59 10 1856 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/6df4f4a59cea45f3b242a81f9451adf0.jpeg 77b78f598a07d696b0388f24f6b92ce2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1959 4-H Flower & Garden Show, Meetings, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource WIN RIBBONS AT FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW by Jane Zickefoose June 25, 1959 Rossville 4-H Club was well represented at the Spring Flower and Garden Show Friday, June 19. As a whole, the club won 34 blue ribbons, 26 red ribbons and 14 white ribbons with a total of 74 entries. Individual winnings were as follows: Lilly Reser, peas, 2 blues, beans, 1 red and 1 blue, beets, 1 red and 1 blue, onions, 2 blues, lettuce, 1 blue and 1 red, spinach, 2 blues, and rhubarb, 1 blue; Jane Parr, peas, 1 red, beans, 1 red, beets, 1 red, onions, 1 white, lettuce, 1 blue, cabbage, 2 red, and potatoes, 1 red; Ray Harper, peas, 1 red, beans, 1 red, onions, 2 blues, and potatoes, 1 blue; Shirley Taylor, beans, 1 red, radishes, 2 white, onions, 2 red, and lettuce, 2 white; Douglas Kelsey, beans, 2 blues, beets, 1 red, carrots, 1 red, onions, 2 blues, lettuce, 1 blue, and 1 red, spinach, 1 blue, cabbage, 2 blues, asparagus, 1 blue, squash, 1 blue, and potatoes, 1 red; Sandra Taylor, beans, 1 red, radishes, 2 whites, onions, 2 reds, and lettuce, 2 white, Myles Preble, radishes, 1 blue, beets, 1 blue, carrots, 1 red, onions, 1 blue, lettuce, 1 blue, and pota¬toes, 1 red; Sharon Reser, place settings, 2 blues, flowers, 1 red and white, and corsages, 1 blue and 1 white; Linda Kelsey, place settings, 2 blues, flowers, 2 reds, and corsages, 1 white. Thursday, June 18, 1959 Page 8 ADVANCED 4-H FOODS GIRLS MEET by Sharon Reser, Jr. Leader June 18, 1959 The Advanced 4-H foods girls met Thursday, June 11, at the home of their foods leader for their 2nd meeting. Products made by using the Master Mix were made and baked. Lillian Reser made a Master Mix and the following items were baked: Orange-raisin cake by Sharon Irwin; coffee cake by Linda Kelsey and Jane Zickefoose; corn bread by Carol Adams; cheese biscuits by Donna Reser. The girls ate their bakings for lunch. Attending were Sandy Taylor, Carla Rasch, Carol Adams, Linda Kelsey, Virginia Rezac, Donna Reser, Sharon Irwin, Jane Zickefoose, and Sharon Reser. At a previous meeting held in May, lesson materials and recipes were handed out. Demonstrations were given by the following: "How to Polish Silverware" by Jane Zickefoose; "Proper Table Setting" by Linda Kelsey; "How to Make an Attractive Relish Plate" by Carla Rasch; and "Bouquets for Table Centerpieces" by Sharon Reser. Girls interested in meat cutting and identification will go to the Woody Locker plant at St. Marys soon to watch an experienced meat cutter cut up a beef. The Sandy Hook club girls interested in meat identification will join us at this demonstration. SHAWNEE COUNTY REPORTER CLUB NEWS 4-H SEWING MEMBERS DISCUSS "ACCESSORIES" by Jane Zickefoose July 30, 1959 "Accessories" was the main topic at the advanced sewing meeting Monday, July 27. The meeting was held at the Scott Kelsey home. Roll call, "What I am Wearing in the Style Show", was answered by eight girls. Mrs. Rasch also showed how to achieve a perfectly pointed collar and an easy way to attach a cuff. Rossville 4-H Club will hold its own style show August 4 at the Christian Church at 7:30 p. m. This meeting will be for all girls enrolled in a clothing project who plan to model in the county style show. The girls should bring or come dressed in what they plan to model. JUDGING SCHOOL HELD by Jane Zickefoose Twenty girls and seven leaders and parents were on hand to learn tips on judging at the home economics judging school held July 24 at the Community Center. The girls who attended the district judging school at Lawrence set up the school and borrowed a packet of judging material from the County Extension Office. Some of the club's project leaders also set up classes for the school. The classes judged were Canning Peaches, Mixing Utensils, Interior Design, Freezing Containers, Pillow Cases, Closet Storage, Sleeves, Measuring Cups, Color, and Apron Design. The purpose of the school was to help the younger girls become acquainted with the judging and prepare all the girls for the county contest. SHAWNEE COUNTY REPORTER ROSSVILLE 4-H ELECTS OFFICERS by Linda Kelsey September 24, 1959 The September meeting of the Rossville Rustlers was held Monday evening in the Community Center. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. The main business of the evening was the election of officers. The following members were elected to office: Sr. Officers - President, Dean Davis; Vice President, Carla Rasch; Secretary, Lois McCoy; Treasurer, Douglas Kelsey; Reporter, Linda Kelsey; Council Members, Lillian Reser and Myles Preble; Song Leader, Sandra Taylor; Pianist, Carol Adams; Recreation Leader, Jane Zickefoose; Parliamentarian. Sharon Reser. Jr. Officers - President, Zora Wade; Vice President, Shirley Taylor; Secretary, Carolyn Gresser; Treasurer, Jane Parr; Reporter, Laura Stiles; Council Members, Sandra Heiland and Ray Harper; Pianist, LaVon Harper; Recreation Leader, Deborah Patterson; Parliamentarian, Amy Jones. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Davis distributed $171.00 in prize money won by Rossville members at the Shawnee County Fair. The program was as follows: Project talk by Lois McCoy; demonstration "The Proper Care of a Hammer" by Daniel Gee; demonstration "Framing a picture" by LaVon Harper; "Safety with Thursday, Sept. 24, 1959 Page 12 Electricity" by Anna Sullivan; conservation talk "Caring for the soil" by Myles Preble; health talk on "Teeth" by Diane Ewing. Barton Larson played two numbers on his electric guitar. LaVon and La Verne Harper put on a baton twirling act. The meeting adjourned and recreation and refreshments followed. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Shawnee County Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0676 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/b6fcbd7e782a48bc96fa08f86912467f.jpeg e5655251bab9ac8cff570255dec86657 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1959 4-H Shawnee County Fair Results part 2, Meeting, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource SHAWNEE COUNTY REPORTER ROSSVILLE 4-H RIBBONS August 20, 1959 (Continued from Page 1) Linda Kelsey, 2B (State Fair); Sharon Reser, 2R. (vegetables) Linda Kelsey, 2B (State Fair); Sharon Reser, 2R. (Fruit) Linda Kelsey, 2B (State Fair); Sharon Reser, 2W. (Fruits for supper desserts) Linda Kelsey, 2B (State Fair); Sharon Reser, 2W. (Meats) Sharon Reser, 2B (State Fair). (Food for Breakfast) Linda Kelsey, 2B (State Fair); Sharon Reser, 2R; (Foods for School Lunch) Linda Kelsey, 1B, 1R. (Food for a meal - Freezing) Linda Kelsey, 2W; Sharon Reser, 1R, 1W. (Vegetables) Linda Kelsey, 1R, 1W; Sharon Reser, 1R, 1W. (Fruits for Salad) Sharon Reser, 2R; (Fruits for Desserts) Linda Kelsey, 1R, 1W; Sharon Reser, 2W. (Foods for School Lunch) Sharon Reser, 2R. Entomology - Douglas Kelsey, 1B. Colt - (Quarter Horse) Dean Davis, 1B; Gene Davis, 1B. (Breed of Mares) Dean Davis, 1B. (Colt born after Jan. 1) Sharon Davis, 1B; (Breed of Colt - Quarter Horse) Gene Davis, 1B. (Stock Horse Contest) Gene Davis, 1B; Sharon Davis, 1B. Garden Display - Top Blue Flowers - (Thimble full of Beauty) Douglas Kelsey, 1B, 1 Purple. (Any Perennial) Ray Harper, 1R; Douglas Kelsey, 2R. (Any Annual) Ray Harper, 1R, 1W; Doug Kelsey, 1R, 1W; Myles Preble, 2W; Lillian Reser, 1B, IR; Sandra Taylor, 1R, 2W. (A Tisket A Tasket) Douglas Kelsey, 1W. Crops and Garden - (Plate of 5 tomatoes) Ray Harper, 1R; Douglas Kelsey,. 1R; Jane Parr, 1R; Myles Preble, 1R. 1W; Lillian Reser, 1B, 1W. (Exhibit of 5 Different Vegetables) Ray Harper, 1B; Douglas Kelsey, 1B, 1R; Jane Parr, 1R; Myles Preble, 1B, 1R; Lillian Reser 1B. (10 ears yellow corn) Doug Kelsey. 1B; Albert Miller, 1R. (10 heads grain sorghum) Albert Miller, 1B. (10 heads sweet sorghum) Albert Miller, 1B. (Gal. of wheat) Gene Davis, 1R; Dean Davis, 1W; Albert Miller, 1W. (Gal. of Oats) Dean Davis, 1R; Gene Davis, 1R. (Bale of Hay) Dean Davis, 1R; Gene Davis, 1B. (Irish Cobblers) Doug. Kelsey, 1W; Jane Parr, 1W; Myles Preble, 1R, 1W. (Miscellaneous) Ray Harper, 2R; Doug. Kelsey, 1B, 1R; Jane Parr, 1B; Myles Preble, 1R; Lillian Reser, 1B, 1W. Blouse - Connie Bahner, 1R; Carolyn Gresser, State Fair Blue; La Von Harper, 2W; Amy Jones, 1W; Sandra. Macha, 1B; Diana Mitchell, 1R; Diane Murray, 1W, 1R; June Murray, 1W; Susan Nadeau, 2W; Charlotte Olejnik, 1R; Jane Parr, 1R, State Fair B; Debra Patterson, 1R; Penny Ray, 1W; Anna Sullivan, 1R; Shirley Taylor, 2W. Aprons - Connie Bahner, 1R; Carolyn Gresser, 1B; Sandra Macha, 1R; Diana Mitchell, 1R; Diane Murray, 1W; June Murray, 1W; Susan Nadeau, 1W; Charlotte Olejnik, 1B; Jane Parr, 1B; Penny Ray, 1W; Anna Sullivan, 1B; Shirley Taylor, 2R. Skirt - Connie Bahner, 1R; Carolyn Gresser, 1B; LaVon Harper. 1R; Amy Jones, 1W; Sandra Macha 1R; Diana Mitchell, 1R; Diane Murray, 1R; June Murray, 1R; Susan Nadeau, 1W; Charlotte Olejnik, 1R; Jane Parr, 2R; Debra Patterson, 1R; Penny Ray, 1W; Anna Sullivan, 1R; Shirley Taylor, 2R. Safety Notebook - Sharon Reser, 1 R. Darned Hose - Virginia Rezac, 2B. Mended Garment - Carla Rasch, 1R; Virginia Rezac, 1B, 1R. School Dress - Linda Kelsey, 1B; 1R; Lois McCoy, 1R; Lillian Reser, 1W, 1R. Sport or play - Lillian Reser, 2W. Party or Church - Linda Kelsey, 1R. Tailored Dress - Sharon Davis, 1W; Ruth Miller, 1W; Sharon Reser, 1R; Laura Stiles, 1W; Jane Zickefoose, 1B, 1R. Slips - LaVern Harper, 1R; Sharon Irwin, 1W; Carla Rasch, State Fair B; Virginia Rezac, 2B; Sandra Taylor, 1W. Wash Dress for School - LaVern Harper, 1W; Sharon Irwin, 1B, 1R; Carla Rasch, 1B, State Fair B; Virginia Rezac, 2B; Sandra Taylor, 2W Best Dress - Ruth Miller, 1W; Sharon Reser, 1W, 1R. Wool Garment - Sharon Reser, 1B, 1R; Laura Stiles, 1W; Ruth Miller, 1W; Zora Wade, 1W; Jane Zickefoose, 2B; Sharon Davis, 1R: Home Improvement - Sharon Davis. 1W, 1B; Linda Kelsey, 2 State Beef - Sharon Davis, 1R, 1B. Fair B, 1R, 3B; LaVern Harper, 1B. 4H CLUB NEWS ROSSVILLE 4-H INSTALLS OFFICERS by Linda Kelsey October 29, 1959 The officers for the coming year were installed by Laura Stiles and her committee, Diane Murray and Douglas Kelsey. With the new officers taking over their duties this was the following program; Lillian Reser gave a very good Council report; Sharon Irwin gave a very informative project talk on "Clothing"; a very good talk on Jr. Leadership by Laura Stiles; Gene Davis gave an interesting demonstration On Selection of Corn for Exhibits; a safety talk by Carolyn Gresser was well given; Diane Murray gave a Music appreciation talk; Mary Brethour from the Maple Hill 4-H Club played a piano solo which we all enjoyed. Recreation was led by Jane Zickefoose. Meeting adjourned. Refreshments were served by Jones, Stiles and Tullers. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Shawnee County Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0675 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/3e49b00285c6b990eb8869979f2e67c6.jpeg 4ba019b803ae4d777a5c23ff1abd249d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1959 4-H Shawnee County Fair Results part 1, Meeting, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource Rossville Club Wins 5 Purple Ribbons Ribbons Galore at County 4-H Fair by Jane Zickefoose August 20, 1959 The hard work of the Rossville 4-H Club members really was rewarded at the Shawnee County 4-H Fair held August 12, 13. 14. Of the 371 entries of the club, they had 93 whites, 154 reds, 124 blues, and 5 purple ribbons. Rossville placed exceptionally well in the judging contests at the fair. A livestock judging team composed of Dean Davis, Gene Davis, and Sharon Davis placed first in the over fourteen group. Tim Lynde placed first individually in the over fourteen woodworking judging contest. In the home economics judging under fourteen, the team of LaVon Harper, Lillian Reser. and Virginia Rezac was second. Individually Virginia Rezac placed second. The team of Sharon Reser, Linda Kelsey and Jane Zickefoose placed first in the over fourteen home economics judging. Individually, Jane Zickefoose placed first. 'The following is a list of the members awards at the fair: Chocolate cup cakes - Connie Bahner, 1 W; Laverne 1 R; LaVon Harper, 1 R; Linda Kelsey, 1W, 3R; Charlotte Olejnik, 1R; Sharon Reser, 1B; Jane Zickefoose, 1B, 1R; Sandra Heiland, 1B, 1R; Sandra Macha, 1R; Susan Nadeau, 2B; Jane Parr, 2R; Penny Ray, 1R. Brownies - Diane Ewing, 1B; Diane Mitchell, 1W; Debra Patterson, 1B; Anna Sullivan, 1R. Drop cookies - Connie Bahner, 1R; Diane Ewing, 2R; Laverne Harper, 2R; LaVon Harper, 2R; Linda Kelsey, 2B; Diane Mitchell, 1B; Debra Patterson, 1W; Sharon Reser, 2B, 1 Purple; Anna Sullivan, 1B; Jane Zickefoose, 1B. Rolled Cookies - Diane Ewing, 2B; Laverne Harper, 1R; LaVon Harper, 1R; Linda Kelsey, 2R; Diane Mitchell, 1R; Debra Patterson, 1B; Anna Sullivan, 1B. Pies - Linda Kelsey, 1B; Sharon Reser, 2B. Bread and Rolls - (White Yeast) Lillian Reser, 2R; Jane Zickefoose, 1R. (Graham yeast) Lillian Reser, 2R. (Loaf White Yeast) Lillian Reser, 1R; Jane Zickefoose, 1R. (Loaf Graham Yeast) Lillian Reser, 1W, 2B, 1 Purple. Cakes - (Angel Food) Lillian Reser, 1R; Sandra Taylor, 1R. (Yellow Sponge) Lillian Reser, 1W; Sandra Taylor, 1R. (Loaf Choc.) Sharon Irwin, 1R; Virginia Rezac, 1R, 1B; Sandra Taylor, 1W; Shirley Taylor, 1W. (Layer Choc.) Carla Rasch, 1B; Sharon Reser, 1B; Sandra Taylor, 1W. (Loaf White) Sharon Irwin, 1W; Virginia Rezac, 1R, 1B; Sandra Taylor, 1W. (Layer White) Virginia Rezac, 1B; Sandra Taylor, 1W; Shirley Taylor, 1W. White Cupcakes - Diane Ewing, 1B; Linda Kelsey, 3R, 1B; Diana Mitchell, 1R; Debra Patterson, 1B; Sharon Reser, 1R; Anna Sullivan, 1R; LaVerne Harper, 1R; Sandra Heiland, 2R; Sandra Macha, 1B; Susan Nadeau, 1B, 1R; Jane Parr, 2R; Penny Ray, 1W; Jane Zickefoose, 1B. Loaf nut quick bread - Sharon Irwin, 1W; Virginia Rezac, 1R; Shirley Taylor, 1R, 1W. Loaf Fruit quick bread - Sharon Reser, 1R; Sandra Taylor, 1W. Gingerbread - Carolyn Gresser, 1B; Sandra Heiland, 1R; Sandra Macha, 1R; Susan Nadeau, 1R; Jane Parr, 2B, 1R; Penny Ray, 1W. Cereal Muffins - Carolyn Gresser, 1R; Sandra Heiland, 2B, 1 purple;. Sandra Macha, 1W; Jane Parr, 1B, 1R; Susan Nadeau, 1W. White muffins - Sandra Heiland, 2R: Sandra Macha, 1W, Susan Nadeau, 1W; Jane Parr, 1R, 1W. Fruit Muffins Sandra Heiland, 2B; Sandra Macha, 1B; Jane Parr, 2R. Biscuits - Sharon Irwin, 1W, 1R; Carla Rasch, 2B; Sandra Taylor, 4W; Lois McCoy, 1R; Lillian Reser, 2R; Jane Zickefoose, 1B. Canning - (Food for a meal) Lin-(Continued on Page 12) Shawnee County Reporter Thursday, July 23, 1959, Page 5 ROSSVILLE 4-H HAS REGULAR MEETING by Jane Zickefoose The 4-H Fair was the main business at the July meeting of the Rossville 4-H Club. Roll call was answered by "What I am Taking to the Fair." Mrs. Marvin Davis handed out the ribbons that were won at Regional 4-H Day. Gene Davis showed the plaque that the club won for having the most and best entries at the Garden and Flower Show which was held June 19 at the Mid-America Fair Grounds. After the plaque has been won three times by a club it will be theirs permanently. Lilly Reser passed out a red flag to each family to be used when moving farm vehicles. This is a safety project for the year. Mrs. Harold Reser announced an advanced foods meeting July 25 at her home starting at 9:00 a. m. There will be an advanced sewing meeting July 27 at 7:30 p. m. at the Harold Reser home. A home economics judging school will be held July 24 at 1:30 at the Community Center. Lois McCoy led the group in singing "Down in the Valley." Connie Bahner gave a talk on her sewing project. A foods demonstration on "Setting the Table" was given by Sandra Macha. "Methods of Removing Objects from Eyes and Ears" was the title of Lilly Reser's health demonstration. Diane Murray gave a music appreciation talk on her favorite recording artist, Ricky Nelson. A health talk on "Fatigue" was given by Diane Mitchell. Susan Nadeau gave a safety talk on "Bike Safety." For other program, June Murray played two numbers, "My Happiness" and "Guitar Boogie" on her guitar. Mr. Merle Eyestone visited the meeting and talked to the club on "Future 4-H Projects." Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Shawnee County Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0674 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/12887de3f04666f00ebf9d9185d19ac7.jpeg 468f844c312a8a8d4200f88848d6786f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958-04-17 4-H Community Leaders, Marvin & Irene Davis, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource Interest in boys & girls lead Davis’ in 4-H leadership by Linda Kelsey, 4-H Reporter April 17, 1958 A fondness for working with boys and girls is the reason Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Davis have for serving as community leaders of the Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club for six years. With the Davises, known as Irene and Marvin, guiding the club, it has grown to be the largest in the county, with sixty-five members. Through their years as leaders they have had many top winners at County 4-H Day, which have gone to Regional 4-H Day and been winners there too. Placings at the 4-H Fair show their work is worthwhile also. Last year, "1957", there was $600 in prize money in the county and Rossville 4-H'ers won one-sixth of this money. Irene was quick to say, "not any one person can take the credit, because it takes good project leaders, parents, and 4-H'ers." Marvin said, "A 4-H boy or girl becomes as good a 4-H member as his folks are a 4-H parent." The Davises say, "4-H is not only good for the boys and girls but it is good for the community." 4-H keeps boys and girls busy, is educational, teaches responsibility, teaches friendly competition, and also develops leadership. Rossville 4-H is always willing to do its share in community progressiveness. Irene relates a nice 4-H experience she had in 1953 when she chaperoned five girls to the National Dairy Congress in Waterloo, Iowa. Barbara Jones, then a member of Rossville 4-H, was one of the state winners to make this trip. Marvin had his first airplane ride as a result of a Rossville 4-H boy (James "Buzzy" McCoid) being state champion in Central Achievements. They were both flew to Lebanon, Kansas, where they watched a farm being rebuilt in a day. Marvin and Irene’s oldest son Roy D. was a 4-H member for seven years. Some of his achievements were a Regional 4-H Day winner at Emporia, was on a county Livestock Judging Team, county champion several times in the showing of various crops, Best Groomed Boy in 1953, and received state Who’s Who Key Award in 1953. Gene and Dean Davis are now in their sixth year of 4-H work. They were both on the county Livestock Judging Team and went to the Hutchinson State Fair last year. Gene was county champion in corn and Dean was county champion in field crops. They are also members of the County Who's Who. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have lived on the present farm eighteen years. Marvin has lived within two and one-half miles of Rossville all his life. They are now farming 600 acres, most of which is in corn, wheat, oats, and alfalfa. The Davis family was the first family to receive "The Balanced Farming Award" ten years ago. This year they received recognition at a Balanced Farming Luncheon for having "A Modern Home Suitable to the Needs of the Family". The Davises community work does not stop with 4-H. Marvin served on the Rossville Grade School Board for several years. He has been Vice-President and President of the Community Center organization, and has been Past Master of the Rossville Masonic Lodge. Irene and Marvin both are active in the Rossville Presbyterian Church. Reporter Photo Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Davis, Rossville 4-H Club leaders, read the 4-H Journal to gather tips and information relating to 4-H work and leadership. 4-H work with the Davises has become a family affair. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 17, 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0673 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/50ce7ef859133427f0b998ff975c741f.jpeg 15f74448d592183d42b9e77ac7128cbc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958-02-27 4-H Day, 4-H Week, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource Just what is 4-H Day? by Sharon Reser, Jr. Leader February 27, 1958 Maybe some of you new 4-H parents are wondering just what this "thing" 4-H Day that your 4-H boy or girl is talking about, really is. In explanation it is a day set aside yearly (usually in February or March) when the 4-H members from all over Shawnee County meet to give demonstrations, promotional talks, project talks, musical numbers, folk games, and one-act plays. Any 4-H club member may participate in the competition. Each entry is judged by an out of county agent who is assisted by a Manhattan College student. Each boy or girl who participates earns a ribbon, blue, red or white according to the judges discretion. Those who win top blue in demonstrations have an opportunity to compete in a run off whereby the best demonstration is selected to go to the Regional on March 22 at Baldwin College. Top blue plays and promotional talks, and folk games selected at County 4-H Day are the ones who participate at Regional. All in all it is a day of excitement, work and fun for 4-H boys and girls and their parents and any other interested parties who care to attend. Even though your 4-H child doesn't plan on an entry, it will be an education in 4-H if he or she attends. See you at Seaman high school Saturday, March 1. 4-H Day in limelight at Seaman by Sharon Reser, Reporter At the February 13, 1958, Shawnee County 4-H Council Meeting, the discussion on whether or not to divide the demonstrations at the 4-H Day into two age groups was voted on. The Council, after lengthy discussion voted to leave the demonstrations as is, due to the lack of demonstrations to be given by 4-H'ers over 14. Just as last year, each Community Leader will report the number of ribbons (blues, reds, and whites) that are required by the respective club to the Extension Office. They will then be sent to the leaders and distributed to the participating members. Clubs were selected to run the concession stand, but Rossville was not in the list. Regional 4-H Day will be held March 22 at Baldwin College. Each club should discuss and make a decision as to whether they feel a member should be allowed to enter more than one demonstration at 4-H Day next year. It was also discussed whether to combine club members on model meetings and instrumentals. This will help the Council to have a better 4-H Day next year. The 1957-58 membership for Shawnee County totals 728 members, 110 below last year. Four more members per club would bring this total up. Clubs should elect Round-up Delegates at April meeting. The Council decided to accept Dr. Lattimor's plan for a Rural Health Program. A committee of Mrs. Wooster, Penny Schade, Phillip DeDonder, and Lou Ann Theilman was appointed to work with the HDU and Dr. Lattimor on the project. It was voted to have a Spring Garden Show on June 9th. Members enrolled in Garden and Home Beautification would be eligible to participate. Shawnee County 4-H clubs still have $1130.00 to raise as their share in the fund to build the Williams Dining Hall at Rock Springs. The Council voted to continue paying $2.00 to the leader who was going to attend Adult Leaders Conference. The Council voted to accept the offer from the Rossville Reporter, and each club will be responsible for their own decision. Dates to remember: Deadline for Sears Garden contest entrants, March 10; Pick-up Sears Garden Seeds, March 13; Livestock and Dairy Judging School, March 19: Deadline for enrolling in 4-H for year 1958, March 15; Electric School, April 14. The program was given by Lawrence Benander, who told about his trip to National Club Congress. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 27, 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0672 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/8ef8a33f474e63c082ee485af4bc5446.jpeg e50e8de2d0471006800c03a670f9c191 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H County Party, Donation, Township Representatives, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource Let it Snow…—Reporter Photo January 9, 1958 Youths attending the 4-H county-wide party here on December 30 weren't in the least concerned with the weather outside. Although the first snow of the season fell that night with a freezing rain the community center was a center of action. Here the county 4-H members of all ages join in the dancing that followed the meeting. Township Representatives March 1958 An important advisory group to the Shawnee County 4-H program is the 4-H Township Representatives pictured above. This group meets 3 to 4 times a year to plan and promote the Shawnee County 4-H Program. Pictured above are: L to R, Mrs.Dana Priddy, Menoken; Mrs. Vestal Jordan, Grove; Roy Engler, Mission; Mrs. Jim Whitten, Auburn; Mrs. Scott Kelsey, Rossville; Mrs. Bernard Barr, Dover; Mrs. Glenn Redmond, Tecumseh; (substituting for Mr. Redmond); Herbert Holiday, Jr., Monmouth; and Carl Williams, Topeka. Not pictured are: Darrell Roach, Topeka City; Eugene Raab, Soldier; Claude Smith, Silver Lake; Joe Hill, Williamsport. Mrs. Bernard Barr is chairman of the group. Mrs. Jim Whitten, Mrs. Scott Kelsey, Jr., Mrs. Dana Priddy, and Mr. Darrell Roach are on the Shawnee County Extension Executive Board. ROSSVILLE 4-H NEWS by Linda Kelsey January 23, 1958 The Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club met Monday night, January 20, at the Community Building. The attendance was good despite the bad weather. Roll call was answered by a New Years Resolution. Three leaders announced project meetings. The girls who are taking Simple Desserts and Beverages or School Lunch and Picnic Basket will have a meeting after school at the Community Building. January 31. A sewing meeting for the advanced group will be held at Kelsey's home January 27 at 7:30 There will be a cooking meeting all day for the advanced cooking girls February 1 at the Community Building. The program consisted of a project talk by Carol Adams, foods demonstration on salad by Linda McCoy, Room Improvement demonstration on drawer dividers by Linda Kelsey and a Health Talk by Lois McCoy. 4-H'ers should be thinking about what they are going to do at 4-H Day. ROSSVILLE CLUB TAKES OVER MEMBERSHIP LEAD February 1958 With 59 enrollment cards into the County Office, the Rossville Club replaces last year's membership leader, Berryton, who is not in the top five this year. Still in contention for membership honors are: Wanamaker, 53; Shunga Valley, 45; Rochester, 41; and Kaw Hawks, 41. Final 1958 enrollment for Shawnee County 4-H boys and girls is March 15, all project changes must be made by that date. Total County membership this year has passed the 700 mark. Last year's enrollment was 839. THE ROSSVILLE REPORTER C. E. GRESSER GIVES DONATION TO ROSSVILLE 4-H March 20, 1958 Mr. C. E. Gresser's interest in Rossville 4-H Club is greatly appreciated and the club wishes to thank him for his nice donation. The money will be used to send two leaders to the 4-H Leaders Conference in Hutchinson, Kansas, April 15 to 17. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0671 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/e25ce61a7528cd8440d437d793b62970.jpeg 8ee6cd5a16a723fe508679eb3f6b035a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H Day, Membership, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource The Rossville Reporter Thursday, Feb. 27, 1958 Rossville 4-H members participate in 4-H Day Rossville 4-H Club members to participate in 4-H Day activities at Seaman High Saturday and the location and time of their appearances are as follows: Demonstrations: Clothing, Room 15 - Virginia Rezac, 9:10; Jane Zickefoose, 1:00; Jane Parr, 1:40. Agriculture, Room 11 - Douglas Kelsey, 9:10; Artie Campbell, 9:40; Patty Coffey, 11:00. Miscellaneous, Room 13 - Sharon Davis, 9:40; Ginger Shannon, 10:20; Carla Rasch. 10:40; Jerry Reser, 11:30. Foods, Room 19 - Sharon Reser, 9:20; Linda Kelsey, 1:00; Carol Adams and Sandra Taylor, 1:10; Sharon Irwin. 1:30; Foods, Room 21 - Sally Nadeau, 8:50; Lillian Reser, 10:30; Ginger Shannon, 11:10. Project Talks (Under 14), Room 7 - Lillian Reser, 10:22; Darryl Nichols, 10:29. Thursday, Feb. 27, 1958 Page 3 Instrumental, Room 7 - Rossville at 2:40. Plays in the Auditorium, Rossville at 10:00. Rossville 4-H takes over membership lead in county January 30, 1958 With 59 enrollment cards into the County Office, the Rossville Club replaces last year's membership leader, Berryton, who is not in the top five this year. Still in contention for membership honors are: Wanamaker, 53; Shunga Valley, 45; Rochester, 41; and Kaw Hawks, 41. Final 1958 enrollment for Shawnee County 4-H boys and girls is March 15, all project changes must be made by that date. Total County membership this year has passed the 700 mark. Last year's enrollment was 839. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0670 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/0a539e4825a56239ea6a4ff0aae61724.jpeg 7adc73694604fc6309d06ea758344dfe Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958-07 4-H Rock Springs Ranch Camp, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource Seeing double July 17, 1958 Two sets of mischievous identical twins from Shawnee county kept Rock Springs staff and campers in a state of utter bewilderment during the annual camp session of Shawnee, Reno, and Atchison counties, July 6-9. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Davis, Rossville, are the parents of Dean and Gene Davis, pictured on the out-side. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Glenn, Topeka, are the parents of Ron and Don, pictured next to the Shawnee County 4-H Club Agent, Merle Eyestone, who is in the center. Ron and Don are members of the Shunga Valley 4-H Club and this is their second year at Rock Springs Ranch, State 4-H Center. Gene and Dean are members of the Rossville 4-H Club and this is their third year at Rock Springs. "Cowhands” of the old west Shawnee county 4-Hers attended county camp at Rock Springs July 6 to 9. The Old West was theme of the camp program. The "cowhands" or group leaders pictured left to right are Nancy Evans, Dianne Danford, Reno county; Roberta Carpenter, member of the Rochester Heights 4-H Club in Shawnee County; Harriett Kreider, Atchison county; Ginger Shannon, Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club in Shawnee county; and Billy Thompson, member of the Rochester Heights 4-H Club in Shawnee county. Roberta Carpenter was camp song leader. One unusual feature of the camp program was a ball game at 4:30 in the morning. Another highlight of the camp was a cook-out Tuesday evening. Merle Eyestone, Shawnee 4-H Agent, and Annabelle Long Home Economics Agent were present. Other 4-H leaders from Shawnee were Mrs. Eugene Smith, Mr. Bob Phillips, Mrs. Elwin Niccum, Mrs. Howard Dexter, and Mardy Edwards. ATTENTION ROSSVILLE 4-HERS by Linda Kelsey Record books are to be turned in at the August meeting which is on the 18th of August. Anyone not completing at least one of their projects they are enrolled in cannot belong to 4-H the coming year. If there are any boys and girls in the community wanting to belong to 4-H next year, they must attend three meetings before December 31. Their parents or guardian must attend at least one of the meetings with them. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 17, 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0669 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/e6e363a3e4dffbec9f1b5873f6f2aceb.jpeg 823de2c6bc8d9ca8c5a68549a61dfc40 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H Fair, Banquet, Award, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource GINGER SHANNON BEST DRESSED GIRL IN COUNTY by Linda Kelsey August 21, 1958 Ginger Shannon led the Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club to a good showing at the Shawnee County 4-H Fair held August 13-14-15. She was chosen "Best Dressed Girl" in the county and will compete in the state contest at Hutchinson, Kansas, in September. The rest of the members who participated in the final style show were: Virginia Rezac, Carla Rasch, Linda Kelsey, Ruth Miller, Laura Stiles, Sharon Davis, Lillian Reser, Sharon Irwin, Shirley Taylor, Jane Parr, and Carolyn Gresser. Rossville members did exceptionally well with their 412 entries at the fair. They were awarded 10 Grand Championships (which is a purple ribbon), 141 Blues, 171 Reds and 100 Whites. The following is a list of the members' awards at the fair: Learning to Sew - Carol Adams, 5 red; Corrine Adams, 1 red, 1 white; Carolyn Gresser, 1 blue, 3 red; La Verne Harper, 1 blue, 3 red; LaVon Harper, 1 blue, 1 red, 3 white; Sandra Heiland, 1 blue, 4 red; Amy Jones, 2 red, 3 white; Jane McCollough, 2 blue, 2 red, 1 white; Judy McCollough, 4 red, 1 white; Freda McCollough, 1 blue, 3 red, 1 white; Susan Nadeau, 1 red, 1 white; Jane Parr, 3 blue, 4 red; Carla Rasch, 7 blue, 1 red; Penny Ray, 1 red, 2 white; Donna Reser, 1 blue, 2 red; Virginia Rezac, 9 blue, 1 red; Sharon Irwin, 2 blue, 1 red; Linda Adams, 1 red, 1 white; Shirley Taylor, 1 red, 1 white; Sandra Macha, 1 red. Well Dressed for School - June Wehner, 1 white; Lillian Reser, 3 red, 1 white; Linda Kelsey, 3 blue, 1 red. (Continued on Page 12) RECEIVES AWARD by Jerry Reser, Jr. Reporter September 4, 1958 Linda Kelsey, reporter for the Rossville Rustlers 4-H Club, was awarded a photograph album by Mr. Dale Apel, editor of the 4-H Journal. An article and photograph of a group of the beginning foods girls presenting cookies to a nurse at the State Hospital was submitted by Linda and accepted for publication. Congratulations, Linda. SHAWNEE COUNTY REPORTER 4H CLUB NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF ROSSVILLE 4-H CLUB YEAR by Linda Kelsey September 4, 1958 To begin our year we had an unusual initiation for all the new members. It was fashioned after the T.V. program, "Beat the Clock". One of our best attended meetings was "Parents Night." Sharon Reser won a trip to Kansas City. Dean Davis was elected to go to "Round-up." A 4-H family picnic was held at St. Marys Park. Rossville 4-Hers won 3 top blue ribbons at 4-H Day at Seaman High School. A picture was published in the 4-H Journal of some beginning cooking girls and their Jr. Leaders. The garden members from our club had 48 entries in the Spring Garden and Flower Show. Patty Coffey had the top Sears Garden in Shawnee County. 16 Rossville 4-H members attended 4-H Camp at Rock Springs Ranch. The club had its own Home Economics Judging School with 40 leaders and members attending. Sharon Reser attended State Jr. Leadership Camp at Rock Springs Ranch. Rossville had 1 purple and 2 blues in the Kiawanis tomato project. Our members had 412 entries at the 4-H Fair and were awarded 10 grand championships, 141 blues, 171 reds, and 100 whites. Ginger Shannon was "Best Dressed Girl" in Shawnee County. The record books have been turned in and the enrollment cards are being filled out for the coming year. We will have election of officers at our September meeting. LEADERS HELP MAKE OUTSTANDING 4-H CLUB Rossville Rustlers 4-H has had a very successful year. If it hadn't been for our fine project leaders, we couldn't have done nearly so well, so thanks to all of the following leaders: Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Davis, our community leaders; Mrs. Francis Davis and Mrs. Harley Heiland, the beginning sewing leaders; Mrs. Bud Rasch and Mrs. Fredrick Zickefoose, the advanced sewing leaders; Mrs. Bill Murray and Mrs. Joe Gresser, the beginning cooking leaders. Mrs. Gerald Reser and Mrs. Harold Reser, the advanced cooking meal service, and Food Preservation leaders; Mrs. Elmer Lynde, the garden and woodworking leader; Mrs. Howard French and Mrs. Scott Kelsey, the Home Improvement and Home Grounds Beautification leaders; Mr. Gerald Reser, electricity leader; Mr. Ralph Miller, crops and livestock leader; and Mr. Scott Kelsey, entomology and tractor maintenance leader. Thursday, Oct. 23, 1958 Page 7 ROSSVILLE 4-H INSTALLS OFFICERS by Jane Zickefoose Rossville 4-H Club held its regular monthly meeting October 20 at the Community Center. Roll call, a wise saying, was answered by 52 members and nine leaders. Ginger Shannon and Sandra Taylor presented the installation ceremonies for the Senior and Junior officers of the coming year. Laura Stiles announced the following program: Zora Wade gave a talk on her sewing project; Sharon Davis gave a demonstration on "Making Winter Bouquets"; Donna Reser gave a music appreciation talk on John Phillip Sousa; a health talk on posture was given by Sharon Irwin; Ginger Shannon and Jane Zickefoose presented a skit called, "The Beauty Treatment." The meeting adjourned and recreation followed. Refreshments were served by Shannons, Wades, Adams, and Gees. ROSSVILLE LEADERS ATTEND RECOGNITION BANQUET by Jane Zickefoose Twelve 4-H adult leaders from Rossville attended the 4-H club Leaders' Recognition Banquet held at the Topeka Lutheran School on October 15. Leaders from our club who received the Silver Pin were Mrs. Gerald Reser and Mrs. M. C. Rasch; the certificates on seals, Mrs. Scott Kelsey and Mrs. Harley Heiland; the project leaders pin guard, Mrs. Francis Davis, Mrs. Elmer Lynde and Mrs. Harold Reser. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Shawnee County Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0668 http://www.recollectionsks.org/files/original/fcc825bf5c48755068f31dd4858afcfe.jpeg 2140adb006828af8d91d672ac6a72d97 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rossville Agricultural History Subject The topic of the resource Farming/Ranching Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rossville Community Library Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rossville Centennial Booklet, 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rossville Community Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain due to copyright expiration. Original narrative content by RCL is available for use by public. Description An account of the resource Rossville is fortunately situated in many ways—we are near a large city, Topeka, but far enough away to retain our own identity; we can be considered a bedroom community to Topeka since so many residents commute to work to the larger city; we are just north of the Kansas River and enjoy the fertile “Kaw River Valley,” which has benefited agriculture in our community since its very beginnings. From the early days, Rossville Township was blessed with fertile creek and river-bottom land, combined with the upland, which consisted of bluestem grass. The early settlers broke and cleared the bottom lands and part of the upland prairie. The settlers of the 1860-70s began farming and found the soil fertile and productive. However, the task of clearing the timberland and breaking prairie sod must have seemed insurmountable. Corn and wheat, the main crops, and cattle, hogs and other livestock-raising, became the basic agriculture of Rossville township. Many of these early farmers came to Kansas seeking land. They traveled by ox cart and wagon before the railroad went through, following the Oregon and other trails. Settlers bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad or from members of the Citizen Potawatomi Band, who were selling their allotment land. The first mention of early agriculture in Rossville comes from Dr. Gabbey’s account, written in 1886: “The Pottawatomi as a tribe never took kindly to agriculture, four or five acres in corn was a large field. Their fields were usually cleared up from the edge of the timber along the streams, as the Indian had little use for the Prairie kind.” One account gives the cost of prairie in the early days from $2.50 to $4.00 per acre. Lumber was worth from $25.00 to $39.00 dollars per thousand feet. Oxen cost $100.00 a yoke, mules from $100.00 to $200.00, horses $75.00 to $150.00, sheep $2.00 a head and chickens 25¢ each. Masons and carpenters received $2.00 to $3.00 per day in wages. Wheat was worth $1.50 per bushel and flour $4.50 per hundred pounds. From newspapers of 1877: “New corn brought in for shipment is getting 18¢ to 20¢ and corn huskers have been in demand at $1.00 per day and board; 2.5¢ per bushel thrown on the ground or 3.5¢ in the crib.” “Mr. Lambert James, a farmer living a few miles west of town has this season manufactured 1,500 gallon of sorghum molasses, which he readily disposed of at 50¢ per gallon.” But challenges persisted for early settlers. Although this was an extremely desirable area for agriculture and the raising of livestock, it was not possible for the early settlers to procure manufactured goods from the East without paying an extremely high freight bill. It was also impossible to ship their grain and produce economically. River freight was tried but the Kaw River often times did not have enough water to make shipping dependable so the answer to this problem was the railroad. Rossville’s answer came May 18, 1866, when the first train passed through the town. Corn was the main crop and early editors gave much space extolling its excellence. Corn cribs were numerous along the south side of the railroad tracks and on the east side of north Main. A water powered grist mill was located on Cross Creek north of town. Mulvane Bros. built a steam powered mill south of the railroad tracks. One of the earliest farmers was Henry Ford, who acquired 80 acres southwest of Rossville in 1864. His wife was the former Mary Nadeau, who came to Rossville from Indiana in 1862. Henry Ford came to Kansas in 1863 and was a stage coach driver for the Overland Stage Company between Topeka and Manhattan. He met his wife at “Buttermilk Station” where she worked for her brother, Big Alex Nadeau. While working to clear their land of timber and build a log house, they lived in one room of a three room house, west of Cross Creek, north of the old Oregon and California trails. The other two rooms were occupied by Dr. and Mrs. R.S. Gabbey and Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Higginbotham. After the Fords moved into their log cabin, Mrs. Ford often rode horseback nine miles with her baby to the mission in St. Marys. The first flowers she had to plant by the cabin were given to her by the nuns at the Mission. Another early farmer, John DeGraff settled south of Rossville in 1865. He and his wife, the former Frances Navarre, lived in a small dugout until their house was built. The following is a list of early farmers: Name | Year to Rossville | Origin Archibald Abbott 1870 Kingston, Canada West Joseph Andrews Westmoreland County, Pa. W. Thomas Andrews 1879 McKay, Ohio Joseph Beseau 1875 Monroe County, Michigan John A. Bond 1872 Tyler County, W. Virginia William Bond 1873 Tyler County, W. Virginia John DeGraff 1865 James DeVinney 1880 Ross County, Ohio Benjamin Franklin 1869 Ross County, Ohio John Fritz 1877 Somerset County, Pa. Martin Hass 1877 Richland County, Ohio Henry Kassabaum 1877 Brookmell, Prussia T.J. Kiernan 1868 Elzey E. Kinsey 1877 Ohio Henry Lipp 1868 South Germany Isaac McCollough 1873 Holmes County, Ohio R. McCollough 1878 Holmes County, Ohio Michael O’halaron 1880 Samuel Oldfield 1878 Derbyshire, England S.J. Oliver 1876 Edward Partelow 1868 Newport, Kentucky Thomas L. Ross 1882 Cincinnati, Ohio M.M. Standley 1874 Carroll County, Indiana Bennett Swearingen 1868 Meigs County, Ohio Isaac B. Trostel 1877 Perry County, Pa. Frank Van Vleck 1878 William Wax 1878 Juniata County, Pa. Daniel Wilt 1876 York County, Pa. Henry York 1869 Zurich, Switzerland Peter H. Zickefoose 1874 Highland County, W. Virginia Samuel Beals 1867 E.S. Doud 1869 W.L. James Wm. Kirkpatrick 1871 Frank L. Sanders John Heslet Noel Graves W.W. Janes J.K. Conley 1870 Yates County, New York Startup, Ab Thomas Attebury 1877 George Hejtmanek 1880 Wisowitz, Moravia, Austria D. Hartzell 1872 Francis E. Williams 1876 New York Captain John Gutshall Col. A.S. Stanley 1880 Meigs Co., Ohio Martin Nason 1872 Jos. Van Vleck 1878 M.L. Cless 1876 B.W. Higginbotham 1861 Thomas Moss 1877 J.M. Parr Clay Co. Indiana J.A. Parr Clay Co. Indiana H.W. Lipp 1878 Illinois Samuel B. Zickefoose 1869 West Virginia Mrs. Jane Jackson 1875 Scotland Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1958 4-H Shawnee County Achievement Party, Events, Rossville, Kansas Description An account of the resource 4H CLUB NEWS November 20, 1958 9 COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM ROSSVILLE 4-H CLUB by Jane Zickefoose Rossville 4-H made a good showing at Shawnee County Achievement Party, Nov. 1. The club had nine County Champions and other members in the high four under each project. Rossville 4-H had first under clubs with highest enrollment. The club also received a red seal. The following are County Champions: Gene Davis, Wheat and Field Crops; Sharon Reser, Canning and Safety; Linda Kelsey, Frozen Foods, Home Improvement and Newswriting; Sharon Davis, Colt; Ginger Shannon, Dress Revue. Those in the high four were: Jerry Reser, fourth in Swine-Gilt and fourth in Electric; Douglas Kelsey, second in Corn, first in Garden, fourth in Tractor Maintenance and second in Entomology; Gene Davis, third in Corn, first in Wheat, third in Colt and first in Judging; Dean Davis, fourth in Corn, third in Wheat, second in Colt, and first in Judging; Sharon Davis, first in Colt, third in Planning a Wardrobe, second in Home Improvement; Patty Coffey, second in Garden; Linda Kelsey, 1st in Well Dressed for School, 1st in Home Improvement, 2nd in Helping With Supper, 1st in Frozen Foods, and 1st in; News writing; Jane Zickefoose, 2nd in Planning a Wardrobe; Carla Rasch, 2nd in Learning to Sew, 4th in School Lunch and Picnic Basket; Virginia Rezac 2nd in Learning to Sew; Ginger Shannon, 4th in Home Improvement and 1st in Complete Costume; Sharon Reser, 1st in Clothes for Special Occasions, 2nd in Preserving for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner, 3rd in Frozen Foods, 1st in Meal Service II, 2nd in Meal Service III, 3rd in Junior Leadership, 2nd in Health and Safety, and 4th in Demonstrations; Carol Adams, 4th in School Lunch and Picnic Basket; Lillian Reser, 4th in Helping With Supper; Jane Parr, 1st in Simple Desserts and Beverages; Timothy Lynde, 3rd in Electric. The members who received silver pins were Linda Kelsey and Sharon Davis. Members who received silver pin guards were Sharon Reser, Dean Davis, Gene Davis, Ginger Shannon and Jane Zickefoose. November 13, 1958 ROSSVILLE 4-H BASKET SUPPER NOVEMBER 17 Rossville 4-H'ers, their family and friends, are invited to attend the basket supper and achievement night Monday evening, November 17, at the Community Center. Bring a well-filled basket and your own table service. NOVEMBER 20, 1958 by Jane Zickefoose The 4-H members and leaders were honored at Rossville's annual achievement party Monday night. The meeting started at 6:30 with a basket supper. Ginger Shannon, chairman of the installation committee, installed the new president, Gene Davis, who was not present at the last meeting. Each project leader made the awards to the high four winners in their project. Merle Eyestone and his family were guests of the club. For the program, Mr. Eyestone brought slides taken years ago of former Rossville 4-Hers. Mr. Scott Kelsey showed slides of 4-Hers and showed slides of 4-Hers and their projects taken this year. Ginger Shannon, Zora Wade, Laura Stiles, and Annette Biswell presented a skit that showed what happens to a girl when she has to many boy friends. OF ROSSVILLE December 1958 Contestants who participated in the County 4-H Cherry Pie Baking Contest November 22. Left to right: Shirla Oakman, Silver Lake; Yvonne Bowen Topeka Topper, (winner); Lorene Vail, Riverside; Linda Kelsey, Rossville; Claudia Garton, Kaw Valley. 4-H GIRLS DELIVER CHRISTMAS BASKETS by Linda Kelsey, jr. .leader December 25, 1958 The girls enrolled in the second year phase of cooking baked an assortment of Christmas cookies on December 20. The cookies were packed in little baskets made from Christmas cards and red yarn. They were given to folks in Rossville and to a nursing home in Topeka. It was lots of fun. DECEMBER 1958 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rossville Reporter, Rossville, Kansas This work is copyrighted; the copyright holder has granted permission for this item to be used by the Rossville Community Library. This permission does not extend to third parties. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1958 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All rights reserved Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RCL0667