I’ve never been one to get hyped up about history.
Does this strike you as an odd fact after reading my previous posts? Well, it
is true. It wasn’t exactly a subject that captured my attention in school. I
was never very good at remembering dates and putting events in some sort of
chronologic perspective was not exactly my fortè. However, I did well in the
subject, thanks no doubt to some sort of memory tool or another that allowed me
to recall pertinent information, spit it out on a test & subsequently
forget it. Nonetheless, I always held the subject in high regard because I
thoroughly believed the statement by George Santayana that,
“those who cannot remember [or learn from] the past are condemned to repeat
it”. Somewhat contradictory, isn’t it? Enter my life. Ha! Seriously though, I
understood the importance of studying, learning & retaining the
information, but in the mind of a studious young lady the things I was
supposedly “learning” were flying at me from every direction & some of it
stuck & some of it just didn’t! Thankfully, in my older, wiser years (sure
hope there are a lot more of those to come) I have begun to appreciate the
erratic mind of my youth. Surprisingly enough, I’ve retained a lot more than I
ever thought possible.
That brings me
to my topic for today; a little bit of history regarding the “village” of
Grantville & how Maplecroft Farm came to be in existence. It is quite
interesting, I believe, to see how the beginning of a county and its towns
shaped the landscape that we live in today. Obviously, the “landscape” I am
referring to is not the literal lay of the land & its geological
formations. That landscape is somewhat absolute & relatively unchanging. I
may visit that topic in a future post as this region of Kansas, particularly
the Kaw River Valley where Maplecroft is situated, is commonly regarded to be
quite picturesque. I am talking about how our society has evolved, where our
ancestors chose to homestead, how our cities have developed and basically how
the “chips” fall!
According to the Kansas Historical Society, the Kansas Territory was opened to non-native settlement by the U.S. government in 1854 (http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/settlement-in-kansas/14546). "This is one of the oldest settled portions of the county," according to William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas, JEFFERSON COUNTY, Part 24, KAW TOWNSHIP. The first white settlers who came to Kaw Township were Jefferson Riddle, J.T. Wilson, J. Kuykendall, and R.P. Beeler. They settled this area in 1854. (http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/jefferson/jefferson-co-p24.html#KAW_TOWNSHIP). To put that in perspective, if you can recall from your formative history lessons, Kansas became the 34th state to join the United States of America on January 29, 1861. This was during the chaotic period of our history when the state was referred to as "Bleeding Kansas" due to the violence that ensued over the slavery debate. Kansas entered the union as a free state.
What I find particularly interesting is that the town of
Grantville likely would have been located about one and a half miles north of
its present location. Our farm could have looked much different today if Kaw
City had been a success! According to William G. Cutler's History of the
State of Kansas, “In the spring of 1857 a town company, of twenty-five
members, was formed, and a town site, consisting of 320 acres, was laid off,
and called Kaw City. Its location was on the east side of the Big Muddy, at the
base of the hills, at the place where the wide valley of the Kansas River
begins.”
My father recounted to me the following information
regarding Maplecroft, much of which is also recorded in William G. Cutler's History
of the State of Kansas.
“John
Kuydendoll was granted title to 146 acres on Big Muddy Creek, which was at that
time called Traverse Creek, in 1856. James S. Townsend purchased this same
tract in 1856 and brought a stock of goods from Platte City, Missouri and
opened a store in a small log cabin. J.S. Townsend traded his claim for a hotel
in Oskaloosa and Mathew R. Dutton became the third owner. He began construction
of a large limestone house and barn on the property about 1870. On Dec 1, 1873,
Hanson Zebulon Frisbie purchased the property and called it Maplecroft.” (Generations of Love, A Story of the Frisbie
Family, 1992 by Leisa M. Frisbie). The Frisbie family has owned the
property ever since & still live there to this day.
Photograph of the home and the original
limestone barn, date unknown. Owner, George Frisbie (1864-1951) and his wife, Etta
Frisbie, are pictured sitting in the rockers on the porch.
The limestone barn
and carriage house that sat to the south of the limestone house burnt to the
ground on March 1, 1946. The south barn sits adjacent to the west barn at a
right angle. The existing wood frame barns were rebuilt on the original limestone
barn foundation. Currently, the two barns remain standing, albeit in deteriorating
condition. Much water damage has occurred to both barns, particularly the west
one which still has the original shake shingle roof. The south barn has fared a
slightly better fate, as it has a metal roof. However, the affects of several
bad ice storms and time are cause for immediate attention if the barns are to
be saved.
Photograph
I took of the existing wood barns in 2006. The west barn is pictured at left
and the south barn at right.
Obviously, there is plenty of
work to be done at the farm today. The structures are in need of repairs &
the grounds need clearing & cleaning. Beef cattle are no longer raised
here. Therefore, many trees have grown in the cow lot next to the barns &
will need to be removed before the structures can be stabilized and repaired. Can
they be saved? Some say yes, others say no…I say I still have hope.
