Libraries
Identity elements
Reference code
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1912-1933 (Creation)
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet, 1.00 Box
Name of creator
Biographical history
Samuel Fremont Goheen, the first mayor of Manhattan, Kansas, was born in Goheenville, Pennsylvania, on May 2, 1855, and died in Manhattan, Kansas on December 8, 1930. He was the son of George W. & Elizabeth (Holler) Goheen, grandson of James Madison and Sarah (Delp) Goheen. He married Barbara Ellen Jack, daughter of Michael and Sarah (McKinney) Jack, in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on December 14, 1876. Barbara was born in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 1854 and died in Manhattan, Kansas on September 5, 1933.
Goheen was a graduate of Dayton Academy (Dayton, Pennsylvania). He took his family west in 1883 and settled on a farm in Riley County, Kansas. He was active in church and community affairs, serving first as township assessor, then as county treasurer (1907-1911), and then as the first mayor of Manhattan from 1912-1919. Upon his election to mayoral office, he moved to Manhattan proper. He also served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church for thirty years.
As mayor, Goheen was primarily concerned with the modernization of Manhattan. Some of the important issues during his two terms of office included residential lighting, jitney ordinance revision, sanitation practices, and the city-owned plant.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This collection includes approximately 120 items, housed in one document box, relating to Samuel Fremont Goheen’s career as mayor of Manhattan, Kansas.
Series 1 consists of correspondence dating from 1915-1918, including letters to and from Goheen concerning Manhattan city government and greeting cards.
Series 2 consists of business documents, 1914-1917, including hand-written drafts of proclamations, heath and sanitation recommendations, and tax levies are within this series.
Series 3, financial documents, consists of one ledger titled "Day Book" with entries dating 1912-1919. It contains entries concerning the sale of groceries, coal, and real estate property.
Series 4, literary productions, contains four pieces of handwritten poems, a manuscript entitled "A Quaker Wedding," and an ink drawing.
Series 5, the largest portion of the collection, is comprised of printed material with items dating from 1912-1933, including newspaper clippings about World War I, prohibition, the jitney business, community sanitary precautions, and city ordinances, as well as pamphlets and single pages from pamphlets.
Note: The original state of the Samuel Fremont Goheen papers has made it difficult to accurately date and locate the source of many of the items. Dates have been drawn from item content or subject matter.
System of arrangement
The collection is divided into 5 series by type of material: 1) Correspondence, 1915-1918; 2) Business documents,1914-1917; 3) Financial documents, 1912 -1919; 4) Literary productions, undated; 5) Printed material, 1912-1933.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
No access restrictions: All materials are open for research.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
The researcher assumes full responsibiltiy for observing all copyright, propert, and libel laws as they apply.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
It received accession number P1988.08.
Immediate source of acquisition
Acqusition Date: 19830101
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Specialized notes
- Citation: Preferred Citation: [Item title], [item date], Samuel Fremont Goheen papers, Box [number], Folder [number or title], Morse Department of Special Collections, Kansas State University Libraries.
Alternative identifier(s)
Archon Collection ID
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Sources used
Archivist's note
Finding Aid Author: Kerry Polston
Processing Info: The original processing of the papers was completed by Kerry Polston in March of 1984.
Publication Date: 2017-07-21