Notables

Jackson County Notables

Events, locations, and industries important
to Jackson County history.

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EARLY POSTMASTERS

An Early Postmaster Kept the Mail Under His Hat

from the KC Star Centennial Edition, June 4, 1950, by Roger Swanson


A quaint old man with a stall stiff hat sat sleepily on the South bank of the Missouri River one balmy summer afternoon of a century ago, a fishing pole resting precariously in his hands.

The gentleman was so drowsy in the mid-afternoon sun that he did not notice the initial tuggings at his bait by a cautious fish which zealously attacked the morsel at the end of the line.

It was oly when, finally, the fish gave a determined lunge at the bait that Daniel Edgerton awakened. The line cork disappeared with the fish's gulp, and the slender pole was jerked from the sleepy fisherman's hands.

Daniel Edgerton jumped up. He sprinted up the bank, grabbed for the disappearing pole and line and finally committed an unbalanced plunge into the Big Muddy. His hat flew off, and, carried by a slight breeze, sailed freakishly into the center of the wide and treacherous stream.

Pulling himself from the current, the fisherman observed the hat floating toward St. Louis.

In a confused thirty seconds of consideration, old man Edgerton debated whether to follow the hat downstream in a rescue attempt. What would the people think? Would he lost his job? Would the hat be found later? But it was too late, the hat had almost disappeared.

Why all the worry in Daniel Edgerton's mind about a hat, simply because that hat was one of Kansas City's early day post offices, and the man beneath it was one of the first postmasters.

As the legend goes, Edgerton was a well-liked gentleman, respected in the community, and the confidential friend of the 200 residents of Kansas -- it wasn't Kansas City until much later. But he didn't like to work, so he didn't. Instead he spent most of his time hunting or fishing and frequently could be seen along the river bank.

He carried his official duties with him. In the brim of his hat were letters for Kansas citizens. Mail call happened whenever a resident lookup up Edgerton in one of his fishing retreats and asked the familiar question, "Anything for Smith?

Edgerton was the first postmaster for the incorporated town of Kansa, serving from 185? to 1854. But he was not the first postmaster at the small town on the banks of the Missouri at the Kaw.

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The Days of William Clark

The postoffice here is older than the city. Five years before the city was incorporated a group of citizens took a step that had an important bearing on the sharp growth of Kansas City.

They decided the settlement needed a place where letters could be handled exclusively for its residents. It was too far to trudge to Westport, four miles away, or to Independence, especially when the trails through the forests, where Main Street now passes, were muddy.

With appeals to the proper authorities, the town got its postoffice in 1845 and William M. Chick, a warehouse owner and businessman, reluctantly accepted the job as first postmaster. While Edgerton later found the job an interference with his preferred lackadasical pursuits, Chick objected to the position, because it was too much of a nuisance for the small compensation. The salary was $100 a year. That first postoffice was a drawer in Chick's desk in his warehouse at the corner of the levee and Main Street. William M. Chick died in 1845 and his son, W. H. Chick took over until Edgerton's time.

Even the conventional pigeonhiles for distributing mail were missing in those early days and it was not until many years later that regular clerks and a bonafide postoffice was established.

Even postage stamps were not in use when the city's first postoffice was established. The postage was paid in cash whenever a letter was mailed and the envelope canceled. But the townfolk were proud of their postoffice and felt that the town of only a few hundred citizens ranked favorably with rival Westport and Independence.

Stage coaches which had a tedious journey of several days from St. Louis or steamboats which laboriously chugged their way brought the letters and packages.

A postmaster's tenure then was not long, and three men held the position between 1854 and 1860 when the first substantial station was established in a small store room at what is now Fourth and Walnut Streets. One clerk handled the business.

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The Forgetful Mr. Stebbins

One of these postmasters, George Stebbins, who served from 1858 to 1860, had some eccentricities that considerably irritated the population. Stebbins was outstandingly absentminded and occasionally would leave the post office for lunch to get a shave and would forget to return. So lines of unhappy citizens formed at the office, hoping he would return; or someone was dispatched to locate him.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, the postoffice here assumed new importance and the letter load greatly increased. Col. R. T. VanHorn, also a newspaper editor, was the postmaster when the first news of the firing at Ft. Sumter was told in detail in letters from the East.

In 1861, an appointee as Kansas City postmaster had a hard time when he came to the small western town to take over his new position. He was Stephen H. Haslett, a Pennsylvanian, named by President Lincoln.

The citizens of Kansas City didn't like the idea of the appointment of an Easterner, especially since there were many local businessmen who had hoped to have the post. A group of passionately loyal Confederate sympathizers here abhorred the idea of an eastern "Yankee" as boss of the postoffice.

A short time after Haslett arrived, a delegation of malcontents visited him with a warning."Get out of town, or we'll throw you in the river," was the gist of their information. Haslett took the hint and left. Then Washington sent a special agent to the mount of the Kaw to talk over the postmaster situation with residents.

He went hom with the information that Francis Foster was the choice for postmaster. Foster served until 1867, and had another term later.

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A list of Kansas City postmasters:

William M. Chick 1845
W. H. Chick 1845
Daniel Edgerton 1850
Samuel Greer 1854
J. C. Ransom 1857
G. W. Stebbins 1858
Co. R. T. VanHorn 1860
S. H. Haslett 1861
Francus Foster 1861
A. H. Hallowell 1845
Co. H. B. Branch 1850
Francis Foster 1854
John B. Harris 1857
Col. T. S. Case 1858
C. M. Shelly 1860
R. S. Adkins 1861
F. B. Nofsinger 1890
Homer Reed 1894
S. F. Scott 1898
J. H. Harris 1902
W. N. Collins 1914
Baylis Steele 1916
W. E. Morton 1924
Alexander Graham 1933
Alex F. Sachs 1949

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This page was last updated August 2, 2006.