The first business house in Atchison was established by George T. Challiss, at the corner of the Levee and Commercial streets, in August, 1854. The National Hotel was not built at that time, so Mr. Challiss established a temporary camp, and his workmen were accommodated under an elm tree near the river. The Challiss store building was torn down in 1872. George T. Challiss and his brother, Luther C. Challiss, were clerking in a dry goods store at Booneville, Mo., in the spring of 1854. George T. Challiss returned to his old home in New Jersey on a visit, and upon his return, in August, he came direct to Atchison. He came by boat to Weston, Mo., where he met P. T. Abell, president of the town company, and Abell prevailed upon him to come to Atchison in a buggy, crossing the river here on George Million’s ferry. Mr. Abell donated Mr. Challiss the lot upon which he built his store, and he went to Rushville and bought enough cottonwood lumber to build it. When he arrived in Atchison, he had $4.50 in money, but later on borrowed $150.00 from his brother, Luther C. Challiss, at Boonville. He enjoyed a good business from the beginning, and carried a large stock of both dry goods and groceries.

The town of Atchison was the one big outstanding factor in Atchison county when the territory was organized, but at the same time that Abell and Stringfellow and others “were shaping up the town,” others were busy organizing the county. As the city was named for General Atchison, so likewise was the county at the time of its creation by the first Territorial legislature that assembled at Pawnee. The first board of county commissioners was selected and appointed by the Territorial legislature, August 31, 1855, and was composed of William J. Young, James M. Givens and James A. Headley. The first meeting of the board was held September 17, 1855, at the home of O. B. Dickerson, in the city of Atchison. At this meeting Ira Norris was appointed clerk and recorder; Samuel Dickson, treasurer; Samuel Walters, assessor. William McVay had received an appointment as sheriff of the county prior to the meeting of the board, direct from the governor, to fill the office temporarily until his successor was subsequently appointed and qualified. On the 18th of September, 1855, being the second day of the session of the first board of county commissioners, Eli C. Mason was appointed as sheriff to succeed McVay, and Dudley McVay was appointed coroner. Voting precincts were established in three townships preparatory to an election of a delegate to Congress, which was to take place the first Monday in October, 1855. At the October meeting of the board of county commissioners, block 10, in what is now known as Old Atchison, was accepted by the board as a location upon which to erect a court house. This property was offered to the county by the Atchison town company for the purpose of influencing the board to make Atchison the county seat. The conditions of the gift were that the court house was to be built of brick and to be at least forty feet square. In the following spring the town company donated fifty town lots, and the proceeds of these lots were to be used in the construction of the court house. In June, 1857, the court house was ordered built and it was to be two stories high, the first story to be of rock and the second story of wood. It was 24×18 feet square: however, the plans were subsequently changed, and, because of the gift of an additional fourteen lots by the town company, of a value of $6,000.00, a more pretentious building was erected in 1859, with a county jail adjoining it. Prior to the erection of the court house, there was a spirited contest between Mt. Pleasant, Monrovia, Lancaster and Sumner over the question of the county seat. In an election to determine the location, Atchison received a majority of 252 votes over all competitors for the county seat. The estimated total population of the county at the time was 2,745.

In the next few years Atchison grew rapidly and the dreams of Senator Atchison and his associates bade fair to be realized on a large scale. The population of the town was about 500, and yet there were eight hardware stores, twelve dry goods stores, eight wholesale grocery stores, nineteen retail grocery stores, and twenty-six law firms. The banking business was controlled by the contracting firms of A. Majors & Company and Smoot, Russell & Company. The Atchison branch of the Kansas Valley Bank was the first in the State to be formed under the legislative act, authorized February 19, 1857, with a capital stock of $300,000.00. In the act, John H. Stringfellow, Joseph Plean and Samuel Dickson were named to open subscription books. An organization was effected in the spring of 1858, and the capital stock of the local organization was $52,000.00. The board of directors was composed of Samuel C. Pomeroy, president; W. H. Russell, L. R. Smoot, W. B. Waddell, F. G. Adams, Samuel Dickson and W. E. Gaylord. There was considerable rivalry between Sumner and Doniphan at the time, and shortly after the organization of the bank, a rumor, which was supposed to have started in Sumner, to the effect that the bank was about to suspend, caused the directors to publish a statement of its condition, showing that its assets were $36,638.00 and its liabilities $20,118.00. S. C. Pomeroy resigned as president before the year was out and was succeeded by William H. Russell. The bank subsequently had its name changed by the legislature to the Bank of the State of Kansas. Mr. Russell, the second president of the bank, made his home in Leavenworth and was an active pro-slavery man, being treasurer of the executive committee in 1856 to raise funds to make Kansas a slave State. This bank continued until 1866, when it went into voluntary liquidation and its stockholders wound up its affairs.

One of the most important institutions in Atchison in the early days was the Massasoit House, opened for business September 1, 1858, in charge of Tom Murphy, a genial proprietor, who conducted it for many years. At the same time there were three other hotels in operation in the city. Reference has heretofore been made to the National Hotel, which was elected in 1855 by popular subscription. It was a plain log structure on the north side of Atchison street, just east of Second, overlooking the river. The Tremont House was a two-story frame structure at the southeast corner of Second and Main, and the Planters’ House was at the southwest corner of Commercial and Sixth streets on the site now occupied by the Exchange National Bank, but the Massasoit House was the leading hotel of this section and it was a substantial, somewhat imposing frame building erected at the northwest corner of Second and Main streets on the site now occupied by the Wherrett-Mize Wholesale Drug House. It was three stories high with a basement and was handsomely furnished. It did a large business and was the headquarters for the overland staging crowds. All the lines, which ran in every direction, out of Atchison at that time departed from the Massasoit House. It was a favorite place for political gatherings, and from its balconies many speeches were made by leaders of the political parties of that day. It at one time was the hiding place for a number of slaves who had been secreted in the hotel by their master. Horace Greeley, the famous editor of the New York Tribune, ate his first dinner in Kansas at this hotel, and Abraham Lincoln was a guest on the day that John Brown was executed at Harper’s Ferry.

Some idea of the magnitude of the merchandising that was carried on in Atchison in 1858 may be gathered from the fact that during the summer of that year twenty-four trains comprising 775 wagons, 1,114 men, 7,963 oxen, 142 horses, 1,286 mules conveyed 3,730,905 pounds of merchandise across the Rocky mountains and California. One single train that was sent out that year consisted of 105 wagons, 225 men, 1,000 oxen, 200 mules, fifty horses and 465,500 pounds of merchandise. During the latter part of 1859 and the early months of 1860, forty-one regular traders and freighters did business out of Atchison. During nine months of one of those years, the trains outfitted from Atchison were drawn by mules and cattle and comprised 1,328 wagons, 1,549 men, 401 mules and 15,263 oxen. The Pike’s Peak gold mines, which were discovered in 1858, and the prospecting in that region were the causes of the larger part of this enormous business. Denver at that time had a population of about 2,500, and was the center of the mining region around Pike’s Peak. In the period just mentioned, thirty-three of the trains that left Atchison were destined for Denver. One of these trains was composed of 125 wagons, carrying 750,000 pounds of merchandise. It extended from the levee on the river far beyond the western outskirts of the city. The outfit was managed by fifty-two men, twenty-two mules and 1,542 oxen. Several of the trains for Denver had from twenty to fifty wagons. One, sent out by Jones & Cartwright, had fifty-eight wagons and carried over 3,000 pounds of merchandise. Among the trains that left Atchison during the latter part of 1859 were, one for Santa Fe, N. M., another for Colorado City, Colo., two for Green River, Wyo., and four for Salt Lake City. The biggest overland outfit was owned by Irwin, Jackson & Company, who were Government freighters. During one season this firm sent out 520 wagons, 650 men, 75 mules and 6,240 oxen. This firm had a good contract for supplying the military posts on the plains, including Forts Kearney, Laramie, Bridger, Douglas, and Camp Floyd, a short distance from Salt Lake City. In addition to these larger overland staging concerns there were a number of lesser outfits sent out by private parties in Atchison, with one, two or three wagons each. Most of the freight conveyed across the plains in wagons was brought to Atchison in steamboats, which unloaded at the levee extending along two or three blocks, beginning at about Atchison street and running south. Very frequently loaded ox trains nearly a mile in length were seen on Commercial street, and some of the prairie schooners would be loaded with hardware or some other dead weight, drawn by six to eight yoke of cattle; and more wagon trains were loaded and departed from Atchison than from any other point on the Missouri river.

The act of the Territorial legislature of Kansas incorporating the city of Atchison was approved February 12, 1858, and it provided for the election of a mayor and councilmen. The charter was voted upon and accepted by the people at a special election held March 2, 1858, and the first mayor and council were elected at a special election March 13, 1858. The charter provided for an annual city election at that time to be held on the first Monday in September, and consequently the first mayor and councilmen of the city, elected in March, held their offices only until the following September. Samuel C. Pomeroy was the first mayor of the city, holding his office from March, 1858, until May, 1859. Pomeroy was one of the prominent Free State settlers and was one of its most popular citizens. His election as mayor was the result of the toss of a coin. A temporary truce having been effected between the Southerners and the Free State men, it was agreed that a compromise in local affairs would be beneficial to the community. By the toss of a coin the Free State men won the mayor and three councilmen, and the pro-slavery men had four councilmen. Pomeroy was named by the Free State men mayor. Pomeroy subsequently became actively identified with the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Association, in the distribution of aid to the stricken people of Kansas following the great drought of 1860, and it was largely because of his identification with this organization that he was enabled to place aid where it would do the most good, and he subsequently became one of the first United States senators from Kansas. When he was a resident of Atchison he lived at the corner of North Terrace and Santa Fe streets, but later he moved to a tract of land near Muscotah, and during the twelve years he was senator he claimed the latter place as his home. It was when he asked for a third term as United States senator that he was exposed on the floor of the State senate by Senator York, who arose in his place and, advancing to the secretary’s desk, placed $7,000.00 in cash thereon, which he alleged Pomeroy had given him to influence his vote. Many have always believed that Senator Pomeroy was greatly wronged by this act of York. Ex-Governor George W. Glick, himself a Democrat and a leading citizen of Atchison in the early days, was a very warm friend of Pomeroy and always expressed indignation when he heard Pomeroy abused, not only about his conduct in connection with the Emigrant Aid Association, but also in connection with his downfall politically. It was the contention of Governor Glick that Pomeroy’s fall was the result of a conspiracy and not because of general bribery. However, Pomeroy never rose to political prominence after this incident and ended his days in Washington, D. C., where he lived for a number of years prior to his death.

Associated with Pomeroy as the first mayor of Atchison, were the following citizens: John F. Stein, Jr. register; E. B. Grimes, treasurer; Milton R. Benton, marshal; A. E. Mayhew, city attorney; W. O. Gould, city engineer; M. R. Benton, by virtue of his office as marshal, was also street commissioner; H. L. Davis, assessor; Dr. J. W. Hereford, city physician. The board of appraisers was composed of Messrs. Petfish, Roswell and Gaylord. The first councilmen were William P. Childs, O. F. Short, Luther C. Challiss, Cornelius E. Logan, S. F. Walters, James A. Headley, Charles Holbert. John F. Stein, who was register, resigned his office in August, and R. L. Pease was appointed to succeed him. In the following August the city was divided into three wards, the first ward being entitled to four councilmen, the second ward to two, and the third ward to three. At the first meeting of the council, which was held March 15, 1858, an ordinance was adopted providing for a special election for the purpose of submitting a proposition to take $100,000.00 of stock in a proposed railroad from St. Joseph, Mo., to some point opposite Atchison on the Missouri river. The election was held and the stock was subscribed for. Mayor Pomeroy was appointed agent of the proposed road, which was to be known as the Atchison & St. Joseph Railroad Company. A further account of the development of railroad building from Atchison will occur in a subsequent chapter. The council at this session also fixed the salary of the mayor, and in spite of the freedom of those days, saloons were ordered to be closed on Sunday, and other stringent regulations were passed in connection with the liquor traffic. The first financial statement of the city, of date September 5, 1859, is as follows:

General city tax, 1858$ 5,927.70
Fines imposed by mayor’s court186.50
Dray and wagon licenses192.00
Dram shop licenses1,787.76
Beer house licenses101.33
Shows130.00
Billiard tables225.00
Registry of dogs50.00
Assessment on C street from River to Fourth3,381.00
Total$12,008.29
Amount of scrip and orders issued on general fund to December 15, 1858$ 6,317.17
Amount of scrip and orders issued on general fund to September 5, 18593,140.53
Scrip issued toward building jail1,675.00
Scrip issued for grading streets, curbing, etc.10,105.39
Total$21,238.09
General deficit$ 9,229.79

The fact that Mayor Pomeroy had strongly urged in his inaugural address the importance of grading and improving the streets of the city “especially Atchison, Second and Fourth streets, and the levee,” possibly accounts for the indebtedness of the city at so early a date. There was a general inclination among the citizens of Atchison to build a modern city in accordance with the standards of the times, and therefore they were anxious to follow the mayor’s advice to put their streets and alleys in order.

One of the most interesting and at the same time one of the most difficult tasks in tracing the settlement of a community, is to correctly catalogue the establishment of the first settler, the first house, the first business institution, and the first of everything, and it could with safety be said that this is not only an interesting and difficult task but it is well nigh an impossible one. This is not to be wondered at when we take into account the rush and confusion which always attend the settlement of a new community. However, it has now become an established fact that George M. Million was the first white settler in the Territory, with Samuel Dickson a close second. There was some dispute about who built the first house in the town of Atchison, but we have resolved all doubt in favor of Dickson, just as we have decided that George T. Challiss established the first business house. The Challiss brothers, George, Luther and William all played an important part in the very early history of the county. They were in business and in the professions, and they were all land owners, selecting the choicest tracts “close in” and holding onto them, none too wisely or too well, for their tenacity in this respect later resulted in their undoing. The leading lawyers in the county during those days were M. J. Ireland, A. G. Otis, Isaac Hascall, James A. Headley, A. E. Mayhew, J. T. Hereford, P. H. Larey, Joseph P. Carr and B. F. Stringfellow. Horton, Foster, Ingalls, and General Bela M. Hughes came later. Hascall carried a card in the Squatter Sovereign, advertising his legal headquarters as the Border Ruffian Law Office.