Have you ever thought about who built the county courthouse, the church or a school in a farming community? I have to admit that I haven’t paid attention to who built these older buildings or even when they were built. That was until I started researching my CRANDALL cousins and learned more about John Nafus Crandall.
John Nafus Crandall moved his family from Van Buren County, Iowa to Smith County, Kansas around 1877 or 1878. By 1891, he moved his family to Oregon. While only living in Smith County for a short time, J. N. Crandall left his mark on the communities of Smith County as a carpenter / builder.
In 1884, John N. Crandall was in charge of the construction of the Congregational Church in the small town of Cora.
The Dedication at Cora
“The Dedication at Cora,” Smith County Bulletin (Smith Centre, KS), 12 December 1884, page 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 13 April 2022).
Editor Bulletin: — According to announcement, the Congregational Church at Cora was dedicated on Dec. 7th, 1884. At an early hour teams began to arrive at the church. Many people feeling interested in the church during the progress of building, were often inspecting the workmanship, and felt satisfied that it had been built in a satisfactory manner, and gave the builder, J. N. Crandall great credit for the work, and to J. A. Armistead much credit is due for the style of the painting.
In December of 1884, J. N. Crandall began work on a new school in Smith Center. An 1885 article in the Smith County Bulletin describes the new school house.
Smith County Bulletin (Smith Centre, Kansas)
29 May 1895
page 3
Our New School House
“Our New School House,” Smith County Bulletin (Smith Centre, KS), 29 May 1885, page 3; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 14 April 2022).
We enjoyed a few minutes very pleasantly yesterday in visiting our new school house which is now nearly completed. It is two stories high and one of the finest in Northwest Kansas. The building, which is frame is built on a granite stone foundation, and has four school rooms 26 x 36 and the hallway 16 x 30. The building is the plan of our townsman S. S. Hite, built by J. N. Crandall, of Cora, and is one of the best built buildings in the county. The plastering was done by Hon. John c. Davenport, an old plasterers in the city of Indianapolis ind., and is the finest job of plastering without any exception in this part of the country. The painting is done by Jas. Armistead, of Cora, who is just making the entire wood work fairly shine. He is one of the best painters in this country and having an extra job to work on is showing some excellent work. Taking everything into consideration, the building is nearly perfect as it could be made, being almost entirely faultless, and is a credit to our town. The school district officers are to be congratulated upon the building of so fine an edifice for the education of our young, and when school commences we hope that the scholars will remember that they enjoy the luxury of attending school in one of the finest building in the west, and be very careful that it shall never lose any of its beauty by being marred by their carelessness.
Then in 1887, the county commissioners awarded the contract for the construction of a new courthouse to J. N. Crandall and James Broddy.
The board then awarded the contract of building the court house to J. N. Crandall and James Boddy for the sum of $10,280.10, conditioned that Messrs. Crandall and Boddy file in office of county clerk a good and sufficient bond in the sum of $20,000 for their faithful performance of all work and material. Said award being governed by the contract, plans and specifications now on file in office of county clerk. On motion adjourned.
“Commissioners Proceedings,” Smith County Pioneer (Smith Centre, Kansas), 15 September 1887, page 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 13 April 2022).
Attent, J. N. Beacom, County, Clerk
An article in the 23 September 1887 issue of The Lebanon Times provides details about the courthouse.
The New Court House
“The New Court House,” The Lebanon Times (Lebanon, Kansas), 23 September 1887, page 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspaeps.com : viewed online 13 April 2022).
The Bulletin gives the following description of the new court house which is now being erected at Smith Centre, by Boddy & Crandall,, contractors:
The contract for the building was let to contractors Boddy & Crandall on the 7th inst., for $10,289.10. Their contract provides that work of construction shall commence within four days after signing the contract. The actual work of construction was commenced last Saturday, and is now being pushed forward as rapidly as possible. The contract provides that the building shall be completed and ready for occupancy on or before January 1st 1888. The building is to be built of brick upon a foundation of Stone Mound rock, three feet thick, and laid in cement. The brick work from water-table to second floor, is to be 17 inches thick. Above second floor is to be 13 inches thick, This entire building is to be trimmed with cut stone. The cornice, window caps, and door caps are to be of the best galvanized iron. All window and door sills are to be of best quality cast iron. The roof is to be self supporting and covered with tin and shingles.
The building will be 56×80 feet on the ground, and 84 feet to the top of the spire. The first floor will be divided into two rows of offices on either side of a hall, 12 feet wide, running through the entire building and an entrance at either end.
The building will face the west, and on the upper front will be engraved on the solid slab of stone the following, Smith County Court House, 1887.
While these buildings no longer exist, they were a testament to John N. Crandall’s skills as a builder.