History of Nemaha County, Kansas, Part 13

Author: Tennal, Ralph 1872-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Lawrence, Kan., Standard Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 964

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"After going about half way to Cedar Creek we met a large company of not less than two hundred men ; they took me prisoner and ordered me to dismount ; after taking me for some distance in a wagon, well guard- ed, I was again compelled to mount my pony, and the three men who came with me from the other camp held a consultation with the officers of this. I overheard Coleman say, 'There may be treachery used.' but could gather nothing definite of their intentions further, save that these three men who had volunteered to help me find my horses were sent to take me to Westport; the company went on over the hill in the prairie ; shortly after they disappeared these men led me off the road a hundred yards into the prairie; they made me dismount, and demanded my money. I gave them all that I had, $45, without a word; one of them then raised his gun as if to shoot men ; it was. a United States musket; I told him if he meant to kill me he would kill a better man than himself ; lowering his gun, he said, 'I wish you to take off them pantaloons for fear they get dirty.' I told him they were mine as long as I was alive ; he again raised his musket, but while he was in the act of firing I dodged ; the ball hit me in the side, glancing along my ribs, and through the cartilages, lodging in my back. I fell. He then struck at my head with the butt end of his musket, but missed, only grazing it; as he struck at me the other two men rode off as fast as possible after the company that had gone over the prairie; he struck at me again, when I caught the musket in my hands and held on to it; he held the other end

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and jumped on my body, stamping on head and face, but as he wore Indian slippers he did not hurt me much. He then tried to jerk the mus- ket from me, and in doing so pulled me to my feet ; I still held on to it, and dealing him a blow with my fist, he let go the musket ; he then ran after the others, calling them to come back, but they had gone some dis- tance and did not hear him; he ran after them and I ran after him; he commenced running harder, and soon disappeared; I then turned, ran some distance into the prairie, and hid in the grass; three hours passed quietly, when I left my hiding place and wandered toward home."

Mrs. P. W. Cox, of Oneida, tells of the first religious service held in Nemaha county which she recollects perfectly. "I was only a little girl of nine years when we came to Kansas. Everything that was out of the ordinary monotony of the day was impressed vividly on my mind. I recall the first sermon preached in the county, if not in northeastern Kansas. It was at a Mr. Harrison's. We sat on beds and chairs and boxes in a log house. The preacher was a Methodist circuit rider. These circuit riders came here for the money and food that was contributed and they received no salary. They traveled on horseback, and each man's horse was equipped with a picket rope, pins and straps to the sad- dle to carry their clothes as cowboys do. They carried their food with them, it often being miles and miles from one appointment to the oth- er."

Oneida has several thriving stores, a Methodist church, Rev. Nath- aniel Adams as pastor, and a Christian church, served fortnightly by Chancellor Oeschger, of Lincoln, Neb. It has several lodge chapters and a woman's club organization, "The Modern Penelopes," and a "Camp Fire Girls" chapter. They give clever plays and entertainments and keep people amused.

CHAPTER XVII.

NEMAHA IN THE BORDER WAR.

ANTI SLAVERY SENTIMENT-UNDERGROUND RAILROAD-JOHN B BROWN HERE-REV. CURTIS GRAHAM-RECOLLECTIONS OF WILLIAM GRAHAM -NEMAHA NOT SERIOUSLY AFFECTED-QUANTRILL-SLAVES HERE -JIM LANE HERE-MEXICAN WAR VETERANS.

Albany and practically all the eastern section of Nemaha county was anti-slavery sentiment. It was settled by Northerners as the western half was by Southerners. Nemaha county had little experience with the border war because it was too far from the river. Sixty-five miles in those days was some distance, and the border war existed between Atch -. ison and St. Joseph, Weston and Leavenworth, all towns on opposite sides of the Missouri river which was the dividing line between north- ern and Southern sympathies. Nemaha county had some finger in the border difficulties inasmuch as the county was on the direct line of the "Underground Railroad" and Albany was the principal station on the road. Both John Brown and Jim Lane were Nemaha county visitors during these strenuous times. At one time John Brown with a number of followers and "travelers" in course of transportation on the "Under- ground railroad," arrived at Albany. John Brown, the great abolitionist, a big bearded man, found room to sleep at the Whittenhall cabin, even if it was nearly all filled with piano. The guns were stacked in the other corners not occupied by the famous music box. The rest of the party stayed at the Edwin Miller place. It is an odd thing that, although Al- bany became a certain place in which to protect slaves, there are very few negroes, comparatively, in Sabetha, or in any part of Nemaha coun- ty and none at all in Albany. Both the Slossons and the Grahams were underground railway agents. At one time John Brown came through with thirty-five slaves. He had "borrowed" wagons and horses from Missourians to carry the refugees to freedom, and he was protected all the way by the settlers in Nemaha county who sympathized with him. The owners of the wagons were mildly bringing up the rear, asking that their property, both slaves and horses, be returned. No battle followed and people were merely amused at the incident. William Graham claimed to be the last man to see John Brown on Kansas soil. Graham guided Brown and a party of slaves which Brown had railroaded by the

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underground route from Missouri to the Nebraska line, and saw them safely across the river. It was John Brown's last trip through Nemaha county or Kansas.

Rev. Curtis Graham, who pioneered in Nemaha county, but moved back to New York later where he died about ten years ago, was an in- timate friend of Jim Lane. He came out to Kansas in 1856, presumably to be of what assistance he could to General Lane. In the year of the great drouth Dr. Graham went east to secure succor and funds to re- lieve the suffering in Kansas. He secured thousands of dollars in money and food. Dr. Graham did not belong to the Graham brothers of Albany. He was of Seneca, and the more to be admired as many in that part of the country were pro-slavery people. He is a father of D. B. Graham.

William Graham, now of Dodge City, is the earliest settler on the Sabetha townsite now living. Mr. Graham took the first claim on what is now the Sabetha townsite. The claim covered what is now the south side of Sabetha. He took the claim in March, 1857. The claim ex- tended a block north of the Rock Island track, and it took in the land be- tween Hense Hazell's residence in the eastern part of Sabetha and the Sabetha hospital on the west side of Sabetha. The race track and all the present town south of the Rock Island track (and considerable land just north of the track) were taken in by Mr. Graham's land. Mr. Graham sold out in 1881, disposing of the west half of his land to Samuel and William Slosson and the east half of it to Jackson Cotton and A. N. N. Kentner.

Three or four months after Mr.Graham preempted land here, Capt. A. W. Williams appeared. There was then nothing but open prairie on the townsite. Captain Williams decided to start a town here. Captain Williams bought a claim one half mile east of Albany in Brown county and used his preemption right on that. In the spring of 1858 he filed on the south half of section I, township 2, range 14 for a townsite but could not hold it, so he sold his right to the quarter to J. J. Goodpasture and hired Joseph Legg to preempt the west quarter.

William Graham says the story that Jim Lane named the Sabetha townsite is a mistake. He also says the story that Capain Williams got the name from a well a few miles east of here which had been given the Greek name for Sabbath by a stranger who had lost an ox on the spot on Sunday, is a mistake. Mr. Graham who was here through all that early period says he does not know how the town got its original and unusual name; that probably nobody knows and that the origin of the name will never be known. Of course others says that the story pre- viously told of the naming of Sabetha is accurate.

Mr. Graham says James H. Lane named two towns in this vicinity. One of the towns was started on Pony Creek and Lane named it Ply- mouth. The other town was started on the place where Ed Brown now lives near Sabetha, and he named it Lexington. Neither of the towns (10)

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got beyond Lane's imagination. This was in 1856-a year before Mr. Graham located here.

When William Graham came to this section he was accompanied by a party of New Yorkers. The party consisted of William Slosson, Edwin Miller, now deceased, and John L. Graham, also deceased. John L. Graham was captain of Company D, Eighth Kansas, during the Civil war. He was in the sanguinary struggle at Chickamauga in 1863, being killed in battle. Afterward the Kansas legislature honored John L. Gra- ham by naming Graham county, Kansas, for him. John L. Graham was a brother of William Graham. William Graham fought in Company A, Seventh Kansas. The first party mentioned as having come from New York in 1857, was soon afterward followed by George Graham, Elihu Whittenhall and Archibald Webb, all names that are familiar to Neme- ha county people. When Edwin Miller came from New York he was accompanied by his wife and their son, C. E. Miller. Edwin Miller died some twenty-five years ago. His son is principal of the St. Joseph High School, and has held the position over twenty years. When C. E. Miller became principal of the St. Joseph High School, he succeeded a man named Strong. A few years ago Strong became the Chancellor of the Kansas State University, succeeding Chancellor Snow.

The border war of the pioneer days of Kansas affected Nemala county as little as did the Indian raids of less fortunate districts. Ne- maha county, sixty-five miles from the Missouri river, seventy from Topeka and a hundred or more from Lawrence, was spared the bitter struggle between anti- and pro-slavery men. The underground railroad had a station in Nemaha county and several vigorous, enthusiastic "agents." The new generation may not understand just what is meant by "Underground railroad" in the sense in which it is used in Nemaha county's history. The "Underground railroad" was a term used before the Civil war, indicating the method used in assisting fugitive slaves to escape from this country to Canada. The "stations" were the houses of anti-slavery men, or abolitionists. The agents were the owners of these homes. The slaves were secreted in the daytime by the "agents" at their "stations" and passed along at night, over devious branches of the "railroad" until they reached Canada, safety and freedom. Of course there was no physical railroad at all. This is interpolated because of the apt inquiry of a boy who wanted to know what became of the "rail- road." For years the term was a mystery to the writer.

One reason possibly for the absence of fierce quarrels in the border war in Nemaha county is that there were no newspapers published in the county until after the beginning of the Civil war. The early settlers were largely from the East, many from the South coming to northern Kansas largely to escape their motherland's slave beliefs. This seems to be undeniable for these southerners fought for the Union when the Civil war was finally declared. The five or six years interevening be- tween the arrival of the first settler and the Rebellion were spent largely

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in the struggle for existence, but the underground railway kept the county in close touch with the unhappy situation in the more populated part of the State.

One of the interesting connections Nemaha county gets with the border war is the fact that a prominent citizen of the county came from Canal Dover, Ohio, which was the boyhood home of Bill Quantrill, of the famous Qauntrill raid of Lawrence, Kans. H. C. Haines, of Sa- betha, says that Quantrill was a boy who had no "folks." He came out West with a family by the nme of Beach. Beach located near Law- rence. No one seems to know what became of Quantrill. An editor of a paper claimed to know, but Mr. Haines thinks he does not. It is gen- erally supposed that Quantrill went down to Texas, where he probably died. Mr. Haines thinks this is the most probable ending of the lurid career of his former townsman.

Of the border war period, Nemaha county had one lingering "taste." Two slaves were brought to Nemaha county and retained here in the late fifties. "Two girls were brought to Albany before the war and held as slaves, the only human beings ever held as chattels in Ne- maha county," a record of them states, which has been preserved in the historical archives of the State. L. R. Wheeler kept the girls as ser- vants in his family, and probably not as slaves as the story goes. He needed servants; they needed protection and a home. The girls drifted away and nothing much was thought of the matter.

The first escaped slave to become a settler was Mrs. Holden, who, in 1862, reached the saving station in Albany with her five children, where she remained for several years. Her son was killed in the Civil war and she received a pension of $1,800 and accumulated a fair legacy to leave her children when she died in the eighties. W. G. Sargent res- cued from slavery Lena Russell and Mrs. Jane Scott and Daniel Russell. Charles Holden married Lena Russell and became an intelligent farm- er. John Masterson, another slave to escape to the sheltering arms of Albany, married another Holden girl, and Cora Holden married Thomas Frame, who had Indian blood in his veins and whose marriage ended in the divorce court. Up to 1884 this was the only divorced colored couple on Nemaha county's dockets. Mrs. Scott lived for many years in the Sargent family where Mrs. Sargent taught her to read and write. After she left Mrs. Sargent for many years a correspondence was kept up with the colored woman.

Another incident of the border war days, recalled by W. C. Rutan, of Sabetha, is that Jim Lane camped on the Dick Blodgett farm in the southeastern section of the county. Of everyone who came along or at every farm he visited, Jim Lane would ask whether traveler or farmer were Confederate or Union in their sympathies. But no difference what reply was made the Jim Lane followers took whatever they had, on gen- eral principles.

Many Nemaha county residents were in the Mexican war. Among

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them were Thomas Carlin, Patrick Bendon, George Frederick, George Goppelt, James M. Hicks, Henry M. Hillix and Joseph Morrill. Mr. Morrill was in the New England regment; Mr. Hillix in the First Ken- tucky mounted volunteers; Mr. Hicks was in an Indiana regiment; Mr. Frederick and Goppelt in the regular army and connected with a bat- tery under the control of Col. Braxton Bragg, while Mr. Carlin was at- tached to the Marine battery, and participated in the battles of Monte- rey, Buena Vista, Resaca de la Palma, Saltillo and Vera Cruz. Mr. Car- lin was within twenty feet of Major Ringgold and within 200 feet of Lieut. Col. Henry Clay, Jr., when they fell mortally wounded. As two Indiana regiments became demoralized, and retreated from the field of action in the hottest of the fight, Mr. Carlin was ordered to turn his bat- tery upon them, but declining to do so he was tried before a court mar- tial and gave as a reason for disobeying the command that he would pre- fer killing Mexicans to killing Americans. He escaped a sentence through the interference of General Taylor, whom he regarded as his guardian, and who cautioned him in the future like a good soldier to strictly obey orders. Mr. Carlin's home was then in Plaquemine, La., where General Taylor lived, and for whom he cast his first vote in 1848.

CHAPTER XVIII.

NEMAHA IN THE CIVIL WAR.

NEMAHA RESPONDED PROMPTLY-A COMPANY ORGANIZED HERE-GEORGE GRAHAM ORGANIZED A COMPANY-"JOHN BROWN'S BODY"-BE- LONGED TO THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH REGIMENTS-REAL WARFARE -TROOPS RETURN ON A FURLOUGH-NEMAHA SOLDIERS IN IMPOR- TANT ENGAGEMENTS-NEMAHA BOYS IN THE NINTH CAVALRY- ELEVENTH REGIMENT IN CAMPAIGN AGAINST INDIANS-NEMAHA SOLDIERS SAW MUCH SERVICE-PROMINENT NEMAHA MEN IN THE CIVIL WAR-GRAPE SHOT FOUND HERE-WAR RELICS.

Nemaha county was settled largely by New Englanders and New Yorkers, so it was natural that Nemaha's enlistment in the Union army was unusually large. In the course of the war but eight men were draft- ed into the army from Nemaha county. This would not have been nec- essary if time had been given for a wider canvass of the willing and pa- triotic. At one time in Sabetha there was but one man left in the entire community. Capt. A. W. Williams, of Sabetha, organized a company of 150 volunteers in August, 1861. They were encamped upon their en- listment near Sabetha and Captain Williams furnished their rations at his own expense. Within a month they marched to Fort Leavenworth where most of them were sworn in as members of Company D, Eighth Kansas regiment. Later George Graham organized a company, one third of which joined either the Ninth or Thirteenth Kansas regiments, and in addition there were forty Nemaha men in the famous Eighth Kan- sas regiment and seventy in the Thirteenth. The Nemaha men served generally all through the war and the special Nemaha county regiment. the Eighth, was fighting way down in Texas at the close of the war, while the Thirteenth was sent home from Little Rock, Ark.

The Seventh Cavalry was organized on the twenty-eighth day of October and ordered immediately into active service. The Colonel was Chas. R. Jennison, of Leavenworth, and the Lieutenant Colonel was D. R. Anthony, for years the editor of the Leavenworth "Times," and a leading Kansas man for many years, a valiant fighter for Woman Suf- frage and a brother of Susan D. Anthony, whose name will always lead the American suffragists. Dan Anthony, Congressman from this dis- trict and editor of the "Times" since Colonel Anthony's death, is his

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son. Edwin Miller, of Sabetha, was the second lieutenant in Company I. The Seventh's first battle was an attack on Col. Upson Hayes en- camped on the Little Blue River in Missouri, where Kansas City now lies, Lieut. Col. Anthony commanding. Thirty-two of the Seventh were killed, the rebel camp burned and all the horses captured. An exciting incident of the Seventh's career was the arrest and deprivation of his command, of Lieut. Col. Anthony for publishing an order for the severe punishment of any officer in his brigade who should arrest and deliver to his master any fugitive slave. The Confederates, it seems, had been making a habit of searching the camp for slaves, to the great indigna- tion and annoyance of the officers in command. The Seventh fought in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Missouri.

In January, 1864, many of the men who were encamped at La Grange, Tenn., were taken ill from exposure, and suffering from frozen feet. Four fifths of the regiment were re-enlisted volunteers. These were given a furlough of thirty days. At its expiration they were re-equipped and were sent back to St. Louis, serving for a time as guards to laborers repairing railroads. During a march through Mississippi, they were constantly attacked. Later they returned to St. Louis and thence to Omaha, to Fort Kearney and Fort Leavenworth, where they were dis- charged from the same point at which they entered the service. A fa- mous, or notorious member, perhaps, is the word, of the Seventh was Marshall Cleveland, the outlaw who organized Company H. He was the first captain of his company: a handsome, dashing, fearless man. Company H was largely composed of the famous band which operated on the Missouri borders in the turbulent days preceding the Civil war. Cleveland's career even prior to this border war had not been en- tirely unchequered. He was a stage driver in Ohio, had served a term in the penitentiary, and upon being freed therefrom had changed his name from Charles Metz to the one by which he became famous over the entire country. Colonel Anthony terminated Cleveland's career as an officer of the Seventh. The brilliant, dashing, handsome Captain Cleve- land appeared at dress parade with his pants stuck down in his boots. Colonel Anthony reprimanded him. Cleveland rode into Leavenworth, sent in his resignation and the Seventh saw him no more.

Another famous captain of the Seventh was John Brown, Jr., a son of the famous John Brown. He was a brilliant captain during his brief service, which lasted only six months, because of ill health. It was John Brown's company which taught Kansas the famous war song, "John Brown's body." Every night rabid worshipers of John Brown would gather around the camp fire and sing the famous air. A fervid address followed, which usually ended in an oath taken to avenge John Brown's death. Then three cheers were given for the young captain and the company retired.

During the entire service of four years only twenty men of the Sev- enth were taken prisoners. Of the Nemaha county members of the Sev -.

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enth whose graves are decorated Memorial day are Charles Boomer and Edwin Miller. The Seventh was one of the picturesque regiments of the Western army. It was fearless and feared. Romantic women ad- mired it secretly. It was adored by slaves, dreaded and hated by Con- federate soldiers, and besmirched by Unionists.

There was nothing picturesque or romantic about the Eighth Kan- sas, to which most of the Nemaha county men belonged. It is the story of real warfare, sordid, bitter, cruel, severe. No pictures of brilliant at- tacks and high-handed captures, but long, unnecessary marches over al- most impassible roads, only to find when reaching their destination that the march was a false move, the enemy gone and a return necessary. Days without food and nights without rest. Bitter criticisms of care- less generalship. Dogged determination to remain in line, and finally an entire regiment falling exhausted on scant beds of damp hay over sodden fields. Days of tramping through blinding rain ; wading through rivers to their waists; provisions ordered left behind with the supposi- tion that others would follow the skirmishing regiment, only to find or- ders reversed after their departure and without food or shelter, wet, dis- heartened, cold, hungry, but still with their country's need in their hearts, the Eighth Kansas struggled through Mississippi and Ohio for the better part of a year. Then General Rosecrans took charge of their division of the United States army and matters improved. Later Gen- eral Grant himself was in command of their army. The battle of Look- out Mountain, Orchard Knob, Chattanooga and Chickamauga, big bat- tles of the war, were some compensation for the unrewarded hardships of those first bitter months. Colonel Martin, editor for many years of the Atchison "Champion" and later governor of Kansas was the Colonel of their regiment. Colonel Martin was a lovable and beloved man. He is one of the rare men to have entered a high position and to have left it with more friends than when he entered.

Captain A. W. Williams, founder of Sabetha, was in charge of com- pany D, and John L. Graham, of Albany, was second lieutenant. On the eighth of February, 205 men were mustered in as veteran volunteers and on the twenty-fifth the regiment reached Atchison on a furlough. The town was the home of Colonel Martin and great honor was done to the returned soldiers. These were bells and banners and flags, and parades, speeches, and banquets, with such food as had not been tasted by a soldier boy for three weary, stressful years.

In the battle of Chickamauga the Eighth had lost 267 men, either killed or wounded, out of a total enlistment of 408. But the Eighth never faltered. It saw more fighting and took part in more battles of note than any other Kansas regiment. They fought under great gen- erals, and every part of the bitterness and bravery, the gall and glory of war became known to them. A last bitter pill was administered to the Eighth Kansas, when the regiment was ordered to Texas shortly before the close of the war. They knew the war was reaching its termination

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and felt the order was intensely unjust. But good soldiers obey orders, and the regiment went to Texas, reaching Indianola July 9. Their route took them across a marsh filled with the poison of malaria. Men, worn and weary from the exactions of active warfare, could not overcome the contagion, and dropped on the line of march in complete exhaustion and unquenchable thirst. The brigade did provost duty in San Antonio until November 29, 1865, when it was mustered out after a service of four years, four months and eleven days, having been one of the earliest in the field. One writer in the regiment says that "Had some generals not thought wars were won by men's legs rather than their guns, the Eighth might have been saved 10,750 miles of tramping through the sultry days of summer and the stormy nights of winter, an experience which inclines the Eighth Kansas warriors to consider that the war song 'tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,' was written for and should have been dedicated to them."

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History of Nemaha County, Kansas, Part 13

Author: Tennal, Ralph 1872- Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Lawrence, Kan., Standard Publishing Company Number of Pages: 964

Author: Tennal, Ralph 1872-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Lawrence, Kan., Standard Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 964