COWLEY
COUNTY DEMOCRAT.
BEGINNING
FEB. 24, 1876.
ENDING
AUGUST 17, 1876.
Cowley County Democrat, February 24, 1876.
This newspaper appeared to be a renaming
of the Plow and Anvil. It is published by Amos Walton and C. M. McIntire.
[MICROFILM
STARTS WITH VOLUME 2, NUMBER 13.]
Cowley County Democrat, March 6, 1876.
The Winfield public schools will reopen
September 6, 1876. During the tall term a normal class will be sustained which
will offer Superior Advantages to all who wish to fit themselves for the Teacher’s
work.
Non-resident students will be received by
paying tuition fee as follows:
Normal and High School department, per
month $2.00
Intermediate department, per month $1.25
Primary department, per month $1.00
Good boarding can secured at from $3.50 to
$5.00 per week; or by students renting rooms and boarding themselves, the
expense can be reduced to $1.50 per week.
For further information apply to Allen B.
Lemmon, Principal, or G. S. Manser, District Clerk.
Cowley County Democrat, March 28, 1876.
Arkansas
City Item.
The Central Avenue is the only house in
the city now, the City Hotel having closed, but the Central Avenue is up to
business and we can still offer as good hotel accommodations as can be found in
the Southwest.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, March 30, 1876.
Messrs. J. W. Torrance and G. M. Reece
write to Mr. W. Retherford that they cannot, on account of the weather, be
among the folks as they expected. They are ministers.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, March 30, 1876.
Judge McIntire is our agent at Arkansas
City. He has a list of our subscribers, and parties desiring to pay their
subscriptions, can leave the amount with him, and can also subscribe for the
paper.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, March 30, 1876.
The parties boring for coal at Salt City
claim to be close to the mineral. They now have everything in shape to push
right along and according to Prof. Norton’s prediction, have but a few feet to
go. They are down 380 feet.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, March 30, 1876.
The papers are stating that Judge
Campbell turned the Iowa bank robber Harrington loose last spring, which is not
exactly the fact. The Judge remanded him to the custody of the officer until
the detective could furnish further proof of his identity. The detective went
away and did not return, and the man was turned loose.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
PROFESSIONAL
CARDS.
A. J. PYBURN, ATTORNEY AT LAW.—Office in Court House,
Winfield, Kansas.
D. A. MILLINGTON, ATTORNEY AT LAW & NOTARY PUBLIC.—Office
at Winfield Bank, Winfield, Kansas.
CURNS & MANSER, REAL ESTATE AGENTS.—Negotiate loans and
make collections. Have a complete set of Abstract Books for Cowley County, and
the City of Winfield.
ADAMS, ENGLISH & RUGGLES [M. S.
Adams, Geo H. English, H. G. Ruggles], ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW.—Will practice in all the
courts of the 13th Judicial District of Kansas. Office No. 95, Main street,
Wichita, Kansas.
CHS. WILLSIE. ATTORNEY AT LAW.—Office on east side of
Sumner Avenue. Oxford, Kansas.
C. R. MITCHELL, ATTORNEY AT LAW AND NOTARY
PUBLIC,—Arkansas City, Kansas.
HACKNEY & McDONALD, [W. P. HACKNEY,
COWLEY COUNTY/J. WADE McDONALD, SUMNER COUNTY] ATTORNEY’S AT LAW.—Office at Winfield
and Wellington, Kansas.
JAMES CHRISTIAN, ATTORNEY AND COUNCELOR AT LAW.—Arkansas
City, Kansas. (Formerly of Lawrence.)
E. C. MANNING, ATTORNEY AT LAW AND NOTARY PUBLIC.—Office
in Courier office. Business before the U. S. Land Office a specialty.
Land and town lots for sale. Winfield, Kansas.
LELAND J. WEBB, ATTORNEY AT LAW.—Two doors north of
Myton’s Hardware Store, upstairs, Winfield, Kansas.
J. O. HOUX, DENTAL SURGEON.—All work warranted to
give satisfaction. Office one door south of Bliss & Co’s., Winfield,
Kansas.
DR. JOHN ALEXANDER, DENTAL SURGEON.—Arkansas City, Kansas.
Office on Summit Street, Opposite the Central Avenue Hotel.
PRYOR, KAGER & PRYOR [S. D. PRYOR,
WINFIELD/E. B. KAGER/ARKANSAS CITY/J. D. PRYOR/WINFIELD], ATTORNEYS AT LAW.—Office in Brick Bank
building, Winfield, Kansas, and at Arkansas City, Kansas.
C. C. HOLLAND, M. D., PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON.—Dr. Holland is
located one mile northwest of Thomasville, and will practice in all branches of
the profession.
GRAHAM & HARE, DENTISTS.—Office opposite the Lagonda
House.
JOHN E. ALLEN, ATTORNEY AT LAW.—Office in Land Office
building, east side of Main St., Winfield, Kansas.
A. H. GREEN, ATTORNEY AT LAW,—Winfield, Kansas.
T. J. JONES. PRACTICAL PAINTER.—Painting, Graining,
Paper Hanging and Kelsomining. Sign writing a specialty. All orders promptly
attended to and satisfaction Guaranteed. Office in W. H. South’s store, West
side of Main St.
T. BAKER, BARBER AND HAIR-DRESSER.—Neatest Room in
the City. The oldest and most reliable workman in the West. Special attention
given to Ladies’ Hair-Dressing. Corner of 8 Avenue and Main streets, Winfield,
Kansas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
HOTELS.
LAGONDA HOUSE. WINFIELD, KANSAS.—Only first-class house
in the city. Stages arrive and depart daily from all points north and west.
Corner of Main Street and Seventh Avenue. T. H. HENDERSON, Prop’r.
CITY HOTEL.—WINFIELD, KANSAS.—The best house in the
city. Stages arrive and depart daily for all points north and west. Special
accommodations for travelers.
S.
S. MAJOR, Prop.
RICHEY HOUSE. [W. A. RICHEY, J. C. RICHEY] RICHEY
BROS., WICHITA.—No transfer, no bus fare at the depot; have refitted,
refurnished, and reduced fare to $1.50 per day. Good stable accommodations in
connection with the house.
OCCIDENTAL HOTEL, FRAZIER & LAMB, PROP’S.—The only
brick house in the city, and everything new. Corner Main and Second sts.,
Wichita, Kansas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
MISCELLANEOUS.
J. B. LYNN & CO., DEALER IN DRY GOODS. Groceries, Hats,
Caps, Queensware, etc. Store West side of Main street corner of Eighth Avenue.
GRAGG & SEARL, BUTCHER SHOP.—We are one door south of
Baldwin’s Drug Store, and are now ready to supply customers on short notice.
W. L. MULLEN. EXCLUSIVE DEALER.—In Groceries and
Provisions. Keeps a large and complete stock of groceries. Buys Hides and Furs
at highest cash prices. WINFIELD, KAN.
N. FISHER, CONTRACTOR AND BUILDER.—Repairing
promptly attended to. Winfield, Kansas.
ALBERT HORN, BOOT AND SHOE MANUFACTURER. Arkansas
City, Kansas.
DARRAH & WILSON. LIVERY AND FEED STABLE.—Good stock and
vehicles always on hand. Transient patronage solicited.
J. H. HILL, BUTCHER.—Fresh Beef and Pork always on
hand at Bed Rock Prices. Two doors south of Read’s Bank, Winfield, Kansas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Attention! Farmers!
The
Old Reliable
Arkansas
City Water Mills
J. P. WOODYARD, Proprietor.
Custom
Grinding a specialty
Highest
Cash Price Paid for
WHEAT,
CORN AND RYE.
All
of Our Flour Warranted.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
SEYMORE TARRANT, CITY BAKERY.
DINING
— ROOM -AND- RESTAURANT,
East
Main street, WINFIELD, KAN
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
GIBBS & HYDE, Contractors and Builders.
Will contract for all kinds of work.
DOORS, SASH, BLINDS, AND PINE LUMBER,
Furnished Cheaper than any contractors in
the Southwest.
A Specialty made of Building and
Furnishing SCHOOL HOUSES.
Being prepared to give bonds for faithful
compliance with our contracts. We ask those who anticipate building TO GIVE US
A CALL. Winfield, Kansas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
BARTLETT & CO., WHOLESALE DEALERS IN GRAIN AND General
Commission Merchants, East and opposite Depot, WICHITA, KANSAS.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
EAGLE
MILLS.
SPEERS
& BRO., Proprietr’s
ARKANSAS
CITY, KAN.
Highest Cash Price Paid for Wheat.
BRAN, CHOP FEED AND FLOUR Always on Hand.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
ARKANSAS CITY BANK, Does a GENERAL BANKING BUSINESS.
Pays interest on time deposits, loans
money on Real Estate security. Parties wishing loans on long time, secured on
improved farms, can be accommodated.
JAS. H. LOOMIS, CASHIER JNO C. McMULLEN,
PRESIDENT
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
COMMUNICATIONS.
LIBERTY
TP., MARCH 25.
Mr. Editors:
According to promise I will send you a
few lines again from this township. Health is good as a general thing. Winter
setting in has put a stop to the plowing in which the farmers have been so
busily engaged.
Some of our young men are victims to the
Black Hills fever; some have started and others are getting ready to start,
amongst whom we might mention the name of W. G. Scott. It is thought by some
that Scott is contemplating a double blessedness instead.
There was quite a sensation at Tisdale
the other day. The officers of the law caught a bird in D. B. Creek’s store;
his crime is supposed to be “unknown here.”
Tisdale and Sheridan’s baseball clubs
played a match game last week, in which the Sheridan boys came out victorious.
Just like Tisdale, always behind.
Tisdale has a new grocery store. It still
needs men with capital to engage in the mercantile business.
Politics are growing more lively every
day in this vicinity. If the rottenness of the Republican party is mentioned,
Grant’s pets will at once cite your attention to Pendleton, Hendricks and
Randall. Accusing Democrats to divert attention from radical rascality, is a
poor make-shift to save a scuttled hulk. In common with the majority of
Democrats, I take pleasure and occasion to support and show devotion to the
national currency. I likewise give voice to my desire for the repeal of the
resumption act. These salutary doctrines succeeding, our country will once more
be blessed with its former prosperity. It is sad indeed to contemplate the
present condition of affairs. . . .
Respectfully,
C. T. J.
Cowley County Democrat, April 6, 1876.
LAZETTE,
APRIL 5TH, 1876.
Mr. Editors:
Thinking you and your numerous readers
would like to know how this part of Gods Democratic vineyard is getting along,
I take the liberty of writing you. The Democrats are on the increase and in the
best of spirits, for they begin to realize that the next election will vanquish
the little ring that encircles the sun, (that is if the little joker, from
which all lesser lights get their supply, is the sun.) If all other townships
in the county will poll as large a Democratic majority as we will this fall,
there will be no fears as to the result.
French & Slater are soon to move
their saw mill on Gardenhire’s place, where they expect to accommodate all
their old customers and all others who wish to deal with live energetic men.
The Democrats of this vicinity intend to
have an old fashioned barbecue in Gardenhire’s timber, on the next 4th of July.
There will be present some of the ablest orators in the State.
Before I close I will say there is a
young lady in this vicinity so polite that she says “table limbs” for table
legs. For further information, ask George Walker of Winfield, he knows how it
is. A. DEMOCRAT.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
MORE ADS:
WINFIELD BANK, OF J. C. FULLER.
Does a General Banking Business.
DOMESTIC, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, AND ALL KINDS
OF BONDS BOUGHT AND SOLD.
Interest allowed on time deposits.
Collections promptly attended to.
Money always on hand to loan on approved
paper.
Winfield,
Kas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
DRY
GOODS DRY GOODS,
J.
B. LYNN & CO,
Are now receiving the Largest Stock of
Dry Goods, Groceries and Queensware Ever brought in to this Valley. Also a full
line of Carpets.
NOT
TO BE EXCELLED IN PRICE OR QUANTITY.
The finest Stock and Largest Assortment
of Tobacco ever brought into the market. Also the Long John Cigar, three for 25
cents, the cheapest cigar in town.
And
a New Device in
Shirt
Fronts
THAT
EVERYBODY WILL BUY IF THEY SEE THEM.
Now
is the time for anything in this line.
We
Cant be Undersold.
Goods
Delivered in Any Part of the City Free of Charge.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
HOUGHTON & McLAUGHLIN AT THE GREEN FRONT STORE, ARKANSAS
CITY, KANSAS, DRY GOODS, HATS, CAPS, BOOTS, SHOES, NOTIONS & CLOTHING, IN THE WALNUT VALLEY Which they will sell at
Cost for Cash, Wheat, Corn, Oats, Hides, For Cattle or Horses, for the next
SIXTY DAYS.
This Stock is New and Fresh, but must
make room for our Spring Stock.
A
Full Line of
GROCERIES
ALWAYS ON HAND.
Thankful
for past favors, we ask a continuance of the same.
HOUGHTON
& McLAUGHLIN.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
W.
H. H. MARIS
DEALS
IN
PINE
AND NATIVE LUMBER,
DOORS,
SASH, BLINDS, MOULDINGS, ETC.
Call, get prices and examine the quality
of Lumber before going to the RAILROAD.
Yard
at the old Stand,
WINFIELD
- - - - KANSAS.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
BOYER
& GALLOTTI’S
NEW
CLOTHING HOUSE
-OFFER-
EXTRAORDINARY
INDUCEMENTS
-IN-
CLOTHING
AND GENTS FURNISHING GOODS.
CALL
AND SEE.
MAIN
STREET, WINFIELD, KANSAS.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
SEEDS! SEEDS!!
OUR
STOCK FOR SPRING IS NOW COMPLETE.
Farmers will find Clover, Timothy, Blue
Grass, Hungarian, and Millet Seed, Also a New Variety, AND ALFALFA, THE CLOVER
OF CALIFORNIA.
Garden
Seed,
Fresh and New, For Sale by the Paper,
Ounce, Pound, Quart, or Bushel, Onion Sets, Sweet Potatoes, Early Rose and
White Mechanic Potatoes.
We also Keep on Hand Farming
Implements. The Ottawa Clipper Plows, Riding and Walking Cultivators, Gang
and Sulky Plows and Monroe Harrows.
AGENTS
FOR THE
LEADER
COMBINED MACHINE, REAPER, OR MOWER.
OSAGE
ORANGE SEED A SPECIALTY
CASH
PAID FOR GOOD WHEAT,
(One
Door North of Curns & Manser’s)
BROTHERTON
& SILVER,
Winfield,
Kansas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
MISCELLANEOUS
ADS.
Public
Sale.
The undersigned, Surviving partner of the
firm of Darrah & Wilson will, on SATURDAY, APRIL 15TH, 1876, At the City of
Winfield, sell at public sale, or at any time previous at private sale, the
following described personal property to wit.
Ten head of horses,
One two seated Spring wagon with top,
One open road wagon,
Three top buggies,
together with harnesses, saddles,
bridles, etc.
Said property being the complete Livery
stock, belonging to said firm.
A.
G. Wilson.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Look out for the Harter Brothers new
stock, it is coming in every day. Dry goods, Groceries, Boots, and Shoes at
Charley Black’s old stand.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
MRS. KENNEDY is constantly receiving NEW
MILLINERY GOODS, TIES, RIBBONS, etc. Call and see them. Four doors south of
Read’s Bank, Winfield, Ks.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
To all those who are going to attend
Court—Go and stop at Jim Hill’s and get a good bed and a square meal for one
dollar a day. Jim Hill is again selling meals for 25 cents.
Cowley County Democrat, April 6, 1876.
In consequence of the unprecedented
demand for the Remington Sewing Machine, the agents here have been unable to
meet the demand, but they can now say to the public, that they have a
sufficient number of machines on the way to meet all demands.
R. Courtright. G. W. Childers. Agents.
Cowley County Democrat, April 6, 1876.
Gunsmith
Shop.
J. Easton, Gunsmith and Machinist, is now
prepared to supply the wants of the people of Cowley County, in the shape of
repairing and remodeling sewing machines, guns, revolvers, clocks, and all
kinds of machinery. All work warranted. Office two doors south of old Post
Office.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Native
Lumber.
Ward & Smiley keep constantly on hand
at their mill at Lazette, all kinds of native lumber, and can fill bills at
lowest going prices. Try us once.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Prof.
T. J. Jones
Can paint a buggy in first class
style—very reasonable. Also House painting—two coats for fifteen cents per
yard.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
County Surveyor Walton, now has the U. S.
field notes for the Township, in your section of the county. And now is the
time to have your lines established. Don’t forget or neglect to have it done
this spring.
Cowley County Democrat, April 6, 1876.
Judge McDonald can be found in my office
on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays of each week, after January 15th, 1876.
W. P. HACKNEY.
[PERSONALS.]
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
The Winfield Grange meeting has been
changed to the 2nd and 4th Friday night in each month.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Mr. Crow, of Tisdale, gave us a call the
other day.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Gardenhire, More, Hightower, and a host
of Arkansas City and Bolton Township folks have dropped in on us this week.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Mr. Hoyt has started from Arkansas City
to make a purchase of a steamboat to navigate the Arkansas River. This looks
like business.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Messrs. Hightower and More, of Dexter,
spent a couple of days with us this week. They report Dexter Township
flourishing; wheat prospects splendid.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Messrs. Hill & Christy have changed
the location of their butcher shop once more, and are now in the old Miller and
Hill stand, next door to Brotherton & Silver.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
It is stated that W. J. Hobson of
Wichita, the gentleman who built our bridges here, failed in the dry goods
trade; if so, we are sorry, as Mr. Hobson was a live energetic man.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
To show the inefficiency of our police,
we will state that a dog went sailing down the sidewalk on Main street the
other day, with a tea kettle tied to his tail, making a horrid racket, and yet
nobody arrested him.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Mr. Pratt, a newcomer in our county, has
brought with him two of the finest horses for breeding purposes that have ever
been in Cowley County. One is Canadian and the other a Morgan. They will be in
Winfield and we ask every farmer to take a look at them.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
The Winfield city election resulted in
the election of Mr. Millington for Mayor over his Democratic competitor by one
vote. J. W. Curns, Democrat, elected Police Judge; and Council, Republican, by
from eight to twelve majority.
Cowley County Democrat, April 6, 1876.
We have had some soaking rains, and our
springs and streams are now filled up as they have not been for over a year.
The Walnut, although not quite so high as it has been at one time before,
seriously threatened the mill dam at the stone mill, but Mr. Bliss was fortunate
enough, by timely exertion, to save it.
Cowley County Democrat, April 6, 1876.
The following is the result of the vote
cast at the city election held in Winfield last Monday.
REPUBLICAN
TICKET.
Votes.
For Mayor, D. A. Millington ....................
81
For Police Judge, Linus S. Webb
............. 75
For Councilman, A. B. Lemmon
.............. 86
For Councilman, C. A. Bliss
.................... 81
For Councilman, T. B. Myers
................... 84
For Councilman, H. Brotherton ................
88
For Councilman, M. G. Troup
.................. 91
DEMOCRATIC
TICKET.
For Mayor. H. S. Silver
........................ 80
For Police Judge, J. W. Curns
.............. 81
For Councilman, N. Roberson ............ 71
For Councilman, A. G. Wilson ............ 76
For Councilman, N. M. Powers ...........
70
For Councilman, W. L. Mullen
............. 57
For Councilman, Frank Williams ..........
76
SCATTERING:—J. P. McMillen received
twenty votes, C. C. Black, 1, and J. P. Short, 3, for Councilmen.
Cowley County Democrat, April 6, 1876.
Arkansas
City Items.
The school is having a vacation, and
Prof. Hulse and pupils are having a few weeks recreation.
The Arkansas River is higher than it has
ever been since the white man settled in its valleys. In some places it only
lacks a few feet of running over its banks, and is still rising. It is thought
if it rises much more, the bridge south of town will be materially damaged.
After some little excitement, caused by
the whiskey ring of this place, the following officers were elected to the
respective offices.
Mayor: S. P. Channell.
Councilmen: T. H. McLaughlin, W. M.
Sleeth, H. D. Kellogg, Dr. J. A. Loomis, J. I. Mitchell.
Police Judge: Judge Christian.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
The district court opened on Monday;
Judge Campbell on the bench. Attorneys present: A. J. McDonald of Wellington;
C. R. Mitchell and James Christian of Arkansas City; James McDermott of Dexter;
Mr. Ruggles of Wichita; Byron Sherry of Leavenworth; J. M. Alexander, A. H.
Green, L. J. Webb, D. A. Millington, A. J. Pyburn, T. H. Suits, W. P. Hackney,
E. C. Manning, John Allen, Wm. Boyer, S. D. Pryor, W. M. Boyer, and Amos Walton
of Winfield.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
Mr. Shenneman, who has been on an
exploring trip toward the Indian Territory, has returned, but nobody can find
out whether he struck a bonanza or not. Mr. Shenneman and Mr. Requa, another
prominent citizen, left about the same time, but so far, although his friends
have had great anxiety to hear from him, no tidings of Mr. Requa come to hand,
but we are fortunate to save Mr. Shenneman anyway.
Cowley County Democrat, April 6, 1876.
MARRIED.
At the residence of the bride’s father,
by Rev. F. W. Nance, Mr. Wm. E. Merydith, and Miss M’Callister.
On April 2d, 1876, by Rev. N. L. Rigby,
Mr. M. V. B. George, of Winfield, and Miss Augusta A. Moses, of Tisdale, Cowley
County.
Mr. Perry Woodyard of Arkansas City, to
Miss Eva Jones of Sumner County.
On Sabbath evening April 2nd at the
Presbyterian church, by Rev. J. E. Platter, Mr. James A. Simpson, to Miss
Hester E. Fowler, all of Cowley County.
On Sunday, April 2nd, at the residence of
the bride’s father, by Judge Gans, Mr. Sylvester Bishop, to Miss Esther Chancey,
all of Cowley County.
At Lazette, at the residence of Mr. H.
Ramage, by A. J. Pickering, J. P., Mr. D. W. Ramage, to Miss Ettie Gardner, all
of Cowley County.
[LEGAL NOTICE RE ESTATE OF SAMUEL DARRAH,
DECEASED.]
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
RECAP ONLY:
To Philena Darrah, and Sylvia M. Mary,
and Frank Darrah, Application will be made by M. G. Troup, Administrator of
said Estate to the Probate Court of said county on the 24th day of March, A.
D., 1876, at one o’clock p.m. of said day...to sell real estate: The undivided
one-half of the Southwest Fourth of the Northeast Fourth, and the Northwest
Fourth of the Northeast Fourth, and the Northeast Fourth of the Northeast
Fourth of Section Twenty, Township Thirty-three, Range Four East.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
L. McLAUGHLIN FURNITURE HAS THE LARGEST
STOCK OF FURNITURE IN COWLEY COUNTY. Coffins on Hand and Made to Order.
Arkansas City, Kansas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
MORRIS & ROBINSON, PROPRIETORS OF THE STONE LIVERY &
FEED STABLE.
FURNISH
GOOD DRIVING TEAMS.
Ninth
Avenue, Winfield, Kas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
THE
WINFIELD BOOT AND SHOE STORE
-HAS-
Removed
to Hudson’s Hall
On
the Corner South of the Lagonda House,
and
are Now Receiving the
LARGEST
SPRING STOCK OF
BOOTS
& SHOES,
Ever brought to this Market which we are
selling
STRICTLY
FOR CASH AND LOWER THAN EVER BEFORE.
We intend to sell every pair of Boots and
Shoes in the County if the LOWEST PRICES Will do it. CALL AND EXAMINE OUR STOCK
And if Our Prices are not Lower on the
same article than any other House in the WALNUT VALLEY! We will not ask you to PURCHASE OF US.
Winfield,
Ks. T. E. GILLELAND
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
S.
H. MYTON
DEALER
IN
HARDWARE,
STOVES, TINWARE,
AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENTS,
JOHN
DEERE AND GARDEN CITY STIRRING
Breaking
Plows,
BUCKEYE
SUPERIOR AND HOOSIER
Wheat
Drills, also Buckeye Drill for
SOWING
IN CORN STALKS.
SULKY
HAY RAKES
BAINS
WAGON.
GROCERS
AND PLATFORM SALES.
A
full line of Shelf and Heavy Hardware.
WINFIELD,
KANSAS.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
J.
I. MITCHELL,
SADDLES
AND HARNESSES.
WHEAT
CORN OR OATS AS GOOD AS MONEY,
Arkansas
City, Kas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 6, 1876.
GEORGE
HUDSON
Blacksmith
and Horse Shoer.
Plow Sharpening a Specialty.
Winfield,
Kansas.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 13, 1876. Page 2.
Hon.
W. P. Hackney.
Anticipating a howl upon the “brutal
assault” as pictured by Mr. Folks of the Sumner County Press, wherein
Mr. Hackney will be portrayed as a ruffian of the lowest character, and holding
him as we do, as one of the citizens of our county whose good name it is our
duty to guard when wrongfully assailed, as much as any other, we propose to
have our say in the interest of justice and right, in good season.
Our readers will remember that we are a
political opponent of Mr. Hackney, and also that we do not fully agree with the
action of the Legislature in regard to the Normal schools, and that we claim
the right of criticizing the action of that body, or any member of it in a fair
and honest manner, as we shall see fit, and remember also, that so far as Mr.
Folks is concerned, he has treated us with gentlemanly courtesy when we have
met him, and that we entertain nothing but the most kindly feelings towards him
as a man and a gentleman; but at the same time, we must characterize the
assault upon Mr. Hackney, as brutal and unkind, and as a wrong in journalism
which sadly needs a cure.
There are but three points in this case.
Did Mr. Folks say anything bad, what did he say, and was he justified in saying
what he did.
First, he re-published from the Peabody
Gazette. Law and common sense says that he made the language his own, and
should be held responsible for it, adding to it the fact that he was conveying
to his own people the idea that Mr. Hackney was held in detestation abroad. Now
let us see if the words twice published are insulting, and we shall publish nothing written by Mr. Folks after the recent
trouble when he might be supposed to write in anger, but publish only what he
coolly and deliberately published of a member of his own party when there was
no strife, and they were apparently on the best of terms. There now, so that
you can see them together, we copy from the Gazette article, which Mr.
Folks makes his own. Of the Legislature he says:
“Certainly if ever there was a body of
men who merited the scorn and contempt of a decent and intelligent people, it
is that horde of infidels, ignoramuses, and third class politicians who have
been for fifty days covering the name of Kansas with shame.”
Now then, again he brings this home
specially to Mr. Hackney; witness this further, from the same article.
“Foremost among the miserable rabble,
that vied with each other in insulting and disgracing the decent people of the
State, was a contemptible demagogue from Cowley County, a forty second rate
lawyer, by the name of Hackney.”
A little malice in that again.
“This blatant saphead, who could not be
nominated by any convention of the people of his county, but while in the
Legislature by chance because a better man declined to run after being
nominated. We quote:
‘If to oppose every wise and wholesome
measure that came up in the Legislature this winter as this miserable,
shameless demagogue has done.’”
Again.
“We believe the farmer’s of Cowley County
will repudiate this bawling blatherskite and bury him so deep that he will
never be heard of anymore. It is an unmitigated disgrace to Cowley to be
represented by this heathen nuisance. She owes it to herself to testify at the
first possible moment against the course of this saloon bummer, through her
journalists, her granges, and her conventions.”
Now you have it: “Infidel,” “Ignoramus,”
“Third class Politician,” “contemptible dema-gogue,” “forty second rate
Lawyer,.” “blatant saphead,” “miserable, shameless demagogue,” “Blatherskite
Heathen nuisance.”
Here is an attack on Mr. Hackney in his
profession, an appeal against him to religious folks, an appeal to temperance
folks, an appeal to Grangers; couched in language of utter scorn and contempt.
Now then we ask, is there one word in
what we have quoted that argues in respect to Mr. Hackney’s scourge in the
Legislature to comment fairly and honestly on his course as a Representative.
Did it need one single word of the vindictive utterance? If not, who can
justify it; and again can you expect that a man of spirit and honor, who has
done his duty faithfully and honestly, will permit himself to be held up to
public scorn and contempt without any show of resentment. This is too much to
ask of human nature.
In regard to Mr. Hackney’s method of
redress, there are two opinions. We have only this to say, the man who runs a
press, if he desires to use Billingsgate and to be a blackguard, has the
advantage. Week after week, if he chooses to divert a newspaper from its proper
channel, he can be-slime his neighbor, who may not have access to the same
weapon, and eventually ruin his fair name in spite of his utmost efforts to
save himself.
Where the line should be drawn, we will
have to leave it to the public in the future as in the past. Once in awhile an
editor will get wrongfully thrashed, and we will all be sorry for him.
[CASE OF E. C. MANNING AGAINST W. M.
ALLISON.]
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, April 13, 1876 - Page 2.
One of the most exciting and interesting
cases ever brought before a court in Cowley County, was decided by the verdict
of a jury on Tuesday last. We refer to the case of E. C. Manning against W. M.
Allison. The array of legal talent on both sides was very heavy, and the law
and evidence were fully brought out, defining the rights of the press in making
publications, and the guards necessary to protect citizens.
The verdict was for one cent damage to go
to Mr. Manning for his grievance, and it was also a declaration that the matter
was libelous, and was not justified by the proof of the defendant. It places
Mr. Allison in the light that if he had made the publication against certain parties,
he might have had to pay a large sum, that having made it against Mr. Manning,
only one cent was due. It shows too, that the public will hold newspapers to
account, and also that there must be something to damage before any damage can
be done. The matters brought out will probably be matters of controversy
hereafter, and we prefer to leave them for the present.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Amos Walton sold his interest in the
newspaper to C. M. McIntire.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Abraham Land, who was one of the first
settlers in Cowley County, and father of the first white child ever born in
Cowley, and who has been in Illinois for the past four years, returned to this
city Tuesday with the intention of locating here.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, May 18, 1876.
Rail
Road.
W. P. Hackney went to Topeka last week
for the purpose of looking after our Rail Road interests, and to represent
Cowley County at the meeting of the owners and Directors of the Atchison Topeka
and Santa Fe Rail Road, which was held in Topeka on the 12th ult. On last
Saturday morning, under arrangements previously made to that effect by the
company, a meeting was had between them and Mr. Hackney, who represented Cowley
County, and a committee consisting of Gen. Ellet and Hon. T. B. Murdock from
Butler County.
It was then and there proposed by the
Santa Fe people, that if Cowley and Butler counties would secure the
right-of-way, the necessary depot grounds, present and prospective, and pay
them $3,100.00 per mile in cash, that they in consideration thereof, would
construct a Standard Gauge Rail Road from Florence on this line to this city
and Arkansas City at once, and to be complete this year and in time to move our
crops.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Arkansas
City Items.
Mr. Hoyt says that the boat has moved
down to Jaynesville to put in the machinery, and will be along in June. He says
a boat shall come up the river to Arkansas City, and when old man Hoyt says
anything, he means it.
Newman, Channell, and Haywood’s brick
buildings swarm with workmen and are rising every day.
Houghton & McLaughlin, and Newman are
rolling in a big stock of goods, and the people are taking them off right
along. They propose to duplicate Wichita or any other prices.
Five blacksmith shops in running order
shows that the farmers are at work.
Assessment of Taxable property in
Creswell Township for 1876:
Personal Property $ 54,692
Real Estate $111,383
Lots in Arkansas City $49,604
Total: $215,679
Increase since 1875: $13,863.
Mr. Hoffmaster has just opened a livery
stable in the barn formerly occupied by Mr. Woolsey. He has good stock, good
yards, and the very best of accommodations for the traveling public. When you
go to Arkansas City, give him a call.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Bolton
Items.
Mr. Memcle, a newcomer, proposes to break
up eight hundred acres, and Mr. Norton is running three plows and will turn
over about four hundred acres of sod.
They are still after that coal at Salt
City, and Goff’s evaporators are turning out salt right along.
The farmers are buying harvesters and
headers almost altogether, and the combined machines are no go.
We intend to make Bolton the banner
township for wheat.
This week Mr. Amos Walton, so long the
editor of the “DEMOCRAT,” of this place, retired from that paper—having sold
his interest in the office to his former partner, C. M. McIntire. Although we
have had some spats with friend Amos, we entertain the kindliest feelings for
him and regret to lose him from the newspaper circle of the county. Wherever he
may anchor, and in whatever business he may engage, he will have the best
wishes of the Telegram for his prosperity and welfare. Telegram.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Messrs. A. J. Pyburn and Amos Walton
started yesterday morning for Topeka, to attend the Democratic State
Convention. Mr. Walton goes from there to the Centennial, where he will spend
the summer. We wish him a pleasant trip, and a good time generally, and may he
find friends wherever he may locate that esteem him as highly as we do.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
The storm of last week did a great deal
of damage to farmers living on Grouse Creek; in some places washing out the
corn, and washing away the soil as far down as plowed. In some places the water
stood three feet deep over fields of wheat, but did not injure it in the least.
Dick Wilson and another commercial man,
while crossing the river yesterday at the ford, were upset and thrown into the
water, spoiling all their samples and breaking the buggy top.
[PERSONALS.]
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, May 18, 1876.
Railroad talk runs high.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
M. L. Read has the most showy sign in
town on his bank.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
J. O. Wilkinson and Ed. Greer, are in the
rubber stamp business.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Daily thousands of pounds of fish are
being caught at Bliss’ mill dam.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
The mills are running day and night and
are turning out an excellent quality of flour.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Miss Kate Hawkins of Arkansas City is
visiting her sister, Mrs. James L. Huey, of this city.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
T. K. Johnston has for sale the best and
cheapest croquet sets ever brought to Cowley County.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Considerable sickness is reported on the
low lands along the streams, caused by the overflow.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
We notice that quite a number of neat
little dwellings are being put up in the south part of town.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Mr. Manser sports the best baby wagon in
town. It was ordered by T. K. Johnston from Chicago.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Bolton Township shows an acreage of over four
thousand acres of wheat looking splendid and soon ripe for the harvest.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Mr. Johnston, our furniture man, is
receiving new goods every day, and will soon have the largest stock ever
brought to Cowley.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
The number of dogs in this county is
estimated at about 3,000, and if the taxes are collected on each dog, it will
amount to about $3,000.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Fourteen teams containing families from
“Arkansaw” passed through town Tuesday, on their way to Sumner County, where
they intend locating.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Geo. Green of Silver Dale, passed through
town yesterday morning with one thousand bushels of wheat. He intends shipping
it to the Chicago market.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Our fellow townsman, Mr. Frank Williams,
has shipped one carload of flour to Philadelphia, so the Arkansas City Water
Mill will be represented at the Centennial, and J. P. Woodyard says he will
equal the best.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Mr. R. B. Pratt, at the north end of Main
street, is buying and selling horses. Parties wanting to purchase or sell, will
do well to call on him. Mr. Pratt is keeping two of the finest stallions that
have ever been in the county.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Mr. John Blevins, former pastor of the
Christian church of this place, has gone to Oxford to start a paper. Mr.
Blevins has had some experience in that line, and we predict he will make it a
success. Sumner County ought to support two papers well.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Mr. S. C. Smith, formerly of this place,
but late of California, has returned to this city to visit his old friends and
look after business matters. Mr. Smith was one of the first settlers in the
county, and the first Mayor of Winfield, and has many friends who welcome him
back.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
THE SHOW.—The show last Saturday was well
attended. It was estimated that there were in the neighborhood of six hundred
people in attendance. Everything passed off quietly with the exception of a
little knock down between two of the circus men. Some of the country boys got
swindled out of a few dollars by three card monte men, as is usually the case.
We hope that after awhile, everybody will get thoroughly acquainted with such
tricks, and learn not to bet on another man’s game. With these exceptions,
everyone seemed to be well pleased with the show.
[ADS.]
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Livery Feed & Sale Stable.
West Central Ave., Arkansas City, Ks.
R. HOFFMASTER, Proprietor.
Good Rigs, gentle teams, and careful
drivers. Horses boarded by day or week. Good yards in connection with the
stable.
Cowley County Democrat, May 18, 1876.
Horses
Wanted.
I am now prepared to buy all good horses
brought in the Winfield market for which I will pay the highest cash price. J. F. Miles.
City
Hotel.
Cowley County Democrat, Winfield, Kansas, Thursday, July 13,
1876.
[VOL.
2, NO. 34.]
HISTORY
OF
COWLEY
COUNTY.
Read
at the Centennial Celebration, July 4th, 1876, at Winfield, Kansas.
BY
WIRT W. WALTON
FELLOW CITIZENS:
On a beautiful morning in July, in the
year 1776, the iron tongued bell in the old State House of Philadelphia, rang
out to a few thousand wearied souls the joyous tidings of a nation’s birthday.
To-day, from the thousands of villages
and hamlets throughout the length and breadth of our land; from the Great Lakes
of Michigan to the everglades of Florida; from the rock bound coast of New
England to the golden sands of Oregon, there swells up in one grand acclaim,
the voice of forty millions of grateful people, in commemoration of the 100th
anniversary of that event.
To-day, wherever there is a band of
Americans, whether they be in inland port or on foreign sea; whether scaling
the frozen Andes, or crossing the burning desert of Sahara, that starry banner,
mid the booming of guns and the shouts of a liberty loving people, will be
unfurled to the breeze.
To-day, proud young Kansas, with her six
hundred thousand happy people, sends a kindly greeting to old Pennsylvania, the
mother of our Magna Charta, the Declaration of Independence.
To-day, the people of Cowley County,
laying aside the duties and cares of a busy life, have come up from the office,
the shop, and the field, to join together in celebrating this, the most
glorious day of all the years.
In conformity with the (implied) wish of
the President of the United States, as will be seen by his proclamation of May
25th, and in accordance with the spirit of a joint resolution passed by
Congress at its present session, which reads as follows:
“Resolved, By the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That
it be and is hereby recommended by the Senate and House of Representatives to
the people of the several States that they assemble in their several counties
or towns on the approaching Centennial anniversary of our National
Independence, and that they cause to have delivered on such day a historical
sketch of said county or town from its formation, and that a copy of said
sketch may be filed in print or manuscript in the clerk’s office of said
county, and an additional copy in print or manuscript be filed in the office of
the Librarian of Congress, to the intent that a complete record may thus be
obtained of the progress of our institutions during the first century of their
existence.”
But more particularly in compliance with
the “printed bills” and “mammoth posters” circulated by the “Fourth of July
Committee,” do I appear before you to-day, to attempt the delivery of a
historical sketch of Cowley County.
Had I been informed that I was expected
to write a thesis on the Coleoptera of the moon, or prepare a lecture
demonstrating the Darwinian Theory of Development, I could not have been more
surprised than when notified by the committee of the appointment. In either
case it might have been less embarrassing. I might have found a precedent for
the former, and drawn upon my friends, the Winfield Bazique Club, for the latter.
As it was I was at a loss to know what to do. I asked the Committee what would
be acceptable. They didn’t know. I rushed frantically to a friend and inquired.
He said: “Never mind the truth, give us something flowery, something
characteristic.” I turned to another (he was an old settler and wanted to be
mentioned in the history); and he said: “Give ‘em the facts, young man, dry
facts: tell them that when I came to this county it was a wilderness; that for
months I lay upon the borders of civilization, with mother earth for a bed and
the blue vault of Heaven for a coverlet; that for weeks and weeks I was nightly
lulled to sleep by the wicked shriek of the terrible coyote and waked to morn
again by the wild war-whoop of the bloody Indians. Tell them that I have
fought, bled, and died to secure them the peace they enjoy to-day. That I ask
no recompense at their hands. They have no gift to bestow that would
sufficiently reward me for the privations I have endured—unless, perchance,” he
added in an undertone, “they would elect me to the position of Probate Judge,
an office to which I have long aspired.”
I grew discouraged and resolved to fall
back upon my own resources, coupled with the information I might gain from the
less ambitious of the “old settlers.” I quitted the “field of fact” and
reluctantly turned to the mouldering archives of antiquity.
From the dim traditions of the past,
then, I learn that a few thousand years ago the fertile valleys of the Arkansas
and its tributaries, was the home of a mighty people. Not such a live, rushing
people as dwell here to-day, but a happy, contented people. A people who “fed
their cattle on a thousand hills” and lazily watched the birth and death of
centuries. Their names we know not and even their origin is veiled in the abyss
of the great unknown past. This we do know, however: they were a people well
versed in the arts and sciences and stood far in advance of the savage tribes
that occupied this beautiful land, when the continent was first discovered by
Columbus. The time-worn mounds and aqueducts of the aborigines still standing,
from the Mississippi to the Colorado in the west, speaks in a language not to
be misunderstood, of the wealth and industrial power of these pre-historic
people. A people who caught the torrents from the mountain tops and carried
them down an easy prey to fertilize the plains below.
Coming down a few years we learn that in
the year 1492, when Judge Ross, old Nump-ka-walla, Col. Manning, Judge
McIntire, Chetopa, Cliff Wood, and a few others left Spain, passed up the
Mediterranean, out by Gibraltar and into the unknown seas to find the New
World; that after enduring the heat of a tropical sun by day and storms by
night, finally landed safe on Alexander’s mound near Winfield, where they found
that one Christopher Columbus, with a band of half-breed followers, was
occupying this lovely valley under the original “Homestead Act.”
Being peaceful sort of fellows these
newcomers set sail, followed down Black Crook and thence by the Walnut to its
confluence with the Arkansas River, and there, upon a sightly eminence pitched
their tents again. Here they found they were too late again. The original
“Arkansaw Traveler” had filed on that particular quarter, named it Creswell,
and was running it for the county seat. By way of parenthesis, I might say that
the Arkansas Traveler has been running it ever since. Judge McIntire
remained there, “stood in” with the Traveler, and was finally elected
chief (representative) of the tribe. Manning, Ross, Chetopa, and the rest
returned, swapped some ponies to Mr. Columbus for his interest in this valley,
and started a town of their own. (This eventually became the county seat of
Cowley.)
Nump-ka-walla lived to see Manning in the
legislature; Ross, Probate Judge; Cliff Wood, a government stone contractor;
and Chetopa at the head of a gang of Osage Indian horse thieves. And as he
could not bear to see his comrades thus disgraced, he gave up his Kinnekenick
and passed to the spirit land. He was buried with Indian (summer) ceremonies.
Dr. Graham, Dr. Mansfield, Will Hackney, and James McDermott were the pall
bearers. James Renfro, J. P. Short, E. G. Nichols, J. B. Fairbank, Frank Hunt,
W. D. Roberts, A. T. Stewart, and J. D. Cochran were the chief mourners. They
mourned because it wasn’t the last Indian on earth that they were called to
bury. This mourning party was led by Dick Walker and the Tisdale string band,
and accompanied by the Patrons of Husbandry in full regalia. This was the first
high toned funeral in the county.
About fifty years afterwards, in the
Summer of 1542, Francis Vasquez de Coronado, in company with Jimmie Simpson and
Frank Gallotti, three Spaniards of royal blood, started on an exploring
expedition from Old Mexico to the northward, in search of gold and silver. They
traversed the western portion of Kansas and reported finding “many crooked
backed oxen (meaning buffalo), and grapes and mulberries in abundance. On
reaching this county, they liked it so well that they had about concluded to
stay, and grow up with the country; but on learning that men here loaned money
that didn’t pay taxes, that the newspapers fought each other like “kilkenny
cats,” that Tisdale and Arkansas City were both striving for the county seat,
and lastly, that we had no railroad, they became disgusted, returned to Mexico,
and until quite recently this country was not known to the outside world.
So ends the traditionary history of
Cowley county. Now for the “dry facts.”
KANSAS.
Twenty-two years ago the Kansas of to-day
was unknown. Previous to that time geographers noted it as the “Great American
Desert.” This territory, stretching from the 37th to the 40th degree of north
latitude, and from the Missouri River to the base of the Rocky Mountains, was
the home of the nomadic savage and the no less wild buffalo. This was Kansas in
1854. Soon the tide of immigration set to the west and a stream of hardy
pioneers came pouring in. Among the early Kansans there were as many elements
of discord as there were eastern localities represented. The laws which to a
great extent governed the inhabitants were unwritten. Force was repelled by
force, and while the good and orderly were desirous to see a reign of peace,
yet it was impossible by reason of the numerical strength of the disorderly.
The call by the United States in her hour
of need for volunteers was answered by thousands from our young state, and no
better records of bravery or pure devotion to the cause of liberty was ever
made than by the Kansas soldiery, and for every six of her population one
fought in the civil war. At the close of the war in 1865, Kansas had less than
one hundred thousand population. But now peace was hovering under the
governmental wand. The soldier had replaced the civilian’s garb. In the east a
quarter of a million of boys who had been with the “tried and true” returned to
the ranks of peace and had to be supplied with homes. The high price of lands
in the east out counted the cash of a soldier’s savings and west they came.
Thus it was that Kansas was populated with a brave, energetic people and
although she has passed through enough to overwhelm a people of less “grit,”
still she has prospered, and like the products of her soil has beaten the world
in her growth.
COWLEY
COUNTY.
This county was born in the usual way, of
“poor but honest parents,” viz: the Kansas Senate and House of Representatives
in old Constitution Hall at Topeka, on the 3rd day of March, 1867. Governor J.
S. Crawford stood sponsor and named it Cowley, in honor of Lieut. Mathew
Cowley, a soldier of the 9th Kansas Regiment.
At that time and up to July 12, 1870, the
land embraced within its borders belonged to the primitive red men, the Osage
and Cherokee Indians. The Osages used it as a neutral strip from which they
made many raids into the country south of us, stealing from the Texans and
Indians their horses and cattle. These they sold to white border ruffians, who
met them here and drove the stock further north into the older portions of the
state.
From this class of whites the early
settlers first gained their knowledge of Cowley’s beautiful prairies, rich
bottoms, and swift running streams.
Attracted by these reports a party of
persons, consisting of James Renfro and sons, Judge T. B. Ross and sons, Shep
Sayers, and Frank Hunt, crossing the sombre, stony hills of old Butler,
followed down the Walnut River on the 1st day of January, 1869, and “took
claims” in the bottom just above the mouth of Timber Creek. In August, 1868, N.
J. Thompson built a log house near the Butler County line. This was the first house
in the county. Wm. Quimby and family, and a Mr. Sales settled on the Walnut
below Thompson’s place about the same time. They were the first actual settlers
in Cowley County.
Sometime in the month of June, 1869, C.
M. Wood brought some groceries down from Chase County to sell to the Indians
and settlers. He kept them at the house of Renfro and erected a small shanty,
by setting puncheons in the ground, located a few rods east of where Bliss
& Co.’s mill now stands. Into this shanty he moved his goods during the
month of July. The Osage Indians made several futile attempts to steal them.
Fearing an attack when not prepared, Mr. Wood moved his stock back to the house
of Mr. Renfro for safety. Afterward, in the month of August, when all the
settlers were ordered out of the valley by the Indians, the goods were taken up
to the Butler County line. After the goods were removed, the brave Osage
warriors burned the house to the ground.
Judge T. B. Ross was the only pioneer
that did not obey the orders of Mr. “Lo.” They couldn’t scare him. He came to
stay and he has stayed.
In June, 1869, E. C. Manning assisted P.
Y. Becker to erect a claim cabin in the bend of the Walnut about two miles
below Winfield. This was the first building South and West of the river. On the
same day they found encamped at the mouth of Posey Creek, a Mr. and Mrs.
Bridges and two or three men. Mrs. Bridges is the first white woman that is
known to have crossed the Walnut River in this county. She corresponded for
some eastern paper at the time, and afterwards wrote the “CARRIERS ADDRESS” and
other political effusions for the Traveler.
On June 11th, aided by Becker, Mr.
Manning laid a claim foundation for himself upon the present town site of
Winfield. The fear of Indians having somewhat subsided, several families during
the month of September crept down along the valley and settled on claims on the
beautiful prairie where Winfield now stands. These settlers each paid to the
Osage chief, Chetopa, five dollars for the privilege of remaining in peace.
These early pioneers were C. M. Wood and wife (Mrs. Florence Wood, who was the
first white woman to settle on the Walnut, south of Timber, then known as Dutch
Creek.), Prettyman Knowles, J. H. Land, J. G. Monforte, and their families.
Dr. W. G. Graham, and family, who came
the last week in October and settled on the east bank of Dutch Creek, two miles
above its mouth, were the first settlers on that stream. During the Winter of
1869, Alonzo Howland, W. W. Andrews, Joel Mack, H. C. Loomis, A. Meanor, and
others took the claims upon which the most of them reside. Mr. Howland built
the first frame house in the county—his present residence—which was considered
at the time a herculean task, having to haul the lumber over 100 miles without
the sign of a road. About this time E. C. Manning erected a small log building
on the claim south of C. M. Wood’s. In this Baker & Manning kept a small
stock of goods, which they sold to the settlers and traded to the Indians.
At this time the land was neither
surveyed nor subject to entry. Claim corners were designated by stakes, and the
claim holders’ intentions set forth on a shingle with letters of charcoal,
often in about the following style.
“NOTIS.
“This klaim was taken by me on the 20th
day of January 1869. I am gone after my family. Anybody who dairs to squat on
my claim while I am gone will git a load of buckshot when I get back. Plenty of
good klaims not taken just south of me.
Yours
truly, JOHN SMITH.”
Claim disputes were settled by tribunals
called “Settlers Unions” or by public meetings before whom the respective
claimants presented their cases.
In March, April, and May, 1869, H. C.
Endicott, Sr., Geo. Harmon, W. Johnson, Ed Chapin, Pad Endicott, Pat Somers,
and J. K. Rodgers, took claims along the Walnut above its junction with the
Arkansas River. H. C. Endicott built the first house in that part of the
county. In the following September, Z. K. Rodgers died at his house. This was
the first death in the county.
1870.
On the 9th day of January, a party of 15
men under the lead of Thomas Coats took claims along the Grouse Valley. Their
names were John Coats, Wm. Coats, Joseph Reynolds, Gilbert Branson, Henry
Branson, Winton Phenis, J. H. Phenis, H. Haywood, L. B. Bullington, J. T.
Raybell, D. T. Walters, S. S. Severson, John Nichols, and O. J. Phenis.
About the 10th day of January, 1870, the
initiatory steps were taken for the organization of a town company, and the
starting of a town on the claim of E. C. Manning, which lay adjoining C. M.
Wood on the south.
On the last day of December, 1869, Judge
W. R. Brown (our present congressman), H. G. Norton, T. A. Wilkin, H. D.
Kellogg, John Brown, and G. H. Norton drove into camp near Wood’s residence as
members of the Walnut City Town Company, a few leading citizens of Emporia,
among the number. C. V. Eskridge, P. B. Plumb, J. Stotler, L. B. Kellogg, H. B.
Norton, Judge Brown, and H. L. Hunt, of Cottonwood Falls, had organized a town
company and sent the party mentioned, down into the Walnut Valley to locate a
town at the junction of the Walnut and Arkansas rivers. The map of Kansas at
that time showed that the junction was about the center of Cowley County. After
some conference with the settlers, the new- comers took five claims adjoining
Manning’s claim, east south east and south with the intention of making this
the location of the proposed town. In a day or two upon examination of the
county below, the party concluded to locate this town at the present town site
of Arkansas City. On January 1, 1870, T. A. Wilkinson, John Brown, G. H.
Norton, and John Strain staked out and claimed the four claims upon which
Arkansas City now stands, as the location of the new town. H. B. Norton took a
claim adjoining the town site on the north. H. B. Kellogg took a claim south of
the town site. When this party arrived at the mouth of the Walnut, they found
the bottom and timber claims taken by H. Endicott, and his son, Pad, and George
Harmon, Ed Chapin, Pat Somers, Mr. Carr, Mr. Hughes, and one or two others.
The Walnut City Town Company consisted of
fifteen members and the four claim
holders mentioned were of the members, and were to hold the claims and enter
them for the company. On their way down the valley, the party discovered a
Walnut City in Butler County, and concluded to change the name of their company
to Delphi. On their return to Emporia, the name was again changed to Creswell,
and by this name the town was known for some months. On applying for a post
office, the P M department informed Senator Ross, who made the application,
that there was a Creswell in Labette County, Kansas, and that no two offices of
the same name would be located in the same state, and at Ross’ suggestion, it
was called Arkansas City. When the commission came to G. H. Norton, who was the
postmaster named, the town was named Arkansas City. This was April 1870.
The Winfield enterprise took form in
January of 1870, as did that of Arkansas City. From the start the two parties
interested in the two prospective towns were shaping events to secure the
county seat of Cowley County whenever it should be organized. In February of
1870 a bill was introduced in the Senate of Kansas entitled “An Act to Organize
the County of Cowley,” and making Creswell the county seat. As soon as the news
arrived at Winfield, James H. Land, A. A. Jackson, and C. M. Wood traversed the
county in three days and took the census of over six hundred population, and
reported at Douglass, in Butler County (the nearest place where any officer
could be found to administer an oath), on the 23rd of February.
At that time the necessary papers were
made out and E. C. Manning took them to Topeka and presented them to the
Governor, who thereupon issued the order organizing Cowley County, designating
Winfield as the temporary county seat, and W. W. Andrews of Winfield, G. H.
Norton of Creswell, and S. F. Graham of Dexter as county commissioners. This
was made February 28, 1870. E. P. Hickok was appointed county clerk at the same
time by the same authority. The first meeting of the county board was held March
23, 1870, at the house of W. W. Andrews, at which time W. W. Andrews was chosen
chairman.
Their first official acts were the
division of the county into three townships, viz, Rock, Winfield, and Creswell,
and their issuing a call for an election to be held on the second day of May,
1870. This election was held for the purpose of choosing a permanent county
seat and to elect a complete set of county officers. The result of that
election was as follows: For county seat Winfield 108 and Arkansas City 55 votes.
The officers elected were commissioners T. A. Blanchard, Morgan Willett, and G.
H. Norton; county clerk, H. C. Loomis; Treasurer, John Devore; district clerk,
E. P. Hickok; probate judge, T. B. Ross; register of deeds, W. E. Cook;
sheriff, Frank Hunt; coroner, W. G. Graham; and surveyor, F. S. Graham. This
ticket was elected without any opposition. Such a millennium for office seekers
never occurred before, nor is likely to occur in this county again. On the 5th
of September, W. R. Brown, Judge of the 9th judicial district (of which Cowley
was a part), appointed T. H. Johnson county attorney. On July 6th Loomis
appointed W. Q. Mansfield his deputy county clerk, and John Devore appointed J.
P. Short deputy treasurer. At the fall election G. B. Green was elected
treasurer, but failing to give bond, Devore held the office till 1872. The
officers succeeding them will be given in the order of their respective terms,
some of whom have been appointed, but the greater majority have been elected.
County commissioners have been T. A.
Blanchard, G. H. Norton, and E. Simpson, Frank Cox, O. C. Smith, and J. D.
Maurer; R. F. Burden, M. S. Roseberry, and John Manly, and the present
incumbents, R. F. Burden, Wm. White, and W. M. Sleeth.
County Clerks—A. A. Jackson and M. G.
Troup; Treasurers—G. B. Green, E. B. Kager, and T. R. Bryan; Probate Judge—T.
B. Ross, L. H. Coon, T. H. Johnson, and H. D. Gans; Sheriff—J. M. Patison,
James Parker, and R. L. Walker; Register of Deeds—W. B. Smith, J. F. Paul, N.
C. McCulloch, and E. P. Kinne; District Clerk, E. P. Hickok, James Kelly, E. S.
Bedilion; Surveyor—H. L. Barker, D. A. Millington, M. Hemenway, and Wirt W.
Walton; Coroners—H. B. Kellogg, G. P. Wagner, S. S. Moore, and J. Hedricks;
Supt. of Pub. Inst.; L. B. Walmsly, A. S. Blanchard, E. P. Hickok, and T. A.
Wilkinson. Our representatives in the state legislature have been in 1871, Col.
E. C. Manning; in 1872, Judge T. McIntire; in 1873, Capt. Jas. McDermott; in
1874, Rev. Wm. Martin; in 1875, Hon. Thos. R. Bryan; and in 1876, Hon. W. P.
Hackney.
The first political gathering in the
county took place at the raising of the “old log store” (now the Winfield Courier
and Post Office) on the 1st day of April, 1870. This was a citizen’s meeting
and was held to nominate candidates to be voted for on the 2nd day of May.
On the 13th day of June, 1870, the first
coach arrived with the United States mail at Winfield. Previous to that time
all mail matter was brought by private hands from Douglass and distributed
among the settlers. There were no mail routes, roads, nor bridges up to this
time. The people in the various localities amused themselves by taking sides
with Winfield and Arkansas City in their county seat, and “Manning and Norton
war.” They had nothing else to do but brag about the county, eat beans and
dried apples, and draw on their friends in the east for more money. The land
was not surveyed, hence they did not know where to make their improvements. The
bitter local feeling that was engendered in those days has long since been a
theme of the past.
With the exception of a few
would-be-leaders in the various towns of the county, who are continually
kicking up strife in their own immediate neighborhood (simply because they are
not able to kick up anything else), the citizens of Cowley County are to-day a
unit on any measure or proposition that tends toward the general advancement of
their interests as a people.
During the summer, fall, and winter of
1870, the tide of immigration kept flowing into the county. The valleys of the
large streams were all settled upon and still they continued coming, until the
settlement extended across the rich prairie into the smaller valleys beyond.
There was a certain social, or equality, feeling that existed in those good old
days among the settlers that would be termed improper and imprudent by the
people here to-day. Away from home and friends, out on the verge of
civilization almost within sound of the bloody war whoop, and always within
hearing of the prowling coyote, it is no wonder that at times they overstepped
the bounds of eastern etiquette. By the flickering light of some settler’s dip
lamp, many fleeing hours were chased into merry morn, by the flying feet of
Cowley’s pioneers. People would go miles and miles to join in such festivities.
The violin always precedes the evidence of a better civilization. This era did
not continue long; it soon gave way to school and church exercises, and the
more refined and christian like enjoyments.
In January, 1871, a surveying party under
O. F. Short, began the survey of the county. They were followed industriously
by claim-hunters, who hoped the survey would develop unoccupied tracts. The
settlers were on the alert, and many lines were run just in front of the deputy
surveyor by them. Fifty dollars, and often a less sum, would so influence the
magnetic needle of this United States official, that a line would be run
cutting the original settler off his particular claim, and leaving it for these
unscrupulous land banditti following him. In consequence, the lines of the
original survey are very crooked.
On July 12th Congress passed a law
allowing actual settlers to enter from 40 to 160 acres of these Osage lands at
$1.25 per acre. On March 2, 1871, the town site laws of the U. S. were extended
to these lands, and on May 11, 1872, Congress passed a law allowing actual
settlers to enter the Cherokee lands. The terms were similar to those of the
Osage lands, except that all lands east of the Arkansas River were sold at
$1.50 per acre, and all west at $2.00 per acre.
Having given an account of the early
settlements of the county at large, I will now attempt a short sketch of her
various towns, societies, and organizations, beginning, of course, with
Winfield, the county seat.
WINFIELD.
The oldest house in Winfield is the one
immediately north of the stage barn, in block 108. It was built by E. C.
Manning in January, 1870, and first occupied by himself and family as a claim
house, on the 10th day of March, following.
The Winfield Town Company was organized
January 13, 1870, “with power to lay out a town site upon the open prairie,
east of the Walnut River and south of Dutch Creek, in Cowley County, Kansas.”
E. C. Manning was its President; W. W. Andrews, Vice President; C. M. Wood,
Treasurer; W. G. Graham, Secretary; and E. C. Manning, J. H. Land, A. A.
Jackson, W. G. Graham, and J. C. Monforte, Directors.
The question of a name for the new town
puzzled its fathers for several days. A minority wanted it called “Lagonda,”
but the majority decided to honor Winfield Scott’s christened name. He was at
that time the minister in charge of the Baptist church, in Leavenworth. Within
the next four months, following the organization, forty acres of Manning’s
claim was converted into lots, blocks, streets, and alleys. The old log store
was built by Manning, which was occupied, in part, by Dr. Mansfield as a drug
store, and by Baker and Manning with their goods. Soon Max Shoeb arrived, built
a log cabin where Read’s bank now stands, and opened a blacksmith shop. On
August 20th J. C. Fuller and D. A. Millington bought A. A. Jackson’s claim and
proceeded, with Manning, to lay out that part of the town lying east of Main
street. July 4, 1870, was a glorious day for Winfield. The first celebration in
the county was held on that day, under an arbor in the rear of the old log
store. Prof. E. P. Hickok was the orator of the occasion. From that time up to
the present, Winfield has so rapidly increased in population that it is
impossible, in this short sketch, to give even a synopsis of her growth; but I
will endeavor, however, to name the first who engaged in the different branches
of business.
E. C. Manning was the first settler and
merchant; Max Shoeb, the first blacksmith; Frank Hunt, the first hardware
dealer; W. Q. Mansfield, the first druggist and physician; J. P. Short, the
first hotel keeper; A. J. Thompson, the first feed store keeper; B. H. Dunlap,
the first livery man; T. H. Johnson, the first lawyer; D. A. Millington, the
first engineer and surveyor; J. C. Fuller, the first banker; M. L. Palmer, the
first tinner; C. A. Bliss & Co., the first mercantile firm; J. C. Monforte,
the first painter.
Mrs. Delphine Manning was the first woman
in town; and her son, Fred, was the first child born on the town site. Rev. A.
Tousey was the first resident minister, but Judge Ross preached the first
sermon. Miss A. Marks taught the first school.
On the 10th day of July, 1871, Judge T.
B. Ross entered the town site of Winfield at the Augusta land office, under the
town site laws. At that time there were eighty buildings in town.
The city of Winfield was incorporated
February 22, 1873. The first city election was held March 7, 1873, at which W.
H. H. Maris was elected Mayor; A. A. Jackson, police judge; and O. F. Boyle, C.
A. Bliss, J. D. Cochran, H. S. Silver and S. C. Smith as councilmen.
The council chose S. C. Smith its
president; J. W. Curns, clerk; M. L. Robinson, treasurer; C. W. Richmond,
marshal; and J. M. Alexander, attorney.
The first annual election was held April
7, 1873, and the same persons were re-elected, with the exception of Mr. Bliss,
who was succeeded by Samuel Darrah.
The second annual election, held April 8,
1874, resulted as follows: S. C. Smith, mayor; N. H. Wood, police judge; and J.
D. Cochran, H. S. Silver, R. B. Saffold, and J. P. McMillen, councilmen.
J. W. Curns and M. L. Robinson were
re-appointed clerk and treasurer. T. H. Suits was appointed attorney, and Z. T.
Swigart, marshal. On November 16th Messrs. Wood and Suits resigned. T. H.
Johnson and W. P. Hackney were appointed to fill their offices.
The third annual election, held April 5,
1875, resulted in the election of D. A. Millington, mayor; W. M. Boyer, police
judge; and M. G. Troup, N. M. Powers, J. Newman, and Chas. C. Black as
councilmen. B. F. Baldwin was appointed clerk; E. R. Evans, marshal; J. E.
Allen, attorney; and J. C. Fuller, treasurer.
At the last annual election, held April
4, 1876, D. A. Millington was elected mayor; J. W. Curns, police judge; and A.
B. Lemmon, M. G. Troup, C. A. Bliss, T. B. Myers, and H. Brotherton,
councilmen. The same officers were re-appointed by the council, with the
exception of Evans, who was superseded by Walter Denning.
The postmasters of Winfield have been,
successively, E. C. Manning, Rev. Tousey, T. K. Johnston, and James Kelly.
The Methodist was the first regularly
organized church in Winfield. It perfected its organization in May, 1870. The
Baptist organized in the following October, and the Congregationalist in
January, 1871, with J. B. Fairbank and A. Howland as deacons. The Christian
church was also organized in 1871. The Presbyterian completed its “beginning”
in January, 1873. The Catholics have a mission established, but no regularly
constituted church in Winfield.
A.
F. AND A. M.
On the 20th day of October, 1870, a
dispensation was granted to J. S. Hunt, A. H. Green, Enoch Maris, and eight
others, for a lodge at Winfield. J. S. Hunt was appointed W. M.; A. H. Green,
S. W., and Enoch Maris J. W. On the 17th day of October, 1872, the lodge
obtained a charter under the name of Adelphi, No. 110, with the following
charter members: J. S. Hunt, A. H. Green, Enoch Maris, C. A. Bliss, A. A.
Jackson, W. M. Boyer, H. Shaughness, I. L. Comfort, E. Adams, Thomas Hart, W.
S. Huff, S. H. Revis, T. A. Rice, and J. Traxler. The same officers were
installed under the charter and held their offices until January 1, 1873, when
Enoch Maris was elected W. M.; W. M. Boyer, S. W., and T. A. Rice, J. W. On
January 1, 1874, Enoch Maris was re-elected W. M.; T. A. Rice, S. W.; and W. G.
Graham, J. W. On January 1, 1875, L. J. Webb was elected W. M.; W. G. Graham,
S. W.; and J. E. Saint, J. W. For the present year J. S. Hunt was elected W.
M.; J. E. Saint, S. W.; and A. B. Lemmon, J. W. The lodge now has 50 members
and is in a healthy condition, morally and financially.
R.
A. M.
On the 15th of March, 1875, a
dispensation was granted M. L. Read, H. P.; M. C. Baker, K.; John D. Pryor,
Scribe; W. C. Robinson, C. H.; A. Howland, P. S.; W. G. Graham, R. A. C.; J. W.
Johnston, M. 3rd V.; P. Hill, M. 1st V.; A. A. Newman, member. On October 19th
a charter was issued to them under the name Winfield Chapter, R. A. M., No. 31;
and on the 29th of the same month, the Chapter was instituted by J. C. Bennett,
of Emporia. This branch of Masonry here is in good working order and in a
healthy condition, financially.
I.
O. O. F.
Winfield Lodge, No. 101, was organized by
P. S. M., W. A. Shannon, of Augusta, Kansas, February 18, 1873. The charter
members were J. J. Williams, S. A. Weir, C. W. Richmond, C. G. Stephens, and A.
S. Williams. The lodge has steadily increased in number until it now contains
about 40 members.
I.
O. G. T.
Winfield Lodge was organized in March,
1874, N. K. Jeffries, D. G. W. T. On the evening of the organization, Rev. J.
McQuiston was chosen W. C. T. and Mrs. A. Gordon, V. T. The lodge was organized
with twenty charter members. It now contains nearly 100 members in good
standing.
ARKANSAS
CITY.
On January 1, 1870, the first stake was
driven in the town of Arkansas City by the town company. On March 1st G. H.
Norton built the first house on the town site. It was occupied as a residence
and store. G. H. Norton, appointed in April, 1870, was the first postmaster.
During the year of 1870 the following
enterprises were established, being the first of the kind in the city.
Sleeth & Bro’s saw mill; C. R. Sipe’s
hardware store; Richard Woolsey, hotel; Newman & Houghton, clothing house;
Paul Beck, blacksmith shop; E. D. Bowen, grocery store; Keith & Eddy, drug
store; J. I. Mitchell, harness shop; T. A. Wilkinson, restaurant; Wm. Speers,
the first ferry across the Arkansas River.
The first temperance meeting was held
February 21, 1871. W. P. Hackney was the first lawyer; Dr. John Alexander, the
first physician; Mrs. S. P. Channell opened the first millinery store. The
first Sunday school was organized in Rev. B. C. Swarts’ cabin, with T. A.
Wilkinson as superintendent. Creswell Grote was the first child born in
Arkansas City. The date is October 5, 1870. The town company magnanimously
deeded the little native a lot. On the 20th day of July, 1871, the town site
was entered at the Augusta land office. On June 10, 1872, it was incorporated
as a city of the third class. At the first election, held July 1, 1872, A. D.
Keith was chosen mayor and Amos Walton police judge. The office of mayor has
been successively filled by A. D. Keith, H. O. Meigs, and S. P. Channell. Judge
Timothy McIntire has been police Judge almost continuously since April 1873.
Mrs. H. B. Norton made the first American
flag in Cowley County. It was used at Arkansas City, July 4, 1870.
Some time during the fall of 1871, a
dispensation was granted the Masons at Arkansas City and a lodge organized. In
due time they received a charter under the name of Crescent Lodge, No. 133,
with O. C. Smith as W. M.; and E. B. Kager, S. W. The Crescent now has over
thirty members, and is prospering.
TISDALE.
Under a charter bearing the date, June
13, 1871, with A. D. Keith as president and C. R. Mitchell as secretary, the
Tisdale Town Company laid out the town of Tisdale in the month of June, 1871.
S. S. Moore, Geo. W. Foughty, Sid Moses, and M. Elinger were the first
settlers. Mart Elinger erected the first house, Sam Williston, the first
blacksmith shop; and J. A. McGuire, the first store in town. J. A. McGuire was the
first, and still is the postmaster. The town site was purchased from the
government in June, 1876. Mrs. G. W. Foughty taught the first school.
DEXTER.
The “Dexter Town Company” was organized
by leading citizens of Emporia sometime in July 1870. C. B. Bacheller, Geo. W.
Frederick, and L. W. Robinson, of Emporia, and Alex Stevens and Thos. Manning
of Grouse Creek, Cowley County, were its incorporators. After obtaining a
charter nothing more was done by the company. The first house built on the
Dexter town site was erected by James McDermott, who moved into it June 25,
1871. In September, 1870, the Dexter post office was established with I. B.
Todd as postmaster, and in March, 1871, the first mail carrier arrived from
Eureka. Previous to this time the mail for the settlers was brought down in the
pockets of travelers and distributed. In February, 1874, Dexter Lodge of A. F.
& A. M., under a dispensation began its work. On the 18th day of November
following, it received a charter bearing number 156. It is now in a flourishing
condition.
On October 21, 1875, the Dexter Town
Association was incorporated; and in November following, the land purchased by
it was laid out into lots and blocks by Wirt W. Walton, county surveyor.
LAZETTE.
The first settler in this part of the
county was J. W. Tull, who built the first house (in November, 1869), raised
the first crop, and taught the first school (in 1870) in the valley. Elder Wm.
Gans preached the first sermon. John Thonburgh was the first to settle here.
Dr. T. J. Raybell opened the first store in 1870 and was the first postmaster.
The same year Edward Sutton erected a blacksmith shop and saw and grist mill.
The first marriage December 25, 1870, was Richard Miller to Flora Dudley, by E.
Simpson, the first justice of the peace.
The town of Lazette was laid out in 1871
by H. D. Wilkins and S. M. Fall. H. D. Gans was the proprietor of the first
hotel (the Black Bear); Thos. Walch, the first blacksmith shop; and B. H.
Clover, the steam saw mill. M. Hemenway was the first merchant, and R. C. Story
the first attorney at law.
MAPLE
CITY.
Maple City is a village of half a dozen
houses, situated on the beautiful prairie in Spring Creek Township, sixteen
miles east of Arkansas City.
AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
The Cowley County Agricultural Society
was organized August 19, 1871. Its first officers were M. M. Jewett, president;
A. T. Stewart, vice president; D. N. Egbert, secretary; A. B. Lemmon, assistant
secretary; J. B. Fairbank, corresponding secretary; J. D. Cochran, treasurer; and
C. M. Wood, superintendent. On the 12th day of October, 1872, its first fair
was held.
In 1872 the society was incorporated
under the state law. It purchased twelve acres of land lying adjoining Winfield
on the south, and erected thereon commodious buildings. The race course was
laid out and a high pine board fence was built around the grounds during the
fall of that year. The second fair transpired from the 15th to the 18th of
September, 1872.
PATRONS
OF HUSBANDRY.
On April 28, 1873, Vernon, the first subordinate
grange, was organized. A. S. Williams was its master. There are now over
thirty-five in the county with a total membership exceeding one thousand.
NEWSPAPERS.
The first newspaper published in the
county was the Cowley County Censor, the first two numbers of which were
printed in Augusta, the type having been set up here and sent in galleys to
that town. A. J. Patrick was its editor and proprietor. The third issue was
printed at Winfield on the historical press of Kansas, the first printing press
ever within its territory. August 13, 1870, was the date of the Censor’s
first issue. On the 3rd day of June, 1871, L. J. Webb succeeded Patrick as its
editor, and on the 5th day of August, 1871, Webb & Doud (Doud of the Censorial,
at Eureka) bought Patrick out and continued the publication of the paper until
the 26th of the month, when E. G. Nichols succeeded Doud and the firm became
Webb & Nichols. On January 6, 1872, Webb & Nichols sold to W. H. Kerns
and the Censor ceased to exist. On the 13th of January, Kerns issued the
first number of the Winfield Messenger; and on the 4th day of July,
1872, Kerns was succeeded in proprietorship by Yale Bros., who published it
until the 5th day of December, 1872, when they broke up. The office and
material (except the old press) was moved to McPherson County.
The next paper after the Censor
was the Traveler, published at Arkansas City by M. G. Mains, with H. B.
Norton as special contributor and C. M. Scott as local editor. August 24, 1870,
was the date of its first issue. This was the first paper printed wholly in
Cowley County. On December 15, 1870, L. B. Kellogg succeeded Mains as
proprietor, and on September 1, 1871, C. M. Scott bought Kellogg’s interest,
since which time he has conducted the paper alone.
On the 12th day of September, 1872, Will
M. Allison published the first number of the Telegram at Tisdale. Five
numbers were published at Tisdale; and the sixth, published on the 28th day of
November, 1872, was issued at Winfield. In the month of January, 1873, Allison
associated with A. H. Hane, under the firm name of Allison & Hane; and they
published the paper until the 20th day of March, 1873, when Hane was succeeded
by A. B. Steinberger (now of the Howard City Courant). Allison &
Steinberger dissolved on July 3, 1873, since which time Allison has published
the Telegram.
R. S. Waddell & Co. started the
Winfield Courier on January 11, 1873, with R. S. Waddell as editor and
J. C. Lillie, local. On the 27th day of March, 1873, James Kelly purchased the
office and assumed the editorial chair. He associated with him V. B. Beckett as
local editor until March 4, 1875. From March 4th to July 1st, Mr. Kelly
conducted the paper alone, at which time Wirt W. Walton became, and has ever
since been, its local editor. On the 11th day of November, last, Col. E. C.
Manning became the Courier’s editor and publisher.
On November 19, 1874, the Plow and
Anvil made its appearance in Winfield, with Col. J. M. Alexander as its
editor and proprietor. On the 22nd day of April, 1876, Messrs. A. Walton and C.
M. McIntire purchased the office and continued its publication together, till
the 17th day of May, the present year, when Walton retired, leaving it in sole
charge of Mr. McIntire. On the 24th day of February, 1876, its name was changed
from the Winfield Plow and Anvil to the Cowley County Democrat;
the name it bears to-day.
The Censor was, and the Traveler
and Courier are, Republican in politics. The Messenger and Plow
and Anvil were, and the Telegram is, Independent in politics. As its
name implies, the Democrat is Democratic in politics.
I would be unfaithful to my trust, should
I, in noting our history up the present time, fail to mention our long-legged,
hooked-nosed, India-rubber-sided visitors of 1874. True, they did not come by
invitation, but let it be recorded, that they came, nevertheless; that they
came in countless millions and all brought their relations and their wife’s
people.
Ah, distinctly we remember,
‘Twas on a hot September
Afternoon of eighteen seventy four,
The grasshoppers fell upon us
With their war-paint and harness,
Like the crusading Knights
Of the brave days of yore.
It is useless for us to say here they ate
up what the “drouth” left; that in consequence of their visit, many newcomers
were thrown upon “half-rations” and the charity of eastern friends; that with
difficulty, in many instances, the wolf was kept from the door. These facts are
a matter of history—facts we all well know—facts upon which we do not like to
dwell. But to-day, as we rejoice over the blessings of a bountiful harvest, it
is but mete and proper that we kindly remember those unknown friends beyond our
borders, who did not forget us in our hour of need—the grasshopper year.
It is with feelings of pride, that I look
back over the few short years of Cowley’s history—a history filled, not with
the deeds of warriors, reaching back to the revolution or later war of the
rebellion—but a history filled with the industrial workings, the growth and
progress of an agricultural people.
And as I look abroad to-day and see her
ten thousand citizens, reaping the annual harvest of her million bushels of
golden grain; see her churches and schoolhouses in every valley; her rich,
broad prairies dotted all over with happy homes—a vision only surpassed in
wealth and beauty by the diversity of scenery spread out upon every side—I
cannot help but exclaim: Behold Cowley county—
Beautiful land of fragrant blooms,
Emerald carpet and rich perfumes,
Land of the brave, leal, the true,
Whose skies are softer and deeper blue,
Than the mellowed light of a moonlight
pale,
‘Neath the starry gleaming of midnight’s
veil.
Land of the prairies, the wide, the free,
That sleeps to the hum of the droning
bee,
Where the day-god raises his jeweled
crest,
Or sinks in dreams on the twilight’s
breast,
With a sweeter grace, and a kindlier
power
And a dainty guilding of tree and flower.
Land where the live oak rears its head
With a kingly bearing, to list the tread—
The steady tramp of the myriad feet,
That seeks its shade, with hoofs as
fleet,
As the wild gazelle where the lightning’s
play.
Land where the seasons gently flee
To the measured march of eternity.
Soft as the babe, that sinks to rest
Now cradled and lulled on its mother’s
breast;
Where ambered grain, steals the winter’s
kiss,
And spring-time warms it to newer bliss.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, July 13, 1876.
THE
CENTENNIAL 4TH.
THE GRANDEST TIME COWLEY COUNTY EVER
WITNESSED.
The
Procession and Full Proceedings of the Day,
The
Parade and Line of Procession.
THE MARCH TO THE GROVE AND THE PICNIC.
REPORTS
OF SPEECHES AND PROCEEDINGS AT THE GROVE.
THE
GOOD TIME HAD, AND HOW THE PEOPLE ENJOYED IT.
EVERYTHING
THAT WAS DONE DURING THE DAY.
The morning of the Fourth dawned with
threatening clouds looming up from the horizon. The general exclamation was,
“I’m afraid it’s going to rain and spoil our Fourth;” but by
10 ½ o’clock the clouds cleared away, and
the citizens of Cowley County with their families and many from the adjoining
counties, notwithstanding the threatening clouds, came en masse to our city to
celebrate the Centennial anniversary of our birth as a nation; and the grand
turnout under circumstances so unfavorable as the morning presented, shows that
the people of Southern Kansas cherish deep in their affections the memories of
those sainted heroes, who midst turmoil and strife, launched the then frail
bark of our nation out upon the rough stormy ocean of the world; that they
performed their part well, the thousands upon thousands of happy home circles,
and firesides, and the high rank of the United States among the nations of the
earth, are always present witnesses, and the everlasting monuments of their
wisdom. But we must turn from our eulogizing to our theme. First on the
programme came the GRAND
PROCESSION
which formed at Court House Square,
circling out on the prairie east of the city, they turned again, and entered
the city parading through all of the principal streets, headed by the Winfield
Silver Coronet Band, which furnished music for the day and thrilled the hearts
of the vast throng with those patriotic airs so well calculated to stir up the
blood in the veins of the loyal sons and daughters of America. The boys proved
themselves equal to the occasion, and presented a beautiful appearance in their
blue uniform. Next came the
GODDESS
OF LIBERTY
represented by Mrs. L. J. Webb, bearing
aloft the flag of her nation; on her crown was emblazoned her motto, “Liberty.”
Her beautiful white robe was caparisoned with golden stars. She was surrounded
by the Centennial Congress. Next came the
REPRESENTATION
OF THE STATES,
by ladies on horseback, each bearing the
mottos of their respective States. This was one of the most interesting
features of the procession, and the ladies deserve credit for their
indefatigable efforts to make it a success, which they did, as the many
compliments and remarks of admiration received from the throng of lookers on
will attest.
THE
REST OF THE PROCESSION
was composed of citizens of Cowley in
carriages, wagons, and on horseback; and as we reached the end of the
procession, we found that it was over a mile long.
THE
GROUNDS
reached at last, and the exercises of the
day commenced in earnest. A printed programme was circulated in the morning,
which was carried out during the entire day with the exception of the expected
display of fireworks.
Music by the Band.
Prayer—By the Chaplain, Rev. Croco.
Song, Hail Columbia—By the Glee Club, in
which all joined.
Reading of the Declaration of
Independence—By Prof. A. B. Lemmon; read in that attractive style which is so characteristic of the Professor and was
well received by the auditory. Next followed vocal and instrumental music,
after which the oration of the day was
delivered by Rev. Rusbridge, who has lately linked his fortunes with those of
the citizens of Winfield and Cowley. He
had but a single day to prepare for the occasion. Thinking that it might
interest some of our readers, we give it at length.
“The spirit of patriotism has brought us
together to-day to celebrate the one hundredth birthday of American
Independence.
“A little over a hundred years ago, the
hand of oppression was laid upon a people who had sought these lands for
freedom. The fires of rebellion were kindled in the hearts of otherwise
peaceful men. The patriot cried, ‘Give me liberty or give me death.’
“The martyr blood of seven of America’s
noble sons was shed, and the people flew to arms.
“For the first blow from an arm unused to
warfare, it told what might be expected; and nearly three hundred of the enemy
were slain. By the battle of Lexington, the Royal power was broken from
Massachusetts to Georgia.
“Following this came the fearful conflict
of Bunker Hill, when American hearts were again encouraged to fight for
liberty.
“So deep was the consciousness of rights
that infidel lips could command surrender ‘in the name of the Great Jehovah and
the Continental Congress.’ Through a terrible night of conflict and suffering
lived these sons of liberty, determined to shake off the yoke of oppression.
“July 4th, a hundred years ago, the united
colonies were declared free and independent States. The names of Thomas
Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert H.
Livingston, come to us to-day as household words. Through a long and tedious
war our father fought, when the names of Washington, Arnold, Lafayette, and
others are conspicuous.
“Valley Forge, Monmouth, and Wyoming
revive sad pages in our early history upon which we will not dwell; neither
will we allow the treachery of Arnold to disturb our breasts to-day. But go
back to the scene of the surrender, October 19th. Cornwallis surrendered,
sending his sword by General O. Hare.
“The historian says, ‘All the hardships
of the past were forgotten in the thought that America was free.’ The news
reached Philadelphia at 2 o’clock a.m. The people were awakened by the
watchman’s cry, ‘Past 2 o’clock and Cornwall is taken.’ Before the dawn the streets were thronged
with anxious crowds rejoicing in the end of war. The delight of the people knew
no bounds; some were speechless, others wept for very joy, and the old
door-keeper of Congress died of joy.
“After more than nine years of war, peace
was declared, and America stood before the world an experiment in
self-government on the broad principles of republicanism.
“April 30th, 1789, the people showed
their appreciation of the services of Geo. Washington by making him the first
President of the United States. It is not our purpose to follow the details of
his administration, or to dwell upon the particulars of our history, but to ask
and answer a few practical questions relative to our country.
“First: What have we done? Our system of
government has been an experiment: wise political economists said it would
fail; old monarchies hoped for its downfall. What are the facts? We are yet in
our swaddling clothes, an infant among the nations. While the nations of the
old world have the experience of centuries, we are but a century old to-day.
Almost within the memory of living men, the old bell of Philadelphia rang out
our freedom and independence. Have we learned to talk? Yea verily, stripling
though we are, the sturdy eloquence of Patrick Henry, of Henry Clay, and Daniel
Webster has shook the world. That we have had generalships, and statesmanships,
of which any nation might be proud, we need only mention the names of
Washington, Seward Adams, and Lincoln.
“There is no branch of literature or
science to which we have not contributed. The names of Longfellow, Whittier,
Saxe, Bancroft, Aggasis, and Greely, belong not to us only, but to the world.
“The inventions of Morse and Fuller have
borne blessings to all mankind.
“The child has become the father of the
man, and the youth has instructed the hoary head.
“That this was a mighty land, our fathers
saw. And yet how little they knew of its vastness, or that in the future it
should be the theatre of such mighty events. Great questions, which have
disturbed the oldest and wisest nations of earth, have been settled in most
satisfactory manner. We have proved that crowns and scepters are not indispensable
to rules, that the divine right of Kings is a fallacy. That all men are free
and equal, and in the government of a nation, the people are supreme. These
questions have not always been settled by the voice, the press, or the vote,
but sometimes in suffering and blood.
“The great problem of slavery, and the
unity of the States came up for solution: how manfully and heroically it was
met. Precious blood on both sides was shed, the fathers and brothers of happy
families went forth at the country’s call. Every hearthstone was sad, as
Southern battlefields were strewn with the brave dead, and many others turned
their feeble steps homeward to die. Flowers bloom to-day on the graves where
lies the mingled dust of Northern and Southern soldiers, and apple blossoms
fall like quiet snow flakes upon those solemn resting places of the slain. High
and low fell in the fearful conflict. From the lowliest cottage on these
western prairies to the ‘White House,’ the cry of mourning was heard. Thousands
of names are inscribed on marble slabs, and yet other thousands of unknown
dead, with the epitaph of Abraham Lincoln, tell the sad tale of carnage and
death. But though the family circle was broken, and the presidential chair made
vacant, the slave was freed, the unity of the States preserved; and we came out
from the fearful baptism of blood to enjoy years of peace and prosperity, and
achieve other victories of a more peaceful kind. The principle of arbitration
has prevailed among the nations by our example; and we, the youngest of them
all, have received the praise of our brethren.
“Who among us does not, on this, the
hundredth birthday of our nation’s life, thank the God of nations for what he
has done for us?”
“Another question. What are we now? Are
we full grown? Have we reached a ripe manhood? Are there gray hairs in our
nation’s head? Are there symptoms of decay, of disease, and approaching
dissolution visible?
“To all these questions, we answer no,
emphatically, no. The genius of our nation has not perished with our dead
orators and statesmen. All the virtue, truth, and honor of our nation’s life
has not passed away. The streams of American thought, and life, and
legislation, are not all corrupt. Though Winslows forge, and Belknaps steal,
there are others at the nation’s wheel who will guide the ship aright. The
nation’s blood flows healthy through its veins. And here while we, with full
hearts join in the country’s universal observance of our Centennial ‘Fourth,’
regard ourselves as a giant among the nations. We are no longer an experiment,
but an established fact.
“While we are still learning, we have
commenced to teach, and older nations sit at our feet to learn the mystery of
our wonderful growth, and our unparalleled success. Japan sends her children to
our schools, and calls our citizens to administer its own affairs of State. The
Brazilian Monarch comes to our Centennial Exposition and is astonished at what
he sees. France in her struggle for freedom, borrows inspiration from our
history and is encouraged. As a nation we are a success in every sense of the
word. We are a prodigy with infant years, yet manhood’s strength. Made up of
every people under the sun, yet united in one grand whole. And could we but
wipe from our escutcheon the foul blot of drunkenness, as we have that of
slavery, we would be the purest as well as the grandest nation on earth. The
poet has asked—
Breathes there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my native land?
“So we may ask, in view of our glorious
past, and the healthful, happy, prosperous present: Is there one on this vast
continent, who owns it as his home, who does not feel it a grand thing to live
in such a nation?
“The waves of the stormy Atlantic and the
more peaceful Pacific bear the story of our freedom and success to other
shores, to inspire the millions of the downtrodden with hope. And to-day at
home, the aged veteran of revolutionary recollections, with the soldier of the
rebellion, look upon the dying embers of the first of our existence, and are glad.
“And the youth of our land from Boston to
San Francisco catch the fire of enthusiasm: and every community and heart
raises a shout of praise to Jehovah for what we are. And in the providence of
God, the wife of the martyred President with restored reason joins in the
nation’s jubilee to-day.
“What shall we be? With the climate of
all latitudes, and the fruits of all the Zones, with majestic rivers and inland
seas, with the varied scenery of mountain and vale, and soils the most
productive in the world—what, that a nation can be, may we not become?
“With the bone and sinew and brain power
of all people from pole to pole blended, to make our nation, we must have a
glorious destiny. The most delightful parts of our lovely land are but just
discovered. The communities of the great West are yet but young.
“The great prairie where but a few years
ago the Buffalo roamed, and the Indian held undisputed sway, are to-day alive
with industry.
“The prairie grass has given place to
fields of golden grain, and the energy and intelligence of the East is pouring
in, to open up the riches of the exhaustless Western mines. What immigration
can picture our second Century’s growth? Who can tell what the bi-Centennial of
our nation will be.
“While our resources are almost infinite
and we rejoice in what we are, let us stand by the landmarks of our success.
Let us not allow the nation’s Sabbath to be destroyed nor our system of common
schools be overthrown nor the glorious institutions, for which our Father bled,
be touched by the destroyers’ hand.
“Let us be determined, as men and women
of this great land and as citizens of the grandest Republic history has ever
known, that the future shall be, if possible, grander than the past. Let us be
identified with the best interests of our country.
“Let us ask the God of our nation to
bless all the elements of our life.
“Then let us hope that all the forces
that are amongst us, political, educational, and religious, may be so wisely
controlled that we may suffer no relapse; and that our growth may be unchecked
until the highest destiny and the noblest history any nation could have, has
been fulfilled.
“And as to-day no slave groans in his
bondage or lifts his manacled hands to heaven to ask redress; but the millions
of the freed enjoy with us this festal birthday, so may we all lift up our
hands and hearts unfettered in the great ceremonial counsels of the nations
above.
“May we by our sobriety, industry,
intelligence, and purity, contribute to the nation’s peace and success, and
celebrate in another life the conquests and triumphs on Earth.”
Then our friend Wirt W. Walton addressed
the assembly on “the History of Cowley County.” It was highly creditable to
himself, as was also the manner of delivery. It was highly appreciated by all.
(We give it in full in our pages.)
After which came an old-fashioned basket
picnic dinner, and as one looked about him, he could see happy groups of
friends beguiling the time away in pleasant conversation, while partaking of
the choice viands prepared for the occasion. When dinner was over, the Glee
Club sang, the Band played, and the following toasts were responded to.
The Patriots of 1776—By Judge Christian
of Arkansas City.
The day we celebrate—By F. S. Jennings of
Winfield.
Our country—By Judge W. P. Campbell.
Cowley, the banner county of the State—By
Dr. J. Headrick.
Our county’s greatest need—a railroad—By
Col. E. C. Manning.
Our Early Settlers—By Judge T. B. Ross.
All of the toasts were well received.
The celebration at the grounds now being
over, the vast throng began to separate, and soon the streets of the city were
crowded with anxious faces waiting for the advent of that beautiful tribe of
human beings called by the soul inspiring name of
THE
CALITHUMPIANS.
Our pen falters at the task of describing
them, how we long for some word to express the inexpressible. Well, they were
led by a band, which alternately played and yelled; the leader of the band was
a bass drum, performed upon by one of the most comical looking objects it ever
fell to the lot of mortal man to see. They were marshaled into order by a
knight of the nineteenth century, who was gorgeously attired in a suit of bed
ticking; in his hand he carried a large tin horn that was upon a former
occasion carried by the Sea God Neptune when he crossed the line. The “God of
Liberty” was a small specimen of the Fifteenth amendment, seated upon a large
dry goods box, on one of the first oxen-wagons in Cowley County, with a tongue
that might some day be of service for one of the sleepers of the first R. R.
bridge across the Walnut to Winfield. His dashing team of oxen was driven by
one of the “poor white trash.” Conspicuous among them was a regular lantern
jawed, dog eared, cutthroat of a Cheyenne. He whooped in Indian jargon and
lassoed the dashing ox teams of the Calithumpian Knights. There was one
remarkable characteristic peculiar to this Indian alone, which very much amused
the crowd of lookers on; he had a knack of drinking whiskey out of an empty
bottle, which is entirely unnatural with the genuine injun. They paraded
through the streets for about an hour and then they mysteriously disappeared,
no one knows where. We only hope that they will appear next centennial.
THE
FIZZLE.
Next on the programme was the fire-works;
but owing to some unaccountable circumstance, they did not reach Winfield in
time, greatly to the disappointment of the multitudes of watchers, many of whom
haunted Court House square until the wee small hours of the morning. We know of
no one who is to blame for this failure; therefore, we cannot censure but only
regret.
A
GENERAL SUMMING UP
of the day, leads us to say that it was
the grandest celebration ever held in Cowley County, and the proudest day of
Winfield’s existence; the largest crowds she ever saw on her streets, she that
day witnessed. Everything passed off pleasantly, not a run-away amongst the
vast crowd of teams, and scarcely a drunken man did we see among all of that
crowd of young “Americans,” celebrating the centennial 4th.
[PERSONALS.]
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, July 13, 1876.
Jim Hill sold four barrels of lemonade
and fifty gallons of ice cream the Fourth.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
How our Devil laughs to think that next
Saturday a week will be the grand exhibition of the Fire Works.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
Three boys living at the mouth of Grouse
Creek were bitten on the 4th by a large rattle- snake. All within a few minutes
of each other, and by the same snake.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
Messrs. Jennings & Crunk, of Texas,
were in town last week with thirty-five head of wild ponies for sale. They
disposed of the whole number in three days time, and intend returning with
another lot this fall.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
The last report from the steam boat was
that it had reached Little Rock, Arkansas, and was making rapid strides for its
destination. It is thought it will arrive at Arkansas City by the 20th of this
month.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
Gibbs & Hyde have just contracted for
a schoolhouse six miles north and west of Winfield, size 20 x 34, for $600 in
bonds. They have also taken a contract to build a dwelling on Little Dutch.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
A failure to secure accommodations for
teachers has caused the postponement of the Normal School till Aug. 21st. The
school will be in session four weeks, closing with an examination September
15th and 16th.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
We were pleased to meet on Monday our old
friend. J. V. Vandorn, formerly of Arkansas City, but of late of Florida. He
owns a farm near the coast and seems to be perfectly delighted with the
country. He says as it may be of some interest to some of our readers to hear
from Mr. Manly and family, he will say that they are doing well, and the whole
family seems to be perfectly satisfied with their new home, and have growing on
their farm oranges, lemons, dates, and many other fruits, and have no idea of
returning as reported. He reports the climate as being very mild, and healthy.
We wish them all well in their new home, but southern Kansas suits us very
well.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
THE FIRE WORKS.—We have heard
considerable complaint made about the fire works committee since the Fourth,
but we see no reason why this complaint should be made, as the gentlemen who
were appointed on that committee did their duty. The fire works were sent for
as soon as sufficient money was raised, and every effort was made by the
committee to get them here in time. But as it has been and always will be,
there is a certain clique in the City who try to make themselves conspicuous on
such occasions, and if they don’t have the whole sway and make political
capital out of it, they are obliged to say something about someone; and of
course, as this committee was composed of gentlemen who were not connected with
the clique, they were the very ones to hit upon. Do more yourselves for the
benefit of such occasions and say less about others would be the best policy.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
Exhibition
of Fire Works and Balloon Ascension.
At a meeting held at the office of Curns
& Manser July 11th, 1876, The Committee on Fire Works were instructed to
give a Public exhibition of the Fire Works on Saturday evening, July 22, 1876.
All are invited. G. S. Manser, Chairman of Committee.
Cowley County Democrat, July 13, 1876.
There were about three hundred wagons and
carriages in the procession to the celebration grounds on the Fourth, making
the procession about two miles long.
Arkansas City Democrat, Thursday, July 27, 1876.
CONTAINED DELINQUENT TAX LIST.
ALSO, LISTED SCHOOL LAND SALE...MANY
GIVEN...NO NAMES!
ALSO, HAD ROAD NOTICES...ALL LEGAL
DESCRIPTIONS.
Cowley County Democrat, Thursday, August 17, 1876.
JUST ABOUT THE SAME AS JULY
27TH...DELINQUENT TAX LIST, ETC.
In each issue of the Cowley County
Democrat was a plea by the editor to collect past due subscriptions.
The last issue of this paper was August
17, 1876, when the paper went out of existence.