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.)