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CHAPTER XIII.
THE TRAGEDY OF JOHN BROWN.
119. His Migration and Settlement .- On the 2d of December, 1859, John Brown was executed at Charlestown, Va.
It was on the 23d of August, 1855, that John Brown, born at Torrington, Conn., May 9, 1800, a man then fifty- five years of age, started from Chicago, Ill., with a heavily loaded one-horse wagon for Kansas. He walked beside his wagon, shot game for food, passed through Rock Island, Illinois; Iowa, and Missouri, and reached a point on or near Pottawatomie creek, and eight miles from Osa- watomie, Kansas Territory, on the 6th of October, 1855. He settled in the neighborhood of his sons, John Brown, Jr., Salmon, Frederick, Jason, and Owen Brown, who had come to the Territory with their families early in the year. From the day of his arrival, his name became attached, for weal or woe, for glory or for shame, with that of Kan- sas. He was very generally known first as "Osawatomie Brown."
His first publie appearance in the John Brown. troubles of the Territory appears to have been at Lawrence during the "Wakarusa War," in . December, 1855. That disturbance was ended by a
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THE TRAGEDY OF JOHN BROWN.
"treaty," as it was called, but "Osawatomie Brown" wanted no treaty, and counseled resistance. On the 21st of May, 1856, when occurred the "sacking of Lawrence," and the destruction of the Free State hotel, and the Herald of Freedom and Free State newspaper offices, John Brown, his sons, and a son-in-law, were in Lawrence and witnessed all that happened, and on the night of the 24th of May, five Pro-slavery settlers on Pottawatomie creek were killed. This was the "Pottawatomie Massacre," over John Brown's complicity in which there has been much controversy. John Brown, when asked by his son, Jason Brown, who was horrified by the deed, "Father, did you have anything to do with that bloody affair on the Pottawatomie?" said, "I approved it."
120. John Brown in the Field .- From this time for- ward, John Brown may be said to have taken and kept the field. He seldom joined himself with what may be called the masses of the Free State party. He did not aspire to the civil or military leadership of that party, but, with a small and chosen company, he kept the wood and prairie; attacking and attacked. A few days after the "Potta- watomie Massacre," Captain H. Clay Pate, a Deputy United States Marshal, with a posse, captured John Brown, Jr., and Jason Brown. They were turned over to the United States troops and marched to Lecompton, prisoners. On the road they were treated with such severity that John Brown, Jr., was driven insane. On the 2d of June, Cap- tain John Brown, at Black Jack, captured Captain Pate and twenty-eight of his party, and held them prisoners till they were taken from him by United States troops, but treating them, as Captain Pate himself stated, with
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
humanity. On the 30th of August occurred the second attack on Osawatomie. John Brown, with forty-two men, unavailingly fought the assailants, the town was burned, and his son Frederick was shot down in the road.
121. John Brown in Massachusetts .- In February of the next year, 1857, John Brown appeared before a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature and told of the suffering in Kansas as he had seen it, the burnings, the robberies, the murders, the houseless people, the fire, smoke and desolation.
122. John Brown in Missouri .- After this Eastern visit he appeared again in Kansas, made a raid into Missouri, brought out fourteen slaves, and went away to the North with them. The Governor of Missouri offered $3,000 reward for him, and the President of the United States $250. An attempt made to capture Brown on his northward way at Holton, Kan., was a failure.
123. The Parallels .- In the early days of January, there appeared in a Kansas paper, the Lawrence Republican, a communication signed by Brown, and usually called "John Brown's Parallels." It was his farewell to Kansas. He recited his action in carrying off the slaves from Missouri, and contrasted it with the "Marais des Cygnes Massacre," which had happened in the May previous. When this article appeared, Brown had gone from Kansas. In March, 1859, he reached Canada with twelve fugitive slaves. The rest of his history belongs to that of the country and of the world.
124. The Defense .- One rainy Sunday night, at the Kennedy farm house, he said to his eighteen men: "Men, get on your arms, we will proceed to the Ferry," and so
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THE TRAGEDY OF JOHN BROWN.
they went. On the 1st of November, 1859, Captain Brown stood up in court at Charlestown, Virginia, to answer, if he might, why sentence of death should not be passed upon him, and he drew some further "parallels."
"I have another objection, and that is, that it is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner in which I admit, and which I admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in this case), had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends, either father, or mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or any of that class, and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right, and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.
"This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or, at least, the New Testament. That teaches me that all things 'Whatsoever I would that men should do unto me, I should do even so to them.' It teaches me further, 'to remember them that are in bonds as bound with them.' I endeavored to act up to that instruction. I say, I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done, as I have always freely admitted I have done, in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children, and with the blood of millions in this slave country, whose rights are
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit, so let it be done."
125. He Lives in the Hearts of Kansans .- In Kansas, the name of John Brown is held in remembrance in many ways, both by the old who knew his face, and the young who have but heard his name. In 1877 a marble monument was reared to his name at Osawatomie, near the old field of fearful odds. In the collection of the State Historical Society are preserved the garments he wore, and some of the last lines he is known to have written. A Kansas poet, Engene F. Ware, has written of him:
From boulevards, O'erlooking both Nyanzas, The statued bronze shall glitter in the sun, With rugged lettering: "John Brown, of Kansas; He dared begin; He lost, But losing, won."
SUMMARY.
1. John Brown arrived in Kansas, October 6, 1855, a day memor- able in the chronicles of freedom.
2. John Brown active in attack and defense at and near Osa- watomie.
3. He pleads before a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature in behalf of the suffering of Kansas.
4. He took fourteen slaves from Missouri to the North.
5. In court at Charlestown, Va., he gave as his defense, "I believe that to have interfered as I have done, in behalf of the despised poor, was not wrong but right."
6. His memory in Kansas.
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CHAPTER XIV.
LAST OF TERRITORY AND FIRST OF STATE.
126. Action of Congress .- The people of Kansas had spoken, but the will of the people was not yet to be eonsum- mated. The admission of Kansas as a Free State was yet to be opposed in the Senate of the United States. On the 11th of April, 1860, the House passed the bill admitting Kansas under the Wyandotte Constitution. The bill went to the Senate and was there rejected. On the 21st of January, 1861, Jefferson Davis and other Southern Senators announced their withdrawal from the Senate of the United States. On the same day William H. Seward called up in the Senate the bill for the admission of Kansas and it was passed, 36 to 16. It was then returned to the House and passed out of the regular order, 117 to 42, and on the 29th of January, the Act was signed by James Buchanan, Presi- dent of the United States, and that January day was there- after "Kansas Day."
127. Action of Legislature .- The fifth and last Terri- torial Legislature of Kansas met at Lecompton on the 2d of January, 1860, and in spite of the protests of Governor Medary, adjourned to Lawrence. The Governor and Secretary remain- ing at Lecompton, the Legislature adjourned sine die. The Governor ealled the Legislature to meet in special session at Lecompton. The Legislature met and passed a bill adjourn- ing to Lawrence; the Governor vetoed the bill and it was passed over his veto, and the Legislature assembled in
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
Lawrence. The Legislature passed a bill abolishing slavery in the Territory. Governor Medary vetoed the bill and wrote a long message. The bill was passed over his veto. This was the last. Governor Medary resigned in December, 1860, and was tendered a publie dinner at Lawrence, in token of the appreciation felt for the dignity, firmness and impar- tiality with which he had performed his duties. George M. Beebe, Secretary of the Territory, beeame acting Governor, in which capacity he continued until the inauguration of the State Government, February 9, 1861.
128. Territorial Governors .- With Samuel Medary ended the succession of Kansas Territorial Governors. They had nearly all been in a way distinguished men prior to their appearance in Kansas. Andrew H. Reeder, before his appointment as Governor of Kansas, had never held office, but had been for years one of the most eminent lawyers in Pennsylvania. Wilson Shannon had been twice elected Gov- ernor of Ohio, and a Representative in Congress, and had served as American Minister to Mexico. John W. Geary was a business man and the youngest of the company, but had served in the war with Mexico. He became, after the Kansas days, a Major-General in the Union army and Governor of Pennsylvania. Robert J. Walker had been a United States Senator from Mississippi, and Secretary of the Treasury during President Polk's administration. During the Civil War Robert J. Walker was the devoted advocate of the Union, and negotiated the sale of $250,000,000 of United States bonds abroad. James W. Denver had represented California in Congress, and had served as Commissioner of Indian affairs. Samuel Medary was an editor of national reputation, and had served as Commissioner of Indian affairs.
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LAST OF TERRITORY AND FIRST OF STATE.
129. Pony Express .- In April, 1859, started from St. Joseph, Mo., and across Kansas, the first "Pony Express" for San Francisco, to span the gap which then existed between the Missouri river and the Pacific coast, when the settlers demanded better mail and express facilities. The plan was to carry the mail on horseback, and, as rapid time was required, relays were stationed every twenty-five miles, at which fresh horses and riders were kept. The mail carrier, mounted on a spirited Indian pony, would leave St. Joseph at break-neck speed for the first relay station, swing from his pony, vault into the saddle of another standing ready, and dash on toward the next station. At every third relay a fresh rider took the mail. Through rain and sunshine, night and day, over mountain and plain, the wild rider con- tinued solitary and alone. The distance, 1,996 miles, was made in ten days. Then came the Wells & Fargo Express, next the Butterfield Overland Stage Company, and then the great railways.
130. Lincoln Heralds the New Star .- The morning of the 30th of January, 1861, found Kansas a Free State of the Union. The first time the flag of the United States was raised over Independence Hall, with the added star of Kansas in the field, was on the 22d of February, 1861. In raising the flag, President-elect Lincoln said: "I am invited and called before you to participate in raising above Inde- pendence Hall the flag of our country with an additional star upon it. I wish to call your attention to the fact that, under the blessing of God, each additional star added to ยท that flag has given additional prosperity and happiness to this country." The star of Kansas was raised above the
Alincoln.
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LAST OF TERRITORY AND FIRST OF STATE.
birthplace of Independence, on the birthday of Washington, by the hands of Lincoln, the Emancipator.
131. Election of Officers .- On the 6th of December, 1859, an election had been held under the Wyandotte Constitution for State officers and a Representative in Congress and members of the Legislature. The follow- ing persons were elected: Governor, Charles Robinson; Lieutenant-Governor, Joseph P. Root; Secretary of State, John P. Robinson; Treasurer, William Tholen; Auditor, George S. Hillyer; Superintend- Martin F. Conway. ent of Public Instruction, Wm. B. Grif- fiths; Chief Justice, Thomas Ewing, Jr .; Associate Justices, Samuel A. Kingman, Lawrence D Bailey; Attorney-General, Benjamin F. Simpson; Representative in Congress, Martin F. Conway. The admission of Kansas as a State, under the Wyandotte Constitution, made these the first State officers. Governor Robinson was sworn into office on the 9th of February, 1861, and requested the Legislature to convene on the 26th of March.
132. Drought of 1860 .- The year 1860 was a notable one for the nation and for Kansas. Aside from the political strife and anxiety, Kansas witnessed the coming of the direst natural calamity recorded in the country's history, ranking with the flood of '44. From the 19th of June, 1859, until November, 1860, over sixteen months, not a shower fell to soak the earth. Vegetation perished save the prairie grass, which during the early spring and midsummer flourished along the ravines and creeks, and even when dried up by the
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
hot winds, cured suddenly into hay and so afforded feed for cattle. It is estimated that in this awful time 30,000 emigrants left the country west of the Missouri, spreading the story of the disaster. In time, arrangements for sys- tematic aid for Kansas were organized in the East. Kansas was divided into two aid districts, S. C. Pomeroy being placed in charge of Northern, and W. F. M. Arny of Southern Kansas. The response from the great States of New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio was especially generous. More than 8,000,000 pounds of provisions and clothing, $85,000 in money, and 2,500 bushels of seed wheat were received by the constituted "aid" authorities, and W. F. M. Arny. great amounts of "aid goods" were received from churches. societies and individuals.
133. Shadow of Coming Events .- It was with the shadow of great privation still hanging over the State that the new State Government began its existence. There had been civil strife; the steps of famine had followed, and now were heard in the near distance the mutterings of war, which was to wrap the Nation in smoke and flame.
SUMMARY.
1. The House passes a bill to admit Kansas under the Wyandotte Constitution.
2. The Senate, after rejecting the bill, passes it January 21, 1861.
3. President Buchanan signs the bill, January 29, 1861, which becomes " Kansas Day."
4. Coming of the drought of 1860.
5. Kansas on the verge of war.
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CHAPTER XV.
THE FIRST LEGISLATURE.
134. Place of Meeting .- The first State Legislature met at Topeka, the temporary capital designated by the Wyandotte Constitution, on the 26th of March, 1861.
The infant State possessed no build- ings of its own, and the House assembled in the Ritchie Block, burned many years ago, which then stood on the southeast corner of Sixth and Kansas Avenues, and the Senate in the Gale Block, a short distance south. The inconveniences of a leaky roof forced an adjournment of the House to the Congregational Church, where it concluded its sessions. The Marcus J. Parrott. Legislature organized with Lieutenant-Governor Root as President of Senate, and Hon. W. W. Updegraff as Speaker of the House.
135. Election of U. S. Senators .- On the 4th of April the Legislature elected the first two United States Senators from the State of Kansas. There was but one ballot, and there were many changes of votes. James H. Lane and Samuel C. Pomeroy were chosen. The final vote stood: James H Lane, 55; Samuel C. Pomeroy, 52; Marcus J. Parrott, 49; Fred. P. Stanton, 21; Mark W. Delahay, 2; S. D. Houston, 1; S. A. Kingman, 3; A. J. Isaacks, 11; Martin F. Conway, 1.
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
136. Legislative Acts .- The Legislature remained in session until June. Its most important act was authorizing the issue of $150,000 in bonds to meet the current expenses of the State. Its most interesting historical act was the adoption of the great seal of the State, for which many designs were offered. The most striking feature of the design chosen is the motto, Ad Astra per Aspera, with which every Kansas child is familiar, and which was the suggestion of Hon. John James Ingalls. But the main business of this first Legislature of Kansas was with war.
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Seal of Kansas.
A company was formed of officers and members of the Legislature, which, during the recess, day after day, was drilled by a member who had attended a military school and knew something of tactics.
137. Kansas Responds to Lincoln's Call .- On the 15th of April President Lincoln issued his first call for 75,000 men.
On the 22nd of April the Legislature passed an act for the organization of the militia. Under the act, Governor
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THE FIRST LEGISLATURE.
Robinson organized 180 companies, divided into two divi- sions, four brigades and eleven regiments. On the 17th of April, five days after the firing on Sumter, Captain Samuel Walker, of Lawrence, tendered Governor Robinson a company of one hundred men. Within a week seven mili- tary companies had been formed in Douglas county alone.
By the end of the month companies had been formed in nearly every county. In the latter days of May the organization of the First Kansas Volunteers was begun in Leavenworth. On the 3d of June, a party of volunteers from the First Kansas crossed the Missouri river from Leavenworth to Iatan, on the Missouri side, and captured a Confederate flag. In the affair three men were wounded. This was the first Kansas blood shed in the Civil War. The next day the Legislature adjourned.
138. Topeka the Capital .- The Legislature of 1861 provided for an election to be held on the 5th of November, 1861, to determine the location of the State capital. Topeka received 7,996 votes, Lawrence 5,291, all others 1,184, and Topeka was declared the capital.
SUMMARY.
1. The first Kansas Legislature met at Topeka, March 26, 1861.
2. James H. Lane and Samuel C. Pomeroy elected United States Senators.
3. Legislature issued bonds, adopted a seal and motto, and formed of its own members a military company.
4. Kansas volunteeers are offered, and the militia is organized.
5. The State capital was located at Topeka, November 5, 1861.
CHAPTER XVI.
CRADLED IN WAR.
139. Kansas Soldiers .- The first year of Kansas as a State, found her "soul in arms, and eager for the fray." It may be said that for the four years that succeeded the firing on Fort Sumter, the thought, the occupation, the experience of Kansas was war. Everything gave place to meeting the responsibilities, and enduring the anxieties, sufferings, and losses of war.
The United States census of 1860, gave Kansas 143,643 inhabitants, of whom 34,242 were in the vicinity of Pike's Peak. This population was greatly diminished by the "drought of 1860." The entire quota assigned to Kansas during the Civil War was 16,654 men, and the number raised was 20,097; thus Kansas furnished a surplus of 3,433 men. In proportion to the force furnished, Kansas lost, in killed, more soldiers per 1,000 than any other State in the Union.
There was never in the course of the struggle a man drafted in the State of Kansas, nor was there ever a bounty offered either by the State, or any city or county in the State. Troops were raised continually as called for from the first to the last. The First Kansas regiment was mus- tered June 3, 1861, the Seventeenth was mustered July 28, 1864.
140. The "Frontier Guard" .- The "Frontier Guard" was a body of men, who, for fifteen days, from April 18th
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CRADLED IN WAR.
to May 3, 1861, before many troops had reached the city of Washington, guarded the White House and Mr. Lincoln. The "Guard" was commanded by General James H. Lane, and D. R. Anthony; Marcus J. Parrott, Sidney Clark, A. C. Wilder, Henry J. Adams, Mark W. Delahay, Samuel W. Greer, and many other Kansas men belonged to it.
141. Volunteer Organizations .- The volunteer organizations sworn into the service of the United States were: The First, Second, Eighth, Tenth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Seventeenth Infantry, and First and Second Colored Infantry. Samuel W. Greer. The Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Eleventh, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Cavalry. The First, Second, and Third Batteries, and Independent Colored Battery. In the course of the four years' war, these commands saw service over a wide area. The First Kansas took part in the siege of Vicksburg, and saw service in Louisiana. The Seventh Cavalry took part in the opera- tions about Corinth, Miss., in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. The Eighth Infantry fought at Perryville, Ky., Chickamauga, and Mission Ridge, marched east to Atlanta, and back again to Nashville, participated in the great battle of December, 1864, and saw its last active service in Texas. The Tenth Infantry took part in the battle of Nashville, the siege of Mobile, and the assault on Fort Blakely, and was mustered out at Montgomery, Ala. The Eleventh Cavalry carried its guidons to far Wyoming, 1,000 miles from Fort Leavenworth. The First Kansas Battery was ordered to Indiana to meet the famous "Morgan raid," and subse-
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HISTORY OF KANSAS.
quently served with the armies of Tennessee and Missis- sippi. The detachment from the Second Kansas Cavalry, known as Hollister's and Hopkins' battery, served in Ken- tucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, attached to the command of General Robert B. Mitchell of Kansas. The other com- mands as well as these did their work in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory.
142. The War in Kansas .- Kansas was open to attack on the east, sonth, and on the west, where the Indians served as a perpetual menace. The soldiers of Kansas were called alternately to repel invasion, and to penetrate the fastnesses of the enemy. The war was waged in a wide and almost wilderness country; a country of mountains, defiles and tangled woods and canebrakes, traversed by countless streams, rapid and roaring, or deep, winding and sluggish; but, for the most part, without bridges or ferries. In the thousands of miles of marching the Kansas soldiers often saw not a rod of smooth and settled highway; they moved by trails-by traces, over the hills and far away across the prairies, guided by the sun, the distant and random gun, the smoke of combat or vengeful burning. They were far from the region of great and decisive battles, of strategie combinations and foreseen results. The columns came and went, making forced marches for days and nights together; fighting a battle and winning a dear bought vietory, to return whence they came. They fought, and marched, and camped in a region that was neither North nor South, and so possessed a climate with the evil features of both. They met the blinding sleet and snow; were drenched with tropical rainstorms, and braved alike the blazing fury of the sun, and the bitter.
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CRADLED IN WAR.
malice of the frost. Far from their bases of supplies; food and powder must be brought a long, toilsome and dangerous way, guarded at every step, fought for at every ford and pass. It was a hard and desperate warfare. For Kansas, the Civil War was but the continuation of the border troubles. The embers of that struggle had not been covered with the ashes of forgetfulness when they blazed again into direst flames. Along the border the war assumed the character of a vendetta; a war of revenge, and over all the wide field a war of combats; of ambushes and ambuscades, of swift advances and hurried retreats; of spies and scouts; of stealth, darkness and murder. All along the way men riding solitary were shot down; little companies killed by their camp fires; men fighting on both sides neither asking, giving, nor expecting mercy.
143. Away from Home .- The first regiment to leave the soil of Kansas was the First Kansas Infantry, under command of Colonel George W. Deitzler, which moved from Leavenworth to Kansas City, Mo., on the 13th of June, 1861. The Second, under Colonel Robert Mitchell, from Lawrence, followed, and later, both regiments became a brigade of the army of General Nathaniel Lyon, under command of Colonel Dietzler, General George W. Deitzler. and on the 10th of August, 1861, stood in battle array on "Bloody Hill," and fought out the battle of Wilson's Creek. The Second was the last regiment to leave the field. After the battle of Wilson's Creek, the First Kansas served in Missouri until the end of the year 1861. The Second returned to Kansas to be reorganized.
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