page_title: Andover, Kansas
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Andover, Kansas / History / 19th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas, 1915-1918, Sedgwick County.
context_page_description: Andover is a city in Butler County, Kansas, United States, and a suburb of Wichita. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,791.
context_section_description: When the Kansas territory was first mapped, the original Andover area was called Minneha.  The Indian name was later changed to Cloud City.
  The first Euro-American settlement in Bruno Township was in February 1869, when Vincent Smith arrived on Dry Creek (2 miles east of Andover Road on 21st Street). He filed his claim on May 10, 1869. Other early settlers began to arrive in spring 1870, and soon all the land was claimed. The first Bruno Township election was held April 9, 1872. The first township officers were N.B. Daniels, Trustee; Jacob Brown, Treasurer; J.D. Reber, Clerk; Isaac Newland and Samuel Reed, Justices of the Peace; William Riser and Isaac Stroup, Constables. Bonds totaling $18,000 were issued for the extension of the Frisco Railway through Bruno Township. The railway was completed in 1880.
  G. M. Pattison homesteaded the land that became the original plot on which Andover was built. In August 1872, Pattison was given title to this property by president Ulysses S. Grant. In February 1876, the land was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Waggoner.
  Andover's first church was what is known today as the United Methodist Church. The church started as a Sunday school in 1873.
  The original post office was established at Minneha (an extinct town) in November 1877. A branch was moved to 'Cloud City' in March 1880. That same year, the Cloud City post office was renamed Andover. Andover was named after Andover, Massachusetts.
  In January 1880, Mr. and Mrs. Waggoner deeded 40 acres (160,000 m²) to Charles Glancey. Mr. Glancey platted the original townsite in February 1880. The legally established townsite was known as Cloud City, named after Mr. Cloud, a well-respected citizen and railroad engineer. He helped build the St. Louis–San Francisco Railroad through town. The name of the town was changed from Cloud City to Andover on June 7, 1880, when Mr. Cloud had a 'falling out' with residents of the area.
  A trading post which sold all types of merchandise was the first known business in Andover. The first hotel was operated in 1881 by J. C. Lines. The front part of the hotel was a general store operated by G. W. Harris.
  In 1882, the Richland schoolhouse was moved to the present Meadowlark Elementary School location at a cost of $2,000 and became the city's first school. Professor Haskin was the first principal and enrollment was 86 students.
  Early businesses during the 1882–83 period were a hotel, a grocery and lumber company, a shoemaker, a business that handled livestock, coal and grain, a general store, a meat market, two other grocery stores, and the railway agent. In 1883, the population of Andover was about 150 people. The first passenger train went through Andover in 1885 and the last passenger train in October 1960.
  The best known historical event was a train robbery at 10:00 P.M., on July 17, 1898. After being forced to flag the train, Depot Agent S.B. McClaren escaped and ran to the nearby Methodist Church—where an ice cream social was being held—to spread the alarm. Will Belford, 28 years old, was shot while trying to stop the bandits and died five weeks later. The robbers escaped, but were captured on August 12, 1898, in Maize, Kansas. Both were tried in Butler County Court. Sam Smith was charged with first-degree murder and hanged. Thomas Wind was charged with second-degree murder and sent back to prison.
caption: 1915 railroad map of Sedgwick County
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