Joe Lebo

The town of Lebo lies alongside Interstate 35, east of Emporia. The town was named after Lebo Creek where Joe Lebo lived. He had been a Captain in the 10th Kansas Cavalry. I have tried to find information on Captain Lebo but information is sparse. Lebo Creek forms south of present day Lebo and flows south into the John Redmond Resevoir.

From William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas, published 1883, A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL. Coffey County, Early History:

Morgan Dix came to Coffey County in the spring of 1855, from Indiana, striking the Neosho River at Le Roy, and passing up the river by the way of Stubblefield's, he settled near Ottumwa early in the spring of 1855, and lived there until he died in 1874. Hiram Hoover, Judge Strawn and Joe Lebo also settled at or near Ottumwa the same spring ...

From The Leabo Line, Descendants of Francois Isaac (LeBas) Leabo

Josiah Leabo (Josiah2, Francois Isaac (LeBas)) was born 12 May 1831 in Indiana, and died 08 Jan 1895 in Hartford, Kansas. He married Mary Jane Crail 12 Feb 1860. She was born 30 Nov 1839 in Vermont (Fulton) Illinois, and died 19 Feb 1913 in Hartford, Kansas. ...[T]he town of Lebo, Kansas was named after Lebo Creek where Joe Lebo lived. He was a freighter and had been a Captain in the 10th Kansas Cavalry. It is believed that Josiah and Joe Lebo are the same person

That's it for now.

Note to myself. Burlington, the county seat will have a record of Joe Lebo's land title. There is a nice library in Lebo.

The best resource for information on the Tenth Kansas Calvary is The Kansas Historical Society.

Old Highway 50

Skelly gas station at Lebo on old highway 50

The fastest way from Emporia to Overland Park is along Interstate 35, that winds through Lyon, Coffey, Osage, Franklin, Miami, and finally, Johnson County. The trip lasts an hour and a half, if you are in a hurry.

Then again, the Kansas traveler is not always in a hurry.

Old Highway 50 is the route your grandparents would have taken. Coming from the west 50 starts in Garden City and runs through Dodge City, Strong City, and on to Emporia. It runs north at this point up to Kansas City and on into Missouri at Warrensburg.

Where the highway has not been incorporated into other highways, much of the old highway is gone. North of Emporia, next to I-35, the road is a 2 lane blacktop that goes through the farming communities of Lebo, Waverly, and Williamsburg, before arriving in Ottawa where it again connectswith the interstate.

At Lebo in Coffey County, there is an old Skelley gas station at the junction of Old Highway 50 and the town of Lebo.

 

Visit Lebo's downtown business district, a collection of Casey's General Store, a lumber store, a pharmacy, a grain elevator and a barber shop. I suspect that life has not passed by the citizens of Lebo, I think that, rather, they have just decided to enjoy a slower pace.

The Welsh Settlers of Osage and Coffey County

Carolyn B. Berneking has written an excellent article on The Welsh Settlers of Emporia:A Cultural History. The article, which is about Emporia and Lyon county, could equally apply to Osage and Coffey Counties to the east of Emporia, and the towns of Arvonia and Lebo.


As Carolyn notes in her article, "the Welsh towns of Llanfynydd, Corwen, Cyfarthfa, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Anglesey, and Aberystwyth figuratively became Carbondale, Reading, Burlingame, Arvonia, Lebo, and Emporia in Kansas as natives of Wales settled in this country." From 1850 to 1870, estimates are that about 60,000 people emigrated from Wales to America. While most settled in communities in Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, a significant number began new lives in Kansas. The National Library of Wales.


From R. D. Thomas' Hanes Cymry America -- The Kansas Chapter, published in 1872 in Welsh and translated by Phillips G. Davies. Republished by the Kansas Historical Society, 1977.

Several religious and adventuresome Welsh settled in this town [Emporia] 8 to 10 years ago. The town had been started before the recent civil war, but its growth was retarded during the disturbances. But after that the city began to grow and succeed until it now is a populous, industrious, and successful city. It is the county seat of Lyon county, and is located in a pleasant place between the Neosho and Cottonwood rivers. It has wide streets, several large stores, many good houses, some excellent churches, and growing businesses; two railroads run through it already, from Junction City and from Topeka, and one to Burlingame, Reading, and near Arvonia. Emporia contains several Welsh who are craftsmen and rich business men, and some of them are in high positions, such as Dr. Morris, Jones, Thomas, etc. There also is the office of Wm. B. Jones, Esq.. This growing city will quickly be second in size to the city of Lawrence. Many Welsh farmers live near it.

The Welsh settlers who came to Kansas in the late 1800's became farmers, doctors, businessmen, and even coal miners for Kansas had coal deposits in and around Emporia, Kansas. In 1889, Osage County had 118 coal mines, employing over 2,200 people and producing 400,000 tons of coal. In 1969, coal mining ended, but the pits filled with water still linger. GeoKansas.

Coal pit west of Arvonia, Kansas

Lebo Kansas

In Kansas, I-35 runs 234 miles from Oklahoma through Wichita, past Emporia and Overland Park then on to Missouri.

North of Emporia, I-35 passes Lebo, the principal town of Coffey County.

Lebo founded 1883

Lebo's history dates to April 17, 1883, when David L. Jones purchased 80 acres. The land was just east of land owned by the Santa Fe Railroad where a train depot was going to be built. This was good news for Mr. Jones and bad news for the small community of Arvonia, Kansas to the north, which was also hoping for the railroad.

View from Old Highway 50

On February 11, 1884, the first train arrived, and the town of Lebo was off and running, its economy based on the farming, livestock, coal mining, and the railroad. Lebo has never been a large town and today its citizens number less than 1000 souls. Nevertheless, it is a happy place where everyone knows your name, and the big event in the fall is the sporting event under the Friday night lights at the high school football field. Lebo is also proud of its winning basketball program.

The Old Bank

What is left of Lebo are a beautiful two story limestone, a drug store, Sleezer's barbershop, a lumber store, the grain elevators, and enough businesses to keep the community going for another 100 years. It may not be Manhattan, but it might be Kansas' own version of Mayberry.

Dog on a truck

Sleezer's Barber Shop

Walter and Evan (Evie) Jones, descendants of the founders of Lebo, were reared on a farm north of Lebo, Kansas, in Coffey County. At the turn of the century, the brothers inherited 200 acres of land, and they began farming forming a partnership, Jones and Jones. Walter Jones died in early 1953, and Evan followed a few months later. Along with Walter's wife Olive, the Jones Estate was left in a trust that serves the interests of needy children and funds the Jones Policy Center, the W.S. and E.C. Jones Conference Center, and the Jones Distinguished Professorship at Emporia State University. Jones Institute at Emporia State University.

old image Skelly gas station, Lebo, Kansas, November 2013, evening

Skelley Gas Station, Old Highway 50

Toby watches for the train

The official web site of Lebo, Kansas