The “village blacksmith” of old Port William, and one of the early justices of the peace of Walnut township, was Thomas J. Payne, later living at Canyon City, Colo. Mr. Payne settled at Port William, March 18, 1855, and was one of the pioneer blacksmiths of Kansas. He operated blacksmith shops at three of the old towns of Atchison county, Port William, Sumner and Mt. Pleasant. He was appointed a justice of the peace by Governor Shannon, in 1856. The office of “county squire” was of more importance in those stirring times than it is now. Mr. Payne’s son, Charles Sumner Payne, was the first child born at old Sumner. His birth occurred September 25, 1857. He was named by the town company, who made out and presented to him a deed for a lot in the once thriving city. Another son was born at Sumner on the day that John Brown was hanged, and was named for the great abolitionist. A third son was named for Jim Lane. Thomas J. Payne enlisted as a private in Company F, Thirteenth Kansas infantry, at Atchison, August 20, 1862, and was later promoted to orderly sergeant. He was discharged at Ft. Smith, Ark., October 29, 1864. Then he was immediately appointed by the secretary of war first lieutenant of Company B, First Regiment of Kansas infantry, colored. He took part in many engagements, and was mustered out in August, 1865. He was born in Georgetown, Ohio, the town in which General Grant was born. There are few men in Kansas who have served as a justice of the peace longer than Mr. Payne. He held the office in Atchison county for a number of years, at Robinson, Kan., for eighteen years, and later at Horton, Kan., for several years.
The old Horace B. Herndon farm at Port William, now owned and occupied by Frank Bluma, Sr., was known as the “Old Indian farm,” in the early days. According to W. J. Bailey it was so-called because an Indian known as “Kickapoo John” located on it previous to the settlement of Kansas by the whites and was still living there with numerous other Indians when Mr. Bailey first came to that locality. Mr. Bailey said that the butts of tepee poles could be seen sticking in the ground on the site of Port William for some time afterwards. In 1854 Horace B. Herndon preëmpted the “Old Indian farm,” built a cabin thereon at the southwest corner of the field near the creek, and put an old negro slave in it to hold the claim for him. The old darkey died and was buried in the family burying ground on the farm about 1855. He was probably the first colored man who ever lived and died in what afterwards became famous as the “Port William colored settlement.” This was about twenty years before this community became generally settled by colored people. The old Herndon family residence, one of the landmarks of this region, is still standing and is occupied by Frank Bluma and family. There is evidence that the “old Indian farm” was occupied by Indians long before “Kickapoo John’s” time for the old field is strewn with various fragments representing the stone age and prehistoric times. Mr. Herndon died a number of years ago. He was another of the early justices of the peace of Walnut township and was generally known as “Squire” Herndon. He was also a public administrator for Atchison county, and was one of the most prominent citizens of the southern part of the county for many years. He was the father of Mrs. Henry King and James Herndon, residents of Round Prairie. Mrs. King, then Miss Virginia Herndon, was the “belle” of the old town of Port William, and was a social favorite throughout this section of the county.
Another early settler of Port William was Henry Luth, the veteran carpenter, who moved from Atchison to Leavenworth. Mr. Luth lived in Port William for several years in the early fifties, removing to Atchison in 1857. He built many of the first houses in this section of the country. A large walnut cupboard and other furniture in Mr. Luth’s home he made from walnut timber cut at Port William and sawed into lumber at the old Hartman sawmill at that place. Mr. Luth had a little shop at Port William in which he made furniture. Henry Hausner, Atchison’s well known commission merchant, took a claim at Port William in 1855, but was cheated out of it. Andy Brown, for many years an Atchison flagman, was an early settler of Port William. With Thomas Taylor, now living at Perry, Kan., he crossed the river to Kansas on Jake Yunt’s ferry just above Port William in 1854. Mr. Brown’s father had taken a claim at Port William and Taylor one adjoining it. The latter helped Samuel Dickson build his cabin shanty on the site of Atchison in the fall of 1854.
Ex-Sheriff Fred Hartman, of this county, now deceased, lived at Port William in the early days. His father, Jonathan Hartman, in 1854, put into operation at that place one of the very first sawmills in the Territory. It furnished lumber for many of the first houses in this section. The lumber was sawed from the fine timber which grew along Little Walnut creek. Fred Hartman said that in 1856 Bob Gibson brought his famous “Kickapoo Rangers” to Port William for the purpose of lynching his father, Jonathan Hartman, on account of his most avowed Free Soil principles. They stayed around a while, and as Mr. Hartman did not seem to be the least bit intimidated, they finally left and never molested him again. It was during this time that Pardee Butler was placed on a raft at Atchison and set adrift in the river. He landed just above Port William, and went at once to Mr. Hartman’s for assistance. Not deeming it safe for Mr. Butler to remain in Port William, Mr. Hartman took him out to the home of Jasper Oliphant, about two miles west of the village, where he stayed at night and finally reached his home in safety. Jasper Oliphant was another of the earliest settlers of this locality. He was assassinated some years ago by Bob Scruggs, a desperate character, who at the same time shot and killed John Groff, another prominent Walnut township citizen, and Scruggs was captured and hanged to a tree near Oak Mills. The tragic deaths of two such substantial citizens as Mr. Oliphant and Mr. Groff produced a profound sensation throughout Walnut township. In the spring of 1857 Jonathan Hartman sold his sawmill and moved to a farm near the present site of Parnell, where he died. Fred Hartman served during the war in the Thirteenth Kansas with Thomas J. Payne, mentioned elsewhere.
The wagon road leading from Port William westward to the “old military road,” bears the unique distinction of crossing the same creek fourteen times in a distance of less than three miles. It is not believed that there is another creek in Atchison county that is crossed an equal number of times by one road. Little Walnut creek, which empties into the Missouri river at Port William, has its source near the Leavenworth county line. It flows northward through a heavily timbered country, and is one of the prettiest little streams in Atchison county. It was formerly called Bragg’s creek, after “Jimmy” Braggs, an early-day Missouri Pacific section foreman, who lived on its banks. Braggs afterward moved to Holton, where he died and the name of the creek was changed to Little Walnut, after its neighbor, Walnut creek, which empties into the river at Dalby, about two miles above.
ARRINGTON.
Arrington is located on the Union Pacific railroad in the southwest part of the county. This town was platted August 20, 1884, and its original promoters were R. A. Van Winkle, D. S. Henecke. John Ballinger, D. D. High, D. A. Benjamin, J. M. Roberson, Michael Baker, J. S. Hopkins, Ira Tabor and George W. Drake. Its streets are numbered one to four, and its cross streets are called Fountain avenue, Delaware street and Forest avenue. Arrington has three general stores, one elevator and a bank. During good crop years, as high as 125 cars of grain and live stock are shipped from its station, and its stores do a good business, rendering fine service to the surrounding territory.
At one time prior to 1890 medicinal springs were located at Arrington and it was quite a resort during the summer months for people living in northeastern Kansas. The town has a good hotel, and in addition to its merchandise establishments it supports a physician and several churches.
For many years a mill was conducted on the Delaware river upon which Arrington is located, operated by water power. This mill was built by John Reider in 1867, who also operated it both as a sawmill and as a grain mill. In 1874 W. H. Stockton joined Mr. Reider, and these two men built a two-story frame mill, but they operated it only one day, as it was mysteriously burned the following night. Shortly thereafter Mr. Reider, undismayed and undiscouraged, associated with himself Albert Ingler, and remembering his previous disastrous experience with fire, Mr. Reider built a stone mill. This firm conducted a successful business for a number of years, drawing patronage for a distance of sixty miles, but in 1879, Mr. Ingler met an untimely death, by drowning as he was crossing the river, a few feet below where the Arrington bridge stands. Mr. Reider sold his interest to D. S. Heneks, who ran the mill until 1906, when John W. Young became its owner. He subsequently turned it over to George W. Stone, since which time it has been in possession of various owners, and in 1916 is owned by Burt McCulley. It has not been operated since 1908, and stands in ruins.
A history of Arrington would be incomplete without the mention of the name of Ransom A. Van Winkle, who was the first settler in Kapioma township, and the founder of the town. Captain Van Winkle was born November 25, 1818, in Wayne county, Kentucky. He was a Hollander by descent, and at one time his great-grandfather, Michael Van Winkle, owned an interest in 13,000 acres of land within twelve miles of New York City, which was sold just prior to the Revolutionary war, for twenty-five cents an acre. Van Winkle received the rudiments of his education in a Kentucky log school house, but was for two years a cadet at West Point and received a good education. He was married twice and had a varied experience in business, at one time owning a large interest in coal lands in Kentucky. He removed to St. Joseph, Mo., in 1849, and in September, 1855, came to Kansas and built the first claim cabin on the Grasshopper, or what is now the Delaware river, above Valley Falls, in Kapioma township. He also built the first steam sawmill, sawed the first lumber, and built the first frame house, and taught the first school in Kapioma township, and was the first postmaster at Arrington. He always took an active part in politics in the county and was a stanch Republican. He was a prominent Free State man in the early struggle in Kansas and contributed liberally to the cause and worked hard in its behalf. He was a justice of the peace in Papioma township for fourteen years; postmaster five years; trustee of Kapioma township eight years; a member of the legislature in 1861 and 1862 and county commissioner of Atchison county for six years. He was patriarchal in appearance and was a conspicuous figure for many years in Republican conventions in Atchison county.