2
10
1809
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/c38a6f39766f6fbd04a834d778edc71f.jpg
0643e91332d676fcb508202ee5898fae
Dublin Core
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Title
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Rossville Churches History
Subject
The topic of the resource
Churches in the Rossville, Kansas, area.
Description
An account of the resource
Among the various cultural developments in Rossville none was more important than the establishment and growth of organized religions. Shortly after the village of Rossville was started in 1871, some of the settlers felt the need for a church. The first known organized church was the Baptist Church started in August 1871 with nine members. A newspaper account, dated May 1879, about the school house in town says, “…at this time the building is used on Sunday by various church denominations as they are not supplied with church buildings. Six denominations have organized: The Baptist, Presbyterian, Christian, Methodist, Episcopal, Methodist Southern and Advent. The Baptist have begun to erect a neat frame church building.” The Baptists built a small church on the approximate site of the Joe Navarre home on Spruce Street and dedicated this church on February 29, 1880. For a few years after that the Baptist, Christian, Presbyterian and Methodist shared this building—each having the use of it one Sunday a month, morning and evening. The Baptist church disbanded in 1910 and was torn down soon afterwards.
Organization of the United Brethren was soon followed by the United Brethren Church, also known as the Olive Branch Church. The first church building in the community was built by its members in about 1877. The old landmark, five miles north of Rossville, was torn down about 1952. Some of the farm folk responsible for its organization and erection were Mr. and Mrs. Joe Franklin, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Franklin, Mr. and Mrs. Marion Lasswell, Mr. and Mrs. Lambert James and their sons, Robert and James, Mr. and Mrs. W.V. Hook, who donated land for the church. A decline in membership prompted the church officials to sell the building to the Czech Christian organization and it served as a worship center for many years.
Other denominations organized early, which have little recorded history, including the Colored Baptist, also called Second Baptist. A news clipping shows the Colored Baptist Church was in existence in 1885 and meetings were held at the old school house. At that time they were endeavoring to raise funds for a structure of their own. It was later erected in the southeast part of town on Orange Street. Their building was repaired in December 1904, but soon after the church disbanded.
The only information available about the Cambellites, followers of Alexander Cambell, shows that they gathered regularly early in the city’s history. The Cambellites here and in other localities were the forerunners of the early Christian Church. A church was organized with the name Church of Christ in 1872 with Bennet Swearingen, an elder. In 1879 a group was meeting in the school. Between 1880 and when it was decided to build a church, it is believed the members met in the Baptist Church. A deed was recorded on June 29, 1887, for three lots for which they paid $50.00. The exact date of the erection of the present church is not known. Revered Alex Montgomery was a stone mason and laid the church foundation. Charles Bixby, father of the late Albert Bixby, was a carpenter and supervised the building of the church. Lumber was hauled from Topeka by Alex Nadeau and others. The supplies were purchased from the Thomas Lumber Company at Topeka. The first funeral held in the church was for William Lacock, grandfather of the late Albert Bixby. The oldest Sunday School record is dated September 7, 1884, with May Parker its first secretary.
Due to an increase in the Christian Church's membership, in 1949 a large room was added to the north side of the building. Other improvements included new colored glass in the windows, and pews from the old United Brethren Church. In December 1960, another addition to the building was completed.
As more settlers moved to this community, those who were of the Presbyterian faith organized their group in 1878 and met in the school in town. Reverend E.P. Sempel was the first pastor. A.C. Sherman, Richard Binns, Daniel Wilt, J.C. Bradley, William Bond, Henry Kassebaum, W.M. Mitchner, Sam Kerr, Dr. H.H. Miller and Isaac Trostle were the founders of the church. Later the Presbyterians met in the Baptist Church. In 1883, the Presbyterian group purchased the land on which the present church stands and began to build. The first church was built of red bricks which were made at a brick kiln located at the east edge of town. As the years passed a crack appeared between the bricks in the east end of the building. This fault was used as the reason for tearing town the old building. The present structure was constructed in 1917. The Reverend J.H. Naismith, the originator of the game of basketball, served as pastor in 1922 and 1923. Mr. Gus Kassebaum served as a Trustee for 39 years, from 1915 to 1954. His wife, Mrs. Lula Kassebaum served most of these years as president of the Ladies Missionary Society.
The Rossville Charge was organized in the James School House, three miles west of Rossville in the year 1872 under the leadership of Mr. Paul Strimple, a local lay preacher. Shortly afterwards, another group of Methodists (Southern Methodists) met in Rossville and had services at the school in town. These two groups joined in planning construction of a church. Since the Baptists were the first to build a church, the two Methodist groups shared the building. The Methodist Church was chartered and registered with the Secretary of State, June 13, 1881. The first trustees and signers of the charter were: W.G. Gilbert, Isaac Larrance, Joseph Andrews, J.W. Miller, A.E. Strimple, J.T. Heslet, and T.M. Attebury. Building of the new church began in 1884, and it was dedicated on March 1, 1885. Nine years later the south room was added, and it was used as a dining room and meeting room. The Sunday School addition was added in 1960. The name was changed from Methodist Episcopal to Methodist, October 11, 1939. It was again changed in 1968 to United Methodist when the United Brethren and Methodist merged. The Election Day dinner was first served in 1882 and has become an established tradition. Dinner and supper were served to over 175 persons at a cost of 25 cents per person. Some of the men who took an active part in the life of the church were C.E. Gresser, E.G. Griswold and Frank Strimple.
Before St. Stanislaus became a reality, according to Ellen Leonhardt of St. Marys, Kansas, Mass was held monthly sometime before 1894 in the Fritz Hall. She remembers accompanying Father Krier, a Jesuit priest, from St. Marys to Rossville along with other girls to sing in the choir. The first St. Stanislaus Church was built under the auspices of Father John B. Kokenge, S.J., who collected about eleven hundred dollars to procure the ground and put up the structure. It measured 42 x 30 feet with a sanctuary that added twelve feet to its length. The corner stone of this mission church was laid by Bishop Fink on June 18, 1899. Many notables from the St. Marys College were present as well as Reverend H.A. Schapman, S.J., former president of Detroit College. The document placed in the stone contained the following: “Leo XIII being Pope, William McKinley being President of the United States, W.E. Stanley being the Governor of Kansas, Joseph Calvin Bradley being Mayor of the city of Rossville, this church to be erected to the honor of God under the invocation of St. Stanislaus Kastka was begun today when the corner stone was laid this the eighteenth day of June in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and ninety-nine.” The dedication of the completed church took place on October 29, 1899. In 1967, the parish purchased the home across the street from the church, so that the expanding catechetical classes would have a better place to meet. A $20,000 renovation project in 1975-1976 added a brick extension to the front of the church and a full basement. In 1998 Dekat Hall was dedicated and the mortgage was paid off. By 2009 the parish, which encompassed Rossville, Silver Lake, Willard, and Maple Hill, was in need of a bigger building so Don & Kathleen Damon donated a $1.1 million gift for the building of a new church. After raising the additional needed funds, the new worship space for 400 people was built in 2012 near the former church.
In the early 1950s a group of believers who met together for weekly Bible Study grew in number so that they were encouraged to secure a property, call a pastor and organize a church. The Stewart property on the corner of Main and Pottawatomie was purchased in June 1952. After renovation, the first services of the Rossville Bible Church were held on September 7, 1952, with Reverend Clarence Swihart as pastor. Reverend Floyd Gee became the second pastor in June 1954. The church purchased a building site from the Hesse family that adjoins the Grade School in August 1960. Reverend Hugh Gardner, Wichita, superintended the construction of a basement to be used for an auditorium. A building was moved from Forbes Air Force Base and set on the basement. June 7, 1970, was a day of rejoicing for the congregation as they had a mortgage-burning service with Reverend Joe Arnedd, Des Moines, Iowa, evangelist, as speaker.
Thus is the history of the early churches which no longer exist in the community and the churches which continue to function--though in somewhat different roles than in the early years. Once, the church, as well as the school, was the center of most family activities.
Creator
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Rossville Community Library
Source
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Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971
Publisher
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Rossville Community Library
Rights
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Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public.
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Title
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Rossville United Methodist Church is a Century Old
Description
An account of the resource
Top photo by Belinda Parnell: Former Ministers (or their spouses) attended the worship service and celebration at the Rossville United Methodist Church. Pictured left to right are: Deborah Ackman, Topeka, who served the church prior to Mr. Buss; the Reverend Jean Marie Grabher, District Superintendent; the Reverend Larry Buss, minister; Mrs. Karen Barnes Baker, Baldwin City (widow of Max Barnes who served the church in 1968); and Mrs. Don (Elly) Jones, Columbus, Ohio, whose husband was minister from 1949 to 1964.
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Bottom photo by Belinda Parnell
Honored for 50 years or more membership in the Rossville United Methodist Church's Centennial Celebration Sunday, June 14, were, L-R, seated -- Ruth Page, Halcia Cerny, Golda Cottle, Esther Sebring. Standing -- Nellie Countryman and Phil Hartzel.
---------------
Rossville United Methodist Church is a Century Old
by Merle Bird, Member of Church
The last half of the story on Rossville United Methodist Church was omitted from last week’s paper. We are printing the entire story this week.
*********
The names on copies of the old charter are barely discernible: W.G. Gilbert, Isaac Lawrence, Joseph Andrews, J.W. Miller, A.E. Strimple, J.T. Heslet, T.M. Attebury.
They didn’t mark the beginning of Methodist thought in Rossville, but the incorporators of the Rossville Methodist Episcopal Church did set in motion a sequence of events that continues today.
The church -- now the Rossville United Methodist Church -- is as uncertain of the future as it was on, June 13, 1881.
Could W.G. Gilbert have foreseen the day when dams would span the major tributaries of the mighty Kaw, reducing the frequency and magnitude of major floods?
Could Isaac Lawrence have guessed that within 100 years a man would be able to leave Rossville in the morning and eat dinner in New York that same night?
Did Joseph Andrews envision huge sprinklers striding across the valley of the Kaw, providing moisture to thirsty crops when rain was not forthcoming?
At the time of incorporation, not one of these men had seen an electric light, or a motorcar, or an airplane, or a movie; had heard neither radio nor telephone nor rock music.
The world has changed, and the church has changed. Rossville has changed, as has its people.
Frank Hoyes was pastor in 1872, the record shows -- nine years before the church’s incorporation. Then came the Reverend Green, and E.F. Holland and R.L. McNabb, before L.C. Biggs came in 1880. He still was here in 1881, when the church was incorporated.
W.G. Campbell served in 1882.
In 1883, Calvin Holman served. That name was to return to Rossville, borne by another man.
So the church grew. The growth sometimes was in physical plant: Property was purchased in 1884, a building was started in late summer, and completed in 1885. J.W. Clock was pastor then.
The congregation paid all but $500 or $600 of the construction cost, and a little over a year after dedication, the building was free and clear. The Ladies Aid society helped: the women raised $500 the year it was built. That started a fund-raising tradition that continues to this day.
The women started another tradition in 1886, when the first Election Day Dinner was served.
More physical growth occurred nine years later, when the south addition was made. A large Gothic stained glass window replaced the door in the east end of the sanctuary, and another was placed in the south side of the addition.
The Ladies Aid Society didn't have a basement for the Election Day Dinner. The Young Men’s Sunday School Class remedied that in 1915. Under the direction of their teacher, they dug the basement, poured concrete floor and walls and installed a furnace.
The education wing was added and dedicated in 1960. The cost was $5,100.00 in money and a priceless amount of work by members of the congregation.
More followed. Dean Page and some men from the Menninger Foundation poured the sidewalk in 1966. A new, $1,005.00 roof was put on in 1969.
In 1973, a flood wrecked the basement and its contents, again requiring the expenditure of dollars and energy.
The basement again had to be repaired in 1980, when termite damage necessitated replacing termite-infested beams and posts with steel. The congregation took the opportunity to remodel the kitchen.
Changes in the world around us prompted additional changes in the church: higher heating and cooling costs (the seven signers might have snorted at the idea of cooling the church in the summer) and an increased awareness of the limits of our resources argued for insulating the walls and covering the stained glass windows with transparent plastic.
The Women’s Foreign Missionary Society was organized in 1910, merged with the Aid Society in 1940 to become the Women’s Society of Christian Service, which itself became United Methodist Women in 1973.
Ministers came and went, each having his (or her) effect, each giving and receiving from the members of the congregation.
Calvin Holman, grandson of the Calvin Holman who was pastor in 1883, was pastor during his senior year at Washburn University in 1910, and remained another year.
He eventually wound up in California, where he would start what would become the largest congregation in the Pacific- Southwest Conference, and be named senior pastor of the conference.
And where he still lives, 70 years after having served the Rossville congregation.
Many members of the congregation remember Don Jones, who became pastor in 1949 and served without interruption until 1964. Then came Clyde Noyce, Max Barnes and Paul B. Mitchell.
William E. Hurtig came in 1974 and remained until the Silver Lake-Rossville charge split in 1976. Deborah K. Ackman served in 1977 and 1978, and the current pastor, Larry D. Buss has served since 1979.
The story should go on endlessly, because the lives of each member, each family, each pastor are so interwoven that no one can tell where the influence of one ends and that of another begin. Together, they are part of a tapestry that extends back in time beyond the signing of the charter, beyond the arrival of Methodism in America beyond the beginning of Methodism itself, beyond Christ to the Israelites in the land of milk and honey, and even beyond that!
The rest of the tapestry is being woven today. The members of the congregation, their families and their pastor are part weaver, part thread, part observer. And what the future of the tapestry is, only the Master Weaver knows for sure.
Creator
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St. Marys Star, St. Marys, Kansas
Publisher
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Rossville Community Library
Date
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June 23, 1981
Rights
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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.
Format
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newspaper clipping
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RCL0524
Rossville United Methodist Church
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/6897c54f7242e5db399e9c10b0526c04.jpg
6413a84afe9fb2fab843ad04e9911641
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
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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
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Rossville Community Library
Rights
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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
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U.R. Zeller, County Sorghum Yield Champion
Description
An account of the resource
U.R. Zeller of Rossville was recently named the county sorghum yield champion at a banquet held in Topeka where county sorghum yield champions were honored. Zeller's yield of 6036.35 pounds per acre topped Shawnee County in the dryland division of the 1958 National Selected Five Acre DeKalb Sorghum Yield Contest. C.V. Cochran (left) of Topeka was the second place winner with a yield of 5010.89 pounds per acre. The third place winner, Clyde Wyatt (right) of N. Topeka, had a yield of 4870.98 pounds per acre.
(RCL Note- U.R. Zeller not pictured)
Creator
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We believe this clipping is from the Rossville Reporter newspaper, Rossville, Kansas
Publisher
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Rossville Community Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
March 5, 1959
Rights
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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.
Format
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newspaper clipping
Identifier
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RCL0263
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/bd56a7906b6455044092d1c08b171e9b.jpg
937d2c9ca8cad075534bf1e3d2997a7d
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
Rossville Farmer Gets Jaycee Award
Description
An account of the resource
Rossville Farmer Gets Jaycee Award
The Topeka Junior Chamber of Commerce has named Richard D. Kelsey of Rossville the outstanding young farmer of the year.
Kelsey, 30, has been farming for eight years. He operates a partnership project of 750 acres, 360 of which is irrigated, and specializes in hybrid seed corn, hybrid milo seed, and certified seed wheat, and uses a deferred feeding system for cattle.
He was graduated from Kansas State College and is a member of the Farm Management Association No. 4 of Northeast Kansas, of which he served as president for one year and secretary for three.
Kelsey is a member of the state membership committee of the Farm Bureau and has been president for two years of the county group and a member of the board of directors four years. He also has served as editor of the county Farm Bureau News. He also belongs to Topeka Lodge No. 17, Scottish Rite Bodies.
He and his wife, Greta, have a daughter six years old a son, four.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
We believe this clipping is from the Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Rossville Community Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
ca. 1957-1959
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
newspaper clipping
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RCL0302
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/8b7a500e9e4cdb920c7ba71936ebc926.jpeg
cff7d2c3586725902d31fcf235b1c186
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
Charles Dunn with unusual gourd, Delia, Kansas
Description
An account of the resource
Charles Dunn, rural Delia, brought this interesting gourd, shaped like a giant cucumber, into the "Star" office last week. The gourd measured 27" in length and was light green with darker green spots. Charles said this is the only gourd on that vine.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
St. Marys Star, St. Marys, Kansas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Rossville Community Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
October 6, 1981
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
newspaper clipping
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RCL0313
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/176a54a4a8215c72ac2b9c6d08113dc1.jpeg
5fbf10bee226295059371b1984281566
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
Davis and Kelsey Serve on Shawnee County Cattle Task Force
Description
An account of the resource
Dean Davis and Scott Kelsey, both of Rossville, and Mrs. Virg Huseman, Topeka, have volunteered to be county coordinators of the Kansas Beef Development Taskforce (KBDT).
A state organization of cattle producers, the KBDT is supporting a "yes" vote in the national beef referendum to promote the industry through increased beef promotion, consumer education, research and foreign market development.
The Taskforce estimates the program to raise $30-40 million a year through a national voluntary check-off program of three-tenths of one percent on the sale value of all cattle. More than 80 national and 20 state producer organizations have endorsed it.
As Shawnee County coordinators they will be organizing campaign efforts to pass the referendum by holding county meetings and disseminating information.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
St. Marys Star, St. Marys, Kansas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Rossville Community Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
April 5, 1977
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
newspaper clipping
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RCL0375
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/7e0767270521da4facfa68f42a89f547.jpeg
b6d4550f4e9da1cffc1bac0ff00fc7ef
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
Red Parr on Ag Screening Committee
Description
An account of the resource
Three separate search and screening committees have been named by Kansas State University to review nominations and applications for the new associate dean positions designated in KSU's recent agricultural reorganization.
The committees were named Tuesday, September 23, by John O. Dunbar, who will become the University's new Dean of Agriculture and Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station on January 1.
KSU is now conducting a nationwide search to fill three positions established in a recent reorganization of the University's agricultural programs. The positions are associate dean and director of agricultural research; associate dean and director of the Kansas Cooperative Extension Service; and associate dean and director of resident instruction.
In announcing the search committees, Dunbar said the closing date for nominations is September 25.
"As soon thereafter as all applications and references can be assembled, the committee for each position will proceed as quickly as possible without sacrificing the quality of their efforts."
Final recommendations from the committees will go to Dunbar, who in turn, will provide recommendations for appointment to the Provost and the President.
No specific appointment deadlines have been set. But, Dunbar said, officials hope all the positions can be filled by late November.
According to Dunbar, Charles Deyoe, head of the Department of Grain Science and Industry, will chair the committee for associate dean and director of agricultural research.
Rolland "Red" Parr, an agricultural producer from Rossville, is one of the screening committee members.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
St. Marys Star, St. Marys, Kansas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Rossville Community Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
September 30, 1980
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
newspaper clipping
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RCL0470
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/39ca79f385e9d315edf0eb5418831d3d.jpeg
335776ad47be9b6af762e3f5545a644e
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
Earl Mitchell, Tractor Accident, Delia, Kansas
Description
An account of the resource
Earl Mitchell of Rural Delia escape serious injury Friday afternoon when his tractor fell from the Soldier Creek bridge throwing him clear. Mitchell suffered only broken ribs. The front wheels of the tractor fell into a plank crack on the bridge and pulled the tractor to the side, dropping it about ten feet.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Rossville Community Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
November 21, 1963
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Format
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newspaper clipping
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RCL0471
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/1226878ff4de991d3ed8a5c150ef2949.jpeg
0640d0382c951be374104b775e76c34d
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
1895 Corn
Description
An account of the resource
From the "Rossville Times:" Last week, A.L. Stalker weighed 50 ears of corn for William McGuire and 50 for J.M. Parr. They weighed 74 and 78 pounds, respectively, an average of a little better than one and one-half pounds each. They were plucked in haste, and they think they could select even bigger ears.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Originally published in The Rossville Times, Rossville Kansas
Reprinted in the St. Marys Star, St. Marys, Kansas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Rossville Community Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
Original date of content: September 1895
Reprinted: September 25, 1990
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Public domain
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
newspaper clipping
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RCL0486
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/34d55b66c391e816956387a67e4da683.jpg
c1aa6858c52ad38ffe34a35f95060254
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
Big Corn Yield, 1951, Rossville, Kansas
Description
An account of the resource
Not only being honored by his Masonic brethren (sic) on 50 years of membership in Hesperian Lodge, Ed Patterson, also is the owner of a farm on the Reservation, five acres of which produced 119 (sic) bushels of corn to the acre. It was the second crop on land near the North Branch which empties into Big Soldier Creek. Mr. Patterson had scale tickets from the Willard Grain Co. to back up his corn record. It brought $1.54 a bushel--a white hybrid variety: (10c a line for naming the variety.)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Rossville Community Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
January 11, 1951
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
newspaper clipping
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RCL0309
-
http://recollectionsks.org/files/original/a45f465e4089f6d2cad884527989af67.jpeg
6ae3dd5615e34f4a348e6597c65257f0
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
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Title
A name given to the resource
Ralph Page and 1967 Corn Harvest, Rossville, Kansas
Description
An account of the resource
It's harvest time again--corn harvest began this week and Ralph Page of Rossville was one of the first farmers into the field. Mr. Page remarked that he hadn't had such a weedy field for years. He said he was only able to work his field twice because of the heavy rains.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Shawnee County Reporter, Rossville, Kansas
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Rossville Community Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
October 19, 1967
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
newspaper clipping
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RCL0487