Wild Cat Kansas, Now that's a Kansas town I never heard of before, but then there are a lot of Kansas towns I never heard of. There are a lot of ghost towns in Kansas, and living ghost towns Wild Cat falls some where in between these two categories. The census of 2000, says there were 750, souls in Wild Cat, I looked around on the internet but found very little. But I find the name interesting so I will try to put something interesting together for you readers. One thing I found was that many of the men of Wild Cat joined some of the Kansas regiments at the time of the Civil War. Now I know some of you will find that interesting. Now big will this page be?, I have no idea as I just started but no matter how big or small this page turns out to be, I know there will be something interesting to read about Wild Cat Kansas.
--------------------
Wildcat – The town was located on Wild Cat Creek about 10 miles NW of Manhattan, and 8 miles from Bala. The land description states it is in Section 36, Twp 9, Range 6.
The town Keats was founded from the start of a town named Wild cat, begun in 1860.
Wild Cat post office started on May 5, 1869 and went to 1889, after the change to Keats, the post office ran from 1889 to 1967.Wild Cat ( Keats ) is in Wild Cat township. The following Riley county map shows Wild Cat ( Keats. )
When you see ( Show Original ), push on it.
------------------
Another problem I have is when I look up a surname and it says they were or are from Wild Cat. are they talking about the town of Wild Cat or the township. At this point in time I have to take it their talking of the town of Wild Cat. When I tried to find out about the town of Wild Cat, all I could find were Wild Cat Creek, Wild Cat Valley or Wild Cat township. It was hard to pin point just where Wild Cat was but I was finely able to find the town as the maps on the left will show. The other problem I had was in Wild Cat's early history it's name was changed to Keats. In 1909, the pop., was 79.Note. The enlarging part of these maps are not working right, to see a full screen of the Cheese factory take this link. http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/224007/page/69 To see a full screen of the township map take this link. http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/224007/page/52
Update January 10, 2012.
I Got a nice letter today from a Mr. Hugh Hannagan and here is what he had to say about Wild Cat.
Dennis: My name is Hugh Hannagan. I went to grade school in Keats and my siblings graduated from Keats High School. My maternal Grandparents were some of the oldest residents. Grandpa was the RI RR depot agent and Grandma was the telephone Central Operator with the switchboard in the bedroom. The creek on the east side of town was Kitten Creek and fed in to Wildcat Creek on the South side of town. I learned to swim in Kitten Creek. The grandparents were Bert and Mary Whitmer. Hope some of this helps. ---------------------- |
Here are a few people of Wild Cat.
James R. Strong, from Medina County, Ohio, came in 1877, Prorictor of Wild Cat Cheese factory, Post Office and Groceries.
J. W. Stephens, from Charles City, Maine, came in 1857, is a farmer.
Bill & Burnham, from New England, came in 1857, Breeders of fine stock.
The following men were in the Kansas Volunteer service and all were from the Township of Wild Cat.
Eleventh Kansas Cavalry-Volunteers.
Corporal, Hardaker William, Wildcat, Enlisted Aug. 29, '62, Mustered in Sept. 13, '62. Mustered out May 23, 1865.
Corporal, Shumway Isaac, Wildcat, Enlisted Aug. 26, '62, Mustered in Sept. 13, '62. Reduced to ranks April 20, 1864. Mustered out with company June 13, 1865.
Corporal, Edelblute William H., Wildcat, Enlisted Aug. 29, '62, Mustered in Sept. 13, '62. Mustered out May 23, 1865.
Blacksmith, Silver William, Wildcat, Enlisted Aug. 27, '62, Mustered in Sept. 13, '62. Mustered out May 23, 1865.
Private, Ashton Thomas, Wildcat, Enlisted Aug. 29, '62, Mustered in Sept. 13, '62. Mustered out with company June 13, 1865.
Private, Amo Andrew, Wildcat, Enlisted Aug. 8, '63, Mustered in Aug. 18, '63. Mustered out August 18, 1865.
Private, Hardy John S., Wildcat, Enlisted July 18, '63, Mustered in Aug. 18, '63. Mustered out August 8, 1865.
Company L.
Private, Silver James M., Wildcat, Enlisted Feb. 29, '64, Mustered in Feb. 29, '64. Discharged for dis. June 22, 1865, Ft. Riley, Kan.
Civil War Pensioners of Wild Cat, Kansas, Riley Co.
74,174, MALTBY, Chas. A., Wild Cat, wounded left side of face and head, $8.00.
213,835, EDELBLUTE, Wiliam H., Wild Cat, inj. to abdomen, dis. of eyes, and dis. of abd abdominal viscera. $14.00. Pension started June, 1882.
219,362, STRONG, Orren R., Wild Cat, Dyspepsia and dis. of abd. vis. $6.00. Pension started Oct., 1882.
219,362, STRONG, Orren R., Wild Cat, Dyspepsia and dis. of abd. vis. $6.00. Pension started Oct., 1882.
No comments:
Post a Comment