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ROBERT S. STONE, who came in 1849, speaks of the "forbidding bluffs" and
"behind them were a few farms, vast tracts of densely wooded country and
rocky hills." He also said that "where the city market now stands was a
good camping ground. In the middle was a clear, cold spring. This was
the city's first water works, where water was sold for twenty-five cents
a barrel."
He recalled when a group of progressive councilmen wanted to extend the
city limits. The customary conservatives cried, "They are radicals!
Kansas City will never grow as far as Twelfth Street."
"Ridiculous!" said MILTON MCGEE who owned an 80 acre farm at Twelfth &
McGee Streets. "Mark my word, gentlemen, the time will come when Kansas
City and my farm will meet".
When the steamer "Minnehaha" docked at the levee in May of 1857, it
brought COLONEL THEODORE S. CASE, who held a medical diploma. He came
"out west" to grow with the country. When he tramped down the gangplant,
"the strangest assemblage of humanity that can be imagined was
represented. Side by side the easterners of good breeding stood by
greasers who could not write their names, wearing lankets, leather
breeches, and sombreros, tough customers," he said. He found that the
levee extended from the foot of Grand Avenue to Wyandotte Street, and
along the whole length piles of frigtht were scattered, in some places,
twelve feet high. "I cannot imagine a greater vonglomoration of
merchandise than was piled on the levee. There were stacks of smoked
bacon, plows, cases of silk goods, new wagons, kegs of nails, barrels of
whiskey, and a piano."
Mr. Case began to practice medicine "on the hill" and published the
first Kansas City Medical Review and other literary works before the
civil war.
-----
ADAM LONG, born in Germany, came to the levee landing in 1854 with his
brother and started a confectionery. shortly afterwards, he and THOMAS
GREENE formed a partnership to sell groceries, with JOHN LONG as clerk.
In 1860, John Long became a third partner in the business. Before 1866,
Thomas Greene withdrew and started a wholesale grocery of his own, known
as Thomas Greene & Company. The Long brothers later assumed the capital
relinquished by Greene and formed the Long Brothers Grocery Company,
still in business in the West bottoms.
Dduring the 1880's the brothers acquired large property interests in
what is now the North end, building Long's Hall (the first public hall
in the city), Long Brothers Building, and the Long Building. They built
at 6th & Delaware, putting in the first hydraulic elevator. Also the
first typewriter to appear in the city was used in their office.
The Adam Long three-story brick home with tower-capped mansard roof,
built in 1871 at the northwest corner of 16th & Central streets, was
razed in 1948.
-----
KERSEY COATES and his wife, the former MISD SARAH WALTER CHANDLER, came
to the frontier town in 1854 but were not impressed with the muddy mess.
At that time a road was being dredged through the north bluffs, leaving
houses precariously perched on weakened foundations.
On Main Street where the Coateses first lived was what was known as
Saloon Row, lined with flat buildings, boardwalks and hitching posts.
around the gambling houses near the Gillis house Hotel galloped Indians
on their ponies.
In 1859 the Coateses moved to an elegant house on the west bluffs. This
area later bevame known as Coates' Hill and Silk Stocking Ridge until
named "Quality Hill"; it extended from Broadway to the bluff and from
10th to 12th streets. Coates built his home at 10th and Penn Streets and
built Voates House, the first "modern" hotel in Kansas City, on the
southeast corner of 10th and Broadway. The hotel was started in 1860,
but construction was interrupted by the civil war and the building was
not completed until 1868.
Looking for parents and siblings of Charles Chick born in Kentucky in 1830
Descendants of Charles Chick
1 Charles Chick 1830 - 1899
.. +Elizabeth Copple 1840 - 1910
........ 2 James Chick 1866 - 1926
............ +Unknown
........ 2 Sarah J Chick
............ +Jacob Miller
........ 2 John Chick
........ 2 Mary Alice Chick 1858 - 1921
............ +John H. Miller 1854 - 1950
................... 3 Jake Miller
................... 3 Edward C. Miller 1883 -
....................... +Laura M. Pumphrey 1890 -
................... 3 Laura Ellen Miller 1884 - 1964
....................... +John Henry Dunn 1882 - 1969
................... 3 Nancy Elizabeth Miller 1886 - 1904
................... 3 Oliver Ernest Miller 1887 -
................... 3 Charles Miller 1882 -
........ 2 C. O. Chick 1868 -
............ +Selinda 1867 -
When GABRIEL PRUDHOMME received his land grant on October 18, 1830, the
land did not look very attractive. His estate extended from the Missouri
River, across the hilly forest lands southward to the present
Independence Avenue, east to Troost Avenue, and west to Broadway. He had
already explored the riverfront in 1814-15 with the French trappers.
Prudhomme knew he had acquired a good river frontage near a trail
leading southward. But he did not live long enough to see the birth and
infancy of a great city that was to rise on his land. He died in 1831.
From the Prudhomme heirs, the first townsite of 256 acres was purchased,
on credit, for $4,200. This land had been purchased by Prudhomme for
$340 from the government.
On November 14, 1838, twenty or thirty men assembled near the river at
the foot of what later became known as Grand Avenue. In a small cattle
lot which had been fenced off by rails, a few planks were placed across
the corner of the pen. SQUIRE GEORGE TATE mounted the perch and
"carefully adjusting his spectacles and taking a fresh chew of tobacco,
proceeded to announce the sale belonging to the estate of Gabriel
Prudhomme."
There were a few outside bidders, and the townsite was purchased by the
bid of W. L. SUBLETT, for which fourteen men gave their notes. They were
W. L. Sublett, MOSES G. WILSON, JOHN C. MCCOY, GEORGE TATE, JACOB RAGAN,
WILLIAM M. CHICK, OLIVER CALDWELL, WILLIAM COLLINS, JAMES SMART, WILLIAM
GILLIS, FRY P. MCGEE, ABRAHAM FONDA, SAMUEL C. OWENS and RUSSELL HICKS.
-----
Jacob Ragan, one of the note signatories, came here in 1837 with his
wife, ANNA (CARTER) and six children from Bath Co., KY. They settled on
a farm considered to be some distance inland from the Missouri River.
Their 120 acre tract covered the area now bounded by 31st and 37th
streets, Oak and Holmes streets. They built a large, hospitable home
that stood on the later site of the Trinity Methodist Church, Armour
Boulevard and Kenwood Ave. (Both husband and wife are buried in the
Union Cemetery.)
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THOMAS SMART lived along the river bluff and was only a spectator to the
sale of ground. H. G. REES of Independence speaks of remaining overnight
in 1839 with Mr. Smart. "We nailed blankets up inside the cabin to break
the wind from those endeavoring to keep warm; the chinks between the
logs had not been plastered with mud, making it difficult to keep warm."
Smart's home was typical of those in the unsettled country where wild
animals still roamed the hills.
------
The fourteen committee members retired to the log house on the riverbank
at the foot of Main Street occupied by "ONE-EYED ELLIS" to select a name
for the new town. No doubt there was much laughter as those roughly
dressed men sat in front of the blazing fire and suggested one name
after another. OLD SQUIRE BOWERS, a spectator who lived on the river,
facetiously suggested "Rabbitville or Possumtrot", but was treated with
silent contempt. Another suggested "Kawsmouth" and "Port Fonda" in honor
of ABRAHAM FONDA, then a prominent member of the committee.
Unfortunately Fonda became involved in a quarrel with another
part-owner, HENRY JOBE, who threatened all sorts of legal, fistic, and
even shotgun remedies, and the results were that "Port Fonda" was not
accepted. Finally "Kansas" was agreed upon, and was the name under which
the new townsite was surveyed and by which it was called until 1853. At
that time it became known as the "City of Kansas" and in 1880, as
"Kansas City".
It is hard to say how serious a view some of the men in the Ellis cabin
may have taken of the new town's chances, but JOHN MCCOY went to work in
earnest and surveyed the first townsite in 1839. It was bounded by
Delaware, Grand and 2nd Streets, and the Missouri River. McCoy related,
"There wee a few old girdled dead trees standing in a field, surrounded
by dilapidated rail fence, and all around on all sides, a dense forest,
the ground covered with impenetrable underbrush and deep, impassable
gorges."
There was a cloud on the title which was not cleared until 1846. A
second plat was then filed, taking in an additional section between
Independence Avenue, Central Street, Oak Street and the river. A third
plat was filed in 1849, extending the area to Cherry Street on the east.
-----
When the "City of Kansas" came into legal existence March 28, 1853, as a
municipality, thirty of the residents went to the polls and voted to
accept the charter of incorporation. This privilege had been granted
Feb. 22, 1853, on Washington's birthday. There seems to have been little
objection since so few voted. Obviously, too, elections were not what
they had been earlier, when the community voted the first time at the
presidential election of 1832. WILLIAM MULKEY, an old-time pioneer who
came to the frontier with his mother and grandfather in 1828, remembered
that first election. "That first was memorable, the year Andrew Jackson
was re-elected President", he related. "The men voted under the limbs of
a great elm tree on the Westport Road. There were just thirty-three of
them. Every voter drank from an immense jug of whisky as he deposited
his ballot, and cider and ginger cakes also were served, and everybody
here was for Jackson."
---------------
Those few persons buying lots in 1839 along the levee worked out a
meager living for the next ten years, and the insignificant steamboat
landing struggled for existence. As late as 1846 there was no place from
the valley of O.K. Creek to what became Grand Avenue where a person on
horseback could go up or down the precipitous bluffs.
JAMES H. & ELEANOR (FRY) MCGEE, who crossed the river from Clay Co in
1828, were among the earliest white settlers. They acquired a squatter's
claim and built a log house high on the branch of Turkey and O.K. Creek.
Later this creek was diverted into the city sewer. This log cabin was
later replaced, using slave labor, by the first brick house to be built
in the future Kansas City, at what became 19th and Baltimore.
On O.K. Creek, McGee operated a small gristmill and distillery, from
which he dispensed food and drink to Indians and surrounding settlers.
When he died in 1838 he had acquired nearly all the land between the
town of Kansas and Westport, and his name, in connection with that of
his sons, has been continuously identified with the growth of the city.
FRANCIS PARKMAN and his relative, QUINCY SHAW, arrived at the levee in
1846 on the steamboat "Radnor". He stated: "Here we landed, and leaving
our equipment in the charge of COLONEL CHICK whose log house was the
substitute for a tavern, we set out for Westport."
--------
WILLIAM MILES CHICK built a two-story log, weatherboarded mansion known
as the "White House", which could be spotted by riverboat captains a
long distance up the river. Here, Chick became the first postmaster and
host to distinguished guests such as Parkman, Shaw, Thomas H. Benton,
John C. Fremont, and many others. Chick also operated a warehouse and
store in connection with his hotel.
The Chick family left Alexandria, Virginia, in 1822 with their slaves
and all their household goods, in four horse-drawn wagons. They first
settled in Glasgow, Missouri, where they farmed until the flood of 1826
washed their crops away.
In the meantime, Mr. Chick heard of the village of Westport. They came
here in 1836 and bought a little store from JOHN C. MCCOY (old site of
Harris House). The Chicks and their family of nine children lived above
the store. In 1843 Chick bought a farm in the west bottoms (present
central industrial district). In the winter Chick built a log business
house at the foot of Main Street on the levee and a dwelling house on
the top of the bluff of what became the corner of Walnut and Pearl
Streets. This later became the first elite residential area of Kansas
City, and MRS. ANN ELIZABETH (SMITH) CHICK reigned as the first lady of
Pearl Street.
Their won, WASHINGTON HENRY CHICK, as a boy, roamed the hills when the
land was a jungle. He saw the city take root from nothing when he worked
in his father's store. In later years he talked of the McGees on O.K.
Creek and TOM SMART who lived on the corner of what became 11th and Main
Streets. The Smart land was covered with a jungle of trees and brush,
but Mr. Smart hired a man to clear it at two dollars a day. Tom Smart
told Chick "he did not know where he was going to get the money, but
afterwards he took a jug of whiskey to the levee and sold it to the
Indians and made enough to pay the man." This farm, for which Smart paid
five dollars an acre, laid the foundation of two large fortunes, the
Smart and SWOPE fortunes.