Pioneer Days

[genealogynut]

The Citizen
Wednesday, September 13, 1939

Note:  This is extracted from a very lengthy article written and compiled by F. C. Flory.  It is too long to include the entire article in one posting.


Interesting Incidents and History of Early Days In Elk County


Howard

Howard City, as it was called in earlier times, was established in 1870 by a town company of which Samuel McFarland, was president and T. A. Dodd, secretary.  The management of affairs was soon left to private individuals, and the principal promoters were John McBee, S. B. Oberlander, C. T. Adams, P. C. Topping, Alexander Bruce, Perry and Milton Vinson, and T. A  Dodd.  The first business enterprise was undertaken by Austin McFarland, who built a store in 1870. The second was a livery stable belonging to a Mr. McClure.  The Howard House was built in 1871 by G. O. Buckles and John Parrett.  The third building was a saloon and the fourth building a printing office, installed by Turner & Kelley.  A postoffice had been established on Paw Paw creek north of town and this was brought to Howard in 1871. T. J. Barnes was postmaster at the time.  The first newspaper--the Howard County Messenger---was established by Turner & Kelley in 1872.

The first store in this section was started by Jeff Barnes in July 1869, on a farm just north of Howard.  A meeting was called at this store in February 1870, for the purpose of selecting a site for a town.  This committee was composed of John McBee, P. C. Topping and Jeff Barnes.   Barnes wanted to locate the town where his store stood, and Topping on a tract of land one mile west of the Howard stock yards.  They finally agreed on McBee's choice, the present location of Howard.  Soon after this Barnes sold his store to Dr. J. O Allen who moved the goods to Howard, after conducting the store for a short time at the old location.  Allen left in a year or two moving to California.

As stated above, Austin McFarland started the first store in Howard, in July 1870.  The lumber for this building was brought from Leavenworth and the goods were also hauled from Leavenworth.  McFarland failed in business and left.

The first hotel was built by G. O. Buckles and John Parrett.  This building was located on the corner west of the Howard National Bank and was used for a hotel for many years, or until it burned down.  The hotel was opened by E. C. McConnehey, who ran it about a year.  It was then purchased by John McBee who conducted it for a number of years.

The first saloon was started by a man named Zook, the next by Tommy Farrell, who went out of the business with the passing of the prohibitory law.

The first school taught in this section was in a log hut on a farm, on the east side of Paw Paw about two milles north of Howard.  The teacher was a young man named Frank Hobbs.  This was a subscription school and was in the winter of 1869-70.  The following were the pupils who attended this school:  Sherley Greenwood, Belle Greenwood, Ed Chirpolled, Jennie Wilder, Nancy Wilder, Geo. Wilder, Jennie Cooper, Geo. Yokum, Ella Yokum, Frank Mahurin, Sarah Mahurin, Emma Hobbs, Alfred and Ed Glidden, Nancy Cole, Leta and Mark McBee.

A year or two later young Hobbs died and was buried on his father's claim, 3 miles north of Howard. The grave is marked by a tombstone and iron fence around it, and the lone monument attract the attention of travelers on the Howard-Severy road.

The first preaching in this vicinity was in a log house on the John McBee farm three miles west of Howard.  The preacher was Rev. Samuel Fread.  Rev. Fread was a Methodist.  He lived in Greenwood county, but later moved to this vicinity.

The first school opened in Howard was in 1873.  This building stood on the present school site and was a good building for that day.  It was a frame building, the lumber being hauled from Chanute.  The first teacher was a Mr. Heckman and the second H. B. Kelley, who was also the first editor.  The first building soon became too small and in 1881 bonds to the amount of $6,000 were voted and the district contracted with W. M. Crooks and Worth Steele for the erection of the stone building.

The first church built in Howard was by the United Presbyterian and the building is still used by the Holiness society.  The active members at that time were:  Mr. Hawthorne, John and Robert Moore, Mr. Acheron, Alex. Strachan and others.

The first child born in this neighborhood was to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Woolford in 1869.  He was named James.

The first child born on the Howard townsite was to Senator and Mrs. H. B. Kelley.  This daughter, Miss Emma Kelley, became quite famous.  She was the first woman, we believe, to make the Klondike trip and her description of the trip was widely quoted at the time.

The first saw mill was built in the spring on 1871 by Rambo and Converse.  It was set up on the north bank of Rock creek near the stock yards ford.

The first grist mill tributary to Howard was at Union Center on Elk river.  It was built and conducted by Col. Edward Colyer.  It was a water mill and did good service for many years.  This mill was built in 1872.

The first drug store was started by Dr. Frank Bersheidt. It was located on the west side of Wabash avenue.

The first blacksmith shop was by Lou Schrader in 1870, near the mouth of Snake creek.  He later moved his shop to Howard.

The first bank was started by Geo. W. McKey and A. F. Eby.

S. B. Oberlender was the first lawyer.

The first burial in Grace Lawn cemetery was Kemper McDonald in 1874.


FIRST TOWN--ELK FALLS

Mr. Nichols, in his history, gives Elk Falls the credit of being the first town located in the county.  Howard and Elk Rapids (afterwards changed to Longton) quickly followed, Canola and Greenfield were located about one year later, and Boston still later.

R. H. Nichols was the first settler in Elk Falls; he settled there with his wife and babe, Lulu May, on the first day of June 1870. The town site had been located the winter, preceding by A. F. Gitchell, L. J. Johnson, and R. H. Nichols, and the town given the name suggested by the fall in Elk river at that point.

Nichols built the first home in the town, which was 12 x 14; this is the house in which the first convention was held.

Hall & Edmisston opened out the first store in the town in a log buiding, May 10, 1870, was their first day, on which their sales amounted to $12.50, and they were encouraged.

The first government post office in the county was located here and the first M. E. church as well.  Z. R. Pearcy, who was the first Methiodist minister to locate in the county organized this church in October 1870.

THE OLD TOWN OF BOSTON

The town of Boston was orgainzied in August 1871, by J. L. Mattingly, Pat Nulty, John and Robert Brogan and John A. Oliphant.  These men came from Osage Mission, now St. Paul, Kansas, and the town of Boston was located near the geographical center of Howard county in order that when it got to be the county seat, it would be convenient for the greatest number of inhabitants of the then big county.  The location was five or six miles south and a little west of where Moline now stands, and not a trace of Boston now remains.  The little company of promoters, who established the new town were all bachelors, and full of life and ambition.  Among the early residents of Boston were Wilse and Nace Walker and George and John Thompson.  Some small frame houses were built, a store or two opened up, a little hotel established, and then Boston began to pull for the county seat

Howard county had been organized in 1870 with Elk Falls named as county seat.  But an election was held and the vote favored Belleville (Peru) and the county officers were moved to that point, away down in the southeast corner of the county.

Some time in 1872, a new judge having come to the bench, a court order was obtained ordering the county seat back to Elk Falls from Peru.  An election or two was held but the results were always mixed owing to the fact that an honest vote was hard to get.  In the summer of '70 an election was held, and Elk Falls and Boston were the leading candidates.  But the election board at Boston failed to properly sign their poll books and the votes of Boston precinct were thrown out leaving the deciding heat between Elk Falls and Peru.  Then the Boston infoluence was thrown to Peru and Elk Falls was beaten, but Judge Campbell was there with a restraining order and the records were held at Elk Falls.

Boston's business and professional directory, as I remember was about as follows:  Thompson Bro. (Geo. and John Thompson) general merchandise; F. J. Brown , dry goods, boots, and shoes; John Brogan, groceries; Thos. Cunningham, general merchandise, J. S. Torrence, drugs; Pat Nulty, saloon; R. J. Edwards, Boston Hotel; John B. Vanclave and John Cain kept a feed stable; The Howard County Messenger, A. B. Hicks, publisher; Geo. Logan, blacksmith, Dr. F. B. Olney was the resident physician.  Later came Drs. J. B. and J. F. Lewis.  There were several young lawyers,  --M. G. Miller, Dodd Cartwright, E. J. Kenney, John A. Oliphant (who was also postmaster), Lewis Clark and perhaps another or two.  Richard Speed, Justice of the Peace, held court two or three days each week, and there was much litigation.  Miss Fanny Webb taught a school the summer of ;73 and the new school house was being built by John and Bill Johnson.  Pat's saloon was the popular resort, and almost everybody drank more or less.  There was no church organization in Boston at that time.  Father Ponzigilone from Osage Mission came every few weeks and held Catholic services and the Catholic crowd was manifestly in the majority in Boston.

The two men who came very near running Boston were J. L. Mattingly and Pat Nulty.  "Mate and Pat" they were affectionately called by the enitre community.

The scarcest thing in Boston was water.  A town well seventy feet deep was located in the middle of the main street, but all the water that it afforded was hauled from the creeks and poured in from the top.  That Boston was literally a dry town was a scandal the more serious because it was true.  Elk Falls, its rival was located on the banks of Elk River and besides had many wells of good water.  Boston had a few small cisterns, a tolerably faithful small spring just west of town and a 70 foot well with no water in it.  Baker's branch--half a miles from town mostly went dry every summer, so it was about all that Boston could do to procure enough water for domestic purposes.  Every few nights the faithful Bostonese would haul water from Baker's branch and fill up the town well.  They worked at night so the rival town of Elk Falls wouldn't find it out.

This is what brought on the Boston War.  At the election held in August 1878, the leading points were Elk Falls and Boston.  The county commissioners were enjoined by the court from canvassing the vote on accuont of "inaccuracies," but afterwards counted them, leaving Boston's home vote out.  To this act Boston of course objected and took the matter into court.  The commissioners ordered a final election between Elk Falls and Peru, and Peru won.  But when Boston made her showing in court, the result of the last election was set aside and then commissioners erdered an election between Elk Falls and Boston, in which election Boston won by a clear majority of 275 votes.  But Elk Falls, as usual, was on the spot with an injunction and the county officers were restrained from moving.  However the county clerk and the county attorney moved to Boston, and the county board held two or three meetings at Boston.  When Judge Campbell passed on the election matter, he invailadated the result and by his decision left the county seat at Elk Falls and wiped out the voice of a fair majority of the people.  This aroused the Boston people, and they organized the Boston War.  The date of the exciting day was January 20, 1874.---Thos E. Thompson.


THE FOUNDING OF LONGTON

Longton, Kan.,  Feb. 15, 1870.

Mr. Editor:  Will you permit me, through the columns of your paper, to give a short and imperfect sketch of the founding of the town in which we live and have our hopes for the future centered.

In the winter of 1870, Dr. J. W. Kerr, Mr. Messick and myself, started from Ottawa, Kansas on a trip to the southern portion of the state our object being to take a look at the county and to secure homes for ourselves and families should the country be as good as had been represented to us.

We started on the 6th day of February, our trip was very pleasant with nothing to mar it but the sickness of the doctor who was ill most of the time.  We arrived at the mouth of Pantherhood creek, which is tributary to Elk River in Howard county, on the 14th day of February, where we pitched out tents in the timber and then started out claim hunting.  Starting west we called upon Mr. Minard, who llives near the junction of Elk River and Hitching creek, between the two.  We were very inquisitive about claims and especially so in regard to a nice townsite.  The present site of Longton was recommended to us as being a very beautiful, as well as desirable location for a town, and we came and looked at it; each one of us was most favorably impressed with the great natural beauties of the place, being very beautiful in itself, besides commanding a splendid view of the country for miles in every direction.  These being a vast area of splendid farming lands all around the town site which insures a population suffucuent to support a good sized town.  Also plenty of desirable timbered lands, densely covered with black walnut, burr oak, hackberry, etc.  Another recommendation to the town site was the splendid water power afforded by Elk River which runs on the south and almost adjoining the town site.

"Providence has favored this point with everything calculated to make a town grow fast and be liberally supported after it is built up,"  was the unanimous cry of our party after taking a view of it and its surroundings.

Taking all things into consideration we concluded this was our point and that we would make a start for a town.

We contracted with parties on the west for 80 acres of land to make up 320 acres for the town site shortly afterwards, Dr. Kerr procured the services of a surveyor and surveyed and platted "Main Street" and commenced the erection of a building, using timber split out for the purpose, there being no saw mills in the country at that time.

I immediately returned to Ottawa to wind up my affairs there, and returned in April.  About the first of June, J. W. Kerr, J.C. Pinney, J. Hoffman, J. B. Roberts, James Raynolds, and Mr. Garner organized a town company, called the Elk Rapids Town Co.  It was afterward thought proper to change the name, so Longton was the one adopted.

Sometime in June Messrs. Wright and Kirby, of Ottawa, moved and set up at this point, their fine steam saw mill and commenced cutting out lumber in a short time, giving those who had been visiting a chance to build and finish thier houses.  Then the building commenced.  Mr. Kirby built a store house, now occupied by H. Capper, with tin and hardware; Mr. Hitching built a store house occupied by Wilcox & Co., then C. P. Alvey together with the town company, erected a large two story house, the lower rooms of which are now owned and occupied by Mr. Alvey, and the upper story owned by the town company and later occupied by Mr. Peynolds as a printing office.

Gen. Hansbrough came down from Garnett about the first of October and immediately erected a fine two story hotel, which he now occupies and is ready at all time to accommodate the traveling public, in a handsome manner.  Dr. Watkins put up a fine drug store and is ready at all time to deal with those who need drugs or medicines.  We have two wagon and blacksmith shops.

Only twelve months from the day the town was located there are twenty-seven houses built and a large number in course of construction.  This has all been done amid many drawbacks and hardships.  Now the country has been surveyed and fairly opened for settlement and it is confidently expected that another year will increase the number of our buildings at least five-fold. ---J. HOFFMAN

[Janet Harrington]

Oh, Lois, I love this.  I think I have read it before, but it is always good to read history again and again and again and again.

[Janet Harrington]

The first school taught in this section was in a log hut on a farm, on the east side of Paw Paw about two milles north of Howard.  The teacher was a young man named Frank Hobbs.  This was a subscription school and was in the winter of 1869-70.  The following were the pupils who attended this school:  Sherley Greenwood, Belle Greenwood, Ed Chirpolled, Jennie Wilder, Nancy Wilder, Geo. Wilder, Jennie Cooper, Geo. Yokum, Ella Yokum, Frank Mahurin, Sarah Mahurin, Emma Hobbs, Alfred and Ed Glidden, Nancy Cole, Leta and Mark McBee.

A year or two later young Hobbs died and was buried on his father's claim, 3 miles north of Howard. The grave is marked by a tombstone and iron fence around it, and the lone monument attract the attention of travelers on the Howard-Severy road.

In our Bible study group at the United Methodist Church in Howard, the topic of Frank Hobbs was brought up.  The question was why was Hobbs buried by himself.  Some individuals thought it was because Hobbs was black.  Does anyone have the answer to this question.  Hobbs is buried north of Howard and is designated as the first teacher of Elk County.  Any info would be appreciated.

[Wilma]

This isn't really an answer but maybe he was buried alone because no one else was ever buried there.  If the land belonged to his father, then only family members could be buried there and possibly the family moved away before anybody else died. 

The site is more visible and more accessible now with our new highway.  There is actually a space so one can get off the highway to park.  There is also a mown path from the fence to the grave site, but no opening in the fence.  If one wanted to get to the site, you would have to crawl the fence.  It is still enough to attract the attention of passing motorists.

[Marcia Moore]

Back in 1871, when Mr. Hobbs died, there were not that many cemeteries around.  Not sure when Grace Lawn came about, but the land was probably deeded after that date.  It was not at all uncommon to be buried on your home place in that early day. 

[Buddyboy]

My dad talked about the students in the country schools around collecting pennies to pay for Mr. Hobbs a grave site or stone. I think I remember the site outside Howard and I believe that is the site that Dad talked about.

[W. Gray]

The article above, THE OLD TOWN OF BOSTON, appeared in the 1939 Howard Citizen as written by Thomas E. Thompson, the former editor of the Howard Courant. Tom passed away four years earlier. The item may have been one of Tom's old articles but he seems a little disoriented.

Tom says Boston and Elk Falls were the favorite in the 1870 county seat election. The only problem is Boston did not exist in 1870. Nor, was there a county seat election that year. That year, Tom was a ten year old still living in Iowa.

The governor of Kansas designated Elk Falls as county seat in March 1870 and that was solely because Howard County organizers formally asked the governor to do so--as was the custom. In the first county wide election in May 1870, a county seat location was not on the ballot.

In February 1871, two county seat elections were held with Belleville (Peru) beating Elk Falls. Boston was still not in existence and not on the ballot.

At another county seat election in 1872, Boston was in existence but came in second, behind Elk Falls. However, the ballots were stolen from the county clerk office at Peru preventing an official canvass and no further action was taken. Peru remained the county seat.

The judge Tom is talking about, William Pitt Campbell, did become the Thirteenth District judge in March 1872, but did not issue his famous court order until December 1873. That court order prompted the Boston War to begin the following month.

In the August 1873 seat election, Boston won the unofficial count but Centre Township election officials failed to certify their election ballots. The judge sided with the Elk Falls contention the Centre Township votes should not count but the Kansas Supreme Court overruled him. In the resulting November 1873 election, Boston thoroughly trounced Elk Falls but the judge issued his famous order nullifying the results keeping Elk Falls as county seat. Thomas E. Thompson has always charged bribery was involved.

Tom mentions J.L. Mattingly and Pat Nulty as the duo running Boston and it was they who were the strategic organizers of the Boston War.

Continuing charges of crookedness, especially by Abe Steinbarger Editor of the Howard Courant, against Judge Campbell resulted in his declining to run for another term in 1880. He spent most of the rest of his life as a city judge and attorney in Wichita. In 1914 and again in 1924 when the judge was still alive and well, Tom charged in the Howard Courant and in the Sedan Times-Star that the judge was paid with city lots by Elk Falls to issue his favorable ruling.

The Courant and the Citizen merged three years after this 1939 Citizen edition.

[T. Sackett]

According to the article, "Pioneer Days" was written by F. C. Flory.  He was given the credits anyway.

Am including a link, if you should choose to check it out.

http://www.kshs.org/research/collections/documents/bibliographies/counties/kscoek.htm

[W. Gray]

I have the hard copy.

Flory was the editor of the Howard Citizen and wrote and compiled several pages in that edition.

Notice, though, at the end of the item on Boston it says        --Thos. E. Thompson. The hard copy also has a picture of Thompson inset in the Boston item. Tom was a young resident of Boston from about 1872 to 1875.

Flory, a Democrat, and Thompson, a Republican, were good friends and in the days before Tom's death they used the same printing press, which belonged to Flory, and each had an office in the same building.

[T. Sackett]

     I am curious about something and hope you will answer it. But please keep in mind, this is not meant to be a negative post.  I have noticed for quite awhile, in various posts where you state you already have the information that was posted. It would be appreciated if you would help contribute the pictures, articles, etc. since you seem to already have the data.