W.W. Ross was born in 1828 in Huron, Ohio. His parents, Sylvester and Cynthia Ross, were youthful pioneers on the Western Reserve of Ohio and were originally from the New England States. Ross was deprived of formal schooling as he grew up in the Ohio territory where educational advantages were limited. He learned much concerning history and government affairs from daily conversations with his father, who was a man of intelligence. In 1846 he went with his parents to the new territory of Wisconsin and saw history in the making as it grew into a state. By this time, Ross was 18 years of age and had become dissatisfied with farming. He took an interest in the printer's trade and learned the business at Janesville, Wisconsin. Proving himself an apt student, he soon became foreman of the FREE DEMOCRAT, a newspaper in Milwaukee. He married Mary Elizabeth Berry in the spring of 1855, and he and his bride started out in a wagon drawn by a team of oxen, pioneering into Kansas territory. Ross had with him as teamster a free Negro whose papers he had secured before leaving Wisconsin. He encountered serious difficulties in passing through Missouri when the Missourians at different times tried to take the Negro away from him, under the pretense that he was an escaped slave. Even after reaching Lawrence several unsuccessful attempts were made to take the man by force. This circumstance identified Ross prominently with the free-state men. He located on a claim near Lawrence and very shortly after a mob made a third attempt to capture the colored man. About 50 men, armed with rifles, rallied to the protection of Mr. Ross, his family, and the colored man, after threats of violence had been made against him. This is said to be the first rally against pro-slavery aggression. In 1855, Ross came to Topeka to assist John Speer in printing material for the constitutional convention. In December of 1856 he became associated with Speer in the editorial management and publication of the Kansas Tribune. This was one of the first newspaper publications in Kansas. Early in 1857, his brother, Edmund G. Ross (later appointed United States Senator to fill the unexpired term of James Lane) purchased Speer's interest and it was published by the Ross Brothers until the summer of 1858. In 1858, W.W. Ross was elected public printer and in 1859 the Ross Brothers established the Kansas State Record in Topeka. They conducted this publication until 1861, making it one of the finest, ablest Republican papers of Kansas, according to the words of a fellow newspaperman. In his participation in the free-state struggles, Ross engaged in conflicts between the free state and pro-slavery forces. He was a member of the Leavenworth constitutional convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for President. In May 1861, he was appointed by Lincoln as government agent to the Pottawatomi Indians, and served until 1865. It cannot be denied, however, that Ross helped negotiate for the purchase of Indian land for real estate speculators and other white men who wanted the land. In January, 1862, James Dahoney applied for a post office in the name of "Rossville" honoring William. W. Ross, Indian Agent. The government approved his request but there was no formal Rossville government. Because of the treaty of 1861, four townsite promoters were able to purchase the 100 acre townsite in 1870 from Anthony Navarre, a Mormon preacher, and his Indian wife So-na-ne-qua. The January 16, 1871, Journal of the Board of County Commissioners lists the official adoption of the new Rossville Township.
Adrian (A.C.) Sherman, Rossville, Kansas
Adrian Cyrus (A.C.) Sherman was elected State Representative from the 37th district in 1892 and 1894 as a Republican. He was born in 1847 at Mount Pleasant, Indiana. At the age of 15, he enlisted in Company E, 18th Indiana Infantry, and participated in 23 battles. He was a cousin of General W.T. Sherman and was with him on his march though the South. He became a veteran before his 18th birthday. In 1870, Sherman came to Kansas and speculated in real estate. He purchased from Fielding Johnson and Harvey H. Wilcox their share in the townsite of Rossville. The next year he constructed the first hotel in Rossville, his first store building on Main Street, and his residence south of town. He was a dealer in grain, hardware and implements, real estate and stock business, and operated a grocery store. He was considered one of the wealthiest men in the county. A.C. Sherman was appointed postmaster in Rossville in 1880 and served three years as County Commissioner. >He was married to Lou Fisher in 1866 and had three children: Alice M., Adrian F. and Daisy.
David Millington Howard, Rossville, Kansas
David Millington Howard was elected to the State Legislature as Representative of the 37th District in 1890 and served two additional terms. He was a member of the Progressive Democrat Party. Mr. Howard, a prominent citizen and successful farmer and stockraiser, was born on a farm, Oct. 15, 1841, in Shaftsbury, Vermont. He completed his education in Vermont and taught school for two years before beginning his farming career. He married Chettie Stanley, of Shaftsbury, Vermont, on Sept. 1, 1869. Three years later, in April of 1872, the Howards, accompanied by his parents and his wife's parents, came to Rossville, Kansas. They settled on a farm South of town, on a tract of 67 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Rogers presently reside on this original farm site. Until 1876, Mr. Howard engaged in general farming and then became interested in stock raising, adding large tracts of land and introducing a fine herd of shorthorn cattle. He was affiliated with a number of fraternal orders in Rossville, being a member of the Masonic Order, IOOF, AOUW, Grange and the Knights and Ladies of Security. He was one of the organizers of the Rossville State Bank and served as President. Mr. Howard had 4 brothers and 3 sisters. The 3 sisters and 1 brother came to Rossville to live. Mary married Cyrus Higginbotham, Lurana to J.K. Conley, Rachel to L.E. Moseley, and Otis was the father of Mrs. E.G. Griswold. Mr. Howard contracted pneumonia from exposure while engaged in the work of caring for his livestock and was ill several months before passing away on Feb. 11, 1913.
John Howerton was elected as a Republican to represent the 37th district in the State Legislature in 1905. He served one term. Mr. Howerton was born in Morgan County, Kentucky in 1838 and was reared on a Kentucky farm. He had a powerful physical physique which he retained throughout his life. During the Civil War he was a Northern sympathizer. At the opening of the war he was appointed U.S. Marshall and while leading a posse against a band of organized guerillas and bushwhackers in Elliott County, was ambushed and during the fighting that ensued, he and two of his men were shot. Mr. Howerton received a severe saber wound in his left cheek, which left a scar that remained throughout his life. In 1858, he married Mary Watson, a daughter of a prominent Kentucky farmer. John Howerton was the first person from the West Liberty, Kentucky area to migrate to Rossville, followed by many others whose descendants still reside here. He first settled in Tecumseh in 1868 and later moved to Rossville where he purchased a farm north of town. For years he was a successfully farmer and stock raiser. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Howerton, four grew to maturity, and three survived their mother, who passed away in June of 1910. The children were: William and Charles, who lived in Rossville, a daughter, Etta, who married Dr. J.M. Amis, and a son, James, who died a young man. Mr. Howerton always contributed his share toward the growth and development of Shawnee County and up to his death took a keen interest in civic and national affairs. He was associated with the Rossville State Bank, Silver Lake State Bank and the Delia State Bank. He remarried in 1914 to Elizabeth Van Anken. He passed away on January 9, 1925, at his home.
Laverne and Velma Zlatnik, Kansas Day Celebration, Delia, Kansas
This photo of J. Laverne Zlatnik and his wife, Velma F. Zlatnik, was taken at the Kansas Day Celebration at the Delia Grade School in 2001.
This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties.
Miss Lola Marie Boyles is eight months old in this portrait. She was born March 7, 1908. It is from the collection of Mabel Boyles, who was from Rossville, Kansas.
SHAWNEE COUNTY REPORTER Thursday, April 2, 1959, Page 9 Fighter Jess Willard’s retirement Jess Willard who was born in St. Clere, Kansas, and is remembered by some of the old-timers here as a horse-trader and livery stable operator at Delis and Emmett, is now living a quiet life in La Cresenta, California. Now in his 77th year the “Pottawatomie Giant” and his wife live very comfortably in their California home and just “take life easy”. They have five children, two sons and three daughters, and seven grandchildren. In a recent interview with a Los Angeles Herald-Express writer, Willard spoke with a keen memory of his fights with Jack Johnson, Jim Jeffries, Jim Corbett, and Jack Dempsey. It will be exactly 40 years ago on July 4 that Willard lost his heavy-weight boxing championship to Jack Dempsey in Toledo, Ohio. He says he can remember the fight as if it were yesterday and says of the fight that “mobsters took my title that afternoon and I hope to one day complete the true story of what happened. Dempsey had more in his gloves that afternoon than his fist!” He says Johnson was the greatest fighter of them all. Willard knocked him out in the 26th round to win the championship in Havana in 1915 on April 5 when the temperature was 115. It’s interesting to learn that Jess says if he had it to do all over again he’d choose another road. He says, “Knowing what I know now I guess I would have just kept on busting broncos instead of becoming a fighter. I got suckered into fighting in the first place. I used to ride herd on horses in Montana, round ‘em up and bring them to Kansas. After breaking “em I’d sell them to the farmers. “When automobiles came in the horse lost his popularity and when a friend suggested that a big strong guy like me should be a fighter I decided to take a crack at it.” This retired “man of leisure” is described as a “great guy” by his neighbors and the kids love him. He stands six fee six inches in his stocking feet and weighs in today at 255, just five pounds over his usual fighting weight.
Shawnee County Reporter, Rossville, Kansas
This portrait is of a woman and a man wearing dress clothes. It is from the collection of Mabel Boyles, who was from Rossville, Kansas.
This family portrait is of eleven people wearing dress clothes. It is from the collection of Mabel Boyles, who was from Rossville, Kansas.
This portrait is of an elderly woman whose family is pictured in RCL0003. It is from the collection of Mabel Boyles, who was from Rossville, Kansas.