Shawnee County History
Auburn Twp.
"History of Shawnee County and Representative Citizens," James L. King, 1905
Auburn Township
Located in the southwestern corner of the county.
It was originally known as Brownsville township, so called in honor of John W. Brown, the first white settler, but the name was changed in 1S60 to
Auburn. The Wakarusa River flows through the township, and at a point
where the three branches of the river come together the Catholics established an Indian mission in 1847, for the benefit of the Pottawatomie tribe.
The land was subsequently relinquished to the Shawnees, who occupied the
20 log cabins built for their Indian brothers, remaining there about six
years. Some of the cabins and a portion of the land were bought from the
Shawnees August 10, 1854, by John W. Brown. On the following day a
party of seven men, from Jackson County, Missouri, took up claims in the
same locality. The new-comers were: E. Carriger, W. F. Johnston, M. A.
Reed, J. J. Webb, B. B. Jones, Eli Snyder and L. T. Cook. Other settlers,
and the dates of their arrival, were: James Moran, October 20, 1854; James
Turner, December 2, 1854; Rev. James Gilpatrick, George Holt, Henry Fox,
Milton C. Dickey, Loring Farnsworth, C. Gilpatrick and Samuel Cavender,
in 1855; John Price, W. S. Hibbard, Daniel Haney and A. H. Hale, 1856;
L. J. Atwood, B. Ingrund, P. S. Spangler, Barney Williams, W. A. Simmerwell and John E. Moore, 1857.
THE VILLAGE OF AUBURN.
One of the oldest towns in the State was established here in 1856, under
the name of Brownsville, which was changed to Auburn in 1857, for the
reason that a Brownsville post office already existed in another part of the
Territory. At one time there were 400 people living in Auburn. Many
good buildings were erected, including a three-story hotel, a brick church
and numerous brick residences of the old Dutch pattern, with walls rising
above the gables, and roofs sloping to the street. A weekly newspaper called
the Auburn Docket was started in i860 by David B. Emmert, later of Fort
Scott. The paper existed nearly a year. It was the ambition of Auburn to
become the county-seat, but a change of county lines, and the projection of a
railroad seven miles east of town, frustrated this plan. John W. Brown, the
original settler, continued to occupy his farm until 1896, when he disposed of,
the land and moved to Topeka, where he still resides. He was born in Belmont County, Ohio, May 9, 1829.
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