Rossville Agricultural History

Rossville Agricultural History

Farming/Ranching

Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings.

From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land.

The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.”

One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.”

But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town.

Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks.

One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission.

Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built.

The following is a list of early farmers:
Name | Year to Rossville | Origin

Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West
Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa.
W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio
Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan
John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia
William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia
John DeGraff 1865
James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio
Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio
John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa.
Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio
Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia
T.J. Kiernan 1868
Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio
Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany
Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio
R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio
Michael O’halaron 1880
Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England
S.J. Oliver 1876
Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky
Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio
M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana
Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio
Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa.
Frank Van Vleck 1878
William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa.
Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa.
Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland
Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia
Samuel Beals 1867
E.S. Doud 1869
W.L. James
Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871
Frank L. Sanders
John Heslet
Noel Graves
W.W. Janes
J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York
Startup, Ab
Thomas Attebury 1877
George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria
D. Hartzell 1872
Francis E. Williams 1876 New York
Captain John Gutshall
Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio
Martin Nason 1872
Jos. Van Vleck 1878
M.L. Cless 1876
B.W. Higginbotham 1861
Thomas Moss 1877
J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana
J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana
H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois
Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia
Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland

Rossville Community Library

Rossville Community Library

Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public.