History: 1872

Other Interesting Historical Articles from the Axtell Newspapers
Early History of Axtell - Axtell Anchor, October 18, 1883
Early History of the St. Joseph & Western Railroad - Axtell Anchor, May 29, 1884
Axtell - Its Growth, Advantages and Business Interests - from Axtell Anchor issue of March 2, 1888
Old Land Marks In Axtell - from Axtell Anchor issue of June 8, 1894
Axtell - the town as it now stands - from Axtell Anchor issue of Dec. 20, 1895
Careful Resume of Our Town and Surrounding - from Axtell Anchor, July 27, 1900
Building the Axtell Public School - WPA Project - Axtell Standard, January 7, 1943

The Early Years: 1872 - 1890

The St. Joseph and Grand Island Railroad Company founded the town of Axtell. Dr. Jesse Axtell was an officer of the railroad company. J. Taylor, J. Hebbard and David Smith donated 160 acres of land for a town site. The earliest trace of Axtell was a small building erected by W. H. "Shoestring" Dickinson in the year 1872, the year the town site was laid out. That same year the railroad built a depot and sidetrack and the first school was built in 1872-1873. Michael Murray, who moved to the newly established town of Axtell from St. Bridget, six miles north, opened a mercantile store on the north side of the railroad tracks, where all of the original businesses were located. Thomas Hynes, another St. Bridget resident, came to Axtell in May, 1874 and built his drug store in 1875. A post office was erected and R. F. White assumed the position of postmaster. The year 1872 also marked the first birth in Axtell, a son to W. H. Dickinson. The first death had been George W. Earl, who had been the town's first blacksmith; Earl died in 1874 and was buried at Seneca, Kansas. No marriages were recorded until 1879.

Axtell's first public school was built in 1873 at a cost of $750, the size being 20 feet by 30 feet; the teacher was Jon Watson.

The first class of Axtell High School graduated in 1888. The graduates were Maggie Axtell (McCall), Mame Brawner (Rabe), Stella Conable (Rundle) and Jennie Whitbeck. No students graduated in 1889, but since 1890, Axtell Public School has had graduates!

The first churches to be organized in Axtell and its vicinity were the Salem Lutheran Church in December of 1874 with a membership of 28 and about the same time a Catholic Church was established in Axtell. In 1878 and 1879, the Methodist Episcopal Church was established with a church membership of nine while the Axtell Presbyterian Church was established with a charter membership of 19. In 1882, the Congregationalists established a church here in Axtell with a charter membership of 15. In December of 1886, the Mission Covenant Church, southwest of Axtell, was organized.

According to a history of the city published by the Anchor in March of 1888 it mentions that the The Catholic society is the oldest organization [in town] and has a membership of about 200. In 1879, only five families lived in Axtell:

In the fall of 1879 and winter of 1880, 20 families arrived from Deep River, Iowa, to make Axtell their new home. At this time, Nelson Hallum began a lumberyard and Mrs. Watkins erected the Summit House, Axtell's first hotel. On August 8, 1880, the Axtell Post Office became a money order office: Thomas Hynes sent the first money order.

The first newspaper "published" for the Axtell community was called the Axtell Broadaxe, which was edited by Charles Peltier. This paper was unique in that it was never set in type but was written in longhand and read every two weeks at the literary society meeting.

In 1881, Father Timothy Luber, OSB, pastor of St. Bridget Church, six miles north of Axtell, officially organized a group of Catholics into a parish at Axtell. Services were held on alternate Sundays between St. Bridget and Axtell.

In 1882, the Axtell Broadaxe was succeeded by The Visitor, originally published by a Mr. Layton. After a few weeks, the paper was turned over to W.W. Brooks. Shortly thereafter Lum C. McCarn became the sole proprietor. No record is found of any existing copies from The Visitor 's first year. There are copies of its second year of publication but McCarn's outspokenness proved to be his downfall. The subject of incorporating the town of Axtell came up for a vote and, while sentiment was divided in the town, the majority of townspeople were against incorporation. It was defeated at the polls and McCarn, a Republican, editorialized in strong terms in the next issue of The Visitor, taking the citizens to task for defeating the movement. Before the year of 1883 was over, a competitive newspaper, presenting the Democratic slant, was started. It was called The Axtell Anchor. Its first issue was dated October 18, 1883 and Milt L. Singrey was its editor.

In July 1884, The Visitor went out of business and was absorbed by the Frankfort Bee.

In 1886, a stock company at a cost of $20,000 erected the Citizens Bank: in 1890 it succeeded J. H. Trout and Co. in the banking business with a starting capital of $50,000. The bank did a real estate, loan and insurance business as well as regular banking. A grain elevator was erected in 1886, another in 1891.

In 1886, the town of Axtell was incorporated and Charles Russell was the first mayor of our city.

The Religious Encounter of 1889

(The following information was taken from the Axtell Anchor of November 1, 1889.)

A near riot almost erupted in Axtell on the evening of Thursday, October 24, 1889. A traveling protestant minister, Rev. J. G. White of Stanford, IL, was going from town to town giving lectures on Catholicism. The first lecture of his series on Wednesday was entitled, "Romanism is not of God." [Romanism was a name Protestants gave to the Roman Catholic religion]. This talk was given in the new Presbyterian church. At the conclusion of his talk, he announced next night's lecture would be given to "men only" because of the delicate nature of his subject matter. He was to talk about what really went on in the Sacrament of Confession behind those closed doors. The talk was entitled "Auricular Confession Exposed." This was too much for the Catholic people in and around Axtell. Since it was an open meeting for the men at the Methodist Church, a group of Catholic men attended. As the minister began his talk, a Catholic listener, Michael Bannan, objected. He was ordered to sit down and keep quiet. A few minutes later, another Catholic listener objected to the comments the minister was expressing. He too was ordered to keep quiet. At that point many of the Catholic men attending rushed toward the speaker's podium. The speaker was protected by some protestant members acting as his guards. Fists and billy clubs began flying. Even a revolver or two was produced, but no shots were fired by either side. In the ruckus that followed, two or three men were thrown out a window (before it was opened). The minister was also dispatched through the now open window. He sought safety in the town's hotel for a few hours and then caught the night train to a neighboring town. The townspeople truly worried about the minister's safety, so much had he upset the Catholic population.

After things were quieted in the church, the four main Catholic objectors were arrested and taken to Marysville where they were jailed. The Mayor and City Council were worried that this action would lead to an armed confrontation and so he sent two telegrams asking for assistance. One telegram went to Capt. Fluher, Company G, Third Regiment, State Militia. That Thursday evening, Company G, boarded a train at Marysville and came in full force to Axtell to act as peacemakers. They had their artillery pieces set up in the streets of Axtell, near the hotel. The other telegram went to Governor Humphrey in Topeka.

No more violence occurred that night. There were five or six injuries, but nothing serious. The Catholic objectors were all fined and released from jail. Rev. White came back at a later date and gave his talk without any further incidents. This action set religious tolerance back a bit in Axtell. The Protestants blamed the Catholics for disrupting a meeting and not allowing free speech. Catholics blamed the Protestants for willfully spreading lies about their faith and its sacraments. This was the last major religious disturbance in Axtell's history.

The Sherman House was erected to compete with the Summit House. In 1889, the Kansas City, Wyandotte and Northwestern Railroad built into Axtell. In 1890, the State Bank of Axtell was established and elected George W. Williams as President. It brought the land at Fifth and Popular to build its bank building. Brickmasons from Beattie were hired to brick the building. The Bank opened for business on July 28, 1890. Daniel Meara was cashier. This business was purchased from the Meara family in 1970 by Hollis Winchell and still provides service to Axtell and the surrounding communities today.

Fr. John Hurley, pastor of St. Michael Church and St. Bridget Church announced that St. Michael would start a Catholic school for its children. In the fall of 1889, a building was rented by the parish to house the first school. In 1890, the parish purchased six acres from Mrs. Michael Murray. The church building, which was originally located around Seventh and Oak (where Regis and Mary Jane Rochel now live), was going to be moved to its new location at Eighth and Elm (east of the present church). This site would contain the church, rectory and school. The church was moved to this site but the school building was never built and in 1894 the school was closed because of declining numbers.

On Sunday, April 13, 1890, an arson fire destroyed the grain elevator of O.T. Hulburd. He later sold his grain business to W. J. Campbell who rebuilt the elevator on Maple Ave.

The year ended with a fire in Marysville completely destroying the Marshall County Courthouse. A few items were salvaged, but the Courthouse was completely destroyed. The ruins were barely cool when petitions in both Blue Rapids and Frankfort began circulating throughout the county encouraging citizens to relocate the new County Courthouse to their respective city.

City of Axtell, Kansas Webpage

The Early Years: 1872 - 1890

The Religious Encounter of 1889

(The following information was taken from the Axtell Anchor of November 1, 1889.)


St. Michael Church	Salem Lutheran	Axtell Methodist Church


Mission Covenant	Presbyterian Church	St. Bridget Church


Original State Bank of Axtell located at Fifth and Popular Streets	Original St. Michael School (middle section added by late homeowner)	Connet Elevator (where Grove Park is now located)