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LINCOLN COUNTY, KANSAS A Souvenir History SOME OLD SETTLERS Page 61 Mr. N. B. REES Pages 61 - 62 Mr. Rees is one of our old settlers, having come to .Lincoln County in 1872, and lived here ever since, except for a short time when he was in Oklahoma. He has the honor of having made the first picture made in the county, and was in the photograph and jewelry business for ten years. He is now in the laundry business. Mr. Kees is a civil war veteran, and his native home was Bloomington, Ill. This is one of the old timers who was born in "Der Vaterland" in 1847. His birthplace was Prussia, and he is the son of Gotlob and Marie Roenigk, who were honest thrifty farmers in good circumstances. He received, a common school education, attending school until the age of thirteen, when he came to America, leaving his parents in the old country. He settled first in Wisconsin and later went to St. Louis, where he learned the trade of saddler and harness
making, attending night school. In 1866 he came to Kansas to make his home, working for the Government during the Indian troubles of the year. These pioneer days were the most enjoyable of his life, although he saw the usual hardships and sometimes came near losing his life, being shot through the lungs once. But judging from his writings he appreciated the freedom of the plains. He and some of his companions were in a fight with the Indians in 1868. Two of them were killed. Mr. Roenigk came back the next year and put up headstones of limestone and cut their names and the inscription "Killed by the Indians May 28, 1868." He was one of the first white men in what is now Russell County, having come there at the time the first railroad was built from Kansas City to Denver. He settled in Clay County in 1870, and the next year his parents from Germany joined him. He engaged in the saddle and harness business in Clifton,. Washington County, and was worth $20,000 at this time. He came to Lincoln County and engaged quite extensively in manufacturing, and has always done a prosperous business. He built several business blocks, but was burned out in 1897 without insurance, and met with other losses. He is still engaged in the harness business, as much for pleasure as profit.. He received the white ribbon on manufactured leather goods at the Kansas State Fair in 1.890. Mr. Roenigk once went to California for his health, and is nov/ en a tour around the world. He is a bachelor, an Odd Fellow, and a Royal Arch Mason, also a valuable member ot the Kansas State Historical Society, for which he has written many articles, of his own and others experiences. George Snapp is one of the younger old settlers. He was born in West Virginia in 1859. Came to Kansas with his parents in 1873, being nearly 14 years old. His parents located in Salt Creek Township, and George's first work in Kansas was herding cattle. The Snapp family came just in time to be "at home" when the grass-hoppers came on the fourth of July, 1874. George put in most of his time farming, and what time he could spare from the farm he devoted to carpentering and plastering. He was married in 1885 to a Mitchell County girl then living near Coursen's Grove, named Winifred Wines. To this union have been born six children, five of them still living. Their first child, a girl, died fourteen years ago. About the year 1885 Mr. Snapp bought the farm he now lives on four miles and a half northeast of Barnard. There are 240 acres in the place, and it is choice land. One hundred acres is under cultivation, the balance being used for pasture. The place is well improved, there being a fine double-gabled six-room house and many other conveniences. He turns off a carload of cattle every year. For the past twenty years Mr. Snapp has found time to do a great deal of carpentering and plastering. In later years the demand for his work in these lines has been greater than he could accommodate. He has built five houses since the middle of last October, and has several contracts waiting for him. It is a pretty good record, considering that he only devotes to his trade what time he can spare from the farm. That he is a past-master in his line of work is evident from the fact that he can't take all the work that is offered him. [The above is copied from the Barnard Bee. Since it was written Mr. Snapp has become owner of a section of land in Ellis County, south of Natoma.] T. J. McCurry was born in North Carolina in 1841. Was married to Miss Mary Bowen in Georgia in 1866, and three years later he brought his family to Kansas, locating on what is now the Adams place. He farmed this place about fifteen years and then bought of David Swank the place he is now on near Milo, which consist of 880 acres in all, about 350 of it under cultivation. Mr. McCurry commenced buying grain at Milo in 1889, and in 1891 he built the elevator now being operated by his son Thomas. After conducting the grain business with profit for several years he this spring turned the business over to his son, who we feel confident posseses the elements necessary to make a success of the undertaking. Mr. McCurry's success furnishes another example of what Kansas will do for a hard worker. When he landed in this country he had a team and wagon, but no money. That was in 1869. He gained a little on adversity during the next three or four years, but along came the grasshoppers in 1874 and set him back-'way back. They cleaned up everything and left him as bad off or worse than he was when he came. But he stayed with the proposition, and to-day he is one of our solid men. He is a stockholder in the Barnard mill, lumber yard, investment company, a director of the Bank of Barnard, and president of the Barnard Telephone Company. Mr. McCurry tells us that the chief industry in Kansas in the early days was cattle raising, which greatly held back the farming industry. But the herd law of 1874 came to the relief of the farmers, although it was at first feared that it would be a detriment to them on account of having a tendency to drive the cattle out of the State, but such was not the case. Cattlemen were compelled to herd their cattle, and the farming industry took on a boom, and it has been booming ever since. Another red letter day for Kansas was when the agricultural department introduced Russian hard wheat. It is a good thing and a money maker for the farmers, and has stayed with them ever since. Mr. and Mrs. McCurry have raised a family of five daughters and one son. Three of the daughters are married: Mrs. Ella Borgan, Mrs. Ida Richardson, and Mrs. Esther Lenhart. The first two live not far from Barnard, the last one at Plymouth, Kans. This is a city, beautiful for situation. One can see it for miles nestled down between the hills and among its beautiful trees, with the town pot the only natural curio in the vicinity, towering like a big black watch-tower that guards from harm. The streets of this city are not paved with gold owing to the fact that there is but one man in town who can fit crutches to lame eyes, but they are lined up and down with delightful shade trees. Lincoln has city waterworks, electric lights, excellent public schools, a college, fine residences, two blocks of flourishing business houses, a sanitarium, and a lot of automobiles? It is in the center of a large and prosperous farming territory, without a rival for many miles on either side, and the largest town on this branch of the Union Pacific between Salina and the State line. Nearly all the business houses in Lincoln are built of native rock, and except for the few frame structures brought over from Abram, they have always been. We get the early beginnings of Lincoln in the county seat .fight, so it is not necessary to dwell on it here. The town was plotted May 9, 1S71, and included the northwest quarter section 6, town 12, range 7. The town company were W. L. Gillmore, D. W. Henderson, J. S. Strange, Washington Smith, Thomas Boyle, S. M. Babellette, and Jaines Askey. Judge Prescott ordered a city election which resulted as follows: Mayor, Geo. M. Lutes; police judge, Mortimer Gragg; clerk, Lon A. Minx; councilmen, D. E. Coolbaugh, Geo. Green, Luther Stewart, H. Holcomb, Jos. K. Cheney. "September 23, 1879, Lincoln became a city of the third class. So much of the history of Lincoln Center has been given under special articles that there is not much left to say here. Being the county seat it was the scene of many remarkable and ex-citing incidents during the days when it was customary to make strenuous remarks and punctuate them with bullets. Some of these incidents might prove interesting if told. But there is another side to the picture and another spirit which stood in sharp contrast to lawlessness. Lincoln from the very first was a hot-bed of progress and reform. Never was liquor legally sold in 'the town except in the year 1879. The State-wide suffrage campaign which had lain dormant after the defeat of 1876 was renewed by Lincoln women. Some of the most earnest and successful exponents of new reformatory measures, in politics, religion, and social life, have been Lincoln people. It is evident from the outcome, most people were of the right, sort, so it is hardly worth while to elaborate on the sneak-thief, cowardly acts of a few adventurers when there was real work being done. There is a list of the business people in Lincoln in 1879 which we wish to mention in passing: H. Holcomb and E. B. Bishop, hardware; C. W. Perkins, grocer; Mr. Z. Burton, drugs; Frank Cogswell, M. D.; J. P. Cunnings and G. M. Lutes, partners in banking business; E. S. Pierce, furniture and undertaking; Hay-den & Greer, tin and hardware; Joseph Cheney, harness .and saddles; M. M. George, harness and saddles; Otto Olson, shoemaker; Luther Stewart, merchandise; Mrs. L. Stewart, millinery; R. H. Thompson, restaurant; Legett Bros., grocers. The early postmasters were, in their order, John S. Strange, Dr. Bal-lard, D. W. Henderson, J. M. Wellman, editor of the Register, and J. Z. Springer. There was a joint stock company formed in Lincoln in 1881 to tunnel the Saline River south of town. At another time bonds amounting to $3,000 were carried by a vote of sixty-one to sixty "to be used in prospecting for valuable minerals under the auspices of the Lincoln Mining and Prospecting Company. The town had a slow growth until the College was built and the railroad came through. Then new buildings sprung up like mushrooms in a single night. From March to May one hundred twenty-five buildings were erected. During the year (1886) Lincoln doubled in population and trebled in wealth on account of these two new institutions. Some time in the eighties a library was founded by the Lincoln women. They went on from year to year building it up aided only by the dog-tax generously donated by the city dads. Until the year 1897 it was owned by stockholders but at that time the books together with all property belonging to the association was given to the city. In 1899 it. was made a public city library. January 1, 1908, there were 1,407 volumes in the library. The recently added books bring the total up to 1,526 volumes. The Pennsylvania store was established in Lincoln by Jas. R. Logan and John C. Patton, of Indiana, Pennsylvania,
and named by them in honor of their native State. The store was first opened for business on the 29th day of March,
1886, in the Swinburn block, the room now occupied by the Lincoln Fire Department. This room soon becoming too
small, the stock was moved in January, 1887, to the room now occupied by the Scandia Furniture Company. Mr. Logan
acquired Mr. Patton's interest in July, 1888, after which he added several departments, including men's clothing. A great many amusing things have happened in this store, a great many of which Dan Day was mixed up in. One of these being a supper given in the store on the evening of July 4, 1891. There was an extraordinary large crowd in town and a hard rainstorm coming up about the time people were ready to start home, had swollen the waterways to the extent that they were impassable. Dan conceived the idea and soon had two long counters the full length of the store filled with bread and butter, cheese, crackers, pickles, hot coffee, etc. As soon as the crowd had surrounded the tables Dan went to the gun store, and, taking out a couple of Colt's six shooters, and mounting a stool with one in each hand, he informed the crowd that he did not care to hear any slighting remarks concerning any part of the spread or he would be obliged to call the offender to account. It is needless to say that every remark 'was very complementary. Mr. Logan was a Bryan elector in 1896 and always took an active interest in anything that was "For Lincoln." He moved the store to its present location in July, 1901, and after selling the stock to Porter & Sons in June, 1904, he removed to Kansas City, Mo., where he still lives, being engager in the wholesale notion business. The picture here shown is of the store in its present location, having a frontage of twenty-five feet on Lincoln Avenue and sixty feet on Fourth street. The furniture and fixtures are all finished in very light oak, including the show-windows, which are all enclosed and electric lighted, making them the finest windows in the city. The departments, or lines of goods carried, embrace general dry goods, ladies' ready-to-wear, ladies' furnishings, hats, gents furnishings, and groceries. The motto of the store, "The Best of Everything," aptly represents the character of merchandise handled, and it has been said that this store has more "satisfied customers" than any store in Lincoln County. This is probably largely due to the fact that it is the only store in the county that has always insisted that "Every man's dollar is the same size," in other words, to have only one price-that in plain figures, and RIGHT. It has taken considerable nerve at times to maintain this idea in the face of pressure for a concession-not of price alone, but principle, but the management has never weakened and have a good business and the confidence of the community as their reward. The twenty-two years since its establishment has seen other stores spring into existence, flourish for a time and pass into history, others have changed hands, sold out and left, some to come back and leave again, but in the face of all this, the Pennsylvania store has been making a steady gain and a substantial growth. The firm consists of John E. Porter and his two sons, Harry U., Fred L., and Oscar V. Stewart, a son-in-law. The senior Mr. Porter settled on a farm on upper Spillman Creek in Lincoln County in February, 1874, Harry being a boy of 7 years. Fred was born on the same farm about three years later. One of the things which this little city has to be proud of, is her annual carnival and fair. Live stock and farm produce are shown and a three-days' good time is enjoyed by the people of the surrounding country. There is always a large showing of thoroughbred stock of all kinds which would do credit to any county fair in Kansas. The following is a brief history of Sylvan. The first settlers to come into this neighborhood were Louis Farley and son Hutchison about 1867. The Farley homestead was called Twin Groves. It is now owned by Charles Whittey. The Buzicks, who came in 1870, were the next family to move in. They have always been prominent in the county.
Ira Buzick was the first representative to be elected from Lincoln County. W. C. Buzick has been county clerk and
editor of a Lincoln paper. A. R. Buzick, who is at present a resident of Sylvan Grove, is one of the wealthiest
men in the county. C.M. Heaton and the Meyers boys came in 1871. A postoffice was established at an early date which was called Sylvan Grove. The name was suggested by William Buzick. C. M. Heaton was postmaster, and the office was at his home two miles south of the present Sylvan Grove until about the year 1877, when it was moved to the home of H. S. Merriman near where the town now stands. About this time E. B. Cross and W. V. Morgan built a small store. The next year Merriman put up a stone building into which the goods were moved. When the railroad come through the business was sold to Berger Bros. & Wilson. Later an interest was bought by Schemerhorn & Co. This was the only store before the coming of the railroads, and people came thirty miles to do their shopping and to get their grain ground at the mill, which had been built by Merriman & Mesterson in 1875. The mill went down in the flood of 1S86. The old stone store is still standing. The town was platted in 1887 by the Sylvan Grove Town Company. The land belonged to Wm. Bender and H. S. Merriman. A new store was built by John Hoover. Sylvan has had a steady growth ever since, and has been especially prosperous during the last three years. There is an excellent telephone system owned by resident stockholders, three elevators, two large lumbers yards, and about forty other flourishing business houses in Sylvan Grove. The Barnard territory, namely Salt Creek and Scott Townships, was settled by cattlemen about 1868. In 1880 the lands were opened by the government to settlers. Houston & Son, of Concordia, acted as agents. These were the days of sod shanties, dugouts and lonesome bachelors, poor and homesick. The Barnard Bee gives a history of the town and we quote verbatim from that paper as it is hard to change history, and our write-ups would have to be the same at all events: "In the spring of 1887, when what is now called the Barnard branch of the Santa Fe was being graded, it was first thought that a town would be started near the center of Salt Creek Township, as that township voted bonds and this one did not No one thought for a minute that the road would plant a depot just across the line in Scott, a bondless township. So those interested located the probable site for the new town on the land where the late Dan Saunders farm is located, in Salt Creek Township, about three and one-half miles east and one south of the present site of Barnard. "The Baker Bros, came over from Asherville and started a lumber yard just across the road from the Saunders residence. W. D. Snapp and G. A. King were engaged to build an office for the company. A man named Ross Wilcox was the lumber company's manager. "But the railroad people had other views, and it became evident that their depot would be located in Scott Township. Immediately two townsites were plotted, one on the west edge of Salt Creek Township, the other just across the township line in Scott Township. "The town plat in Salt Creek Township was on land belonging to Mrs. Kate Nealeigh; the one in Scott Township on land belonging to A. A. Ballard. "An interesting rivalry sprung up between the promoters of the two townsites, and the township line dividing them was soon dubbed the neutral strip. The Nealeigh site was facetiously styled "Slabtown." In this article we will distinguish between the two places by using the terms now in general use-East Barnard referring to the Nealeigh site, and Barnard, meaning the Ballard site. "The first business enterprise secured by either of the two rival sites was the Baker Bros, lumber yard, which was moved from the Saunders place to Barnard on its present site. "The first general store was opened in East Barnard by W. D. Snapp and his son-in-law, Marion Loy. Lew and Lee Morse had been running a store in Old Milo, two and one-half miles northeast of Barnard. Marion Loy and Geo. Snapp bought out the Morse boys at Old Milo when they found there would be no town started on the Saunders place. Five months later (summer of 1887) W. D. Snapp bought out his son George in the store at Old Milo and he and Marion Loy moved the stock of goods to East Barnard where Geo. Saine's house now stands. In a short time W. D. Snapp sold out to Lee Morse, and eventually Mr. Loy retired, which once more left the Morse boys in possession of the business. They failed in business soon after. "The first residence built in East Barnard was the one now occupied by S. A. Duree, and was built by W. D. Snapp. "The first building built in Barnard was the one now occupied by Geo. Hiserote and family. It was built by Mr. Snapp as a residence for Ross Wilcox, manager of the lumber company. "In the summer and fall of 1887 East Barnard seemed to hold the edge over its neighbor across the way. Buildings were moved in from Old Milo and some new ones were put up. A man by the name of Gleason opened a general store; a livery stable was also started, operated by John Clark and his father. "David Metzgar ran first store in Barnard; kept a small stock of flour and feed in building now occupied by J. J. Preo's barber shop. The building then stood about where E. V. Wine's residence is located. Doc Ballard opened up a small stock of groceries in the building now occupied by W. F. Burns and family. Barnard's first postoffice was established in the Ballard store, a man with the unusual name of Smith being the first postmaster. "Wm. Gill, father of Mell Gill, built the corner store now occupied by C. Coffman. For a while he ran a restaurant and boarded the men who were building the railroad. He later put in a large stock of groceries and general merchandise. This was the first stock of goods of any importance that was put on sale in the new town. Wm. Gill is now located in Holly, Colo., and is still engaged in the same line of business. "A man named Jim Hoffman built and operated the first hotel, the one now known as the Barnard hotel. "J.
T. Crowl built one of the first residences and still lives in the same building. Mr. Crowl's house and the hotel
were built at about the same time, and by the same crew of men. "But the Barnard of to-day is a busy, bustling reality, and once again we invite you to come and visit our little city, look over the beautiful, prolific Salt Creek Valley, and if you know a good thing when you see it you'll camp right here indefinitely." Beverly is the successor and sole heir of the promising burg (in embryo) of Colorado, which gracefully gave up the ghost in 18S6. The postoffice was moved in this year, and the town plotted. The land belonged to Volany Ball. The railroad came through about this time, and stores began to be built. D. R. Kernohan, who built the first general merchandise es-tablishment, was succeeded by his son and daughter, who are still in business. A hotel was built and run by Mr. Tussel. The hardware store was owned by Welsh Bros. C. M. Adamson, who was a doctor and was postmaster at Colorado, kept a drug store in Beverly in the same building
with the postoffice. In 1905 the town was organized as a city of the third class. It is protected by a council of five wise men, and a big chief, whose name is T. F. Webb, Sr. Things have always run so smoothly in Beverly that there has never been a dog fight. much less a town row, or a killin'. So it is up to the big chief to furnish enough excitement to keep the people from getting too fat. Accordingly he went out one day and shot a rabbit. The council had the day before passed an ordinance against shooting and the chief was fined $1.00. A little later he went out on the streets and hit a man. This cost him $5.00. His salary is $12.00 per year, but he was public spirited enough to return v one-half of it to the treasury in fines. Some of the early settlers are still here. Dick Clark, alias R. B. Clark, the only one of the Colorado boys still living, Chalzmerz Smith and J. J. Peate, two of Forsythe's scouts; and Waldo Hancock, a protege of the Colorado boys. We know a little story about Jack Peate, and take this opportunity to tell it. He came to Kansas at the tender age of sixteen. He was with a companion. When they got to the end of the railroad they bought a horse apiece, and started out to ride across the country. In the vicinity of Cawker City, they were surprised and captured by a band of Indians, dog soldiers probably, because Roman Nose was the leader. They were not killed on the spot, as the band was taking a circuitous route to their camp up the Solomon. The captives looked forward with pleasure to the honor of being tortured to death at the camp of this famous Roman Nose. But when they came near the bluff of Wacoanda they ran into a party of buffalo-hunters. The captives escaped and went on their way rejoicing. They came down to Saline Valley and met some of the Colorado boys chasing some government mules and a beautiful little pony. Now this being Jack Peate's first experience on horseback he did not know how to capture a pony, though his intentions were good enough. So when his horse made a quick, vigorous turn, Mr. Peate went skyward. He landed near the town site of Beverly and has made it his headquarters ever since. Then there is the Skinner family who were early settlers, and are still one of the most prominent families in
the community, and own a large amount of property in and about Beverly. E. T. Skinner is our present legislator.
He has shown great interest in preserving historical landmarks. |
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