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Garden City History - Page 2
The townsite
of Garden City was resurveyed by the Garden City Town Company, and
the streets made to run at right angles to the Santa Fe Railroad
tracks. The engineer completed the survey in April, 1879, and also
put down side tracks that month. The frame for a station house was
loaded on cars at Topeka and shipped to Garden City. Carpenters
came to finish the building, and by May 1, 1879, as good and substantial
a depot as any on the road was completed. It was nicely painted
and set up on posts about two feet above the ground. It had a front
platform twelve feet wide and eighty feet long, and a platform eight
feet wide on the other three sides. C. J. Jones was installed as
the first station agent. He had his office well arranged and seemed
to understand the business. Tom Daly who had been at Pierceville,
was transferred to Garden City to take charge of the telegraph office.
The first telegraph message was sent from the Garden City station
May 25, 1879, by C. S. Merrill, and read:
"Office
O.K. at Garden City."
Only one tree
was planted in Garden City in 1878, and that was in front of the
hotel. Mrs. W. D. Fulton gave it four buckets of water a day to
keep it growing, two in the morning and two in the evening. But
about the first of April, 1879, C. J. Jones shipped a carload of
trees from Sterling, Kansas, and donated them to the town to decorate
the streets. The remark was made at that time, "if the desert does
not bloom like the rose it will not be the fault of C. J. Jones".
These were all cottonwood, but they were nice trees. They planted
them all up and down Main Street, and on the side streets. Only
a few of these trees survived the drouth of 1879.
The first marriage among the settlers at Garden City was that of
John A. Stevens, age 29, and Sadie A. Fulton, age 18. The license
was issued by N. B. Klaine, probate judge of Ford county, on February
10, 1879, and they were married by Reverend O. W. Wright, of Dodge
City, pastor of the Presbyterian church, same date. The second wedding
was that of Emanuel Schnars, age 32, and Belle Turner, age 18. They
were married May 5, 1879, by R. G. Cook, justice of peace, at Dodge
City. M. G. Smith and Miss Emma Carlton were married August 5, 1879,
at the home of W. R. Stapleton. This was the first wedding to actually
occur in Garden City.
The first child born in Garden City was Code Wilkinson, the daughter
of Levi and Virginia Wilkinson. She was born December 1, 1879. She
is now Mrs. H. B. Holcomb, of Long Beach, California.
In the spring of 1879 people began coming in to locate in Garden
City and on surrounding homesteads. Prominent among them were the
families of Isaac Hurst, J. M. Day, Eli Keyser, Richard D. Stuver,
Nathan B. Adams, Levi Wilkinson, H. W. Crow, the Craigs, Roll Hopper,
and a number of others came later in the summer. On one of his trips
in April, C. J. Jones met Frederick Finnup, who had come to Kansas
from Vevay, Indiana, to look for a location. He was persuaded by
Mr. Jones to come on to Garden City. Mr. Finnup was at once convinced
with the future growth and development of the town and country and
decided to stay. He bought the first lot from the Garden City Town
Company, and was issued deed No. 1, April 22, 1879. He began at
once the erection of a full two-story building, the ground floor
to be used as a store room, and the rooms above as a place for his
family to live.
The gaining of Frederick Finnup as a citizen of the new town was
of second importance to securing the railroad, because his ambitions
were backed by means, which the others lacked. He began at once
a building campaign which continued steadily, but in a conservative
way, and added greatly to the building up of Garden City. He was
ready to boost every worthy cause, and helped the settlers to stay
after the droughts had made them destitute. He occupied comparatively
the position of banker, and seldom turned any away who came to him
for a reasonable loan. He had faith in his fellow citizens, and
they in turn had respect for his good judgment. A man who has lived
here many years remarked that he drew at various times from Mr.
Finnup money to the amount of 14,000 and offered to give security
for the amount. But Mr. Finnup knew that the man's word was as good
as his note, and in a short time he received every cent of the loan.
As soon as Mr. Finnup completed his first building, Mrs. Finnup
and their three children, George W., Edward G., and Sallie M., came
to Garden City. The sun was just coming up when they got off the
train, and as she stood on the depot platform looking at the few
scattered buildings, and the country so barren of trees and vegetation,
she was terribly disappointed. "Oh, Fred," she exclaimed, "Why did
you bring me to such a place?" The children romped and played and
the life in a new country held many thrills for them, but Mrs. Finnup,
in spite of her determination to do her part in this frontier settlement,
would cry day after day, while the hot winds almost rocked her rooms
above the store, as she thought of her old home, with its trees
and flowers.
Lumber arrived April 1, 1879, for the Landis and Hollinger Lumber
Yard, and for the erection of their two-story building. They put
in a large stock of goods in the store room, with Levi Wilkinson
as manager. The hall above the store was used for school and church,
and all community activities for the next three years. W. H. Armentrout
was manager of the lumber yard.
The first issue of "The Garden City Newspaper" appeared April 3,
1879, and for genuine truthfulness and earnest co-operation for
the interests of Garden City, it has never been excelled. Three
months after the paper was established, the editor states, "there
are now forty buildings in town." The list of advertisers were as
follows:
- Garden City
Hotel, Wm. D. Fulton, prop.
- N. F. Weeks,
Blacksmith & Wagon Shop
- Fulton &
Stevens, Livery & Feed
- N. R. Gardner,
attorney at law
- Charles Perrell,
plasterer
- Wm. Groendyke,
Lumber
- D. R. Menke,
Groceries, Boots & Shoes
- J. W. Weeks,
Land Agent, Notary Public, Surveyor
- M. G. Smith,
Painter
- Fulton &
Stevens, Hardware, Lumber, Flour & Feed
- G. D. McConnell
& Company, Architects & Builders
- Williams
& North, Contractors and Builders W. B.
- Wheeler,
Jeweler
- Central House,
L. T. Walker, prop.
- J. D. Duncan,
Harness
- Landis &
Hollinger, General Store, Lumber & Implements
- Rock & Adams,
Butchers
- George Koons,
Grocery
- A. T. Levy,
Livery
- Lou C. Reed,
Concrete Factory
- R. N. Hall,
Doctor
- N. M. Carter,
Groceries, Grain & Vegetables
- Pennsylvania
House, J. B. Hayward, prop.
- Frederick
Finnup, Lumber & General Merchandise
- Jacobs &
English, Druggists
Prairie fires were
terrible in 1879. The year before had been wet and a dense growth
of buffalo grass covered the whole country, while on the fertile
bottom lands was a grass that grew shoulder high, but this grass
was brown and dead by the spring of 1879, and there were no spring
rains to start it to growing. Many fires were accidently started,
usually from the fires of campers. Once started, they would soon
be beyond control and sweep rapidly across the prairie, the fiery
tongues of flame lapping up everything in their course, and night
after night the sky would be lighted by a red glare.
Adjutant General P. 5. Noble was in Garden City May 22, 1879, and
organized a militia company. James R. Fulton was elected captain,
and J. W. Weeks lieutenant. The company had seventy-five members,
nearly all of whom were frontiersmen, with considerable experience
on the plains. They were all supplied with Sharp's rifles and no
doubt would have given the Indians a warm reception should they
have appeared with their little "tomahawks". This organization was
called the Seventh Independent Militia-Cavalry Company.
On the evening of June 28, 1879, Garden City was visited by the
hardest rain storm it had yet experienced. About 4 o'clock large,
black clouds began to gather in the northwest and travelled southeast
at a rapid rate, al- though the wind was squarely against them.
In a few minutes the wind shifted to the northwest, and immediately
the storm struck. The rain fell in torrents, flooding the streets,
and it was accompanied by considerable wind. The first thing the
wind took hold of was W. B. Wheeler's new building, wrestled with
it a moment and then set it out in the middle of the street, right
side up with care. It next tackled M. G. Smith's building and took
a part of the roof off; after this it visited the lumber yards and
scattered lumber promiscuously between the town and the Arkansas
river. An old lady in attempting to go from one house to another,
was blown a considerable distance, but was finally rescued and carried
into the Pennsylvania House. The rain wet the ground to a depth
of about eighteen inches.
This was the first and last rain that summer. It started the grass,
but the crops were very poor. The settlers became very discouraged
and some left. In order to hold them the first irrigation ditch
was dug from a point on the river west of town and ran through the
town. People discovered they could grow most anything by irrigating
and those who remained were content. But business was pretty slow
and the town did not grow any, although a few new people came in
to take the place of those who left.
Dan Larmor came to Garden City in the summer of 1880, and the following
November he married Miss Mary Frances Simon, whose parents lived
on the land just east of Garden City. Mr. and Mrs. Larmor have lived
here since that time, and on November 10, 1930, they celebrated
their golden wedding anniversary. They hold this record over any
other Garden City couple. The Larmor land was south of the river.
They owned a mule and a horse and these were their only means of
travel. Mrs. Larmor thought no more of swimming her mule across
the river at flood time with a baby in her arms, and a sack of groceries
tied on behind than she would now in driving an automobile across
the bridge. Since those first years Mr. Larmor has developed some
fine farms, and is still a Garden City booster.
B. L. Stotts arrived in Garden City in 1880, and since that time
the Stotts family has always been numbered among the most substantial
citizens of the town. Mrs. Stotts and their children, Eugene, Ethel
and Raymond, did not come until May 2, 1881. Mr. Stotts was on hand
to welcome them at the train, but his wife was not favorably impressed
when she looked over the town. The next day Mr. Stotts took her
for a drive into the country to show her the J. W. Gregory farm
west of Garden City. It was well improved and he thought it might
make her like the country better. But in speaking of that ride,
Mrs. Stotts admitted recently:
"When
Mr. Stotts took me out to see the Gregory place I wore a heavy
brown veil, and all the time he was telling me what a fine country
this would be, the tears were falling, unnoticed by him, beneath
the veil. He also promised to give me a piano, and he did so a
short time after. This was a Hale piano, and the first in Garden
City."
Mr. Stotts was
leading the family milk cow down Main Street one morning soon after
they had arrived in Garden City, when he noticed two men coming
toward him. The one in the lead was H. M. deCordova, but he was
walking backward. The other man was N. J. Earp and he was following
close with a drawn gun in his hand. Gonzalvo, the ten-year old son
of deCordova, was playing in the street, and his black Spanish eyes
snapped when he saw what was happening to his father. He ran full
speed to their home. Just as the two men reached Mr. Stotts, the
boy returned. He slipped up behind his father and put a gun in his
hand. "Dad, here is your gun," he whispered. The situation changed
instantly. N. J. Earp, the town constable, did some rapid manoeuvering,
and soon had Stotts and the cow between him and Mr. deCordova, and
continued to use them for a breast cover as he backed away to a
safe distance.
A. H. Burtis came to Garden City March 13, 1881, for an antelope
hunt with his friend, C. J. Jones. The Burtis and the Jones families
had been neighbors in Illinois. Mr. Burtis thought he had arrived
at the end of the world when he alighted at the Santa Fe station,
but within a few days he was overtaken by the "spirit of the West",
and decided that Western Kansas was the place he was going to make
his home, and he has claimed this as his residence since that time.
He has always taken an active part in the unbuilding of Garden City
and community, and has held several public positions, including
that of mayor for several years.
Mr. Burtis was married to Ella E. Worrell, daughter of Squire Worrell.
To this union was born one daughter, who is now Mrs. Gertrude Cone.
Mrs. Burtis died when Gertrude was eight days old.
In 1891 he was united in marriage to Miss Sadie Mack of Garden City,
and their children are Preston Arthur of Garden City, Aurel and
Maxine, of Chicago, and Aleyn Henry of New York. After fifty years
residence in Garden City, Mr. Burtis feels he made no mistake in
coming to the frontier in an early day, and staying here after he
came. His experiences in life have been many and interesting.
Mr. and Mrs. 0. V. Folsom heard of the great opportunities awaiting
people in Sequoyah county, so they sold their comfortable home near
Osage City, Kansas, and with a few others came here to establish
a new home early in 1882. Mrs. Folsom is still living, and recalls
those first years:
"Before
we could irrigate and we were living on our dry land, nothing
growing, no near neighbors, we frequently had calls from the land
agents showing their prospective buyers our beautiful country.
One gentleman I remember with interest was from Michigan, and
I will never forget the look of pity he gave me as he asked me:
`Mrs. Folsom, why did you ever come here?' I did not have the
courage to tell him we came because we heard it was such a grand
place to grow onions.
"I will never forget the sensation I received when the water from
the ditch came with such force through the flood gates and watered
our parched land. I have since seen both Niagara and Trenton Falls
of New York, and I believe with no more feeling of pleasure and
awe than when I watched the water as it poured from the flood
gates at the northwest corner of our farm. Mr. Folsom was the
first, I believe, to raise a crop of alfalfa in that part of the
country twelve miles northwest of Garden City. From the proceeds
of the first load he sold he presented me with a gold watch which
he purchased from Charley Dickinson, and it is still highly treasured
by me."
J. T. Pearce came
to Garden City in 1882 and engaged in the sprouting and cultivation
of sweet potatoes. In this business he was very successful, and
because of fair dealing with his fellowmen, he was an esteemed citizen.
For a long time he was a member of the city council, and was later
elected justice of the peace. He was a devoted member of the Grand
Army of the Republic and a licensed preacher of the Methodist church.
Mr. Pearce reared his family in Garden City, and each member has
been prominent in everything that has been for the betterment of
the town.
Whiskey, dance houses, prize fights and plots of ground to "bury
them with their boots on", have not been necessary to the success
of Garden City. Her claim to prosperity and greatness has been brought
about by good moral sense, wisdom and virtue of a sober, contented
people; backed by agricultural conditions that are among the best
in the state. But in the life of a town, as in the life of a person,
things happen that are to be regretted. As time went on, Garden
City, like every community, has had shootings, robberies and even
murders.
The first death resulting from a shooting affair occurred here on
Easter Sunday, in April, 1882. The following account was gathered
from talking to P. C. Pegan, A. H. Burtis, and others who were living
here at that time, and this is the way it happened:
In the early eighties, the Santa Fe had what they called "emigrant
cars". These were old passenger coaches attached to freight trains.
It was a slow way to travel, but the fare was very low, and the
people could sleep, cook and eat in the cars.
Many of these passengers were honest, hard working people, going
to new locations to build homes, or to find work. But there was
always a rough element, taking advantage of this low rate to travel
over the country, just to have a good time, and out looking for
adventures in the "wild west". This latter class considered it great
sport to look and act like "regular two-gun men" whose country they
imagined they were invading. They carried firearms and used them
pretty reckless, partly for devilment, shooting out of the car windows
at rabbits, coyotes, antelope and birds, but some of them went farther
and would see how close they would come to cattle, and even people
travelling along the road, without quite hitting them. Sometimes
when several were travelling together they would slip out when the
train stopped at a station and make a raid on a store. For this
reason, Levi Wilkinson, manager of the Landis and Hollinger store,
was always on guard against these emigrant ruffians. Capt. J. R.
Fulton was assisting in the store, and he always kept his Winchester
loaded, ready for use when the emigrant train was due.
In April, 1882, Robert Cartney, a young Scotchman from Pleasant
Valley, Pa., was a passenger on the western bound emigrant train.
He was on his way to Arizona to get the body of his father, who
had been killed by a cave-in while working in the copper mines.
The undertaker at Pleasant Valley, who was an old friend of the
Cartney family, and expected to take charge of the father's body
upon its arrival at the home town, accompanied Robert to the train.
He noticed that the young man was armed, and he cautioned him:
"Bobby,
I lived in Leadville, Colorado, for a few years, and let me tell
you something. You are going into a country where, if you take
out a gun, you've got to use it. You are a hot-headed young scamp,
and you better just leave those guns with me." But Bobby took
the guns.
It was about noon
on Easter Sunday when his train reached Garden City. Times were
extremely dull here and there was no money in the country. There
were several ambitious boys and girls from the best families in
Garden City who desired to make a little money, and they had a habit
of meeting these trains with baskets containing coffee, milk, pies,
boiled eggs, etc., which they sold to the emigrants.
On this Sunday George Finnup, Eugene Stotts and Willie Jones, son
of C. J., all about fifteen years of age, and some young girls,
were on hand to meet the train with their baskets of food. There
was a good crowd and by the time the train was ready to leave, they
had about sold out, but Robert Cartney had got off the train and
was scuffling with the boys, trying to get their baskets. He grabbed
a pan of something belonging to George Finnup, and started for the
train which was slowly moving out, and had reached the rear platform,
when George picked up a hard-boiled egg and threw it after him.
The egg missed its mark and struck a car wheel, but Cartney leaped
to the ground and a race started. George reached Main Street about
the time the train was on the west side of the present freight depot,
but Cartney was a well-built athlete, and soon overtook him, and
started shaking and kicking him.
Pliney C. Pegan, who operated the Metropolitan Hotel, had been watching
the fracas, ran out and took hold of Cartney, saying:
"Here, fellow, we don't allow that kind of business here." He tried
to hold him, but Cartney was strong, and swung around, and got loose.
He started back toward the train which was still moving west, but
as he ran, he began shooting back, firing three shots at Pegan,
who was following. But they all missed, although the two men were
not more than ten or fifteen feet apart. At this time a friend of
Cartney's began shooting at Pegan from the rear platform of the
train, and Pegan started for the depot to get a gun from B. B. Black,
who was agent.
By this time the whole crowd was excited. Squire Worrell had just
driven into town, and was standing on the opposite side of the street.
He had in his pocket a new 38 Colt's revolver, which belonged to
A. H. Burtis, who had just received the gun as a gift from Major
Falls of the XY ranch. H. M. deCordova, a cattleman who had spent
his life in the west and knew no fear, stepped up to Worrell, knowing
he usually carried a gun, and said excitedly, "Give me your gun,
Squire". Just as he took the gun, Cartney raised his arm to shoot
again, but deCordova fired first and it struck Cartney under his
uplifted arm, wounding him fatally. He was taken down to the depot
and laid on the plank platform. An old French doctor, by the name
of Ballou was over him examining his wound when Cartney asked:
"How
am I getting along, Doc?"
"You are getting along pretty fast; you'll be in hell in about
fifteen minutes," the doctor answered. And in a little while the
man was dead.
While all this
was taking place the passengers on the train had set the brakes
and stopped the train, and a number of men got off in a rage, vowing
they would burn the whole damn town, and their guns and rifles glistened
in the noonday sun, as they started down the track. The townspeople
scattered, and directly the barrels of Winchesters and carbines
were protruding from doorways and around corners. These had been
furnished to the town by the state to be used in case of Indian
raids, and were kept stored in a blacksmith shop. It looked like
a civil war was imminent. N. C. Jones fired some shots over the
heads of the passengers to let them know they had opposition. This
apparently calmed the emigrants, for they turned and went back to
the train, and it im- mediately pulled out.
Mrs. B. L. Stotts lived near the depot and heard the shooting, and
went out to see what it was all about. She was told there had been
some trouble between the boys who were selling food and the emigrants.
At once she was concerned about the safety of her son, Gene, who
had stepped out so business like with his basket of homemade goodies
to sell to the emigrants, and she ran down the street crying and
calling, "Genie! Genie!!" The train was on its way and the guns
of the citizens had all disappeared when Gene, who had taken refuge
under the depot, which was built up on posts, came crawling out,
dragging his empty basket, and yelled out, "Aw, here I am, mother."
An inquest was held over Robert Cartney, and he was buried that
evening. Mr. deCordova was cleared of any charges, the law holding
that the shooting was justifiable, as it was done in self defense.
The saddest part of the incident happened when Cartney's mother,
in company with the undertaker who had warned him, came to Garden
City for the body. She asked to see Mr. deCordova and George Finnup,
and they met her in front of Landis and Hollinger store. She was
dressed in black and looked very sad when she spoke to deCordova:
"You
are the man who killed Bobby," she sobbed.
He was touched
deeply with regret when he saw how great was her sorrow and he answered
her earnestly, "I am very sorry that I did it." Mr. deCordova lived
for many years after that at Cripple Creek, Colorado, and was a
highly respected citizen, but he often told his friends that he
would always regret his part in the Cartney affair. (Continue)
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