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Whitson and Hatfield
Those interested in preserving the history of southwestern Kansas
are indebted to John H. Whitson of Rowley, Massachusetts, for the
story of Whitson and Hatfield. Mr. Whitson came to Sequoyah county
in 1884, and with his father, Aaron F. Whitson, and his sister Barbara,
homesteaded three quarter sections in section 20-22-33, northwest
of Garden City. He is now a well-known author, having had a number
of books published, and is listed in "Who's Who in America". In
his novel, "The Rainbow Chasers", published in 1904, he calls Garden
City the Golden City and portrays the boom days of 1886.
Mr. Whitson tells a story on himself that in some way got started
as to his singular literary activity while he was living on his
Sequoyah ranch: "Robertus C. Love, then a Garden City editor, later
and at the time of his death connected with the St. Louis Globe-Democrat,
wrote to me from St. Louis saying he was getting out a book that
would deal with characters of the old days on the plains; and that
he would like me to furnish him for inclusion in it the story of
how I used to write my stories in some kind of a house built on
an old windmill. I had to tell him that some one had hoaxed him.
I knew my stories might have been rather windy, as they were fiction
emanating from a wind-driven country, but I had written them in
an ordinary room, in an ordinary house, on an ordinary ranch.
"A man we became well aquainted with was John W. Gregory, who became
editor of the Garden City Sentinel, was probate judge, and later
laid out the town of Hatfield, adjoining our quarter sections on
the northwest. I helped in the surveying of Hatfield, carrying the
surveyors chain. We had at our place a post office names Whitson
which served the settlers of that part of the country. It was probably
the smallest post office in the United States as it occupied only
a portion of my mother's kitchen, with a few pigeonhole boxes for
letters, and some drawers for stamps and records. In 1886 the post
office was moved to Hatfield which started out with a fireworks
of advertising and collapsed. It was 15 miles northwest of Garden
City on the proposed line of the Denver, Garden City and Southeast
railroad, and on the line of the Cannon Ball Stage and U.S. mail
route to Leoti. At its best it had a store, operated by Thompson
and Crawford, a claim house occupied by Rev. Godley, a local minister,
a town hall, the Antelope hotel of eleven rooms, a few other houses;
and a little later having the most magnificient sod house that was
perhaps ever built.
"This sod house was erected by C.G. Coutant, who succeeded Gregory
of the Garden City Sentinel, coming out from New York where he had
held positions on New York City papers. His house of sod, cut from
the plains, was a large square structure, two stories high, with
four rooms on each floor. It had a shingle roof, board floors and
was ceiled; the inner walls smoothed down with coats of plaster
and whiting; with carpets on the floors, good furniture, a fine
piano, book cases, etc. It made a good, comfortable home of which
he had a right to be proud. He drove out to this home each day from
Garden City, lashing a span of fiery ponies that took him over the
trail at a great rate."
The Hatfield News was published from 1887 to 1889, the issues ceasing
with the death of the editor. The fall of Hatfield was due in part,
no doubt, to the uprising of Terry on the northeast.
J.N. Reeves and family lived four miles east of Hatfield. Mrs. Reeves
taught school in all the adjoining districts, teaching a term in
later years among the deserted ruins of Hatfield. Mr. Reeves was
a member of the board of education while his wife taught. Several
children came from without the district, but within the district
the school only consisted of the Reeves children.
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