Who Were These People? Part 8: Henry Booth

Who Were These People?

Part 8: Henry Booth

By Carol Jenkner

 

Although Henry Booth is generally considered to be the founder of Larned and Pawnee County, a popular politician and genuine promoter of the area, his name does not appear on a downtown building today. His home and at least one building he and Judge Bright built still exist today.  Booth’s name was only attached to Main Street in the last decade.

            He was born in England, and came to the United States at the age of eighteen. He joined the Kansas Infantry in 1862, but he was soon commissioned to raise a volunteer cavalry unit. He was discharged in 1865, but soon he was married and living in Manhattan, Kansas where he won a seat in the Kansas Legislature.

            He came West when he was appointed postmaster at Fort Larned. By 1870, he had also become the sutler at Fort Larned. Not satisfied, he saw an opportunity to build a town with the coming of the railroad in 1872 and formed a town company with a group of associates. He had considerable influence in Kansas government even when not in office and he used that influence to create Pawnee County. He was also largely responsible for the appointment of Larned as the county seat.

            In Larned’s early years, Henry Booth brought in the first building from Fort Larned, created the school system, was the superintendent of schools, established a church, was the agent for the Santa Fe Railroad, acted as agricultural agent planting experimental gardens and tree plots, and built the Larned House Hotel. He partnered with Judge Bright to build the Booth and Bright Building at 4^th Street and Broadway, to create a land office, law office, and coal office.

            Henry Booth changed his political affiliation to Independent and was elected to the state legislature again. During this time, he formed a baseball team called the Henry Booth Baseball Club that was an exhibition team that Booth traveled with when campaigning. He was a skilled orator and singer being part of the men’s choral groups in town.

            In the later years of his life, he continued his involvement in government, experimented with growing apple trees on his farm east of Larned, and was appointed Director of the Soldiers’ Home at Fort Dodge. He also had considerable influence in the GAR and other fraternal organizations in town. He died in 1898, working on the well on his farm, the apparent victim of a heart attack.