Butler County Genealogy Trails Kansas Susan B. Allen Bio

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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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sided with the Confederacy and the loyal ones had to leave their homes. A large number remained in the Walnut Valley during the war. When they arrived, they were destitute and were fed by the open-handed pioneers with the same generosity as the white strangers were fed.

PROGRESS

The close of the Civil War brought settlers by the thousands to Kansas, and these streamed into Butler County. By a succession of treaties, the government bought out the rights of the Osages to their Kansas lands, and the south part of the county was opened to settlement late in 1867, although settlement did not gain momentum until 1868. The settlement of southern Butler rapidly followed.

As the boundaries of the county shifted about, the question of the location of the county seat was agitated. Chelsea was the first county seat. In 1864 El Dorado put in a claim and at an election won the honor. This was old El Dorado, south of the present city. The county commissioners refused to move the county seat for the reason that there were no suitable buildings in which to meet.

In 1867 El Dorado again won and the county seat was moved. By 1870 old El Dorado had long ceased to exist. New El Dorado was rising on the site of the present city and the county commissioners were meeting there. Chelsea once more entered the fight for the county seat and a new election was held May 9, 1870 and El Dorado once more won. Encouraged by their victory, the El Doradoans engineered an election to vote bonds. The opponents of El Dorado defeated that.

Then public-spirited citizens passed a subscription paper, C. C. Martin deeded a lot on the present court house square and the following subscriptions were made:

Dr. Allen White, $150; J. C. Lambdin and son, $200; Alfred W. Ellet, $100; T. G. Boswell, $200; H. T. Sumner, $100; J. P. Gordon, $100; Knowlton and Ellet, $100; T. R. Pittock, $100; D. M. Bronson, $100; E. L. Lower, $200; B. F. Gordy, $100; S. P. Barnes, $100; John S. Friend, $100; Henry Martin, $200; James Gordon, $100; Henry Small, $100; L. S. Friend, $100; James R. Mead, $100; A. M. Burdett, $50; Betts and Frazier, $50; J. C. Fraker, $50; Meyer and Bolte, $15; J. S. Danford, $40.

Not all of these were El Doradoans, for after the El Dorado citizens took the matter up, others also signed. Mead was at that time owner of a store in Towanda and a subdivision in Wichita. It is interesting to note that the man at the head of the list, Dr. Allen White, was the father of William Allen White.

Augusta was now rising on the old Osage lands, the land office being situated there. It also tried to win the county seat, and an election was ordered by was never held.

ORIGINAL COURT HOUSE OF LOGS

The first public transportation in Butler County was by stage coach. There were at first no bridges, and the coaches crossed at the fords.

The first towns were built near the fords. El Dorado owes its location to the ford of the Osage Trail. Towanda was at the ford of the Whitewater. Augusta and Douglass were built on the highland opposite fords so that the settlers from the other side could cross to trade.

The first stage coaches came in 1870 running on regular schedule and carrying passengers, mail, and light express. Concord coaches swung on leather springs were used. One line operated from Emporia to Wichita by way of El Dorado. Another line came from Humbolt, following in a general way the Old Osage Trail and passing through El Dorado to Wichita.

When the Santa Fe was completed to Newton, a stage line was fun from Newton to El Dorado, and the Emporia line was less used.

The first railroad was the Santa Fe, which was built as far as El Dorado in

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1877. It was completed through the county southward in 1881.

The St. Louis, Fort Scott and Wichita was begun in 1879. This road was completed to Wichita, and eventually to Newton via El Dorado, and is now the Missouri Pacific.

The Frisco was completed in 1880, passing through Augusta.

Since the World War, aviation, bus lines and truck lines have been added to the transportation system. The first paved highways were planned during the war, and a road was built from Augusta to Wichita. Later other highways of the system were paved.

EARLY CHURCH SERVICES

The building of churches began early in Butler, but before the churches, the people had services.

Possibly the first clergyman was the Rev. J. S. Saxby, who also was the first preacher in Wichita. He came to Butler ten years before Wichita was founded and preached in Chelsea and other neighborhoods. He was a wonderful preacher, so the pioneers said. His sermons were well put together and stirred his audiences. Often he preached in the open in the groves and often in the cabins.

But some of the critical listeners, who read the New York papers which published Henry Ward Beecher’s sermons, declared that Saxby merely memorized the famous New York divine’s messages, for they were identical, word for word. His critical prairie audience apparently did not appreciate Saxby’s feat at memorizing the famous Beecher sermons, and he fell into disfavor.

Saxby could not live from the collections at his services, and often went on buffalo hunts with his parishioners. Martin Vaught, in his recollections of Chelsea, says that once, when Saxby was greasing his wagon preparatory to going on a hunt, a dog slipped up and ate the tallow. It was all the grease Saxby had. He shot the dog, cut him open, extracted the tallow, and supplied it to his wagon.

A Rev. Mr. Morse, of the Congregational faith, preached in Chelsea in 1858 shortly after Mr. Saxby. Isaac Winberg, of the Lutheran faith, also came to the neighborhood. Miss Maggie Viaght and Miss Minnie Post organized the first Sunday School in an abandoned log cabin. They fitted it up with benches for seats and conducted Sunday School. Mr. Winberg was superintendent.

From those small beginnings, the great system of churches has grown up on the hills and in the valleys of Butler.

Manufacturing began in Butler almost as soon as farming. The first factories were saw mills, built on the water courses. Butler has an abundance of good mill sites. While the first houses were log huts, the pioneers wanted sawed lumber. With an abundance of good building timber, it was only a matter of freighting in the mill machinery. Soon there was a sawmill on the branch of the Walnut three miles below Chelsea. Others were set up just above El Dorado, and also on the Little Walnut, the Whitewater, on Bemis Creek, Rock Creek, Four Mile and other streams. Then came mills for grinding corn and milling flour.

Sorghum mills came later. Until the ‘70’s most of the mills were water power plants, but by 1880, several steam mills had been installed. Prior to the coming of the railroads, steam mills could not be economically operated, for the railroads were needed to bring in coal. Butler produces a small amount of coal, but the mines are little worked.

The discovery of oil and gas revolutionized manufacturing in Butler County, resulting in a great boom in industry.

Agriculture was, of course, the leading industry in Butler County. The uplands soon became important grazing lands and still are. The lower valleys are wonderfully productive for field and forage crops.

Agriculture was the major industry from the beginning, and crops usually are productive. In 1860 the country suffered from a devastating drouth to be followed by a grasshopper invasion which took most of what was left.

GRASSHOPPER INVASION IN 1874

The most terrible pestilence came in 1874 when on August 7, a cloud came out of the northwest, obscuring the sun. It differed from other clouds in that it was alive and sent forth a noise from the darkness.

As the cloud rolled forward it came to the earth in living bits that hopped—grasshoppers. The hoppers gobbled every green thing. They stripped the corn

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until its stalks stood naked. They stripped the trees of their leaves. The country was left desolate. Even the chickens had nothing to eat, for they soon could not digest the insects.

Butler faced a hungry winter. The people had wheat to eat, for what had been harvested before the coming of the plague. They had potatoes, for potatoes were underground. They had livestock, but they could not feed the livestock. The pigs were killed and smoked or salted. Cattle too were butchered. For that winter they had meat, wheat and potatoes. Even the horses ate potatoes and learned to like them.

The following spring the farmers plowed their fields and planted their corn. But they were not through with grasshoppers, which hatched from eggs laid the fall before, billions of them to the acre. The young hoppers ate the sprouting corn and everything else. When the last blade of grass was gone, the last leaf stripped from the trees, the last corn blade eaten, the grasshoppers gazed upon Butler County with disgust. They wanted to live in a fruitful land. They had no more use for Butler County as they had made it. Up they rose on their wings in mid-June and flew away toward the northwest in a great vanishing cloud that obscured the sun.

A farmer has courage. If he had not, he could never remain a farmer. In mid-June the settlers planted corn again. The seed had to be brought in at great expense, for Butler was still without railroads and all had to be freighted in from Newton, Wichita, and Cottonwood Falls.

That season was favorable and Butler harvested abundant crops. Since then Butler always has had a part of a crop, at least forage for livestock. Some years feed crops have been small, as was the case in 1934, but crops the farmer did have.

POPULATION OF BUTLER COUNTY

In 1855 Butler County had not a solitary human resident who called it home.

In 1860 the population was 437. During the Civil War it dropped to 294, but by 1870 it had risen to 3,072. The growth since then has been as follows:

1875 -------------------- 9,840

1880 -------------------- 18,591

1885 -------------------- 27,018

1890 -------------------- 24,155

1895 -------------------- 21,126

1900 -------------------- 22,800

1905 -------------------- 22,449

1910 -------------------- 22,647

1915 -------------------- 20,686

1920 -------------------- 42,286

1925 -------------------- 33,246

1930 -------------------- 35,721

1934 -------------------- 31,640

TOWNSHIPS OF BUTLER COUNTY

This chapter is a condensed resume of early history of each of the twenty-nine townships in Butler County. Historically, each township is a miniature of the county as a whole. Myra E. Hull’s vivid portrayal of the settlement and development of Richland Township, written in October 1934, in effect depicts the trials and joys of every township and every county of that early day period in Kansas. Miss Hull is a teacher in University of Kansas. Bruce R. Leydig’s graphic story of Clifford Township, written in 1926, published in the form of a booklet and dedicated by Mr. Leydig “to the memory of the brave and loyal men and women mentioned, and their compatriots, whose zeal and sacrifice made an Eden out of a supposed desert, for their posterity” is accurate and inspiring. Because of curtailed space, the description of land on which each Clifford Township resident settled, as detailed by Mr. Leydig, and other paragraphs, are omitted from this book.

Although other contributions are included, the greater part of this chapter is reproduced from Judge Volney P. Mooney’s History of Butler County, published in 1916. These sketches were written by men and women who knew, first-hand, of early happenings, and had a part of them. Many of these sketches could not now

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be secured from sources so authentic, if at all. Judge Mooney’s generous and voluntary permission to use any of the content of his book, is particularly appreciated in compilation of these data.

History of these townships and of the towns of the county, during the eighteen years that have elapsed since publication of the Mooney History, is recorded variously in “Butler County Today” and other chapters.

AUGUSTA TOWNSHIP

(By N. A. Yeager, In 1916)

Augusta Township was organized April 4, 1870, by the county commissioners, on petition of C. N. James and others. It included the present territory of Augusta, Bruno and Spring and the north half of Pleasant, Walnut and Bloomington townships. These township officers were appointed: Daniel Stine, trustee; A. Palmer, treasurer; C. N. James, clerk. The first election was held at Augusta, May 14, 1870, a special election to vote on the proposition to move the county seat from El Dorado to Chelsea. The vote was 119 for, and 9 against the proposition. The next was a special election on June 27, 1870, to vote $25,000 in bonds for county buildings at El Dorado. The vote was 253 against and none for the proposition.

At the first general election these officers were elected: Daniel Stine, trustee; E. R. Powell, treasurer; H. M. Winger, clerk; William Treweeke and W. D. Mead, justices of the peace.

The present boundaries of Augusta Township were established by the county commissioners April 4, 1870. The town of Augusta was incorporation February 8, 1870, upon petition of C. N. James and eighty other taxpayers of the town. C. N. James, Thomas H. Baker, W. A. Shannon, G. W. Brown, and J. R. Nixon were appointed trustees. C. N. James was elected mayor. In 1868, Shamleffer and James opened the first store near the corner of Third and State streets, in a log building.

On January 2, 1869, the postoffice was established with Mr. James as postmaster, and the postoffice and the town were given the name of Augusta, in honor of his wife, Augusta James. Immediately across the street from the postoffice the first hotel was built and operated by Mr. Mitchell.

Prior to this time, adventures and explorers of this region recognized the commercial importance of this location for a city, and two town companies were formed. They platted this location in 1857 and 1858. Its natural advantages were advertised and exploited by promoters in the East. One of these towns was named Arizona and the other Fontanelle. There were both located on the present townsite. A survey was made which started from a known boundary line stone on the Neosho River, near Humbolt, and was run due west through this county. It was discovered that the townsites were on the Osage Indian tract and were not subject to sale. These towns died, as did also the hopes of their founders and the eastern investors who desired to make fortunes.

It is said that C. N. James, in 1868, purchased the relinquishment on which the original townsite is located for $40. Daniel Stine was the oldest permanent white settler of Augusta Township. He came to Butler county in 1858. William Hildebrande had preceded him and had taken a claim east of El Dorado on what is now the county farm.

In 1868, the government concluded a treaty with the Indians whereby they relinquished their claim to a strip twenty miles wide on the north side of their reservation. This was known as the Osage Indian trust land, the northern boundary of which is about six miles north of Augusta. In 1869, A. Palmer brought in a saw mill which was located on the west banks of the Walnut river. The first residence of the town was erected in 1869, on the corner of State Street and Fourth Avenue. This building, occupied and owned by G. W. Ohmart, was built almost entirely of native lumber from the Palmer mill. October 1, 1870, the United States land office was located at Augusta. This was largely due to the influence and energy of Thomas H. Baker, who afterward served in the state legislature. Andrew Akin was registrar and W. A. Shannon, receiver. The land office brought with it a large influx of immigration to this county, and Augusta had its first boom. The county settled rapidly, and immigrants pouring down the valley were enraptured by the broad fertile valleys, the beautiful streams and abundance of walnut and other valuable timber fringing them.

Augusta was especially favored by being in the center from which these fertile valleys radiated. The Whitewater River from the north, the Walnut from the northeast, Indianola Creek from the northwest, centered at this point, and Four-Mile Creek, a few miles to the southwest, and the Little Walnut River and Hickory Creek, to the southeast, made an ideal location for the central point of a rich agri-

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cultural community. About this time the Santa Fe Railroad Company made a survey from Emporia, with a view to extending its line from that place, but for some reasons not definitely ascertainable, the company abandoned the project and extended its line west to Newton, and afterward to Wichita.

In September, 1870, The Augusta Crescent, the first newspaper, was established by A. A. Putnam and L. J. Perry. These editors were succeeded by J. B. Davis, who changed the name to The Augusta Republican. He was succeeded by U. A. Albin, who in 1874 discontinued the publication with this short valedictory: “The patronage we have received will not justify us in risking a continuance. Since ‘self-preservation is the first law of nature,’ we will endeavor to locate where we can do best.” Afterward The Southern Kansas Gazette was established by the late Charles H. Kurtz. In 1880 Mr. Albin repented, returned, and established the Republican.

In 1872 in a county seat election, Augusta received a majority of 206 over E. Dorado. The removal of the county seat was contested by El Dorado and the matter was taken into the court and decided against Augusta on a technicality. This county seat agitation continued for years, to the detriment of both places, and greatly retarded the development of the county. The same year the land office was moved to Wichita. With the loss of the land office and the county seat, the population of Augusta decreased, and the speculators, who are the mainsprings in townsite promotion, abandoned Augusta. In 1880 the Frisco railroad was completed. Augusta took on new life. In 1881, the Santa Fe extended its line through Augusta to Douglass. Within six months the population doubled. Quarries were opened and good building stone was quarried for local use and shipment. From 1888 to 1898 the general financial stringency retarded the progress of Augusta, as well as all the towns in the state, but Augusta maintained its reputation of being one of the best towns of its size in Kansas because of its favored natural resources.

In 1906, the city, largely upon the advice and earnest solicitation of N. A. Yeager, began development of gas for municipal purposes and commenced to furnish its citizens with gas at a low rate. By 1916 it had developed a gas plant estimated to be worth $100,000, paid for out of the proceeds of the gas. In 1908, the city put in a water system. In 1913, an electric light system was installed, largely paid for out of the gas receipts. In 1916 the city completed a sanitary sewer system. From the development of the oil field, the growth of Augusta has been rapid. In 1915 the population was 1,400; in 1916, 3,575.

To the archaeologist, Augusta presents an interesting field. Across the Walnut River from the present city are ruins of an ancient city covering many times the territory now covered by Augusta. Here are evidences of ancient races of people, and fragments of pottery as ancient as the pyramids of Egypt. Fragments of rock used in the manufacture of tools, which are not found this side of Lake Superior or the Rocky Mountains; hand mils for the grinding of grain, manufactured from stone not found in this vicinity; small mounds extending from section 4 in Walnut Township to section 26, Augusta Township, representing the accumulations, perhaps, of centuries. In these are the fragmentary evidence that delights the antiquarian and appeals to imagination. Here is represented the highest skill, evidencing a civilization far above the American Indian.

This location was selected for its commercial advantages as well as for strategic reasons. The three sides of this—to the east, north and west, define a wall almost perpendicular, ranging from 25 to 50 feet high, at the foot of which runs the deep chanel of the Walnut, making an attack from this direction, with ancient weapons, almost impossible. Here large springs furnish ample water supply of the best kind. The Indian says that many bloody battles were fought to gain and hold this important point. Doubtless this was the best hunting ground in the mid-continent. Here are the first timbered protection and the first permanent water for the game and animal life which must have sought shelter from the blizzards which swept the plains, and the drought which parched the great American desert. Here the rich valleys afforded game for the primeval inhabitants.

According to Indian tradition, the last great battle was fought in the low grounds between the present site of Augusta and the Whitewater and Walnut rivers. If Indian tradition can be relied upon, many thousand braves in hand encounter battled and perished in the last great struggle for this stronghold. Whatever may have transpired before the present civilization conquered this territory is largely conjecture. One civilization succeeding another of different type, one race of people succeeding another, different in character, has been the history of all time. Doubtless it is true of this locality.