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Chase County Kansas Historical
Sketches
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Children of the Sheriff's THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES ARE FROM THE CHILDREN OF
SHERIFF'S WHO LIVED IN THE COURTHOUSE
William Norton: 1874 - 1878:
When my father was sheriff of Chase County,
my mother fed the prisoners. One man would al-
ways say: "Don't be afraid Mrs. Norton I would
not harm you for anything." She would slide the
food tray under the window that had steel bars on
it.
My father had to take his prisoners by way of
horseback. One very mean colored man hid in a
well and refused to come up. My father persuaded
him by saying o.k. I will have to drop this big rock
down on you. So he came right out and father took
him to the jail with handcuffs. Father was not a
fearful man any place.
Written by: Grace (Norton) Beedle, Daughter
JAMES GLOYD 1902-1906
Blanche is the daughter of Sheriff James Gloyd,
she was in High School when he was sheriff, then
taught school. I'm quite sure Jim was living around
Hymer when elected to office.
Written by: Blanche Coate, Daughter
W.K. MYERS 1901-1911
My father, W.K. Myers was elected sheriff in
1906 and the next January we moved into the courthouse from a farm east of Matfield Green.
I finished grade school and four years of high
school while living in Cottonwood Falls. The
courthouse was a different looking building, on
the inside, than now, 1972. Each office had a coal
stove for heating and the janitor carried the coal
up the steps from the basement. The sheriff's
quarters, the courtroom, and the jail were heated
from a furnace in our kitchen, with steam radiators. No air conditioners were used, just open the
windows and let the good old Kansas breeze blow
through.
The floors through the building were of four
inch flooring boards and each year the janitor would
oil them with black oil. There was no city water
system but we used cistern water, the cistern located just south of the building. The streets were
dirt and lined with hitching posts.
In 1908, gas from Elmdale gas wells, was piped
to the town. I enjoyed helping in the county Superintendent's office, Anna Arnold held that office.
I also did proof reading for Mrs. Goodreau, the
Register of Deeds, all posting in the books was
done in long hand. One telephone served all offices,
located in the Co. Clerk's office. The sheriff, of
course, had a phone.
One of my sister's was born
in the courthouse, in 1907, Mrs. Mable Sperman,
now in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Her nurse was from
England, some relation to the Glanvilles. In 1908 we
attended my brother's wedding. His bride was Martha Thurston. They were married in her home west
of Elmdale. That was my first ride in an automobile.
My father was probably the last sheriff who
drove horses to subpoena witnesses and jurors,
or any business pertaining to that office. He kept
a record of the number of miles he drove and was
paid by the mile. One day he drove 86 miles, that
was a long day.
Written by: Olive Myers Peyer, Daughter
W.F. ROCKWOOD 1911 - 1915
They had one son Ed, and one daughter, Mary.
the children are both deceased.
His wife continued living in Cottonwood Falls
after he passed away. She boarded high school students.
JUNE B. SMITH 1915 -1919
Four years in the sheriff's quarters while June
B. Smith served as sheriff . . . adequate room for
our family of four, although not too many conveniences - before the days of indoor plumbing - living
room and bedrooms on the first floor - kitchen in
the basement . . . no recollection of any hardened
criminals, but always conscious of the jail above,
many times empty and very few times with more
than two or three occupants . . . the three meats a
day prepared by our mother, with a meal allowance
of $1.00 per day per man.
The lovely pansy beds on either side of the
Court House front steps, planted and tended by the
custodian, Mr. Owen Jones.
Written by: Isabel Smith, Daughter
CHARLES JACOB'S 1923-1927
(This was what was told to me)
Both girls spent their time playing in the cedar trees because their mother wouldn't let them
roam the streets, and Hazel fell from the top of
the steps to the bottom in the courthouse.
Written by: Mrs. Hazel Hill, Mrs. Grace Dawson, Daughters
O.E. BURTON 1927 -1931
I have experienced the sound of the cold iron
door closing behind you.
When my father, O.E. Burton, was sheriff of
Chase County, Edlin Fink challenged him to put
us in jail. There was no one in jail at the time.
We were quickly in the grasp of the strong hands
of my father and led to jail.
After the door was
securely locked behind us, my father was called
out of the office. Supper time rolled around and
my mother was wondering what had happened to
me, as I always made it a point to be around at
meal time. It was then that my father remembered
where Edlin and I were. We were seven years old
at the time.
That was the first and last experience I had
of being in jail.
Written by: Albert J. Burton, Son
ARTHUR (PETE) DEERING 1931 -1935
My dad, known as 'Pete' Arthur K. Deering took
office in Jan. 1931. Three months after he took
office there was the Knute Hockne crash, a few miles
south of Cottonwood Falls, near Bazaar, Ks. There
were eight in the airplane crash who were in a Tri
Motor Falker plane. My father and several others had
to pick up the remains in bushel baskets and gunny
sacks. What a horrible tradgedy. To younger folks
Knute was probably the greatest of all American
football coaches. He served as head football coach
at Notre Dame University.
J.V. GILMORE 1943 -1947
Hi there --Been a heck of a long time since I have seen
you, and sure wish that I could make the Alumni
shindig; however, at the moment we are just too
darn involved in weddings, and other commitments
that it is just not possible.
I have been reading about the Chase County
Courthouse centennial and was very pleased to
receive your letter requesting a picture of Daddy,
etc. It had been a long time since I had to dig
down into my pictures of the "olden days" and
we spent a very pleasurable evening going through
them. I found several; however, the one enclosed I
think would be more appropriate. This picture must
have been taken sometime during the fall of 1944
-- that is Dad's old 1935 plymouth coupe in the
background and it was taken on the east side of
the courthouse right in front of the steps that lead
into the living quarters.
I always enjoyed living in the courthouse and
have many, many memories; however, perhaps my
most memorable one was the activities that took
place on the day they announced the end of the
war in Europe -- don't know if you participated or
not, but we all ran up the stairs to the loft and
rang the bell for nearly two hours, then did a snake
dance down the middle of main street.
Another incident that same day that I remember distinctly is that a prisoner was in one of the
cells upstairs -- he had been on another one of his
"drunks" -- and we carted beer up to him so he
wouldn't miss out on all the fun. Of course that is
a remembrance that would be a little difficult to
publish in a book -- ha ha! Hope this picture will
be satisfactory. The one I had was very small and
old, so I took it to the Photo Lab here at Boeing
and they made me a negative and this photo positive -- it can be used in any size and any printer
can make a half-tone from this to be used for publication. This one you may keep as they made me
another one just like it.
Written by: Burdette (Gilmore) Waddell, Daughter
GEORGE GUTSCH 1947 -1951
The things that I remember while living in the
Chase County courthouse while my father George
W. Gutsch was sheriff. I know that there was a lot
going on in the county at times. The reason for
this was because of the flood and the extensive
repair that the Santa Fe Railroad had to do their
tracks. This meant that at times there were over a
thousand migrant workers in the county at one time,
from all different countries.
These were difficult
to handle because of language barrier, lack of a
place for them to spend their free time, so consequently on payday and holidays there were numerous disturbances to be taken care of. This type of
work also brought many undesirables who were
hiding from the law. He had many different types
of men in the jail while he was sheriff, there were
the "no goods" with no schooling and the highly
intelligent, among this class there was the one
that liked to do crossword puzzles and made a
crossword puzzle using my Dad's name, the county,
the city and numerous other things about the county.
This was just an example as to the type of people
he had to work with.
The greatest tribute that l think can be paid to
him for his work as sheriff has been told to me
many years later by people who are ten and fifteen
years younger than me, that I have met away from
Chase County and have asked me who I was when
they ran into me.
When I have told them I have some of them tell
me how my Dad changed their lives by talking to
them when they were growing up and giving them a
chance when they needed help. His contributions
and help to the young people growing up at that
time is the most important thing he did as Sheriff.
Written by: Georgia I. Hayes, Daughter
GEORGE L. SHAW 1951 - 1955
George's first term started in 1950 when he was
36 years old, not having had any experience in police
work, he so badly wanted to take some kind of a
course in it. So, he and I went to Topeka and spent
about 3 days... stayed in the hotel and Lou Richter,
head of the KBI and his staff gave him probably the
fastest course ever heard tell of in police work and
law enforcement. George went to Lou's office at the
State Capital every day and really crammed his head
and a notebook.
During his four years service in Chase County
as sheriff... he experienced, I think every type of
accidental deaths ...... the drownings during the
floods; fire, bodies in crashed airplanes, car wrecks
train wrecks, gun fire, etc. It seemed like a weekly
occurrence that he picked up runaways from Boy's
School in Topeka and several manhunts and car
chases for various reasons.
Just living in the Courthouse was quite a unique
experience. The jail being right over our living
quarter.... I carried many of the meals to our
prisoners myself. Guess I must have fed them like
guests in our home, rather than prisoners. A local
man living by himself came knocking at my door one
day after he'd been released from our jail, asking if
he could get his meals at my place and for what
price. He was sure they would be as cheap as any
place and much tastier. Ha!
Mrs. George (Berniece) Shaw (wife)
What my sister, Sandra, and I remember most
about Dad being Sheriff was being very proud of him
for helping people. We used to love to sit and listen
to him tell stories about wild car chases and manhunts he went on. Of course living in the Courthouse
was an experience in itself. Because the living
quarters were right under the jail, we could hear prisoners pace the floor at all hours. Also it was fun
to take our girlfriends up to the jail to show it to
them, then sneak out the door and lock them in.
We also used to take our friends to the top floor
and look out the big porthole window just below the
clock of the Courthouse. We could see for miles.
Especially at flood time we could see how badly the
water was covering Strong City. It was certainly an
experience we children shall never forget.
Janice (Shaw) McGie (daughter)
CHARLES ARMAGOST 1959 -1963
Greg and I cannot remember too many things
about the four years our dad, Charles Armagost,
was sheriff, as I was only 51/2 years old and Greg
was only 2 1/2 years old when he went into office
in January, 1969. 1 do remember the day we moved
as it was snowing.
Our two little sisters were born while dad
was Sheriff. Lynn was born June 15, 1960 and Lisa
was born November 5, 1962.
Written by: Ron and Greg Armagost, Sons
Chase County Centennial, 1872 - 1972
by Lorna Marvin
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