127 10 1856 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/a151ad64c0b58e8a152b85404b25ff83.jpeg 400821d77560e304fb2515f56d4480bf Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1956-11-29 4-H Achievement Party, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource The Rossville Reporter Thursday, Nov. 29, 1956 Page 6 County 4-H Champions attending 4-H Achievement Party are as follows: Front row, left to right, Larry Sheets, Wesley Sheets, Gary Allen, Norman Jernigan, Walter Baxter, Loren Lynde, Jack Miller, Laurence Benander, Jerry Pufahl [sic: Kufahl], Back row: Carol Beil, Sue Carlot, Janice Nassett, Charlotte Godfrey, Nona Roderick, Joyce Comstock, Janie Jennings, Sharon Reser, Jean Nadeau, Sharon Bailey, Ellen Johnson, Cherie LaFromboise, and Dick Enochs. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 29, 1956 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0661 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/1947e25e41739b6d58399665a5a7a57a.jpeg f3bed3291cc69e5830e617a9712565b9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1957 4-H Initiation new members, Events & Projects, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource Rossville 4-H initiates 12 December 19, 1957 by Linda Kelsey The Rossville 4-H Club initiated 12 new members into their organization Monday evening. The initiation was patterned after the "Beat the Clock" program. The initiation committee was composed of Mrs. Gerald Reser, Jerry Reser, Artie Campbell, Donna Lee Reser, Lilly Reser, and Doug Kelsey. Those initiated were as follows: LaVon Harper, LaVerne Harper, Garry Nichols, J. W. Adams, Susan Nadeau, Jane Parr, Amy Jones, Corrine Adams, Rose Mary Jacobson. Carolyn Gresser, Harry Adams, and Bobby Stach. The club presented Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Davis with a Christmas present. The presentation was made by Laird French. Two project meetings were announced. Mrs. Rasch's sewing will meet January 27 at Linda Kelsey's home. Mrs. Reser's cooking group will have a meeting at the Community Building December 23 at 9 a. m. The program was as follows: a very interesting demonstration on "How to Pack a Suitcase" was given by Carla Rasch; Ginger Shannon a music appreciation talk on Elvis Presley; a safety talk "Safety at School" by Artie Campbell; Darryl Nichols a conservation talk on wildlife; Andy Dieter a conservation talk; Albert Miller in charge of other program had LaVon Harper play a piece on the piano; and Sandy Taylor had Bobby Stach play a solo on his trumpet. Refreshments and dancing followed. 4-H COUNTY-WIDE PARTY DECEMBER 30 by Linda Kelsey, December 26, 1957 The County-Wide Party will be in the Community Center Monday night, December 30. All Rossville 4-H families bring a dozen and a half cookies. Bring them whether you plan to be there or not. 4-H girls help to spread cheer December 26, 1957 by Sharon Reser, Jr. Leader "It is more blessed to give than to receive." That is the spirit that prevailed at the Community Center last Monday morning, December 23, when nine 4-H girls taking advanced cooking in the local 4-H club met to mix and make candy and cookies to be used in packing Christmas boxes. After packing and wrapping the boxes they were delivered to different homes around town. Fifteen boxes were distributed and we hope they will bring some added Christmas Cheer to the homes where they were left. Girls participating in the project were: Sally Nadeau, Donna Lee Reser, Ruth Miller, Helen Wehner, June Wehner, Linda Kelsey, Patty Coffey, Lillian Reser, Sharon Reser, and the leaders, Mrs. Letha Reser and Mrs. Gerald Reser. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 1957 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0662 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/de0566aef4d8c4c7ee42005fd1ea01cc.jpeg 00bc1cf2e1f885151ea01adfc7a9be1f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H Regional, Survey, Family Picnic, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource April 1958 Officers of three clubs review Club meeting notes and criticisms following the Rossville 4-H Club meeting. Pictured, left to right, are Jane Zickefoose, Rossville secretary; Nathan Dexter, Tecumseh president; Sue Melton, Tecumseh secretary; Ginger Shannon, Rossville president; and Kay Towslee, Shawnee Jayhawkers, secretary. Junior leaders from 18 different 4-H Clubs visited the 24 Clubs in the County during January, February, and March. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC Sharon Reser, Jr.. Leader, May 22, 1958 The Rossville 4-H club is working with the Shawnee County health board to make a survey of the city of Rossville, and Rossville township to determine what our community might need in the improvement of the general health of the community. These 4-H ers are not selling anything and only wish a few minutes of your time to fill out the blanks which they will supply you. Please cooperate with these 4-H ers in their efforts to complete this survey. Thank you. April 17, 1958 The Scott Kelsey Jr. family recently participated in the Hook 4-H club meeting in several capacities. Linda played her accordion, Faye explained her duties as a4-H township representative for Rossville township. Scott told the Sandy Hook club members of his responsibilities as an entomology and tractor project leader of the Rossville 4-H Club. Kenneth Rezac, Sandy Hook president, thanks Mr. Kelsey and his family as Karen DeDonder, Sandy Hook secretary, looks on. Sharson [sic Sharon] Reser goes to Regional, Carla Rasch is alternate by Linda Kelsey March 20, 1958 The ten top demonstrations chosen from the Shawnee County 4-H Day were in a run-off at the YWCA last Thursday evening. The two top from this are to go to the Regional 4-H [ ] Baldwin, Kansas, Saturday 22. Sharon Reser from Rossville 4-H Club was one of the top two, winning with her demonstration on "How to Make a Swedish Tea Ring." Sue Carlot from Dover won the other top spot with her demonstration on "Slick Tricks with Chicks." Carla Rasch from Rossville will be the alternate with her demonstration "How to Pack a Suitcase." Those from Rossville attending the run-offs were: Mrs. Leroy Parr and Jane, Mrs. Marion Rasch and Carla, Mrs. Harold Reser and Sharon, Mrs. Scott Kelsey and Linda. Mrs. Gerald Reser, Mrs. Wally Nichols, and Mrs. Elmer Lynde. Each thought it was an evening well spent. 4H CLUB NEWS CAKES, CAKES, CAKES by Sharon Reser, Jr. Leader May 8, 1958 Eleven 4-H girls taking advanced cooking met on Saturday May 3, at the Harold Reser home to make cakes. This is the first time the task of mass production of cakes has been tried for a long time. Each girl made a cake, or sisters made one together. We all agreed the day was a success in many ways. Different varieties of cakes were made and different methods of mixing were used. Both butter cakes and sponge cakes were made. A miracle salad dressing cake turned out as pretty as a picture. The girls also iced their cakes and a little experimenting with cake decorating was done. We were most happy that Mrs. Annabell Long, Extension Agent from the office in Topeka was able to come out and spend a few hours with us. The girls attending the meeting were: Patty Coffey, Jane Zickefoose, Sally Naduea [sic Nadeau], Lois McCoy, Ruth Miller, Donna Lee Reser, Helen Wehner, June Wehner, Laura Rose Stiles, Lillian Reser, and Sharon Reser. Mrs. Donis Reser and Mrs. Letha Reser were our instructors and helpers. Rossville 4-H Picnic Sunday Evening by Linda Kelsey June 5, 1958 Rossville 4-H'ers and their families will have a picnic supper in St. Marys Park at 5:30 Sunday evening, June 8. Each family is to bring a well filled basket and their own table service. The drink will be furnished. Some 4-Hers will go early and go swimming before supper, but if some would rather they may go afterwards. We hope everyone will turn out for this 4-H family get together. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0663 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/9283f8cd50c21d0e531f3ef4b8018c23.jpeg e20e1c82f7cab9a29c11d89362b2fb50 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H Top Blue for 4-H Day Events/Parents Night, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource ROSSVILLE 4-H WINS TOP BLUE by Sharon Reser March 6, 1958 Rossville was represented by several demonstrations and a one act play, Saturday, March 1, at the Shawnee County 4-H Day at Seaman High School. The play, "Honest to Goodness", was about the "explosion" caused by the chemical experiments of fourteen year old Jill Clinton, played by Linda McCoy. Jill invented a truth powder which brought the truth out about her French teacher, Monsieur Armand, portrayed by Laird French. Jerry Reser took the part of Grace's boy friend, Chester, who finally realized that he was a miser and that he would have to change his ways. Ginger Shannon and Leonard Mesmer were Mother and Father. Grace was played by Sharon Reser. Mrs. Carey was the director. The play will be given at Regional 4-H Day at Baldwin on March 22. Parents night at next 4-H meet by Linda Kelsey March 13, 1958 The Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club will meet March 18, in the Community Center at 7:30pm. It will be Parents Night and the mothers of the officers will preside. The program will be as follows: Music, Irene Campbell; Project Talk, Mrs. Wally Nichols; Demonstration, Patty Coffey; Music Appreciation, Mrs. Stiles; Health Talk, Mr. Clarence Wehner; Safety Talk, Mr. Jim Rezac; Conservation Talk, Mr. Leroy Parr; and Other Program, Mrs. June McCollough. Recreation will be led by Mrs. Jim Adams. 4-H ROOM IMPROVEMENT by Laura Stiles, Jr. Leader April 17, 1958 The 4-H room improvement girls from Rossville attended the county wide lesson on lights. The meeting was held in Topeka April 14 at 7:30 p. m. We all enjoyed the film on quantities and qualities of light, and I'm sure we all learned something from the lesson. After the meeting we all enjoyed our refreshments which were cokes and doughnuts. The girls attending the meeting were: Linda Kelsey, Sharon Davis, Lillian Reser, Donna Reser, Ginger Shannon, Jane Ziekefoose, Laura Stiles, and our two leaders, Mrs. Kelsey and Mrs. French. County, Kansas Thursday, March 6, 1958 Wins Top Blue For 4-H Day Events by Linda Kelsey Rossville 4-H Club played a big part 4-H Day at Seaman High School last Saturday. If you weren't there you were the loser. The play was one of the best our club has ever given. It was rated a top blue which means they will go to Baldwin. Kansas, for the Regional 4-H Day. The cast for the play included: Linda McCoy, Ginger Shannon, Sharon Reser, Leonard Mesmer, Laird French, and Jerry Reser. Annette Biswell was prompter. The instrumental number rated a red ribbon. They played two numbers, "Bay Breezes," and "For Victory March." The members participating in it were: Sandy Taylor and Jane Zickefoose, Clarinet; Douglas Kelsey and J. W. Adams,. Saxophone; Linda Kelsey, accordion; Laura Rose Stiles, trombone; and Dean Davis, trumpet. Rossville was also responsible for one project talk and twelve demonstrations. The names and ratings are as follows: Lillian Reser, project talk on cooking, white; Demonstrations: Sharon Davis, "Making Molded Pictures," white: Ginger Shannon, "How to Make Pictures from Records," white; Douglas Kelsey, "How to Grow Plants in a Seed Flat," white; Artie Campbell, "How to Pack a Show Box," white; Sharon Reser, "How to Make a Swedish Tea Ring," top blue (she will give her demonstration at the YWCA in Topeka March-13th in the run-offs to choose the ones to go to Regional 4-H Day); Linda Kelsey, "How to Decorate Cookies," Blue a team demonstration by Carol Adams and Sandy Taylor,"Packing a Lunch Bucket," blue; Lillian Reser, "Correct Table Manners," red; Sharon Irwin, "How to pack a Lunch Bucket," red; Carla Rasch, "How to Pack a Suitcase," 2nd blue (which means she will be in the run-off at the YWCA March 13, also); Ginger Shannon, "Decorating Chocolate Easter Eggs," red; Virginia Rezac, "How to Sew on a Button," red. We owe a lot to our leaders for such a strong 4-H club. We also want to thank the following people for their interest and help with our 4-H Day: Mrs. Carey from Rossville High School for coaching the play, Mrs. Inez Richardson for working with our instrumental number, Mr. Gerald Reser for making a display box with a mirror to display the finished products of our demonstrations. It is now the property of our 4-H Club. Night big success by Linda Kelsey March 20, 1958 A large crowd attended the Rossville Rustlers 4-H Parents Night. The mothers of the officers presided for the evening. Most of the program was by the parents. Mrs. Betty Murray led the members in group singing, Mrs. Irene Campbell played a violin solo accompanied by Mrs. Mary Jane Berkel, Mrs. Florence Nichols gave a very interesting talk on her son's Breeding Gilt project. Patty Coffey gave a demonstration on "How to Candle Eggs." Mrs. Howard Stiles had as her guest for Music Appreciation, Bobby Dolezilek playing two numbers on his accordion, Mrs. Rita Wehner gave a health talk on "The Proper Way to Blow Your Nose," Mrs. Evelyn Rezac gave an interesting safety talk and showed a safety film, entitled "The Closed Book". The club thanks Mr. Dana Simpson for bringing his equipment and showing this film. Mr. Leroy Parr gave a very informative Conservation talk, Mrs. June McCollough, in charge of other program, had Linda Kelsey play her accordion. Mr. and Mrs. Jim Adams were in charge of recreation, which was dancing. Refreshments were served. Three project meetings were announced: Sewing meeting March 24 at 7:30 at Rasch's, Room Improvement meeting March 26, after school at Kelsey's, and Beginners Cooking meeting after school March 27, at the Community Building. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0664 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/ef786319a2d8d471c4c60417f1b38c0c.jpeg 025a33bd67c7446488934e12784e7307 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H Fair, Meetings & Record Books, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource THE ROSSVILLE REPORTER Thursday, July 24, 1958 Page 6 4H CLUB NEWS 4-H FAIR WILL FEATURE FOOD SALE ON AUGUST 13 by Sharon Reser, reporter, Shawnee County 4-H Council At 7:00 pm on the first evening of the 4-H Fair a food sale will be held. Items to be sold will be cakes, nut and fruit breads, gingerbreads, and cupcakes. This is being done to stop the great amount of waste we have had in previous years and to raise the premiums, by use of the profits, of the food preparation classes. A portion of cake and breads will be left on the plate with the ribbon and the other two will be grouped in dozens to be sold. We hope this plan will work and ask your attendance. At the July 10, 1958, meeting of the Shawnee County 4-H Council four persons were selected by the Awards Committee to represent Shawnee County at the State Health Camp being held August 5 to 11. Those selected were Alice Verschelden, Sandy Hook; Jack Miller, Shunga Valley; Dorothy Comstock, Grove; and Cynthia Priddy, Bethel. Darryl Priddy, Bethel, and either Kay Marie Moore, Wakarusa, or Sharon Reser, Rossville, were selected to go to State Junior Leadership Camp, July 30 to August 5. The Council moved to pay one-half the expenses of leaders attending camps, etc., and all the expenses of special award winners. The decision to count the Kansas Free Fair as an out-of-county event was revised. In all classes: with the exception of Livestock and Dairy, only blue ribbon winners are eligible to enter at the Kansas Free Fair. This is still an out-of-county event for Home Ec, Garden and Crops exhibits. This will enable members who cannot sell their livestock at the County 4-H Fair to be able to sell them at the sale at the Free Fair. The Silver Pin Applications and the re-enrollment cards should be sent into the office with the record books. Don't forget the Business Men's Picnic July 30 at Gage Park. Mr. Eyestone gave explanations on the entering of exhibits at the County 4-H Fair. The community leaders of each club are to make the entries for their club members. The club members are to give the community leader their list of entries by July 26. The community leader then fills out the white sheets. Appearing on the pink sheets should be the names of those who are going to judge, club booths, demonstrations, and club garden display. No Late Entries Will be Accepted. Here are some important dates: July 24-25 - Eastern Kansas Judging School for Livestock & Dairy; Aug. 1 - K P & L Essay due; Aug. 6 - Style Show Judging, Kansas Teachers Bldg., 9 am; Aug 7 -Wheat Show; Aug. 7 - Council meeting; Aug. 8 - Demonstration Day, 4-H Annex Bldg., Fair grounds. Due to lack of a piano there was no program. THE ROSSVILLE REPORTER, Thursday, July 10, 1958 Page 7 4H CL U B N E W S ATTENTION ROSSVILLE 4-HERS by Linda Kelsey Record books are to be turned in at the August meeting which is on the 18th of August. Anyone not completing at least one of their projects they are enrolled in cannot belong to 4-H the coming year. If there are any boys and girls in the community wanting to belong to 4-H next year, they must attend three meetings before December 31. 'Their parents or guardian must attend at least one of the meetings with them. 3t THE ROSSVILLE REPORTER, Thursday, July 24, 1958 Page 7 BEGINNING COOKING GIRLS MEET by Linda Kelsey The beginning cooking girls met Friday, July 18. The afternoon was spent working on Record Books. Each girl brought her Record Book up to date. If any girl, who was absent, needs help on her record book, please contact Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Gresser, Lois McCoy, or Linda Kelsey. Rossville 4-H Ends Year With Handing in Record Books By Linda Kelsey August 21, 1958 Rossville 4-H members handed in their Record Books at our August meeting to complete this years work in 4-H. Roll call was answered by members favorite project. The program was as follows: Sharon Reser gave an interesting talk on her experience at State J. Leadership Camp; Dean Davis gave a fine talk on his trip to 4-H Round-up in Manhattan; Jane Parr's project talk on her sewing project was very clever; Douglas Kelsey gave a talk on the highlights of his Home Beautification Project; Susan Nadeau's talk for Music Appreciation was very good; June Murray gave a real good illustrated talk on Health Habits. Lillian Reser passed out some health books for each 4-H family. The new enrollment cards were passed out for members to fill out for next year's projects and must be turned in to Mrs. Marvin Davis within the next week. The meeting was adjourned and dancing followed. Miss JoAnn Swenson spent the week end at KU in Lawrence visiting friends. -Support Reporter Advertisers- Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0665 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/69d7c64fa0bba21d9a4ddceea336068e.jpeg 116641fbb95116361eb2e686a25f797a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H K-state Round-Up, Twirlers, Garden Tour, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource DEAN DAVIS ATTENDS 4-H ROUND-UP by Linda Kelsey June 12, 1958 Dean Davis of the Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club attended the 35th annual 4-H Club Round-up at Kansas State College from June 3-7. The Shawnee County 4-H bus arrived at Manhattan at 2:30 pm Tuesday, June 3, with all the Shawnee delegates, and all were registered at K-State Union Lobby. An assembly was presented that evening in the college auditorium. The Shawnee County 4-H Band played as it did many times during the Round-up. The "Welcome" was given by Dr. Harold E. Jones, Director of Extension. Dean reported that Wednesday was a very busy day with classes and meetings, one of the highlights being an address by Dr. James A. McCain, President of Kansas State College. Thursday was another busy day with many meetings and interesting discussions. An assembly was presented at 11:00 am with the Governor of Kansas, George C. Docking, giving the address. Friday the boys and girls were guests at Ft. Riley to view the 1st Infantry Division Organization day activities. They saw a parade of this division which was followed by a mock battle. The noon meal was served at Camp Funston. The rest of the day was spent at Rock Springs Ranch, south of Junction City. Dean arrived home on the 4-H bus at 11:00 am Saturday morning. Six Shawnee County twirlers will participate at the special band program at Rock Springs on June 6 during 4-H Round-up. Left to right include: Patty Coffey, Rossville, lead majorette; Kay Towslee, Marilyn Southard, Janet Southard, Judy Clark and Roxana Tenpenny, all from the Shawnee Jayhawkers 4-H Club. June 1958 Rossville 4-H has garden tour by Linda Kelsey July 3, 1958 Rossville 4-H has nine members enrolled in gardening. Mrs. Ethelyn Lynde is their leader. At the beginning of the planting season Mrs. Lynde distributed some seeds to the members that are not usually grown in everyones garden so they could see how they grow. First stop was at Doug Kelsey's where they saw peanuts and ornamental gourds growing. Jerry Reser's was the next stop. He had three different kinds of squash, one variety already had a squash about a foot long on it. Heilands have two gardens, Sandra's where they saw Salsify growing, and Kenny's which had some nice Kohlrabi in it. Sharon Reser has some nice tomatoes and is also trying her luck with lima beans. Patty Coffey showed her Sears Garden which was top in the county. She has some prize cabbage and cucumbers. Zora Wade had some nice sweet corn and a big patch of potatoes. Next stop was Freda McCollough's where they saw Broccoli and some sweet corn just about ready to eat. She also had a lot of flowers blooming n her garden. Timmy Lynde's was the last stop. They saw Kohlrabi, Brussel sprouts, and different varieties of squash in his garden. It would have been hard to have picked the best and the cleanest garden because they were all well taken care of. Thursday, July 17, 1958 Page 5 DANCE INVITATION Boys and girls who will be in the eighth grade this fall and all high school students are invited to a dance at the Community Bldg. Friday, July 18. — Gene & Dean Davis. 4-H MEETING TIME CHANGE The 4-H club monthly meeting will be at 7:15 Monday, July 21, in the Community Center. ADVANCE 4-H FOODS GIRLS HOLD MEETING by Sharon Reser, Jr. Leader June 26, 1958 The advanced group of 4-H food girls met at the Community Center on June 17th for a foods meeting. They cooked vegetables and discussed the proper methods of vegetable cookery. Several vegetables were prepared. Everyone had a sample of each. Three demonstrations were given. Sharon Irwin showed how to prepare cherries for the freezer. Sharon Reser showed the proper way to wrap meat for the freezer, using the aluminum foil wrap. She also showed the process for blanching and cooking green beans for freezing. Freezer containers were examined and different methods of freezing were discussed by the girls and the leader. Girls attending were: Laura Stiles, Sharon Irwin, Linda Kelsey, Lillian Reser, Donna Lee Reser, and Sharon Reser. Mrs. Donice Reser and Mrs. Letha_Reser conducted the meeting. July 10, 1958 Shawnee 4-Hers are attending annual county camp at Rock Springs Ranch, State 4-H Center, this week, July 6 to 9. Two hundred thirty-two 4-Hers from Shawnee, Atchison, and Reno counties are expected to camp at Rock Springs during this session. They are among approximately 5,000 young people who will camp at Rock Springs during the 1958 season. One highlight of the session will be a cook-out Tuesday night, July 8. Other activities they may participate in include horseback riding, horseshoes, ping-pong, swimming, shuffleboard, rifle range, badminton, archery, and volleyball. A motion picture projector is available, at the 4-H Center also. A group of younger Shawnee 4-Hers camped at Rock Springs June 25-28. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0666 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/fcc825bf5c48755068f31dd4858afcfe.jpeg 2140adb006828af8d91d672ac6a72d97 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H Shawnee County Achievement Party, Events, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource 4H CLUB NEWS November 20, 1958 9 COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM ROSSVILLE 4-H CLUB by Jane Zickefoose Rossville 4-H made a good showing at Shawnee County Achievement Party, Nov. 1. The club had nine County Champions and other members in the high four under each project. Rossville 4-H had first under clubs with highest enrollment. The club also received a red seal. The following are County Champions: Gene Davis, Wheat and Field Crops; Sharon Reser, Canning and Safety; Linda Kelsey, Frozen Foods, Home Improvement and Newswriting; Sharon Davis, Colt; Ginger Shannon, Dress Revue. Those in the high four were: Jerry Reser, fourth in Swine-Gilt and fourth in Electric; Douglas Kelsey, second in Corn, first in Garden, fourth in Tractor Maintenance and second in Entomology; Gene Davis, third in Corn, first in Wheat, third in Colt and first in Judging; Dean Davis, fourth in Corn, third in Wheat, second in Colt, and first in Judging; Sharon Davis, first in Colt, third in Planning a Wardrobe, second in Home Improvement; Patty Coffey, second in Garden; Linda Kelsey, 1st in Well Dressed for School, 1st in Home Improvement, 2nd in Helping With Supper, 1st in Frozen Foods, and 1st in; News writing; Jane Zickefoose, 2nd in Planning a Wardrobe; Carla Rasch, 2nd in Learning to Sew, 4th in School Lunch and Picnic Basket; Virginia Rezac 2nd in Learning to Sew; Ginger Shannon, 4th in Home Improvement and 1st in Complete Costume; Sharon Reser, 1st in Clothes for Special Occasions, 2nd in Preserving for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner, 3rd in Frozen Foods, 1st in Meal Service II, 2nd in Meal Service III, 3rd in Junior Leadership, 2nd in Health and Safety, and 4th in Demonstrations; Carol Adams, 4th in School Lunch and Picnic Basket; Lillian Reser, 4th in Helping With Supper; Jane Parr, 1st in Simple Desserts and Beverages; Timothy Lynde, 3rd in Electric. The members who received silver pins were Linda Kelsey and Sharon Davis. Members who received silver pin guards were Sharon Reser, Dean Davis, Gene Davis, Ginger Shannon and Jane Zickefoose. November 13, 1958 ROSSVILLE 4-H BASKET SUPPER NOVEMBER 17 Rossville 4-H'ers, their family and friends, are invited to attend the basket supper and achievement night Monday evening, November 17, at the Community Center. Bring a well-filled basket and your own table service. NOVEMBER 20, 1958 by Jane Zickefoose The 4-H members and leaders were honored at Rossville's annual achievement party Monday night. The meeting started at 6:30 with a basket supper. Ginger Shannon, chairman of the installation committee, installed the new president, Gene Davis, who was not present at the last meeting. Each project leader made the awards to the high four winners in their project. Merle Eyestone and his family were guests of the club. For the program, Mr. Eyestone brought slides taken years ago of former Rossville 4-Hers. Mr. Scott Kelsey showed slides of 4-Hers and showed slides of 4-Hers and their projects taken this year. Ginger Shannon, Zora Wade, Laura Stiles, and Annette Biswell presented a skit that showed what happens to a girl when she has to many boy friends. OF ROSSVILLE December 1958 Contestants who participated in the County 4-H Cherry Pie Baking Contest November 22. Left to right: Shirla Oakman, Silver Lake; Yvonne Bowen Topeka Topper, (winner); Lorene Vail, Riverside; Linda Kelsey, Rossville; Claudia Garton, Kaw Valley. 4-H GIRLS DELIVER CHRISTMAS BASKETS by Linda Kelsey, jr. .leader December 25, 1958 The girls enrolled in the second year phase of cooking baked an assortment of Christmas cookies on December 20. The cookies were packed in little baskets made from Christmas cards and red yarn. They were given to folks in Rossville and to a nursing home in Topeka. It was lots of fun. DECEMBER 1958 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0667 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/e6e363a3e4dffbec9f1b5873f6f2aceb.jpeg 823de2c6bc8d9ca8c5a68549a61dfc40 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H Fair, Banquet, Award, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource GINGER SHANNON BEST DRESSED GIRL IN COUNTY by Linda Kelsey August 21, 1958 Ginger Shannon led the Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club to a good showing at the Shawnee County 4-H Fair held August 13-14-15. She was chosen "Best Dressed Girl" in the county and will compete in the state contest at Hutchinson, Kansas, in September. The rest of the members who participated in the final style show were: Virginia Rezac, Carla Rasch, Linda Kelsey, Ruth Miller, Laura Stiles, Sharon Davis, Lillian Reser, Sharon Irwin, Shirley Taylor, Jane Parr, and Carolyn Gresser. Rossville members did exceptionally well with their 412 entries at the fair. They were awarded 10 Grand Championships (which is a purple ribbon), 141 Blues, 171 Reds and 100 Whites. The following is a list of the members' awards at the fair: Learning to Sew - Carol Adams, 5 red; Corrine Adams, 1 red, 1 white; Carolyn Gresser, 1 blue, 3 red; La Verne Harper, 1 blue, 3 red; LaVon Harper, 1 blue, 1 red, 3 white; Sandra Heiland, 1 blue, 4 red; Amy Jones, 2 red, 3 white; Jane McCollough, 2 blue, 2 red, 1 white; Judy McCollough, 4 red, 1 white; Freda McCollough, 1 blue, 3 red, 1 white; Susan Nadeau, 1 red, 1 white; Jane Parr, 3 blue, 4 red; Carla Rasch, 7 blue, 1 red; Penny Ray, 1 red, 2 white; Donna Reser, 1 blue, 2 red; Virginia Rezac, 9 blue, 1 red; Sharon Irwin, 2 blue, 1 red; Linda Adams, 1 red, 1 white; Shirley Taylor, 1 red, 1 white; Sandra Macha, 1 red. Well Dressed for School - June Wehner, 1 white; Lillian Reser, 3 red, 1 white; Linda Kelsey, 3 blue, 1 red. (Continued on Page 12) RECEIVES AWARD by Jerry Reser, Jr. Reporter September 4, 1958 Linda Kelsey, reporter for the Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club, was awarded a photograph album by Mr. Dale Apel, editor of the 4-H Journal. An article and photograph of a group of the beginning foods girls presenting cookies to a nurse at the State Hospital was submitted by Linda and accepted for publication. Congratulations, Linda. SHAWNEE COUNTY REPORTER 4H CLUB NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF ROSSVILLE 4-H CLUB YEAR by Linda Kelsey September 4, 1958 To begin our year we had an unusual initiation for all the new members. It was fashioned after the T.V. program, "Beat the Clock". One of our best attended meetings was "Parents Night." Sharon Reser won a trip to Kansas City. Dean Davis was elected to go to "Round-up." A 4-H family picnic was held at St. Marys Park. Rossville 4-Hers won 3 top blue ribbons at 4-H Day at Seaman High School. A picture was published in the 4-H Journal of some beginning cooking girls and their Jr. Leaders. The garden members from our club had 48 entries in the Spring Garden and Flower Show. Patty Coffey had the top Sears Garden in Shawnee County. 16 Rossville 4-H members attended 4-H Camp at Rock Springs Ranch. The club had its own Home Economics Judging School with 40 leaders and members attending. Sharon Reser attended State Jr. Leadership Camp at Rock Springs Ranch. Rossville had 1 purple and 2 blues in the Kiawanis tomato project. Our members had 412 entries at the 4-H Fair and were awarded 10 grand championships, 141 blues, 171 reds, and 100 whites. Ginger Shannon was "Best Dressed Girl" in Shawnee County. The record books have been turned in and the enrollment cards are being filled out for the coming year. We will have election of officers at our September meeting. LEADERS HELP MAKE OUTSTANDING 4-H CLUB Rossville Rustlers 4-H has had a very successful year. If it hadn't been for our fine project leaders, we couldn't have done nearly so well, so thanks to all of the following leaders: Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Davis, our community leaders; Mrs. Francis Davis and Mrs. Harley Heiland, the beginning sewing leaders; Mrs. Bud Rasch and Mrs. Fredrick Zickefoose, the advanced sewing leaders; Mrs. Bill Murray and Mrs. Joe Gresser, the beginning cooking leaders. Mrs. Gerald Reser and Mrs. Harold Reser, the advanced cooking meal service, and Food Preservation leaders; Mrs. Elmer Lynde, the garden and woodworking leader; Mrs. Howard French and Mrs. Scott Kelsey, the Home Improvement and Home Grounds Beautification leaders; Mr. Gerald Reser, electricity leader; Mr. Ralph Miller, crops and livestock leader; and Mr. Scott Kelsey, entomology and tractor maintenance leader. Thursday, Oct. 23, 1958 Page 7 ROSSVILLE 4-H INSTALLS OFFICERS by Jane Zickefoose Rossville 4-H Club held its regular monthly meeting October 20 at the Community Center. Roll call, a wise saying, was answered by 52 members and nine leaders. Ginger Shannon and Sandra Taylor presented the installation ceremonies for the Senior and Junior officers of the coming year. Laura Stiles announced the following program: Zora Wade gave a talk on her sewing project; Sharon Davis gave a demonstration on "Making Winter Bouquets"; Donna Reser gave a music appreciation talk on John Phillip Sousa; a health talk on posture was given by Sharon Irwin; Ginger Shannon and Jane Zickefoose presented a skit called, "The Beauty Treatment." The meeting adjourned and recreation followed. Refreshments were served by Shannons, Wades, Adams, and Gees. ROSSVILLE LEADERS ATTEND RECOGNITION BANQUET by Jane Zickefoose Twelve 4-H adult leaders from Rossville attended the 4-H club Leaders' Recognition Banquet held at the Topeka Lutheran School on October 15. Leaders from our club who received the Silver Pin were Mrs. Gerald Reser and Mrs. M. C. Rasch; the certificates on seals, Mrs. Scott Kelsey and Mrs. Harley Heiland; the project leaders pin guard, Mrs. Francis Davis, Mrs. Elmer Lynde and Mrs. Harold Reser. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Shawnee County Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0668 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/0a539e4825a56239ea6a4ff0aae61724.jpeg 7adc73694604fc6309d06ea758344dfe Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958-07 4-H Rock Springs Ranch Camp, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource Seeing double July 17, 1958 Two sets of mischievous identical twins from Shawnee county kept Rock Springs staff and campers in a state of utter bewilderment during the annual camp session of Shawnee, Reno, and Atchison counties, July 6-9. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Davis, Rossville, are the parents of Dean and Gene Davis, pictured on the out-side. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Glenn, Topeka, are the parents of Ron and Don, pictured next to the Shawnee County 4-H Club Agent, Merle Eyestone, who is in the center. Ron and Don are members of the Shunga Valley 4-H Club and this is their second year at Rock Springs Ranch, State 4-H Center. Gene and Dean are members of the Rossville 4-H Club and this is their third year at Rock Springs. "Cowhands” of the old west Shawnee county 4-Hers attended county camp at Rock Springs July 6 to 9. The Old West was theme of the camp program. The "cowhands" or group leaders pictured left to right are Nancy Evans, Dianne Danford, Reno county; Roberta Carpenter, member of the Rochester Heights 4-H Club in Shawnee County; Harriett Kreider, Atchison county; Ginger Shannon, Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club in Shawnee county; and Billy Thompson, member of the Rochester Heights 4-H Club in Shawnee county. Roberta Carpenter was camp song leader. One unusual feature of the camp program was a ball game at 4:30 in the morning. Another highlight of the camp was a cook-out Tuesday evening. Merle Eyestone, Shawnee 4-H Agent, and Annabelle Long Home Economics Agent were present. Other 4-H leaders from Shawnee were Mrs. Eugene Smith, Mr. Bob Phillips, Mrs. Elwin Niccum, Mrs. Howard Dexter, and Mardy Edwards. ATTENTION ROSSVILLE 4-HERS by Linda Kelsey Record books are to be turned in at the August meeting which is on the 18th of August. Anyone not completing at least one of their projects they are enrolled in cannot belong to 4-H the coming year. If there are any boys and girls in the community wanting to belong to 4-H next year, they must attend three meetings before December 31. Their parents or guardian must attend at least one of the meetings with them. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 17, 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0669 http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/e25ce61a7528cd8440d437d793b62970.jpeg 8ee6cd5a16a723fe508679eb3f6b035a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H Day, Membership, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource The Rossville Reporter Thursday, Feb. 27, 1958 Rossville 4-H members participate in 4-H Day Rossville 4-H Club members to participate in 4-H Day activities at Seaman High Saturday and the location and time of their appearances are as follows: Demonstrations: Clothing, Room 15 - Virginia Rezac, 9:10; Jane Zickefoose, 1:00; Jane Parr, 1:40. Agriculture, Room 11 - Douglas Kelsey, 9:10; Artie Campbell, 9:40; Patty Coffey, 11:00. Miscellaneous, Room 13 - Sharon Davis, 9:40; Ginger Shannon, 10:20; Carla Rasch. 10:40; Jerry Reser, 11:30. Foods, Room 19 - Sharon Reser, 9:20; Linda Kelsey, 1:00; Carol Adams and Sandra Taylor, 1:10; Sharon Irwin. 1:30; Foods, Room 21 - Sally Nadeau, 8:50; Lillian Reser, 10:30; Ginger Shannon, 11:10. Project Talks (Under 14), Room 7 - Lillian Reser, 10:22; Darryl Nichols, 10:29. Thursday, Feb. 27, 1958 Page 3 Instrumental, Room 7 - Rossville at 2:40. Plays in the Auditorium, Rossville at 10:00. Rossville 4-H takes over membership lead in county January 30, 1958 With 59 enrollment cards into the County Office, the Rossville Club replaces last year's membership leader, Berryton, who is not in the top five this year. Still in contention for membership honors are: Wanamaker, 53; Shunga Valley, 45; Rochester, 41; and Kaw Hawks, 41. Final 1958 enrollment for Shawnee County 4-H boys and girls is March 15, all project changes must be made by that date. Total County membership this year has passed the 700 mark. Last year's enrollment was 839. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0670