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Max Fawcett
October 3, 2001
The inaccurate records kept by the Genealogical Society group in Arkansas City showed two entries in Creswell Township: Max Fawcett, 1873, age 30, single; Max Faucett, age 36, single.
I do not know where RKW got the following. Traveler not available until 1876...
“The Arkansas City Traveler issue of June 5, 1874, announced that Max Fawcett was married, but the name of the bride was not listed.”
I found this in early census records...
Kansas 1875 Census Creswell Township, Cowley County, March 1, 1875.
Name age sex color Place/birth Where from
Max Fawcett 32 m w Ohio Ohio
M. A. Fawcett 23 f w Missouri Wisconsin
Denton Fawcett 1m m w Kansas
MAXIMILIAN FAWCETT.
ARTICLE BY SAM DICKS, EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY HISTORIAN.
NOVEMBER 2001.
Emporia State has welcomed returning veterans from every American war since the Civil War. Corporal Maximilian Fawcett was among the Union soldiers who enrolled at the Kansas State Normal School in the fall of 1865, the first year of its existence.
Emporian Max Fawcett had enlisted June 20, 1861, in Company K of the Second Kansas Regiment, which soon merged with Company C of the Kansas Eleventh Volunteer Cavalry. He was wounded in action on December 7, 1862, at Prairie Grove, Arkansas, while assisting his injured commander, Captain Lemuel T. Heritage, from the battlefield. Left partly deaf from the war, Max Fawcett was mustered out on September 20, 1865, just in time for fall classes. His four younger sisters also enrolled in the Normal School: Clarissa, who later married William Sherburn Hunt, was one of the “original 18" present on the first day of class, February 15, 1865. Margaret, Mary Rebecca, and Lavina Fawcett all enrolled in the fall. Margaret later married William Hammond. Lavina and Mary Rebecca Fawcett soon died of typhoid fever. Miriam, Max Fawcett’s oldest sister, married Captain Henry Pearce of Company C, 11th Kansas Cavalry, shortly before the War of the Rebellion began.
The Fawcett children lived during the war with their parents, John and Lucy Fawcett, near the Rinker bridge on Burlingame Road, Emporia, Kansas. Their stone house was later razed when the Hoch dairy farm was located there. John Fawcett, head of the Fawcett family in Emporia, had a saw and grist mill on the Neosho River just north of the Normal School. He believed the school was so important to his family and to the community that, during the summer of 1865, he erected a one-story frame building, 14 by 20 feet, just south of the first small stone building on the new campus, for the free use of the new school This was about where the present Sunken Garden is located in Emporia. A plank walk connected the two small structures and the frame building was used in the fall of 1865 and during all of 1866 for classes and other activities. Although its life was brief, this gift was the second campus building used by faculty and students.
Max Fawcett operated the Neosho Valley Nursery and by October 1866 was advertising the sale of young maple trees. He put out the first trees in Emporia’s Fremont Park and, in March 1868, shipped 1,000 young maple trees to Junction City. There was a great demand for shade trees and fruit trees on the barren prairie. Orchards and nurseries were popular businesses in the early days of Emporia. Perhaps there were too many orchards and nurseries in the region, or it may have been that the young ex-soldier was restless and the lure of adventure and profit on the frontier was too strong. At any rate, Max Fawcett was one of the earliest Emporians to travel to the proposed town of Delphi. He returned to Emporia in January 1870 with specimens of native grasses, from three to eight feet high, and proclaimed that the soil would produce abundant crops of wheat.
Max Fawcett sold his Emporia business to his father, John Fawcett, and his brother-in-law, William S. Hunt, in March 1870. He joined other Emporians who settled 125 miles to the southwest on the Arkansas river at the new town of Delphi, also briefly called Creswell, and then Arkansas City.
Arkansas City, named after the nearby river, was founded by Emporians. Kansas State Normal science professor, Henry Brace Norton, and his brother, Captain Gould Hyde Norton, had scouted the townsite. The town company, consisting of people from Lyon and Chase counties, included such investors as Preston B. Plumb, Charles Vernon Eskridge, Jacob Stotler, as well as Lyman Beecher, Kellogg, the Kansas State Normal president, and the Norton brothers.
Professor Norton had left his position at Kansas State Normal in the spring of 1870, and he and his brother, Captain Norton, opened a general store in Arkansas City. Lyman Kellogg, already an investor, followed a year later in 1871, and was briefly the editor and co-owner of the Arkansas City Traveler. Kellogg had also been reading law at the Emporia law firm of Ruggles and Plumb as he prepared to become an attorney during his last year at Kansas State Normal.
FAWCETT SUIT WITH WILLIAM SPEERS HANDLED BY KELLOGG.
Max Fawcett soon began selling large amounts of nursery stock to the new settlers living in the Arkansas City, Cowley County, Kansas area. In the spring of 1871, William Speers, who operated a saw mill on his claim in a sandy area near the juncture of the Walnut and Arkansas rivers, purchased about $175 worth of apple tree stock. Almost all of the trees sold to Speers died during the summer of 1871 and Speers refused to pay for them. Max Fawcett went to Kellogg’s newspaper office and asked his former teacher to take his suit. Kellogg was victorious before a justice of the peace jury trial in his first legal case for Fawcett.
Speers appealed his case to the Cowley County District Court. A strong letter of endorsement by Judge Ruggles of Emporia insured that Kellogg would be admitted to the bar, a necessary step before Kellogg could represent a client in district court proceedings. Lyman Kellogg was admitted to the practice of law in Kansas on April 27, 1872. The district court jury that summer found in favor of Max Fawcett. Speers quickly paid the bill. Lyman Beecher Kellogg abandoned journalism for a career in law. Sixteen years later he was elected Kansas Attorney General.
MAX FAWCETT FAMILY.
Max Fawcett married Mary Alice Kirkpatrick in Grant County, Wisconsin, on May 20, 1874. He and his family returned to Emporia from Arkansas City in 1876 following the death of his father in late February 1876.
In 1882, still restless, Max Fawcett and family moved to Florida, where Max operated an orange grove. As he explored the area near Tallahassee, Max collected “several hundred geological and zoological specimens, mostly marine,” which he presented to the Emporia High School to be a part of their science cabinet.
Max Fawcett died in 1892. His wife and children returned to Emporia, where his mother and other relatives still lived. Numerous descendants of the early Fawcett families continued to make important contributions to Emporia and other parts of Kansas. Some are also among that later alumni of Emporia State University.
END OF SAM DICKS’ DATA RE MAX FAWCETT AND FAMILY.
With the addition of other newspapers on microfilm, I have obtained some new items to add relative to Max Fawcett. MAW
REVISED ARTICLE: MAX FAWCETT.
A Proposal.
Emporia News, June 19, 1868.
If the members of the churches in Emporia will fence and prepare their church lots, I will give shade and ornamental trees to plant them. MAX FAWCETT.
We hope the Board of Trustees of the several churches in the village will avail themselves of this munificent offer. Max is one of our most liberal and public spirited men. He has sold large quantities of shade and ornamental trees here, and is devoting himself entirely to the propagation of trees, shrubs, vines, etc., which will be of immense value to this county in the future. He has always furnished gratuitous information to the people regarding his experience in the nursery business, and he is determined that we shall be furnished with all kinds of trees for our public buildings, parks, etc. Nothing will help the appearance of our churches more than to enclose them with nice fences and plant the lots in shade trees. . . .
Emporia News, June 26, 1868.
[Part of an article re Farmers of Lyon County.]
Seeing Max Fawcett plowing in his Nursery, we could not resist the temptation to stop and make a note of his progress. He is making a specialty of ornamental and forest trees, shrubs, and flowers. He has now in the ground 12,000 maples two years old, 50,000 seedlings, 10,000 White Spruce, 8,000 Arbor Vitae, 5,000 Hemlock, 3,000 White Pine, 3,000 Balsam Fir, 3,000 English Oak, 5,000 Box Elder, and 5,000 Larch. Some of the two-year-old Maples are ten feet high, and all his trees look well except some of the Spruce and Arbor Vitae. The English Oaks look very thrifty, and give evidence that they will thrive well on Kansas soil. The Box Elders make a beautiful shade and are of rapid growth. Some of them have already grown two feet this season. It is a wonder they are not more generally planted. The Larch seems more thrifty than any other of the imported trees. It grows rapidly, and Mr. Fawcett thinks it will prove a good tree for Kansas growth. Two years ago Max set out 2,000 cranberry plants as an experiment. They all lived, but a few that were killed by moles, and he is encouraged to believe they will prove successful in Kansas. He shaded the plants by setting them among the corn. They bore some last year, and the plants are starting out well for this season. This is the only successful attempt we have heard of in Kansas of making cranberries live over one season. Max is planting his evergreens in corn instead of mulching—thinks it a better way to protect them from heat and drouth than mulching. On the Fawcett farm is 100 acres in an excellent state of cultivation, of which 40 acres are in wheat and oats, 40 in corn, potatoes, etc., all looking well—making the best growth had in a residence of eleven years in Kansas. Peach trees are loaded with fruit. Mr. Fawcett is also going into honey-raising. He started with one stand a year ago, which has increased to eleven stands—all from the one stand. His testimony is that they do better in Kansas than he ever saw them do in the East. Mr. Fawcett has a considerable quantity of hedge growing finely on his place. The Fawcett farm is destined to be one of the most valuable and productive on the Neosho. The walls of his residence are bountifully supplied with pictures of various styles, among which are some of Prang’s chromos, and in the sitting room is a Mason & Hamlin cabinet organ, showing a commendable degree of cultivation and refinement. We shall not soon forget the pleasant hour spent at the Fawcett place. . . .
Box Elder Syrup.
Emporia News, February 12, 1869.
Our enterprising friend, Max Fawcett, has been manufacturing syrup from the box elder tree, and presented us with a bottle this week. The syrup is of a light, rich color, and fine flavored, resembling somewhat the maple syrup. Max is always making new discoveries and often surprises us with some of his attacks on the natural elements, and his successful efforts in reducing to practical use the hidden mysteries of nature.
See Max Fawcett’s advertisement in regard to Maple trees. He offers to furnish these trees cheap. [Skipped ad.]
Emporia News, January 28, 1870.
Max Fawcett returned from the mouth of the Walnut, this week, and brought with him a couple specimens of grass, which he clipped from the summit of the highest ground in the vicinity of the town site of Delphi, one of which was a fine grass about three and a half feet high, and different from any we have seen in this vicinity; the other, a coarse grass, about eight feet high; and from the appearance of these grasses, Max is earnestly of the opinion that the land on which he cut them will produce the most abundant crops of wheat, and we have no doubt of it.
NEOSHO VALLEY NURSERY.
CHANGE IN PROPRIETORSHIP.
Emporia News, March 25, 1870.
HAVING decided to locate at Cresswell, I have sold the Neosho Valley Nursery to John Fawcett and Sherb. Hunt. Their motto, like mine, will be good stock at fair prices, and true to name. MAX FAWCETT.
MAW FAWCETT’S CLAIM.
Emporia News, April 22, 1870.
[Written for The Emporia News.]
EDITORS NEWS: Max Fawcett is well known to the good people of Emporia as a marked and peculiar genius, possessing much taste, refinement, ingenuity, and love for the beautiful. He has taken a claim one-half mile west of the young city of Creswell, which I recently had the pleasure of visiting, and which I propose to describe.
It is situated on the north bank of the Arkansas, here a noble stream forty rods in width. A bluff of magnesian limestone some thirty feet high here rises abruptly, washed by the river a part of the way, but bending in such a manner as to enclose a bottom of some thirty acres, covered with a splendid growth of timber and grape-vines. Out of this bluff pour three beautiful springs. One is received in a square cavity cut with a chisel in the soft magnesian stone. Another pours out of a pipe in such a manner as to form a miniature and fanciful cascade, showing some of the peculiar touches of the proprietor.
A few rods from this is a cave about ten feet wide and four feet high at the entrance, larger within, and passable to the depth of about one hundred feet; beyond that too small to conveniently penetrate, but of unknown extent. Here is a most perfect natural cellar for meat, fruit, and vegetables.
The cabin stands on the bank just above. It is not yet very thoroughly completed, and was, a few nights ago, invaded by a pack of prairie wolves, doubtless attracted by the scent of dried apples and graham crackers. One yell from under the blankets caused them to vanish more rapidly than they entered.
Just back of the house is Max’s garden. This is in a conical sink-hole, evidently connected with the cave below. He has shoveled this partly full of loose earth, and laid it off in garden beds with his own quaint taste. Various ornamental plants are also growing about the house.
The land is a warm, sandy loam, admirably adapted to the growth of corn, fruit, and nursery stock. The Chickasaw plum, now in full bloom, grows in thickets all over it. From the building site the scenery is truly magnificent, including many miles of the river, the town-site, and vast vistas of bottom, upland, and bluff. Here “Mac” has found a site exactly adapted to his genius. He seems perfectly happy here, and declares that nothing could induce him to return to dull, muddy, monotonous Emporia. His estate here will soon be the most beautiful in Kansas.
Creswell is founding. Dr. Woolsey, of Iowa, is here building a hotel. He is a man of means and energy, and intends business. He will become the most popular Boniface in the state.
C. R. Sipes, of Emporia, is erecting a building for his new hardware store.
Mr. Sleeth, of El Dorado, is to move his new sawmill hither on the 1st proximo.
A stage-route, a water-mill, a newspaper, two or three stores, a restaurant, a ferry, and many other improvements are in the near future.
Hundreds of excellent claims await the pioneer.
Dr. Kellogg will soon be ready to show these to all anxious inquirers.
Cowley County will be known as the garden of Kansas. H. B. N. [NORTON]
FROM CRESWELL.
Emporia News, April 22, 1870.
CRESWELL, April 9th, 1870.
EDITORS NEWS: We arrived home on the 2nd and found things as we wanted them. Messrs. Smith, Thompson, Cain, and Gibson came down with us. Mr. Smith drove his stake on the south side of the Arkansas, on a first class claim within two miles of town; the others preferred claims on this side, but not having corn enough for their team, they were compelled to return to Emporia without having time to look them up. They say they like the country and are coming back again. We hope they will. They are just the kind of men we want here.
Charley Sipes is here. He has bought John Strain’s share in Creswell. He is wide awake and energetic, and will do more than a full share toward making Creswell the important place it is destined to be. He is building a house and will soon bring down a first class stock of hardware and tinware.
We have had plenty of rain during the past week, as much as is needed at present. Emigration is coming in fast, and our county is settling up with as good a class of people as can be found in any part of Kansas, and all seem perfectly satisfied. Many who were here from Emporia last winter and this spring will remember a lame man named Rogers. He died two weeks ago. He was a whole-souled and generous-hearted fellow; we all liked him.
On the east side of the Walnut, about a mile from town, in a rough, rocky ravine, there is a natural bridge; it is a perfect one, with not even the keystone lacking. The highest part of the arch is about ten feet above the bed of the ravine; it has about twenty feet span. The top of the bridge is level and just wide enough for teams to cross on; and if it had been made for that purpose, it could hardly have been made better than it is. The road to Grouse will probably pass over it.
A few feet above the bridge there is a round basin hollowed out of the solid rock; it is about twenty feet across and about three feet deep, and is filled with clear water that runs out of a little cave through a trough worn in the rock. On the side opposite the bridge the basin is half surrounded by a semi-circular rock ten or fifteen feet high, and a few rods further up the ravine there is a beautiful little cave, with a basin similar to the one I have tried to describe. It just fills the bottom of the cave. These were discovered by Captain Norton while looking for a route to the Grouse. Further up the ravine the geologist will find the book he likes to read.
On the third of this month I planted two weeping willow trees by my spring on the side of the hill by the river. I think I can safely claim the honor of planting the first tree in Cowley County. MAX FAWCETT.
The Commonwealth, May 24, 1870.
THE OSAGE AND KAW INDIAN RESERVATIONS.
“An Open Letter” From Lieutenant Governor Eskridge to Senator Pomeroy.
CRESSWELL, COWLEY COUNTY, KANSAS, May 20th, 1870.
EDITOR COMMONWEALTH: Knowing that the enclosed letter from Lieutenant Governor Eskridge to Senator Pomeroy embodies the sentiments of the settlers on the Osage Indian reservation; and believing that by giving it a wide circulation, it will do much toward hurrying congress to speedy action in our behalf, we request you to publish it.
MAX FAWCETT,
SEWELL P. SKANNELL [CHANNELL],
EDWIN THOMPSON,
and many others, actual settlers on the Osage Indian reservation.
EMPORIA, KANSAS, May 16th, 1870.
Hon. S. C. Pomeroy—
DEAR SIR: Having recently returned from a trip through the Osage Indian reservation, I feel it to be my duty to call your attention to the necessity of speedy action on the part of the government for the removal of the Indians. The best lands are now all occupied by settlers, and the Indians should go, nor “stand upon the order of their going, but go at once.” If I understand the situation rightly, the Indians desire to go and the government, in part, at least, desires to have them go, but the difficulty lies with congress in not being able to agree upon a plan for the disposition of the land after the Indians are gone. Any reasonably fair plan, looking to the interests of the settlers on the lands and others who may go there hereafter, whether it embraces railroads or not, with the school interest protected, it seems to me, would be acceptable. Any plan which just and honorable men might agree upon would be better than no plan at all. The end of the law is justice; when congress through its tardiness fails to do justice to any portion of the people, it does injustice to all, and, committing the sin of omission, in failing to act, defeats justice and breaks the law. Hence the popular branch of the government, failing to meet the just demands of the people, and being unable to keep up with the advancing interests of the country, which it should anticipate, fails of its object and sinks in popular favor. The common people, who make no pretensions, see right where the wrong lies, and rush upon these lands, believing, conscientiously, that were justice done, as good and efficient government contemplates, there would be no question as to their right to do so. There are now ten or fifteen thousand people upon this reservation. It will not do to say that they have gone there in violation of law. They have gone there in justice and for the best interests of the state and country, and to be “ordered off,” would be a most flagrant outrage against which the whole state would protest. Whether it is so or not, the people believe that these Indians would be speedily removed, if our delegation at Washington, or congress, would wipe off the leeches that have fastened themselves on every proposition which has been made for the purpose of this reservation. A united effort in favor of the immediate removal of the Indians should be made, the government being the purchaser of the land. Then while congress wrangles over the disposition of it to various individuals and corporations, the people can go in and take possession of it with more security than under existing circumstances, having now to confront both the government and the Indians.
The Kaw Reservation in this (Lyon) and Morris Counties ought years ago to have been opened for settlement. A mere remnant of a tribe, insignificant in numbers, holding the finest portion of two counties, in the heart of the state, and against loyal citizens desiring homes, is not only a wrong, but an outrage—an increasing outrage, when we consider the fact that the Indians want to leave, and the government, in part, at least, is ready to provide for them elsewhere. Yet, not to be definite, I will say, congress appears unable to agree upon any plan for the disposition of this little tract of land after the Indians are gone. These counties, bearing burdens of taxation which they have taken upon themselves to secure railroads, need the aid of this tract to lighten these burdens. Justice, beyond a doubt, demands the immediate removal of these Indians and the opening of the land to settlement on some terms. Again I repeat the end of the law is justice. Congress, failing to do justice, breaks the law, and the people have a right, in justice, to take possession of the reservation. And why should they not take possession of this, as well as the Osage reservation? A railroad traverses it. It is surrounded by heavily populated counties. It is of no benefit to the Indians, as there is no game upon it. It is now unsettled, uncultivated, and untaxed. Will such a demonstration have to be made, as can only be made by a general uprising of the people, before our representatives and congress will open their eyes to the justice of their demands? It is to be hoped the time will not come, through the tardiness of congress, when the settlement of this reservation will be attempted to be maintained by the militia of these counties. But in many instances “forbearance ceases to be a virtue.” The people have “possessed their souls in patience” for many years, and witnessed the sale of reservations to private parties and corporations, in a wholesale way, and have noted the rapidity with which they have been put through congress and fixed up by the “department,” but have failed to see any brought into “market” upon terms which met the circumstances of the poorer classes. This congress ought not to adjourn leaving these matters as they are. One measure put through is worth more than a dozen bills introduced or twenty amendments offered and lost in the rubbish of the clerk’s desk. Hoping that you, with your colleagues, may be successful in procuring the immediate removal of these Indians, I am,
Respectfully yours,
C. V. ESKRIDGE.
LETTER FROM CRESWELL.
Walnut Valley Times, June 3, 1870.
“Before many months we shall have a brass band connected with our settlement. We have now three players, Messrs. Baker, Chapin, and Max Fawcett.” T. A. WILKINSON.
FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION AT CRESWELL.
Walnut Valley Times, June 10, 1870.
“A grand Fourth of July Celebration and picnic will be held at Creswell, Cowley County, Kansas. All are invited to attend. The exercises will take place at Max Fawcett’s well known beautiful and romantic grove, where nature unites all of her varied and enticing resources with the artistic skill of the owner in making it a most interesting and pleasurable locality for such an occasion.”
FROM ARKANSAS CITY.
Emporia News, June 24, 1870.
ARKANSAS CITY, (formerly Creswell), June 9th, 1870.
EDITORS NEWS: We have had more rain here this spring than we have needed, but of course it is all right—“better too much than too little”—but at times it makes things considerably juicy. Our gardens and unfenced small fields of corn are growing finely. The Arkansas River is rising gradually, caused by the snow melting at its sources in the Rocky Mountains, but it is still fordable. Things are livelier here now since the arrival of Sleeth & Co.’s mill. We will soon have one or two more mills to supply the increasing demand for lumber. There are six nearly finished houses on the town site now, and several others commenced, including Col. Woolsey’s hotel.
We are going to have a regular old-fashioned celebration here on the 4th of July, and we would like to see a number of familiar faces from Emporia on that occasion come down, and we’ll insure them a good time.
We have organized a brass band here numbering fourteen members, and propose to get a first class set of instruments. We also have a glee club of fifteen or twenty members.
There are a great many good prairie claims vacant yet within a few miles of town, and occasionally a good timber claim may be found that has been overlooked. There are very few persons who cannot find claims here to suit them, provided they take time to look them up; for in no part of Kansas is there a greater variety of soil, situation, and scenery than here. We occasionally hear rumors from the not far off North of deathly doings by the bloody Osages: Sometimes we are being driven from the “happy land of Canaan”; and at other times,
Our scalps, our sacred pelts,
Hang reeking, pendant
From the wampum belts
Of noble Ingins.
None of which we credit.
MAX FAWCETT.
LETTER FROM ARKANSAS CITY.
Emporia News, June 24, 1870.
ARKANSAS CITY, June 14th, 1870.
EDITORS NEWS: We are having frequent and terrific rains here now. Our town is improving rapidly, forty more houses are under contract, and are being built as fast as lumber can be obtained to build them with. Mr. W. H. Speers, of Peoria, Illinois, has a new thirty horse power stationary steam saw mill on the way, which will be here in a day or two. Mr. Speers has had a number of years of experience in the mill business, having run mills in Iowa, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Illinois. When his mill arrives we will have two mills. Mr. Woolsey has his shingle machine in operation and is turning out six or eight thousand first class shingles a day.
Our four merchants are doing a staying business. C. R. Sipes tells me that he sells four times as much as he expected when he commenced, and our other merchants, Norton, Bowen, and Goodrich, are not behind him in sales, and all sell at reasonable rates, nearly or quite, and sometimes below, El Dorado prices. Our carpenters are all busy. Messrs. Channell, Smith, and Thomson, carpenters, have just finished a neat, roomy cabinet shop, and are running a lumber yard in connection with their other business. Channell starts for Emporia tomorrow for the purpose of bringing back his better half.
Tomorrow we are going to commence tracing the southern boundary of Kansas from where it crosses the Arkansas River to a point directly south of Arkansas City, and then measure the distance from Arkansas City to the line. There are a great many first-class claims vacant down there. I will write you a description of that part of our county when we return.
We are preparing for a grand time on the Fourth, and expect to see a number of familiar and welcome faces from the North on that day. MAX FAWCETT.
The next item was a response to criticism of Winfield, in which Fawcett was mentioned. I am still of the opinion that the following letter was written by E. C. Manning of Winfield...MAW
The Commonwealth, July 8, 1870.
FROM EMPORIA.
Creswell vs. Winfield.—Misstatements Corrected.
Building up one Town at the Expense of Another, etc.
Correspondence of the Commonwealth.
EMPORIA, July 6, 1870.
An article in your last numbered headed “From Cowley County” attracted my attention. To begin with, I am only a woman, but I dare oppose Mr. N in his professionally setting to rights the misstatements of a Winfield correspondent, and if you dare publish, we at least are on friendly footing. Nor is his letter of so high an order of intellect that I need be daunted on that point.
In the first place, I own no shares in the town site of either place; hence you will see that no prejudice can exist. N is wonderfully sensitive about his town being called a “little rival,” and tries very hard to build it up on its neighbor’s downfall. Now, he ought to know that such an attempt rarely succeeds, and if it emanated from a woman it would be excusable.
He tells you how rapidly it is getting contracts, how many kinds of business are in actual operation, what unequaled water power they have, and much more. All that now remains to perfect it is patronage.
He is the wrong one to talk of misstatements or misrepresentations. He omits to tell you that at every step you go over shoe in sand, that Max Faucett [Fawcett] has a beautiful den of rattlesnakes, that you can get cold water by digging sixty feet—if perchance you should strike a vein. If blowing would erect a town they would have one speedily.
The latter part of April, through the tremendous effort of one of the company, a train of wagons went to Creswell (now Arkansas City) with a view to locate.
Many returned vexed and disappointed at the misrepresentations. Another of the company also went for the first time; he had enlisted in the speculation blindfolded, and when he came to see it face to face, the very expression of his countenance indicated disapprobation, but he must hold his peace, for he was in for it. Since then he is trying hard to sell out. They had better pay him to stay with them, for he is an inveterate, inconsistent blower. That is all he is good for though, for if the town needed sidewalks, or anything else, he would not open his purse. At a picnic of the state normal school, previous to its close, his response to a toast would have made you sick at the stomach. He was going to have Emporia possessed of facilities for watering, lighting, and paving its streets unequaled by any city in America, yes, or across the ocean.
N. complains of illegal votes cast, villainies practiced, lawless mobs, etc. Probably the man Brown was sent up from Creswell to prevent legal voting, apprehensive of a defeat. You may be sure the Creswellites did all they knew how to do to gain the election, and think they have learned some new trick for next November.
Winfield has our sympathies simply because she does neither herself nor others injustice.
To be sure, the land is said to be superior to the days of sandy soil, and it is certainly better and prettier located than Creswell, and so far as I noticed a more refined, and intelligent class of people are attracted there, for it is said “Birds of a feather flock together.”
People sometimes talk too much. The course that is taken by such men as are heretofore described, is certainly ruinous to the well-being of the state and themselves individually.
Eastern men are attracted here by such balloon letters as the one in the COMMONWEALTH, and return disgusted. On my way here, a lady friend said to me, “Don’t believe a word they say, such blowing you never heard,” but they may have caught it from the elements. I am dear COMMONWEALTH,
Very respectfully, MRS.
A TRIP TO THE SOUTHWEST.
Emporia News, July 15, 1870.
The third morning of our journey finds us, at an early hour, on the road leading from El Dorado to Wichita. . . .
But we must abruptly break loose from Wichita and move suddenly down the river sixty miles to Arkansas City. This place is situated on an eminence; the former is in the valley. Here, we gain a splendid view of the whole surrounding country; there, no such privilege is afforded. Here, the valley is comparatively narrow; there, it is extremely wide. Here, there is quite a large quantity of timber; there, there is almost a total absence of it.
As to size, Wichita is about five times as large. But the place is growing just as rapidly as it can, with the present facilities for getting lumber. Two large steam saw mills are now at work and the supply cannot keep pace with the demand. Here, also, we find several of our former townsmen. In fact, the majority of the citizens came from Emporia. Prof. Norton of the State Normal School is the leading spirit. He is full of energy and enterprise, and is determined that the new town shall grow and the country develop. Max. Fawcett is laboring with a zeal that is truly commendable. The stranger has not been in town one hour before the question is asked him, “Have you seen Max Fawcett’s claim?” If not, you must go at once. When you get there, you are glad you came. With Mr. A. C. Wilkinson as our guide, we visited it early Sabbath morning. We reached it at a distance of one and one-half miles west of the town. It lies along the banks of the Arkansas. We first hastened toward the spring for we were thirsting for a drink of pure, cold water. A strip of timber lines the bank of the river ten or fifteen rods in width. We reached the edge of this timber and found ourselves on the brink of a precipitous bluff. Our guide directed our attention to a path that leads down the hill through the trees. Our eyes followed it gladly down farther and farther until they beheld away down ever so far the most beautiful stream of pure, cold water flowing from out the hillside that it was ever our good fortune to see. The path has steps of stone carefully adjusted by the hand of Max. himself. Descending we found that an artificial reservoir made of stone receives the water to which it is conducted by means of wooden troughs extending back to the hillside. From this reservoir another trough carries the water eight or ten feet and precipitates it down a descent of three or four feet, where another smaller basin carved out of the rock receives it. A cup attached to a chain hangs by the side of a tree near the main basin. While you are drinking you look eastward and a few rods in front of you, carved on a big rock, you read:
“Stranger, you are welcome here.”
You look southward and on another rock you read:
“Better than gold
Is water cold,
From crystal fountains flowing.”
You turn to the west and a few feet from you, you find two natural chairs formed of rock. On one is written “easy chair”; on the other, “hard chair.” You sit down on the easy chair and sure enough you sit as comfortably as on the softest easy chair in your parlor at home. A path leads you along the foot of the bluff in a westerly direction until you come to the mouth of a great cave whose inner chambers have not yet been wholly explored. We wish we had time and space to tell about this cave, other springs, and other pleasant retreats.
But we must say farewell to Max and his beautiful claim, with the advice to everyone who goes to Arkansas City to be sure to go and see Max.’s fountains, springs, and caves.
We are now on the road homeward bound. Between Arkansas City and Winfield, twelve miles north, you pass over some very fine prairie. The land is all rich, the grass tall and luxuriant. Winfield is on the Walnut, has a splendid location, plenty of timber in close proximity, and is the county seat of Cowley County. We remain overnight with an old friend of ours, Dr. Wm. Graham, in whose pleasant home we spend a happy evening, talking of the good old times. The next morning we are on the road bright and early, anxious to get back to Emporia. It is the glorious fourth. At Douglass the stars and stripes are flying to the breeze. They are making big preparations for a celebration. This is at present the best town south of El Dorado. We hurry on toward Augusta. Reach it at noon. We find several hundred people assembled in a pleasant grove celebrating our national anniversary in dead earnest.
ARKANSAS CITY ITEMS.
Emporia News, July 15, 1870.
ARKANSAS CITY, COWLEY CO., KANSAS, July 6th, 1870.
Our celebration on the Fourth was a success; weather cool, no mosquitos, large attendance, and much applauded; instructive and entertaining orations, delivered by Prof. Norton, of Arkansas City, and Mr. Cunningham, of Emporia. A number of Emporians were present. The programme was carried out to the letter, and all were “gay and happy.” In the evening a large number repaired to Col. Woolsey’s commodious hotel, where many feet kept time to enchanting music till late in the evening, when supper was announced by Col. Woolsey, and all sat down to one of the best suppers ever gotten up in Southern Kansas. The Colonel is one of our most enterprising and accommodating men.
Prof. Norton (who is the mainspring of Arkansas City’s prosperity) and lady arrived home on the 2nd.
Mrs. Slocum and daughter, Mrs. F. B. Smith, and a number of others came down with them. Mrs. Slocum has a claim near Arkansas City, and intends making it her future home, and judging from what she has already done, we believe that in a few years she will have one of the finest places in Kansas. She went to Emporia in 1858, and immediately commenced planting fruit and forest trees, small fruits, shrubs, and flowers. She now has one of the most beautiful places near Emporia. Very few men have done as much.
Mr. Mains, of the Emporia Tribune, will commence the building for a printing office next week, and as soon as it is finished he will commence the publication of a first-class paper, worthy of the patronage of an intelligent people like ours of Southern Kansas. It should and will be supported. Suppose it will be called the Arkansas Traveler. The first number is to be out August 1st, 1870.
The following are among the more than fifty houses now being built, or under contract to be built in Arkansas City.
Norton & Co., a dry goods and grocery store.
Mr. Sleeth, one neat residence finished and another commenced.
Livingston & Gray, a clothing store, building 18 x 26.
S. P. Channell, a dry goods and grocery store.
H. O. Meigs, a building 20 x 32, two stories, with cellar under the whole building.
C. A. Wilkinson, building to rent.
Beck & Woolsey, restaurant and bakery.
E. I. Fitch, millinery and dressmaking establishment.
Mr. Walker, dry goods and grocery store.
D. Lewis, stone store building, 21 x 31 feet.
S. A. Moore, paint shop.
Mr. Johnson, carriage shop.
Harmon & Endicott, a building 20 x 50 feet, two stories, the lower for a store; and the upper for a hall.
Paul Beck, blacksmith shop.
C. E. Nye, harness and saddle shop.
A. D. Keith, drug store.
Dr. Alexander, office and drug store.
Mr. Groat, a restaurant.
F. H. Denton, store 18 x 24.
Mr. Bridge, a hotel and bakery.
Pond &. Blackburn, of Emporia, have established a real estate agency here. Persons wanting to buy or look up claims will find it to their interest to call on them. They are accommodating, and are well posted as to the location and quality of nearly all the claims that are vacant, and those that are for sale. They are honest and upright young men. They are building a neat office.
The citizens of Allen, Wilson, Howard, and Cowley Counties will meet in general and mass convention at Fredonia, on Saturday the 16th of July, 1870, for the purpose of effecting a railroad organization and electing directors of the Humboldt, Fredonia & Arkansas City railroad. Eminent speakers from a distance will be present.
We had another splendid rain last evening, and the weather is now delightfully cool.
There is little or no sickness here now, not a case of ague in this vicinity. Our doctors and lawyers are the only men that look downcast and discouraged.
The Arkansas River is rising, and is nearly or quite past fording.
We were unsuccessful in finding the State line when we went to look for it a week or two ago. We are going down again this week to try to find the marks on the east side of the Arkansas. We found plenty of mounds while on our last trip, but they had “dead Ingins in ‘em.” MAX FAWCETT.
Emporia News, July 29, 1870.
Letter from Max Fawcett.
A HUNT FOR THE SOUTH LINE OF THE STATE.
The Country, Timber, Springs, Caves, Etc.
ARKANSAS CITY, July 22, 1870.
EDITORS NEWS: In company with Wm. Nichols, Rolin Pond, and Norman Curtis, mounted, and equipped with revolvers, blankets, a field compass, and a sack with something in it to “chaw,” I started on the morning of the 14th to hunt the south boundary of the Osage Reservation. We went to the crossing of the Osage trail on the Arkansas, about two miles below the mouth of Grouse, and looked for the line marks, but could find none. We then followed the trail to Beaver Creek, but could find no line mounds there; but learned that there were some near Gamble & Welch’s mill on Big Caney Creek, in Howard County, twenty-five miles farther east. Guided by M. Patton, a settler on the Beaver, we left the trail to the north, and rode the whole distance across a treeless divide, but with timber in sight on our right and left. We arrived at Big Caney Creek near sunset, and found one of the line mounds. We took supper and breakfast at James Spragues. Mr. Spragues is one of the first settlers on Big Caney. There is a new town just laid out near Gamble & Welch’s mill. It is called Sprague Valley. There was one house being built on the site. Gamble & Welch have a thirty horse-power portable saw mill, and are doing a good business. The country in that part of the valley of the Big Caney that we visited is the roughest, raggedest, and most picturesque part of Kansas that I have seen. The hills are almost mountains, with steep sides, covered with huge, projecting, boulder-like sand rocks. The timber near the river is as good as any that I have seen in Kansas. All over the hills near the river, and extending for miles back, are forests of post oak, interspersed with small and mostly smooth prairies. The trees are scattered, sometimes two or three rods apart, and the grass grows luxuriantly among them, which gives them the appearance of grand parks, and down deep in the rocky ravines are clear rippling streams of pure cold water, sometimes formed into little crystal lakes by great fallen rocks, covered with the most beautiful mosses and ferns that I have ever seen. The scenery on Big Caney very nearly resembles that of the Ozark mountain region of Arkansas. But the whole country is not rocky; the level valleys and nearly level uplands, both prairie and timber, are, with but few exceptions, nearly or quite free from out-cropping rocks. We were informed by the settlers that the Big Caney is settled to its mouth, forty miles into Indian Territory, and claims have been sold south of the line for as high as eight hundred dollars.
We set our compass at the mound near the mill, and ran east half a mile and found the second mound, but the two were not in sight of each other. We ran back to the first mound again, and found the variation, by our compass, to be about eleven degrees and twenty-five minutes. We then started west, ran through a mile of timber with a dense undergrowth of dogwoods, grapevines, and mosquitos, and came within a few feet of a line mound. On the rocky ridges farther west the mounds were built of rock, they were circular in shape, three feet high, with flat tops, and a stake in the center of each. We found all of the mounds in inconspicuous places. We camped in the evening in a deep rocky ravine, with a spring running through it, filled with dead wood and growing weeds. Farther west on our course, and about half way across the divide we found a good spring, after that we had no trouble in finding plenty of good water. This divide is about like the average of Kansas uplands, there is a good growth of grass and rosin weed on it, and with the exception of a few stony mounds, it can be readily cultivated. We crossed Beaver Creek the next evening at Phillip Crocker’s claim, took supper at Mr. Crocker’s, and camped on a hill a mile west, where we found a camp of mosquitos, and were
“Chawed all night,
Till broad daylight,
And then chased in the morning.”
In crossing the divide between Big Caney and Beaver Creeks the line runs about two miles south, and nearly parallel with Flat Rock Creek, which is a small but well timbered stream. Beaver Creek is a small stream, but well timbered; we were informed that it is settled to its mouth, fifteen miles south of the State line. There is a town laid out on the Abilene trail, about a mile above where the Osage trail crosses Beaver Creek. It is called McLain City. There are two cabins on the town site. Mr. McLain, an old settler, informed us that eighteen thousand head of Texas cattle have been driven over that trail since last spring. The divide between Beaver Creek and the Arkansas is well watered by spring brooks, and covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and rosin weeds, and is a splendid range for stock. It is about ten miles across. We arrived at the Arkansas River, and found that the south line of the Osage Reservation runs about five miles south of Arkansas City. If the south line of the neutral strip, lying south of the Osage Reservation, is the State line, the State line must be eight or ten miles south of Arkansas City. After making a mark where we struck the Arkansas, we started for home (Arkansas City). About half a mile below the mouth of Grouse we stopped for dinner, at a large spring on E. A. Wilton’s claim. It is worth going miles to see. It runs a stream that would fill a six inch pipe. It pours from a deep ledge of magnesia limestone, about thirty feet above the level of the Arkansas, and dashes down through a dark, shady, rocky, mossy ravine, sometimes checked in its impetuous course and formed into miniature lakes, and at others leaping down and forming beautiful little cascades over large rocks entirely covered with mosses and ferns. From the spring we followed the road through a narrow belt of timber between high bluffs and the Arkansas, and soon came to the Grouse, which is a stream about the size of the Cottonwood at Emporia. It is well timbered, and the bottoms are very rich, and thickly settled. From the Grouse we followed the upland road around the heads of the deep, rocky sided ravines, emptying into the Arkansas. Grouse Creek is about eight miles from Arkansas City. When about half way over the divide, we stopped to look for water. We found a circular hole in the solid rock, about three feet in diameter, and eight in depth, with a stream of cold clear water running through it at the bottom, and on going into it we found a passage leading from it, probably into a cave. We call it the well spring. A few rods from this, at the head of a ravine, behind some fallen rocks, we found the entrance to a cave. We entered it and found the interior to be about five feet high, and ten or twelve feet wide, with a stream of cold clear water running through it. We went back about fifty feet, and as far back as we could see it seemed to be about the same height and width. About twenty-five feet from the entrance we found a circular hole about three feet in diameter, directly over the center of the cave, running through the solid rock to the prairies above, making a perfect skylight. We have named it Skylight Cave. We are going to explore it in a few days. The prairie between Grouse and the Walnut is about as good as the average of Kansas uplands, but not as good as the upland on the divide north of Arkansas City. We arrived home in the evening, having been gone five days. We took supper at the Eskridge House. Mr. Eskridge is a natural hotelist and accommodationist. He sets a first class table. He is adding two additions to his house, which will make it quite roomy. He is compelled to do this to accommodate his rapidly increasing number of boarders.
All About Arkansas City.
Walnut Valley Times, July 15, 1870.
Arkansas City, July 6, 1870.
Editor Times: The glorious Fourth was a decided success here. The celebration took place on Max Fawcett’s celebrated claim about half a mile west of town; a beautiful grove on the back of the river, in the immediate vicinity of some remarkable springs and caverns. . . .”
The Commonwealth, October 18, 1870.
We find the following in the Arkansas (Cowley County) Traveler.
Colonel Poland, with a party of U. S. soldiers of the 7th cavalry, has been through this region, looking up the state line. He reports it to run somewhere below Grouse. He assures us that we are all right, and that all persons north of Fawcett’s line are in the state. The state line is thus assured to be not less than from four to six miles below us.
Walnut Valley Times, November 25, 1870.
MAX FAWCETT, Nurseryman and Horticulturist, whose name in this connection is a household word in Southern Kansas, passed through here on his return to his romantic place of burbling springs and sparking waterfalls, on the banks of the Arkansas, at Arkansas City.
Excerpt from long article...
The Commonwealth, January 18, 1871.
FROM COWLEY COUNTY.
ARKANSAS CITY, KAS., Jan. 10, 1871.
Correspondence of the Commonwealth.
On the sod last summer Mr. Fossett [Fawcett] dug at the rate of 204 bushels of potatoes per acre, while another man had a melon with no extra culture, weighing 46 lbs. For all grains, roots, and vines the soil on the Arkansas river side is superior, and for grass on the Walnut river side, the soil is inferior to none. I should have said that the city from whence I write is built near the confluence of the Walnut and Arkansas rivers, and that the strips of land lying between them for some 15 miles north and south, is that of which I speak. Near the Arkansas on the west, the soil is sandy, while toward the Walnut on the east the soil is rich and free of sand. Hence, emigrants can choose either part, as may suit their notions or vocations. For grazing, the Walnut bottoms will be preferred. As to fruits, while it is certain that they will grow profusely here, it is not yet certain which kind will flourish the best.
Emporia News, April 14, 1871.
Max Fawcett left upon our table a specimen of hydraulic cement, taken from his claim near Arkansas City. He has a ledge on his place that crops out above the surface for a distance of one hundred rods. Being in doubt as to what it really was, he took a specimen to Prof. H. B. Norton, of Arkansas City, who pronounced it hydraulic cement. In order to feel yet more certain, he took it to a Professor in the Normal School at Bloomington, Illinois, who is a first class geologist, and he pronounced it to be the same that Prof. Norton thought it was. This cement is a matter that being made of hydraulic lime is very extensively used for cementing under water, but is not abundantly found anywhere else in this country, we believe, except in Michigan. It may prove of no inconsiderable value to Max. We hope it may.
CONCORD GRAPES.
Walnut Valley Times, August 22, 1873.
Max Fawcett, Esq., of Arkansas City, sent us this week by Mr. T. C. Arnet, a box of the finest Concord grapes we have seen this season. We learn that Max has nearly three tons of grapes this season in his fine vineyard. Mr. Fawcett is engaged largely in fruit culture. He has a large nursery and vineyard and knows how to take care of them. Max is an old time friend, and we return our heartfelt thanks to him for the delicious feast.
Walnut Valley Times, September 12, 1873 - Front Page.
There is a narrow belt of hilly land from two to four miles wide bordering the Arkansas river, that seems peculiarly adapted to the culture of the grape for early market. It is a deep, rich, sandy loam, and in places underlaid with limestone. Here, near the line of the Indian Territory, the grape ripens from two to three weeks earlier than in the Neosho, and other more northern valleys of this state.
This year we marked our first ripe grapes on the 28th of July, and finished marketing the Concords and Catawbas on the 29th of August. We have vines of the Concord, Catawba, Hartford, Prolific [?], Erbamont, Diana, Norton’s Virginia, Ives Madeira, Delaware, Burgundy, Taylor’s Bullitt, and Perkins, that have borne their second crop. With the exception of Taylor’s Bullitt, they promise exceedingly well. Last year we had Catawbas ripen on vines lying flat on the ground. The Delaware seems to do best on ground sloping east.
The Concord here ripens more thoroughly and is much richer and sweeter than at the north. It is really delicious, and until we find, by experience, a variety of better flavor equally suited to our locality, I would advise those planting for home use or for market, to plant more of this than of any other variety. It is good and sure.
This year we shipped grapes to Wichita, Eldorado, and other towns north of us, and received an average of 20 cents per pound for them. We were first in market. As soon as we have railroad communication with the cities and towns north and west of us, grape culture will be very profitable here. S/ MAX FAWCETT. Arkansas City, Aug. 30.
Winfield Courier, June 5, 1874.
MARRIED. Max Fawcett has returned, no longer a bachelor.
CENTENNIAL ISSUE.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, January 6, 1876.
Max Fawcett, recently of the Neosho Valley (Emporia) Nursery, has transferred his entire interest to Creswell, and is arranging to establish there the largest fruit and nursery concern in Kansas.
Arkansas City Traveler, January 26, 1876.
AD: Grape Vines, Blackberry Plants, Seedling Peach Trees, Flowering Shrubs, etc. A large lot for sale cheap. Will take wheat and corn at market rates.
MAX FAWCETT, Arkansas City, Kansas.
Arkansas City Traveler, March 1, 1876.
“Max Fawcett’s father died at Emporia this week, and Max has gone to join in the funeral obsequies.”
GRAPES.
Arkansas City Traveler, August 16, 1876.
Nice ripe Concord’s 10 cents per pound or 12 lbs. for one dollar. At Max Fawcett’s old vineyard.
Arkansas City Traveler, January 24, 1877. Editorial Column.
In company with the gentlemanly manager of the “City Livery, Feed and Sale Stable,” and two other gentlemen, we took a short ride to the spot on the divide where Arkansas City was to be, in case Max Fawcett’s grape line survey of years ago made us in the Territory. The place has changed somewhat, and is now almost forgotten by the oldest residents. “Ed.” drove the sorrels, and the ride was quick and pleasant.
Arkansas City Traveler, April 11, 1877.
Among list of lands advertised by the Arkansas City Bank, offered at very reasonable rates, for cash or on time.
Lot 2, block 87; lot 25, block 132; lots 5 and 6 block 17; lots 9 and 10, block 150; and five acres of timber land on Arkansas River, near Max Fawcett’s farm.
Inquire of J. C. McMullen or Jas. Christian, Arkansas City, Kansas.
Arkansas City Traveler, October 13, 1880.
Mahlon Bond brought in a tolerably fair sample of corn last Monday morning, which was raised on the old Max Fawcett place, northwest of town, on the Arkansas. There were nine stalks, the tallest of which was something over nine feet, bearing in all nine ears—all from one grain of corn, as shown by the root. Mr. Bond also raised on the same place a muskmelon measuring five feet in length. The corn can be seen in the TRAVELER office. There’s nothing small about Cowley.
