Burlington's Early History
from the
Burlington Independent
Friday, February 6, 1903
Coffey County, Kansas
The act incorporating Burlington Town Company was approved February 20, 1857. The corporators were O. E. Learnard, Chas. B. Morse, J. A. D. Clark, T. T. Parsons and C. W. Southway. The first president of the company was C. W. Babcock, and the first secretary was B. W. Woodward, both of Lawrence. The father of Burlington was O. E. Learnard, a native of Burlington, Vt. In whose honor the town was named. In January, 1857, O. E. Learnard, F. A. Atherly, A. H. Vince, Edward Murdock, H. W. Watrous, John Bishop and others arrived. They were the first occupants of the town site. They boarded with Charles Morse, across the river, three miles distant. The first house on the town site was a combination of two small houses, procured at Hampden, and made into one for a provision store for James Jones, the first merchant. It was located east of the present "Central Hotel" about midway between that hotel and the river. The second building erected was a log house, built by Edward Murdock and used by him for a wagon shop. The third building erected was the "Burlington Hotel" on the site of the "Morris House," built by F. A. Atherly, on contract with the Burlington town company, the lumber for which was rafted down the Neosho River, some thirty five or forty miles. During the building of the hotel, in May 1857, Rev. Peter Remer and family arrived. Mrs. Remer being the first woman that ever appeared on the town site, she was greeted with cheers by the workmen at the hotel. The boys regarded her as the loveliest and handsomest lady they had ever beheld, though it is possible that her beauty was hardly comparable with that of Mrs. Langtry. Mr. Remer and his family located in Burlington. The ardent admirers of Mrs. Remer abandoning the work on the hotel until a house could be erected for the family. The "Burlington Hotel" was designed simply for a river for the accommodations of the mill hands. When the time arrived for the erection of the hotel proper, it was intended that it should be located on the south side of Rock Creek, on the site once occupied by the office of S. A. Brown, and make that the nucleus for the town. The original town site consisted of 320 acres. In the spring of 1857, Dr. Samuel G. Howe, the Boston philanthropist and husband of Julia Ward Howe, located a Wyandotte "float" of 640 acres, adjoining the town site on the west. One-half of this "float" was surveyed into lots and became a part of the town. The other part of the "float" is still owned by the heirs of the deceased Dr. Howe. In the summer of 1857, Dr. Manson and Dr. Venard arrived and took claims near town. Dr. Manson erected an office for himself on Hudson street, a few rods east of what is now the Central Hotel. This was the next building erected after the hotel. The first landlord was Francis Britton. In 1857 a bridge was constructed across the river, near the site of the present bridge, by the town company, but it was carried away by a freshet in 1859. The first steam saw mill in operation in the country was started at Burlington in the spring of 1857. It was removed from Hampden, to which place it had been sent by the Emigrant Aid Company. It could not be operated at Hampden for the want of water. George W. Stevens erected the first store building in the summer of 1857. Orlando and Judson Walkling erected a storehouse about the same time, and opened therein a stock of general merchandise, August 6, 1857. The first celebration in Burlington of "the day that made history," was July 4, 1857. William B. Parsons was the orator. In March, 1859, the town site was pre-empted by B. L. Kingsbury, Probate Judge.
During the war period Burlington was at a standstill. A large proportion of the voting population of the town and county had gone into the Union army, and no new settlers came into the county. The darkest day the town ever experienced was on the 19th of May, 1863, when the county seat was removed to Hampden, by such an overwhelming majority, it looked as though the people of the county were determined to crush Burlington, and her people were about ready to throw up the sponge. The next day S. S. Prouty, who was then at home temporarily absent from the army, said he would put up $500 for the purpose of erecting a building for a woolen carding mill and purchasing the machinery necessary to put it in operation providing three others would do like wise. Within an house the company was organized, consisting of S. S. Prouty, F. A. Atherly, D. P. Metcalk, and Augustin Holland. A two0story building was erected at once, the machinery procured, and the mill put in operation. This gave renewed hope to the struggling town and convinced her enemies that Burlington was not yet ready to die. The carding mill finally developed into a large woolen mill factory, and a cotton gin was added to it. Connected with the factory were F. A. Atherly, Levi P. Beddens, Henry W. Atherly, and James Davidson. Cotton growing was attracting some attention in the county at that time, Orson Peck, a farmer on North Big Creek, realized $800 for his crop in 1864, and 18,000 pounds of lint were ginned at the Burlington factory in 1865. In 1869 the Excelsior Water Mill was built by Cross & Sons, at a cost of $55,000 including dam and races. In September, 1875, Hon. William Martindale purchased the property and owned it until purchased by the Excelsior Water Mill Company in 1892. The Burlington steam mill was completed in 1870 at a cost of $16,000; the Burlington schoolhouse was completed in 1873 at a cost of $28,000. The first bank in the county was organized under the name of Jarboe, Garretson & Co., and began business April 16, 1870. The firm consisted of H. L. Jarboe, N. P. Garretson, D. W. Stormont, and M. Bailey, the latter two of Topeka. The bank was conducted under the management of N. P. Garretson until it was reorganizes as the Burlington National Bank April 29, 1872, with a capital o f$50,000; J. L. Jarboe president, N. P. Garretson cashier. Burlington has steadily prospered and grown since the complete of the railroad to the town in 1870. It now has a population of about 2,500, and nearly every branch of business is represented here.