History of Atchison County, Kansas. Sheffield Ingalls

the country. A large walnut cupboard and other furniture in Mr. Luth’s home he made from walnut timber cut at Port William and sawed into lumber at the old Hartman sawmill at that place. Mr. Luth had a little shop at Port William in which he made furniture. Henry Hausner, Atchison’s well known commission merchant, took a claim at Port William in 1855, but was cheated out of it. Andy Brown, for many years an Atchison flagman, was an early settler of Port William. With Thomas Taylor, now living at Perry, Kan., he crossed the river to Kansas on Jake Yunt’s ferry just above Port William in 1854. Mr. Brown’s father had taken a claim at Port William and Taylor one adjoining it. The latter helped Samuel Dickson build his cabin shanty on the site of Atchison in the fall of 1854.

      Ex-Sheriff Fred Hartman, of this county, now deceased, lived at Port William in the early days. His father, Jonathan Hartman, in 1854, put into operation at that place one of the very first sawmills in the Territory. It furnished lumber for many of the first houses in this section. The lumber was sawed from the fine timber which grew along Little Walnut creek. Fred Hartman said that in 1856 Bob Gibson brought his famous “Kickapoo Rangers” to Port William for the purpose of lynching his father, Jonathan Hartman, on account of his most avowed Free Soil principles. They stayed around a while, and as Mr. Hartman did not seem to be the least bit intimidated, they finally left and never molested him again. It was during this time that Pardee Butler was placed on a raft at Atchison and set adrift in the river. He landed just above Port William, and went at once to Mr. Hartman’s for assistance. Not deeming it safe for Mr. Butler to remain in Port William, Mr. Hartman took him out to the home of Jasper Oliphant, about two miles west of the village, where he stayed at night and finally reached his home in safety. Jasper Oliphant was another of the earliest settlers of this locality. He was assassinated some years ago by Bob Scruggs, a desperate character, who at the same time shot and killed John Groff, another prominent Walnut township citizen, and Scruggs was captured and hanged to a tree near Oak Mills. The tragic deaths of two such substantial citizens as Mr. Oliphant and Mr. Groff produced a profound sensation throughout Walnut township. In the spring of 1857 Jonathan Hartman sold his sawmill and moved to a farm near the present site of Parnell, where he died. Fred Hartman served during the war in the Thirteenth Kansas with Thomas J. Payne, mentioned elsewhere.

      The wagon road leading from Port William westward to the “old military road,” bears the unique distinction of crossing the same creek fourteen times in a distance of less than three miles. It is not believed that there is another creek in Atchison county that is crossed an equal number of times by one road. Little Walnut creek, which empties into the Missouri river at Port William, has its source near the Leavenworth county line. It flows northward through a heavily timbered country, and is one of the prettiest little streams in Atchison county. It was formerly called Bragg’s creek, after “Jimmy” Braggs, an early-day Missouri Pacific section foreman, who lived on its banks. Braggs afterward moved to Holton, where he died and the name of the creek was changed to Little Walnut, after its neighbor, Walnut creek, which empties into the river at Dalby, about two miles above.

ARRINGTON.

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      Arrington is located on the Union Pacific railroad in the southwest part of the county. This town was platted August 20, 1884, and its original promoters were R. A. Van Winkle, D. S. Henecke. John Ballinger, D. D. High, D. A. Benjamin, J. M. Roberson, Michael Baker, J. S. Hopkins, Ira Tabor and George W. Drake. Its streets are numbered one to four, and its cross streets are called Fountain avenue, Delaware street and Forest avenue. Arrington has three general stores, one elevator and a bank. During good crop years, as high as 125 cars of grain and live stock are shipped from its station, and its stores do a good business, rendering fine service to the surrounding territory.

      At one time prior to 1890 medicinal springs were located at Arrington and it was quite a resort during the summer months for people living in northeastern Kansas. The town has a good hotel, and in addition to its merchandise establishments it supports a physician and several churches.

      For many years a mill was conducted on the Delaware river upon which Arrington is located, operated by water power. This mill was built by John Reider in 1867, who also operated it both as a sawmill and as a grain mill. In 1874 W. H. Stockton joined Mr. Reider, and these two men built a two-story frame mill, but they operated it only one day, as it was mysteriously burned the following night. Shortly thereafter Mr. Reider, undismayed and undiscouraged, associated with himself Albert Ingler, and remembering his previous disastrous experience with fire, Mr. Reider built a stone mill. This firm conducted a successful business for a number of years, drawing patronage for a distance of sixty miles, but in 1879, Mr. Ingler met an untimely death, by drowning as he was crossing the river, a few feet below where the Arrington bridge stands. Mr. Reider sold his interest to D. S. Heneks, who ran the mill until 1906, when John W. Young became its owner. He subsequently turned it over to George W. Stone, since which time it has been in possession of various owners, and in 1916 is owned by Burt McCulley. It has not been operated since 1908, and stands in ruins.

      A history of Arrington would be incomplete without the mention of the name of Ransom A. Van Winkle, who was the first settler in Kapioma township, and the founder of the town. Captain Van Winkle was born November 25, 1818, in Wayne county, Kentucky. He was a Hollander by descent, and at one time his great-grandfather, Michael Van Winkle, owned an interest in 13,000 acres of land within twelve miles of New York City, which was sold just prior to the Revolutionary war, for twenty-five cents an acre. Van Winkle received the rudiments of his education in a Kentucky log school house, but was for two years a cadet at West Point and received a good education. He was married twice and had a varied experience in business, at one time owning a large interest in coal lands in Kentucky. He removed to St. Joseph, Mo., in 1849, and in September, 1855, came to Kansas and built the first claim cabin on the Grasshopper, or what is now the Delaware river, above Valley Falls, in Kapioma township. He also built the first steam sawmill, sawed the first lumber, and built the first frame house, and taught the first school in Kapioma township, and was the first postmaster at Arrington. He always took an active part in politics in the county and was a stanch Republican. He was a prominent Free State man in the early struggle in Kansas and contributed liberally to the cause and worked hard in its behalf. He was a justice of the peace in Papioma township for fourteen years; postmaster five years; trustee of Kapioma township eight years; a member of the legislature in 1861 and 1862 and county commissioner of Atchison county for six years. He was patriarchal in appearance and was a conspicuous figure for many years in Republican conventions in Atchison county.

MUSCOTAH.

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      The name of “Muscotah” is of Indian origin, but when, why and by whom it was applied to a town, seems to be a question. “Andreas’ History of Kansas,” in a brief historical mention of the town of Muscotah, says: “The name Muscotah, written in Indian style, Musco-tah, signifies “Beautiful Prairie,” or “Prairie on Fire.” Andreas does not give any authority for this statement, but on page 1343 in a biographical sketch of William D. Barnett, one of the earliest settlers of Muscotah, he says that Mr. Barnett did not name the town, but that it was named by Paschal Pensoneau, the old Kickapoo trader and interpreter. Mr. Kessler was a blacksmith among the Kickapoos at early day.

      Maj. C. B. Keith was one of the founders of Muscotah, and an early agent for the Kickapoo Indians. In a letter under date of December 8, 1908, Mrs. Keith, the widow of Major Keith, wrote that Muscotah was named by her husband and her two brothers, William P. and John C. Badger. She corroborates Andreas in his statement that the name signifies “Beautiful Prairie,” or “Prairie on Fire,” and says that Muscotah should be accented on the last syllable. She further says that Paschal Pensoneau may have suggested the name, and incidentally adds: “He was interpreter for my brother, William P. Badger, who was Indian agent under President Buchanan, and later for my husband under Lincoln. He was a good friend for both of my brothers and Major Keith, and accompanied my husband to Washington with the head chiefs when they made their treaty. The original Muscotah was