Monday's Diggings: Neosho Falls

 

One of the pleasures of organizing old family files is rediscovering articles that deserve another look. While going through my MENTZER family files, I found a multi-page history of Neosho Falls, Woodson County, Kansas. The article chronicles the rise, prosperity, and gradual decline of one of southeastern Kansas' oldest communities.

Since several branches of my family—including the Mentzer family—lived in Woodson County, understanding the communities where they lived provides valuable context for their lives.

Located on the Neosho River, Neosho Falls derived both its name and its early prosperity from the river's natural rapids. According to the article, settlers began arriving in 1857, even before the area was officially opened for settlement. Among the earliest arrivals were Colonel N. S. Goss and I. W. Dow, who reached the area in April 1857. Soon afterward, additional settlers established cabins, stores, a hotel, and one of the county's earliest post offices.

From Frontier Settlement to County Seat

The article describes a rapidly growing community. By the late 1850s Neosho Falls already boasted:

• General stores
• A physician
• A post office
• Schools
• Churches
• Hotels
• A sawmill and later a grist mill

In 1858, Neosho Falls became the county seat of Woodson County, and Colonel Goss donated both a courthouse and a jail for public use. The mills harnessed the power of the Neosho River, making the town an important commercial center during its early years.

Industry and Growth

The article paints a picture of an energetic frontier town. Manufacturing expanded with sawmills, flour mills, and later a woolen mill. Hotels welcomed travelers, banks opened, newspapers were established, and the arrival of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad (the Katy) brought additional businesses, a roundhouse, and a land office. At its peak, the population reportedly reached approximately 1,200 residents.

One section I particularly enjoyed follows the succession of local newspapers—from the Frontier Democrat to the Neosho Falls Advertiser and finally the Woodson County Post. Those publications undoubtedly documented the lives of many of the county's early residents, including families who appear in my own research.

The Beginning of Decline

Prosperity did not last.

The first major setback came when a long-running dispute over the county seat ended with Yates Center winning the election in 1876. Almost simultaneously, changing railroad routes reduced Neosho Falls' importance, and the railroad moved both its roundhouse and land office elsewhere.

Yet the town continued to persevere.

A Presidential Visit

One of the highlights of the article is its account of President Rutherford B. Hayes' visit during the county fair in 1879.

According to the reminiscences quoted in the article, thousands of visitors traveled to Neosho Falls by wagon and excursion train. Estimates placed attendance at 40,000 people, an astonishing number for the era. The article preserves first-hand memories describing decorated fairgrounds, brass bands, military escorts, and even a presentation of a chair constructed from Texas longhorn horns as a gift to the President.

Disaster After Disaster

The remainder of the article chronicles one challenge after another:

• loss of water-powered industry
• the devastating 1926 flood
• a brief natural gas boom
• the closing of the town's newspaper
• the Finney bank failure in 1933
• abandonment of railroad service
• a short-lived oil boom beginning in 1937
• destructive fires and the gradual loss of businesses and population

By the time the article was written, Neosho Falls had become, in the author's words, "a magnificent deserted shell," with many of its once-important buildings standing vacant.

Why Articles Like This Matter

Genealogy is about much more than names and dates.

Articles like this help us understand the communities our ancestors experienced—the businesses they frequented, the schools their children attended, the newspapers they read, and the economic highs and lows that shaped their decisions. If you have ancestors who lived in Woodson County during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, this history provides valuable context for their lives.

Finding this article tucked away in my MENTZER family files was a reminder that sometimes the most valuable genealogical discoveries are not new records but forgotten local histories waiting to be read again.

Have you discovered a local history article in your own family files that helped you better understand your ancestors' community? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

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from an unknown source

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NEOSHO FALLS, WOODSON COUNTY

Neosho Falls has met with one disaster after another and, until recently, has fought back, blow for blow. Now time may be at last the deciding factor in the final demise of the town.

Neosho Falls is the oldest town in the county and was, for a long time, the seat of justice located on the Neosho river in the northeast corner of the county. Its name was taken from the river which brawled in a broad sheet of foamy ripples over the ledges of its bed. One of the first works of the early settlers was to build a dam across this river and thus the town genuinely became known as "the falls." The townsite occupies a broad level table on the southwest bank and is sheltered from all north and east winds by the timber belts which line the river.

On April 6, 1857, Colonel N.S. Goss and I.W. Dow arrived at Neosho Falls, having come in a one-horse rig from Iowa. Before reaching the falls, they had skirted the Coffey county line and finally, just west of where the city now stands, found the cabin of Judge John Woolman. At that time John Chapman was living on Spring creek, just north of the Falls, and these two were almost the only settlers in the county which was the reserve of the New York Indians and not open to preemption. On August 16, 1857, E. Fender came to the Falls, as the rapids in the Neosho river were then called, and built a cabin on the north bank.

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Other settlers came in the fall of 1857, and the spring of 1858, and early in the latter year Ruggles and Stevens built a cabin on the south bank and began to sell goods. A little later, the same firm built a frame store building which stood opposite the Falls House and was occupied by Clark & Company. In 1858, this firm had also erected the Falls House. These two buildings, although among the first, were antedated by a number of log cabins on the south bank that were used for dwellings.

A second store building was erected by J. Fisher who put in a stock of goods. A physician, Dr. A. McCartney, came and began his practice in 1857. The first birth in the town was that of Lucy, daughter of S.J. Williams, who later moved to Topeka. The first wedding under the marriage license act was that of Dr. S.J. Williams and Miss Eva Fender. This was also the first marriage in the county.

A post office was established at Neosho Falls in 1857 for the many incoming settlers and N.S. Goss was appointed postmaster. The business was not very vast at that time, the only settlers being in the two cabins on the north side of the river, and a few scattered to the west and north near the Coffey county line. Colonel Goss held the office until 1859, when Peter Stevens took over and held it until the day of his death. This occurred in 1861 at which time George Wait was appointed. He was followed by S.J. Williams in 1867, and nine years later by W.W. Sain, who held office until January 26, 1880, when R.P. Hamm was appointed.

The first schoolhouse in Neosho Falls was on the private property of E.H. Curtis who figured in the Civil War as the colonel of a Black regiment. It was kept in an old building which is still standing but has been moved back from the street. This was in 1858. A public schoolhouse was built in 1869. The first teacher was I.S. Jones who, for a number of years, was Probate Judge of Woodson county. The schoolhouse erected in 1869 proved inadequate by 1871 and a large addition was made at a cost of $500. The following year a building was purchased at a cost of $1,000.

Traveling preachers were common in Neosho Falls for a long time before an adequate church was built. One of the first ones, E.A. Graham, was appointed to the Neosho Falls circuit for the Methodist church on March 2, 1870. The Presbyterian and Congregational churches were organized in 1870.

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The earliest manufacturing industry was a sawmill built in 1857 by N.S. Goss, T.L. Clark, B.F. Goss and William Brown. When this mill was built the entire settlement was on the north side of the river and it consisted of two cabins, in one of which Mrs. B.F. Goss cooked for the camp. Soon after the completion of the mill, N.S. Goss and Clark became its owners and in 1859, built a grist mill addition. After a few years the combined mill passed into the hands of Cobert & Cozine who sold it in the spring of 1873 to W.L. Parsons, one of the last owners. In 1881, the grist mill was rebuilt, a substantial two-story building taking place of the old one. This mill had four-run of buhr stones and a capacity of 100 barrels of flour per day.

The Falls House, built in 1858, was enlarged and practically rebuilt in 1870 and was the only hotel in town. There was another short-lived hotel called the American, built when the railroad was a novelty but it stood too far from the business center. This hotel did such a poor business that in 1876, it was moved to the track and converted into a freight warehouse. Another hotel, called the Pierce House, also had a short-lived career that ended in a fire in 1876. It stood where the present Congregational church now stands.¹

Businesses boomed, the new community prospered, and the population grew rapidly. A climax was reached on August 16, 1858, when Neosho Falls was formally declared the county seat and a courthouse and jail were presented to the town by Colonel N.G. Goss.² Judge Leander Stillwell of Yates Center remembered the old courthouse and gave a description of it in a speech he made on August 9, 1899:

"There are many interesting events connected with the early history of Woodson county which I would like to notice, but the lack of time prevents, and I shall briefly allude to one or two other matters only. I well remember the first time that I attended a sitting of the district court in the county. It was at the Nov. term, 1869. I had come to the state about 18 months previously, but owing to the fact that I was not overwhelmed with clients in those days I had no legal business to call me to Woodson county until at the term of court just indicated. The county seat was then at Neosho Falls. Court was being held in a ramshackle two-story frame building, which was situated, as I remember, on the east side of the principal street running north and south through the village. The court room was in the second story of the building, and one gained access to it by means of a flight of rickety stairs built on the outside. The stairway was not an entire, solid structure, but was built on the ladder plan, with open steps. I remember that at intervals some of the steps were gone, and consequently where those gaps occurred one had to ascend something after the fashion of a sailor climbing the main mast. The court room proper was small and stuffy, with the ceiling villainously low. No

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matting or carpet of any kind was upon the floor, but in lieu thereof it had a topdressing about half an inch thick of fresh, green timber sawdust. Scattered around promiscuously were a number of improvised spittoons, made of wooden boxes. The contents had boiled over, and ran trickling into the adjacent sawdust, coloring it a rich dark brown. Judge John R. Goodin was upon the bench, and the case on trial at the time was entitled 'The Town of LeRoy against W.W.P. McConnell and N.S. Goss.' It was an action of replevin, involving the right of possession to the printing press, type and materials used in printing a weekly newspaper, the Frontier Democrat. I think, then published at Neosho Falls. The trial resulted in favor of the defendants."³

The optimism of the citizens seemed justified when the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad built a line south from Junction City through Neosho Falls and prepared to handle its main freight shipments, consisting largely of Texas cattle. To further this plan, the "Katy" erected a round house and established a land office. These added numerous families to the community and gave it a feeling of industrial permanence.⁴ This also brought other industries to the city.

A woolen mill was built on the south side of the river in 1873 by the Hilling Brothers and operated by them until sold to the Sharp Brothers, who in October, 1882, sold it to the Snyder Brothers. The woolen mill machinery was later removed and the mill became a flour mill. In 1870, I.W. Dow started a bank, which was prosperous until the country had a mild depression in 1873 that put the bank under. Another bank, Haughwout & Goodrich, began operation in August, 1882, but it was also short-lived.

The first newspaper was the Frontier Democrat which was started in October, 1869, by I.B. Boyle. The paper was printed in Neosho Falls until January, 1870, when it was sold to William H. Slavens who changed it to the Neosho Falls Advertiser. Early in 1871, the paper was sold to a Mr. Collins, who, three months later, sold out to another company. Jones & Clark leased the paper. In the winter of 1872, Jones retired and the paper was leased to Slavens & Pettit. In December of that year, the material of the paper was sold to Sain & Dow, who on January 1, 1873, issued the Woodson County Post. In 1873, Dow retired and on July 13, 1877, the paper was leased to J. Mickle & Son who published it until December of that year when it reverted to W.W. Sain. A month later Mr. Sain sold the office to Nathan Powell who formed a partnership with H.D. Dickson and made the Post a Republican paper. Dickson held it until the paper was bought by W.L. Chellis.

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On September 5, 1870, Neosho Falls was incorporated as a town and D.W. Finney, V.L. Spawr and I.W. Dow made trustees. Early in 1871, upon the passage of an act relating to the organization of cities, the town became a city, and O.P. Haughawout was made Mayor, and W.E. Grove, City Clerk. Some of the first Mayors of Neosho Falls included: J.S. Waterbury, J. Bishop, O.S. Woodward, J.P. Sharp, Benjamin Hunt, R.P. Hamm, C.H. Goodrich, S. Michener, J.C. Jones, C.B. Graves, W.P. Talbott, and H.D. Dickson.⁵

Misfortune began awaiting Neosho Falls. Other sections of the county became resentful of its status as a county seat. Agitation grew until, as early as 1867, an election was held on the question. In that election Neosho Falls won by a vote of 129 to 118 against Yates Center with the towns of Center and Coma receiving two votes each. Again and again, however, the controversy was reawakened and finally, on Sept. 12, 1876, it was decided for all time when the citizens of Woodson county cast 488 votes to place the county seat at Yates Center against 426 for Neosho Falls.

Almost immediately another disaster befell the community. Due to the construction of competing railroad lines directly to St. Louis and Chicago, the Junction City branch of the "Katy" fell into the status of a local line only, and at about the same time that the county seat was lost to Yates Center, the railroad's round house and land office were moved away.

Despite these downfalls, Neosho Falls had grown to a population of 1,200. In the fall of 1879, President Rutherford B. Hayes visited Neosho Falls and was met with a big celebration. There was a fair in progress and the President, on a tour of the West, spoke to thousands of people, many of whom had come from all over Southeastern Kansas, even Missouri and Oklahoma, to hear him. The railroad ran excursion trains and the roads were choked with vehicles. Hundreds camped in the fields about the town because its accommodations were too small to take care of the great crowds.⁶ Letters to local newspapers in later years told of the visit, as did this one from Frank S. Denney as printed in the Neosho Falls Post of July 13, 1933:

"At that time in our early day history of Kansas; Allen, Anderson, Woodson and Coffey counties were holding an annual fair, in the beautiful Neosho Falls Fair Grounds at Riverside Park. The officers of the Fair Assoc. were real live bunch and spared no means to make their fair a success and in 1879 invited the President as a guest. Excitement ran high when it was known that the President of the U.S. had"

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accepted the invitation and was really going to pay us a visit. Everybody got busy and when the decorating committee had finished our fair grounds - which was naturally a lovely place - it was in fact a beautiful place.

"On the day the Pres. and his retinue arrived, they were met at the M.K. & T. depot with a six-horse coach, brass bands and a large delegation of leading citizens. I never will forget the noise and the music as the stately procession wended its way across the bridge, under the beautiful arch and into the shady grounds, where thousands and thousands of Kansas people had gathered for the great occasion. About that time, a Negro entertainer who had been singing on the grounds struck up a campaign song, making the words ring with 'Hayes is Coming, Hays is Coming, Go, Tilden, Go!' The President was immediately escorted to the large platform which was erected especially for the event where he gave his address. On such occasions it was quite common to make the distinguished guest a present and in keeping with the custom, the President was presented with a beautiful decorated arm chair, made from horns that had once graced the heads of the celebrated 'Texas Longhorns.' It was a lovely piece of work and the President seemed well pleased with the gift.

"After dining in the mess hall on the Fair Grounds, he spent the afternoon visiting until time for his departure, thus ending a great day for Neosho Falls, as I remember it."⁷

Another letter from E.B. Moore in the Neosho Falls Post added yet another insight into President Hayes visit:

"A week before the fair opened people were arriving in covered wagons and before the President was due to arrive, 1,000 were encamped nearby. All night before the great day the roads were lined with vehicles so that farmers nearby had to wait and watch their chance in order to get into the procession. At 9 o'clock a.m. September 25, the presidential party, accompanied by General Sherman with a military escort arrived here. The President's first remark was 'Where is the city?' Upon entering the grounds Hayes was honored by a salute of 21 guns given by the troops from Fort Riley. Seeing the vast throng of people the President exclaimed, 'Where did they come from?' The attendance was estimated at 40,000.

"People were everywhere, acres of them. A man afterward said that while in the jam of people he thought he would have died but if he had he would have died standing - there was no room to fall. Two young men (pickpockets) were shoving their way through the crowd, knocking people right and left - the writer was one who was upset, falling against two women and lodging at about a 45 degree angle, never to straighten up and no room to fall."⁸

That day may be said to mark the climax of the town's history. From then on Neosho Falls met one reversal after another.

The mills were lost as steam and electricity replaced water power. The ripples of the water were dammed and a hydroelectric plant built there, but even that was abandoned. In 1926, there was a disastrous flood on the Neosho in which one person lost his life and thousands of dollars worth of damage was done. It was years before the town recovered from that setback.

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recovered from that setback. There was temporary hope of prosperity when gas was discovered near Neosho Falls in 1927, but the spark died when the wells ran out.

Then came the years of 1932 and 1933. First Neosho Falls lost its only newspaper, the Neosho Falls Post. It was the oldest paper in the county and had an impressive history. The Washington press upon which it was first printed, was originally brought to Leavenworth for Free-State service in the 1850's. It also saw service in Lawrence, Burlington, LeRoy, and then to Neosho Falls when I.B. Boyle founded the Frontier Democrat. It was moved in 1931 to Yates Center.

Then in August, 1933, the Finney bond scandal broke loose in Kansas. Neosho Fall's only bank was one of the Finney chain. It closed its doors and practically everyone in Neosho Falls suffered. Shortly afterward the Santa Fe Railroad, which had built a branch line in 1887 from Neosho Falls to Yates Center, abandoned the line and the town was left without a railroad. For some reason, all this did little to close businesses on main street — at least for awhile.

Neosho Fall's last big break came in 1937 when Dr. A.J. Lieurance drilled for oil in his back yard. Dr. Lieurance's son, Thurlow, was a famous musical composer who gained world fame for his "By the Waters of Minnetonka" composition. At 1,145 feet the drillers struck oil of fine quality. The well came in for 150 barrels the first day, and for years pumped 15-20 barrels a day. The sparked a great deal of interest in the Neosho Falls area and many more oil wells began drilling in and south of the town. However, within 15 years, this prosperity had weakened to a mere trickle.

Destructive fires and a mass exodus of business and people left the town in ruins. Buildings on main street still stand today but they are all deserted except for an old cafe on the east side and a post office several blocks up on the west side. The once-modern high school of the 1930's is also now abandoned. The town's biggest brick and stone building burned to the ground, leaving a gruesome shell and permanently damaging adjoining structures. The old I.O.O.F. building stands alone. The community hall stands silent, much of the roof caved in with the wreckage of an old piano still mutely quiet inside. A church turned city hall with its pretty purple stained glass windows, is awaiting some fate or destruction. The whole town is a magnificent deserted shell, biding its time for the final outcome in its long battle to survive.