Johnson County KS Archives History - Books .....Chapter V Early Events And Institutions 1915 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 August 1, 2008, 10:04 pm Book Title: History Of Johnson County Kansas CHAPTER V. EARLY EVENTS AND INSTITUTIONS. First Business Concerns—First Marriage—Horace Greeley Visits Johnson County— Old Settlers—The Mehaffie House—The First Twenty Years. FIRST BUSINESS CONCERNS. Olathe "Herald," Kansas Territory, of December 29, 1859, contained professional cards of the following attorneys, Griffin and Ocheltree were editors at the time. Campbell & Deveney, Jones & Nash, McDowell & Means, E. S. Wilkerson, William Ray, Wilson, Isaacs & Wilson, of Leavenworth City, Kans. Ter.; Davis & Williams, Wyandotte; Reid, Otter & Bonton, of Kansas City, Mo.; Johnson, Stinson & Havens, Leavenworth City, Kans. Ter.; Jonathan Gore, Shawnee, Kans. Ter.; W. H. M. Fishback, Olathe; Glick & Sharp, Wyandotte; Bartlett & Cobb, Wyandotte: Shannon & Shanon, Lecompton, and J. T. & F. H. Burris, Olathe. Office south side of square, one door west of court house. The following land agents' cards appeared in the same issue of the "Herald:" John M. Griffin, attorney, notary public and general land agent; R. S. Stevens, general land agent; Campbell ft Barton, general land agents. E. S. Nash, attorney and general land agent, says, "The total expense for locating warrents, including his fees and land office fees, is twelve and one-half cents per acre, all letters of inquiry answered free of charge." Other advertisers in the "Herald" of this date are: The Planters Hotel, Leavenworth City; Exchange Hotel, Pleasant Hill, Mo.; Dare House, Olathe, S. F. Hill, proprietor, with good feed stable connected with the house; Francis Gallop, Westport, Mo., clocks, watches and jewelry; J. C. Forest, tailor, Olathe, Kans.; Parmeter & Petit, Olathe, architects and builders; The Pearl Saloon, Craig & Seward, proprietors, advertising a fine line of the best liquors, cigars, sardines, oysters, etc., an attentive barkeeper will always be found in attendance and order will be preserved, no liquors sold on Sunday; G. M. Ott, bakery and provision store; Frederick Hoff, grocery; Olathe Academy, corner Park and Chestnut, Mrs. R. M. Forest, principal; S. B. Myrick & Company, drugs and medicines; Cornwall & Barton, real estate, one, two, three, five and ten acre tracts in their addition to Olathe; Walker Maxwell & Company, office at the Spring Hill Nursery, Spring Hill, Kans., 100,000 grafted apple trees at $15.00 per hundred; The Kaw River Steam Sawmill offers walnut, oak, and cottonwood lumber at the mill, one-fourth mile below the bridge, N. B. Lumber exchanged for all sorts of produce by Barnett & Betton; McCarty & Barkley, forwarding and commission merchants, general steamboat agents and collectors. Nos. -.5 and 6 Levee, Kansas City, Mo.; Collins, Kellogg & Kirby, drygoods, notions and fancy goods, St. Louis, Mo.; livery and feed, carriages, buggies and horses, J. T. Quarles; W. C. Holmes & Company, of Wyandotte, announce their new flouring mill ready for operation and tell the "Herald" readers to "Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest this;" D. M. Boland & Company, of Kansas City, Mo., tea, trays, window and looking glasses, chandeliers, fluid and coal oil lamps; Pat Cosgrove, sheriff, advertises a sheriff sale of lot 3, block 10, and lot 9, block 30, with a good house on lot 3, situated in the town of Monticello; Greenbury Trekle, of Aubry township, gives notice to James Jones, a non-resident, that on the 11th of October, A. D. 1859, an attachment for $25.55 and cost of suit has been made against him, and the following articles levied on: One buggy, one lot merchandise, one account book belonging to store, a musket, one haystack and lot of rails. Notice of sale, November 21, 1859, at A. J. Gobharts, Aubry township, near Squiresville. FIRST MARRIAGE. The first record of a marriage license in Olathe was that of Charles A. Osgood to Miss Caroline Roberts, June 15, 1857, John P. Campbell, probate judge, performing the ceremony. Mr. Osgood was a partner with Dr. Barton in the laying out of the Olathe townsite. When the war broke out he went into the federal serve and was wounded in battle, and sent to Leavenworth, where he died. His body was brought to Olathe for burial. He was buried in the western part of the city, near the Santa Fe railroad. The present cemetery, at that time, was not established. Julia A. Osgood was born, March 20, 1858, and was the first white child born in Olathe township. She and her mother, Mrs. G. B. Alger, reside on east Santa Fe Street, Olathe. Julia was married to J. D. Woodworth in 1889. Mr. Woodworth came from Cole county, Illinois. Mrs. Osgood married G. B. Alger after the close of the war. She has a clear memory of Olathe, as it was in 1857. She and her husband owned and lived on the twenty- acre farm adjoining town on the south, now belonging to Clem Swank. She sent Julia to her first school at the old stone school house where a Mr. Deverel taught, and she went to a church on Kansas avenue, just south of where Willis Keefer's hardware store now stands. The first sermon Mrs. Alger heard preached in Olathe was in 1857, in a building located at the southeast corner of the square. This building was used for soldiers' quarters during the war. Mr. Alger was taken prisoner by Quantrell when he sacked Olathe, but was released with the other citizens of the town as he left. HORACE GREELEY VISITS JOHNSON COUNTY. Greeley left Atchison on Monday, May 16, 1869, in a two-horse wagon, intent on reaching Osawatomie by Tuesday evening. He had with him three people. The rains had been heavy and stage travel much impeded. His allusion to the Garden of Eden is surely good enough to satisfy anybody. The following quotation from the pen of the great journalist, in "Greeley's Overland Journey," has reference to his trip through Johnson county in 1859: "Lawrence, Kansas, May 20, 1859. "Crossing the trail almost at right angles, we left the smart village of Olathe (county seat of Johnson county) a mile or so to the west, and struck off nearly due south, over high prairies sloped as gently and grassed as richly as could be desired, with timber visible along the water courses on either hand. Yet there was little or no settlement below Olathe—for the next twenty miles that we traveled there was hardly an improvement to each four miles of the country in sight. And vet, if the Garden of Eden exceeded this land in beauty or fertility, I pity Adam for having to leave it. The earth was thoroughly sodden with rain, so that temporary springs were bursting out on almost every acre, while the water-courses, including those usually dry, ran heavy streams, each of them requiring skill in the charioteer and good conduct on the part of the horses to pass them without balk or break. We must have crossed over a hundred of these 'runs' in the course of this day's travel, each of them with a trying jerk on the carriage, and generally with a spring on the part of the horses. These water-ways have generally a lime-stone bottom not far below the surface of their bed; but their banks are apt to be steep, and are continually growing more so by reason of the water washing away the earth, which has been denuded of grass and worked loose by hoofs and wheels. Traveling by jerks like this is not so pleasant as over a macadamized road, yet our day was a bright and pleasant one. "Thirty miles of progress, twenty of them over prairie, brought us to Spring Hill, a hamlet of five or six dwellings, including a store, but no tavern. Our horses needed food and rest—for the wagon, with its four inmates, was a heavy drag over such going—so we stopped and tried to find refreshment, but with limited success. There was no grain to be had, save a homeophatic dose sold us for a quarter by a passing wagoner, and thankfully received; we gave this to our steeds, regaled ourselves on crackers and herring, and pushed on." Mr. Greeley's statement of "No Tavern" at Spring Hill was due to the fact that Mrs. Hovey had a sick headache when the Greeley party arrived. The usual dinner hour had passed, and Mrs. Hovey, having no help that day, felt unable to furnish their meals. The "crackers and herring" were purchased in the old store across the street. The Greeley party left Atchison early Monday morning, going to Osawatomie, driving to Leavenworth. At Leavenworth they shipped their horses on board the steamer, "D. A. January," and went down the Missouri to Wyandotte. At Wyandotte they stayed over night and from there drove through Shawnee, on south to Spring Hill. This trip from Wyandotte to Spring Hill was what the "thirty miles of progress" meant. OLD SETTLERS. The Old Settlers' Association of Johnson county holds an annual meeting— which is always an affair of great interest. The tenth annual meeting of this organization, held at Olathe, September, 7, 1907, had a double significance, in addition to being a regular meeting. It was the semi-centennial celebration of the opening of the county offices at Gum Springs, then the county seat, and was also the occasion of the dedication of the Santa Fe Trail monument erected in the public square at Olathe. One of the interesting records of that event is the registration of old settlers, attending the meeting, who arrived in Johnson county, Kansas, in 1857, or prior thereto, as follows: B. F. Cross, March, 1857; John Elston, October 21, 1857; W. A. Mahaffie, November 25, 1857; William R. Rutter, March 12, 1857; D. P. Hoagland, April 15, 1857; J. M. Hadley, March 18, 1855; William T. Quarles, February 11, 1857; Henry Fleek, May 10, 1857; Mrs. Rachel Fleek, May 10, 1857; Mrs. William Pellett, April 12, 1857; James Frame, October 19, 1857; Jiles H. Milhoan, February 24, 1857; Mrs. Belinda Milhoan, March, 1857; J. Henry Blake, March 7, 1857; William M. Johnson, May, 1847; Mrs. Mary J. Wagner, March 7, 1857; Mrs. J. E. Sutton, April 12, 1857; Mrs. Nelson Julien, April 12, 1857; Isaac Fenn, April 1, 1856; Thomas Adair, March 16, 1857; Mrs. Emily L. Millikan, May 28, 1857; George Thorne, May 17, 1857; David Smith, February 14, 1857; Mrs. Lizzie Collins, November 22, 1857; Mrs. Sarah McAlister, February 22, 1857; D. P. DeTar, October 15, 1857; George White, January 10, 1857; Mrs. Laura White, July 4, 1857; Levi Rice, March 24, 1857; Mrs. Jane Rice, March 24, 1857; J. A. Pearce, April 1, 1857; Mrs. Jane Mascho, October 21, 1857; B. F. DeTar, May 8, 1857; J. J. McKoin, September 20, 1857; Mrs. Mary Donovan, March 15, 1857; W. T. Turner, March 15, 1857; Dr. Thomas Hamill, May 15, 1857; Mrs. Anna Alice Smith, June 26, 1853; Fred McIntyre, February 12, 1857; Mrs. Clara Honn, October, 1857; D. W. Bousman, April, 1857; James Skaggs, October 9, 1857; D. Hubbard, March, 1857; Mrs. M. A. C. Brown, October 10, 1857; Mrs. M. J. Washburn, October 10, 1857; Charles Sprague, April 7, 1857; William Bronaugh, February 8, 1857; T. H. Moody, July 20, 1857; Perry G. Cross, March 1, 1857; Mrs. Margaret Ogle, August 1, 1857; W. J. Cook, May 14, 1857; Pat Cosgrove, May 15, 1857; Mrs. M. A. Bowen, September 14, 1857; Mrs. Mary Plummer, May 1, 1857; N. Ainsworth, February 20, 1857; Mrs. Mary Griffitts, August 5, 1857; F. W. Moody, July 15, 1857; James Russell, March 27, 1857; Mrs. Isabel Julien, November, 1857; Mrs. George Alger, February 14, 1857; Charles Dellahunt, March 22, 1857; Henry Mize, November 1, 1857; Mrs. L. M. Sanderson, May 3, 1857; J. B. Mahaffie, October 20, 1857. THE MAHAFFIE HOUSE. The Mahaffie House is a stone building on the Santa Fe Trail about three- fourths of a mile northeast of the Olathe square and was at one time one of the popular hotels of the county. Beaty Mahaffie, who came here in 1857, built the hotel, the stake line of the early days changed horses here and brought Mr. Mahaffie many customers. William Mahaffie, ex-county assessor, was a boy of ten when his father located there, and he remembers many interesting things concerning early day history. A stage team got scared one night as the driver was going to change horses, and in his effort to hold them the driver was jammed against a post as the team went through the gate, injuring him so severely that he died in a few days. The stage driver's name was John Thompson, a soldier who had just been mustered out of the service. The team, with the coach attached, ran out on the prairie, circled around, then came back through the gate into another breaking it down before they were stopped. A lady and four children were in the coach but none of them was injured. William Mahaffie knew Sanderson, the owner of the stage line, quite well. He says he was a most interesting talker and had a wonderful memory. Mr. Sanderson said he never hated to give up any two stations as bad in his life as he did Mahaffies and Spragues at Spring Hill. As fast as the railroad was built south it put the stage line out of business and when the old Gulf railroad reached Ft. Scott, Mr. Sanderson had 400 head of horses on hand. Another man was operating a line from that point south and he came to Sanderson and asked him what he intended to do with all his stock. Sanderson told him that he was going to open up a new line through to Ft. Smith, Ark., by way of Baxter Springs, Kans. The other man said that would put him out of business if he did. "Buy me out then," said Sanderson, "$40,000.00 will do it," and the man bought him out. The Mahaffie house was 16x32 feet and is still standing. J. B. Bruner, Fred Gilbert, Colonel Reed, of Ocheltree, and Captain Schermerhorn spent their first night in Kansas at Mahaffie's, and Mr. Mahaffie was instrumental in getting them to locate in Johnson county, and Johnson county has been the gainer because of it. THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS. (By John W. Giffin.) » The act of the Territorial legislature, incorporating the Olathe Town Company, was passed and approved February 20, 1857. Dr. John T. Barton, who was formerly surgeon of the Shawnee Indians, conceived the idea of locating a town near the geographical center of the county for the purposes of a county seat. He associated with himself for the purpose of a town organization the following named persons who became by virtue of the act of the legislature the "Olathe Town Company," to-wit: Dr. John T. Barton, Charles A. Osgood, A. G. Boon, R. B. Finley, William Fisher, Jr., and Henry W. Jones. As soon as this portion of the Shawnee Reservation was surveyed by the Government surveyors, and the townships were sectioned, Dr. Barton made this selection with consent of the Shawnee Chiefs and a surveyor by the name of Bradford, from Lecompton, the then capital of the Territory of Kansas, was called upon to lay out the southeast quarter of section 26, and the northeast quarter of section 35, of town 13, of range 23 east, into lots and blocks, streets and alleys which he did during the last week of February and the first week of March, A. D. 1857. Olathe was named in this manner, to-wit: as the lawyers would say before describing a piece of land; Dave Daugherty, a Shawnee Indian, was brought along as chain carrier, and in case of necessity he could act as interpreter, if any squaws should come wandering around the new town, and when the train reached the top of the hill near where Jonathan Millikan now lives, the Doctor halted them, and with glowing cheeks and sparkling eyes, enthusiastically remarked that yonder were the quarter sections upon which the future county seat of Johnson county should be located. Dave straightened himself up—took one good look—gave a few of his Indian grunts and then exclaimed in Shawnee, "O lathe," which in the Indian language means beautiful. Dr. Barton then and there declared that the name of the future county seat should be the Shawnee Indian word for beautiful—Olathe. To insure the prosperity of Olathe, Dr. Barton and Charles A. Osgood erected a house 12x14 feet, one story high, on the lot where the Avenue House now stands, for the purposes of hotel, drug store, dry goods, groceries, saloon and postoffice, all of which were carried on with due regularity and to the great comfort of the hundreds of settlers who soon flocked into the county for the purpose of securing locations near the county seat. During the summer of 1857 Dr. Barton and a young man by the name of Edwin S. Nash entered into partnership for the purpose of showing claims subject to preemption—they having purchased the held notes from the Government surveyor, and from the Shawnee chiefs the numbers of the lands selected by the Shawnees, thereby enabling them to point out long before it was made public the certain pieces of land that would be subject to preemption, and by this means they were enabled to exhibit a degree of prosperity that might otherwise have been wanting as they charged from $10.00 to $25.00 for showing a "claim" clear of the Indian selections. Dick Taylor, a fiery young Southerner from Louisiana, and since that, the renowned Gen. Dick Taylor, of the Southern Confederacy, built the house now standing where M. G. Miller's grocery store is now located, on the southeast corner of the public square, and north of the Peoples Savings Bank. This house was built during the month of August, 1857. About the same time Eugene Bell built the first store house on the corner where Charley Tillotson's stone building now stands, on the northeast corner of the public square. The next house built was what was afterwards known as the "star saloon," and kept by a young man, a nephew of the first member of Congress from the Territory of Kansas, after the organization of the Territory. This house was built by Judge John Polk Campbell, a cousin of James K. Polk, President of the United States. Judge Campbell had been formerly a State's attorney for the Nashville District of the State of Tennessee. Judge Campbell came to Olathe early in the summer of 1857, and having purchased a half interest from William Fisher, Jr., a former secretary of the Olathe Town Company, and Fisher resigning. Judge Campbell was elected secretary of the company, and from this time until the end of the organization Dr. John T. Barton was the president and J. P. Campbell the secretary of the town company. In May, 1857, Jonathan Millikan came to Olathe and during the month of August of that year built the first residence ever built in the town. It stands yet, on the south side and in the middle of block number 29, being the same block in which the old Masonic hall was situated. About this time in 1857 a house was built where the court house now stands and here is where the first child was born in Olathe, during the fall of 1857. It was a female child of African descent. Simion F. Hill, during the summer of 1857, built the store room where John V. Haverty, who since married his youngest daughter, Alice, and opened out a general country store—keeping everything young Western life should need or want. During the month of June, 1857, a hotel was built on the lot in the rear of where the colored school building now stands, and facing on Santa Fe Avenue. This was kept by J. B. Whittier, a brother of Mrs. Jonathan Millikan and a cousin of the great Poet Whittier, and a young man by the name of Jerry D. Conner, now, and since 1859, a resident of Eldorado, Butler county, Kansas. Mrs. Jonathan Millikan was the first white woman to reside in Olathe, and Mrs. Mary Whalen, now Kirby, the second one. Mrs. Kirby's daughter, Miss Mary Ann Whalen, was the first white child. Her mother brought her to Olathe when she was only about eight weeks old, and she has been a citizen of the town continuously ever since, and is now nearly nineteen years old. Time flies rapidly and we find in the town and county those who were not born when we first knew this country, who are now young men and women, yet we do not appreciate the fact that the time is fast approaching when we, who knew this country in its infancy, will know it no more. During the fall of 1857 a man by the name of Charles Mayo, a. lawyer, who had formerly been the mayor of the city of Boston, built the house now known as Fishback's office, on the southwest corner of the public square. In September, 1857, Henderson H. Boggs built the house now known as the Avenue House, on the west side of the public square. This was first occupied by Whittier and Conner during the winter of 1857 and the spring and summer of 1858, then Boggs sold the house to a young-man by the name of Benjamin Dare, and he, while acting as deputy postmaster in S. F. Hill's absence, abstracted a letter belonging to L. F. Crist from the office and being found out and arrested, was bound over to court, gave Hill as his bondsman, sold Hill the hotel and left for parts unknown, or at least he has never yet been discovered. Then Hill sold the house to the Turpins. During the summer of 1857 the following named persons came to Olathe and settled here, some of whom are yet to be seen and who still love the town: Judge John P. Campbell, Jonathan Millikan, Nelson Wood, J. B. Whittier, Jerry D. Conner, J. Henry Smith, J. Henry ' Blake, Jonathan Gore, C. M. Ott, Dick Taylor, Eugene Bell, S. F. Hill and family, B. L. Roberts and family, J. B. Mahaffie and family, Mrs. Jonathan Millikan, Mrs. Mary Kirby, Miss Mary Ann Whalen, Fred. Hoff and family, J. C. Forrest, William Bronough, J. E. Milhoan, Jacob Thuma, Isom Mayfield, A. A. Cox, William M. Mosley, Charles Mayo, Robert Brown, John Clay, William Cox, Watts Beckwith, Bal-cane Pettit, Pat Cosgrove, S. B. Myrick, J. E. Sutton and family, Dr. Thomas Hamill, Peter Winke and his niece, Charles Osgood, Edwin S. Nash, Henderson H. Boggs and a tinsmith by the name of McClelland, together with a few others who have long since left and can not now be called to mind. Dr. John T. Barton was the first resident of Olathe. Judge J. P. Campbell was the first resident lawyer. Hamill was the first resident physician. B. L. Roberts was the first blacksmith, Eugene Bell was the first dry goods merchant and the first man to make an assignment for the benefit of his creditors. Dr. John T. Barton was the assignee. Dr. Barton and C. A. Osgood kept the first postoffice. Dr. Barton was the postmaster. Judge Campbell was the first probate judge after the county seat was located at Olathe. J. Henry Blake was the first register of deeds, and recorded the first deed made in the county in the city of Olathe. Jonathan Gore was the first county attorney. S. B. Myrick was the first county clerk in Olathe. John T. Barton was the first mayor. Whittier & Conner kept the first hotel. S. F. Hill kept the first first- class store. Fred Hoff, the first lager beer. C. M. Ott established the first bakery and was the first baker. Balcane Pettit was the first carpenter. Mrs. Jonathan Millikan was the first white woman to reside in Olathe. In the fall of 1857, Edwin S. Nash was elected to the Territorial council from Olathe, it being supposed at the time that it was simply a "Free State" victory, but it was not, the object being a little private legislation for the benefit of the Olathe Town Company. On the twelfth day of February, 1858, Edwin S. Nash succeeded, in the Territorial legislature, in having a general act passed and approved to regulate the entries and disposal of town sites. In section 3 of that act it was provided "that all persons, who select and lay out a town site, and their assigns shall be deemed occupants of said town site." Now, you may ask, Where is the nub to this piece of history? Well, here it is, and it may have a tendency to open the eyes of a great many real estate owners right here in Olathe. All town sites in Kansas, laid out upon Government lands, were preempted under an act of Congress which provides that certain subdivisions of Government land may be preempted by the mayor or other chief officer of an incorporated town "for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof." You can see the dilemma that stood staring this speculative town company square in the face. Under the act of Congress the preemption of the town site was for the exclusive benefit of the persons who resided upon the land selected for a town site at the date of the preemption, and not for a mythical town company whose members may or may not have had an existence. In Olathe only two of the town company, Dr. Barton and Judge J. P. Campbell, resided upon the town site, at the date of the preemption, May 17, 1858. William Fisher, Jr., and C. A. Osgood were both living upon their farms at that date, and claiming to be occupants of their lands for the purposes of preemption, under a different act of Congress from that of the town site preemption law, and therefore were not occupants under the act of Congress of the town site of Olathe. The other members of the town company of Olathe, under the act of the legislature of February 20, 1857, were non-residents of the Territory of Kansas and resided, principally, in Jackson and Platt counties, Missouri, and never were occupants of Olathe or Kansas, in any sense of the term, but were mere town site speculators at the expense of the citizens of the town sites in Kansas. Under the act of Congress the town site was to be preempted for the several use and benefit of the occupants, the resident owners, and where no division of the property had been settled upon the preemption was completed, then the lots and blocks would have to be divided equally among the occupants per capita. The Olathe Town Company, by one of their silent partners, were, as they supposed, relieved by the act of February 12, 1858, from deeding any share of the town after its preemption to the poor devils who, by their occupancy or residency, made it possible for the town company to preempt any land belonging to the general Government. Under this same act of Congress, it was necessary to have every legal subdivision of the land settled upon and improved before they could prove up at the land office and receive their certificate of preemption, and in doing this it required a goodly number of citizens to spread over 320 acres of land and have someone living on each forty acres of the town site at the date of the preemption.. It could not very conveniently be done without inhabitants, and Olathe was not an exception to this universal rule throughout Kansas. Hence, you see, the necessity of some show of right at least by this speculative town company, in the act of the legislature, approved February 12, 1858, for their own and other town companies' benefit. They knew very well when the act was passed and approved that it was unconstitutional and void for the simple reason that the legislature of the Territory had no power to legislate upon the subject or to pass laws controlling the disposal of the Government lands in any manner, shape or form, or to change the well known meaning of an act of Congress. It answered their purpose, however, as a large majority of the occupants, actual residents, knew no better, and in the excitement consequent upon the early settling of a community, did not wish to interfere with the company's little game .of speculation by entering into law about their rights, without some assurance as to what the profits would be in the end, but there were a few who protested in Olathe, and the legal title of the whole, old original town, today is in Dr. J. T. Barton, the trustee, of the real and bona fide occupants, who preempted the Olathe site as president of the Olathe town site incorporation, and the equitable title is where the act of Congress places it, in the occupant at the date of the preemption. The town company's deeds to parties, whether occupants or nonresidents, are entirely worthless, being in direct violation of the act of Congress, and as the town company owned nothing, the titles eminating from the town company are not only absolutely void, but are fraudulent in the bargain. The only title now to real estate upon the original town site of Olathe is occupancy, cured by the general statutes of limitation making fifteen years peaceable and continued possession a good and sufficient title to real property in Kansas. The town site of Olathe was preempted by Dr. John T. Barton on the seventeenth day of May, A. D. 1858. During the year 1858 the following- named persons settled in Olathe: John M. Giffen, F. W. Chase, James W. Parmeter, A. J. Clemenans and family, D. W. Wallingford, Col. J. E. Hayes and family, Mr. Swartz and family, A. J. Hill and family, C. J. Coles, Hank Cameron, Col. J. T. Burris and family, M. J. Posey Drake and family, L. S. Cornwell and family, Dr. A. J. McIntosh, Noble Carithers and family, and Dr. Torrence. The resident lawyers of Olathe, for the year 1858, were Jonathan Gore, county attorney; J. P. Campbell, probate judge; Col. J. T. Burris and John M. Giffen. The doctors for the year 1858 were Dr. Thomas Hamill, Dr. Torrence, Dr. A. J. McIntosh, Dr. Burton, then being treasurer of Johnson county, Kansas, and not in the practice of medicine. Some time during the latter part of the summer season of the year 1858 a Mr. Drummond, an Episcopal minister, who had settled on a claim near Spring Hill, came to Olathe and preached the first sermon in Olathe; then came the Fishers, Bowles and other Methodist ministers, whose names have slipped from our memory, and finally Father Isaac C. Beach, late in October, 1858, came to Olathe and commenced the organization of the Presbyterian church, and preached regularly from that time on, until the war was over and peace had again been restored, and then being an old man and feeble, finally gave up the charge. In the summer of 1858 A. J. Clemans established his blacksmith shop. Col. J. E. Hayes, during the summer of 1858, built the store room now owned by Ross Walker, on the south side of the square, next door east of J. E. Sutton's dry goods house, also a dwelling house on the lot where George H. Beach's hardware store is now situated, being the same house that now stands between Beach's store and the Congregational church; and William Tuttle built a dwelling house on the lot where Dr. Bell's house now stands, on the corner of Park and Water streets. Several other small buildings were erected during the summer and early fall and winter of 1858, but they have gone- the way of all temporary worldly things, and the places that knew them then know them no more. During the summer of 1858, the county officers who had located in Olathe after the election held in March of that year, fixing the county seat of Olathe, were ordered by Governor Denver to go back to Shawneetown, or "Gum Springs," as it was then known in the statutes, making that place the county seat of Johnson county, Denver claiming that there was no authority for the election held in March, 1858, removing the county seat from "Gum Springs" to Olathe. At first they refused to go, but when Governor Denver told them they must go, or he would declare the offices vacant, and fill them with men who would obey orders, they silently, but grumly, gathered up their books and papers and as a matter of course went, to the great disgust of the citizens of Olathe. During the remainder of the year 1858 the good people of Olathe took time by the forelock and put in their best licks for the county seat, and when the contest that followed later came off, Olathe was victorious and the county seat boys came back from "Gum Springs" to Olathe and were received with open arms and happy rejoicings. During the winter of 1858 we were planning for better and more numerous mail facilities, having only one mail a week from the east, by Hill & Hockidy's overland stage line from Westport, Mo., to Santa Fe, N. M. S. F. Hill was our postmaster. Then the office had to go begging for someone to look after it, as the emoluments of the office were not sufficient inducement to tempt even a man out of employment. The town of Olathe commenced early in the fall of 1858 to organize a school, and E. R. Annet, of near Gardner, was employed to teach, and he taught a five- months school in Dick Taylor's house, where Miller is now running his grocery store. During the winter of 1858-59, everything was quiet in Olathe, and a few old settlers in the county moved into town—Col. J. T. Quarles and family, from the old town site of Lexington, moved to Olathe, also his son-in-law, David Bailey, and his family. Along toward spring came William Peck and family, Philander Craig and family, Archie Carahan, Tappy, William B. Stone, and later came W. H. M. Fishback and family, James Ingals and family, Joe Clark, W. A. Ocheltree, Thomas W. Roy and his mother, Mrs. Jennet Chapin, Charley Tillotsen and Dr. A. E. Edwards, William Pellett and the Rev. James Lackey, a Baptist minister from near New Athens, Ohio. William B. Stone came to Olathe during the month of March, 1859, with his photograph gallery, being the first institution of the kind in Olathe or Johnson county. In the month of August, 1859, John M. Giffen and A. Smith Devenney established the Olathe "Herald," and the first issue of the paper was on the twenty-ninth day of August, 1859. W. A. Ocheltree was foreman, C. J. Coles and Hank Cameron were principal type stickers and R. A. Frederich, later a leading attorney of Topeka, devil; A. Smith Devenney and John M. Giffen, editors, type stickers, business managers and general agents, etc. During the month of October, 1859, Judge Devenney retired from the paper and visited Washington City during the winter. The "Herald" was the first paper published in the county and was Democratic. The contract was let to build the county jail and Col. J. F. Hayes was awarded the contract. James W. Parmeter was the principal carpenter in town and did the carpenter work of the jail, as he then did all fine jobs of work in that line in the town. We felt good, all of us, everybody in town, when the contract was let to build the jail, as we felt confident that it would be built if Colonel Hayes got the job, and when the jail was once built, and so large a sum of money expended that the county seat business would be settled, let it be recorded. On the ninth day of April, 1859, William B. Stone opened up the second term of school taught in Olathe. From that time up to the present, Olathe has always been provided with good teachers. During the fall and winter of 1859, Mr. Annett again taught the Olathe school. During this season a good many improvements were made in Olathe, but a large portion of them were of such a flimsy character that they were entirely obliterated by the close of the war. Fred W. Case, in the spring of 1859, commenced the erection of the stone building, now used for the court house, on the southeast corner of the public square, and by fall had it completed and enclosed ready for occupancy, except plastering. A. J. Hill, during the summer of 1859, built a stone building on the east side of the public square. Philander Craig, in the spring of 1859, built the frame house now standing on the northeast corner of Wiley street and Santa Fe Avenue. The Rev. Isaac C. Beach, early in the spring of 1859, built the building lately burned, on the southwest corner of block 62, on the northeast corner of Cherry and Cedar streets. B. L. Roberts during the year of 1859, built the house standing just north of the old stone building on the east side of the public square, where Henry Blake formerly sold drugs, and later as Dr. J. B. Morgan's drug store. John Logan, in 1859, also built a dwelling house. Sam Erwin also in June, 1859, built a dwelling on the lots where Dr. J. B. Morgan afterwards built the house, later occupied by William L. Lawrence on Santa Fe Avenue. These constitute the substantial improvements made during the year 1859. The town was well represented in the carpenter line during this year, among whom we might mention, James W. Parmeter, Joe Clark, Tappy, Balcane Pettit, Robert Ingalls and some others whose name we have lost and cannot at this moment remember. Andy Clemens was the sole blacksmith, B. L. Roberts being engaged on his farm during the summer. Dr. Hamill, Dr. McIntosh, Drs. Barton & Edwards, and occasionally Dr. Peter Julien would come from Wyandotte. This constituted the whole number of physicians for the year of 1859. The lawyers for this year were increasing in numbers. They were John T. Burris, John M. Giffen, A. Smith Devenney, William Roy and W. H. M. Fishback. In writing this article we have this object in view. There are a great many little things that usually happen to the early settlers of almost every county, and at the same time they may become very valuable as a matter of history. In the fall of 1859, the citizens of Olathe came to the conclusion that an agricultural society would be a good thing for Olathe and Johnson county, and a call for a meeting of the citizens of the county was inserted for that purpose, in the columns of the Olathe "Herald," and on the eighth day of October, 1859, at the court house in Olathe, the first effort in the county was made, to organize an agricultural society. It was one of those wet, rainy days, about like Monday, and the citizens of Olathe did the principal part of the wind work necessary to start such an institution, but it dried up, as every other thing did, throughout Kansas, during the year 1860, that followed. This was the last rain, sufficient to wet the ground, that we poor mortals saw in Johnson county until the last of January, 1861. It did rain a few drops occasionally during the year 1860, but not enough to lay the dust or make the roads muddy. In proof of what we have here stated we may be permitted to make a statement of a little circumstance that happened in Olathe on the twelfth day of May, 1860. A man by the name of Self, living on the border of Jackson county, Mo., had kept a register of the weather for forty-three years in that locality, and during that time it had never failed to rain on the twelfth day of May, and some of the citizens of Olathe had so much faith in the statement that it always rains on the twelfth day of May, that large bets were made that it would rain in the public square in Olathe, on that day. Here is where we made bets on it raining and missed it. It did sprinkle along the border near Missouri, but not a drop fell in the public square, and ye local lost his shot gun, a silver watch and twenty-five dollars in Johnson county scrip. Others lost three or four times as much, and those who believed it never intended to rain again got away with our baggage, but they were awfully scared for fear they would lose the bets, as about sundown a large, dark and ominous-looking cloud came up from the west, and passed directly over the public square, but the cloud was as silent as the tomb and it gave forth not one drop of water until it reached the town of Oxford, adjoining Little Santa Fe, Mo. The whole winter of 1859 and 1860 was like the most delightful September day of late years, not one cloud to be seen and the warm, southern wind came continually without frost or snow to enliven the monotonous scene. We then thought the winter delightful, but when vegetation refused to come forth at nature's bidding in its season, we longed for a season of rain, sleet, snow, or even a hurricane with all its dire consequences, rather than have the dry weather continue, but none came in answer to the prayers of our people, and during the entire summer and winter of 1860, our soil was parched up by the almost unendurable heat and hot southern winds. The air was full of dust all the time, and the Santa Fe freighters had to take the road at night, and lay by during the day time to save their cattle and mules from perishing. Corn in some instances did not even sprout when planted, and some of the corn, after it did come up, was dried up before it got up knee-high, while in some localities, near the streams from twenty to thirty-five bushels of corn were raised per acre. The grass around Olathe never grew above a foot high in length during the season, when the years 1859 and 1861 gave us grass waist high. The people of Johnson county most certainly suffered the dry season, but as the entire population were newcomers and were generally prepared to stand a siege, very little aid was asked or obtained, and we were living and unwilling witnesses of the swindle practiced upon the charitable people throughout the East. On the twentieth day of February, 1860, the Good Templars organized a lodge in Olathe with forty-four charter members. In one week the number had increased to seventy members and before the spring had fairly set in 165 members had been gathered into the folds of sobriety and included every single man and lady in town and in the country for four or five miles out. James Evans was worthy chief templar and C. J. Coles, worthy scribe. Evans became obnoxious to the balance of the lodge, and they determined to abandon their charter for the purpose of getting clear of him and so some one moved that the Olathe lodge of Good Templars adjourn sine die. Then it was that Evans made his famous speech and declared that the "lodge could not sign the die, so long as there was a decorum of seven," but the lodge did "sign the die," and thereby got clear of Evans. A few members who were not mixed up in these proceedings, made applications for a new charter, and in a week from that time all were back again in the Good Templars lodge, save and except Evans. So, yon see, there are more ways of choking a dog to death than doing it with butter. The next affair of importance to the citizens of Olathe, happened on the twenty-seventh day of February, 1860: Dr. J. T. Barton, the then mayor of the city of Olathe, caused to be published the following notice. We copy it as we find it in the Olathe "Herald" of that date: NOTICE The Trustees of the Town of Olathe will meet at the mayor's office on the fifth day of March, 1860, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of fencing the public square, and planting the same in shrubbery. "J. T. Barton, Mayor." February 27, 1860. And on the fifth day of March, 1860, the contract was made with Mr. S. F. Hill, to put a good substantial fence about the public square, and before the middle of April, of that year, the fence was completed and the square was planted with black locust trees. Dr. Barton had purchased the seed and employed Tom Mockabee, of Jackson county, Missouri, to raise the trees for this purpose. On the eighth day of March, 1860, Olathe Lodge, No. 19, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, contracted with James W. Parmeter to build the first Masonic hall ever erected in Olathe or Johnson county. It is standing, and since the building of the room over the postoffice, was lately occupied by L. H. Dow as a residence, and is now owned and occupied by the Canutt brothers as a residence. This building was dedicated on the twentieth day of June, 1860, and L. S. Cornwell made the dedication speech. On Monday, the second day of April, 1860, the following named persons were chosen trustees of the town of Olathe for the year 1860: S. F. Hill, J. E. Hayes, A. J. McIntosh, Robert Mann and W. H. M. Fishback. S. F. Hill was elected mayor. The citizens of Olathe, on the fifth day of April, 1860, had the pleasure of seeing the first stage coach on the tri-weekly mail line through Olathe established. It ran from Kansas City, Mo., to the Sac and Fox agency. On the twenty-first day of April, 1860, the first railroad convention was held in Olathe. It was held for the purpose of appointing delegates to attend a railroad meeting to be held at Baldwin City on the twenty-eighth day of April, 1860, and to appoint a railroad executive committee for Johnson county. During the first week of May, 1860, 700 "prairie schooners" passed through Olathe on their way to Kansas City, Mo., from Santa Fe, N. M. Corwell & Barton's addition had then begun to open up inducements to settlers, and W. S. Peck was the first to build over in that part of town. Mr. Swartz came next, and then A. J. Hill, James Ingall and Aaron Mann, and Cornwall & Barton's addition became a part of the town of Olathe. On the seventeenth day of May, 1860, eight persons, all "kinfolks," landed in Olathe, direct from Western Virginia. They were relatives of B. L. Roberts, and some of them still live in Johnson county. The Duffields, Fishers, Roberts and Davises and among them, Mrs. Eckengreen, who has since resided in Olathe, and Joseph Hutchinson and family. On the twenty-fifth day of June, 1860, the new Masonic hall was dedicated; J. P. Campbell, William Roy and J. E. Hayes were the committee on invitation, and L. S. Cornwell made the dedication speech, and James W. Parmeter played the part of Hiram. The celebration of the Fourth of July, 1860, was the first of the kind ever held in Olathe. Olathe had been unfaithful in this respect, and her citizens finally concluded, in 1860, to have a grand old "Fourth," and advertised a free dinner on that day for all who would come, and made preparations to feed 1,000 strangers; but 2,000 strangers came, and, as a natural consequence, somebody had to go away hungry; and from that day to this, Olathe has never again said free dinner to the people of Johnson county. On Sunday, July 15, 1860, Patrick Sullivan was found dead in the public square. It appeared from the evidence before the coroner's jury that Pat had been on a "bit of a spree" for several days before, and had gone over into the square for a "nap" and had been forgotten until found there on Sunday, dead. The verdict of the jury was that he had died of congestion of the brain, caused by excessive use of intoxicating liquors, and by exposure to the heat of the sun. On the evening of July 15, 1860, Joseph Hagen, our county assessor, was drowned while bathing in the Missouri river at Kansas City, Mo., and on the seventeenth Col. John T. Quarles was appointed to fill the vacancy by the board of county fathers. On the eighteenth day of July, 1860, the first examination of students for admission to practice law was held in Olathe. Governor Shannon, Judge Cato, one of the Territorial judges and General Wear were the examining committee, and W. A. Ocheltree, Columbus Burris and George H. Flam were the applicants. The committee gave them great credit for the intelligent manner in which they passed the fiery ordeal. On the nineteenth day of July, 1860, there were present in attendance upon our district court, then presided over by the Hon. Joseph Williams, the following named attorneys: Governor Shannon, Judge Cato T. T. Abrams, William Holmes, Gen. A. C. Davis, district attorney for the territory of Kansas; Charles S. Glick, L. F. Jones, James Christian, Judge Smith, of Lawrence; Samuel Young, J. Stockton, John Groom, H. M. Vail, L. S. Boiling, M. Wolf, James F. Legate, G. M. Waugh, A. P. Walker, W. H. M. Fishback, John T. Burris, Edwin S. Nash, Archie Carnahan, E. S. Wilkinson, Gen. R. B. Mitchell, W. P. Lamb, P. J. Campbell, A. S. Devenney and John M. Giffen, with William Roy as clerk of the court. On the twenty-eighth day of August, 1860, a temperance ball was given in Hayes hall, in Olathe. No one was permitted to attend who had tasted spirituous liquors within the twenty-four hours preceding the ball, and no one was permitted to enter the hall and look on who had taken a drink that day. It was strictly a temperance ball in every respect; it was the first and last of the kind ever held in Olathe. On the twenty-sixth day of September, 1860, William H. Seward made his ever to be remembered speech, at Lawrence, Kan., and a large majority of the Good Templars lodge, at Olathe, attended the meeting in Lawrence. Nearly every one from Olathe (we mean the boys of course) got considerably stewed, and the result was what might have been expected by the remainder of the members of the lodge who stayed at home. They attempted to turn out those who had fallen from grace, but the eloquence of the young ladies who acted as the champions for the recalcitrants, together with the large preponderance of voters on that side, settled the matter and nobody was turned out. In justice to the girls, we must say that their efforts in that direction were successful, and all were reformed in the lodge. The arguments were, that in the lodge they could reach and influence them for good, but once turned out, the boys would go to the saloons for recreation and amusement, and even good boys might then learn bad habits. On the thirteenth day of October, 1860;, the first lyceum course was organized and this, in interest, at least, has far surpassed any one ever organized in Olathe. At the organization twenty persons were selected to give lectures upon some subject at each meeting, and by this means these lectures were prepared with care, and Hayes hall was crammed full each Wednesday evening for twenty weeks. Other exercises were had each evening and all of them would compare favorably with institutions of the kind anywhere. During the year 1860, the following named persons filled the religious directory as pastors of the several churches: Rev. J. M. Lackey, at Hayes hall, on the third Sabbath of each month at 11 a. m. and 6:30 p. m. Rev. C. I. Beach, of the Presbyterian church, at Hayes hall, the first Sabbath of each month. Rev. C. R. Rice, of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, at Hayes hall, the fourth Sabbath of each month. Rev. J. H. Drummond, of the Episcopal church, at Hayes hall on the third Sabbath of each month at 11 a. m. Rev. C. H. Lovejoy, of the M. E. church, at Hayes hall each Sabbath at 3:30 p. m. W. B. Stone taught the public school from April 9, 1860, for the summer. The Presbyterians built their church building during the early part of 1860. It was located on Park Street. James Ingalls and a man by the name of Maybe were the carpenters and contractors. This was the first church building in Olathe. It was .paid for, as then understood, from the building fund of the Presbyterian church, and by subscriptions from the citizens. Mr. Thavis was one of the oldest citizens, having located in Olathe early in the fall of 1858. He impressed his handiwork upon nearly every building of note in Olathe. He built the greater portion of the American House alone, and helped to build the jail, then he helped build the Francis block and the court house, and finally the old deaf and dumb asylum. We think those young fellows who located in Olathe at an early day, and who helped to build up the town, should have a niche high up in the historical tablet of the city. Doctor Scott was another, and his brother, Herman Scott, came to Olathe during the year 1857. The Doctor was always a friend to Olathe and Johnson county. He moved from Olathe to Iola, Allen county, Kansas, in the fall of 1858, and after that time was a member of the legislature from that county, and was for one term speaker of the house of representatives. Herman Scott preempted the quarter-section on which Corwell & Barton's addition to Olathe is located. Mrs. Bowen was one of the early pioneers of Olathe. She came to Olathe some time during the year 1857 with her husband, S. F. Hill, who died in the winter of 1862, and was the second white woman in Olathe, Mrs. Jonathan Millikin being the first, Mrs. Bowen, then Mrs. Hill, the second, Mary Kirby, then Whalen, third, and Mrs. B. L. Roberts the fourth, and these women were the only women in Olathe until the early spring of 1858. During the winter of 1860 and 1861 the principal employment of the citizens of Olathe was reading the reports from Washington City and speculating upon the chances of a settlement of the difficulties then existing between the North and the South. The year 1860 had been desolating in the extreme throughout Kansas, and when the heavens had again given copious showers hopes began to thrive and all nature wore a sunny aspect to the inhabitants of Olathe. New buildings, as early as February and March, 1861, began to show themselves all over the town, and the sound of the axe and the hammer was heard all around and about the town and property began to have a money value and the town lot owner and speculator was heard, from early morn to dewy evening, extolling the beauties of the town of Olathe, and soon the stranger showed himself and everything seemed to be approaching an age of prosperity and happiness, but, alas, for human expectations. On the twelfth day of April, 1861, Fort Sumpter was fired upon, and in the twinkling of an eye almost the peaceable and, unusually quiet town, was transformed into a military camp and marching, counter marching and preparation for the deadly conflict, were the order of the day, and the peace and prosperity vanished as the dew before the morning sun. On the twenty-sixth day of March, 1861, the first State legislature met, and a great number of Olathe citizens visited the capitol to witness the imposing spectacle of the organization. Col. J. E. Hayes was a member of the house from Olathe and B. P. Noteman was elected enrolling clerk. On April 1, 1861, the following named persons were elected trustees of the town of Olathe for the year 1861: S. B. Myrick, Moses Wells, B. L. Roberts, James Clemans and Philander Craig. During the spring of 1861, J. J. Todd and family, Dr. J. F. Everhart and' family, J. E. Clark and family, A. P. Walker and family, Mack Smith, and a host of others came to Olathe and located, for good, as they then thought and said but the uncertainty of life on the border drove a large number of people who had located here to seek safer quarters for themselves and their families during the struggle that followed. On the fourth day of April, 1861, W. C. Quantrill took dinner at the Olathe House, now Avenue House, in Olathe. He then stated that some four years before he and his brother started across the plains for Mexico, and were attacked and robbed by eight armed men, and his brother killed, and then stated that he had sworn that he would avenge his brother's death, and that he at all times had put seven of them out of the way, and was then after the eighth man. This was the last seen of Quantrill in Olathe until the night of the sixth day of September, 1862, when he sacked Olathe. About this time an independent company was organized for the protection of the border, Evan Shrever, captain; John Judy, first lieutenant, and William Pellett, second lieutenant. Then the sympathizers commenced moving out of Kansas to Westport and Kansas City, Mo. During the summer of 1861, very little business was transacted in Olathe. A large per cent, of our fighting population went into the First and Second regiments of Kansas volunteers, and a great many more sought a safer place for themselves and families than they thought Olathe to be at that time. In 1860, when the census was taken, Olathe had a population of 520 men, women and children. More than half this number left during the year 1861, and when the war closed there were only fifteen persons left of those who were included in the census list of 1860, yet our town was as densely populated as when the census was taken, by refugees from Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory. The year of 1861 was a period of anxiety to the citizens of Olathe and will not be forgotten by those who passed through it. The war following so closely upon the heels of the drouth of 1860, had the effect to stop all sorts of improvements, and before the year 1861 expired, Olathe showed signs of decay, and long before the war ended more than half the buildings standing in the spring of 1861 were gone, having been moved into the country upon "claims owned by former citizens of the town or were destroyed." The year 1861 was one of the best growing seasons ever seen in Kansas and as a large majority of the people were poor and needy, they entered largely into farming and from that time on to the end of the war Johnson county kept increasing her productions of corn and hay until the end of the war, and the prices of produce, corn and hay kept rising in proportion. Corn was worth, in 1861, from $1.00 to $1.50 per bushed, and hay brought readily $10.00 per ton. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF Johnson County Kansas BY ED BLAIR AUTHOR OF Kansas Zephyrs, Sunflower Sittings and Other Poems and Sketches IN ONE VOLUME ILLUSTRATED STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY LAWRENCE, KANSAS 1915 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/johnson/history/1915/historyo/chapterv122ms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ksfiles/ File size: 57.7 Kb