The following article
appeared in the Neodesha Register June 10, 1971, during the city Centennial.
The article was scanned in by
myself, Kerry Elkins, 3/ 2006 and as many scanner
errors corrected as possible.
AN EARLY HISTORY OF NEODESHA
Probably the first brochure of Wilson County, Kansas, was
published in 1886 by the C. S. Burch Publishing Company,
The following pertains to the City of
NEODESHA
One of the oldest towns in the county.
It is located on a fine plateau in the forks of the Verdigris and Fall Rivers, in
the midst of one of the richest and loveliest valley regions of Kansas and is environed
with broad reaches of matchless wheat and corn land, splendid forests of oak,
ash, elm, hackberry, maple, walnut, cottonwood and sycamore, finely cultivated
valley farms, fruitful orchards and vineyards, and represents the largest area
of rich river bottom land of any town in the county. It
is fifteen miles southeast of Fredonia, near the southern boundary of the county,
ten miles south of
OTHER SALIENT FEATURES of the city are a splendid water
power, two large flouring mills, a foundry, two banks, five churches, a model graded
school and elegant school house, a live newspaper, some fine commercial
buildings, a handsome exhibit of pretty and even elegant homes, and a full
representation of the fraternities. Neodesha has from the first been one of
the strongest trading points in southern
The banking house of Condon
& Carpenter, which opened its doors In the
fall of 1885, is a branch of the old and widely known banking house of C. M.
Condon, of
The Neodesha Savings
Bank, organized in 1871 and 1872 as successor to the Neodesha Bank, has a cash capital of $25,000, of which $6,500 is
surplus. It is officered by Dugald Stewart, president; J. A. Hopkins,
vice-president, and Wm. Hill, cashier. Its capital is largely held by the well-known
and wealthy firm of Atewart Bros., and
under the able management of Mr. Hill, the bank has come to be recognized as
one of the strong, conservative and strictly legitimate banking houses of southern
LEADING MERCHANTS
is Mr. J. B. Keys, the popular mayor of the city, the owner and manager of an extensive local lumber yard, and proprietor of the Neodesha Steam Mills. Mr. Keys has been in the country since 1867 and made a fine fortune here. He owns the handsomest home in the city, is sound as bullion, has prime social and business gifts, is one of the most popular men in the county, and offers to some good, practical mill man a genuine bargain in the purchase of his well equipped flouring mills.
H. H. Arthur, who recently closed the sale of his dry goods,
has been a conspicuous mercantile figure here, leading the city in the magnitude
of his stocks and sales. He is a man of fine business qualities, ample means and
high standing, owns a pretty home in the city and about 1,000 acres of choice farm
lands, among them the well-known "Dry
Creek Stock Farm", some four miles east of the city. Mr. Arthur came
here from
The city is indebted for some of its finest improvements to Wm. H. Cramer, the county treasurer-elect, who is already known to the reader. The new Cramer building, embracing the Register newspaper office, the post office, and Condon & Carpenter's bank, is an elegant structure, both in its architecture and interior appointments and finish, and is a compliment to the public spirit, taste and enterprise of the builder. Mr. Cramer is an old merchant here, is still largely interested in valuable stone quarries and brick yards, and up to a recent date has been active and successful operator in real estate.
De Ford and Willhaf are ranked with the foremost general merchants of the city and county. They carry $15,000 stocks in large double salesrooms; carry their yearly trade up to $50,000; are live, rustling, progressive merchants, with plenty of capital and credit; have a strong hold on the community, and will build one of the largest and finest brick store houses in the county.
Stewart Brothers lead the trade in the city in groceries, provisions and queensware, with heavy stocks, a fine, capacious storehouse, royal business gifts and yearly sales worthy of a city of 10.000 souls. They hail from Glasgow, Scotland; have made a liberal fortune here since their coming in 1870; are largely interested in farm lands, city properties and bank stock, dispense a genial and generous hospitality from one of the happiest homes in Kansas, and are all — Dugal, Angus and James — cultivated, manly, influential men, whose success is a compliment alike to themselves and the county.
Henry Schley, an old-time friend of the writer, a prime landlord and a companionable gentleman, owns the Occidental Hotel, and has managed it with credit to himself and the city. It is by a good margin the foremost hostelry in the city, and enjoys a first-class patronage.
Mr. C. M. Wells leads the bakery, confectionery and restaurant, business of the city. He is a connoisseur in the preparation and service of oysters, ice-cream, lunches and kindred delicacies, and has the unanimous approval of the writer (and "the rest of mankind's") as the boss caterer.
The Fall River Roller
Mills, situated on
THE LAWYERS AND LAND MEN are entitled to recognition here and shall have it in full measure. J. W. Sutherland, the oldest attorney in the city and one of the best lawyers of this region, has a large list of wild lands and improved farms for sale at current rates. He is loaning money on real estate, buys and sells farms and city property, pays taxes, and makes abstracts; owns several good farms, is a No. 1 business manager, and is one of the solid, reliable, reputable, public spirited and influential men of the county.
Mr. J. K. DeMoss is one of the rising attorneys of this
region and is named to the writer as a faithful, honest accurate, persistent and
painstaking lawyer and business man. Mr. DeMoss is giving special attention to
farm loans and will sell to Eastern
capitalists place for them prime 8 percent mortgage loans on property worth
three times the amount loaned, with semiannual interest payable at any Eastern
point designated by the lender. He will
collect and remit interest without cost to lender and guarantee his loans; can give
the best references and will be pleased to confer with money lenders who are
looking for ample securities. Mr. DeMoss is also handling real estate and is
one of the squarest and best men in
The Neodesha Register, edited and published by J. K. Morgan, is a sound and reliable Republican journal; has excellent business and editorial management at the hands of Mr. Morgan and enjoys a liberal patronage.
Neodesha has a fine water supply and inexhaustible quarries
of superior lime and sandstone and with the neighboring forest of valuable
commercial timber, offers rare inducements to manufacturers of furniture,
wooden ware, farm machinery and kindred work. The locality is invested with more or less historical interest
as an early
trading point, while yet the Osages were in possession, of those beautiful valleys, and is rich in the romance and traditions of the early
and later tribes. The landscape, too, is a marvel of beauty as viewed from
Little Bear Mound, with the pretty valley city well in the foreground and the
clear, winding, wood-fringed
