Silkville, Kansas

Last updated

Silkville
Silkville School.jpg
Silkville's school house
USA Kansas location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Williamsburg Township, Franklin County, Kansas
Nearest city Williamsburg, Kansas
Coordinates 38°27′00″N95°29′21″W / 38.45000°N 95.48917°W / 38.45000; -95.48917
Area6 acres (2.4 ha)
Built1870
NRHP reference No. 72000504
Added to NRHPDecember 15, 1972

Silkville is a ghost town in Williamsburg Township, Franklin County, Kansas, United States. [1] It was located approximately 2 miles southwest of Williamsburg at the intersection of U.S. 50 highway and Arkansas Road. [2]

Contents

The settlement was founded in the late 1800s by a Frenchman named Ernest de Boissière, who believed in Fourierian utopian socialism. Silkville was a sericulture-based settlement, and remuneration was based what each settler could produce. Silkville's silk was praised at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, but loss of settlers and difficulty in selling the silk resulted in the settlement's collapse. Today, only a few buildings remain.

History

Silkville was established in 1870 by a Frenchman named Ernest de Boissière, who was born in 1810 to an ancient French aristocratic family. [3] Boissière espoused radical political opinions inspired by the utopian socialist philosophy of Charles Fourier. This put him in danger with Napoleon III, who came into power in 1851 and named himself emperor of the Second French Empire. Soon thereafter, Boissière was forced into exile and moved to America, where he first settled in the port city of New Orleans. [4] [5] In this new city, he set up a shipping line. However, because he poured some of his money into supporting orphaned black children, he garnered heavy criticism from wealthy whites; desiring to escape the hostile opinions of his neighbors, Boissière was left with no choice but to leave the American South. [5] [6] He then decided to move to Franklin County, Kansas, an area he believed was well-suited for establishing a utopic community. In 1869, Boissière purchased between 3000 and 3500 acres of land in the county from the Kansas Educational Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church and went about setting up his intentional settlement. [4] [5]

An 1884 photograph, showing students and teachers gathered at the Silkville school house. SilkvilleSchool1884.png
An 1884 photograph, showing students and teachers gathered at the Silkville school house.

After operating under myriad names, including Kansas Cooperative Farm, Prairie Home, and Valeton, Boissière's colony came to be known as Silkville, as it was intended to be a Fourierian commune that survived via silk production. [4] [7] The first building that Boissière constructed was a massive abode that others in the area referred to simply as the "Chateau". [6] [8] For a time the largest manor in the state, this house boasted sixty-rooms that could comfortably hold between 50100 people. The building was also home to a huge library filled with 2,500 books, tomes, and other volumes. [6] Boissière also erected a stone cocoonery and planted thousands of mulberry trees to feed his silkworms. [4] [7] These groves were later joined by hundreds of peach, apple and ailanthus trees, as well as over a thousand grape vines. [9] To educate the children of the colony, Boissière established a school that, according to author and historian Daniel Fitzgerald, was "the first in Kansas in which the instructors attempted to teach the contemporary world literature of the day". [6]

Boissière structured his colony so that remuneration was based on what each settler could produce, thereby rewarding the efficient labor of assiduous workers. Upon its founding, 40 French emigrants settled at the colony, each paying 100 dollars to be a part of the commune. [4] [5] [6] In 1875, Charles Sears, a friend of Boissière's, moved to Silkville, and his arrival was a boon for the settlement's sericulture. The following year, Boissière's silk was lauded at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Despite this critical reception, Silkville struggled to make money, largely because it was competing with comparatively cheaper fabrics imported from Asia, and because Boissière refused to use cost-effective American dyes. [10] Over the years, many members left. [4] (Most, when they had arrived in America, spoke only French but soon learned English and began to assimilate into mainstream society.) Many immigrants also learned that for 100 dollarsthe amount that they had pledged to live in the settlementthey could have bought their own land. [11] To compensate, Boissière shifted production towards butter, cheese, and the raising of livestock. While this kept the settlement afloat for a few years, Silkville eventually collapsed and its members dispersed. [12] Boissière returned to France in 1892, dying two years later, and his property was given to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for use as an orphanage. Financial reasons compelled the Order to give up the property, and after a long court battle, it passed into the hands of lawyers from Topeka. In 1916, a fire hollowed out the "Chateau," only part of which was ever reconstructed. [12] [13]

Remains

Today, the Silkville Ranch exists upon the former settlement. Silkville sign.jpg
Today, the Silkville Ranch exists upon the former settlement.

Today, little remains of Silkville, and only three stone structures survive: the settlement's school house, and two barns. [4] The original chateau that Boissiere constructedwhich, at the time of its construction cost US$10,000was destroyed in the aforementioned fire, and a modern home was built over the west end of the ruin, utilizing some of the stone from the original. [14] One of the modern day barns was once the settlement's cocoonery, although it was reduced to a one-level building after a tornado damaged the top floor. [11] In 1972, these buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places because of their significance in the history of Kansas. [15] The aspects of the community seen as most significant historically were its nature as an intentional community and its practice of sericulture. [16]

Geography

Its elevation is 1,161 feet (354 m), and it is located at 38°27′0″N95°29′21″W / 38.45000°N 95.48917°W / 38.45000; -95.48917 (38.4500149, -95.4891477). [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin County, Kansas</span> County in Kansas, United States

Franklin County is a county located in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Ottawa. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 25,996. The county was named for Benjamin Franklin, a founding father of the United States. Formerly it was considered part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, but was removed in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacking of Lawrence</span> 1856 destruction of the Kansas Territory town

The sacking of Lawrence occurred on May 21, 1856, when pro-slavery settlers, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, attacked and ransacked Lawrence, Kansas, a town that had been founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who were hoping to make Kansas a free state. The incident fueled the irregular conflict in Kansas Territory that later became known as Bleeding Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utopia, Ohio</span> Unincorporated community in Ohio, U.S.

Utopia is an unincorporated community in far southern Franklin Township, Clermont County, Ohio, United States, along the banks of the Ohio River. Utopia has been referred to as a "ghost town" although there are still people who live there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dearfield, Colorado</span> United States historic place

Dearfield is an extinct town and a historically black majority settlement in Weld County, Colorado, United States. It is 30 miles (48 km) east of Greeley. The town was formed by Oliver Toussaint Jackson, who desired to create a colony for African Americans. In 1910, Jackson, a successful businessman from Boulder, filed on the homestead that later became the town and began to advertise for "colonists." The name Dearfield was suggested by one of the town's citizens, Dr. J.H.P. Westbrook, who was from Denver. The word dear was chosen as the foundation for the town's name due to the precious value of the land and community to the town's settlers.

Octagon City is a ghost town in Allen County, Kansas, United States. It was a failed intentional community that was founded in 1856 about six miles (10 km) south of Humboldt, Kansas near the Neosho River. It was created by the Vegetarian Kansas Emigration Company, headed by prominent vegetarian Henry S. Clubb and entrepreneurs Charles DeWolfe and John McLaurin. The original intent was to build a vegetarian commune on the south side of the Neosho River, but investor interest in a non-vegetarian moral community was much higher and the decision was made to build Octagon City on the north side of the Neosho River to make the entire project sustainable. Members of Octagon City were under oath to educate their children and uphold a moral life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richland, Kansas</span> Ghost town in Kansas, United States

Richland is currently a ghost town in southeastern Shawnee County, Kansas, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Springs, Kansas</span> Unincorporated community in Kansas, United States

Big Springs is an unincorporated community in northwest Douglas County, Kansas, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie City, Kansas</span> Ghost town in Kansas, United States

Prairie City is a ghost town in southeast Douglas County, Kansas, United States, near present-day Baldwin City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmyra Township, Douglas County, Kansas</span> Township in Kansas, United States

Palmyra Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of 2000 census, its population was 5,760. It was named after a small trail stop on the Santa Fe Trail that was later absorbed into Baldwin City. When it was first established in 1855, it was called Calhoun, until 1858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willow Springs Township, Douglas County, Kansas</span> Township in Kansas, United States

Willow Springs Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 1,409. Willow Springs Township was formed in 1856. It was named after a small watering stop along the Santa Fe Trail.

Rockport is a ghost town in a narrow part of Weber Valley at the mouth of Three Mile Canyon in Summit County, Utah, United States. Located 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Wanship, it was inhabited for nearly a century before the creation of Rockport Reservoir, which covered almost the whole townsite.

McCornick is an unincorporated community and near-ghost town located in Millard County, Utah, United States. Lying in Whiskey Creek Flat 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Holden, McCornick was a failed land development project that lasted from 1919 until circa 1930. Today, McCornick is made up of a few scattered homes and farms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Linn County, Kansas</span>

There are eight properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in Linn County, Kansas. Two of the sites are the location of historic events. The Marais des Cygnes Massacre Site is the location of the Marais des Cygnes massacre, an 1858 event during Bleeding Kansas in which pro-slavery advocates kidnapped 11 anti-slavery settlers, killing five of them. John Brown temporarily used the site as a fort, and the property was listed on the NRHP in 1971. The Battle of Mine Creek Site preserves the location of the Battle of Mine Creek, which was fought in 1864 as part of Price's Raid during the American Civil War. Confederate general Sterling Price's army was retreating after being defeated at the Battle of Westport and was attacked by pursuing Union troops. Price's Confederate lost heavily in men and supplies. The site was added to the NRHP in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marais des Cygnes Massacre Site</span> United States historic place

The Marais des Cygnes Massacre Site, also known as Marais des Cygnes Massacre Memorial Park, is a state historic site near Trading Post, Kansas that commemorates the 1858 massacre of the same name. On May 19, 1858, during a period of political instability and sporadic violence known as Bleeding Kansas, a group of pro-slavery border ruffians captured 11 abolitionist free-staters. The prisoners were forced to a nearby ravine, where 10 of them were shot, resulting in five fatalities. The abolitionist John Brown later built a fort near the site. The first commemoration at the site was two stone markers erected by men of the 3rd Iowa Cavalry Regiment in 1864, although these monuments had been destroyed by souvenir hunters by 1895. In 1941, the land where the massacre occurred, as well as an 1870s-era house constructed by a friend of Brown, were transferred to the state of Kansas. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974. The Kansas Historical Society administers the site, which is interpreted by signage and a hand-cranked audio recording.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dietrich Cabin</span> Historic house in Kansas, United States

The Dietrich Cabin is a log cabin located in Ottawa City Park in Ottawa, Kansas. Jacob Dietrich, a German immigrant, built the cabin in 1859. The cabin replaced the family's original home, which was built in 1857, and burned down the following year. After Dietrich died in 1863, his wife Catherine maintained the cabin while raising their three sons. The cabin later became a farmhouse, and several rooms were added to it. In 1961, the cabin was restored to its original condition. It is now a pioneer museum operated by the Franklin County Historical Society, and is open to the public on Sunday afternoons in the summer.

Franklin is a ghost town in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. Established as a proslavery stronghold, the town played a key role in the "Bleeding Kansas" conflict that troubled the territory in the 1850s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneola, Franklin County, Kansas</span> Ghost town in Franklin County, Kansas

Minneola is a ghost town in Franklin County, Kansas, United States. Briefly in the running to be the territorial capital of Kansas, it was roughly one mile away from Centropolis. Today, hardly anything remains at the original site.

Mount Pleasant is a ghost town in Atchison County, Kansas, United States. It was located approximately 1.5 miles north of Potter along Rawlins Rd.

Louisiana is a ghost town in Douglas County, Kansas, United States.

References

  1. "Silkville, Kansas", Geographic Names Information System , United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior
  2. Kansas Atlas & Gazetteer (2009), p. 52.
  3. https://esirc.emporia.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/456/41.pdf?sequence=1 [ bare URL ]
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pankratz (1972), p. 2.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Tollefson (2015), p. 80.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Fitzgerald (1988), p. 67.
  7. 1 2 Richards, Catherine Jane; Barker, Deborah. "Southwest Franklin County". Franklin County Historical Society. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  8. Pankratz (1972), p. 3.
  9. Fitzgerald (1988), p. 68.
  10. Tollefson (2015), p. 83.
  11. 1 2 Tollefson (2015), p. 84.
  12. 1 2 Pankratz (1972), pp. 3, 5.
  13. Fitzgerald (1988), p. 70.
  14. Pankratz (1972), pp. 2–3.
  15. "Silkville". National Park Service . Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  16. Pankratz (1972), p. 5.
  17. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Silkville, Kansas United States Geological Survey. Retrieved September 28, 2015.

Bibliography

Further reading