Oursler served as railhead for Texas cattle
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
In the early years of Marion County, many rural communities were established, often centered around a post office, a general store, school, or church.
The communities of College Hill, Cresswell, Elk, Friedenstahl-Alvin, and Morning Star have been highlighted in previous articles.
Oursler was a rural community located between Marion and Florence.
The community got its name from William E. Mortimer Oursler, who came to Kansas from Ohio in 1870 and kept a post office on his place for several years.
They weren't the first settlers in the area, but in 1877, on land purchased from the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, Oursler and his wife Nancy filed a plat for a small town to be called Oursler. Only two blocks, one with 20 lots and one with 12 lots, were platted.
Oursler was located two and one-fourth miles east of present day Sunflower Road on 150th St. It was in the NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 27 in Fairplay Township.
A branch rail line built from Florence to Marion in 1877, ran past Oursler, bringing mail to the station early each day.
Mrs. N.J. Oursler later wrote the following in a letter: "I remember the first train that went from Florence to Marion. It stopped at the station and gave all that got on a free ride to Marion and back. There was some big jubilee in Marion that day."
Apparently, few if any lots ever were sold in Oursler, but a brick kiln and a grocery store managed by a Mr. Fitch were located there for a short time.
The little store building later was moved to the Charles Locklin home and used for a summer sleeping room.
According to information provided by the late Mrs. Frank Knode in the Sept. 14, 1933, issue of the Marion Record, Oursler was a school teacher in the vicinity and held singing school in the evenings. Folks flocked to the little school house to enjoy this social event.
When the John Brown family settled in the district (No. 10), the school became known as the Brown School. It was in operation from 1873 to 1951.
Other schools in the area were Dickinson District No. 16, which operated from 1873 to 1960, and Folsom District No. 113, 1889-1947.
According to Mrs. Knode, a terrible prairie fire came from the north sometime in the 1870s and swept through the Oursler vicinity, burning all the way south to Doyle Creek.
In 1898, a terrible hail storm hit the Oursler community.
"It beat every vestige of crops into the ground, killed livestock, pounded roofs to pieces, and smashed every window pane from all windows on the north side of every home," said Mrs. Knode.
William Oursler was one of 10 children. His brother John settled in the Lincolnville area and is buried there. Brother Charles, the grandfather of David Oursler of Peabody, settled in the Burns area. David's son, Rodney, lives on the home place.
William's brother, Thomas, was the father of Raymond Oursler of Marion. He came to Kansas around the turn of the century and is buried at Sedgwick.
The William Ourslers didn't stay in the area long, but the community kept the name for a long time. The Marion Record reported news from Oursler every week until the mid- to late-1940s. William eventually moved back to Ohio and died there.
Other early Oursler settlers were William Bower, George and Eli Coble, Ralph Locklin, Alex Swan, Festus Giddings, John Bartell, Eli Campbell, and Charles Mollohan.
The Bowers said the Kaw Indians, who often camped in the timber on their farm, were a nuisance. Once, when William was on his yearly trip to Junction City to buy flour, an Indian girl came to the Bower house to beg or trade. She was refused, but shortly thereafter, Mrs. Bower discovered her little daughter was missing from the yard. She ran down to the camp, found her there, and brought her back home with no resistance from the natives.
Ella, the Bowers' oldest daughter, went to the first school in the area, organized as District 10 and later known as Brown School. It was held on the second floor of the home of Charles Kelso.
Allie Flover was the first teacher. Besides the Kelso children, there were two pupils, Ella Bower and Hattie Sanders. The teacher and these girls slept on a bed in the school room whenever a bad storm came on and they could not get home after school.
Later residents of the area included the Hoovers, Snellings, Meisingers, and Summervills.
Oursler became a railhead for Texas cattle being sent to fatten in the Flint Hills. The longhorn cattle came by train and were held in stock pens until they were herded east.
June Jost was a cowboy in his younger years. He remembers one year in the early 1940s when he helped Bud McLinden drive cattle to eastern pastures from Oursler. Milt Hettenbach and Floyd Siebert also assisted. The cattle were in groups of up to 200 head.
"Those cattle were known as Wagner Beeves and they were wild," Jost said. "I don't think they had ever seen humans before. Some refused to cross the highway, and we had to rope them and drag them across."
The people now living in the Oursler community consider themselves residents of the Marion or Florence community and send their children to Marion-Florence USD 408.
