The History of Leonardville (Written for the 50th Anniversary Celebration in 1931) The town of Leonardville was started on the prairie in the fall of 1881. Part of the homestead of John Ford, part of the homestead Lucien Kilbourne and a part of the Lambert Erpelding section was taken for the town site. The Central or narrow gauge railroad, as it was called, was projected and built by Leavenworth capitalists. They hoped to build a shorter road to Denver than was the old Kansas Pacific from Kansas City to Denver. In 1877 it was extended west and completed to Garrison in the spring of 1880. In 1881 the road was build from Garrison to Miltonvale. The Leavenworth of Denver short line was never completed. In 1928 this railroad, known as the L.K.&W., ceased its operation and all equipment was removed. When the rails were laid through, the half way mark between Garrison and Miltonvale was the place the railroad company chose to build a depot and christened it Leonard, in honor of Leonard T. Smith of Leavenworth, who was president of the road at that time. William H. Sikes moved a small stock of goods here from Garrison on Election Day, in November, 1881, and opened for business in a little frame building where the blacksmith shop now stands. Mrs. Sikes recalls a few of the first day’s sales, such as a ten cent cut of tobacco, a lamp to N. Sandine and a pair of boots to Fred Uhlenhop. One of the first to start business in the new town was Mr. Quinn, who opened a lumber yard where the Sikes Store now stands. Ed Daniels hauled the lumber from the cars on the railroad tracks and is one of the few now living who assessed in those first days. Some months before a railroad was build through here a post office had been established called Alembic at the farm home of Lucien Kilbourne, adjoining the new town site on the west. The Kilbourne home is now owned by the Charles Webber family. A post office was established in the new town of Leonard and Mr. Kilbourne was the first postmaster, the Alembic post office having been discontinued. Mr. Kilbourne secured Robert Walker to assist him in the post office which he continued until removed by the first Cleveland administration. About two weeks after Mr. Sikes opened his store the Erpelding Bros., Frank, George and John, opened a store in a ware room they built on the rear of their lot, as they did not wish to wait until the main building was finished. For a number of years the Erpelding store was the biggest store in town. Lambert Erpelding, father of the Erpelding Bros., owned the section of land adjoining the town site on the south, including a part of the town site. Mr. Quinn, the lumber merchant, died the first winter and the yard was sold to John Foster and sons, who at that time, had yards at Randolph and Olsburg. The lumber yard was moved to a location near the railroad tracks. The Fosters continued the lumber business here for several years, but sold and went west. At the present time they own and operate several yards in Colorado. The Union Pacific bought and took control of the railroad in 1886 and the tracks were widened from a narrow gauge to a standard gauge. Dr. J. Crans was on the grounds early and moved his drug store and residence from Riley Center here. His house was stuck on the way, bad roads came and it stood all winter half way between Riley and Leonard. Many other buildings were moved here from Riley Center the following year. The moving was done with horses, which was a slow, laborious task. At that time the Blue Valley and the Rock Island railroads had not been built and trade was coming to Leonard from a wide territory. It was a busy town. S. Thompson was an early stock buyer here and continued the business for a number of years. Magnus Anderson opened a store with a small stock of furniture in the building north of the present Chaffee hardware store. J.N. Talkington kept a small stock of groceries at his home which was the house torn down to build the Farmer’s Union Filling Station. J.H. Jenkins started a drug store on the corner, the present location of the Corner Drug Store. This drug store was started the first fall with Charles Bacon in charge. Mr. Jenkins later took charge himself. The spring of 1882 a young tornado visited this locality and moved small buildings from their foundation and blew down a few, including the country school house of District #59, at that time located on Mr. Nickelson’s farm, now occupied by a grandson, Elmer Swenson. The school district now is known as the Monitor school. The storm also turned the house of William Donnell in town upside down. They had just stepped outside, leaving the baby on the bed and it was found unharmed between the joists of the floor, strange to say. A new school house was built in the summer of 1882 which was located just south of the present M.E. Church. It was the first school building in town. The money was secured by selling bonds for about $1000 to the College of Manhattan. Clara Ford was our first teacher. In later years, two more additions were added to the building, making a three-room school. The name of the post office was changed by order of the Post Office Department from Leonard to Leonardville because it was claimed the name Leonard was confused with the name Larned. The railroad company also changed the name of the station to Leonardville. About two years after the town started Richard Burk from Winkler and Rowland Davies from Bala came here and opened stores. The first eating house was kept by "Old Lady" Tuttle and she was assisted for a time by Augusta Hessler, who later became Mrs. Henry Olson, and Marie Pelischek who is now Mrs. Wm. Harbes. The hall over the Erpelding Store was the first gathering place of the public. The school came next and later the skating rink was used. The Erpelding Store was built 50 feet in length at first. The head carpenter was E.B. Fryer. The extension of 50 feet was under A.W. Newman who came from the western part of the state in the spring of 1882 and had charge of much of the work in building our town. Churches and schools have always been important factors in the building of our city. The Swedish Baptist church was the first church building erected. The Evangelical, Methodist and Mission Churches were built later. | The Leonardville Monitor was established in the spring of 1884 by P.S. Loofbourrow who was the publisher for a number of years. Mr. Loofbourrow has been dead for a number of years, but Mrs. Loofbourrow is still living, have later married P.J. Stafford. Leonardville was incorporated as a city August 18, 1885. The first mayor was Lewis Laflin. The first police judge was James Campbell and the first Councilmen were R. Allingham, W.H. Sikes, A.W. Newman, Geo. Erpelding and Sam Foster. Among the men who were prominent in the early history of the town were Dr. F.M. Thomas, A. Swagerty who started a harness shop and the Christensen Bros., who later became the harness men. They also opened a roller skating rink which for a time did a big business. James Noble was one of the first blacksmiths here. Later Chas. Phillips, Emil Ecklund, F.M. Culver, C.P. Johnson had a blacksmith shop for many years. Mr. Jones moved the building north of Chaffee’s Hardware Store here from Riley Center and opened a hotel. Later this building was used for a furniture store. H. Wilcox was one of the first liveryman here. A hardware store was opened by Mr. Castor. He later sold it to Rogers Bros. from Onaga and in the fall of 1885 they sold it to P.J. Stafford who was prominent in business here many years. Jim Kelly build a hotel building which did business for many years and is now occupied by the D.F. Brees family. Joe Phiffer was the drayman here for over twenty years. Richard Myer Sr. had charge of the elevator here for a good many years after it was built, and live here with his family. Leonardville has suffered at several times by destructive fires. One of the worst occurred in the summer of 1893. The fire started in a livery barn at the south end of Erpelding Ave., where the lumber yard is now located. The fire burned north, destroying a solid block including the Corner Drug Store. The buildings were all of wood construction. There was no water works here then. A few years later a livery stable and a few other buildings in the center of the same block were destroyed by fire. In 1908 a fire started in Stafford’s Hardware Store on the west side of Erpelding Ave., burning the Stafford Store, the Crans Drug Store, the Burk Store Building occupied by W.H. Newman, and Swingle’s Rooming House. The fire was prevented from going farther north by the fire department fighting and stopping it at the Bank stone building. A.J. Swingle was prominent as principal of our schools for a number of years and Mrs. Swingle has made our town famous as a fine place for travelers to stop. The fine brick hotel building was built in 1909. When the Schwartz store building burned W.H. Sikes bought the ground and erected the building which was used as a community house and theater for a good many years and is now again used for a moving picture theater. M. Shillerston was prominent in the building of Leonardville for a number of years. He erected the buildings where Stafford Garage and Montgomery Drug Store now are located. Alfred Danielson was head mechanic. Mr. Shillerston is still living, having moved to California. The Sikes two-story stone building was erected in 1909. Frank Swanstrom and Alfred Danielson were head mechanics and were assisted by Charles Nyberg. In 1910 the brick grade school building was built, taking the place of the three old wooden frame buildings. P.D. Smith opened the first bank here in 1884. He was succeeded by J.A. Sparks who in July, 1887, organized the bank under laws of the state of Kansas and took out the first charter. He sold his interests to Wm. Karrigan whose interests later were taken over by Ed Nickelson in 1903. Mr. Nickelson was in charge until his death. C.A. Johnson was section foreman on the railroad here for the first twenty years of Leonardville’s history. For a number of years he has lived in town, but a part of the 50 years he spent on the farm near town. The Farmers and Merchants Bank was organized in 1903. D.W. Pritchard mended shoes here for over forty years, and Dr. Henderson has been a practicing physician here for over thirty-eight years. The Leonardville Rural High School Building was erected in 1923. Leonard Sumners was the first baby boy born in Leonardville and Leona Bredberg was the first baby girl. The celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of the town of Leonardville was held August 27, 28 and 29, 1931. The growth of Leonardville was a reflection of the prosperity the settlers in the community enjoyed. The land was largely owned by the occupants and free from mortgage. One can scarcely trace the early history of the town without mentioning the farmers who were the backbone of the town and aided in its growth. Fifty years is a long time. Let us hope in the next fifty years our city will progress and always work for the betterment and uplift of the people of the town and community. = = = = = = = This historical account of Leonardville was written by Mr. and Mrs. C.S. Johnson (Carl Sigfried (Sig) & Grace Johnson) in 1931 for the 50th Anniversary Celebration. = = = = = |