Rosetta E.
Moon, who was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, on March
11, 1846. Her parents were Harrison and Eliza E. (Grandy)
Moon. While Mr. and Mrs. Van Dusen have no children of their
own, they have raised several, and have educated them and started
them right in life. Mr. Van Dusen was always a farmer, but
he has retired from active farm life and lives on a reserved block
in Derby and devotes his time to his fruit trees and garden. His
house is surrounded by grounds which show care and attention.
He served as justice of the peace until he resigned the office. Mr.
Van Dusen is a Republican in politics and a member of the
United Brethren Church.

Albert J. Waddell, one of the foremost contractors and
builders of Wichita, Kan., hails from the state of presidents,
Ohio, where he was born in Morrow county on May 22, 1857. His
parents were John and Jane (Smith) Waddell, natives of Vir-
ginia, who followed a blazed trail in an early day through to
Marion county, Ohio, where they spent an active life. The
Waddells were of Scotch-Irish descent, and the Smiths of German
origin. Albert J. Waddell was educated in the public schools of
Ohio, and after leaving school at the age of eighteen began to

904 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed successfully. He
was first employed by the Mt. Garland Building Company, of
Ohio. Over a quarter of a century ago he came to Wichita, and
after working at his trade here for a year, in the second year he
entered business for himself. He has seen the ups and downs of
the city, its boom days- and its dull days, and now ranks among
the leaders in his line of business in the city. Mr. Waddell has
erected some of the most substantial and beautiful buildings of
the city, among which may be mentioned the Eagle building, the
German Catholic church, the Elks building and many others of a
similar kind. He has taken an interest in politics and was elected
a councilman from the Third Ward in 1906. During his term
of office as chairman of committees he was a strong factor for
the betterment of conditions in the city of Wichita. Mr. Waddell
is connected with many of the fraternal orders, being a member
of the Masonic, Consistory, the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows, from which he has a Veteran's badge, the Ancient Order
of United Workmen, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks
and the Fraternal Aid. He is president of the Wichita Poultry
Association and a director of the Kansas State Poultry Associa-
tion. He is also a leader in the production of buff rocks in the
state of Kansas. Mr. Waddell was married in 1884 to Miss Emma
Wilkerson, of Lebanon, Mo. From this union two children have
been born, Charles C. and Alice C, the latter a teacher in the
public schools of Wichita. He is now superintending the erection
of the new high school building.

Albert G. Walden, the well-known chief of the fire depart-
ment of Wichita, Kan., has held that responsible position since
1886, or one year less than a quarter of a century. Mr. Walden
is a son of the Buckeye State, having been born in Hamilton
county, Ohio, on December 29, 1849. His parents were Baltzer
and Julia A. (Streeter) Walden. Baltzer Walden moved from
New York state to Hamilton county, Ohio, when a young man,
became a shipbuilder and dealt extensively in lumber. His ship-
yard was located at Fulton, on the banks of the Ohio river, where
he lived until 1855, when he located at Dayton, Ky., opposite his
place of business. He was killed at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1855, by
the falling of a cornice from the Ohio Trust building, five other
persons losing their lives through the same occurrence. Baltzer
Walden was forty-two years old when he was killed. His widow,
Julia A. Walden, died at the age of seventy-six. The future

BIOGRAPHY 905

fire chief received his early education at the public schools of
Dayton, and in 1862, when a boy of only thirteen years, joined
his brother, Adolphus P., who was then a soldier in the Union
army, stationed at Millikens Bend, Miss. During General Grant's
expedition and the first advance on Vicksburg Albert G. was
captured by the Confederates near Raymond, Miss., and again
near Vermilion, La., being made a prisoner twice before reaching
the age of fourteen. He remained with his brother's regiment,
the Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, until 1864. He enlisted
in its ranks with Company K, and was later transferred to Com-
pany B, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Regiment, Indiana Volun-
teer Infantry, and remained in the service until the close of the
war in 1865, serving as a musician. Mr. Walden was in the
battles of Champion Hill, Black River, the siege of Vicksburg,
and many other encounters between the opposing forces. He
accompanied General Bank's expedition and was captured by
the Confederates, but after the lapse of three days was recaptured
by the Union soldiers. After the close of the war Mr. Walden
went to Anderson, Ind., whither his family had removed in 1862,
and remained there until 1868, when he entered the regular
army. He served five years as a soldier, being stationed at
Atlanta, Ga., and other points. Retiring from military life, Mr.
Walden went to St. Louis, Mo., and there engaged in the live
stock business with a brother until 1880, when he moved to St.
Joseph, Mo., and assisted in building the city water works. He
subsequently acted as traveling salesman for a wholesale house
of that city for four years, and during that time, in 1882, came to
Wichita, where, after leaving the road, he opened a sample room
for notions and hoisery, representing a Philadelphia firm. In
November, 1886, he was appointed chief of the Wichita fire
department, and has during his administration given the depart-
ment a vigorous, systematic and business-like management, build-
ing it up into the most effective fire-fighting organization in the
state. Mr. Walden organized the paid fire department and became
its first chief. He has studied the methods of the fire departments
of other cities with profit, and has given Wichita the benefit of a
thoroughly up-to-date system. He organized and was the first
superintendent of the American District Telegraph Company in
Wichita, and established a fine fire alarm system for the city.
His administrations have resulted in a large saving to the city.
Chief Walden is a member of Warwick Lodge, No. 44, Knights

906 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

of Pythias ; of Wichita Division, No. 2, Uniformed Rank, Knights
of Pythias, of which he has been commander for several years;
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and of the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks. He was married on December 6, 1882,
to Miss Malvina A. Dreschaux, a daughter of Edward and
Albertine Dreschaux. Mrs. Walden is a talented singer and a
leading instructor in music. Her musical education was mainly
acquired abroad. Her musical qualifications have attracted
wide attention both in foreign lands and America. She is of
French-German descent, and was born at sea aboard the vessel
"Prince of Wales," and as the ship crossed the equator the
Union Jack was hoisted and she was christened, thus making her
a subject of the British Empire. The child was four months old
when the vessel reached London, and she was then taketa to
Norway, where she lived until seven years old. Her musical
training was begun in Norway, and when her parents removed
to Vicksburg, Miss., it was continued under Prof. Fischer, a grad-
uate of Leipzig. She next went to St. Louis, where she received
instructions under Prof. Ernst, when she soon after began teach-
ing the piano and sang in the choir of Grace church. Later she
studied music in Wichita, and in 1889 accompanied her mother to
Europe, where she entered the Royal Conservatory at Munich,
and next to Milan, where she continued her studies under the
famous Maestro Lamperti. Her other instructors were Mme.
Lemair and Maestro Pontecchi. After her return to Wichita she
many times appeared in concert, and as far west as the Pacific
coast to large audiences. Mrs. Walden has also contributed a
number of articles to musical magazines.

Edward Wall is a prosperous farmer of Illinois township,
Sedgwick county, Kansas. He was born in Ireland about 1840
and came to this country with his parents, who settled in Iowa.
He enlisted in an Iowa regiment at Iowa City and served three
years and three months in the War of the Rebellion. He removed
from Johnston county, Iowa, to Sedgwick county, Kansas, in
1873, but soon afterward went back to Iowa; then, in 1874,
returned and took up the southeast quarter of Section 32 in
Illinois township and there established his home. He has car-
ried on general farming and stock raising with eminent success,
and besides improving his farm has increased his landed pos-
sessions until he now owns three quarter sections, except seven
acres, which he sold to the railroad company. In political mat-

BIOGBAPHY 907

ters Mr. Wall is an independent Democrat ; and in religious belief
adheres to the Catholic faith.

On December 30, 1866, Mr. Wall married Miss Bridget Mul-
aney, by whom he has had nine children, of whom three, viz. :
Nellie, Thomas and Frank, are deceased. The surviving children
are: Edward, Mary, Nellie, John, Walter and William, and all
live on the home farm with their parents.

Jesse D. Wall, police judge of Wichita, Kan., is a native of the
Hoosier State, having been born at Claremont, Lad., on November
23, 1879. His parents were Dr. David and Margaret A. (Moore)
Wall, his father being a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of
Indiana. The senior Wall practiced medicine at Clermont and
Indianapolis. Both he and his wife are deceased. Jesse D. Wall
received his education at the Indianapolis High School and Butler
College. After graduating from the latter institution he took up
the study of law at the Indiana Law School, being admitted to
the bar in 1905. He began the practice of his chosen profession
at Indianapolis, but after a short time he decided that the West
offered a better field for his energies and removed to Kansas.
He located at Wichita December 2, 1905, and established a con-
nection with the legal firm of Stanley, Vermilion & Evans. Mr.
Wall remained with this firm until November 1, 1909, when he
opened an office on his own account. He was appointed police
judge in April, 1909, which office he now holds. Mr. Wall has
always been an active Republican and has done valiant service
for his party. He was the manager of Mayor Davidson's cam-
paign, and his excellent work did much to assure the latter 's
election. He has taken a deep interest in fraternal organizations,
and is a Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks and of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. He is also a member of the Wichita Chamber of Com-
merce and of the Country Club. Mr. Wall was married on Octo-
ber 12, 1909, to Miss Blanche E. Royal, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
J. P. Royal, of Oatville, Kan. Mr. and Mrs. Wall have one son,
David Royal Wall, born October 27, 1910.

J. F. Walton, of Cheney, Kan., a retired veteran of the Civil
War, was born January 8, 1844, in Clark county, Ohio. His
parents were G. C. and Elizabeth (Zinn) Walton. The father was
a native of Virginia and the mother a native of Ohio. On the
paternal side the remote ancestors of the family are traced back
to Scotland and on the maternal side to the North of England.

908 HISTOEY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The father of J. F. Walton emigrated with his family from Ohio
to Kansas in 1870 and located in Ninnescah valley, due south
twenty miles from Wichita, in Sumner county, and remained
there until his death in 1886. The mother of J. F. Walton died
when he was only five years old. After the lad had acquired a
common school education he enlisted, at the age of sixteen, in
Company B, Seventy-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The date
of his enlistment was October 7, 1861. The regiment was ordered
to Camp Dennison, where it remained for three months. It was
then sent to Nashville, Tenn., for active service, and was em-
braced in the Third Division of the Fourteenth Army Corps.
The military records show that Mr. Walton participated in thirty-
six different engagements in the three years and ten months he
served in the army. The principal battles were Shiloh, Stone
Kiver, Chickamauga, in the Sherman campaign to Atlanta and
the March to the Sea. Afterwards the regiment was trans-
ferred to the Army of the Cumberland and was in the battle of
Black River, the last hard engagement that Mr. Walton partici-
pated in, although he was in many minor engagements in the
Army of the Tennessee, and his regiment fought incessantly, day
after day and month after month, in stubborn contests nearly the
entire time of his enlistment. Through all these terrible contests
Mr. Walton was not once wounded. On July 18, 1865, the regi-
ment returned to Camp Dennison and was discharged. Mr.
Walton then returned to his old home in Shelby county, Ohio,
remaining there a short time, when he took the Western fever
and became an adventurer for some years, prospecting as a
miner in the extreme western territories. He remained several
years in Arizona, but in 1870 came to Sumner county, where he
only remained for a short time, going back to Arizona the follow-
ing spring, where he remained for three years and ten months.
He then came back to Sumner county, where he resided until
1908, when he moved to Cheney and is now retired from active
business. Fraternally, Mr. Walton is a Mason, being a member
of Morton Lodge, No. 258, A. F. and A. M., and of the Modern
Woodmen of America. In politics he is an independent Demo-
crat. He was married in 1877 to Miss S. J. Wright, of Belle
Plaine, Sumner county, Kansas, a daughter of William Wright,
now deceased. Seven children have been born of this union, of
whom five are now living, viz. : Charles, who is married and has

BIOGRAPHY 909

one child ; Mamie, now Mrs. Bennett ; W. F., a student ; Kathaleen
and Paul, attending school.

Ulysses E. Ward, * the well-known veterinary surgeon, of
"Wichita, Kan., was born in 1864, in Woodford county, Illinois,
and is a son of William B. and Sarah E. (Hedges) Ward, who
settled on a farm in Illinois in 1853. In 1884 the family moved
to California, but two years later returned and settled at Overton,
Dawson county, Nebraska, where the father died in 1906 and
where the mother still resides. Our subject is the third child of
a family of four children, and on the return of the family from
California he opened a grocery and queensware store at Overton,
Neb., which he conducted three years. Selling his business in
1888, he entered the Ontario Veterinary College, Toronto, Canada.
After his graduation in 1891, he spent eighteen months at Fair-
bury, Neb., then went to Wellington, Kan., whence, in 1893, he
returned to Wichita and established himself on South Water
street in what is now known as the old Fashion stable. After
six years of successful practice Dr. Ward, in 1899, purchased a
lot 100x136 feet at the northwest corner of Williams and South
Water streets and erected there his present quarters, the stable
part of the establishment being rented and occupied by the Boot
Livery. Dr. Ward is eminently successful in his chosen calling
and is widely known as a skilful practitioner in his special line.
He is a member of the Kansas and Missouri Veterinary Associa-
tion, the Kansas Veterinary Association and the Ontario Veterin-
ary Association. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and is a member of the local lodge of Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks. In politics he has always been a
Republican.

In 1897 Dr. Ward married Miss Frances L. Young, a daughter
of Rev. T. B. Young, of Wichita.

James Francis Warren, who is one of the owners of the West-
ern Iron and Foundry Company, of Wichita, Kan., one of the
largest industrial plants in the city, is a native of the Empire
State, having been born at Oswego, New York, in 1855. His
father was Daniel Warren, by occupation a glass worker, and
his mother was Mary A. Dowling. Young Warren was educated
at the public schools of Ottawa, 111., where he went with his
parents in 1866. After finishing his schooling he learned the
glass worker's trade with his father, and after working at it
a while in 1873 he began to learn the foundry business at Ottawa.

910 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

From Ottawa he went to Moline, 111., at the age of twenty-one,
where he was engaged as a journeyman with the firm of
Williams, White & Co. for a period of ten years, at the end of
which time he became superintendent of the foundry, a position
he held continuously for fifteen years, during which time he
became almost indispensable to the firm. An opportunity offer-
ing to enter into business on his own account, he severed his
connection with Williams, White & Co., and in December, 1901,
he came to Wichita, where he closed a deal with Andrew Flagg
for the purchase pi the Globe Iron Works, the plant now occupied
by the Western Iron and Foundry Company of Wichita. Mr.
Warren then organized the Wichita Manufacturing Company, as-
sociating with him C. L. Grimes and Henry Anthony. Three months
later Mr. Grimes withdrew, and the business was continued with
Mr. Warren and Mr. Anthony as proprietors. In September,
1902, the company was reorganized with George H. Bradford as
president, Ted Miles as secretary and Mr. Warren as vice-
president. This firm continued business until 1904, when G. C.
Christopher joined the firm, Messrs. Bradford and Miles with-
drawing, the firm then being made up with Mr. Christopher,
Henry Anthony and Mr. Warren, which arrangement continued
until 1908, when the firm was again dissolved and Messrs. An-
thony and Warren became the sole owners and proprietors of
the business, which is now known as the Western Iron and
Foundry Company, one of the prosperous manufacturing plants
of Wichita. The firm manufactures structural and architectural
iron. Its plant consists of a machine shop, boiler shop, foundry
and pattern works, occupying a space for buildings of 140x300
feet. The output of the establishment is distributed through
many states. Mr. Warren is a firm believer in the future of
Wichita. He was married in 1879 to Miss Julia A. Quinn,
daughter of John C. and Bridget (McDonough) Quinn. From
this union four children have been born, viz. : William, Joseph Q.,
secretary of the Western Iron and Foundry Company, Jane and
Helena. Fraternally Mr. Warren is a member of the Knights of
Columbus.

Francis M. Watts, merchant, of Bentley, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born August 19, 1844, in Putnam county, Indiana.
His father was Silas Watts, a native of Kentucky, as also was his
mother. . Silas Watts removed to Owen county, Indiana, from
Kentucky in 1834, and remained there about ten years. He was

BIOGKAPHY 911

a clergyman of the United Brethren Church, and active in the
ministry up to the time of his death. When he lived in Clay and
Putnam counties he combined farming with his ministerial duties.
Silas Watts devoted his entire life to the work of saving souls
and died in 1878. His widow is still living in Harvey county,
Kansas. The early education of Francis M. Watts was obtained
in the common schools of Putnam county, Indiana, up to his
eighteenth year. In 1865 he enlisted in the army for one year
and served in Company E, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Indiana
Volunteers. Colonel Smith commanded the regiment, which was
organized in Indianapolis, went to Washington, D. C, thence to
Alexandria, Virginia, and guarded the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road. The regiment was then consolidated and sent to the
Shenandoah Valley and Cedar Creek, Virginia, and then to
Winchester, Virginia, where it fought General Mosby's forces.
After this Mr. Watts was discharged and returned to Putnam
county, Indiana, and was married on March 1, 1866, in Owen
county, to Ellen B. Wiley. No children have ever been born of
this union. After his marriage Mr. Watts moved to Champaign,
111., and after a short residence there moved back to Putnam
county, Indiana, where he followed the trade of a shoemaker for
three years. Here he suffered a severe loss in a fire, which des-
troyed all his property and practically ruined him. By hard
work and perseverance Mr. Watts managed to accumulate $300,
and with this money he moved to Kansas in 1875 and settled
in the village of Sedgwick, where he engaged in the shoe and
harness business for twelve years. He then bought a farm west
of Sedgwick, where he remained several years, but gave up
farming to take a position as manager of the Farmers' Alliance
and to conduct its general store, which he operated successfully
for three years. Mr. Watts then engaged in business for himself,
conducting grocery stores on the east and west side in Wichita.
He was a member of the firm of WTatts & Helena, Wichita, for
two years, when he sold his interest to his partner. Mr. Watts
then moved to Sumner county, Kansas, where he conducted a
farm for three years. He then returned to Wichita and bought
property, and for a time retired from business. In 1902 Mr.
Watts moved to Bentley and engaged in the mercantile business,
where he now conducts a large general store and has the confi-
dence of his patrons. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic
Order, Valley Center Lodge, No. 361, in which he has filled all

912 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

the chairs. He is also a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows and of the Fraternal Aid Mutual Insurance Com-
pany. In politics Mr. Watts is a Democrat, but voted for Roose-
velt twice. He is public spirited and interested in his town and
county. Mr. Watts was converted and joined the M. E. Church
in 1884, in Sedgwick, Kan. He is a consistent Christian gentle-
man. He is a Bible student and a good speaker. He is one of
the pillars of the M. E. Church in Bentley, Kan., and is a tireless
worker for the Master.

William 0. Watson, farmer, living in Section 23, Morton
township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in Franklin
county, Indiana, on April 17, 1846. His parents were Samuel and
Jane (Holmes) Watson, both natives of Kentucky. The elder
Watson was a cabinet maker by trade, to which occupation he
devoted the most of his life. He went to Clark county, Illinois,
in 1840, with a family of twelve children, and afterwards moved
to Martinsville, in the same county, where he remained three
years. In 1863 he moved to DeWitt county, Illinois, near Farmer
City, and after a short stay there went to Bloomington, where
he remained two years, and then went to Chicago. From the
latter place he went to Garden City, Kan., where he died in 1892
at the age of eighty-eight. His wife died in 1871 at the age of
fifty-six. William 0. Watson received the benefit of a limited
education in the public schools of Indiana and Illinois. After
the death of his mother he and another brother remained at the
old home to provide for the family for two years. On October 2,
1878, he was married to Miss Ida Hurley, of Farmer City. Two
children were born of this union, of whom only one survives, a
daughter, Miss Bonnie Watson. The ancestors of Mrs. Watson
were pioneers of the state of Ohio and were highly respected
people. Her father was noted as a successful farmer in the com-
munity in which he lived. He moved to DeWitt county, Illinois,
at a very early day, and so thinly was the country then settled
he had to go thirty miles to find a market for his produce. He
was killed in the battle of Drury Bluff, Va., May 16, 1864, at the
age of thirty-four years. His wife died at Farmer City, June 14,
1895, at the age of sixty-three years. After Mr. Watson was
married he lived in Farmer City for three years and came to
Kansas in 1884, locating on a farm nine miles east of Cheney. He
later purchased a farm of 160 acres in Section 23, where he now
resides and has lived ever since. He has a happy family, raises

BIOGRAPHY 913

good cows, horses and cattle, and always has a number of fine
hogs on his farm. In politics Mr. Watson is a Republican.

S. A. Welsh, of Wichita, Kan., is the well-known proprietor of
the Pfister Cigar Company and Pfister Billiard Company, at Nos.
201 and 225 East Douglas avenue, Wichita. Mr. Welsh is an
Ohio man who came to Wichita in 1898. A great deal of credit
is due to him for the arrangement and makeup of his elegant
place of business. The smoke house and billiard hall, located
at No. 225 East Douglas avenue, contains the makeup and appli-
ances of older cities. The cigar furnishings in this particular
house are as good as any in the country. Citizens of Wichita no
longer desire or have need to go to eastern cities to buy good
cigars or to play billiards, as the accommodations here surpass
or are equal to any of the eastern cities. Mr. Welsh is an old
and experienced railroad man, having spent sixteen years in the
railroad passenger service, with headquarters at Kansas City.
The various roads with which he has been connected are : The
Pennsylvania, Wabash, Missouri Pacific, Missouri, Kansas &
Texas and the Burlington, serving as ticket agent for these vari-
ous roads from 1881 to 1897. Mr. Welsh was in the railroad busi-
ness in the palmy days when commissions were the general rule,
and has many friends throughout the United States. He selected
Wichita as the metropolis of the Southwest and a city of the
first class as his location, and has never lost confidence in its
future. He established himself in business here in 1898.

Bert C. Wells, city engineer, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of
Indiana, where he was born July 19, 1880, near Sheridan. His
parents were William and Mary (Cox) Wells, natives of North
Carolina, and came to Indiana in the seventies, where they
resided until 1907, when they moved to Kansas and located on
a farm near Rose Hill, where they now live. Mr. Wells was edu-
cated at the public schools of Indiana and Friend's University,
from which he was graduated in the class of 1903. He then took
a post-graduate course in mathematics and engineering at Haver-
ford College for one year. After this Mr. Wells taught in the
Wichita High School one year, at the end of which time he was
appointed assistant city engineer of Wichita, and in 1908 was
appointed city engineer, and is now serving his second term.
He is a member of the various commercial bodies of the city.
Mr. Wells was married on August 7, 1904, to Miss Sara Shoe-

914 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

maker, of Haysville, Sedgwick county. Two children have been
born of this union, Dorothy S. and Frances A. Wells.

W. L. Whitehead, liveryman, of Cheney, Kan., was born June
15, 1858, in East Tennessee. His parents were Samuel and Mar-
garet J. (Thompson) Whitehead. Mr. Whitehead is unable to
trace his ancestry very far back on the paternal side, but on the
maternal side he can trace them from the first families of Vir-
ginia. Mr. Whitehead preceded his parents in coming west,
having left his native state in the beginning of 1879, and in the
fall of the same year his parents also left their native state to
make their future home in the Southwest. W. L. Whitehead first
located in McPherson county, Kansas, remaining there one sum-
mer, when he removed to Reno county and stopped there one
year. He then moved to Grand River township and remained
two years, farming all the while, and afterwards moved on the
Jewett ranch, in Sedgwick county, where he farmed on an exten-
sive scale for seven years. He then moved to Cheney on April
22, 1890, and after a short time again engaged in farming. He
also engaged in the draying business in Cheney and conducted
this for fifteen years. In 1908 he purchased a livery barn and
is now conducting that business in Cheney. The early educa-
tion of Mr. Whitehead was acquired in the public schools of East
Tennessee. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America
and of the Christian Church of Cheney. Politically he is a Re-
publican. Mr. Whitehead was married on July 15, 1877, to Miss
Rachel E. Hearn, daughter of Thomas Hearn, of Tennessee.
Three children have been born of this union, of whom two are
living, viz. : Mary C. and Frank, both single.

James E. Whitelaw, retired farmer, of Cheney, Kan., was born
in Lorain county, Ohio, on November 23, 1849. His parents were
Edward A. and Theodosia (Wait) Whitelaw, the father being a
native of Scotland and the mother of Vermont. The mother was
a descendant of Gen. Ben. Wait, the old Indian fighter of the
War of 1812. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Whitelaw came
to Cleveland, Ohio, and practiced the profession of medicine up
to the time of his death. Mr. Whitelaw 's father emigrated
from Scotland to Lorain county, Ohio, and for a time became a
sailor on the Great Lakes. Giving up the water he engaged in
farming in Lorain county, and then moved to Van Buren county,
Michigan, where he died in 1881. The education of James E.
was limited to the district schools of Michigan. On November

BIOGRAPHY 915

25, 1875, he was married to Miss Loretta Smith, a daughter of
Peter Smith, of South Michigan. Six children were born of this
union, all of whom are living, viz. : Glenn, who resides in Kan-
sas City, Mo., where he is in the mercantile business; Roy, who
lives in Kingman county, Kansas; Frank, a widower; Blanch,
now Mrs. B. Minnick, a widow; James, Nevada mining boss, and
Isabella, single and at home. Mrs. Whitelaw died on November
25, 1898. After the death of his wife Mr. Whitelaw was again
married in 1902 to Lula E. Brown. Of this marriage there have
been no children. In 1877 Mr. Whitelaw located on a farm in
Afton township, where he remained for twenty-five years. He
afterward moved to Garden Plain, where he conducted a livery
business for eight years, and in 1908 moved to Cheney and
bought a fine residence, to which he is still adding more improve-
ments. Mr. Whitelaw has long been a resident of Sedgwick
county, has held important township offices, and was the first
police judge of Garden Plain. Fraternally he is a Mason, being
a member of Morton Lodge, No. 258, A. F. & A. M. of Cheney.
He is a member of the Christian Church and a Democrat in
politics.

David 0. Williams, superintendent of the West Side Coal Com-
pany, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of New Jersey, having been
born at Cape May, that state, on July 17, 1847. His parents
were Milleway and Keziah (Sayer) Williams, both natives of
New Jersey, who left that state and went to Illinois in 1858,
removing from the latter state to Kansas about forty years ago,
where the elder Williams took up a claim in Ohio township, Sedg-
wick county. He died in 1876 at the age of sixty-six years, and
his widow lived until 1904, when she died in her eighty-sixth
year. David 0. Williams was educated in the public schools of
New Jersey and Illinois, and came to Kansas in 1870. After
spending one year at Abilene, he returned to Illinois for a year,
and in 1872 again came to Kansas and took up a claim in Ohio
township, Sedgwick county, upon which he remained until 1880,
when he removed to Wichita, where he has since made his home.
He was first in the employ of A. A. Hess, grocer, with whom he
remained a short time, leaving the latter to enter the employ of
the Chicago Lumber Company, with whom he continued until
1884. Mr. Williams then engaged in the grocery business under
the firm name of Williams & Nessley, and continued in it until
1889, when the boom wave hit Wichita, affecting nearly every

916 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

kind of business enterprise. For five years after that Mr. Will-
iams was employed with the Hunter Milling Company, and this
was followed by farming interests for the next two years. In
1900 he entered the employ of the Schwartz Lumber Company,
and has since that time been the manager of the business of this
firm on the West Side, known as the West Side Coal Company.
Mr. Williams is a charter member of the West Side Lodge, No.
345, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is one of the first
members of the West Side Lodge, No. 1568, Modern Woodmen
of America, and is also a member of the Commercial League. He
was married on October 27, 1872, in Sangamon county, Illinois, to
Miss Hattie J. Cartwright, the ceremony being performed by
the pioneer Methodist clergyman of early fame, the Rev. Peter
Cartwright. From this union there has been one son, Charles L.,
of Waco township, Sedgwick county, who was married to Miss
Effie Rhodes, of which union they have two children — Donald
Oliver and Charles Edwards.

Albert P. Willis, merchant, of Valley Center, Sedgwick county,
Kansas, was born January 8, 1861, in Logan county, Illinois. His
father was William Willis, a native of Ohio, who moved from
Ohio to Illinois in 1876. The same year the elder Willis made a
visit to Kansas and bought 160 acres of land in Section 29, Grant
township, and in 1884 he removed from Illinois and bought land
in Kechi township, on which he lived up to the time of his death
in 1896. He was the father of eight children, six of whom are
now living, Albert P. being the seventh child. The father of
Albert P. learned the carpenter trade when a boy in Ohio and
devoted his time to that trade and farming. In the latter occu-
pation he was very successful, raising good hogs and cattle.
Albert P. Willis acquired his education in the public schools of
Illinois and Kansas. He came with his father to Kansas and
lived with him until his death. After this Albert P. removed to
Harney county, Kansas, where he remained one year, and in 1901
he removed to Sunny Dale, where he engaged in the mercantile
business, to which he has since devoted his entire attention and
has established a large trade. Mr. Willis was married on March
5, 1885, to Miss Anna Springer, a daughter of Peter Springer, of
Kechi township. Six children have been born of this union,
four boys and two girls, as follows: Clarence, Grace, Charles,
Katherine, Frank and Roy. Clarence is married and has one
child; Grace is now Mrs. Lekron and has one child. Mr. Willis

BIOGRAPHY 917

is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Valley
Center Lodge, No. 223, and the A. H. T. A. In politics he is a
Democrat.

William F. Willis, merchant, of Kechi, Sedgwick county, Kan-
sas, is a native of Illinois, where he was born on May 7, 1863, in
Logan county. His parents were William and Mary (Arnold)
Willis, the mother being a native of South Carolina and tracing
her ancestry to England. William Willis, the father, came to
Kansas with a family of seven children and located in Grant
township, Sedgwick county, and lived there until he died in 1890.
William F. Willis was educated in the public schools of Grant
township and remained with his parents until he was twenty years
old. He lived on the farm until November 15, 1909. He pur-
chased the old homestead and is now the owner of 240 acres of
land in Section 4, Kechi township. He moved to Kechi, where
he bought a general stock of merchandise and has been conduct-
ing business ever since. Mr. Willis is known as a public-spirited
citizen. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows and the A. H. T. A. He is a Democrat of the
Jeffersonian school and was trustee of Kechi township for two
years. Mr. Willis was married September 30, 1886, to Miss
Stella Hatfield, in Grant township. Nine children have been
born of this union, of whom all are now living, viz. : Oliver,
Effie, Clyde, Guy, Claud, Glenn, Opal, Waine and Read.

Hollis N. Wilson, Civil War veteran, of Goddard, Kan., was
born in New Hampshire on May 18, 1843. His parents were
Samuel T. and Laurna (Robinson) Wilson. Both his parents
were natives of New Hampshire, the ancestors on the paternal
side coming from Scotland and on the maternal side from Eng-
land. The parents moved west to Illinois in 1844, locating in
Woodford county, and remained there until 1875, in which year
the father died. His widow lived until 1892, in which year she
died at the age of eighty-six. Hollis N. Wilson enlisted in the
army when he was nineteen years old in Company E, One Hun-
dred and Eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. This regiment was
first commanded by Colonel Warner, of Peoria. The regiment
after receiving its equipment went to Covington, Ky., then to
Nicholasville, Ky., where it guarded the railroad; then to Louis-
ville, Ky., and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Milliken's
Bend, La. ; then went up the Yazoo river to Chickasaw bayou,
and fought the rebels at the latter place to Young's Point, Miss.

918 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

The regiment then moved up the Arkansas river to Arkansas
Post and there took the fort. All this time the regiment was in
the Sixteenth Army Corps. After the battle of Arkansas Post
the regiment was under Sherman. After the many severe battles
in which the regiment participated the ranks were greatly
reduced, and at Young's Point Mr. Wilson was detached from
the regiment and placed on one of the mortar boats in the Mis-
sissippi river fleet, where he did special duty up to the surrender
of Vicksburg. After the surrender Mr. Wilson was ordered to
Memphis, Tenn., and was detailed to General Bucklin's head-
quarters, and after having participated in several other hard
engagements he was finally discharged on August 5, 1865, at
Vicksburg, Miss. After his discharge Mr. Wilson returned to his
home in Woodford county, where on August 25, 1867, he was
married to Miss Lizzie J. Newton. One son was born of this
union. Mr. Wilson came to Kansas from Illinois in 1874, but
soon after returned to Illinois. He again came west and located
on a half section in Attica township in 1882 and then resided in
Goddard, Kan., which he calls his permanent home, although he
spends much of his time with his son, who lives on a farm in
Attica township. Mr. Wilson is a public-spirited citizen. He
manages about 4,000 acres of land owned by eastern men, besides
his own real estate, which consists of 640 acres. He is a Repub-
lican in politics.

Albert W. Wise, a prosperous farmer of Illinois township,
Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a native of Marshall county, Illi-
nois, and was born in 1856, the son of Stephen U. and Maria
(Wyly) Wise. He passed his boyhood on a farm in La Salle
county, Illinois, but in 1880 moved to Sedgwick county, Kansas,
and with his brother bought the east half of Section 36, in Illinois
township. At a later date they bought the other half of this
section and in 1909 Mr. Wise purchased his brother's interest,
so that he now owns 640 acres in Illinois township. His home is
on the south, on the township line, and the place is finely
improved and thoroughly equipped with all the needed appli-
ances of an up-to-date, model farm. He carries on general farm-
ing and stock raising, feeding, besides the corn and oats he
raises, large quantities which he buys, and has made his farming
operations eminently successful. He also owns 320 acres of
improved land in Harper county, Kansas.

BIOGRAPHY 919

Mr. Wise is a man of much influence in the community and
for three years has served as trustee of his township. He is a
director and also president of the Home State Bank of Clear-
water. In politics he holds independent views.

In 1882 Mr. Wise married Miss Catherine E., a daughter of
Col. S. B. Patch, of Streator, La Salle county, Illinois. They have
seven children, named, respectively, Arthur, Leslie, Dean, John,
Alice, Paul and Ruth.

D. P. Woods,* one of the progressive and wide awake young
business men of Wichita, Kans., came thither with his parents
when but four years old. He acquired his preliminary education
in the Wichita schools and then studied two years in the Kansas
University. After leaving the university he spent four years in
Oregon in the employ of the Santa Fe Railroad Company and in
1901 returned to Wichita and associated himself with his step-
father. Mr. E. P. Powell, as part owner of the Crystal Ice Com-
pany. On the death of Mr. Powell, in 1902, he purchased the
estate's interest in the ice company and himself conducted it till
1909. Selling out, he next bought a controlling interest in the
Wichita Ice and Cold Storage Company, located at Nos. 213-29
South Rock Island avenue, and has the general management of
the concern. The officers of this company are: C. W. South-
word, president; D. P. Woods, vice-president and treasurer, and
I. Brooks, secretary. Mr. Woods stands high in fraternal orders,
being a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to the Wichita
Consistory, and the Elks, and holding membership in the Cham-
ber of Commerce of Wichita. In 1904 Mr. Woods married Miss
Anna, daughter of Mr. C. W. Brown, of Wichita, and they have
two children, named, respectively, Elizabeth and Julia.

Charles H. Woolf, one of the self-made men and especially
successful farmers, stock raisers and fruit growers of Kansas,
resides on a finely cultivated farm on the northwest quarter of
Section 23, Morton township, Sedgwick county, Kansas. He was
born October 11, 1854, in Muskingum county, Ohio, of which
Zanesville is the county seat, and is a son of Andrew T. and
Angeline Woolf.

Andrew T. Woolf was a son of Adam and Mary Woolf, who
became residents of Ohio in 1830, locating in Muskingum county,
the family being originally from Loudoun county, Virginia. The
maternal grandmother of Charles H. Woolf was a Pennsylvania
Dutch woman, and was brought by her parents to Muskingum

920 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

county, Ohio, in 1806. His father was the oldest of eight chil-
dren, some of whom are deceased. John resides in Chicago, while
Frank, Samuel and Sophia probably reside in Virginia, as their
brother has never heard of their death. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew T.
Woolf were married, about 1853, in Muskingum county, Ohio, and
being poor people, rented a farm from a German in the neighbor-
hood. Five children were born to them, as follows : Charles H. ;
Frank, a prominent farmer of Illinois township, Sedgwick county,
Kansas ; Laura, now Mrs. LeRoy Dunn, who resides on some of the
homestead property in Ohio, and has two sons and two daughters ;
Blanche, who is the wife of Milo E. Dunn, a professional man
residing in Columbus, Ohio, and has three children; and Maude,
now Mrs. Cawkins, of Zanesville, Ohio.

Charles H. Woolf was reared and mentally instructed in the
common schools of his district, receiving, however, but few edu-
cational advantages. He assisted his father until he was twenty-
two years old, when he married (in 1878), and continued on the
farm for five years more, when the landlord died. His heirs
offered Charles H. the farm at the same rent his father had paid,
but he refused, and having heard of the chances of a poor man in
Kansas resolved to try his fortune in that state. Louis Howard,
a friend of his, had been to see the country around Wichita, so
Mr. Woolf determined to see it for himself. Therefore, in De-
cember, 1881, in company with Frank Woolf, his brother, the
subject of this writing came to Kansas, and after visiting several
localities in the eastern portion reached Wichita, and inspected
the surroundings. He was so well pleased that he returned to
Ohio, sold his live stock and farm implements, and with his wife
and two children, his brother's family and his brother-in-law.
returned to the Sunflower State in March, 1882. The first loca-
tion was made on the old Frank Stover farm, fifteen miles south-
west of Wichita, where he resided one year. Then he moved
to Frank Means' farm, where he also stayed a year. During this
time Charles H. Woolf and Frank Woolf had purchased a half
section in Illinois township, and the subject hereof moved to this
farm. He resided there until the spring of 1886, when he traded
with Thomas Speers for the northwest quarter of Section 23,
township 28, range 4 west, his present home, and one of the finest
pieces of farm property in Sedgwick county. Very few improve-
ments had been made on this farm by the former owner, who had
pre-empted it. As soon as it came into the possession of Mr.

BIOGRAPHY 921

Woolf, however, he commenced enhancing its value, and has con-
tinued making improvements ever since. Owing to the care be-
stowed upon it the farm has yielded manifold and Mr. Woolf has
raised fine crops of corn, wheat, etc., which have never failed
during the many years of his ownership. Being a man of original
ideas, Mr. Woolf has taken especial pains with his orchards and
has twenty acres set out in fruit trees. In 1890, at the county fair,
he took the "blue ribbon" on his apples, his exhibit including
thirteen varieties of apples, two varieties of pears and one of
quinces. About the same time that he planted his orchard he set
out a fine grove of shade trees, including black locust, maple and
catalpa, all of which are in excellent condition.

In 1895 Mr. Woolf erected his present comfortable residence,
at a cost of some $3,000. It is a large structure, being 32 by 54
feet in dimensions, is 20 feet high to the square, and has nine
rooms, including the bathroom. It is supplied with hot and cold
water, has a walled cellar, 24 by 26 feet square, and is furnished
with all modern improvements. The handsome barn accommo-
dates twelve horses, while numerous other outbuildings testify
to the owner's thrift and good management. Mr. Woolf also
makes a specialty of dairy products, keeping some forty head of
cattle, about twenty of which are milch cows. In his dairy are all
modern appliances, including a cream separator, and he sends
his cream by express to Wichita for sale. The strain of cattle he
prefers is the famous Red Polled, while his hogs are of Berkshire
stock.

In addition to his home farm Mr. Woolf is the possessor of
eighty acres in Section 14 (twenty acres of which are seeded to
alfalfa), and also 240 acres in Section 22 (the northeast quarter
and the north half of the northwest quarter), which is pasture
land, and through which the Ninnescah river runs.

In 1878 Mr. Woolf married Ellie Hart, daughter of Isaac and
Martha Hart, and nine children have been born to them. The
names of the children are as follows : Roy, born in Ohio ; Will,
born in Ohio; Ada, Mattie, Ida and Laura, deceased; Hattie;
Nellie, and Hazel. Since locating in Kansas the members of the
family have enjoyed excellent health, although at the time of the
moving Mrs. Woolf 's health was very poor.

As a prosperous, practical farmer and business man, Mr. Woolf
has few equals, and the success which has crowned his efforts is
well deserved. Although not a politician, not seeking office, he

922 HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY

has been selected three terms as a trustee of Morton township.
Fraternally he is a charter member of the M. W. of A. at Cheney.
In church matters he gives his support to and attends the Cheney
M. E. Church. Both as a private citizen and a public official Mr.
Woolf 's every action has been characterized by fairness of dealing
and uprightness of purpose. He enjoys a widespread popularity
and is regarded as one of the best representatives of the agricul-
tural interests of the great state of Kansas.

George L. Young is manager of the Wichita branch of the
Young Brothers Decorative Company. He was born at Quincy,
111., in 1863 to John B. and Catherine Doohen Young. In 1886
he married Miss May Burgesser, of Clayton, 111. He is prominent
in social and fraternal organizations, is a thirty-second degree
Mason, belongs to the Wichita Consistory, and is a member of the
Ancient Order of United Woodmen.

The company with which Mr. Young is connected was organ-
ized in 1874 by John B. and Elijah D. Young, at Quincy, 111., and
carried on there with marked success. In 1887 a branch house
was opened at Wichita and John B. removed thither, Elijah D.
continuing to look after the company's affairs at Quincy. During
the first three years the Wichita branch was located at No. 352
North Main street, but in 1890 moved to No. 236 North Main
street and continued there till its removal to the present location,
No. 142 North Main street, in 1906. The officers of the company
are : John B. Young, president ; Elijah D. Young, vice-president ;
and George Young, our subject, secretary and treasurer. It
ranks among the prosperous and progressive business houses of
Wichita and in its development has kept pace with the growth of
the city, being the largest concern of its kind in the place, carry-
ing a full and complete stock of goods used in the decorative line.
The growth and standing of the concern are a credit alike to
the company's conservative, wise and enterprising management.

Joseph M. Jordan, retired farmer, of Mt. Hope, Sedgwick
county, Kansas, was born May 25, 1842, near Stanton, Virginia.
He is a son of Joseph and Anna R. Jordan, natives of Virginia.
The remote ancestors on the paternal side are traced to England.
The father of Joseph M. reared a family of seven children, of
which he is the second born. Joseph M. remained under the
paternal roof until he was twenty-five years old. His father was
a miller and also a farmer in Virginia, and a respected citizen
of the community in which he lived. He died in Virginia in 1894,

BIOGEAPHY 923

his wife having died in the same state in- 1875. Joseph M. Jordan
was married on May 30, 1867, to Miss Mary E. Crann, a daughter
of Samuel Crann, of Virginia, in Dutchess county, that state.
Fourteen children have been born of this union, viz. : James S.,
William C, Jacob M., Francis M., Lewis G., Luella M., Elsie E.,
Alma E., Susanna B., Elias C, and Ezekiel, all of whom are living.
Among the deceased are Joseph B., John M. and Emmett S.
Joseph M. Jordan farmed in Virginia until 1883, when he removed
to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and was located two miles from
Mt. Hope, which at that time was not in existence. He bought
a tract of land and made valuable improvements on the property,
which he now owns, and on which he resided up to 1897, in which
year he moved to Mt. Hope. He has been a successful farmer,
dealing extensively in horses, cattle and hogs, and he took advan-
tage of Mt. Hope as an educational center for his children and
has made it his permanent residence. Mr. Jordan is a member
of the Christian church, in which he has been a deacon for
eighteen years. Mrs. Jordan takes great pride in her children
and her Virginia ancestors. Her father was conscripted in the
Confederate army. He entered the service on Friday and the
following Sunday was killed in the battle of Piedmont, Virginia.

INDEX

A Crying Need, 586.

Adams, A. J., 704.

Adams, Eobert T., 704.

A. D. 1910, 227.

A Dying Kiver, 522.

A Tew of the Many Big Things that

Wichita is Doing Now, 39.
A Few Big Things Wichita Has, 43.
A Frontier Incident, 445.
Again Scattered, 534.
Agriculture in Sedgwick County, 647.
Agricultural Southwest, 489.
A Gorgeous Law Office, 271.
A Great Motor Car Center, 51.
Aherne, Phil P., Jr., 705.
A Lawyer 's Eeveries of the Times

When Wichita was in the Gristle,

132.
Albert Pike Lodge a Distinct Force,

394.
Alfalfa, 649.

Alfalfa an Imperial Forage Plant, 651.
Allen, Augustus D., 705.
Allen, Bennett D., 706.
Allen, Henry J., 318.
Allison, James, 907.
Allen, Jos., Administration of, 241.
Ancient Order United Workmen, 414.
Andale, 617.

Anderson, Samuel L., 708.
An Early Incident of Cheney, 622.
An Early Incident of the Bench of

Sedgwick County, 510.
An Early Incident of Wichita — Judge

S. M. Tucker Subdues Hurricane

Bill, 464.
Anness, 617.
Anson Skinner Camp, No. 49, Sons of

Veterans, 541.
Anthony, Henry, 708.
An Old Landmark, 431.
Appling, W. L., 300.
A Prosperous Year, 529.
Artie Ice & Eefrigerating Company,

59.
Arkansas River, 432.
Arkansas Valley Bank, 95.
Armed Helpless Fighters, 551.
Armour, J. A., 709.

Arrest, Trial and Escape of Jesse

James, 152.
Articles of Merchandise, 117.
Artman, Dr. Byron E., 710.
At Cowskin Grove, 120.
At 7 Cents Per Acre, 526.
Ayres, John S., 711.
A World Market for Broomcorn, 37.
Baird, C. L., 712.
Baird, Sidney E., 713.
Baker, Charles A., 714.
Baldwin & Stanley, 142.
Banks of Wichita, 95.
Bank, American State, 98.
Bank of Commerce, 97.
Bank, Citizens', 97.
Bank, Citizens' State, 99.
Bank, Commercial, 99.
Bank, Fourth National of Wichita, 97.
Bank, Gold Savings State Bank, 100.
Bank, Kansas State, 97.
Bank, Kansas National, 96.
Bank, Merchants' State, 100.
Bank, National of Commerce, 98.
Bank, National of Wichita, 99.
Bank, State Savings, 99.
Bank, Stock Yards State, 100.
Bank, Union Stock Yards National,

101.
Bank, West Side National, 98.
Bank, Wichita, 95.
Bank, Wichita Savings, 96.
Bank, Wichita State, 100.
Banks, $12,000,000 in Wichita, 102.
Banks, Country, of Sedgwick County,

102.
Bank, Farmers' State, Sedgwick, 103.
Bank, Sedgwick State, 103.
Bank, Valley Center State, 103.
Bank, State, of Kechi, 103.
Bank, Farmers ' State, of Mulvane, 103.
Bank, Mulvane State, 103.
Bank, Home State, Clearwater, 103.
Bank, State, of Clearwater, 103.
Bank, Viola State, 103.
Bank, Cheney State, 103.
Bank, Citizens' State, Cheney, 104.
Bank, State, Gorden Plain, 104.
Bank, Goddard State, 104.

925

926

INDEX

Bank, Farmers' State, Mt. Hope, 104.

Bank, First National, Mt. Hope, 104.

Bank, Anclale State, 104.

Bank, Colwick State, 104.

Bank, State, of Bentley, 104.

Bank, Farmers' & Merchants' State,
Derby, 103.

Baron Jags in Wichita, 164.

Basham, David Walker, 715.

Baughman, H. C, 715.

Barrett, J. J., 586.

Bayneville, 618.

Beacon, Founding of the, 468.

Beatty, Charles W., 717.

Bennett, W. E., 717.

Bench and Bar, 509.

Bentley, Orsemus Hills, 303, 501,
509, 558.

Big Chiefs, 530.

Big Four, 616.

Bigelow, Charles E., 478.

Bird, Josiah M., 718.

Bissantz, Jacob, 719.

Blake, Earl, 720.

Blakely, Charles A., 720.

Blood, George L., 722.

Blood, Gillman L., 721.

Blood, John W., 721.

Board of Trade of Wichita and Here-
in, 180.

Board of Trade and How it Grew,
75.

Boll, George M., 722.

Boom Administration, 243.

Boone, Dan E., 625.

Boone, Frank S., 723.

Booth, Winfield M., 726.

Bowman, Joseph, 727.

Boyd, Lindley, 460.

Bradford, George H., 727.

Brief History of Beacon Block, 318.

Bright Lights and Marble, 317.

Brooks, Charles H., 588-729.

Brown, Charles- W., 729.

Brown, James K., 730.

Brown, -James B., 730.

Brown, John W., 732.

Brotherhood of Bailway Trainmen,
Wichita Lodge, No. 356, 413.

Brown, Will W., 733.

Buck, Albert A., 733.

Buckingham, Koy, 515.

Buckley, Fred, 734.

Buckner, William T., 734.

Burt, Frank S., 735.

Business Schools, 328.

Buzzi, Antonio S., 736.

Caldwell, C. S., 361.

Campbell, Albert M., 736.

Campbell, John William, 737.

Canaday, Merrit D., 738.

Capitular Masonry, Wichita Chapter,

397.
Carey 's, John B., Administration, 241.
Carpenter, Sherman O., 739.
Carter, Mrs. L. S., 305.
Cartwright, Claud N., 740.
Case, Howard E., 741.
Catholic Advance, 489.
Central Point for Bailroads, 592.
Chambers, Anthony E., 741.
Charity of Wichita Citizens, 453.
Chance, Charles, 650.
Chapter II, 141.
Chapter III, 144.
Chapter IV, 146.
Cheney, 620.
Cherokee Strip, 556.
Chrismore, C. E., 743.
Chronicles, 196.
Chronicle II, 187.
Chronicle V, 206.
Chronicle VI, 215.
Churches, The Pioneer, of Wichita,

Kan., 361.
Church, Episcopal, 362.
Church, First Baptist, 364.
Church, M. E., 364.
Church, First Presbyterian, 363.
Church, Wichita's First, 369.
Church, Monuments of the Past, 266,
Churches of Today, Wichita, 373.
Church, All Saints' Episcopal, 375.
American Salvation Army, 377.
Church, Brown Memorial Beformed,

377.
Church, Calvary Presbyterian, 376.
Central Christian Mission, 374.
Christian Church of Christ, 374.
Christian Central Church of Christ,

374.
College Hill Congregational Church,

375.
College Hill Methodist Episcopal

Church, 376.
College Hill United Presbyterian

Church, 376.
Church, Dunkard, 375.
Church, Dunkard Brethren, 375.
Church, Emporia Avenue Methodist

Episcopal, 376.
Church, Fairmount Congregational,

375.
Church, Fellowship Congregational

(Institutional), 375.
Church, First Baptist, 374.
Church of Christ Christian Scientist,

First, 374.
Church, First Free Methodist, 376.
Church, First Methodist Episcopal,

376.
Church, First Presbyterian, 376.

INDEX

927

Church, First United Brethren, 377.

Church, First Universalist, 377.

Church, First United Presbyterian,
376.

Church, First Unitarian, 377.

Church, Friends', 375.

Church, Friends' North End, 375.

Church, Friends' University, 375.

Church, German Evangelical, 375.

Church, German Methodist Episcopal,
376.

Church, Grace Presbyterian, 377.

Chruch, Harry Street Methodist Epis-
copal, 376.

Church, New Hope Baptist (Colored),
374.

Chapel, Linwood Presbyterian, 377.

Church, Oak Street Presbyterian, 377.

Church, Plymouth Congregational,
375.

The Salvation Army, 377.

The Salvation Army Barracks, 384.

Church, Second Baptist (Colored),
374.

Church of Christ Christian Scientist,
Second, 374.

Church, Seventh Day Adventist, 374.

Church, St. Aloysius Pro-Cathedral,
374.

Church, St. Anthony German Catholic,
374.

Church, St. John's Episcopal, 375.

Church, South Lawrence Avenue
Christian, 374.

Church, St. Paul 's African Methodist
Episcopal (Colored), 376.

Church, St. Paul's English Evangel-
ical Lutheran, 375.

Church, St. Stephen's Episcopal, 375.

Church, St. Paul's Methodist Episco-
pal, 376.

Church, Tabernacle Baptist (Col-
ored), 374.

Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church,
376.

Church, Waco Avenue United Breth-
ren, 377.

Church, West Side Baptist, 374.

Church, West Side Presbyterian, 377.

Young Men's Christian Association,
378.

Y. M. C. A. Board of Directors, 379.

Executive Officers, 383.

Circus Day in Sedgwick County, 429.

City Federation of Clubs, 385.

City of Wichita, 1.

Claim that Kansas Man is Original
"Buffalo Bill," 550.

Clearwater, 623.

Clement's, George W., Administra-
tion, 241.

Climatic Data, 602.

Climatology of Wichita and Sedg-
wick County, 601.

Cole, Ludovic R., 743.

Colver, Mark S., 744.

Colver, Robert O., 745.

Collings, G. W., 675.

Colored Soldiers of Sedgwick County
in the Spanish-American War, 543.

Colwich, 625.

Commercial and Industrial, 19.

Commercial Club, 79.

Conclusion, 612.

Cone, Rufus, 747.

Confident of the Shot 's Effect, 552.

Conklin, P. J., 748.

Contractors and Craftsmen Help Make
a Greater Wichita, 40.

Copner, Warner F., 749.

Corn, George W., 750.

Cossitt, Fred J., 830.

Courts, 500.

Courts of Sedgwick County, Kansas,
513.

Covault, J. B., 83.

Covault, John H., 751.

Cowley, Louis K., 752.

Cox's, L. M., Administration, 242.

Crawford, J. C, 750.

Crawford Theater, 458.

Credit to the Redmen, 117.

Cretcher, Mack P., 425.

Crider, Joseph A., 752.

Crossley, Elwood E., 753.

Culp, Frank T., 754.

Daily Live Stock Journal, 489.

Davidson, 626.

Davidson, C. L., 44, 755.

Davidson, John A., 756.

Davidson, J. Oak, 757.

Davison, John A., 761.

Davis, David, 759.

Davis, John D., 760.

Davis, William E., 761.

Derby, 626.

Development of Packing Industry,
696.

Dewey, Alvin A., 762.

Dice, Jeremiah W, 763.

Diehl, John E., 764.

Directors, 381.

District Judges of Sedgwick Countv,
510.

Dixon, Dr. William E., 765.

Dold, Fred W., 765.

Dorr, Richard N., 766.

Drainage Canal, 442.

Drill Hole at Wichita, 113.

Duncan, Shelby P., 767.

Dyer, Judge James L., 90.

Eagles, 414.

928

INDEX

Early Contributors, 488.
Early History of Wichita, 6.
Eggleston Post, No. 244, 541.
Ellis, Henry I., 768.
Elite Theater, 458.
Emery, Elmer F., 768.
Emerick, Josiah D., 769.
Enoch, Elmer Ellsworth, 770.
Enrollment in the Ward Schools, 336.
Ernest, George W., 770.
Eunice Sterling Chapter, 388.
Evans, E. Kenneth, 493.
Evolution of the Farm, 648.
Fabrique, Dr. A. H., 415.
Faculty Friends' University, 345.
Fager, Josiah F., 771.
Fahl, Eugene, 16, 68.
Fairmount College, 325.
Fairmount College, 351-358.
Fairmount Library Club, 388.
Farmers Brought Wheat Many Miles

to Wichita, 459.
Farmer Doolittle is Inspired Over

Mulvane, 639.
Farmers Get Mail Daily Over Nine

Eural Eoutes, 107.
February, 1910, In Wichita, Kansas,

46.

Ferriter, John, 501.

Financial, 22.

First City Officers of Wichita, 14.

First County Officers of Sedgwick, 14.

First Duel in Wichita, 149.

First Impressions Were Lasting, 452.

Forecasts, 596.

Formation of Tribe, 528.

Forward, Edward, 772.

Fraternal Aid, 414.

Fraternal Brotherhood, 414.

Frasius, Euth, 385.

Fraternal Union, 414.

Freeman, Harvey J., 773.

Friends' University, 326, 340, 346,

389.
Frost Meter in Sedgwick County, 670.
Fruit and Truck Farming Will Pay,

662.
Fruit Eaising in Sedgwick County,

656^
Fuel >-robiem Perplexed Pioneers, 459.
Furley, 628.

Gackenbach, Farley A., 774.
Gaiser, William H., 775.
Garden Plain, 629.
G. A. E. in Kansas, 539.
Gardner, James K., 776.
Gardiner, James B., 775.
Garrett, Alexander, 777.
Garrett, Lea A., 830.
Garriss, Ichabod P., 777.
Garver, Martin L., 778.

General Insolvency, 223.

George, Fred W., 779.

Gerhards, Christopher, 780.

Giwosky, John S., 781.

Goddard, 630.

Goodin, Edgar A., 781.

Goodrich, Cutler W., M. D., 783.

Goodrich, Walstein D., 784.

Governor of Kansas Praises Growing

Wichita, 321.
Grace, Thomas J., 785.
Grade Schools, 335.
Grain, 21.
Grape Culture in Southern Kansas,

664.
Grass Houses, 529.
Green, Aaron T., 785.
Greenwich, 630.

Grieffenstein 's Administration, 234.
Greiffenstein, William, 298.
Grimsley, Andrew, 786.
Growth of Wichita, 18.
Hadley, Elvin Spencer, 787.
Hadley, W. S., 787.
Hahn, Earl, 788.
Hampson, James A., 789.
Harrington, Thomas C, 790.
Harris, George E., 791.
Harris', Geo., Administration, 233.
Harris, Kos., 132, 164, 172, 180, 194,

196, 230, 249, 264, 273, 308, 435,

438.
Hard Hunting, 532.
Harper, William H., 790.
Harsh, Slyvester, 792.
Hatfield, Eodolph, 331, 448, 793.
Hattan, Clarence A., 797.
Haymaker, J. N., 72.
Healy, Edward J., 797.
Head Trading Post, 530.
Heart of Wichita, 430.
He Had No Practice, 270.
Heenan, David, 798.
Henderson, Harry S., 801.
Heinig, Eichard, 800.
Helmken, Louis, 799.
Herrmann 's Soehnen, 414.
Hern, Nathan B., 801.
High, Severen E., 802.
High School, 333, 336.
Higginson Drug Company, 61.
Highland Nobles, 414.
Hill, A. H., 803.
Historical Address, 256.
History of the "Wichita Eagle,"

478.
History of the Wichita Union Stock

Yards, 687.
Hockaday, I. N., 804.
Holm, Ferdinand, 804.
Holmes, E. F., 805.

INDEX

929

Home of the Commercial Club, 81.

Hope, Alonzo B., 806.

Hope's, Jim, Administration, 233.

Houek, J. Fitch, 626.

Hough, Claude F., 806.

Houston, Joseph D., 807.

Howard, J. E., 808.

How Postal Eeceipts in Wichita Have
Grown, 109.

How the ' ' Beacon ' ' was Named, 476.

How to Improve Apple Orchards, 660.

Howe, Daniel S., 809.

Hoyt, Charles C, 810.

Huckle, 632.

Hull, Myron L., 810.

Hunter, Alvin C, 811.

"Ida May," a Victim of Cowboy
Sport, 458.

In 1835, 116.

Increase of Tribes, 526.

Indian Names, 527.

Indians in Kansas, 525.

Industries Wichita Has, 33.

Insignificance of Man's Influence Up-
on Climate, 607.

Irrigating Small Fruits Will Pay, 658.

Interesting Bomance of Wichita's
First Skyscraper, 314.

Interesting Facts Concerning Wichita,

44.
Introduction, 594.
In War Times, 531.
Investment of Sedgwick County Cap-
ital, 498.
Isbell, Frank, 812.
Is This a Fruit Country?, 655.
Ivy Leaf Chapter, Order Eastern Star,

395.
Jamesburg, 633.

January, 1910, In Wichita, Kansas, 44.
Jewell, E. W., 813.
Jewett, E. B., 420.
Jones, Captain Samuel W., 543.
Jones, Charles W., 816.
Johnson, Frederick M., 814.
Johnson, Wallace W., 815.
Johnston & Larimer Dry Goods Com-
pany, Wichita, Kansas, 27.
Jones, James M., 816.
Jones, Oliver Winslow, 817.
Jones, Winfield Scott, 818.
Jordan, J. M., 922.
Jorgensen, 818.
Jupiter vs. the Bull, 152.
Kaffir Corn, 648.
"Kansas Commoner," 489.
Kansas Crop Figures, 671.
"Kansas Farmer Star," 489.
' ' Kansas Magazine, ' ' 489.
Kansas Masonic Home and Chapel,
411.

Kansas Midland Railway, 585.

Kautz, Worth, 819.

Kechi, 633.

Keene, John W., 820.

Kelchner, William H., 821.

Kemp, W. C, 822.

Kennedy, Patrick, 822.

Keno Boom Described, 267.

Kernan, Samuel B., 823.

Killed Buffalo for Game, 553.

Kimball, Ellwood D., 824.

Kingman Trail, 507.

Kimel, Harvey O., 825.

Kirk, O. D., 825.

Kirkpatrick, K. F., 826.

Knights of Pythias, 414.

Kockel, Samuel, 827.

Ladd, Frederick Otis, 828.

Ladies' Auxiliary of the Sons of Vet-
erans, 542.
Ladies' Auxiliary, Peerless Princess

Lodge, No. 349, B. of B. T., 413.
Ladies of Security, 414.
Largest Receipts in One Day, 690.
Largest Receipts in One Week, 690.
Largest Receipts in One Month, 690.
Largest Receipts in One Year, 690.
Largest Receipts of Stock in One

Year, 683.
Last Indian Scare in Sedgwick Crun-

ty, 505.
Laurie, John, 829.
Law of the Plains, 119.
Leahy, D. D., 485.
Leasure, C. A., 56.
Leasure, Ezra D., 829.
Left Their Names, 530.
Legend of John Farmer, 273.
Lincoln Street Presbyterian Church,

377.
Little Arkansas, 121.
Little Arkansas River, 432.
Little Reminiscence of the Days When
Wichita was Young — Inspired by
Looking at the Beacon Building,
435.
Live Stock, 20.
Live Stock on Hand, 503.
Live Stock Interests of the Interior

West, 681.
Local Conditions, 448.
Logsdon, William T., M. D., 830.
Longenecker, Nathaniel W., 831.
Laudenslager, Henry H., 832.
Loyal to the Union, 531.
Lumber and Building Materials, 56.
Lumber Trade of Wichita, 25.
Magill, Charles A., 832.
Mahin, Dr. Francis Milton, 833.
Main, D. M., 834.

930

INDEX

Main North and South Street of

Wichita, 441.
Maize, 634.
Major, J. C, 634.
Marble, A. S., 835.
Marple Theater, 458.
Martin, Clarence J., 366.
Martin, Fred W., 836.
Martinson, Ola, 837.
William Mathewson— Buffalo Bill-
Last of the Old Scouts, 239, 276,
314.
Mathewson 's Pasture, 466.
Matson, LeEoy, 839.
Matteson, William E., 838.
McClallen, John E., 890.
McCallum, Charles, 839.
McCollister, Charles C, 840.
McCollister Madison M., 840.
McCullough, W. F., 48.
McCune, Fred G., 841.
McCurley, George F., 842.
McKnight Land, 442.
McLean's, Ben, Administration, 243.
McVicker, Archibald E., 843.
Mead, James E., Ill, 113, 115, 121,

522, 525, 534, 550.
Mead, Mrs. James R., 279, 534.
Meaning of the Word "Wichita,"

111.
Medical Profession of Wichita, 415.
Meeker, Hildreth C, 843.
Meyer, John F. W., 844.
Miles, Charles M., 845.
Millison, D. G., 468.
Miscellaneous Manufacturers, 22.
' ' Missionary Messenger, ' ' 490.
Mitchell, Frank M., 846.
Modern Woodmen, 414.
Monuments to the past, 366.
Morey, George A., 847.
Morgan, George O., 847.
Morton-Simmons Hardware Company,

63.
Mount Carmel Academy, 327, 359.
Mount Hope, 636.
Mount Olivet Commandery, 402.
Mueller, Alfred G., 848.
Mueller, Charles P., 849.
Mulvane, Kansas, 637.
Muller, George, 849.
Murdock, Col. Marshall M., 485.
Mystic Circle, 414.
Mystic Shrine, 410.
Naftzger, L. S., 95.
Native Forest Trees of the State of

Kansas, 675.
Nelson, Hans M., 850.
Nessly, William Eiley, 850.
New Auditorium, 458.

New Buildings Worth $2,000,000 in
the First Fourth Months of 1910,
310.
New Country South of Us, 555.
Nichols, Benjamin F., 851.
Nicholson, J. M., 853.
Ninnescah Valley, 615.
Nolan, Samuel L., 853.

Northcutt, Odon, 854.

Northwest Corner, 430.

Not Exact Quotation, 269.

Oatville, 640.

Odd Fellows, 414.

Officers, 381.

Ohmer, Edward J., 855.

The Oklahoma Boom, 225.

Oldest Mail Carrier in Wichita, 301.

Old Munger House — First House in
Wichita, 443.

Old New York Block — Schweiter Cor-
ner— A Narrative of Early Wichita,
264.

Old-Time Law Firms, 270.

Order of Eailway Conductors, Wichita
Division, No. 338, 413.

Orient Brings in Trains of Stock, 581.

Orient Eailway Company, 578.

Orpheum Theater, 458.

Osages, 525.

Other Secret Societies, 414.

Outlook, 18.

Owen, Yank, 297.

Owens, Thomas J., 856.

Palmer, Hattie, 369.

Park City and Wichita and Their As-
tonishing Contest, 420.

Parker, Branson William, 857.

Parker, Frederick, 857.

Parker, William B., 858.

Payne's Dream Came True, 554.

Peck, 641.

Peerless Princess Division, No. 221,
Ladies' Auxiliary to O. E. C, 413.

Phillips, Edgar Willard, 859.

Pierce, Clifford, 378.

Pioneer Seal Estate Dealers, 426.

Pioneer Eural Mail Carrier, 300.

Population of a Great County, 498.

Population of Wichita, Sedgwick
County and the State of Kansas,
449.

Porter, Frank L., 860.

Postoffice, 108.

Postoffice Eecords Proof of Growth,
106.

Practical Uses of the Forecasts, 599.

Pratt, George L., 861.

Pratt, Mrs. George L., 416.

Press, 468.

' ' Price Current, ' ' 490.

Price, Will G., 861.

INDEX

931

"Primitive Christianity," 490.
Property Values in Wichita, 43.
Public Schools of Sedgwick County,

Quantity of Moisture, 609.

Railroads, 558.

Army of Mechanics Building the
Shops, 583.

Early Railroads Had to Struggle for
an Existence, 565.

First Train on the Santa Fe, 563.

Making Railroads in the Early Days,
561.

Million and a Half in Terminals, 569.

Missouri Pacific Begins Rebuilding of
All Its Lines, 571.

Personnel of the Frisco in Wichita,
577.

Proposed Railway Lines, 558.

Railroads of Sedgwick County, 558.

Railway Mail Service, 109.

Rock Island Railway, 584.

Santa Fe in Wichita, 567.

Santa Fe Railroad, 565.

Santa Fe Tonnage, 568.

Santa Fe Trail, 526.
-St. Louis, Fort Scott & Wichita Rail-
road, 574.

St. Louis & San Francisco, 577.

St. Louis, Wichita & Western Rail-
way, 578.

Street Railway— A. D., 1883, 194.

Wichita, Anthony & Salt Plains Rail-
road, 575.

Wichita & Colorado Railway Company,
573.

Wichita & Western Railway, 576.

Raising of Alfalfa, 650.

Razing of Webster School Building,
337.

Rankin, Charles E., 862.

Ransom Frank T., 863.

Ravages of Cholera, 533.

Real Barbarians, 528.

Recapitulation, 226.

Record Growth in Live Stock Busi-
ness, 690.

Reece, Virgil A., 864.

Reed, Arthur B., 865.

Reeder, Harry, 865.

Redmen, 414.

Reminiscences of a Briefless Bar-
rister, 249. .

Reorganized Board of Trade, 200.

Research Observatory, 601.

Reservation Indians, 527.

Resing, Dale, 276.

Retrospection and Prognostication.
227.

Review of City, 230.

Richardson, True B., 866.

Rickard, Perry G., 865.

Riley, George T., 867.

Robinson, William C, 868.

Ross', Finlay, Administration, 242.

Roster of City Officers of Wichita,
Kansas, 1910, 66.

Roster of County Officers, Sedgwick
County, 499.

Rural Schools Are Growing, 329.

Russell, Adolphus I)., 869.

Sargent, Thornton W., 870.

Sash and Door Industry in Wichita.
54.

Saur, August J., 870.

Scheetz, Levi G., 872.

15,225 School Kids in Sedgwick
County, 330.

School Superintendent's Rei>ort, 328.

Schulte, 641.

Schulte, Peter, 872.

Schwartz, Edward J., 871.

Schweiter Corner, 264.

Schweiter Block, 320.

Scope of the National Weather Serv-
ice, 595.

Scottish Rite Masonry, 404.

Scottish Rite in Wichita, 398.

Scott, Garrison, 873.

Scott, Le Roye W., 874.

Scraps of Local History, 418.

Sedgwick, 642.

Sedgwick County, 491, 501.

The Sedgwick County Bar in the
Early '80s, 509.

The Sedgwick County Court House,
514.

Sedgwick County, Its Organization.
493.

Sedgwick County Pays Its Full Share
of Taxes, 461.

Sedgwick Has an Entomologv Station.
668.

Sedgwick Home Lumber Hauled from
Emporia, 460.

Sellers, J. Ira, 874.

Sence, William, 875.

Sessions of the U. S. Court Are Con-
vened in Wichita, 512.

Shafer, William W., 875.

Shannon Thomas H., 876.

Shaw, S. D., 877.

Shelly, Dr. S. T., 877.

Shelley Drug Company, 60.

Shew, Aaron L., 878.

Shreve, Charles E., 880.

Shuler, Frank W., 880.

Silknitter, Hiram W., 881.

Simmons, Charles W., 881.

Simmons, James M., 883.

Sluss, Henry O, 143.

Smith, J. Giles, 398-412.

932

INDEX

Eeview of Wichita Bodies, 398.

Smyth, Charles H., 79.

Snyder, Henry H., 883.

So-Called Change of Climate, 605.

Solandt, Andrew P., 351.

Some Pioneer Traders, 116.

Some Prominent Buildings in Wichita,
309.

Some Well-Known People, 295.

Southwestern Marble & Tile Company,
63.

"Southwestern Grain & Flour Jour-
nal," 490.

South Side Delvers, 387.

Sowers, Fred A., 6.

Spencer, Edwin I., 884.

Spurious Forecasts, 597.

Stage Coach Period of Wichita, 455.

Stanley, Edmund, 340.

Stanley, John E., 885.

Steiert, Joseph W., 886.-

Stevens, Zachary H., 886.

Stewart, James, 887.

Stewart, Joe, 887.

St. Mark, 642.

Stilwell, Arthur E., 582.

Stock Market That Satisfies, 694.

Stoner, Aaron W., 888.

Story of the Peerless Princess, 427.

Stringer, William O., 888.

Stubbs, W. E., 304.

Sullivan, Cyrus, 892.

Sullivan, Thomas A., 893.

Sullivan, Kichard H., 594-894.

Sunflower Lodge, No. 86, A. F. & A.
M., 393.

Sunnydale, 643.

Superiority of Scientific Records Over
Memory in Matters of Climate, 606.

Surveying a New Eoute to Wichita,
588.

Tableaux, 169.

Tallman, Charles W., 895.

Taylor, Houston Lee, 896.

Taylor, William Stewart, 897.

The Tax Rolls of Sedgwick County
for 1909, 496.

Taxable Property Shows Large In-
crease, 499.

Temperature, 611.

Temple, Thomas H., 898.

"The Beacon" Is Thirty-Eight, 475.

' < The Democrat, ' ' 489.

"The Mathewson," 313.

Theaters in Wichita, 458.

The Novelty Theater, 458.

The Princess Theater, 458.

Then It Snowed, 533.

Thirteen Mayors in Thirty-nine Years,
15.

Thompson, L. W., 899.

Thoughts of Helping Wichita, 438.

Tjaden, J. H., 900.

Total Property Values, 503.

Total Receipts of Stock for Seven

Years, 683.
Total Shipments of Stock for Seven

Years, 684.
Towns and Villages of Sedgwick

County, 615.
Town of Bentley, 619.
Town of Hatfield, 631.
Town of Marshall, 635.
Townsdin, Sammis T., 901.
Township of Afton, 616.
Trades and Labor Organization in

Wichita, 413.
Traders Credit Unlimited, 118.
Trading Post on the Arkansas, 551.
Trend of Business, 460.
Trouble of '67, 532.
Turner, J. H., 296.
Twentieth Century Club, 386.
United Brethren, Kriebel Chapel, 377.
United States District and Circuit

Courts, 514.
United States Weather Bureau, 594.
Urges Growing of Onions Here, 668.
Valley Center, 643.
Valuation of Stock Handled at These

Yards in Twenty Years, 685.
Van Arsdale, William O., 901.
Van Dusen, Nathan S., 902.
Versatile Preacher of Pioneer Days,

453.
Veterans of Sedgwick County, 540.
Viola, 644.

Visited by Wild Tribes, 530.
Waco, 644.

Waddell, Albert J., 903.
Walden, Albert G., 904.
Wall, Edward, 906.
Wall, Jesse D., 907.
Wallenstein, Henry, 404.
Walnut Grove, 119.
Walton, J. F., 907.
Ward, Ulysses E., 909.
Warren, James Francis, 909.
Watson, William O., 912.
Watts, Francis M., 910.
Weather Bureau, 613.
Wells, Bert C, 913.
Welsh, S. A., 913.
Western Sedgwick County, 646.
West Wichita Commercial League, 83.
Whitehead, W. L., 914.
Whitelaw, James E., 914.
Whitty, J. A., 637.
Why of Wichita's Greatness as a

Railway and Jobbing Center, 42.
Wise, Albert W., 918.
Williams, David O., 915.

INDEX

933

Willis, Albert P., 916.

Willis, William F., 917.

Wichita, 65, 425, 447.

Wichitas, 527.

The Wichita Abstract & Land Com-
pany, 64.

Wichita an Important Educational
Center, 325.

Wichita: A Masonic Town, 410.

Wichita as a Commercial and Manu-
facturing Center, 16.

Wichita as a Home, 23.

Wichita's Arrival, 117.

Wichita as the Manufacturing City of
the Great Southwest, 30.

Wichita Bank Taxes in 1910, 39.

Wichita Boom, 433.

Wichita Chamber of Commerce, 67-72.

Wichita City Schools 331.

Wichita: City of the New West,

Wichita College of Music, 59.

"Wichita Daily Beacon," 490.

' < Wichita Daily Pointer, ' ' 490.

Wichita Does Things — Hence
Progress, 42.

' ' Wichita Eagle, » ' 490.

Wichita Egotism, 225.

Wichita Fire Department, 66.

Wichita's First Circus, 266.

Wichita 's First Daily Newspaper, 453.

Wichita's Flour Production, 24.

Wichita 's Forum, 321.

Wichita Grain Market, 48.

Wichita Hay Man Has Become ' ' Hay
King of Kansas," 296.

Wichita Heights, 645.

"Wichita Herald," 490.

Wichita Horse Market, 463.

Wichita Hospital Needed Every Day,
416.

423.

It'

Wichita's Industrial History — In the

Beginning, 115.
Wichita Is First as Eailway Center,

590.
Wichita Jobbing Business Totals

Jorty Millions a Year, 25.
The Wichita Land Office, 90.
Wichita Lodge, No. 99, A. F. & A.

M., 392.
Wichita's Mayor, 295.
Wichita Musical Club, 387.
Wichita Newspapers, 489.
Wichita Presbyterianism and Its

Amenities, 172.
Wichita's Prominence as a Stock and

Feeder Market, 693.
Wichita Postoffice, 105.
Wichita Public Schools, 327.
Wichita Bailroad & Light Company,

53.
"Wichita Searchlight," 490.
Wichita Sees Her Vision ami Smiles,

450.
Wichita Trunk Company, 62.
Wichita Water Company, 86.
Wilson, Hollis N., 917.
Woman's Belief Corps, No. 40, 541.
Woods, D. P., 919.
Woodmen of the World, 414.
Woolf, Charles H., 919.
Worrall, Doc, 299.
Yale Theater, 458.
Yaw, Frank, 656.
Yearly Shipments by the Bailroads,

692.
Fraternal Orders, 390.
York Eite Masonry, 390.
Young, George L., 922.

610

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