USA > Kansas > Douglas County > Lawrence > The Kansas memorial, a report of the Old Settlers' meeting held at Bismarck grove, Kansas, Sept. 15th and 16th, 1879 > Part 18
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a free state man ?" " Yes !" "Well, then you are a damned Aboli- tionist." So then I concluded if I had to be classed with Abolition- ists, then I had to vote with the " damned Abolitionists." And there's where I have been voting for the past fifteen, twenty or twenty-five years (except when I " selected " my man you know) because the necessities of the case drove me there. There's an idea ! I don't believe the Republican party is entitled to one par- ticle of credit for making Kansas a free State. But I do believe that the people of Kansas are entitled to the credit in addition to the assistance they received from the East, and that we made Kansas a free state not by force of arms, but that it was because of our having more votes than the pro-slavery party. This is true in every respect.
If we had not had more votes at the time of the rejection of the Lecompton constitution, the pro slavery party would have beaten us. I want to say this-I am glad that I am not to listen to these laudatory speeches more than once in twenty-five years, be- cause all these honors piled upon me year after year would finally make me stoop-shouldered, and begin to look old. Still it may be of some service for my children and children's children to know what a great hero I have been, in order to communicate it to the generations far beyond.
ADDRESS BY HON. JAMES ROGERS.
Gov. ROBINSON :- I see an old free state man here, who has done great service in his own county-Osage-and I will ask him to say a few words to you.
Mr. Rogers said :
Mr. President :
I have been called out to speak a few words only in commem- oration of the services of those of whom I have spoken, and here I suppose I ought to stop; but a voice from somebody in the audi- ence, inquiring "if their were no women in Kansas during the early struggles ?" has emboldened me to take the liberty to make a brief reply.
Let me say that there were not only women here during all that fearful ordeal, but ladies were here also-and ladies of the highest type of womanhood; ladies in virtue, refinement and cul- ture ; ladies who had not only enjoyed all the comforts of happy and beautiful homes, but many who had been nursed in the lap of luxury and ease. I am more than surprised that amidst all the splendid eulogiums that have been poured out here to-day upon the men who took part in the great strife for freedom, I have not heard one word uttered in behalf of the early women of Kansas. This, Mr. President, is not as it should be, for they are equally entitled to praise with "the lords of creation " for the successes of those early times.
I know well what the early women of Kansas endured. I know their privations, their hardships and their dangers, and I
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know how uncomplainingly they bore up against them. To those of you who were not here let me say that you have no conception of their difficulties, trials and dangers, nor the courage-high moral courage-with which they met them. Living as they did in little, rude, unsheltered cabins, scattered over the bleak prairies, often miles apart; the husband called out to defend the border, or to go to the Missouri river for provisions, the woman for days was left either alone or with her little children, in a country infested with malicious and vindictive men of the border, or with the lurk- ing semi-savage Indian whose tribes were scattered all over the Territory, with no one, save perchance a faithful dog, to guard her against the surprise and attack of those revengeful barbarians. It has ever been a matter of profound astonishment how she arose to that sublime courage that mocks at fear and makes manhood feel ashamed. It seems to me that she must have been inspired of heaven during all those dark hours of our distress, for when the man grew weak, the woman grew strong. When the men became timid, the women became the more brave. When the men despaired, the women inspired them with hope. When the man cursed and gave way to his evil nature, the woman prayed and was calm, and relied on the justice of God with unfaltering faith to lead us through that sea of troubles.
Those of us in the remote West were often cut off from the great rivers, our only source of supplies. We generously divided until the last morsel was gone, and then for days had nothing to eat. Sometimes our women grated green corn on the bottom of a tin pan with holes punched outward, the result of which she baked into cakes, which, with baked green squash was our only means of support. While the men were engaged in building, breaking the soil and fencing, the women, with instinctive ingenuity, were gathering from the forest and field something to assist to make our corn meal and "hog meat" palatable. And then came sick- ness upon us, with not half enough of the well to take care of the sick; but amid all these afflictions woman never faltered. She never once said "turn back." She was as true to the voice of liberty, justice and humanity as the needle to the pole. Her bet- ter nature had prompted her to solicit her husband, father or brother to come to Kansas, and to follow him hither as well; and when the storm and darkness settled thick around us, she was our guiding star, our pillar and cloud to lead us to the promised land. I remember well hearing good Judge Schuyler relate how his feeble and failing wife urged him to leave his happy home in the State of New York and come to Kansas and battle for freedom. I know, if he were here to-day, the women would not need a friend to champion their cause.
Mr. Schuyler said: " My wife said, 'go, Phillip. Buckle on your armour, and go out and fight for the cause of freedom in Kan- sas. I cannot go with you, but I will remain behind and take care of the little ones and use my influence to urge others to go.' And
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every week came letters from her urging me to stay and cheering me on, but for which I should have turned back in despair ; and when her tongue had ceased to speak and her pen to encourage me, which was in the midst of our troubles, it henceforth seemed that she ever stood by me, and that I could hear her whispering in my ear words of hope and cheer until the day of our triumph."
Such was the character of all the free state women of Kansas. It would be invidious to mention names, as it is impossible in a few brief moments to do them justice. But when the true history of Kansas shall be written-as it surely will be-there will be heroines as well as heroes, and her part in the great struggle for liberty, justice and right, will form the brightest in it. All honor to the early free state women of Kansas; all honor to her devotion to liberty and the cause of God; all honor to her moral courage, which rose superior to all danger and restrained the passions of the stronger sex, and inspired them with courage and hope. I tell you but for the women of Kansas it would have been abandoned in one week, and instead of these free institutions which are the pride and the boast of to-day, Kansas would have been surrendered by those who have been here so highly eulogized, and this goodly land, with its fair fields, its fruits and flowers, would have been the heritage of the oppressor and the oppressed-and that too, perhaps, forever.
ADDRESS BY LEONARD WORCESTER.
Gov. ROBINSON :- The Old Settlers' band has given us music more than once during this celebration. We all remember how much they cheered us, all through the early days-and how too, they mingled their notes with our sorrows in times of trouble. I will call upon one of their number to say a few words to you.
Mr. Worcester said :
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
If I had been asked what was the one thing farthest from my expectation to-day, I would have, perhaps, said it was I should have been asked to stand before you here and say anything to you. I have no great record to show. I have done no great thing. In my small way with my friends here, with the old Lawrence band, we tried to infuse enthusiasm into the hearts of the sons of Kansas whenever they were going out to their work, or whenever they came home. But I, by myself, could have done nothing, would have done nothing and was nothing. But my friends here have helped me and the friends were kind enough to say that we did cheer them a good deal, and helped them. Our first work that I remem- ber of, was done at the funeral of Barber who had been buried in the town, was taken up and removed to the cemetery on the hill. That was the first work in which I took a part in Kansas, - in company with four or five others; from that the old Lawrence Cornet Band grew, and lasted after I left the Territory. I left in
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1859. But I am glad to hear that my going away did not do away with the music of the old band by any means, and I was more glad to be here and see you all together-see all the faces that I used to know in the troublesome days. I thank you.
THE OLD LAWRENCE BAND.
The Old Lawrence Band which added so much to the pleas- ure of the meeting is thus written of by Mr. Joseph Savage, of Lawrence :
The appearance of the Old Lawrence Band at the quarter cen- tennial celebration of the settlement of Kansas, suggests that its history be written.
In 1854, Aug. 26th, the writer had made up his mind to go to Kansas with the second party which started out from Boston, August 29th, or the Wednesday following. At church, August 26th, James Sawyer concluded to follow me to Boston on Tuesday, while I was to go down from Hartford, Vermont, on Monday. Upon going to the depot at Boston on Tuesday to meet Mr. Saw- yer, I was surprised to find three others with him, my brother, F. Savage, Mr. N. Hazen and Mr. A. Hazen, all members of our Hartford band, with myself, except Mr. Sawyer. They had our four horns along, i. e., one e flat copper key bugle, one brass post horn in b flat, one b flat cornet, and one b flat baritone.
On Wednesday at the Boston depot a large crowd gathered to see us off, for the excitement of going to Kansas had already set in pretty strong, and the papers chronicled all little events connect- ed with our exodus with faithful minuteness; so they said that the Kansas emigration took along a band of music with them, and another new-wedded pair went out to spend their honey-moon.
At the depot the large audience sang auld lang syne, to the words of our poet Whittier :
" We cross the prairies as of old, Our fathers crossed the sea," &c.
Dr. Webb was particularly enthusiastic over this song Our band (of four) played the tune through before singing, and an in- terlude of the last strain between each verse, and also as the cars rolled out of the depot and the crowd hurrahed to us, we in return gave the usual military cheers. A little more playing was done on the cars as we passed along the New England villages, and a little more on the lake boat from Buffalo to Detroit, Mich., and I think a trifle more while going up the Missouri river. The copper bugle, played by A. Hazen, and the b flat baritone only remained in Lawrence that fall. We often, on still moonlight evenings, played national airs and songs, much to the delight of the settlers gathered around to listen and applaud. We also sang often and much with S. N. Simpson and others, A. Hazen accompanying on the violin, and myself the horn. This was the last of our music till the Fourth of July, 1855, when we had a big celebration in the grove north
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and west of the town near the river. A. Hazen never came back after 1854, but O. Wilmarth came with a c clarionet and a Mr. Harlow, from Randolph, Vt., came with a melodeon, or reed organ-with these we accompanied a very good choir of singers, and besides gave some instrumental pieces upon the platform erected for the occasion. One of the latter pieces was " Home, Sweet Home," and it was listened to with evident interest. "Yan- kee Doodle " and " Hail Columbia " were also rendered with good effect, for the time, place, and occasion all combined to make it memorable. Many Indians were present, and some made ad- dresses, one (Pechowkee) said : " Many a red man has watered the tree of your liberty with his blood." Harlow died that season; and O. Wilmarth, from R. I., and myself used to play the Portuguese hymn or " Dead March " up the hill to the cemetery at funerals. How many times we two played alone I do not now remember, but it must have been several times. In the fall of 1855 my broth- er, F. Savage, came out again and settled here, he being one of the original four made an addition of one. Some time the next spring, I think in May or June, 1856, Mr. Leonard Worcester came here and lived at Mr. John Hawse's, midway between my brother and me. He had a half crescent shaped cornet, and used, for diversion, to play out of doors in the evening. We heard him, and after several days we invited him to play with us. He readi- ly did so, and then we had three horns. With these we sere- naded the new town or city and also the steamboat which had made a trip up from Kansas City and was lying at our wharf.
Our town grew during the summer and we began to talk up a bigger band. It was one Sabbath afternoon after church that Worcester and I went to the residence of Mr. Samuel Kimball to induce him to join the band. He had two brothers, Edward and Fred Kimball. All sang well and they had a violin and bass viol. The Kimballs consented to join us if we could raise the necessary horns. After some consultation it was decided to borrow one hundred dollars and send Mr. Worcester to St. Louis for them. We all gave our joint note, and my brother, F. Savage, furnished the money. The horns were bought, and the band began in earn- est. The Kimballs proved to be workers in music, and Ed. and Fred soon became good performers.
During the troubles of 1856 we often went into the city, at the invitation of Gen. Lane, to play national airs in order to drive away homesickness, and I think it did, for the boys would brighten up and appear highly pleased. The soldiers were all volunteers and it took all these combined efforts to hold them together. We also played at a good many funerals of free state men and others: Bar- ber, Shombre, and one after another as they fell. Thus we pros- pered until the fall of 1863-in the interim John Ross beat the bass drum, Abram Wilder the tenor drum, and E. P. Fitch fixed the lanterns and worked the cymbals.
Also, during this time-I think in 1856 or 1857, Mr. Samuel
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Newhall joined us from Boston, and Worcester left for the Indian Territory, and Mr. McCoy, from Chio, led us, and George Banks beat the bass drum in J. Ross's place. Our best days were 1863 when we bought a new set of silver horns all around, of Hall, of Boston. Gov. Robinson erected a stand at the head of Massa- chusetts street, and we were giving open air concerts weekly in order to pay for our new horns and other equipments. Ours was then a fine band, the music harmonious and all well rendered. But the Quantrill raid on the 2d day of August, broke us up, Fred Kimball, E. P. Fitch, and another member, I do not recall his name, were killed outright. Mr. McCoy, our leader, was so shocked that his health, already delicate, gave ont and he died not long after with consumption. Our band had seen its best days and gradually dwindled away as an organization. But we went into the service as a band in the Price raid in 1864, and were gone two weeks on the border. In 1870 or 1871, we had a reunion at our Old Settlers' Meeting on Sept. 15th. At our Quarter Centennial Mr. Worcester comes to us from Greensburg, Indiana, where he ís settled as a music teacher and leader of a band and a dealer in musical instruments. He left us as a single man and now he comes back with a son seventeen years of age, and a good musician also.
Mr. Samuel Newhall comes from Ouray, Colorado, where he has located some mines. Mr. Samuel Kimball still lives here and runs the iron foundry as he did in 1856. Mr. Ed. Kimball died several years ago; he was a fine musician. The Savage brothers are both living near Lawrence on farms of their own.
This comprises the old band, viz: the two Worcesters, two Savages, Newhall and Kimball-all that are at the quarter-century celebration.
ADDRESS BY GOV. SHARPE.
The Chairman introduced Gov. Sharpe, of Morris county, who said :
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
I most certainly would be ungrateful were I not, under these circumstances, to return to the honorable president of this assem- blage my most sincere thanks for the flattering manner in which he has called me to your attention.
But I will tell you the first thing that I told him to tell you : it was why I was not elected Governor of Kansas. I know that I ought to have been, but I did not get votes enough. I believe that I have got just as good grip as any of these more distinguished individuals who have preceded me. I have just as much to the square inch and as many square inches as any of them that have ever lived in Kansas. When I made the effort in 1870, I ran 3,000 or 4,000 ahead of my ticket, and had I had 30,000 or 40,000 more votes I would have occupied the gubernatorial chair. I believe that should I ever run again that I can increase that ma-
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jority. I never fought, bled or died for Kansas, but I have been here a little over twenty-three years. I am proud to say that I came from Pennsylvania-and if Kansas did not gain by my exit from Pennsylvania, I have no doubt but that Pennsylvania did. As there has not been a speaker who has preceded me, except one or two of our invited guests, but that have told you and entertained you by the hour of what great things they did for Kansas, you will certainly pardon me if I mention what great sacrifices I made for Kansas. This may be very good to you folks who hear it and it may not ; but I will give it to you for what it is worth, and if it is not worth anything it will be worth as much as a great deal of the clap trap that has been given to you yesterday and to-day. I was a Democrat before I came to Kansas. I lived in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where I was born, reared and educated. I
was a young lawyer and had just been admitted to the bar in the spring of 1856. My father was a warm friend of James Buchanan, who was then running for President. I was very enthusiastic in the election of Buchanan. I made speeches around in the country school-houses, and did everything I could-and I thought I helped to elect Buchanan. I believe I did. It was my first vote. In the fall of 1857 he issued his first message to Congress, in which he urged the admission of the State of Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton constitution. You will all recollect that Stephen A. Douglas, then in the Senate of the United States, took issue with him. Mr. Buchanan telegraphed to Lancaster to the chairman of the Democratic executive committee, and he immedi- ately called that committee together, and they passed unanimous resolutions endorsing his Kansas policy.
That committee was called together by its chairman. The resolution was made, per- haps, in Washington-I do not know where-but it went through endorsing the policy of the administration on the admission of
Kansas. I denounced the resolution, taking sides with Douglas. My friends said if I was such a Kansas man I had better come to Kansas. In less than three weeks I was on Kansas soil, and I
have been here ever since. I am proud, as I know you are proud, that you are here celebrating this event-the twenty-fifth anni- versary of this State. In doing that we are proud because we have laid in twenty-five years a great and glorious Commonwealth. We have made a State, a great and glorious Commonwealth, containing to-day, perhaps, nearly a million of human souls. We have, in addition to that, brought into existence one of the grandest sys- tems of education any State in the Union has ever conceived. Let me just say one word here about our education. Our worthy Governor said one word about agriculture in the last two years. I
wish to call your attention to one other fact equally as important. When Kansas was admitted into the Union as a State of 1861, you will find that there were a little over 4.000 children between the ages of 5 and 21 years in the State. That number has grown from 4,000 to 266, 000 pupils in our schools, and from 110 school-houses
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in 1861, to nearly 6,000 in 1878. And all this, in conclusion I must say, was brought about by, and we are entitled to give the credit at least to one of our great Governors, Harvey, the dis- tinguished gentleman who scooped me for Governor. We are not only building up a great State, but we are going to be the central State of this Government. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your attention.
[The multitude in attendance was so great, on the afternoon of the second day of the meeting, that all could not be heard in the tabernacle; and a division was made, a portion of the crowd gathering in the grove at a distance, where several of the speeches which follow were made. ]
POEM BY DR. F. L. CRANE.
THE CHAIRMAN : We have here one of the oldest citizens of Topeka-one who was always associated with us in every effort for the good of Kansas. He has composed a poem which, with a few words of preface, will now be read. Dr. Crane read as fol- lows :
It is a matter of familiar knowledge that Missouri could not have been admitted into the Union as a slave State in 1821, with- out an agreement on the part of the slave oligarchy in Congress that their "peculiar institution " should thereafter be limited to the line of 36 deg. 30 min., north latitude, in any Territory belonging to the United States. It is also well known that the repealing of the eighth section of the Compromise Act by the Kansas-Nebraska bill in May, 1854, was a violation of that agreement.
In order by legitimate means to secure the country to free- dom, thousands left their comfortable, and sometimes elegant homes in the East, and made homes in Kansas, that they might out- vote the slavery extensionists.
These latter came, also, in great numbers, many of whom brought their slaves with them, and it is a matter of history that warfare was the result, and that, when fully tested, the right pre- vailed.
The government, in the meantime favored the slavery exten- sionists, and for freedom it sometimes looked very dark. For us there was danger of appearing to be in opposition to the govern- ment, to the extent of being nominal traitors.
This, the free state men determined to avoid, and the writer of this, in company with Colonel Cyrus K. Holliday, the president of the Topeka Association, called upon Colonel Sumner at his tent on the morning of the fourth of July, 1856, the day on which the free state Legislature was dispersed by United States troops, as- sisted by pro slavery men; and we assured him that there would be no resistance to his authority by free state men in Topeka that day.
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Seven weeks previous to this dispersion of the Legislature, elected under the Topeka Constitution, and five days before the sacking of Lawrence, viz : On the 16th day of May, 1856, there occurred at Topeka an extraordinary rain storm, in which hail- stones fell as large as pullet's eggs. The copious rain caused a stream of water between Jackson and Van Buren streets, and west of my house, at No. 114 Kansas avenue, say one hundred feet in width. After the storm, I saw in the West, from my second story window, an emblematic picture, made up of clouds, in the otherwise clear sky, which was clearly defined, perfect, and is ac- curately described as follows : A female figure was on her knees, with face veiled and head bowed down, with the resemblance of a liberty cap at her feet. Before her were represented three men, decreasing in size as if in perspective, armed and dressed alike ; the tallest and central figure in the picture was armed with a dag- ger in his right hand, the sharp point of which was over the neck of the humbled female, with his arm in position and apparently nerved to strike ; the left hand clenched and held a little back, and the right foot forward as if marching.
The second masculine figure was smaller than the first, and the third smaller than the second, making an artistic pyramidal picture which remained intact, no part of it being wafted away by atmospheric motion, no brim of a hat, no arm, limb, point of a dagger, or tassel of the liberty cap at the feet of the Goddess; but after about seven minutes of close observation, I discovered that the whole picture was becoming thinner and less distinct and soon vanished, leaving the western sky cloudless.
On the black nimbus cloud which covered the eastern hemis- phere there soon appeared two perfect bows with a bright mock sun on the horizon in the center and rays extending from the mock sun to the zenith, to the north and to the south. Very beautiful.
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