J.B. Mahaffie is building, on his farm just east of town a large two story dwelling house.
Olathe Mirror - July 20, 1865
In 1857, James B. (Beatty) and Lucinda Mahaffie moved to Olathe from northern Indiana with four children. In 1858, J.B. sold his lot in town and used oxen to move a section of the home on that property to his new farm site in the country, a mile east of town. The family lived in that dwelling until they built this sturdy, limestone farmhouse late in 1865. The new home was built in front of the old house.
Look carefully at the closest corner of the home, near the top of the front of the house. Can you find the date the house was built?
Constructed with a full cellar to serve as a dining hall and kitchen for the stagecoach trade, the home was a farmhouse as well as stagecoach stop. Farming was always the main occupation of James Beatty Mahaffie - he called himself a "farmer" rather than innkeeper in the state and federal census.
By the end of the Civil War, JB's farming operation covered almost 600 acres. An entrepreneur and businessman, JB was active in agricultural organizations, served as a county commissioner, and was a board member of one of the earliest railroad companies planning a rail line into Olathe. The end of the stagecoach era in 1869 was not a threat to the Mahaffies' well-being.
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