BUSBEE BUSBY DATABASE


The Busbee Busby and Variations Database

History of Busby, Elk County, Kansas


Submitted by Diana Busby Knight

HISTORY OF BUSBY

Extracted from; "Elk County, A Narrative History of Elk County and its People"
Copyright 1979 by the Elk County Historical Society
Written by Eunice Sprague Dame

Transcribed by Diana Busby-Knight

Amy, Kansas was entered into the record on March 3, 1884. On January 12, 1885, the name was changed to Busby. Ruben Busby was a blacksmith and one of the early settlers. The town was probably named after him, but no one remembers why the name was changed.

Busby was located in Painterhood Township close to Middle Painterhood Creek on the main road between Howard and Fredonia. People from all walks of life used this road. Some came alone, but it was not uncommon to find caravans of covered wagons containing all their owner's belongings. People in buggies, bands of gypsies, and even medicine shows stopped at Busby. They often made a point of staying some time to rest their animals, repair their vehicles and restock their larders.

The campground was in an oak grove behind the school house. The location was ideal with water close by and two general stores providing supplies. No bridge crossed the creek at that time, and it was easy to water animals. It was not unusual for some of the local town people to visit around the evening campfire with the travelers and catch up on news from the outside world. Thus many friendships were established around the nightly campfires. The medicine shows put on nightly entertainment and made a few dollars peddling their remedies.

A railroad had been surveyed through Busby, so lots had been laid out for a good-sized town. As this news became know to the outside world people migrated there looking for work. Homes were built on nearly all the nearby 40-acre plots. Soon there were two general stores, two blacksmith shops, a school. post office, hotel and church. A strong Anti-Horse Thief Association was organized. Years later a cream station was added to the businesses. In 1906 the railroad veered off in another direction and an exodus began. It was not long before the population dwindled away.

EARLY SETTLERS

Ruben Busby was one of the early settlers and a blacksmith. The town of Busby was named after him. He lived on the east side of the road and some distance back of the barn on the (now) Lawrence Jontra place. Nothing remains of the original home but an old cellar and bits of broken dishes. The shop itself stood across the road north-east from the Busby store. When the Busbys moved to Oak Valley, the shop stood empty while the John Sutton family came and operated it. (I recently visited Viola Busby Ware, who lives at Altoona, but she has no memory of any historical dates except her birthdate, 1890. She is the only living person besides myself who was born in that era.)

N.J. Lindelow and his wife were part of a Swedish group who settled at Busby. Their stone house, while in bad shape, still stands north of the Red Johnson property.

P.J. Froych was a blood brother of N.J. Lindelow. It was customary in Sweden for a student or apprentice to take his teacher's name, so it was somewhat difficult to know who was related.

Barant Olson was another of the Swedish group. He lived one mile north of Busby. His brother, Alfred Olson, lived west of Busby.

Gust Anderson, also from Sweden, lived on a farm about a mile north of the Busby store and was responsible for some of the well-constructed stone buildings in the countryside and in Longton. He was an ardent Mason and never missed a meeting, often riding a horse nine miles each way to attend in all kinds of weather. He served as Master several times.

Jonathan Lewis was one of the first settlers on Middle Painterhood Creed. He took out and proved up on a claim in the late 1860's. This property is about one mile south of Busby and is presently owned by Kelsey Cody. Indians were still around the area; in fact, Lewis land on the east side of the creek had once been an Indian campground. Mrs. Lewis told of one incident when Mr. Lewis was away on a three day trip for goods and supplies. She was alone with their family of small children. Seeing some Indians approaching the house, she hid her daily baking under the bed. When they knocked and asked for food she told them she had none, but they came in anyway. As they looked around the house, Mrs. Lewis went into the bedroom and sat on the bed over her fresh baked bread. When the Indians found no food, they left without harming the frightened family, but they must have smelled the bread.

Mr. Lewis did much to keep things on an even keel in the community. He attended meetings to help establish the boundary lines of Elk County. He walked across the hills to Elk Falls to attend the first meeting held (1870) to nominate officers for the county seat of Howard. Although this meeting was supposed to be a Republican convention it was afterward learned thata few Democrats had occupied seats as delegates. W.W. Hensley and Cyrus Tuggle of Painterhood Township also attended this meeting.

There were other early settlers little known or unknown to me. The first three settlers were said to be James Howe (on West Painterhood in 1868), Barnes on Middle Painterhood, and Isam Conner on East Painterhood. There were also Davises, Hawkins, McCulloughs, and others.

The Spragues came to Busby in 1885. Perry and Flora Sprague had five children all of whom attended school at Busby. They were Warren, Jessie, Josie, Eunice, and Winnie. The father came to the area to seek relief from painful rheumatism and stayed until his death in 1935.

EARLY BUSINESSES

Ruben Busby was the operator of one of the blacksmith shops. The Busby family later moved to Oak Valley. The shop stood empty for a short time until John Sutton and his children came. They were natives of Kentucky. On the 4th of July the young men of the neighborhood gathered at the blacksmith shop very early in the morning where they heated anvils red hot. With the addition of gunpowder, they made what they called "shooting anvils". They made a tremendous noise and could be heard miles away. It was always great to be the first to get an anvil shot-before the noises of Howard, Elk Falls, or Longton could be heard.

The Hensely Hotel stood just south of the general store. It was operated by the Hensley family. It served the need for a place to eat and sleep for people traveling by horse and buggy across the country. Busby was the only place on the main road between Howard and Fredonia where travelers could find a place to stay at a hotel or campground with good facilities. For many years the hotel prospered, but not so long as some other businesses. The building still stands. It is now a well-kept farmhouse, but the addition of a room and porches has changed its appearance.

The Busby Store remained in the Sprague family for almost three-fourths of a century. Perry Sprague never had a recurrence of his rheumatic affliction so he would never leave Busby. After Perry died at the ripe old age of 89, his wife took over until her health failed. Then their son, Warren, operated it until his health also failed. In September, 1959, the goods were sold from the store. Later, in 1960, the Elk County commissioners forced the sale of the land to the county for road improvement (which has never been done). The buildings were razed, and an important landmark was destroyed. The store carried a general line of goods which most travelers and settlers needed to replenish their larders. Flour was hauled from the Longton mill when it was operating. Later it was hauled from Fredonia. The trip would begin about four o'clock in the morning and be completed about nine o'clock that night. Other freight was ordered from Independence and shipped by train to Longton. From there it was hauled by horses and wagon to Busby. The Spragues claim no one was ever turned away who was in need of food or help.

The Post Office, located in the Sprague's general store, was served by a star route from Longton. The store was thus a meeting place for twenty years for all the patrons of the post office until it was closed February 14, 1906. Then the rural free delivery took over the mail. It was delivered from Howard.

When telephones first came to this part of Kansas, Perry Sprague spent many long days (without pay) organizing the Busby Telephone Co. A constitution was adopted March 4, 1907. The Longton Telephone Co. would not build a line in the country, so the Busby Company erected its own lines and sold shares in order to pay the costs. In addition, each member was required to furnish 13 telephone poles, his own telephone and sidelines, his own labor, and $3.25 of his own money for supplies. Almost 30 people were using this party line before it was divided into two lines for better service. Many years later when stockholders moved away the company was sold to the Longton Telephone Company. Some original stockholdlers were: D.O. Brown, J.H. Shouse, J. Martin, P. Sprague, J.A. Lanning, J.W. Shipley, T.W. Shouse, Tom Ryan, S.H. Lea, Cy Gunther, Abe Furry, P.B. Tice, A.J. Cutter, Frank Sharp, J.W. Pilcher, E. Johnson, H. Steele, and Mace Gilbert.

THE SCHOOLHOUSE

Dating before 1877, the school preceded the town of Busby. (The date of construction and builder's name have been covered over by recent additions and improvements.)

The schoolhouse was the community center, and, when not used for scchool activities, many community functions were held there. Made of native stone, the interior is still neat and well-kept and community usage continues to the present.

The Busby district was a large one. At one time the one-room school boasted 140 registered pupils. Many attended until they were 21 years of age, but generally the average daily attendance was small because children were kept home until all crops were harvested in the fall (late October or November). They dropped out again the following February or March for the spring plowing and planting. There were no truancy laws, so the attendance was far from perfect. Also, bad roads and severe weather hampered many. When I attended the Busby school (early 1900's) only 60 pupils were enrolled. At the time of the consolidation of rural schools only about 12 pupils remained. Today 12 children of school age are bussed to Longton, Howard, or Fredonia.

Although pupils attended until they were 21 years old, many did not complete the 8th grade. School terms were usually five months although sometimes the school board saw fit to hire a teacher for a spring term of two months. Wages for the teacher were generally $25 to $35 a month. Parents of pupils sometimes "boarded" the teacher for a week or two at a time. Although I cold find no official records, some of the early teachers I remember were Mintie Nichols, Vie Early, George Sharp, Frank Organ and Ed Adams.

Because of the long distances for small children to walk to school in the early days, patrons in the north half of the district asked that another district be established. Through much effort by interested parents the district of Cedar Summit was organized. This district was located about two miles north of Busby and 1/4 mile south of the east and west road to Howard and Fill River on what was then the Cutter farm. When the railroad didn't materialize, many settlers left. As the population decreased there was no further need for the extra district. It was dissolved.

The End

*extractions of Family History are in a separate file. Wilson County's First Settlers to be added at a later date.




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