The Dark Period: The Spivey Ticket 1871

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by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

To celebrate Newton’s 150th Birthday, we are sharing stories from the very beginning of Newton. The time between May 1871 and early 1873, was a turbulent time for the new railroad town with the reputation for being a violent, lawless town.

In his History of Harvey County 1871-1881, Judge R.P.W. Muse wrote, “the time elapsing between the organization of the county and the Fall of 1875 may be classed as THE DARK PERIOD in the history of Harvey County.” He then recounted some questionable activities in those first years.

Judge RWP Muse

Missing County & City Records

Most questionable were the missing records. Judge Muse reported in 1881 that Dr. Gaston Boyd was to take a census in 1871, but Muse could find no evidence it was taken. Also absent were the minutes of the proceedings of the first city and county commissions and large amounts of money were unaccounted for.

“We have examined the files and records of the office of the county clerk and can find no record of the report of said census, nor can we find aught in the proceedings of the County Commissioners . . .all important papers, which should have been filed in that office, are missing.” 

He ominously charged that a “Tweed Ring” had formed in early 1872. “Large amounts of money had been wrongfully issued in the shape of warrants and paid out without sanction of law.” 

He further noted that

“Indignation Meetings” were held to find the truth of what happened, but it was soon apparent that “it was an uphill business to commence proceedings against the suspected officials, and the matter was finally dropped.”

Missing money and records were visible result of the power play for Newton’s future in the earliest years.

The Dark Period

The Topeka and Emporia newspapers, along with Judge Muse’s 1881 history, help build the picture of what was happening in Newton in 1871-73 – “THE DARK PERIOD.”

Law Enforcement

The August 23 issue of the Daily Commonwealth described the law enforcement situation in Newton, “a town of fifteen hundred inhabitants, among which are some of the most uncouth and reckless men in the world, who need the restraints of the law . . . has to rely upon the township organization for its government.”

There were two township justices and two constables that lived in Newton along with a deputy sheriff. One of the constables and the deputy sheriff received pay from a funds raised by the gamblers and saloon owners. There was no city government and county law enforcement came from Wichita in 1871.

Against this backdrop of lawlessness and violence, a city was trying to organize. There were two groups battling for the future of Newton. One group consisted of the law-and-order businessmen, including men with railroad interests. Largely from the north, the group included Union Civil War veterans and those interested in creating a town that was free of violence, known for prosperity and attractive to families. Leaders from this group included Judge RWP Muse and R.M. Spivey.

The other side became known known as the “Gold Room Faction,” named for the popular saloon in the 600 block of Main owned by Isaac Thayer, where the men gathered.  The Gold Room Faction consisted of the saloon owners and others that benefited from the transient and cowboy trade, including a contingent of men from Texas. They reportedly owned at least a third of the town. (Daily Commonwealth, 27 Aug 1871) Many of these men were former Confederate soldiers, adding to the tension.   The conflict between the two factions played out in the earliest two elections for city council in the late summer of 1871 and 1872.

“The Compromise Ticket“

The shocking violence early on Sunday morning, August 20, 1871, where five men ultimately died, made everyone aware that changes had to be made. The day following the “Newton Massacre, there seemed to be an attempt to achieve some sort of unity. Several steps were taken to address the violence. One reporter went so far as to note that “no people [had]more regret about the sad shooting affray than the Texas men.”  (Topeka Commonwealth Sept 7, 1871).

A notice appeared in the August 25, 1871 edition of the Topeka Daily Commonwealth that stated, “The citizens of Newton have formed a vigilance committee and have issued a warning against all dance halls.”  The August 27 issue reported an ordinance was in place that forbade the carrying of weapons in Newton.  The leading men from both factions worked together to hold an election to form a city government.

The initial ticket was a compromise with representation from both businessmen and the Gold Room.  From the businessmen, R. M. Spivey was nominated for mayor, and Jerry Johnson Barker, a ST&SF Railroad lawyer, was nominated for police judge. Of the other five nominees for city council only one was a businessman with no ties to the cowboy trade, L.E. Steele. Bill Dow, E. Chamberlain and J. B. Cunningham operated saloons, and James Gregory, a major force in Newton, was a partner in the most lucrative wholesale liquor business in Newton.

Tom Carson was nominated for sheriff. Carson was already at odds with the cowboys in town and not a popular choice.

Spivey was an interesting choice for mayor and his nomination may have been viewed as a bridge between the two groups. Unlike most Civil War veterans in Harvey County, Spivey was a Confederate soldier. Spivey was well respected by the business community and his nomination may have been to appeal to the Texans.

R.M. Spivey

An election was held on August 28, and according to the newspaper “passed off quietly. The utmost good feeling prevailed, as all the tickets contained candidates generally acceptable to the people.”

Daily Commonwealth 29 August 1871.

At the last minute, James Gregory put his name in for mayor, breaking away from the compromise. Even though R.M. Spivey was elected mayor and  George Halliday police judge, the  wedge between the two groups was reopened.

Even with the renewed rumblings from the Gold Room Faction, the first meeting of the new council reportedly went well.  The Topeka Daily Commonwealth was encouraged noting:

“A meeting was held a few days since, at which it was resolved to bury all past difficulties, and to appoint a police force composed of Texas men and Newtonians.  It departed amid a burst of enthusiasm and good feeling.” (27 August 1871)

“Rogues, Gamblers and Lewed [sic] Men and Women”

The town’s reliance on the transient cowboy trade in 1871, gave the men of the Gold Room Faction tremendous influence. One person observed that it seemed as though “the rogues, gamblers and lewed [sic] men and women run the town” even as steps toward law and order were taken. (Wichita Tribune, 24 August 1871). In addition, the close tie with the cattle trade and the success of the town was critical in 1871. As one reporter observed; “Texas support is, and will be, the foundation of the prosperity of Newton. The cattle trade is the jugular vein of its business.” (Topeka Commonwealth, 27 August 1871)

Between the fall of 1871 and the spring of 1872, it is not clear how much Spivey was able to accomplish.  He faced constant challenges from the powerful Gold Room faction, while at the same time working toward establishing Newton as a third class city. Although the violence lessened, Newton remained a lawless town. James Gregory remained a powerful force.

On February 22, 1872, the District Judge in Cottonwood Falls approved the petition to establish Newton as a third class city. The first election for city officers was scheduled to take place the first Monday in April 1872.

*As a result of wounds received during the war, Spivey had lost one arm.

Part 2 will continue the story of Newton’s Dark Period – Gold Room Faction 1872.

Additional Sources

  • Muse, Judge RWP. “The History of Harvey County 1871-1881.”
  • Waltner, John. “The Process of Civilization on the Kansas Frontier, Newton, Kansas, 1871-1873” M.A. Thesis, Department of History, University of Kansas, May 1971.

“Hell upon Earth, with all It’s Horrors:” Hide Park

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by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

“Hell upon Earth, with all It’s Horrors.” 

Even before the first train arrived in Newton, the town was getting a reputation. Tales of constant gunfire and lawlessness were spreading already in June.  One can imagine the heat, dust and smell that surrounded the town with herds of cattle adding to the mix.   Increasing the chances for violence were the Texas cowboys arriving after a long drive ready to blow off some steam and the complete lack of law enforcement. Newton in 1871 was the  perfect storm for lawlessness and general mayhem.

One example that was recorded occurred on July 4th.  A group of cowboys decided to celebrate at Perry Tuttle’s dance hall in Hide Park. Not content with gambling, drinking or the dancing girls, they thought up some mischief. They forced everyone out of the building, made all of the dance hall girls lie down on the ground, and proceeded to riddle Tuttle’s building with bullets. (Topeka Daily Commonwealth, 11 July 1871.)

Another Texas cowboy observed, “Newton was one of the worst towns I ever saw, every element of meanness on earth seemed to be there.” Still another gave this advice; “when the dance halls were flaming and the saloons frothed trouble, when it was best to keep your hand on your holster and your mouth shut going down that avenue.”

Newton was earning a reputation as one observer put it, as a “Hell upon Earth, with all it’s horrors.” 

“Because the Girls Showed so Much Hide”

Hide Park,*** the most infamous area of early Newton, was the setting for most of the violence, including the General Massacre.   The rough and tumble, anything goes section of the new town was located just south and west of the AT&SF Railroad tracks. The area got it’s name from a newspaper description that claimed the area was called Hide Park, “because the girls showed so much hide.”

While businesses with new wood frame structures were springing up on the north side of the tracks, the south side consisted of hastily built shacks ready for the cowboys.  Although the businesses catered to the ‘cowboy trade,’ local men also found their way to Hide Park. This unique mix of men prompted a reporter for the Daily Commonwealth to observe that “the society of Newton is mixed and incongruous. Gentlemen associate with roughs, and gamblers seem to be held in high esteem.” Cattlemen were seen everywhere “in  the gambling shops, drinking saloons, and in the establishments at “Hide Park’.”

 

“Hippity Hoppity of the Dancers“

By the late summer of 1871, five buildings made up Newton’s ‘red light district.’  The buildings included two large dance houses and three smaller buildings that served as brothels. Late into the night music would pour from the dance halls and one could hear the “hippity hoppity of the dancers” at all hours.  The women drank and danced with the men and made “exhibitions too indecent for description. . . a staid man would think hell had broke loose assuredly, to witness one of these disgusting dances.”

One observer noted:

“Here you may see young girls not over sixteen drinking whiskey, smoking cigars, cursing and swearing until one almost looses [sic] the repect the [sic] should have for the weaker sex. I heard one of their townsmen say that he didn’t believe there were a dozen virtuous women in town.” (Wichita Tribune, 24 August 1871)

Gambling tables were arranged around the dance floor.

Judge Muse described Hide Park.

“Festive cowboy, gamblers, saloon men, and roughs of every description began to flock in . . . “at the beginning of June and “three or four dance houses were erected on block 52, each with ample room for dancing, and also, for dispensing the inseparable  concomitant whiskey. . . . All night the halls were filled with cow-boys, gamblers and roughs who, in company with the ‘soiled doves’ ‘treaded the mazes of the giddy waltz’ until daylight came, or weary nature failed to furnish strength. . . .In harmony with the character . . . all went heavily armed, their pockets loaded down . . . making each one appear like a ‘travelling arsenal’.”  Muse, History of Harvey County)

Although gambling of every kind could be found on both sides of the tracks, Muse noted that those on the north side had a “gambling house and bar attached, and recently some of the establishments have added fine lunches and concert music.”  The more refined entertainment were added to hopefully retain “the crowds that have found greater attractions at the dance houses at ‘Hide Park.'”

The new entertainments north of the tracks did affect the Hide Park  saloon owners. One reported that he regularly had sales of one hundred dollars a night “previous to the opening of the dance houses, [on the north side] since the establishment of the high-toned institutions they have been reduced to twenty dollars.”  He was considering offering free lunches and music to attract his customers back. He was no doubt referring to the saloons located in the 600 block of Main the most popular of which was the Gold Room Saloon.

“Nothing but a Piece of Hardware is Left”

Hide Park’s heyday was short lived.  By June 1872, it was observed that “many of the saloons and the greater portion of Hide Park are emigrating from Newton to other new towns.”  Some, like ‘Rowdy’ Joe Lowe, loaded their buildings onto a flat car and physically moved the entire business.  By 1873, the number of saloon owners in Newton was six. The Newton Kansan proudly noted the sale of the last Hide Park property in the spring of 1873. The reporter observed that “nothing but a piece of hardware is left to mark the spot where one year ago was a den of brothels.”

Newton Kansan, 29 May 1873

“Let persons who tell of Newton’s early days make note of this.”

During the winter of 1871-72 leading businessmen worked to reform Newton’s image.  One Wichita reporter noted that Newton “is gradually outgrowing the evil reputation of its early days. The morals of the place are improving most decidedly, and in consequence good families are locating in and around the city.” The removal of the last remnants of Hide Park went a long way to creating a new image for Newton. (Newton Kansan, 31 October 1871)

***At some point an alternate spelling, Hyde Park, was used, possibly  to make the area sound more classy than it was.

Sources:

  • Newton Kansan: 29 May 1873, 21 January 1915.
  • Topeka Daily Commonwealth: 22 August 1871, 23 August 1871, 27 August 1871, 27 September 1871, 10 November 1871, 21 November 1871.
  • Wichita Tribune: 24 August 1871.
  • Muse, Judge RWP. History of Harvey County: 1871-1881. Harvey County Historical Museum & Archives, Newton, Ks
  • Waltner, John. The Process of Civilization of the Kansas Frontier, Newton, Ks, 1871-1873.  M.A. Thesis, Dept. of History University of Kansas, 1968.

 

Long Prayers & Loud Amens: Preaching in the Wickedest Town

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by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator 

“A minister strayed afar,

And patronized corruptions bar . . .”

From Rev. M.M. Haun’s Obituary

Early efforts at preaching in Newton met with limited success, but one man would not be deterred. The story of Rev. M.M. Haun’s first sermon in the Gold Room Saloon has become part of Newton’s lore.

Judge Muse Remembers.

From Judge Muse’s history of Newton 1871-1881, p. 24.

At one time, several prominent gentlemen, among whom were T. J. Peter, General Manager, and L.M. Sargent, Freight Agent of the AT&SF Railroad, looked in upon the scenes being enacted in the “Gold Room,” on a Sunday evening, in September or October, of 1871.

The building was crowded, and drinking whiskey and gambling were going on at the bar and around the small tables in the front; singing and preaching from a platform in the rear end of the building, while in another room were harlots plying their vocation or peeping through the curtains at the scenes in front. 

After the religious services were over, the reverend gentleman who had conducted them was given a five dollar bill, and was induced to take a social glass, and promised to call again. Mr. Peters subsequently told the writer that it beat anything he ever heard.

Rev M.M. Haun Remembers.

The Muse story is likely one version of a story about Rev. Milton M. Hahn, a Methodist Episcopal preacher. This second account was told to a reporter by E. G. Utz, a good friend of Rev. Milton Haun, for the 12 February 1915 edition of the Evening Kansan Republican.

Utz retells the story Rev. Haun told him years before.

Evening Kansan Republican, 12 February 1915

Rev. Haun was sent to Newton as a missionary in 1871 by the Methodist Episcopal Church. Since there was not a church, services were held in private homes or on street corners. Haun recalled that several people had been discussing where to hold church services when he suggested holding a service in the Redlight Saloon***. The “other good people” were not sure this was a wise choice. Rev. Haun disagreed.

He  asked the proprietor of a saloon for permission to hold a religious service the next day. The proprietor, the son of a Methodist preacher, gave permission and offered to bring his Methodist hymnal to help with the singing.

“Very Impressive Prayer”

The next day Haun arrived at the saloon, which was crowded with men playing cards and drinking. He “selected a familiar hymn, which the proprietor and the women joined in.  Then he read a passage of scripture after which he offered a very impressive prayer.” Haun later recalled that it was so quiet at the close of the prayer “you could have heard a pin drop.” However, that must have been about all the church the cowboys felt was necessary, because as Haun recalled, “when he began to talk of Christ and Him being crucified for about twenty minutes, the men got restless and noisy.”

Haun remembered that “they asked him to have something to drink. He refused the invitation.” He was then offered a glass of lemonade. Suspicious, Haun stated he “would only drink the lemonade provided he saw it being made.” He concluded his story by noting that the proprietor walked him to the door and gave him a five dollar bill.

Circuit Preacher

Methodist Circuit Preacher, 1856. Photo credit: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/methodist-circuit-rider-horseback-83537043

Milton Mars Haun was born November 4, 1819 in Tennessee to Abraham and Nancy Hyder Haun. In 1847, Haun converted to the Methodist Episcopal Church and a year later was granted the license to “exhort” and was appointed to the Northern Indiana Conference.

Haun was married three times. His first wife, Emaline Evans  was from Fort Wayne, IN. They married in 1852 and had two children.  He married again in 1857 to Louisianna Green. They also had two children. Sabra Josephine Palmer of Lawrence, Ks, married Haun in 1864. They had eight children, four of which lived to adulthood.

In 1856, he moved to Kansas Territory where he served as circuit preacher along the eastern border. As a circuit or itinerant preacher, Haun was assigned a geographical area and it was his responsibility to visit each church in that area at least once a year in addition to starting new churches.  Traveling across his territory on horseback, he was expected to preach everyday at any place available; homes, fields, street corners, and even in saloons. By the time he got to Newton, he was already a seasoned circuit preacher having served in the Kansas Territory since 1856.

In 1869, Haun decided to settle on a homestead in Section 10, roughly six miles southeast of Newton. His growing family joined him in 1871.  Throughout the 1870s, he served as a circuit preacher in the Valley Center and northern Sedgwick County (later Harvey County) area.

Long Prayers and Loud Amens

Rev. Milton Mars Haun was one of the larger than life people in Newton’s early history and is usually credited with being the first preacher to preach in wild and wicked Newton. One can imagine a fiery, confident minister walking into a saloon, singing a hymn, and leading a stunned, silent  crowd in prayer. Haun was confident in his convictions. In later descriptions, Haun was described as a “radical prohibitionist.” Those that knew Haun noted it would have been completely out of character for  Haun to drink anything other than water after his sermon in the Gold Room Saloon. Rev. Haun continued his work in the Newton/Sedgwick area until 1901, when he and Sabra moved to Los Angeles to be closer to their grow children.

Ida Utz Stauffer, who lived in Valley Center, described her memories of Rev. Haun.

“I knew this M.M. Haun well, a tall, lean, gray old man, who is still remembered by many for his long prayers and loud amens from the Amen corner.”  (Vince Marshall letter)

Rev. Haun died at 82 after a short illness on January 16, 1902 in Los Angeles. Sabra J. Palmer Haun died in 1931, also in Los Angeles.

***All other sources indicate the Rev. Haun preached in the Gold Room Saloon, which was located in the 500 Block of Main, Newton, and was considered one of the nicer saloons in town.

Sources

  • Topeka Daily Commonwealth: 21 July 1869, 12 March 1870, 23 March 1870, 25 March 1870, 14 March 1872.
  • Evening Kansan Republican: 24 February 1902, 12 February 1915.
  • Handwritten Obituary for Rev M.M. Haun, n.d. Harvey County Historical Museum & Archives.
  • Muse, RWP.  History of Harvey County 1871-1881.” Newton, Kansas: Harvey County Historical Museum & Archives, 203 N. Main, Newton Ks 67114.
  • Rev M.M. Haun Research File, Pam Navrat, Archives Harvey County Historical Museum & Archives.
  • Marshall, Vince to Jeannine Stults, letter dated 31 October 2000, HCHM Archives, Research Files.