Butler County Genealogy Trails Kansas Susan B. Allen Bio

Butler County’s Eighty Years ~ 1855-1935

by Jessie Perry Stratford

A History of Butler County Biographical Sketches and Portraits with Foreword by Rolla A. Clymer

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was our first city marshal and in 1870 the city marshal was a man of importance. L. B. Snow was a prominent figure, a builder, contractor and brick maker. He built the Exchange National Bank building (now the Farmers & Merchants National bank) and burned the first kiln of bricks that were made here.

In these hard up days (1895) when values are depressed and money tight and scarce, it is a mental feast to think of the flow of money we had here in the days of the beginning. A man would sell his claim, have $1,000 or more in his inside pocket and come to town to put it in circulation. I remember a young man who walked into my store and gave me $1,200 to keep for him. He had been living alone on his claim and was rough looking. He wanted to try the other extreme for a while, so bought the best suit I had, with a broad-rimmed brush hat that was a dandy and high-heeled top boots with yellow Texas stars on the front that loomed like sunflowers in a cornfield. He threw his old togs out the back door and started in from feet to head with new outer and under wear. When arrayed in his new outfit, Solomon in all his glory never felt so well satisfied with himself. With pockets full of cigars, and one tip tilted, nonchalantly, he departed for the barber shop to complete the cleanup. His swagger was inimitable. Playing his little game of poker with the boys, happily he passed the days, the weeks, and lengthened his dole far into the months until the fateful morning came to him at last, as it does to all such revelers. He was back to his normal condition – busted – cleaned out, physically jaded and nothing like the man he was when his ship came in with its first good freight. He went to the farther frontier to preempt or homestead or use some right still left to him for another piece of land and a fresh stake, which, if secured, probably would go the same way his first one did.

Two others who figured in the history of El Dorado in 1870 were Charles Selig, who was head clerk and manager for Dr. Allen White, and, in 1895, is one of the wealthiest citizens and best informed men of this state, and George Tolle, then a clerk with Charles Foulks, who now is a leading merchant.

Mrs. B. F. Adams’ description of the tornado that almost blew El Dorado away on June 16, 1871: The day had been intensely hot and as the sun had nearly completed its round, a cloud formed in the northwest. As I lay in bed with my newborn son, Spencer, my position was such that I had full view of the cloud, which was a great wall of inky blackness, from which came vivid lightning. Then “the rushing of a mighty wind.” About 7:30 p.m., that bank of blackness had burst upon us in all its fury. Twenty-one houses were moved from their foundations. Judge W. P. Campbell and his child were injured but those receiving the most severe blow were the families of Dr. J. A. MacKenzie and Sam Langdon. The Langdon’s little daughter was buried beneath the ruins of their home. Lonell, 3-year old son of the MacKenzies, was torn from his mother’s arms as she was preparing him for bed and the next time the mother saw him he was in his coffin. His lifeless form was found on what later was called north Railroad Street, west of the Selig Drug store. The family lived southwest of the Missouri Pacific station. The home of George and Eugene Younkman was carried away and they sought shelter under a buffalo skin.

The late D. M. Elder, a teacher, wrote of a few of the early teachers: Alvah Shelden was county superintendent in 1877 when the first teachers’ institute was held. John H. Austin, later county treasurer; Charles Page, Molly Burris, George Draffon, Lou Shriver (now Mrs. S. R. Clifford), Fannie Hull Wilson, Alice Stevenson Gray, Florence Stearns (Mrs. Adair Wait,) and Ada Newberry (Mrs. Frank Ewing,) Esther Newberry (Mrs. George W. Tolle), Emma Lambing (Mrs. James A. Wilson,) Miss Hattie Weeks, John Shelden, Joseph Morton, William Price, Nell Hawley, Miss Mary Lamb and Nettie Maynard were among the teachers in early days. Jane Wentworth, who died in a fire caused by herself; Mrs. Hunt, who taught at Sutton Branch and often walked out from El Dorado in the mornings and back in the evenings, John Blevins and J. W. Shiveley were well known. Some of the embryo lawyers of the late 1870’s taught, among them, Ed. Stratword, Austin and Ed. Brumback, V. P. Mooney and Fremont Leidy. Some of the younger teachers were Clara Brumback, Emma Harvey, Ida Brown Nelson, Priscilla McGuinn, Lavella

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Rector, Alfred Snyder, Flora Donaldson, O. E. Olin, Celia Boessma, Miss Lillie Brown, and W. H. Litson.

FEMININE “FIRSTS”

In addition to those mentioned in various other chapters as being the first in different fields, a few of the feminine “firsts” are: Mattie, the daughter of P. R. Wilson, was the first white girl child born in El Dorado; Martha and Mary Atwood were the first girls in the county, who, as minor heirs, had a guardian – J. D. Conner, appointed October 7, 1867. Rhoda Eckley was the first Butler County woman to change her mind. One day in 1869 she filed application to be appointed administratrix of the estate of James Eckley, deceased. Upon this application appears the following notation: “After giving me much trouble, Mrs. Eckley concluded not to take out letters of administration.” Amanda Main was the first girl to be apprenticed in the county. On March 28, 1970, this agreement was filed in court: “I, Elisha Main, do indenture my daughter, Amanda, to Edwin Cowles until she arrives at the age of 18, July 2, 1876, said Cowles to care for, clothe her respectably and give her board in his family and a good school education.” Incidentally, Amanda Main’s father was marshal of the Day at the local Fourth of July celebration in 1878.

Sarah Birch signed the first conveyance of property when she and her husband sold to P. G. D. Morton for $50 one house 13x16, and three lots on the town plat of Chelsea. Marie Edwards was the first woman to sue for divorce, alleging failure to provide.

Miss Ella McDuffee was the first organist in the first Methodist Sunday School. Mrs. Fannie DeGrasse Black was the first opera singer, the first to play a pipe organ and the first to teach piano in El Dorado. Mrs. F. J. Kellogg was the first president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union which was organized in El Dorado in June, 1885. Mrs. Frank Williams, the first secretary, still lives here. Mrs. Mary E. Haines organized the first W. C. T. U. in Augusta, in 1885. Mrs. E. L. Gibson was the first president of W. H. L. Wallace Post Woman’s Relief Corps Number 7 (1883). Stella Armstrong was the first Eastern Star matron (1891).

Emma Waldron was the first girl to set type (1885); Floy Hostetter was the first linotype operator and had the first beauty shop in El Dorado (1909). Flora Pool (Mrs. H. P. May) was the first girl newspaper reporter.

Dr. Anna Perkins was the first (graduate) woman physician in the county; Lu Rodgers was the first woman lawyer. Mrs. Joseph Sharp was the first to marry in El Dorado and reside here continuously until she and her husband celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Mabel Scott was the first motion picture censor from El Dorado; Mrs. Blanche E. Mize the first building and loan woman official; Mrs. Albert Peffley the first woman rural mail carrier; Florence Olmstead was the first woman superintendent of Butler County schools; Zella Lamb the first woman register of deeds; Annie Avery (Johnson) the first woman clerk of the district court.

EL DORADO IN 1884

(This article was written by Floyd R. Bull, of 1125 Northwest 11th Street, Oklahoma City, Okla. Mr. Bull grew up in El Dorado, taught school at Rock Hill, south of town; also Chelsea School, the Morley School, north of town; and was principal of the South School in El Dorado. For five years in the late nineties he was city clerk of El Dorado and a reporter on the Daily Republican under the late T. B. Murdock, editor and Sumpter S. Smith, manager. He also served as treasurer of the school board, and was deputy county clerk under H. A. J. Coppins, resigning in November, 1901, to go to Western Oklahoma. In 1907, he moved to Oklahoma City, which has since been his home.)

This month of May, 1934, is the fiftieth anniversary of my arrival in El Dorado, and it brings to me vivid memories of the little town of that time – of its people and the events and happenings of those early days.

The El Dorado of 1884 was quite different from the El Dorado of today; it then was a quiet little county seat of about 3,500 people, with its small business districts of a few blocks on Main Street and Central Avenue, and the surrounding

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homes of its citizens. The streets were unpaved and the business districts were lined with hitch racks for the convenience of the farmers who came to town to trade.

Most of the business buildings were frame, and following the inevitable fires were replaced with brick structures. Well improved farms, then as now, extended along the Walnut River and West Branch, but the adjacent uplands were mostly all left as hay land, and a person could travel for miles over the winding prairie roads to the northeast, northwest and southwest.

In that year, 1884, Charlie Selig, W. Y. Miller, J. P. Gordon, and Dr. A. Bassett were the druggists; Joe Rosenberg had a clothing store on the corner where the El Dorado National Bank is now and his brother, Abe, ran a shoe store just north; a little farther north was the “Good Luck” grocery, conducted for so many years by E. H. Clark and his stepson, Matt Long.

The Missouri Pacific had recently built through to Wichita, and the Santa Fe branch had just been completed to Douglass, and soon afterward was extended to Arkansas city. At that time the Santa Fe station was located in the extreme north part of town, but the passenger trains stopped at the Central Avenue crossing, for the convenience of the people. In those days the south bound passenger train came through about 5 or 6 p.m. and many people made it a practice to stop there on their way home to see the train come in; this practice was so general that the conductor, once being asked by a passenger what the population of the town was, replied “Wait until the train stops, and you can count them for yourself.”

In those early days before paved roads, automobiles, picture shows, etc., the people of El Dorado were thrown largely upon their own resources for amusements and pleasures, and right well they did the job. It was a great lodge town, the Masons being especially strong, and there were also strong lodges of Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen, and many of the insurance organizations; it was also a “church” town, and the church meetings, lodge meetings, socials, suppers, festivals, etc., were great features in the social and cultural life of the people. There were also clubs, such as the Shakespeare Club, the German Club, etc. Perhaps once a year a circus came to town and Uncle Tom’s cabin, Si Plunkard, and Uncle Josh Spruceby were stellar attractions at the “Opera House.” There was always a small “Society Set,” which found much pleasure in dancing and card playing, with parties in private homes, and an occasional “Grand Ball” at the Opera House, when the music would be furnished by Shaw’s orchestra, specially brought over from Wichita for the occasion.

In 1884 Wichita was at the height of its celebrated boom, which collapsed so disastrously soon after; El Dorado also indulged in a little boom of its own at that time, and the surrounding prairies for some distance were platted into town lots. At that time a process had just been perfected for the making of sugar from sorghum, and the people of Kansas had visions of great wealth from this source; several factories actually were built, one being located at Douglass but they were never commercially successful and were all finally dismantled and razed.

I recall a big mass meeting held at the Opera House, to consider the voting of bonds to secure a packing plant and a sugar factory for El Dorado; some one, a little more conservative than the rest, suggested that they not try to do too much, but concentrate on securing the packing plant only; this brought from George Gardner his well-remembered retort, “Well, we want sugar-cured hams, don’t we?” It is of course unnecessary to add that neither the packing plant nor the sugar factory were ever built.

Looking back I recall what seem to me to have been the high lights in an El Dorado year of that period; they were Memorial day, High School Commencement, Fourth of July, Teachers’ Institute, or Normal, political conventions and campaigns, sessions of the District Court and the County Fair.

Many old soldiers were living in El Dorado, and the days of the Civil War were not so very remote; as a result Memorial Day was a day when all the people paid tribute to the deceased soldiers; their graves were decorated with flowers, the local National Guard company always participated in this rite; then a big meeting in the Opera House, with music, readings, an oration by some more or less distinguished orator.

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At the close of the school term, in May each year, there was always a graduating class; the completion of their work in the high school was a great event in the lives of these girls and boys, and the “commencement” held in the Opera House was the grand culmination of this school work and graduation week; the room was always filled to overflowing with the happy families, relatives and friends of the graduates, and the occasion was really one of the big events of the year.

The Fourth of July was generally celebrated in a lively manner, starting off with a sunrise artillery salute by “Col.” Abe Metheny; from then on there was plenty of noise and gaiety, culminating in a “Grand Display of Fireworks” at night. There were always hose cart races by the teams of the volunteer fire department, other music and oratory, El Dorado generally had the help of the Leon band in most of these celebrations. Most of the El Dorado lawyers generally missed these affairs, as they were drafted by the smaller towns and communities for their celebrations.

The Teachers Institute, or Normal, was held in El Dorado every summer; the session lasted four weeks. This was quite a “break” in a quiet year, as the influx of these ‘school marms” added considerable to the gaiety of things in general; the instructors were generally high-standing, out-of-town educators, and the four weeks of intense instruction were beneficial to teachers and those planning to teach.

C. L. Turner, together with his chief assistant, John Morrison, conducted a leading hardware store; Conley & Ow (Al Conley and D. W. Ow) were in the grocery business; the Boston Store, which extended around the old Exchange National Bank, with entrances on Main street and Central Avenue, was operated by Cass Friedberg and Morris Ables; Friedberg was an interesting character, and his epigrams and proverbs will be recalled by all who knew him. The livery stable business was flourishing in those early days, such stables being operated by W. H. Baxter, Ike LeRue, Geo. W. Stinson remained a citizen of El Dorado for years. The attorneys at that time were A. L. Redden, A. L. L. Hamilton, C. A. Leland, E. N. Smith and George Gardner; it was in the fall of 1884, if I am not mistaken, that Bruce Leydig left the farm and the school room, and came to town to join the legal fraternity; it was also that year that T. A. Kramer came to the city, read law with George Gardner, was admitted to the bar and for many years thereafter he was one of the leading legal lights of the county. Henry W. Schmumacher also embarked upon the practice of law about that time and put out a sign “Advocat” in German lettering. Granville P. Aikman was probate judge at that time.

In 1884 there were three weekly papers; El Dorado Republican, T. B. Murdock, editor; El Dorado Democrat, T. P. Fulton, editor; Walnut Valley Times, Alvah Shelden, editor. The Democrat ceased publication after a few years and the Republican and the Times each began the publication of a daily edition, and were competitors in the newspaper field for thirty years.

A. M. Burdett ran the grist mill down by the dam. The public school system in 1884 consisted of just one building, the old stone school house on Taylor street, which housed all the grades and also the high school; I recall only three teachers of that year, Mrs. M. E. Church, Sadie Schmucker and Mae Schmucker.

Leading physicians were Dr. J. A. McKenzie and Dr. M. L. Fullinwider. It was soon after this that Dr. F. S. Armstrong came to El Dorado from Ohio and established himself in the practice of his profession; it will be recalled by all old timers that he was much interested in military affairs, and for several years was major and surgeon in one of the Kansas National Guard regiments, and in 1898 went to the Philippines as surgeon in the Kansas regiment that served in those islands; his death occurred while in service there, if my memory is correct.

The banking profession was represented at that time by H. H. Gardner, N. F. Frazier, F. B. Ewing, E. P. Gillespie, Ed C. Ellet, J. D. Rearick and others. The Exchange National was the old established bank in 1884, with A. L. Redden president and Harry Gardner cashier.

In 1884 many of the residents of El Dorado were old soldiers, veterans of the Civil War, many of them living upon the pensions received from the United States government; consequently the G. A. R. was one of the leading organizations of the town, and the W. R. C. was nearly as prominent; the Sons of Veterans also

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had a strong organization. Two of the most prominent among these old soldiers were Gen. A. W. Ellet and Col. W. L. Gibson, who were also leading citizens; then there were Capt. W. L. Riley, who took and active part in the G. A. R. and Charlie Selig, who was the youngest “old soldier” in town, and one of the youngest in the country.

Other residents of El Dorado in that year 1884 whose names come to mind: Dan Boyden, Frank S. Allen, W. H. Douglass, who had just finished a four years’ term as sheriff; Henry T. Dodson, his successor, in that office; Vol. P. Mooney, clerk of the district court; S. E. Black, A. J. Palmer, Dan Bronson, O.S. Bassett, the three Clark brothers – George, Charles, and Will; John Ewing, and the three Ewing brothers, Will, Charles, and Albert; the Pattisons, who occupied such a prominent place in El Dorado affairs for many years, were either citizens at that time or came soon after; John Betts, J. A. and Walter F. McGinnis, John Long, who was a familiar figure for many years as court bailiff; Charles Schram, the popular under-sheriff with both Douglass and Dodson, and later sheriff in his own right; in after years he was city marshal and his tragic death will be recalled by all old timers. There were also “Uncle John” Fullinwider, Dr. J. P. Gordon and son Miller; George and Will Tolle, J. T. Oldham, Jimmie James, Alex Blair, Ben King, Herb Balch, Mart Wells, George Younkman, J. G. Schmucker, Madison Johnson, Vincent Brown, Min. Vandenberg, Charles Richards, the jeweler; the Wackerles, Seth Fraizer, M. I. Morgan, the blacksmith; George F. Fullinwider, J. K. Skinner, W. F. McGinnis, and, of course, many others whose names do not come to mind fifty years later.

In the next two or three years, a number of people came to El Dorado, including Joseph Thompson and family, the Holloways, Louthans, Ramseys, Robisons, Allens, Dillenbecks and others.

In those early days Butler County was quite strongly Republican in politics, although there were many staunch Democrats like Judge C. A. Leland and Henry Schumacher. The Republican county conventions were gala days in El Dorado, with delegates in attendance from all parts of the county. On this day a man named Moore, of Benton Township, always came as a delegate and was always elected permanent chairman; he was considered an expert in parliamentary law, and occupied a prominent place for the span of the convention. Joe Satterthwaite always headed the delegation from Douglass and Dr. Hill the one from Augusta. The campaigns following brought torchlight parades, big rallies, and other activities which stirred the people to great enthusiasm. In the early nineties the Populist party was formed and had an amazing growth, being able to elect a governor, U.S. senator, congressmen and many county officials. After a few years this party and the Democrats merged.

The Butler County Fair, which flourished for a number of years, languished for awhile, then came to life again, was an interesting event of early fall.

The regular sessions of the District court were interesting events; they brought to town jurors, witnesses and litigants from all parts of the county, as well as out-of-town lawyers. Occasionally there would be a criminal case of wide interest, and one well remembered case attracted national attention, with a number of outside newspaper reports in attendance.

The El Dorado girls and boys of 1884, somewhere around my own age, that I recall, were: Lulu Burdett, John Bassett, Al Fullinwider, Carrie Gardner, Dot Turner, Addie Miller, Mable and Olca Morrison, Nellie Betts, Fred Betts, Lou Oldham, Neil Jones, Minnie Powers, Ray Frazier, Allie Baxter, Kate and Lew Bronson, Junie and Spencer Adams, Flora and Percy Leland, Essie Cooper, Annie Stinson, Mattie Guy, and Will Gillespie. Harry Black, Millie and Earl Douglass, Allie and Warren Conner, Frank Mateer, Harry and George Ramsey, Al and Nettie Ellet, George Foutch, Jule and George Colyer, Mollie and Ed Dodson, Will and Ed McGinnis, Harry and Bob Long, Ola Brown, Harry Pattison, Stella Whistler, Nellie Long, Minnie and Frank Snow, Jim Sandifer, Maud and Ollie McKenzie. Many of these have passed on, others are scattered over the United States, while a few are still living in El Dorado.

Among the young men and women of that day, I recall Mary Alice Murdock, Luther and Sumpter Smith, Will Anderson, Elvis Marshall, Matt Long, Lizzie McIntire, Floy Richardson, William Allen White, Fred and Will Dillenbeck, Will Bronson, Lew Bassett, Mort Dodson, Charles “Pogey” Bogardus, Henry Bogardus, Charles