The town of Morganville once consisted of two side-by-side cities, one which was called Silver Town, named after William Silver.
As one of the most notable and active settlers in the area, Silver came to Kansas in 1857. He preempted 160 acres one mile north and one mile west of Morganville, along the Republican River.
Silver took work in Riley County, the nearest place he could find a job. Through the winter of 1858 and spring of 1859, he served as a blacksmith, also traveling via wagon to Pike’s Peak.
In 1860, he returned to his farm to improve the land, a requirement to claim the property’s deed. There was also an incredible drought that summer, which made farming costly for little result.
Silver was born in 1832 in Ohio and moved to Indiana with his parents a 3 years old. At 26 he traveled west with $42 in his pocket. ($1,066 today.)
During the Civil War, Silver decided it was his duty to “assist preservation of the Union” and enlisted in Company G, 11th Kansas cavalry and served two years and eight months before he was dishonorably discharged in May of 1865.
While on furlough, he married Lucinda Edelblute in April of 1863. She was the daughter of pioneer settlers of Riley County.
After Silver’s discharge, the couple returned to his farm. They built a new cabin, as the original 12×14 cabin had burned in a pasture fire.
They hauled flooring by wagon from Leavenworth and log shingles from Manhattan. Their closest neighbor was 20 miles away, with Native Americans living 30 miles upstream. Newspapers reported that both were friendly toward one another.
Silver also served as a County Commissioner in 1866; it’s uncertain how long he served.
Silver homesteaded another 80 acres one-half mile east, where they lived until 1882 before selling the land to Fred Conkright.
After moving to town, Silver got into the mercantile business, where he became successful through the early 1900s. The last eight years of his life, he was retired and gave the business to his two sons, Lonsdale and Fred. (The Silvers also had two daughters who lived locally, Mary and Edna.)
When a flood took out the Morganville bridge in the flood of 1903-1904, Silver went to the county to try and overturn their decision of bridge placement. He invited the commissioners and a reporter from the Times to see where the channel had moved about 100 feet from its former banks. Together, a new location was decided for the bridge.
In total, 13 bids were received to remove and place a new bridge. The Leavenworth Bridge Company was awarded the contract with their low bid of $3,200. (The highest bid was $6,000; around $115,000 and $216,000 today, respectively) Silver and other landowners also appealed to the county for damages, with Silver claiming $5,700 in necessary repairs. ($204,000 today.)
After retiring, Silver was active in the community, advocating for growth and working with the local church. In his declining health, Silver passed away at his home in Morganville on November 1, 1911. Lucinda outlived him by 10 years.
