Osborne County, Kansas History

OSBORNE COUNTY, KANSAS

HISTORY

Source: Kansas - A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. - Edited by Frank W. Blackmar, A. M., Ph. D., Volumes I & II, 1912)

BLOOMINGTON

Bloomington, a village of Osborne county, is a station on the division of the Missouri Pacific R. R. that runs from Downs to Stockton, 5 miles west of Osborne, the county seat. It has a money order post office with one rural route, telephone connections, a hotel, some general stores, telegraph and express offices, and does some shipping. The population in 1910 was 88. (Page 195)

KILLCREEK

A hamlet in Osborne county, is located between Little Medicine and Kill creeks, 13 miles southwest of Osborne, the county seat and 9 miles in the same direction from Bloomington, the nearest railroad station and shipping point, whence it receives mail by rural route. The population in 1910 was 18. (Page 71)

NATOMA

Natoma, one of the thriving incorporated towns of Osborne county, is located in the southwest part of the county, on the Union Pacific R. R. 25 miles southwest of Osborne, the county seat. It has numerous retail mercantile establishments, churchs and schools, a bank, and a newspaper (the Independent). It was incorporated as a city of the third class in 1905, has telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 407. (page 336)

OSBORNE

Osborne, the county seat and largest town of Osborne county, is located north of the center of the county, on the Missouri Pacific R. R. and on the south fork of the Solomon river. It has a public waterworks, fire department, opera house, public library, 3 hotels, 3 banks, 6 churches, high school, graded schools and 2 weekly newspapers (the Osborne County Farmer and the Osborne County News). A stage runs daily to Covert. There are three wards in the city, which is supplied with express and telegraph offices, and has an international money order post office with four rural routes. The population in 1910 was 1,566.

Osborne was founded in May, 1871, by a party of 35 people from Pennsylvania, with W. L. Bear as president of the colony. The post-office was established on July 1 with H. D. Markley as postmaster. The first newspaper was the 'Osborne Times, established in 1873 by J. J. Johnson and F. E. Jerome. The first school was taught by Miss Yates. The first birth was that of Walter Jerome in 1873. The first church organizations were formed in 1871, and houses of worship were built in the early '70s. The town was proclaimed a city of the third class by Judge A. J. Banta in May, 1873. The citizens failed to organize a legal city government, and in 1878 Judge Holt again decreed Osborne to be a city of the third class and ordered an election, which resulted as follows: Mayor, J. W. Elliott; police judge, A. Anderson; clerk, F. E. Leebrick; treasurer, A. N. Fritchey; councilmen, R. G. Hays, E. Smith, J. M. Morgan, A. Smith and Z. T. Walrond. In 1878 a bridge was built across the Solomon at this point. A bank, which was a branch of a Beloit banking house, was established soon afterward.

Osborne County, in the central part of the state east and west, is located in the second tier from the Nebraska line. It is bounded on the north by Smith and Jewell counties; on the east by Mitchell and Lincoln; on the south by Russell and Ellis, and on the west by Rooks county. It was named in honor of Vincent Osborne, a soldier of the Second Kansas cavalry, who was distinguished for his courage in the Civil war, and who in 1867 settled at Ellsworth, Ellsworth county.

The first permanent settlement was the Bullock ranch, established on the south fork of the Solomon in March, 1870, by Charles and William Bullock. Pennington Ray and James McCormick settled south of the site of Downs a little later. Their stock was driven off by the Indians that summer. Word was sent to the stockade at Waconda and the soldiers came out and drove the Indians away. During the famous raids of 1868 there were no settlers in the county. A party including Lieut. Higgins, John Owens and a third man were attacked while in camp on Oak creek in the northeast corner of the county, and two of them were killed. Owens escaped and reached the stockade at Glasco. Thirty-three people came during 1870, among them being James Weston and family, J. J. Wiltrout, Crosby brothers, Z. T. Walrond, W. T. Kelley and E. McCormick. The next year settlers came in large numbers. The first store was near the center of the county and was kept by Calvin Reasoner. In Nov., 1870, Gen. H. C. Bull founded a town, to which he gave the name of Bull's City (now Alton), and erected a store building. The first white child, Bertha Manning, was born on May 4, 1871. (Pages 417-418)

OSBORNE COUNTY

Osborne City was founded in May, 1871, by a colony from Pennsylvania, and the county was organized the same year. On May 27 a mass meeting of citizens at Reasoner's store took the preliminary steps, C. M. Cunningham, W. W. Bullock and A. B. Fleming being appointed as a census committee. On Sept. 12 Gov. J. M. Harvey declared the county organized and appointed the following temporary officers: Clerk, Frank Thompson; commissioners, Samuel Chatfield, C. M. Cunningham and Frank Stafford. An election was held on Nov. 7, when Osborne was chosen as the county seat and the following officers were elected: Sheriff, C. M. Cunningham; treasurer, John Joy; county clerk, C. W. Crampton; attorney, H. H. Napier; clerk of the court, C. J. Watson; register of deeds, A. B. Flemming; surveyor, F. R. Gruger; probate judge, H. C. Bull; superintendent of public instruction, J. T. Saxton; coroner, S. B. Farwell; commissioners, P. W. Ken-yon, F. Stafford and J. J. Hayes; representative, W. L. Gear.

In 1880 the population of the county was returned as 12,518, that of 1890 as 12,083, 1900 as 11,844, and 1910 as 12,827. The assessed valuation of property in 1882 was $1,137,906. The valuation in 1910 was $24,743,9467, which makes the wealth per capita nearly $2,000.

The first railroad to enter the county was the main line of the Missouri Pacific, which reached Downs in 1879. This road runs through the county and terminates at Stockton, in Rooks county. A branch diverges at Downs and crosses northwest into Smith county. The Union Pacific runs through the southwest corner, passing through Natoma.

The county is divided into twenty-three townships, viz: Bethany, Bloom, Corinth, Covert, Delhi, Grant, Hancock, Hawkeye, Independence, Jackson, Kill Creek, Lawrence, Liberty, Mt. Ayr, Natoma, Penn, Ross, Round Mound, Sumner, Tilden, Valley, Victor and Winfield. The postoffices are, Osborne, Alton, Bloomington, Covert, Downs, Natoma, Portis and Twin Creek.

The area of the county is 900 square miles, with an undulating surface, broken by high ridges which divide the numerous water courses. Medicine Peak, in the eastern part and Round Mound in the southwest, are the most important heights. Bottom lands average a mile in width and comprise 20 per cent, of the total area. Native timber is not abundant, but many acres of artificial forest have been planted. The two branches of the Solomon river and their tributaries form the water system. The north fork enters from Smith county and flows southeast across the northeast corner. The south fork enters in the west from Rooks county and flows east through the second tier of townships from the north. It has numerous tributaries. Limestone, sandstone, potter's clay and gypsum are found in considerable quantities.

The annual product of the farms averages nearly $4,000,000. In 1910 the total value was $3,875,000, of which winter wheat brought $1,213,000; corn, $819,000; tame grass, $272,000; animals sold for slaughter, $893,000. Other important products are, butter, eggs, poultry, milk, fruit, prairie grass, sorghum, Kafir corn, oats and Irish potatoes. There are more than 150,000 bearing fruit trees. The live stock on hand in 1910 was worth $3,130,593. A great deal of this is thoroughbred. The aggregate number of head of horses, mules, asses, cattle, swine and sheep was 77,681. (Pages 418-419)

PORTIS

Portis, one of the incorporated towns of Osborne county, is located in Bethany township on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 8 miles north of Osborne, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Independent), 3 churches, good schools, and a number of well stocked retail establishments. The town became a city of the third class in 1905. It has telegraph and express offices, and a money order post office with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 304. A trading post was located at this point in 1871 and the town was platted in 1873. The Portis Patriot, one of the first newspapers in this section of the state was started in 1872. The town was named in honor of the vice-president of the Missouri Pacific R. R. (Page 489)

ROUNDMOUND

Roundmound, a hamlet of Osborne County, is located on the eminence of that name, 21 miles southwest of Osborne, the county seat and 5 miles northeast of Natoma on the Union Pacific R. R., the nearest railroad station, and the postoffice from which it receives mail by rural route. (Page 610)