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63. Societies for Coloniza- tion .- Taking the language of the Kansas-Nebraska Act to mean what it said, and "Popular Baptist Indian Mission, Shawnee County. Erected in 1848. Sovereignty" as a contemplated fact, both parties to the con- troversy began to make preparation for the occupation of the disputed country. The border counties of
Missouri rang with the note of preparation. "Defensive Associations," "Squatters' Associations," "Blue Lodges," and various secret and open societies were formed on the border for the purpose of occupying Kansas, and the repel- ling of invaders of the abolition variety, and on the other hand the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society procured its charter April 24, 1854, after the passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Act by the House, but before its passage by the
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
Senate. The Emigrant Aid Society of New York and Con- neeticut was chartered in July. A lengthy "report" issued in May, 1854, set out at great length the objects of the New England Society. One article urged the forwarding of saw mills, grist mills and other machinery to the new country. "At the same time it is desirable, " said the report, "that there should be sent out a printing press, and a news- paper established. This would be the organ of the com- pany's agents, and be from the start the index of that love of freedom and good morals, which it is hoped may charac- terize the State now to be formed."
64. Invitation to Settlers .- There is indeed a "real estate" flavor, which has lingered about descriptions of the country ever since, in the following article:
"It is to be remembered that all accounts agree that the region of Kansas is the most desirable part of America now open to the emigrant. It is accessible in five days' continn- ous travel from Boston. Its crops are very bountiful; its soil being well adapted to the staples of Virginia and Ken- tucky, and especially to the growth of hemp. In the east- ern section the woodland and prairie land intermix in proportions very well adapted to the purpose of the settler. Its mineral resources, especially its coal, in the central and western parts, are inexhaustible. A steamboat is already plying on the Kansas river, and the Territory has an unin- terrupted steamboat communication with New Orleans and all the tributaries of the Mississippi."
65. Struggle Between North and South .- The two emigration societies mentioned were not all; there was, beside, the Union Emigration Society organized in the city of Washington. The large associations organized auxiliary
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THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT.
societies throughout the North. The issue was joined. The border counties of Missouri stood for the South, far off and remote. Behind the Emigrant Aid societies stood the North, according to the lines of communication, nearer, in popula- tion and wealth vastly more powerful. The advocates of
I SADHILL'S & HAKANSY RAINED
Lawrence, Kan., 1855.
slavery had no issue except the establishment of human bondage in a new, an unwilling country, and apparently no conception of any means of accomplishing that end except by force. The result may have been doubted, but it was never doubtful. In the ears of those who marched to Kansas from the conquering North, sounded a watch- word which has always rung in men's ears like the note of a trumpet, or breathed as the voice of a siren, it was- "Freedom."
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
66. Towns Founded .- President Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act on the 30th of May, 1854. On the 13th of June the Leavenworth town company was organ- ized at Weston, Mo. On the 17th of July, the first party of Free State emigrants left Boston and Worcester, arriv- ing at the mouth of the Wakarusa eleven days later. The party numbered thirty, under the direction of Mr. Charles H. Branscomb. Two weeks later they were followed by a larger party under the direction of Dr. Charles Robinson and Samuel C. Pomeroy. The Atchison town company was formed in Missouri, July 27th. Events moved rapidly. In September the Lawrence Association was formed for the government of the new city. In the same month the first newspaper in Kansas, the Herald, was printed under a tree in Leavenworth. In September the first sale of lots oc- eurred in Atchison. One Free State and two Pro-slavery towns started, and the battle begun. Topeka, an addition to the Free State strongholds, was founded December 5, 1854.
SUMMARY.
1. Rev. Thomas Johnson was elected, in 1853, delegate to Congress, but was not received.
2. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill was passed May 30, 1854.
3. Professor John B. Dunbar states that the word Kansas was derived from Kanza, which means "swift."
4. The Government secured large tracts of Indian lands. Settlers immediately began to move to the Territory.
5. Societies of the opposing parties were formed for the occupa- tion of the Territory.
6. Among the events of 1854 were the founding of Leavenworth, Lawrence, Atchison, and Topeka.
7. The first newspaper was printed at Leavenworth.
CHAPTER VII.
THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT.
67. First Territorial Governor .- Andrew H. Reeder, first Governor of the Territory of Kansas, arrived at Fort Leavenworth on the 7th of October, 1854. He was a Penn- sylvania lawyer of high standing in his native county of Northampton, from whence he came to Kansas, and through- out the State, but had never held public office. He had always been a member of the Democratic party, and thor- oughly indorsed the doctrine of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
68. Other Officers of Territory .- The other appointed officers of the Territory arrived at intervals. The Secretary of the Territory, whose office was most important, since under the organic act he assumed in the Governor's absence all his powers and functions, was Daniel Woodson, of Virginia; the Chief Justice of the Territory was Samuel Gov. A. H. Reeder. D. Lecompte, of Maryland; the Associate Justices, Saunders W. Johnson, of Ohio, and Rush Elmore of Alabama; United States Marshal, Israel B. Donalson of Illinois. Some of these names were destined to a lasting recollection in Kan- sas: one of them, that of Secretary Woodson, to a place on the map of Kansas. Notwithstanding the amount of explosive material lying about, Gov. Reeder received a
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
hearty welcome at Leavenworth, and his reception was quite as kindly at Lawrence, which he soon after visited. He took a tour of observation through the Territory to inform himself concerning its topography and population. He was urged to order an election of members of the Legislature, but took the ground that the common law, and the laws of the United States, extended over the Territory, and that there was no pressing need of legislation, and himself sat as a magistrate in the ease of a man charged with attempt to kill, and bound the party over.
69. Election of Delegate .- On the 10th of November, Gov. Reeder issued his proclamation for an election for delegate to Congress on the 29th of the same month. This was the first election held in the Territory. The candidates were Gen. John W. Whitfield, Pro-slavery; R. P. Flenniken, Administration Democrat, and John A. Wakefield, Free State. On the day of the election, as was afterwards 'reported by an investigating committee, a large number of persons came over from Missouri and voted, but Gen. Whitfield received a legal plurality. As this would have happened, and he would have received a certificate of election without it, the invasion was a causeless and senseless outrage, which had no further effeet than to inflame the North, in which the determination that Kansas should not be a slave State was daily growing more resolute.
The name which assumed the most prominence in the leadership of the Pro-slavery movement was that of David R. Atchison, a United States Senator from Missouri, Presi- dent of the Senate and acting Vice-President of the United States
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THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT.
70. First Census .- In February, 1855, Gov. Reeder caused the first census of the Territory to be taken. It showed a population of 8,501 persons, and 2,905 voters.
71. Fraudulent Voting .- Governor Reeder divided the territory into districts, appointed judges of election and ordered an election for a Territorial Legislature to be held March 30, 1855. At the election of March 30th most of the voting places in the territory were occupied by armed men from Missouri. At Lawrence the invading force was estimated at 1,000 men, and they brought two pieces of artillery. This force being larger than was deemed neces- sary, squads were detached and sent to other voting places. The judges of election appointed by the Governor were driven from the polling places or resigned their offices. The census of the . preceding month of February gave Kansas Territory 2,905 voters. At this March election 6,318 votes were cast, of which 1,410 were legal and 4,908 were fraudulent. The day after this election the actual facts were known all over the Territory; within the week, in every corner of the United States. The result was fuel to the roaring fire; every means which had been before used in the warfare against slavery was redoubled. The betrayed people who had gone to the Territory under the implied promise of the Kansas-Nebraska Act that the people of the Territories should be allowed to regulate their institutions in their own way, became throughout the Free States the objects of boundless sympathy; the story of the invasion of March 30th was told in song and story, and by artist's pencil, and still the Free State emigrants pressed into the Territory of Kansas.
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
72. Governor Reeder's Action .- Governor Reeder set aside the elections in certain districts for informality, and ordered an election to be held May 22d, to fill vacancies.
Governor Reeder had, according to his instructions, removed his office from Fort Leavenworth to the Shawnee Manual Labor School, two miles west of Westport, Mo.
Territorial Capitol, Shawnee, 1855.
He ordered the first Legislature of the Territory to con- vene at Pawnee, a town which had been laid out near Fort Riley. After his decision in regard to the elections, and his proclamation for the meeting of the Legislature, Governor Reeder went East to meet charges which the Pro- slavery leaders had made in asking his removal. At the election to fill vacancies in the Legislature, neither the Pro-
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THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT.
slavery voters in the Territory or in Missouri took part. The Free State voters alone participated.
73. First Legislature .- The members of the Legisla- ture met at Pawnee on July 2, 1855. The Pawnee town company had erected a stone building for the use of the Legislature, which stood for many years afterward within sight of the Union Pacific railroad track. There was also a hotel and some other conveniences.
The Legislature came, went into camp, remained four days, unseated the Free State members, seated the members declared elected on the 30th of March, and passed a bill "to remove the capital temporarily to Shawnee Manual Labor School," which act was vetoed by the Governor and passed over his veto, and the Legislature adjourned.
On the re-assembling of the Legislature at the Shawnee Manual Labor School, Governor Reeder informed the body that it was in session where it had no right, in contraven- tion of the Act of Congress, and that he could give no sanction to any act it might pass.
74. Gov. Reeder Removed .- The Legislature, in both branches, memorialized the President of the United States to remove Governor Reeder, and on the 31st of July his removal was officially announced, and on the 16th of August the Governor announced his removal to the Legislature, and so ended the term of the First Territorial Governor of Kansas. Governor Reeder was informed that he was removed for some irregular purchases of public lands. The departure of Governor Reeder made Secretary Woodson acting Gover- nor. His signature is affixed to all the laws passed by what the Free State party called the "Bogus Legislature." This
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
Legislature adopted the body of Missouri statutes, but added thereto a series of "black laws" exceeding in ferocity
WM. BLAIR LORD.
JOHN UPTON.
HON. MORDECAI OLIVER. HON. WM. A. HOWARD. HON. JNO. SHERMAN. Congressional Investigation Committee .*
anything ever before known in the United States. Anti- slavery men were disqualified from holding office.
*Represents the members and two of the officers of the Kansas Con- gressional Investigating Committee of 1856. The committee was appointed under a resolution of the House of Representatives, passed March 19, 1856, with instructions to "Proceed to inquire into and collect evidence in regard to the troubles in Kansas generally, and particularly in regard to any fraud or force attempted or practiced in reference to any of the elec- tions which had taken place in the Territory, etc."
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THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT.
75. Capital Located .- The Legislature organized a large number of counties, and provided that every officer in the Territory, executive and judicial, was to be appointed by the Legislature, or by some officer appointed by it. These appointments to hold until after the general election of 1857. No session was to be held in 1856. The Legislature fixed upon Lecompton as the Territorial seat of government.
76. Topeka Government Organized. - The reply of the unorganized Free State people of the Territory to the Pro- slavery Legislature was organization. Whenever there was a meeting, or a set of resolutions adopted-and there were many meetings, and many resolutions-the Shawnee Legis- lature was denounced as the offspring of fraud and force, and its enactments of no validity. The movement finally ended in what came to be known as the Topeka Govern- ment. Delegates to the Topeka Constitutional Convention were elected October 1, 1855. The Convention met on the 23d of October, completed the Topeka Constitution, the first constitution of Kansas, on the 11th of November. The constitution was submitted to a vote on the 15th of Decem- ber. At Leavenworth the poll books were destroyed by a Pro-slavery mob, and also the office of a Free State news- paper. Outside of Leavenworth 1,731 votes were cast for the constitution, and 46 against it. The 4th of March, 1856, was set for an election of State officers under the Topeka Constitution.
The Topeka Constitution provided, "There shall be no slavery in this State, or involuntary servitude except for crime."
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
77. Shannon, Second Governor .- In September, 1855, Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, Second Territorial Governor of Kansas, appeared at Westport, Mo. Unlike Governor
Reeder, Governor Shannon had been much in public life. He had been Governor of Ohio, United States Minister to Mexico, and Member of the House of Representatives, where he had voted for the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
78. Election of Delegate Not Rec- ognized .- On the 1st of October there occurred an election for delegate in Congress. The Free State voters took no part in this election, and John W. Gov. Wilson Shannon. Whitfield received 2,721 votes. On the 9th of October the Free State voters cast 2,849 votes for Andrew H. Reeder. Congress refused to seat either contestant.
79. Mob Violence at Atchison .- During the spring and summer of 1855 there was much disturbance. Many of the collisions were doubtless incited by private and personal enmity, but the outrages which created the most profound impression throughout the country were those committed for opinion's sake. Rev. Pardee Butler was seized at Atchison, in August, and sent down the river on a raft made of two logs, with many circumstances of injury and insult. Returning the following spring, he was stripped, tarred, and covered with cotton. He was a peaceable settler of the county, he had only expressed his opinion upon a question which, under the Kansas-Nebraska Act, was left to the determination of the lawful voters of the Territory. His story was told all through the North and roused a
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THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT.
determination of resistance. While Pardee Butler was going down the river on his raft, John Brown was moving along the road to Kansas with his rifle.
SUMMARY.
1. Gov. Reeder and other territorial officers arrive.
2. First election for members of the Legislature takes place, attended by invasion, fraud, and violence.
3. First Legislature meets at Pawnee, and removes to the Shawnee Manual Labor School.
4. Gov. Reeder is succeeded by Gov. Shannon.
5. The first Constitution of Kansas was completed at Topeka, November 11, 1855, and provided, "there shall be no slavery in this State, or involuntary servitude except for crime."
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Map of that portion of the Indian Territory West of the Mississippi, within the present bounds of Kansas.
CHAPTER VIII.
WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR.
80. Contest Precipitated .- Governor Shannon soon found that the office of Governor of Kansas Territory was not a bed of roses.
On the 21st of November, 1855, at Hiekory Point, ten miles south of Lawrence, a Free State settler named Dow was killed by a Pro-slavery man named Coleman. Dow, whose body lay in the road for hours, was buried by his Free State friends, who, at his funeral, declared they would ferret out the murderer and his accomplices. That night, Coleman, the slayer, having fled, his eabin was burned down, and that of a friend of his named Buckley. This man, in common parlance, "swore his life against" Jacob Branson, a Free State man, a friend of Dow's. Sheriff Jones (who, though a resident of Westport, Mo., was, by appointment of the Territorial Legislature, Sheriff of Douglas county, Kan.), with a posse, took Branson into custody on the night of November 22. When the Sheriff's party had arrived near Blanton's Bridge, they were met by a party of Free State men, among whom Major J. B. Abbott and Samuel N. Wood were prominent, and the prisoner, with little show of violence, was taken from his captors.
81. The Wakarusa War .- Sheriff Jones rode to Franklin, 2 a Pro-slavery outpost, dispatched a messenger to Missouri, and notified Governor Shannon that a rebellion had broken
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WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR.
out in the Territory, and that 3,000 men were required to suppress it. This was the beginning of the "Wakarusa War." The Governor ordered Generals Richardson and Strickler, of the Territorial militia, to march to Lecomp- ton, and report to the Sheriff all the force they could collect. In the meantime, the Missouri border was stirred with appeals, and a large force was raised to organize another invasion.
A formidable Pro-slavery force collected at Franklin. Free State companies gathered from the vicinity, and joined the garrison of Lawrence. Sheriff Jones came into Lawrence, · but failed to find the rescuers of Branson. Governor Shannon wearied of the Missourians who had arrived to assist the Sheriff, and besought them to disband and depart, and in the meantime called on Colonel Sumner, of the United States army, to bring troops. The Free State leaders succeeded in opening up com- munication with Governor Shannon, and as a final result the invaders in the interest of "law and order" started back to Missouri, the beleaguered garrison of Lawrence was relieved, and Governor Shannon affixed his signature to a treaty signed by Charles Robinson and James H. Lane, and a few evenings later met these gentlemen at an evening party Colonel E. V. Sumner. given by the ladies of Lawrence, at which even Sheriff Jones was an invited guest.
82. Thomas W. Barber a Martyr .- But the "Wakar- usa War" was not destined to end without bloodshed. Thomas W. Barber, a young man, who had been among the
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
defenders of Lawrence, was on his way home with two friends, when they were confronted by two horsemen, who detached themselves from another party, and Barber was killed. Murders had not been uncommon, but this excited unusual horror. The funeral of Barber was attended by every demonstration of respect, Charles Robinson and James H. Lane speaking beside the coffin.
Whittier afterwards wrote the "Burial of Barber:"
Not in vain a heart shall break, Not a tear for freedom's sake Fall unheeded; God is true.
The Kansas county of Barber commemorates his name.
83. Whitfield Elected to Congress. - In October, 1855, an election was held for delegate to Congress, in which Free State men did not participate, and General John W. Whitfield received 2,721 votes.
84. Election of State Officers. - On the 15th of January, 1856, occurred the election of State officers under the Topeka Constitution: Charles Robinson was chosen Governor; W. Y. Roberts, Lieutenant-Governor; P. C. Schuyler, Secretary of State; G. A. Cutler, Auditor; John A. Wakefield, Treas- urer; H. Miles Moore, Attorney-General; M. Hunt, M. F. Conway, G. W. Smith, Supreme Judges; E. M. Thurston, Reporter of Supreme Court; S. B. Floyd, Clerk of Supreme Court; John Speer, Public Printer; Representative in Con- gress, M. W. Delahay.
· 85. First Session of Topeka Legislature .- On the 4th of March, 1856, was held the first session of the Topeka Legislature. Governor Robinson presented a message. James H. Lane and Andrew H. Reeder were chosen United
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WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR.
States Senators, and a memorial was prepared asking admis- sion into the Union. The Legislature adjourned to meet on the 4th of July.
86. Topeka Constitution in Congress .- The Topeka Constitution was presented in the Senate of the United States, by Senator Lewis Cass, on March 24th, and in the House by Hon. Daniel Mace, of Indiana.
87. Disbanding of Topeka Legislature .- On the re-as- sembling of the Legislature at Topeka, on the 4th day of July, 1856, Colonel E. V. Sumner, U. S. A., appeared with five companies of United States dragoons and two pieces of artillery. Colonel Sumner entered the halls of the Senate and House, and told the members that the Legislature must disperse, and they obeyed. Colonel Sumner was accom- panied by United States Marshal Donalson. Colonel Sumner acted under the orders of Acting-Governor Woodson, and Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis.
The Topeka Legislature re-assembled in January, 1857, when some of the officers and members were arrested by a Deputy United States Marshal, and taken to Tecumseh. The Legislature again met in January, 1858, and adjourned to Lawrence, and asked the Territorial Legislature, then in session, to substitute the State for the Territorial organiza- tion, which they refused to do.
On the 4th of March, 1858, the Legislature under the Topeka Constitution met, found itself without a quorum, and adjourned to meet no more. This was the end of the "Topeka movement."
On the 3d of July, 1856, the House of Representatives passed a bill for the admission of Kansas under the Topeka Constitution, by a vote of ninety-nine to ninety-seven. The
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
opposition of the Senate to any free Constitution was invincible.
Y 88. Treason Programme .- The administration of President Pierce, and that of Kansas Territory, early took the position that adherence to the Topeka Government, or non- obedience to the Shawnee Missouri Legislature, constituted some form of treason and insurrection. The numberless troubles of 1856 had their origin in the attempts of the National and Territorial authorities to arrest, prosecute and punish Free State men for rebellion and high treason.
By May, the treason suppression programme was far advanced. Governor Robinson, Governor Reeder, and many others were indicted for high treason. Governor Reeder, who was in the Territory in attendance on the Congressional Investigating Committee, commonly called the "Howard Committee," refused arrest, and made his way to Kansas City, Mo., whenee he escaped, in disguise, down the Missouri, on the deck of a steamboat.
Many persons were arrested, during May, at different points, refused bail by Judge Lecompte, and confined at Lecompton. Governor Robinson, while traveling with his wife, was arrested at Lexington, Mo., was brought back to Lecompton, and held a prisoner for four months.
89. Events at Lawrence .- By the 17th of May, 1856, a large armed force had collected in the vicinity of Lawrence. On the 21st of May, Sheriff Jones entered the town with armed followers, and by virtue of writs out of the First District Court of the United States for Kansas Territory, burned and battered down the Free State hotel, and destroyed the offices of the Herald of Freedom, and the Kansas Free State newspapers. Stores were broken open,
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WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR.
and robbed, and the residence of Charles Robinson was burned. The force employed was some 800 cavalry and infantry, with four pieces of cannon.
Conspicuous on this occasion, and in counseling and directing destruction, was General David R. Atchison, of Missouri. The cavalry was commanded by Colonel H. C. Titus, recently of Florida. A considerable part of the force consisted of South Carolinians, under the command of Major Buford. There was planted on the walls of the Herald of Freedom office, before its destruction, a blood red flag, bearing a lone star and the words "South Carolina and Southern Rights." The Government of the United States was directly represented, on this occasion, by Deputy United States Marshal Fain.
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