Bourbon County Biographies
"The Why of Fort Scott"
WILLIAM DOREY.
Mr. Dorey came to Pittsburg, Penn., by canal;
from there to Kansas City by boat. His intention
was to remain in Kansas City, but meeting Mr.
Goodlander and Mr. McDonald, they both told him
that there was great need of a blacksmith in the
little town of Fort Scott. He then concluded to
move down, and arrived here in 1859. His lot on
which he built his blacksmith shop ran from the
alley north west of the junction of Bigler and Weir
streets to a little past the middle of what is now the
Y. M. C. A. Building. Shortly after Weir street was
opened to the east. Before this, Locust (First) St.
was the only street opened across Buck Run. When
the street was opened, Mr. Dorey's shop faced Weir
about where the Herbert paint shop is.
After his marriage to Miss Eunice
Tincher he built a house on the same lot
facing northwest. From their front door they
could see the soldiers drilling on the Plaza.
When the war opened, the Government
requisitioned his shop, and during the rest of
the war, he worked for the Government. In 1864,
he moved into a house which stood where the
Dorey duplex now^ stands. When they moved in,
most of the window panes were shattered or
cracked from the firing of the cannon in the block
house (Fort Henning) which stood on the corner
of National Avenue and Second street. He left one
son, C. Dorey, of this city.
C. F. DRAKE.
In 1858, a young man came into town on foot,
dusty and worn. Liking the looks of the town, he
decided to stay and open a tin shop. His only possessions were $100.00 in silver, a heavy gold chain
given him by his brother, and a big silver watch.
He was a slender, rather dapper-looking young man
and the boys looked upon him as something of a
tender-foot, until one day, he outdid the huskiest
of them in holding an iron bar at arm's length.
That feat gave him entrance into their circle of
"the boys." There were two ways of "winning in"
to society � money and muscle, and Mr. Drake took
the latter way.
From the first, he worked to make this a good
town; his ideas were sound and well-balanced � a
man always to be depended upon. While on the
school board, he was the means of having the Post
hospital fitted up for school purposes. He introduced and pushed through the Legislature, the act
allowing the location of a county seat by the vote
of the people. He built the first cement works; was
one of the men to establish the First National Bank,
in fact, he was active in all forward movements for
the betterment of the town. Mr. Drake lived in a
small house that he had moved to his lot on Williams (Main) St., and where he later built the
Drake Building. Mr. Drake left no children.
H. ERNICH.
H. Ernich, with his wife and one son, came in
1863. He entered the grocery business, upon his
arrival, and also did contracting for the quartermaster's department of the army. His son, H. C.
Ernich, is one of our prominent business men.
S. B. FAREWELL.
Mr. Farewell came here the same year that Richard Stadden came, and went into partnership with
him, in both law office and the saw mill in Rockford Valley. He was the second County Attorney,
1861. He was the Grandfather of Mrs. O. A.
Cheney, Sr.
WILLIAM GALLEGHER.
Mr. Gallegher was one of the early settlers, coming in 1857, and was one of Fort Scott's
most active young men. He was post master, and while
in office, moved the post office from the lobby of
the Free State Hotel to the Town Company's building on Bigler St. It was while fixing these rooms
for the office, that C. W. Goodlander earned $3.00
a day for ten days, and felt rich when pay day came
around.
Mr. Gallegher gave five acres of land outside the
town limits to the Catholic Church, the Town Company having given the same amount within these
limits. He was a war democrat, and served his postmastership under President Buchanan.
C. W. GOODLANDER.
The year 1858, that brought C. W. Goodlander
to Fort Scott, was one long to be remembered by the
early residents. It marked the beginning of stage
travel between Kansas City and Fort Scott, and Mr.
Goodlander was one of the first passengers landed
at the Free State Hotel, by that route. We, in this
day of fast travel by rail, etc., can hardly conceive
of what an event it was in this little town of south-eastern Kansas; it opened the outside world to the
people, and put them ahead twenty-five years. Letters came from "back home" three times a week,
newspapers were only three days old. Fort Scott
must have felt herself in the seventh heaven. I
wonder if any one of us would like to take that trip
as Mr. Goodlander describes it in his "Early Days
of Fort Scott."
Right here, we Fort Scotters, have never been
grateful enough for his little book. Written in a
happy-go-lucky style, (very typical of its author) it
puts one right back into the atmosphere of the old
town; it shows us the nerve and push of all those
young men, whom we later knew as staid and dignified business men.
His Trip.
He started from the stage office in Kansas City,
drove along Main St., to 13th St., then cross-lots to
Grand Avenue, on to Westport, thence to Shawnee. There they must have crossed the river
at Grinter's Ferry, thence over the prairie to
Squiresville, where they stopped for a dinner of salt
pork, beans, dried apples and coffee. Then on to
Osawatomie, where they stayed over night. Next
morning they started early and reached Moneka, in
time for another dinner, this time all of vegetables,
as this was a vegetarian community. Then on to
Fort Scott, crossing the Marmaton River at the Military Ford. When the stage drew up in front of the
hotel, everyone was out to see the new arrivals and
the wonderful stage that brought them.
Mr. Goodlander did almost any kind of work at
first, but mostly in the carpentry line. Soon, he
was able to build himself a shop, and to branch out
as a contractor. From then on, he had a hand in
most of the buildings erected in the next few years.
The three most notable ones were a house for A.
McDonald on the corner of Williams and Locust
streets, the Presbyterian church, and the City Hall.
He was interested and identified in many of the
business undertakings, and later became one of our
leading financiers. In 1901, Mr. Goodlander, among
the many other things he did for the improvement
of the town, gave the east half of the house in which
the Wilson family had lived ever since Mr. Wilson
had bought it at Government sale in 1855, to the
trustees of the "Children's Home" for their use.
The following year, an entertainment was given
from which $1,000.00 were realized and the west
half of the building was purchased, thus giving the
children a large roomy home. The Home is non-sectarian, and is supported by an appropriation
from the state, and monthly donations from the
merchants, and others of the town. Their charter
is dated January 17, 1903.
His widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Goodlander, was the
second child born on the Plaza. She has always
been an active worker in the D. A. R.'s and in everything pertaining to the history of the town. The
cornpiler is indebted to her for much of the material in this little book, giving
locations, and for illuminating incidents in the early life of the community, and much other help.
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This website created August 22, 2011 by Sheryl McClure.
� 2011 Kansas History and Heritage Project
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