The Topeka state journal., 1911-09-13
TOLD IN GRAIN.
Marion County Crop Samples
From 1891 TO 1902.
Interesting Exhibit in Agricul-
tural Hall.
FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE.
Also Picture of First Hotel in
County.
How Judge DOster Walked Into
Marion 1868.
FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE.


on the state fair grounds is that from
Marion county at the west end OF tile
agricultural building. 1t includes sam
pies of different crops of the county
from 1891 to 1902, and a sample of
wheat from the D. S. Schlothauer
farm, three miles west of Marion,
which averaged 1913 bushels to the
acre. The exhibit is in charge of A
E. Case, a Marion county pioneer and
real estate man. He was proprietor of
the first hotel in Marion in 1869. He
tells of ex Governor Crawford stop
ping at the hotel when he was on hi
way to confer with Captain Armstrong
regarding the last Cheyenne Indian
raid in southwest Kansas. A picture
of the hotel, a log cabin, is shown. It
was formerly a ranch Rouse. known
as the Moore ranch house." and was
located where the Cottonwood river
crosses the old Santa Fe trail. After
a grocery store was started in Marion
the building was moved there and
made into hotel.
Another picture is one of the first
school houses in Marion counay. It is
a log cabin built in 1854 and until
1869 was the only school house in a
territory 31,734 square miles, includ-
ing all of Kansas southwest of Marion.
In 1869, the county and township COM
bined and erected stone building.
The upper half of the new structure
was used for a court house and the
lower for school for several years.
The picture is painting made by
Mrs. Lenore Doster Cook, daughter of
Chief Justice Doster of Topeka, a
Marion county pioneer. Mrs Cook has
been teaching in a Kansas City art
school and is now in Washington state
painting scenery.
Mr. Case tells how Judge Doster in
1868 came to Topeka from Illinois bv
rail, went by stage to Emporia, from
there rode with a farmer to Middle
creek and walked the remaining 1S
miles to Marion with his grip in bis
hands. He set up law practice after
arriving at Marion.
In this same exhibits letters in the
seeds of the respective crops, tell that
the products of Marion county are
wheat. barley, oats, rye, millet, alfalfa, |
broom corn, kaffir corn. beans. peas. |
melons, and walnuts- And below let |
ters in seeds of different grasses as
fellows tell of other products Of the !
county: Cattle Cblue grass seed) ; +!
horses (alfalfa seed); mules (grape |
seed); hogs (buckwheat seed); sheep |
(turnfp seed), and poultry (kaffr
corn.) The idea and design is the |
work of Mrs R. n. McGrew of Mar
ion. The same design also tells that |
Marion county has one college (the
Tabor Mennonite college), ten high
schools, 123 school districts, Eighteen /
banks, and 149 miles of railroads The
is IN cut straw.
Also in grain letters is told how the
wheat grown by D. Schlothauer, three
miles west of Marion, yielded 1,126.66
bushels from 1902 acres of an average
of 1913 bushels.
The disnlov e: tue sa = ..Cs NJ grain
crops from 1891 to 1902 is owned by
Mr.. Case. He collected them in his
business as real estate man.
''I decided to collect samples from
year to year of the various crops be-
cause real estate men from the east
would say to me: That corn looks
good this year, but how about last
year? Didn't you have a failure p said
Mr.. Case this afternoon.
"By keeping crop samples Of the
FASTENERS that there are no more
1rouths in Kansas than in eastern
states. I once had samples of all the
,rops from 1892 to 1911 but by acei-
lent the rats got into it and destroyed
he series from 1902 to 1911.
after the Civil war, in which I
'erved in Pennsylvania rcgim ent,
;arne to Topeka in 1856 and worked as
carpenter, also as clerk in Dow
Thomas district court for three
months Then moved to Marion and
aid out the first nine acres oe town
OTIS.
I'm 1869 a grocery store was started !
n Marion and the old Moore ranch
louse was moved from the crossing
# the Santa Fe trail and the Cotton
wood to town, and was run as a hotel.
was landlord for six months. At one |
ime Ex-Governor Crawford stopped al
he house This was in the last Chey- |
me Indian raid. He was On his way :
o see Captain Armstrong ard I rode {
horseback with him to about six miles
outh of EmpOria. We crossed the /
with the water deep
nough to swim our horses and knelt I
n our saddles to keep dry 5
?