The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1885-06-04
REMINLsOENOE.

site which started q few sc recollections.
I remembered long horseback ride of
young preacher and his younger wife.
They rode all day and till midnight,
across an uninhabited country, without
even an Indian trail, and without seeing
q soul, until they called up the proprie-
tor of the hotel of the city to be named.
The happy couple had been married less
than q month, and were hunting for q
mission which had been named Neoshc.
They had a name for the mission which
was to be. 1t was their business TO ma
terialize the named unseen. That meant
months of waiting, watching, riding. Wis
iting, praying and preaching along the
Neosho and Its tributaries. At that time
there were but very few white people
anywhere in the Neosho valley.
Our itinerants had all their earthly
possessions with them, and were at home
anywhere. They owned two horses,
brides and saddles. pair OF saddlebags,
large carpetbag, an ACCORDION, the only
musical instrument in the county then,
and six or eight books They had prom
Use of two hundred dollars missionary
money.
The town referred to was the county
seat of Allen county and was the largest
on the Neosho, except Council Grove.
1t consisted of q poetic name, hotel,
store and whisky shop. The hotel, the
best and largest, was comprised of four
krfl Hf nd
clapboards. The storehouse was an i'm
posing log structure, 16x1S, with a clap
board "lean-to" for ware room. II was
high enough for some rooms above the
store. The saloon was big enough 70
hold barrel of whisky, tin cup, two
tumblers and u dealer. One side of it
could shade six or eight thirsty ones. II
brought many Osages to the city, and
was headquarters for pony traders ~.
The preacher procured boarding and
lodging for himself and wife at the
hotel. They were regular boarders and
the whole house was open to them.
Once In a while there would be a crowd
of transient boarders when all the pun
cheons would be taken for beds. The
preacher nailed a small goods box to
the wall in the parlor and opened his
library, which consisted of a small
Bible, hymn book, discipline, three
school books and five theological works.
That library attracted general attention.
The town improved some during the
summer. A new store house, a cabin
residence and a blacksmith shop were
built and occupied. An attempt was
made to dig we'll, and graveyard was
started. A few claims were taken in the
vicinity, and two couples were msrried.
But 1 can't tell all in this limited arti-
Gle. Cofachiqui is no more. Humboldt
and lola squeezed it to death. The
men who tried to make their fortunes
there are gone, the most of them to the
country from whence they shall not re-
turn. Our host, his wife, brother and
sister and the ssloon-keeper are In the
spirit world. The two girls who mar
ried died long ago, and their loved ones
learned to love others. One of them left
children to be brought up by a step
mother. The store keeper Joined the
rebellion and remained in Missouri after
the war. Judge Cato, who held the first
court in Allen county, the clerk and at
torney and most of the grand jurYmen
are dead. Brown, Avery, Burgess and
Todd, first settlers, are all across the
river. The children of those families,
that survive, are grown up, and the most
of them gone west. There is an old
house on the town site, and the grave
yard is In the midst of a cornf1eld
What changes are wrought on the face OF
the earth IN twenty-nine years!
The preacher and his wife, grown q
little gray, but no older In feeling, abide
on the foOIstool. They step back into
the shadows of the past sometimes and
feel little lonely; but they rejoice in
the outlook for their state and family
They have been all over eastern Kansas
and have helped to lay the foundation Of
many towns, churches and schools, but
have never tried to enrich themselves.
They are now living in a sort of happy
obscurity. G. r. r.