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Sketches of Early Days in Kearny County

by Virginia Pierce Hicks

February 1938 (Vol. VII, No. 1), pages 54 to 80
Transcribed by Larry E. & Carolyn L. Mix; HTML composition by Tod Roberts;
digitized with permission of the Kansas Historical Society.
NOTE: The numbers in brackets refer to endnotes for this text.

THE sketches here presented of early days in Kearny county, edited and somewhat condensed, are published through the courtesy of Virginia Pierce Hicks who secured them for publication in The Kansas Historical Quarterly. Comparatively little has been recorded about the early history of the western counties. Possibly the days of first settlement seem too recent to be considered in the light of history. These sketches are stories of the beginnings of settlement, development and community life in Kearny county.

Kearny county was created by the legislature of 1873 and the boundaries defined as they exist today. [1] In 1883 the county disappeared, the east half of it being included in Finney county and the west half in Hamilton. The original boundaries were once more established by the legislature of 1887 and county organization was approved by Gov. John A. Martin on March 27, 1888. Until this time the name was spelled Kearney, but the legislature of 1889 corrected the spelling to conform to that of the name of General Philip Kearny in whose honor the county was named. The county was twice attached to other counties for judicial purposes. In I879 it became a municipal township of Ford county and in 1887 was attached to Hamilton county.

Notes on the Early History of the County

Virginia Pierce Hicks

THAT part of present Kansas within the boundaries of Kearny county shared many phases of the early history of the state. The portion north of the Arkansas river was part of the Louisiana purchase; the portion south of the river was included in the disputed territory relinquished to Spain in 1819 and was subsequently under the flags of Mexico and Texas. Zebulon Pike, following the Arkansas river into Colorado in 1806, after his visit to the Pawnee village, passed through the region; and from 1822 until 1872 the caravans of traders rumbled along the historic Santa Fe trail which followed the course of the Arkansas river through Kearny county. The armies of General Kearny and Colonel Doniphan marched across the county during the Mexican war. Indians, hunters, trappers and soldiers also followed the trail. In 1865 the government established Fort Aubrey just over the western boundary of the county and stationed soldiers there for the protection of traders.

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company completed the building of the railroad to the western line of the state in December, 1872, and in the latter part of that year erected a water tank, a small depot, and a Fred Harvey hotel &emdash; thus starting a railroad town which was named Lakin, for D. L. Lakin, one of the trustees of the railroad. The Harvey house was located just north of the elm trees, where the houses built by the railroad company for the Mexicans now stand. The small depot was east of the Harvey house and the water tank east of the depot.

It was now that the coming of actual settlers began. The first permanent settler in Kearny county was John O'Loughlin, who was born in County Clare, Ireland, in 1842. He came to America with his mother and two other children in 1850 and settled at Dubuque, Iowa. He came to Kansas in 1861, entering the government service at Fort Leavenworth as a teamster in the department of the quartermaster. He left the government service at Fort Hays, December 1, 1869, and opened a trading post on the military road between Fort Hays and Fort Dodge, doing business with soldiers, buffalo hunters and freighters. He closed out in 1872, when the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad was completed through the state, and, after spending a few months in Dodge City, moved to Lakin in March, 1873. With a small stock of goods he opened a store in a dugout a little east and north of the Harvey house on the railroad right of way and here carried on a thriving trade with the freighters and plainsmen. He built a small dwelling house just north of the right of way and south of where his son, William D. O'Loughlin, now lives. In May of the same year Mr. O'Loughlin was joined by his mother, Mrs. White, and his sister, Margaret C. White, then a girl of fifteen years of age, who was born in Dubuque, Iowa, November 12, 1857. His mother died on August 8, 1878, and his sister kept house for him until her marriage, November 5, 1879, to Thomas J. Pearl. Thomas J. Pearl was born in Wabash county, Indiana, February 14, 1847. He came to Kearny county in October, 1876, as an employee of the Santa Fe and continued in this work for many years. He made Lakin his home for the remaining years of his life.

Another employee of the Santa Fe who came to Kearny county in those early days was Richard Joice. He arrived in July, 1873, and remained here until the '80's. He then went to Grant county with whose early history his name is also identified.

Alonzo B. Boylan was the next permanent settler in Kearny county. Mr. Boylan was born in Canaseraga, Allegheny county, N. Y., July 21, 1841. He began his railroad career at Blakely, Minn., where he was a station agent. Here he met Castella Florence Walter, a young teacher, daughter of a physician at Belle Plain, Minn. They were married in 1869. Mrs. Boylan was born in Miami, Ind., September 3, 1852. In July, 1874, Mr. Boylan came to Lakin. He was operator for the Santa Fe, his work first taking him back and forth on the trains from Dodge City to the end of the division. Later he was stationed at Lakin, and in September, 1875, was joined by his wife and two small children, Lenora Victoria and Ambrose Bradner. The Boylans came into possession of a dwelling house built by the Santa Fe Railway Company. It was the largest house in town and was used for church and Sunday school meetings and social affairs. The house at that time stood to the west of the Harvey house. It has since been moved and remodeled and is now the home of William D. O'Loughlin.

John O'Loughlin, the first merchant in Lakin, established a store in a dugout in 1873. Henry H. Cleaveland broke out the first land for farming purposes on his claims west of Deerfield. John H. Carter proved up the first timber claim. This was east of Hartland. Francis L. Pierce proved up the first homestead after five years' residence. He was also the first one to enclose a farm (quarter section) with a fence. This farm joins Lakin on the west. A. B. Boylan was the first agent for the Santa Fe at Lakin. Mr. Boylan engaged in stock raising and was followed by W. P. Harris as agent. Mr. Moore followed Mr. Harris, and Mr. Moore was followed by James H. Waterman. Guy Potter was first manager of the Harvey house. He was followed by M. Fisher who was manager when the Harvey house was moved to Coolidge in December, 1880. The Harvey house was the scene of a number of social events of the very early days.

Among the first deaths in the county was that of Charles Willis, a horse thief, who was hanged on the railroad bridge over Sand creek west of town in 1877 or 1878 by some plainsmen who took the law into their own hands and administered justice. The first death in Lakin was that of Mrs. Margaret White, mother of John O'Loughlin, who died on August 8, 1878. In 1877 a little child of a Mr. Anderson, an emigrant, died of skunk bite where the family was encamped on the Santa Fe trail, west of town. The little child was buried south of the railroad near the railroad fence, and for many years the little grave, marked by a pile of stones, could be seen near the stockyards. Harrison (Harry) Burtch, son-in-law of Thomas Morgan, was shot by George Bandall, the first blacksmith of Lakin, in January, 1880, and died three days later. Mr. Burtch and Mr. Bandall had an argument concerning the amount of money which should be paid for a relinquishment on some land three fourths of a mile north of town. After the shooting, which occurred at the depot, Mr. Bandall went a half mile west of town to the home of S. L. Philips, justice of the peace, borrowed an overcoat, and made his way over the river to the sheep ranch of Louis Lais (French Louis). Later he went to the mountains of Colorado and after a long trip, entered a camp, demanding food from the cook. The cook and Mr. Bandall had some words, which resulted in the killing of Bandall by the cook. A child of Harrison Burtch died in 1880. Another death of 1880 was that of Goldie Moore, the little daughter of Mr. Moore, the station agent.

The first cemetery was west of town, on the Chas. S. Smith place. When James Campbell, father of Mrs. Smith, came into possession of the ten-acre tract, he tried to establish communication with the relatives of all those who were buried in the cemetery. Most of the bodies were moved to the present cemetery, but some still rest in what is now an alfalfa field.

The first marriage in the county was that of Miss Steffy and Mr. &emdash;- The second, Mr. Steffy, brother of Miss Steffy, and Miss &emdash; The third marriage was that of William Lock and Amy Carter, eldest daughter of John H. Carter. The fourth marriage was that of Mr. Black and Miss Hayward. The fifth was that of a couple at the home of Captain Johnson in Kendall township. These weddings were solemnized in 1880 by Francis L. Pierce, justice of the peace. Thomas J. Pearl and Margaret C. White were married at Pueblo, Colo., November 5, 1879.

The first church service was held in the Boylan home by an itinerant minister. The Rev. Mr. Pratt, of Garden City, preached a sermon in Lakin in I880. The first Sunday school was organized in the same year. F. L. Pierce was superintendent and D. H. Browne secretary. Meetings were held in the land office of Mr. Pierce, a small frame building on the Santa Fe right of way between the Harvey house and Mr. O'Loughlin's store. The first Catholic service was conducted by a Dodge City priest who said mass at four o'clock in the morning in the Boylan dining room for a congregation composed of railroad men then laying steel on the Santa Fe.

The Blizzard of 1886

Edgar R. Thorpe

BEFORE the establishment of Kearny county as such, and up until about the year 1890, the greater portion of the county was settled by homesteaders and persons claiming land under the timber culture act of congress. [2] Practically all the territory lying north of the river and much of that portion on the south, outside the sand bills, was taken up and cultivated as timber claims. The population was largely made up of persons who, as soon as they could obtain title to the land, encumbered it for as much money as was available under mortgage lien. A large majority of these people left the country, and the lands became delinquent for taxes and interest upon the mortgages, which were foreclosed; or in many instances lands were sold under compromise provision of law for the taxes, the titles passing to speculators for a nominal consideration. There followed a series of years in which little or no crops were raised, and the country became practically depopulated.

In 1886 a terrific blizzard passed through the western part of the state, its central path apparently being through this county. Great suffering occurred throughout western Kansas and particularly through this section. The blizzard carried a heavy snowstorm with a wind velocity said to have been 70 miles per hour. Great herds of cattle and other stock perished, and along the Santa Fe railroad fences the animals were piled in large numbers. For weeks and even months thereafter, many men were employed in removing the hides from these cattle. Many of the cattlemen lost almost their entire herds. One outfit lost more than 10,000 animals. This is said to be the worst blizzard that ever visited Kansas. A terrific tornado also came in 1886 which almost destroyed the city of Lakin and entailed heavy losses to the settlers throughout the county. The extent of the damage has never been determined.

The hardships usually encountered by pioneers in a new country were experienced in full by the people of this county. As is often the case, the floating element migrated to new fields and the undesirable citizen returned to his wife's people. Now our soil has been turned and the country is yielding vast amounts of grain, alfalfa and other products.

Early Lakin

Jennie Rose O'Loughlin

A TRAVELER motoring at great speed through western Kansas today and grumbling over what he terms inconveniences little realizes what the first travelers had to contend with.

On April 1, 1927, an observer stationed near the old Santa Fe trail reported the passage of two hundred motor cars in a given time. Had he been stationed in the same place half a century earlier he would have reported the passage of prairie schooners whose occupants were going to the frontier to conquer the sod and build homes. They went with the determination and courage necessary to brave the discomforts occasioned by Indian raids, blizzards, prairie fires, hot winds, droughts and grasshoppers. Though some returned to the East, many remained, keeping their faith in a country which seemed at times to deny them a bare living.

Not only these pioneers, but everyone who passed over the Santa Fe trail in the early days, stopped at what must have seemed the last outpost to buy supplies. This stopping place was the first building in Lakin &emdash; a dugout.

The Santa Fe railroad was completed to the western state line December 28, 1872. On that day the first cars were run over the entire route from Atchison to Colorado. Immediately after the construction of this road John O'Loughlin saw the advantage of locating a store and trading post at Lakin. In April, 1873, he established himself in a dugout and prepared to supply the needs of the traveling public.

There was no bridge across the Arkansas river from Dodge City to Granada, Colo., so the territory served by this store might be said to extend from the Smoky Hill river on the north to the Red river on the south. After the Indians burned Thomas O'Loughlin's store at Pierceville in 1874, [3] this was the only place between Dodge City and Granada where supplies could be obtained. The stock had to be varied in order to meet the needs of trappers, freighters, soldiers, buffalo hunters, and cow punchers. Besides the ordinary line of staple groceries and dry goods, one could buy Sharps rifles, fixed ammunition, ox bows, ox yokes, ox shoes, and everything necessary for the outfitting of an ox-team, Colt's six-shooters, chaps, spurs, saddles, high-heeled boots, bright-colored silk shirts, scarfs and handkerchiefs, Stetson hats, Dutch ovens, and crosscut saws. The last thirty pairs of ox shoes were sold in 1901 by Ernest McDowell to a man who was driving cattle through the country. About the same time the last of the fixed ammunition for buffalo guns was sold to a customer who made a special trip to Lakin for it, having heard that he would find some in this store. One day in the seventies a man from Colorado asked for a crosscut saw. This request was inconsistent in view of the fact that there was not a log in the country; however, the obliging clerk, D. H. Browne, surprised him by taking one from its place on the wall. An emigrant, westward bound, had traded it to the proprietor for groceries. At the same time he had disposed of a barrel of lamp chimneys. This is an example of the variety of goods obtained by trading.

Early settlers relate that herds of buffalo extending as far as the eye could see were roving over the prairies. The meat from these animals was about the only kind to be obtained, although there was some antelope and deer meat. The meat had to be cut, dried, and salted for use. Sometimes as much as a ton was cured. Bill Levitt, one of the first Santa Fe engineers, tells that many times he saw the roof of the dugout shingled with buffalo hams which the train crew ate later with Mr. O'Loughlin in Lakin. There was no eating house here at the time, but Guy Potter soon built one which he sold to Fred Harvey. The manager of the Harvey house obtained here much of the antelope and buffalo meat used in the various houses of the system.

Where the Indians killed one buffalo for food, the hide and tongue hunters killed fifty. This slaughter kept up year after year, thousands of hunters being employed to kill as many as they could. The building of the Pacific railroads divided the buffalo into two large herds which ranged on both sides of the Platte river, the estimated numbers of each being about three million. It was never thought by Western men that it would be possible to kill such a number, but by 1875 the southern herd was practically exterminated and this gave rise to a large industry for Lakin. The buffalo bones were gathered and shipped to the East where their principal use was in the making of commercial fertilizer. Each wagonload of bones weighed about three hundred pounds. The average price was six dollars a ton, and hundreds of carloads were shipped.

One of the things which most impressed Billy Russell as he first rode into Lakin was the sight of huge piles of bones, perhaps thirty carloads, stacked along the railroad track. Another thing was Harry Browne standing in the store door, no doubt wondering who the tenderfoot might be. Mr. Russell is a native of Boston, and, although he felt quite sure that he could not content himself in Lakin, from that Saturday afternoon until the following Monday morning he became so attached to western Kansas that he has been here continuously since.

During the construction of the Santa Fe railroad buffalo were so numerous as to impede work, and on more than one occasion trains were delayed by running into herds. Guy Potter, an early resident of Lakin, was aboard a train which was delayed one hour and forty minutes at Pierceville waiting for buffalo to cross the track. From the caboose that day the brakeman shot thirteen buffalo.

Trappers brought in many kinds of hides. They were then given fifty and seventy-five cents for coyote and wolf hides on which bounties are now ten and twelve dollars.

It might be imagined that the store keeper's life was dull and prosaic; however, the lines of cattle movement were established so that chuck wagons from the north loaded at Lakin for the roundup on the south, and many times in a single day the clerk was instructed to send bills for one outfit to Chicago, another to Kansas City, and a third to Denver, thus showing the ramifications of the cattle trade. Recently residents of Adobe Walls, Tex., told of driving cattle through Lakin and later making frequent trips with loads of bones and hides which were exchanged for groceries.

The banking facilities at that time were so limited that the keeping of money was a problem. Money belonging not only to Mr. O'Loughlin, but to others who had entrusted it to his care, was concealed in coffee cans, under bolts of calico, beneath kegs of fish, and anywhere that one would not expect to find it. One day a fish keg was moved; under it was a canvas sack containing one hundred fifty dollars whose whereabouts had long since been forgotten.

As time went on it was found necessary, in order to handle the increasing trade, to move the store into larger quarters. For a time after that the dugout served as a storehouse but was later torn down. Children playing on the site found several dollars in small change thought to have dropped down between the board and dirt walls where it had been put for safekeeping.

When the new building was erected in 1879 Lakin could boast of the Harvey house, section house, station, Theodore Brown's drugstore, the O'Loughlin store, the Lakin Eagle office, Potter & Mitchell real estate office, Gray & Jones Supply Company, all of which faced the railroad. For that time and place a store thirty by fifty feet not only looked but seemed as large to the citizens of Lakin as Marshall Field's.

A. B. Boylan, the first telegraph operator and station agent, located in Lakin in 1875. Previous to that time he had made his home in Dodge, but made daily trips to the end of the line. He carried his telegraph instrument in the caboose and, whenever communication was necessary, attached the instrument to the wire. After the station was built he was transferred to Lakin. He was also the first postmaster.

Joseph Dillon came to Lakin in 1879, on the first of May, and when Franklin Pierce arrived on the third, the Dillons were planting their garden. Mr. Pierce recalls the first time he ever saw Maria Dillon, now Mrs. D. H. Browne. She was planting potatoes. The season was very dry, so the crop was a failure, but in the fall they dug up the potatoes and ate them.

Mr. Pierce also decided to try his luck gardening but thought it best to confine his activities to raising watermelons. He was very successful in this undertaking and when the melons were ready for market offered to sell a wagonload to Mr. O'Loughlin, who said he could not use a wagonload but would take two dozen. When Mr. Pierce loaded the wagon he found that the box would not hold a dozen and a half. The same year he planted the large grove of trees now to be seen west of town. For a time Mr. Pierce was in the real estate business with C. O. Chapman, and later with J. Longstreth.

During the summer of 1879 the Loucks and Dillon residences were built.

In 1882 Mr. O'Loughlin was married. The following year the store building was moved to its present location.

Mr. O'Loughlin early saw the advantage of the allied businesses of farming and ranching. His large holdings included farms and ranches in southern Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, the best known of which was the Pig Pen ranch of northern Grant county, so called on account of the cattle brand.

Since Mr. O'Loughlin's death in 1915 the business has been under the management of his sons. Fifty-three years after its establishment it marks the trail &emdash; a memorial, not only to the founder's foresight and integrity, but to all those who believed in Lakin.

Lakin From 1878

Mrs. Carrie E. Davies

EARLY on the morning of November 17, 1878, I arrived from Chicago with my two small children, Tillie and Lewis. After the crowded city of Chicago, the sunshine and the open country seemed very beautiful to me.

We were taken at once to view the town. First we visited the "White House" owned by A. B. Boylan, at that time agent for the A. T. & S. F. railroad. From there we went to the general store owned by John O'Loughlin, and to his small three-room house, where he lived with his sister, Margaret. We next visited the section house owned by the railroad and used to house its section gang. We went last to the small station, where all the company's work was transacted. Mr. Boylan was the only employee. This made up the entire town of Lakin, with the exception of a few small dugouts where some of the sectionmen lived.

The railroad eating house, where we were to make our future home, was managed by Mr. Fisher, who had as his helpers a clerk, two cooks, a yardman and four girls. There were no dining cars allowed at this time on the railroad and it was the work of this hotel to prepare meals for all passengers. Of course the train service was very limited, since we had but two trains a day, one from the east and one from the west. The train conductors from the west were Dyed Scott and Jack Scott, and from the east were John Bender and Sill and Morgan. These conductors were on the road for many years.

In a few days I saw antelope in great herds, as well as buffalo and wild horses, passing the hotel on their way to the river for water.

After I had been in Lakin a couple of weeks my friends were kind enough to give a ball for me, and in order to have a crowd our friends came from Pueblo on the west and from as far as Kinsley on the east. The music was furnished by the Pueblo band.

The whole town was in a state of excitement over what was to be our first wedding. Margaret White was to be married to Thomas Pearl. A home wedding was out of the question in those days as it was necessary to go either to Pueblo or to Dodge City for a license and someone to perform the ceremony. These young people chose Pueblo and were accompanied to that city by Mrs. Roberts in the capacity of chaperone. They returned to Lakin to establish their home. Their eldest child, Maude, who afterwards became Mrs. Nelson, was the first child born in Lakin and was the second girl born in the county. Alice Carter, now Mrs. David Bates, daughter of John Carter, who located just east of Hartland, was the first girl born in the county. About this time the Dillon family of four children moved to our town. One of them, Maria, is now the wife of Harry Browne. A Mr. Gray started our second store, and next came Frank Pierce with his family, starting life on a claim just west of town. West of him settled Theodore (Dora) Brown and his wife. Mrs. Brown later became Mrs. C. O. Chapman. Harry Browne came from the East about this time to cast his lot in the West and chose our little city as his future home. Mrs. Virginia Pierce Hicks, daughter of F. L. Pierce, has the honor of being the third girl born in the county.

One of my first experiences after coming to the hotel was to serve a party of Indians and their interpreter. The Ute Indians had gone on the war path and had killed the Indian agent, so the government authorities took thirty of them to Washington and they stopped at our eating house on their way. Before leaving the history of the hotel I should like to answer a question frequently asked about the elm trees just north of the coal chute. For many years these elm trees stood out as the only trees in Lakin and they marked the front yard of our old eating house. When we first moved to our old claim just west of town we thought that we must have some trees, so I sent to Florence for a dozen trees, cottonwood and elm. The cost was three dollars and a half. When I received them and was ready to plant them the ground was so hard that it was impossible to dig holes to put them in, so Mr. Fisher, manager of the hotel, bought them of me and planted them in the front yard. And it is with a kindly feeling that I look at these living monuments of my early days.

It was decided that we should have a picnic on the Fourth of July. The hotel offered to donate all cakes and sandwiches and that was a big start towards a good time. We had everything provided, program arranged, when to our amazement Mr. Chapman announced that we could not have a picnic without a flag, but no one felt able to buy one. Mr. Chapman was determined and said that he would furnish the cloth if someone would do the work. Mrs. Dora Brown, Mrs. Frank Pierce and I volunteered and made the flag. We started out on the morning of the Fourth for a grove south of the river which we named that day Carter's grove. And, so far as I know, it still bears that name. We had no automobiles in those days, neither did we have buggies. We set out on horseback, loading into wagons those who could not ride. Of course it was necessary to have a flag bearer and Mr. Chapman was elected to that position. Dick Joice was to assist him, for the flag must not drag down and get wet as we crossed the river. We were getting along nicely until we reached the middle of the river &emdash; and I want to say before I go further that the river in those days was not as you see it now; it was a real river; no ditches took water out and the stream flowed from bank to bank, and during high water was over the banks. In midstream Mr. Chapman's horse went under and gallant Dick Joice rescued the flag, letting Mr. Chapman get out as best he could, soaked. We spent a fine day with the usual patriotic speeches following lunch and returned in the afternoon to prepare for the ball which Mr. Fisher, manager of the hotel, was giving in the big dining room. Fred Harvey, Sr., noted manager of the Harvey system, and Mrs. Harvey led the grand march. We danced until the early morning hours, for we were all young then, and thought as a fitting end to the occasion we should bring out the flag and salute it. But, to our dismay, the flag could not be found. Someone had taken it. In later years I was told by Frank Fisher that he had last heard of it in Chicago, where it was being preserved as an early-day relic. I am sorry that it could not have remained in Kearny county for, so far as we know, it was the first flag that was ever flown in this spot.

In due time the Santa Fe eating house was moved to Coolidge. The change proved a real hardship for me, for I was housekeeper and had depended on this position for my living; and, too, it left the little town without a place to accommodate travelers. But it was not long until Mr. and Mrs. Loucks started a hotel on the spot of ground now occupied by the Tipton house. It was called the Commercial hotel and was known far and near as a good place to stay. There Mrs. Loucks reared her family. C. A. Loucks, her son, is still a citizen of Lakin.

The community at large decided that we should have a public hall that could be used for any gathering, social, political or religious. Of course we had no money, so a committee went out and solicited until enough was obtained to erect the building. We had many a joyful occasion there. Charles Dillon, [4] now known nationally, made his first public appearances in recitations before our literary society which met there.

My husband was a cowboy in those days, but thinking there was a chance to make money by running wild horses, he turned to this occupation for several years. For this reason he was given the name, "Wild Horse" Davies, and the name still clings. So far as I know, I am the only woman living who lived in Lakin in 1878. These are only a few of the many events of the early history of Lakin with which I was connected.

First Schools in Lakin

Mrs. Lenora Boylan Tate

IN THE summer of 1879 Mrs. William P. Loucks, who with her husband and two sons resided on a government claim or homestead near the present site of Deerfield, came to Lakin to determine whether there was a sufficient number of children of school age in and about Lakin to warrant the opening of a private school. After visiting the various families and learning their attitude towards such an institution, she decided to open one.

On November 17, 1879, the first school was opened by Mrs. Loucks in her home, which had been built that year. Later, school was held in a building fourteen by sixteen feet which had formerly been used for a general store. The building had been erected originally by J. H. Potter on his claim by the river, south of town. F. L. Pierce and Fritz Meyer moved it to town and it was purchased by A. B. Boylan from a Mr. Tibbetts, who left Kearny county in 1882, having decided to return to "civilization."

After a succession of private schools, held sometimes in summer, sometimes in winter and sometimes the whole year through, the first public school in Kearny county was established in September, 1884, and school district number one was organized.

The first public school was maintained in the Lakin town hall until 1886, when that building was destroyed by a cyclone. A two-story brick building was begun in the spring of 1886 and completed when the regular term of school opened the following September. All bricks for this new building were made at Lakin. The building had four large classrooms and a bell "ball-room."

Of course the number of students enrolled in school in Lakin in 1886 was small and the new building appeared to be many times too spacious for any future needs. But those who were instrumental in causing the new building to be erected had the faith of all Kansas pioneers in the future growth of the country. In 1912 it was found necessary to make an addition of two stories, containing two large rooms, to the building erected in 1886.

Early History of Deerfield

Virginia Pierce Hicks

THE settlement of the Deerfield neighborhood followed very closely that of Lakin. Deerfield received its name from the fact that a large herd of deer grazed in that vicinity in the early days.

Alva Cleaveland, with his sons, Henry and George, filed on land southwest of Deerfield in 1878. In 1882 they were joined by Mrs. Caswell, a sister of Henry and George, whose daughter, Dolly, became the wife of Samuel H. Corbett in 1883. Mr. Corbett came to Kearny county in 1881, first being employed on the XY ranch, owned by Fred Harvey and located south of the Arkansas river. William P. and Dayton Loucks located on land just north of Deerfield in 1879. The Deerfield cemetery is located on land taken by W. P. Loucks at that time. The Loucks moved to Lakin. Allen and Myles Lee secured land east of Deerfield on which they built substantial homes in 1881.

A post office was established at Deerfield in the spring of 1882, and a small store was operated in connection with it. A school was opened in the early '80s, &emdash; the territory then being in the Lakin school district.

Mrs. Sarah Lee, who makes her home with her daughter and son-in-law, J. W. Wells, is the oldest settler living in the Deerfield neighborhood. She has been a continuous resident since 1881.

A. G. Campbell, who with his sons has conducted for many years extensive business enterprises in this county, including farming, stock raising, merchandising and banking, located in the Deerfield neighborhood when he first came to Kearny county in 1902.

Since 1900 Deerfield has developed into a thriving and beautiful little city.

Kendall in Early Days

India Harris Simmons

THE town of Kendall, on the west boundary of Kearny county, is connected with events of historic interest. It was originally called Aubrey on account of its proximity to old Fort Aubrey, a military post established in September, 1865, to protect travelers from marauding Indians on the long stretch of the Santa Fe trail from Dodge City to Fort Lyon. It was garrisoned by two companies of infantry and one company of U. S. cavalry. Several small skirmishes with Indians took place but there were no important engagements, and in April, 1866, the troops were withdrawn.

The site had been recommended by Col. F. X. Aubrey because of the abundant springs which he had discovered there on the second of his famous rides when a threatened Indian attack compelled him to make a western detour from the "Aubrey Short Route" through Kearny county. [5]

Both fort and springs were named for this famous rider.

For many years Aubrey Station had nothing to give it a place on the map except a spur of track and the inevitable windmill and water tank, but in 1879 five travelers from the East in quest of a location for a store and trading post, settled there and started a little town. They were Andrew J. Crites, Frank Kelley, Francis Merrion Kelley, George Hill and Capt. J. M. Johnson &emdash; all men of business ability who later served their communities in offices of honor and trust. Captain Johnson, who was a West Point graduate and a prominent attorney, took an active part in county-seat affairs.

Not being able to secure a post office under the name of Aubrey, the middle name of Mrs. Kelley was submitted by the town founders. This was accepted, so the unusual name Zamora was given to the post office, and for some time there was the confusing condition of a post office, Zamora, within the town of Aubrey.

Among the many ranches started about this time was one owned by six Santa Fe railroad employees &emdash; most of them conductors &emdash; which took its name and brand from the first letter of the post office and the number of stockholders in the company, and to this day is known as the "Old Z6."

The town grew and many fine residences were built from the adjacent limestone quarries. The name was changed to Kendall, and being centrally located while western Kearny county was attached to Hamilton county, it became the county seat for a time, being so designated by Gov. John A. Martin. Banks, stores and various kinds of business flourished. Good schools and churches, musical and literary organizations influenced its social life.

With the restoration of the former western boundary of Kearny county, Kendall was once more on the line. The county seat of Hamilton county was legally established at Syracuse and the town gradually dwindled to a small hamlet.

Many of the most interesting types of our pioneers were identified with Kendall and the outlying country. It was the home of J. E. (Wild Horse) Johnson, whose interesting stories of capturing the wild horses, and hairbreadth escapes from the Indians would fill a book. From 1873 he rode these southwest prairies, but as the towns were established he found time to assist in many educational and religious movements.

Louis Lais (French Louie), of Louie Springs, was a familiar figure of this same region and had a full share in clearing the plains of buffalo and wild horses so that the fertile land might be ready for the coming of the homesteaders.

Founding a Town

Mrs. Sara E Madison

THE first county seat of Kearny county was located on the Santa Fe railroad, about twenty minutes by train west of the station of Lakin. A town company, organized in Hutchinson, came out in the early summer of 1885, bought of the railroad company a section of land at Hartland station and began the work of plotting and surveying town lots. It was an attractive location a mile north of the Arkansas river. On the south, just over a sand ridge, was an extensive grazing plain of wild land dotted sparsely with cowboys' camps or, less often, homesteaders' dugouts. On the north the prairie seemed boundless, and since has been called the short-grass country. When homesteaders got there they set out to have a community center of their own and called it Chantilly. Chantilly was a candidate for county seat, but it was too far from the railroad and was abandoned.

The town company at Hartland soon was ready to advertise in the Hutchinson papers and had special notices sent to every state for distribution. Then the people began to come &emdash; speculators, land seekers, business men and laborers arrived on every train. There was no place to accommodate such numbers, so Mr. McFarland built a large barn and men slept in the stalls and loft. A long table was set up in the driveway and Mr. and Mrs. Cole cooked in a corner of the barn for transient travelers. A. A. G. Stayton accommodated as many as he could, including the town company, on his homestead on the west side. He was then the section boss. The nearest homestead on the east was that of John Carter. The town company made an offer of a free lot to any one who would come and build a hotel. When Mrs. S. E. Madison, who was visiting her brother in Carthage, Mo., heard about it she accepted the offer. She shipped a car of lumber and hardware, including windows and doors, sufficient to build a small hotel. With the assistance of her son-in-law, H. H. Cochran, the hotel was soon completed and opened for business. It was called the Madison house.

A new station was built to replace the box car then in use. Business increased. A schoolhouse was built on West Broadway and Mr. Hovey was the first teacher. Mr. Burns, a Methodist itinerant, preached the first sermon in the schoolhouse. Main street built up rapidly. Kirtland and Flash were the first bankers. H. H. Cochran was the first postmaster and express agent. L. S. Jones operated the first general store. Doctor Richards and Doctor Gabard were the first doctors. B. D. Williams and Gabard had the first drygoods store. There were more than five hundred people in Hartland by the fall of 1885.

The permanent location of the county seat began to be a problem, for Lakin thought it should be there. So an election was called on February 19, 1889, and a majority settled the issue &emdash; the county seat remained at Hartland. But the question was agitated again and was in litigation for more than a year before the court decided there should be no more elections for county seat for five years.

Business kept up in all branches. G. M. Smith had the first law office and Jesse Osborne was the first lawyer. Mr. and Mrs. Hardin Smith had the first restaurant and barber shop. Several other lines of business were established &emdash; lumber yards, coal yards, livery stables, general stores, meat market, etc. A printing press was brought, managed by Joseph Dillon. Ed Watt was printer. Logan Garten was the printer of the Times.

A new schoolhouse was built on the hill north of the railroad. Among the first teachers were Mr. Druly, Mr. and Mrs. Hamer, and Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong. Some of the students were June Madison, Nellie Cochran, Mollie Campbell, Alma Newcomb, Myrtle and Etta Tedford, Alice Carter, Opie Reed, Clara Denlinger.

The Kearny house was built just north of the station and was afterwards used for a courthouse. A Presbyterian church was built on Main street, two lots being given by the town company. A free bridge was built over the Arkansas river by the town company, and hundreds of wagon loads of supplies of all kinds were sent over the Bear creek route, a natural pass through the sand hills, to Grant county and other counties on the south. The mail with four or six horses was sent to the south every day. The prospects were encouraging for Hartland to become a large city. A saloon was not needed. A young man by the name of Delemater tried it once. He put up a building and brought his stock of goods and called it a drugstore. But his rooms for cards and gambling did not rent well. His business went the wrong way and there was no gain. He finally died of typhoid fever and his friends came and took him and his property away. The citizens furnished amusement by organizing plays and helping with school entertainments. A large skating rink in the store building of Rosewell & Son was popular with the young folk.

When the time arrived for another election, the county-seat question had to be settled. The courthouse had burned and the tug of war between Lakin and Hartland was imminent. Lakin by some means secured the heaviest end of the voting, got the county seat and moved it from Hartland in 1894. That necessitated all of the county officers moving, too, and then a number of families followed. All of this boomed Lakin and discouraged Hartland. Business men began to move away. Some moved to Ulysses, in Grant county, and other places in the south counties; some went to Colorado and the West. E. S. Snow, who then kept a general store, remained a while after the others left, then gave up and moved to Lakin. The Madison house was taken down, moved to Lakin and rebuilt for a dwelling. From a busy thoroughfare with every encouraging prospect of becoming a large city, Hartland diminished to something not unlike Goldsmith's Deserted Village, and only a few of the oldest settlers are left to tell the story.

Mrs. Lizzie Gray, who came to Hartland with her husband in the early '80's, is about the only one who has remained with the little city through all of its varying fortunes. She has been the efficient postmistress there for many years.

Westward, Ho!

Charles S. Smith

MY PARENTS came to Hartland, then in Hamilton county, in 1886. As I had a lucrative position in the Indian territory (plowing corn at $10 a month), it was thought best that I should stay with it. My brother, Fred, was also left behind. While chauffering a team of mules up and down the corn rows I day-dreamed of western Kansas, and when in town on Saturday nights and Sundays exerted myself to learn something about that wonderful country.

A friend told me that he had a magazine containing an article about western Kansas. I borrowed the magazine and read the article. It was entitled "The Last Buffalo Hunt" [6] and described a hunt made by C. J. "Buffalo" Jones to capture buffalo calves to put with native cows on the Jones ranch near Garden City. Hartland was mentioned once in the article. It stated that one of the ropers was Ezra Carter, of Hartland. This was not the last buffalo hunt, as "Buffalo" Jones made another in 1887 and brought up thirty-three calves.

In February, 1887, my brother and I received the call to come to Hartland, so we started on the great adventure. I have never had quite the thrill out of starting any place since that I had out of the start for Hartland. We connected with the Santa Fe at Halstead and from there on the train was crowded all the way and the talk was mostly of western Kansas. Two conductors were kept busy collecting tickets.

We found Hartland a thriving little city of perhaps one thousand population. All lines of business seemed to be well represented. There were three hotels, two newspapers, a bank, three hardware stores, one wholesale grocery store, feed stores, livery stables, harness shops, barber shops, a millinery store and five lumber yards.

Five lumber yards in a town of that size sounds as if the lumber business might have been overdone, but waste no sympathy on the lumber dealer. He was doing very nicely. Grant and Stevens counties were being settled and new towns were springing up every few days, each destined to be, according to the advertisements, the "Peerless Princess of the Plains." As Hartland had the only natural pass through the sand hills (see advertisements) much of the freighting was done from there. It was a common sight to see fifty or sixty wagon loads of lumber start out of Hartland in the early morning.

Main street was pretty well built up on both sides from the railroad to the canal. There was one big hotel north of the railroad; several businesses had been established south of the canal and one store south of the river.

The business men were nearly all comparatively young men, all working together for anything that would benefit Hartland. One real-estate man with the alliterative and suggestive name of Peter Platter was one of the few old men in business that I recall. Newspapers and advertisers of that time were much given to alliteration and I have since wondered if the name Peter Platter was not assumed for business purposes. It seemed entirely too fitting just to have happened.

A daily stage line from Hartland to Ulysses made connections with one from Hugoton to Ulysses. The stage was a real Western stage drawn by four horses, and the driver was just the kind of man you would expect to see in the box if you read, Western stories. He boasted that he could drive from Ulysses to Hartland in three hours and seventy-five minutes.

I heard a good deal of talk about the enumerator's coming. I didn't know what it was all about but realized that it had something to do with establishing a county seat, a big thing in those days. One day I saw a number of men getting saddle horses and guns and thought a manhunt was being organized but was told that the enumerator was coming to take the census and this party was going with him to see that Hartland got a square deal. Other towns that were candidates for the county-seat honors were represented in the same way.

It was a wonderful experience to live in this country at that time. Hard times came later and many had to leave, but no old timer regrets that he was here in those days.

Chantilly

Francis L. Pierce

AMONG the phantom cities of the western counties, those communities which sprang up like mushrooms, over night, flourished for a few brief months and then disappeared, was Chantilly in Kearny county.

A great rush was made to western Kansas in 1886 and 1887 to secure land under the homestead and timber claim acts. Every quarter section of government land was taken. In 1887 the original lines of Kearny county were reestablished and Col. S. S. Prouty was appointed by Governor Martin to enumerate the inhabitants and get an expression of their preference for the location of a county seat. Settlers in the northern part of the county decided that it should be in the north and near the center of the county, and suggested that Mrs. Pierce, who had a ranch house and a well ten miles north and three miles west of Lakin on S. 36, T. 22, R. 37, should lay out a town which they agreed to support for county seat. At a meeting of the settlers it was decided to name the town Chantilly, in memory of the battle of the Civil War in which Gen. Philip Kearny, for whom the county was named, was killed. Lakin and Hartland were also candidates for the county seat.

Mrs. Pierce entered the contest with enthusiasm and determination. She built a hotel, the only two-story building erected, and had a town well dug. Soon many business houses and dwellings were built. A. H. Barnard took charge of the hotel. General stores were opened by Schmiezer Bros. and by W. F. Hazard. J. W. Palmer and his son, Charles Palmer, operated respectively a blacksmith shop and a livery stable. Lon Whorton established the Kearny County Coyote which represented the interests of the settlers of the northern part of the county. James A. Wilson was an able attorney and I. A. Knight engaged in land and insurance business. A post office was established and Lon Whorton was appointed postmaster.

A school was opened in the winter of 1886-1887. Mrs. Wilson, wife of James A. Wilson, county attorney, was the first teacher. Cyrus Russell, who later became county superintendent of schools, was teacher in 1887-1888, and Miss Nina Sykes, a sixteen-year-old girl from the Jimmy Kemper neighborhood northeast of Lakin, taught in 1888-1889.

Church services were held, the Rev. Adam List preaching. Sunday school was organized and well attended.

Many social affairs brought the people together. An active literary society furnished entertainment. The debating section fought out and decided many weighty questions. Spelling matches were added to the program. Dances were frequently held at the hotel and people came for many miles to attend. Perhaps the largest community gathering held in the town was the Fourth of July celebration in 1887. Settlers from a distance drove in the day before and camped in order to enjoy the entire day. There were representatives from practically every quarter on the flats and many drove from Lakin and Hartland. The large flag used for the occasion was made by Mrs. F. L. Pierce and Mrs. Major Hall.

The town well was an important feature. Securing an adequate water supply was one of the biggest problems of the early settlers. It was necessary to sink wells from one hundred to two hundred feet, and few could afford to do so. So hauling water occupied much time, and one of the common sights on the prairie was a wagon or sled with several barrels covered with burlap sacks which kept the water from splashing.

Colonel Prouty, finally, after many stirring events, completed the enumeration of the county in July, 1887. He found the necessary 2,500 population, but the report was contested and thrown into the courts. At this time Chantilly, having the greater population around it, led in the preference for county seat. This will be more easily understood when it is realized that the sand hills were practically without vegetation and unoccupied, that Lakin and Hartland divided the vote along the river and railroad, and that half of the land for ten miles on each side of the railroad belonged to the railroad company under the railroad grant and that settlers were interested only in government land which could be obtained without money consideration.

The years 1887 and 1888 were very dry, and, with general economic conditions unfavorable, many settlers left. The sod houses and dugouts that had dotted the prairie fell into decay and the more substantial buildings were moved away. Few of those who left the county ever returned.

Kearny county was finally organized on March 27, 1888, with a temporary county seat at Lakin. Chantilly now dropped out of the contest, leaving Lakin and Hartland to fight it out. At an election held February 19, 1889, Hartland became county seat for five years. Then another election for the permanent location was held June 26, 1894, and Lakin was the successful contestant. Chantilly disappeared from the map and Hartland's fate has been little better.

The County's Largest Township

Mrs. Luella Stutzman

SOUTH SIDE township is bounded on the north by the Arkansas river, on the east by Finney county, on the south by Grant county and on the west by Hartland township.

By right of discovery the French claimed a vast territory, which included South Side, until 1762 when it was ceded to Spain. In 1800 it again became a French possession. After three years under French rule it passed to the United States with the Louisiana Purchase.

There was constant strife about the ownership of some of this territory, and in 1819 the Arkansas river was made the boundary line between the United States and Spanish territory west of the 100th meridian, which passes through Dodge City. Thus, what is now South Side township again became a part of Spain. When the Republic of Mexico was organized this locality became a part of it, and after the Republic of Texas was formed in 1836 there was continual dispute over the ownership of this part of the Great Southwest. Since the close of the Mexican War in 1848 these hills and valleys have borne allegiance to the Stars and Stripes.

Important information about the organization of the township is thought to have been destroyed when the courthouse at Hartland burned January 4, 1894. However, it is known that our first township board held its first meeting September 19, 1888. First officers were G. H. Tuttle, trustee; D. C. Hawthorne, treasurer, and Emmet Andress, clerk. Space does not permit a list of all those who held offices in the township, so mention will be made only of those still living in South Side. They are: George Stallard, W. H. Johnson, E. A. Smith, Robert Warthen, George Bahntge, J. W. Sinclair, W. H. Stutzman, R. W. Beaty, B. O. Corbett, M. E. Lee, Walter Patton, and Lewis Roderick. W. H. Stutzman holds the record for length of service as township officer, having been on the board for twenty years.

The first year's work was mainly that of laying out roads and building bridges across ditches and laterals. We have had a township board ever since our organization, and the principal business is still roads and bridges, with poisoning prairie dogs and burning fire-guards thrown in for variety.

In the earlier days we always elected a justice of the peace &emdash; sometimes two of them &emdash; but since the death of C. H. Longstreth and John Andress we take all our troubles to Lakin, including marriages.

Settlers of South Side township were cut off from town by the Arkansas river so when one of the occasional floods came along everyone hurried to town for a supply of groceries, medicines, etc., to last a week or two, for we had learned to expect a span or more of the old wooden bridge to wash out. On one occasion a flood happened to be at its worst the day before a wedding was to be solemnized on the South Side. The groom took no chances on the bridge. A telephone message was sent to the minister, the Rev. I. R. Williams, and minister and guests were taken across the shaky bridge Saturday afternoon. Part of the bridge washed out that night but Claude Stutzman and Lola Greeson were married on scheduled time the next day.

Sometimes there were weeks at a time when only the bravest among us would venture to walk across a plank or swinging rope bridge, or trolley across the gap to make the trip to town. Then he would bring everybody's mail, some medicine perhaps and other small purchases for his neighbors.

South Side township has the widest portion of the river valley in the county. It also has a wide range of sand hills furnishing excellent grazing for livestock. These same hills also provide a place of refuge in time of flood. In 1921 when the great Pueblo flood was on its way east we were warned so alarmingly that practically all of the residents spent several nights in the hills. The flood came, but no damage was done to buildings.

Trail Blazers of South Side Township

Mrs. Florence Stoneman Stallard

BEGINNING at the west side of South Side township in 1879 was the Moreland Brothers' ranch, now known as the Allen Brothers' ranch. Henry Dutch built a stone house in 1879 two miles below the Moreland ranch. Next was a tent camp south of Hartland managed by "Red River" Anderson, whose nearest neighbor on the east was Frederick Meyer, near our township river ford. He was the father of Fritz and Billy Meyer.

Next and south of Deerfield was the famous XY ranch owned and operated by Fred Harvey of the Harvey eating houses. Sam Corbett worked on this ranch in 1880 or 1881 under Major Falls, manager. Another settler south of what is now Holcomb was Col. W. R. Hopkins, father of Judge Richard J. Hopkins. I am told that this was the entire settlement of the South Side before 1880 and 1881. It was open country to the Red river, with not even a fence except an occasional corral. In the early '80's our township population began to increase. Settlers engaged in farming, fruit growing, stock raising and timber culture.

The lumber from which the first houses were built was either ferried or wagon forded across the Arkansas river. The first bridge was a toll bridge with charges of fifty cents for a team or a vehicle and twenty-five cents for a horse and rider.

The first owners of the South Side ditch were railroad officers who planned the project and saw its future possibilities, but were obliged to sell for lack of operating funds.

The Pioneer school was the first to be standardized in the county. Our community club was the first to be organized in the county. Our latest trail blazing was "Achievement Day," October 18, 1930, the first to be held in our county.

The First School of South Side

Mrs. Mary Gibson Smith

AFTER their new homes were established the great problem confronting the pioneer settlers of South Side township was the education of their children.

They formed the first rural school district (District No. 18) February 13, 1889, and the organization was completed on March 9, 1889. The members of the first school board were H. M. Smith, Mrs. Ella Seyes and George Shumard.

At the first meeting it was voted to erect a brick school building, and it was a landmark in the South Side community for over thirty years. It was known as the brick school house, and served not only as a school house but as a church and community center.

The first rural annual meeting was held in the new school building on July 25, 1889. Cyrus Russell was county superintendent at this time.

Some of the first pupils of this school were the children of J. O. Parker, J. E. Bennett and Fritz Meyer, Sr. The first teacher was Miss Allie Davis.

At the annual meeting on April 14, 1919, it was voted to build a new school house to take the place of the old brick structure. The new building is a well equipped, modern standard school. It is a credit to the community as are also the three other schools now in the township. Patrons of this school have been pioneers in many worthy projects, so Pioneer was the name suggested by Mrs. W. H. Stutzman and Mrs. E. A. Smith for the new building. Many of the teachers have been graduates of Lakin high school and many pupils from this school have made excellent records in high school and college.

A Partial List of the County's Early Settlers [7]

Anderson, "Red River." Bopp, Frank.

Andress, John. Boylan, Alonzo B.; 1874.

Bandall, George, and family; Boylan, Mrs. Alonzo B., and 1879. children, Lenora and Ambrose;

Barnard, A. H.

Beckett, Neil; 1886. 1875.

Beckett, Robert; 1885. Brackett, Theodore T., and Bennett, James E., wife and family; 1880. children, Brown, Theodore, and wife.

Carrie and Lena; 1881. Browne, D. H.

Bruce, Robert; 1885. Jessup, A. R.; 1884. Bruner, Isaac. Joice, Richard; 1873.

Burtch, Harrison, wife and Keep, E. N.; 1883. family; 1879. Kell, Edward F.; 1884.

Carter, John H., and family; Kell, Lucius; 1886. 1878. Kell, Tom; 1886.

Caswell, Mrs.; 1882. Kelly, R. K.; 1885.

Chapman, C. O. Knight, I. A.

Cleaveland, H. H.; 1878. Kuhn, John; 1888. Clinesmith, W.; 1890's. Lee, Allen, and family; 1881. Cochran, H. H. Lee, Myles, and family; 1881. Coerber, C. A. J.; 1890's. Logan, W. B.; 1886. Commons, John; 1885. Longstreth, Charles H. Corbett, Samuel H.; 1881. Loucks, William P., wife and Curran, Patrick. children, Charles and Fay; Darr, Henry S.; 1884. 1879.

Davies, Warren. McConaughey, J. C.; 1887. Dillon, Joseph; 1879. McIlwain, B. W.; 1886. Dillon, Marie; 1879. McNellis, John; 1887. Dodds, George; 1886. McQueen, Dick.

Downing, A. R.; 1885. Madison, Mrs. Sara E.; 1886. Dulebohn, G. C. Martin, Emery; 1886.

Durand, James. Meyer, Frederick, and wife; Dutch, Henry. 1879.

Entz, John; 1890's. Meyer, Wilhelm; 1879. Eskelund, Hans; 1890's. Miller, John.

Eyman, George; 1885. Moltz, Adam; 1890's. Eyman, James; 1885. Morgan, Thomas, and son, Faldtz, F. W.; 1885. Thomas; 1879.

Foxworthy, Samuel T., and Mullany, James; 1887. family; 1879. Nicholls, H. C.; 1885.

Friesner, John S.; 1884. Oliver, Col. E. E.; 1887. Froehlich, Karl W. O'Loughlin, John; 1873. Garrettson, G. G.; 1882. Palmer, Asa.

Glass, R. B.; 1886. Palmer, Charles.

Hale, John; 1885. Palmer, Ed.

Harkness, E. B.; 1886. Palmer, J. W.

Hart, J. C.; 1890's. Pearl, Thomas J.; 1876. Hartman, Christian, 1884. Philips, Samuel L., wife and Hazard, W. F. children, Tillie and Lewis; Hibbard, Samuel. 1878.

Hill, George; 1879. Pierce, Francis L., and wife; Holloway, Jacob. 1879.

Hopkins, Col. W. R. Potter, Guy.

Houser, Stephen; 1886. Rasmunsen, Nels.

Hurst, Frederick; 1885. Russell, Cyrus.

Jacobson, Nels. Russell, William; 1881.

James, Jesse. Schmiezer Brothers.

Sower, Fred; 1887. Waterman, James H., wife and Stayton, A. A. G., and family; children, Blanche and 1881. Charles; 1880.

Stoughton, Charles. Watts, Ed.

Sullivan, Daniel; 1880. Wheeler, W. B.

Tate, G. H. Whitaker, John.

Thompson, Hans; 1890's. White, A. D.; 1890's. Thorne, Capt. &emdash; &emdash; White, Julian; 1888.

Thorpe, T. N. White, Mrs. Margaret; 1873. Traylor, F. A., and wife; 1886. White, Margaret C.; 1873. Treece, W. C. Whorton, Lon.

Tuggle, Thomas; 1890's. Wilson, James A., and wife. Vezey, H. S.; 1881. Youngblood, Charles, and family; 1879.

NOTES

1. Laws of the State of Kansas (Topeka, 1873), p. 151, sec. 20.
2. An act to encourage the growth of timber on Western prairies was passed by congress on March 3, 1873. &emdash; Statutes, 42d Cong., 3d sess., p. 605. The bill provided that any person who would plant, protect and keep in good condition a certain acreage of timber should receive title to a tract of land at the end of eight years. The law was amended several times and finally repealed in 1891.
3. Thomas O'Loughlin was a brother of John O'Loughlin. His store was burned by a band of Cheyenne Indians.
4. Charles J. Dillon is widely known as an editor and writer. He was connected with the Kansas City (Mo.) Star for many years, also the Capper publications at Topeka, and in 1910 founded the chair of industrial journalism at Kansas State College, Manhattan. &emdash; See Who's Who, 1936.
5. For sketches of Francis Xavier Aubrey see The Kansas Historical Collections, v. 7, p. 51; v. 9, pp. 561-562.
6. This article appeared in the Kansas Magazine for September, l886. The author's name is given as E. Nough, obviously a pseudonym.
7. Writers of the preceding sketches in nearly every instance included a list of names of early settlers. In order to prevent repetition and to bring the names together, this list was compiled by combining individual lists. It is presented as a partial list, only, of early settlers in Kearny county. Approximate dates of arrival are given when known.