Shawnee County History
Soldier Twp.
"History of Shawnee County and Representative Citizens," James L. King, 1905
Soldier Township � This township was erected April 20, i860, from
territory added to Shawnee County on the north side of the river. One
purpose of the addition was to preserve Topeka as the county-seat by making
it a more central point in the county. The new territory was taken from
Calhoun (now Jackson) County. Most of it was Kaw Indian land and was
occupied only by the Indians and half-breeds down to 1848, except that there
was a small band of French settlers in the locality as early as 1840. Among
these were the Papan brothers, Joseph, Ahcan and Louis. Louis Catalon, a
nephew of the Papans, joined them in 1848, and James McPherson came the
same year. Fred Swice and George L. Young, both farmers, arrived in 1850.
ARRIVALS IN THE "50's.
New settlers in 1854 were James Kuykendall, John Cunningham. R. J.
Fulton, H. D. McMeekin, Perry Fleshman. \V. S. Kuykendall, John B. Chapman, D. Milne, James A. Gray, G. P. Dorris, J. M. Hand and Charles Tipton. These early settlers assisted in organizing Calhoun County, and some
of them were the promoters of the town of Calhoun, the first county-seat.
Calhoun County was originally named for John Calhoun, first Surveyor General of Kansas, but was changed to Jackson in 1858, in honor of Andrew
Jackson, and the county-seat changed to Holton.
In 1855 Soldier township gained the following settlers: Vincent Cohe,
Samuel Lockhart. J. F. Callioz, E. Bollotte. T. Bruno, A. Colomb, E. Chambourniere, H. Roberti, Alme Malespine, J. Seal, H. Seal, J. E. Thompson
and Thomas Jenner. In 1856 the new-comers were Jacob Johnson, G. Cummings, J. M. Harding, Joseph Neiddaugh, J. W. Price, Ezekiel Marple and
William Owen.
William Tecumseh Sherman, afterwards Lieutenant General of the
United States Army, was a settler in the township in 1859. At the instance
of Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, he undertook the opening and management
of a farm of 1,000 acres on Indian Creek, for the benefit of his grandnephew,
Henry Clark, and his grand-niece, Mrs. Walker, who joined him on the farm
in the spring of that year. He fenced 100 acres and built a small frame
house and a barn. He returned to Leavenworth in the fall of 1859 to resume
his law business. Some of the Sherman farm buildings have been preserved
as historic landmarks.
Some of the persons identified with the county in later years were Rev.
David Bartram, F. W. Fleischer, George W. Kistler, J. H. Miller, J. O. A.
Peyton, A. W. Pliley, W. W. Reed, Edward Sipes, John M. Wilkerson,
Thomas M. James and Samuel J. Reader.
A DESERTED CITY.
The town of Indianola was started in the township in November, 1854,
by H. D. McMeekin, who bought the site from Louis View, a half-breed Indian. The name of the town was borrowed from an Indianola in Texas. A
rival town, called Delaware City, was started about the same time by J.
Butler Chapman. During its brief existence. Chapman's town was known
as Delaware City, Whitfield City, Kansopolis and Rochester, the last being
the name finally settled upon it. One of the first school houses in the county
was built at this point, and near it was one of the depots of John Brown's
famous "Underground Railroad." The so-called depot was built in 1857
by William Owen, and was occupied for many years by Dr. Morrow. Rochester was too close to Indianola to thrive, and Indianola was killed by the
building of the railroad three miles away.
The Union Pacific Railroad runs along the southern boundary of the
township; the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe crosses the southeastern corner;
and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific extends across the western part of the
township, north from Topeka. On the latter line are the towns of Shorey
and Elmont. Shorey has a population of 400 and Elmont 50. Kilmer is a
small station on the Atchison road.
Return to
Shawnee Co. KHHP
|
� 2011-2012 Kansas History and Heritage Project
|