Sumner County.
Dixon Township Map, 1883.
On the county map Argonia can be found in township 32-South and Rang3 4-West. On the township map Argonia can be found in sections 17 & 16.
The start of Argonia.
Argonia was projected by a town company which was oranized on March 9, 1881. The directors for the first year were Joseph E. Hallowell, Marcus L. March, Daniel B. Harrison, Amos B. Cook, Elisha Parker and Benjamin Nicholson. After a crop of wheat was taken off the town site in 1882, the building of the town began. At present there about twenty-five business houses in the place. All doing good business, its people are live, energetic men who drive business.
Argonia Post Office.
Aegonia post office open June 17, 1881 and ran to ?
Business men who used Argonia as their P. O. address as of 1883.
J. S. Baughman, M. D., Druggist and Physician, from Ohio, came to county 1882.
Amos S. Cook, Farmer, from Ohio, came to county 1874.
W. J. Crites, Farmer, from West Virginia, came to county 1878.
Levi Carkhuff, Propr. Jersey House, from New Jersey, came to county 1882.
Williaam H. Eddy, Farmer, from Illinois, came to county 1882.
B. H. Gass, Farmer and Stock Raiser, from Arkansas, came to county 1880.
A. C. E. Gates, Dealer in Grain and Coal, from Illinois, came to county 1881.
D. B. Harrison, Farmer, from Pennsylvania, came to county 1875.
J. S. Hammond, Miller, from Indiana, came to county 1879.
J. C. Kilbourn, Farmer and Justice of the Peace, from Virginia, came to county 1878.
A. J. Leibert, Miller, from Pennsylvania, came to county 1882.
William Lindley, Farmer and Stock Raiser and Dealer, from Indiana, came to county 1879.
M. L. March, Farmer and Grain Dealer, from Ohio, came to county 1878.
Benjamin Nicholson, Farmer and Minister, from Indiana, came to county 1879.
John H. Nicholas, Farmer and Stock Raiser, from Germany, came to county 1878.
E. Parker, Farmer and Stock Raiser, from Indiana, came to county 1878.
John Riley, Farmer and Stock Raiser and Wool Grower, from Ireland, came to county 1876.
Ezra Spencer, Farmer and Stock Raiser, from Ohio, came to county 1879.
L. A. Salter, Hardware Dealer, from Michigan, came to county 1882.
F. M. Sumpter, Farmer, from Kentucky, came to county 1877.
M. L. Smail, Farmer and Carpenter.
W. H. Stevenson, Dealer in General Merchanties, from Illinois, came to county 1872.
Argonia History as given in 1883.
Argonia is a live little town, of about 100 inhabitants,
located on the K. C. L. & S. K. Railroad, near the west line of the county.
It was laid out in February, 1881, by a town company, of which Joseph Hollowell,
was president, D. B. Harrison, vice president, J. S. Hammond, treasurer, and M.
L. March, secretary. The company purchased the town site of 70 acres from M. and
J. P. Sumpter, H. W. Allen and L. Berlett. The mill property is encircled by,
but is not part of, the townsite. Up to July, 1882, the town made but little
progress, although lots were given all who would erect improvements to the value
of $100, in the business part of the town. Residence lots were also given to
those who would build upon them. The first store in the town was brought from
the river by A. B. Cook, and opened with a general stock. A post office was soon
opened, and Cook made Postmaster. A few months later he sold out to L. L.
Crites, who soon after took the post office, which he still holds. The second
store was opened by Story & Stevenson, and the third by Bryant &
Anderson. A drug store was opened by J. S. Baughman, who was the first physician
to locate here. A lumber yard was started by G. B. Shaw & Co., before
Argonia was more than a name; the lumber being dumped upon the bare prairie.
Carson, Baldwin & Salter started the first hardware store, and George
Monyhan the first meat market. The town has never been incorporated, and is till
in the hands of the town company, whose officers are: J. S. Baughman, president;
M. Sumpter, vice president; M. L. March, treasurer; E. Spencer, secretary.
The Argonia Mills form a very prominent feature of
the town, and were in existence before the building of the place was fairly
begun. Work was begun on the buildings in March, 1882, and the machinery put in
operation on September 12th of the same year. The mills grind 300 bushels of
wheat and something over 200 bushels of corn, daily. Two run of buhr-stones are
in use, and power if furnished by an engine of fifty horse power. The mill
building is 46x30 feet, and two and one-half stories in height. The entire
outfit costing $14,000, is owned by J. S. Hammond & Co. The town now has two
general stores, one drug and one hardware; a good hotel, built in 1882, by Levi
Cark- uff (sic); a meat market, two blacksmith shops, a livery and a lumber
yard. Three regular grain buyers make headquarters at this point, and from July,
1882, to January, 1883, shipped over 50,000 bushels of grain, mostly wheat.
Argonia Biographical Sketches of 1883.
JOSHEPH ARNOLD, stock dealer, was born in Mifflin
Township, Ashland Co., Ohio, in 1838, where he lived till he was twenty-five
years of age, and received an academic education In the spring of 1873 he
emigrated to Mason County, Ill., where he carried on farming for four years. In
1867 he engaged in the mercantile business at Maroa, at which he continued for
two years. In 1873 he emigrated to Kansas, stopping for a few years in Belle
Plaine, then to Springdale Township, and finally, on the 13th of March, 1883, he
located in Argonia. Mr. Arnold was one of the organizers of the town, and wished
to call it Maroa, but was outvoted and it was named Argonia. He owns farm
property, and about ninety hogs. While living in Illinois he held the office of
Justice of the Peace six years, and Assessor three terms, and in Kansas has also
been Assessor three terms. He is an Ancient Odd Fellow. In 1856 he was married
to Miss Sabina Campbell, of Ohio, by whom he had several children. His second
wife was Miss Lucy Adams.
J. S. BAUGHMAN, physician, of the firm of Baughman &
Gates, druggists, was born in Ohio in 1847. At the age of twenty he engaged in
the dry goods and grocery business, which he carried on some three years, and in
the meantime studied medicine under Dr. J. F. Kennedy, of Ohio. He attended
clinics at the Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated from the same
in the class of 1872. On receiving his degree he practiced his profession two
years in Gaysport, Ohio; he then settled at his old home, where he practiced
five years, when he returned to Gaysport and continued in the practice of his
profession for two years more. In 1880 he emigrated to Kansas, stopping in
Wichita. Here he opened a drug store, which he sold out after running it two
years, and moved to Argonia, Sumner county, 1882. On his arrival the town had
but seven buildings all told. Here he established his present business in
connection with his profession. Both branches of his business are good, being in
a growing, prosperous condition. He owns business and residence property. He was
Town Clerk when in Ohio, and is now president of the Argonia Joint Stock
Company, in proprietors of the town site. In January, 1881, the company was
formed, the first papers being drawn up by Joseph Arnold. On the 3d of March,
1881, the first election of officers was held. The third election was held the
first Saturday in January, 1883, it being the beginning of the fiscal year, when
Dr. J. S. Baughman was elected president, E. M. Sumpter, vice-president, holding
over Ezra Spencer secretary second term, and M. L. Marsh, treasurer. The company
are offering lots to parties that will expend $100, either for business or
residence houses. The town is situated in the valley of the Chikaskia, and
surrounded with a splendid farming country. Dr. Baughman was married to Miss
Frank Bozman, of Ohio, in 1874, and has two children - Berenice and Eva. Both
are members of the Lutheran Church.
D. H. BRYANT, of the firm of Bryant & Anderson,
dealers in general merchandise, was born in Illinois in 1836. His educational
advantages were limited to the common schools, and his occupation , working on
the farm. After having been engaged in the mercantile business for eighteen
years, in 1879 he immigrated to Kansas, where he tarried for a time in Winfield,
and then stopped in Wellington some three years, when he went to Argonia, July
5, 1882, unloading his goods in the street, and established his present
business, and built the first business hours. In his former home in Indiana, Mr.
Bryant filled the responsible office of Justice of the Peace four years,
discharging its duties with credit to himself and eminent satisfaction to his
constituents. In 1849 he was married to Miss W. M. Nichols, of Indiana, and has
two children living - Alabama and Corwin. Besides his business property he owns
several town lots.
A. CEASE, hotel proprietor and farmer, was born in
Pennsylvania in 1824, where he was reared in the lumber business, and received a
common school education. In 1849 he removed to Illinois, where he carried on
farming operations till 1882, at which time he emigrated to Sumner County,
Kansas, locating in Argonia, where he bought the hotel property, also a farm
near town. Since buying the hotel he has made additions and improvements, with
the view of affording accommodations to all who may favor him with a call. He
was married to Miss Ellen Wendell of Pennsylvania, in 1845, and has nine
children - Alvina, Siva, Emma J., Benjamin, Charles W., George Albert, Mary
Jane, Frances, and Oscar J., all of whom are living but Benjamin. Mrs. Cease was
a member of the Ladies' Aid Society of the Baptist Church.
J. E. HICKOCK, of the firm of J. E. Hickock & Sons,
general merchants, was born in Troy, Bradford Co., Pa., in 1833. His educational
advantages were fair. He was reared in the mercantile business. At one time in
his life, 1856 to 1859, he farmed summers and taught school winters for three
years in Illinois. In 1859, moved to Nodaway County, Mo.; made a farm; in 1869
improved another in Andrew County, Mo., fruit and grain. In 1877 he moved to
Peabody, Kas.
(sic), where he farmed for about two and a half years;
prospecting also for a location and settled for a time in Anderson county, and
improved a grain and stock farm, keeping about 150 head of stock. In April,
1883, he located in Argonia and bought a store 38x46, to which he has since made
additions. He owns several town lots and a large farm in Allen County. He also
owns a block in Colony, Anderson County, and while living there was a school
officer. In 1858 he was married to Miss olive L. Bowen, of Erie County, N. Y.,
by whom he has eight children - James Elisha, William P., and Ella Blanch,
twins; Charles D., Esther C., Mary A., Richard G. and Adelia A., all of whom are
living except James Elisha and Adeila A. (sic). James Elisha was a young man of
extraordinary talents and capabilities. He was a school teacher and student, and
was fitting himself to enter the State University of Kansas at Lawrence; but the
discharge of his duties as a teacher, and the close, unremitting application to
his studies, undermined his health, and he had to succumb to the great
inevitable. Mr. and Mrs. H. are both members of the Baptist Church.
C. H. HADLER, saddle and harness maker, was born in
Prussia in 1848. When he was but two years of age his father died, and when
eleven years old his mother immigrated to America, landing in New York, November
7, 1859, proceeding directly to Milwaukee via Chicago, and lived with a son (a
farmer) who had preceded her. Young Hadler remained on the farm till seventeen
years of age, when he went to Milwaukee to learn his trade. Having learned his
trade he worked as a journeyman for seven years, when he immigrated to Kansas,
and engaged in farming till 1882. In February, 1883, he located in Argonia,
Sumner Co., Kan., and established his present business. He owns business
property and improvements on school lands. He is a member of the Masonic
Fraternity. In 1873 he was married to Miss Dora Nichols, of Champaign, and has
five children - Ida, Eddie, Flora, Lizzie and Johnny.
L. A. SALTER, of Corson, Baldwin & Salter, general
hardware and agricultural implements, was born in Michigan, in 1858. He was
reared as a farmer, obtaining what learning he could at the common schools. In
1871, his parents emigrated to Kansas. In the spring of 1879, he graduated from
the Kansas Agricultural College, when he returned to his father's folks and made
that his home until 1881. Early in 1882, he engaged with Corson & Baldwin,
of Cherryvale, in the hardware store and tinshop, and in the following September
he went to Argonia, where he established his present business. He owns business
and residence property, and is a Notary Public. He is a member of the Order of
Knights of Honor. He was married to Miss Susanna M. Kinsey, of Silver Lake,
Kansas, in 1880, and has two children - Clarence E. and Francis Argonia. Francis
Argonia was the first child born in the town, and from this circumstance his
parents decided to give him that name. Mr. Salter is a young man possessed of
the qualities of success, as is evidenced by his present position in the
mercantile world.
Argonia Kansas, 1912.
Argonia, one of the incorporated towns of Sumner county is in Dixon township, on the Chikaskia river and at the junction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and Missouri Pacific railways, 20 miles west of Wellington, the county seat. It has an international money order postoffice, from which .emanate four rural routes, express and telegraph offices, telephone connection, grain elevators, a good school system, and is the principal shipping and supply point for the western part of the county. Several religious demoninations, including the Baptists, Methodists, Friends and Presbyterians, are represented by neat houses of worship. The population in 1910 was 466.
