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Appeal to Reason, Girard, Kansas, July 25, 1914





Fiat was about 2.5 miles east of K-99 on Pioneer Road. The Howard Citizen, a democrat paper, and the Howard Courant, a republican paper, probably both covered the event as it may have been the biggest event to ever hit Elk County.

The Appeal to Reason newspaper started in Kansas City around 1895 but soon moved to Girard in Crawford County eighty miles east of Howard. The newspaper attained a high point circulation of 400,000 to 700,000, depending on source, but went out in 1922. It was the largest circulation socialist newspaper in the U.S.

Girard was also a home to socialist Eugene V. Debs, who ran for president in 1904, 1908, and 1912. In 1920, he ran for president again but from a cell in the Atlanta penitentiary.

Daily Republican, Cherryvale, Kansas, February 12, 1912

The Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, Kansas, February 10, 1881

Merry Christmas everyone

Hays Daily News, Hays, Kansas, January 28, 1976


In 1976, there does not appear to have been a quick stop grocery on the highway in Howard.

Tom & Sue's IGA was located at 130 North Wabash. I believe that was the only grocery store in town.

From 1975-1980, I lived in Mulvane and recall my Uncle telling me that someone broke into his barbershop overnight. His shop was in what is now the northernmost portion of the Family Market He had nothing in the shop that night but the perps worked in his backroom to break through a wall into the next building south, which might have been the Red Door gift shop at the time. I don't recall if he said they tried to get into Batson's drug store from the Red Door. And, I don't know if this is the same event or not.

At any rate, $907 in 1976 is equivalent to $3,800 in 2016 according to the Morgan Friedman inflation calendar.

Another report in an Iola newspaper says that at Severy, twelve women entered the grocery store during operating hours. Several distracted the clerk while others apparently opened the drawer and took the money.

Atchison Daily Champion, Atchison, Kansas, January 13, 1877

1,440 grains is .21 or a fifth of a pound. I have not weighed an ear of corn lately so don't know how this might compare to some of the super strains bought in the supermarket.

At this point in time, the Elk County Ledger was in Elk Falls.

Oskaloosa Independent, Oskaloosa, Kansas, September 25, 1875.

Kansas Does Not Want Elk County by a vote of 59-33.

This law would have created Elk County and left the remainder of Howard County as Howard County.

Oswego Independent, Oswego, Kansas, February 14, 1874

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone.

Dont eat too much turkey....

Leavenworth Times, Leavenworth, Kansas, July 11, 1871. This date was about one year after the one-store town's move from Paw Paw Creek to the center of northern Howard County, four years before Elk County came into being, and six years before the town was renamed Howard.

The Elk County history book says that Howard City had only 15 houses in 1874.

A couple months later Howard City became Howard and was established as a third class city through district court action. The first mayor was Abe Steinberger, who had brought the Courant newspaper to Howard City.

The other larger villages in Elk County eventually followed suit and all existing remain as a third class city.

Population determines the class status of a city but once established, a city cannot lose its status even if the population should drop dramatically.

Eureka Herald and Greenwood County Republican, September 30, 1877

The Elk City Courant moved to Longton becoming the Longton Courant, and then moved to Howard City in 1875 becoming the Howard City Courant upon the division of Howard County.

The Longton Ledger moved to Elk Falls becoming the Elk Falls Ledger when Elk Falls became the county seat for the second time and then moved to Howard City in 1876 becoming the Howard City Ledger with Thomas E. Thompson, the 16 year old print setter helping with the move. Tom was formerly a print setter for the Boston Howard County Messenger and moved to Elk Falls after the end of the Boston War for the county seat.

Four years after merging, Asa Thompson and son (Thomas E. Thompson) bought the newspaper and renamed it the Howard Courant.

Emporia Weekly News, Emporia, Kansas, November 30, 1877

Maybe Elk County needs to make a new hire for its continuing road problems?

Peru was the township seat of Belleville Township. Peru was founded as Belleville but early on had to change its name due to a name confliction with an existing town in Republic County.

In those days, townships had sole responsibility for constructing and maintaining any road located within the township boundaries, including county or state highways where they existed. It would be another forty years, or so, before counties took over road responsibility.


Marshall County News, Marysville News, Marysville, Ks, May 9, 1874.

Thirty-three dollars per month.

The item does not say but the pension came from the state of Connecticut.

The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, April 13, 1886

The Commonwealth, Topeka, Kansas, August 18, 1887

This is not exactly the Good Old Days for many people but here is a map of the concentration of slaves in the U.S. at some point before the Civil War. This is not a perfect copy but one can see the largest areas with slaves and the concentration in the state of Missouri.

The area along the Missouri River from St. Louis to Kansas City was known as "Little Dixie." Harry Truman's home town of Independence in Jackson County near Kansas City did not have as many slaves as some of the counties on the river but was still the site of many slave markets and several thousand slaves working in the county.

One freed slave, Hiram Young, in Independence was reputed to be the biggest wagon maker in the state, if not the nation. He sold wagons for the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trail business and also contracted with the US government to provide freighters. He managed his manufacturing business by buying slaves and putting them to work as slaves--but eventually freeing them when he had recouped his expense. He could neither read or write but knew how to build wagons. He went into partnership with one of the white town leaders who kept books for him, managed his finances, and signed his contracts.

In some accounts, the Moline & Sedan RR is listed as an extension of the Elk & Chautauqua RR that started south of Severy at the county line and terminated in Howard for a few years until being extended to Moline. The Elk & Chautauqua was a paper RR formed to build the track for the Santa Fe.

It seems to be widely known that Moline at one time had a turntable and round house. Howard also had a turntable and an engine house located in the vicinity of the cemetery until the line was extended to Moline and it was torn out. The turntable was used to turn engines for the return trip to Emporia.

Moline also had a large "Y" that could be used to turn entire trains around rather than just an engine.

The Moline & Sedan was never built.

Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, Kansas, July 26, 1887.

From the Elk County commissioner notes in the newspaper, the commissioners have voted to proceed with the remodeling of the old nursing home and will construct a separate ambulance barn someplace in the adjacent area.

The Moline Mercury was one of eleven newspapers to call Moline home. The paper lasted seven years until 1889. The first newspaper in Moline was the Moline News. It started publishing in 1880 but did not last the year.



Coffeyville Weekly Journal, April 29, 1882.

Topeka Daily Capital, November 27, 1904

In the bottom of the right column is the mention of the pending death of of General Lew Wallace. He managed to hold on for another three months before he died. After the Civil War and when governor of New Mexico, he wrote Ben-Hur.