RILEY COUNTY RAMBLINGS – 100 YEARS AGO

 
From the Manhattan Republic
February 7, 1908:

 

To Re-christen the Streets. 

     The council appointed a committee to consider renaming the streets in town.  Instead of giving the streets the numbers they now have, it is proposed to give them the number that each street is from the river.  First street would then become Second street; Second, Third; Third, Fourth; etc.  This would harmonize the names of the streets with the numbers.  All that will be necessary to do will be to move the sign boards, and amend an ordinance or two and then teach some of us old codgers to forget what we have been so long learning.

 

    (Note:  The Manhattan City Council voted to change the names of the streets at their meeting February 18, 1908.  The streets were originally laid out (east to west) in this order:  Wyandotte, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Juliette, Seventh, Eighth and so on…. This meant that the numbers on the buildings on the streets crossing the numbered streets were off one block to Juliette, two blocks between Juliette and Manhattan, and the problem continued going west.  For example, before the change the 400 block of Humboldt fell where one would normally expect to find the 500 block.  Since the City was growing to the west, the problem was getting worse over time.  
    The change of the location of the numbered streets means that when looking at a pre-1908 locations one must remember that the change occurred.)

 

From the Manhattan Republic
February 18, 1908:

Glen Edgerton Honored. 
Leads West Point Graduating Class of 108 – Home this Week.

     Glen Edgerton, only son of Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Edgerton of this city, had the honor of leading the graduating class of 108 at West Point Friday. 

     Glen Edgerton was born  at Parkerville, Kan. April 17, 1887.  He attended the city schools of Council Grove, and entered the Kansas Agricultural College at this place when 18 years of age.  During his college career he reached the rank of captain in the college battalion.  In June, 1904 Edgerton graduated from the mechanical engineering school and went immediately to the military academy at West Point to which he had been appointed by Senator Long.

     Glen, who was only seventeen when appointed to the academy, is the third youngest member of this class and has consistently led his fellow cadets throughout his four years’ course.  He is expected home some time this week to spend a vacation of two or three months with his parents.  Then he expects to take up the engineering branch of the military service.

     This class of 1908 was graduated early this year on account of need of officers in the service.  Ordinarily the exercises would not have been held until June.  Secretary of War Taft, presented the West Point graduates with their diplomas and congratulated Glen heartily on his success:  (the article went on to recount Secretary of War Taft’s speech.)

 

    (Note: Glen Edgerton was a grandson of Governor Nehemiah Green, one of the Kansas Governors from Riley County.  He went on to a highly successful military career attaining the rank of  Major General.   He also served as the Governor-General of Panama, 1940-44,   helped build the Alaska road, supervised the rehabilitation of the White House under President Truman, served as an advisor to President Eisenhower,  was Chief Engineer of the Federal Power Commission, Director in Shanghi of the China Division of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, and was President and Chairman of the Export –Import Bank in Washington. He died in 1976 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.)

 

From the Manhattan Republic
February 28, 1908:

    Mrs. Dave Penny is expected from Osborne the first of the week for a visit with her mother, Mrs. L. McCreary.

 

    (Note:  The Penny family was living in Osborne while Dave Penny worked on the Osborne County Courthouse.  The Osborne Courthouse was built in 1907 and1908 by the Holland and Squires Architectural firm, who also built the Riley County Courthouse in 1906 using essentially the same plans later used in Osborne.  Dave Penny was a skilled stonemason and stone carver who worked on both the Riley County and Osborne County courthouses.  The Riley County Historical Museum currently has an example of Dave Penny’s stone carving on exhibit in its lobby.)