territory acquired from france in 1803—organization of territory—kansas-nebraska act—immigration to kansas—territorial government—free state and pro-slavery conflict—first election—secret political organizations—border war activities and outrages—contests over adoption of constitution—kansas admitted to the union.
kansas is as rich in historic lore and resources as any other region of the great west. george j. remsburg, who has contributed two chapters of this history, has, with great care and accuracy, put into readable form an account of prehistoric times, indian occupancy and the record of earlier explorers in northeastern kansas. it is a tale of absorbing interest to those who would go back to the dawn of civilization here and study the force and character of men who paved the way for the developments that came after. to the intrepid spanish conquerors of mexico of the sixteenth century, and the hardy french explorers, two centuries later, we are indebted for the opening up of the great american desert, into which american pioneers, the century following, found their way. thousands of years before these came, atchison county had been the abode of hunting tribes and the feasting place of wild animals. then came the ceaseless flow of the tide of civilization, which swept these earlier denizens from the field, to clear it for the “momentous conflict between the two opposing systems of american civilization, then struggling for mastery and supremacy over the republic.” it was in kansas that the war of rebellion began, and it was in the northeastern corner along the shores of the missouri river—in atchison county—“that the spark of conflict which had irritated a nation for decades burst into devastating flames.”
it is a delicate task to convey anything approaching a truthful account of 38the storm and stress of opinions and emotions which accompanied the organization of kansas as one of the great american commonwealths, and the part played by the citizens of atchison county in that tremendous work, but sixty years have served to mellow the animosities and bitternesses of the past, and it is easier now to comprehend the strife of that distant day and pass unbiased judgment upon it.
when the united states acquired from france, in 1803, the territory of which atchison county is a part, slavery was a legalized institution, and many of the residents held slaves. in the treaty of cession, there was incorporated an expressed stipulation that the inhabitants of louisiana “should be incorporated into the union of the united states and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the federal constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the united states, and in the meantime they should be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property and the religion which they professed.” thus it came to pass for over fifty years after the time that vast empire was acquired from france the bitter contest between the anti-slavery and the pro-slavery advocates ebbed and flowed, and amidst a continual clash of ideas and finally after the shedding of blood, kansas, and atchison county, were born.
it was in the thirty-second congress that petitions were presented for the organization of the territory of the platte, viz: all that tract lying west of iowa and missouri and extending west to the rocky mountains, but no action on the petitions was taken at that time. december 13, 1852, willard p. hall, a congressman from missouri, submitted to the house of representatives a bill organizing this region. this bill was referred to the committee on territories, which reported february 22, 1853, through its chairman, william a. richardson, of illinois. a bill organizing the territory of nebraska, which covered the same territory as the bill of mr. hall, was met by unexpected and strong opposition from the southern members of congress, and was rejected in the committee of the whole. the house, however, did not adopt the action of the committee, but passed the bill and sent it to the senate, where it was defeated march 3, 1853, by six votes. on the fourteenth day of december, 1853, senator dodge, of iowa, submitted to that body a new bill for the organization of the territory of nebraska, embracing the same region as the bill which was defeated in the first session of the thirty-second congress. it was referred to the committee on territories, of which stephen a. douglas was chairman, on january 4, 1854.
it was during the discussion of this bill that the abrogation of the missouri 39compromise was foreshadowed. the story of the action of senator douglas in connection with the slavery question has appeared in every history since the civil war. it is neither necessary nor proper to dwell at length upon his career in connection with the history of atchison county. however, it was following a bitter discussion of the slavery question that the bill was passed, creating kansas a territory. the provisions of the bill, as presented, were known to be in accordance with the wishes and designs of all the southern members to have been accepted before being presented by president pierce by a majority of the members of his cabinet, and to have the assured support of a sufficient number of northern administration democrats, to insure its passage beyond a doubt. the contest over the measure ended may 27, 1854, by the passage of the bill, which was approved may 30, 1854, by president pierce.
the act organizing nebraska and kansas contained thirty-seven sections. the provisions relating to kansas were embodied in the last eighteen sections, summarized as follow:
section 19 defines the boundaries of the territory; gives it the name of kansas, and prescribes that when admitted as a state, or states, the said territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into the union with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission. also provides for holding the rights of all indian tribes inviolable, until such time as they shall be extinguished by treaty.
section 20. the executive power and authority is vested in a governor, appointed by the president, to hold his office for the term of four years, or until his successor is appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the president of the united states.
section 21. the secretary of state is appointed and subject to removal by the president of the united states, and to be acting governor with full powers and functions of the governor in case of the absence of the governor from the territory, or a vacancy occurring.
section 22. legislative power and authority of territory is vested in the governor and a legislative body, consisting of two branches, a council and a house of representatives.
section 23 prescribes qualifications of voters; giving the right to every free white male inhabitant, above the age of 21 years, who shall be an actual resident of the territory, to vote at the first election.
section 24 limits the scope of territorial legislation, and defines the veto power of the governor.
40section 25 prescribes the manner of appointing and electing officers, not otherwise provided for.
section 26 precludes members from holding any office created or the emoluments of which are increased during any session of the legislature of which they are a member, and prescribes qualifications for members of the legislative assembly.
section 27 vests the judicial power in the supreme court, district courts, probate courts and in justices of the peace.
section 28 declares the fugitive slave law of 1850 to be in full force in the territory.
section 29 provides for the appointment of an attorney and marshal for the territory.
section 30 treats with the nomination of the president, chief justice, associate justices, attorney and marshal, and their confirmation by the senate, and prescribes the duties of these officers and fixes their salaries.
section 31 locates the temporary seat of government of the territory at ft. leavenworth, and authorizes the use of the government buildings there for public purposes.
section 32 provides for the election of a delegate to congress, and abrogates the missouri compromise.
section 33 prescribes the manner and the amount of appropriations for the erection of public buildings, and other territorial purposes.
section 34 reserves for the benefit of schools in the territory and states and territories hereafter to be erected out of the same, sections number 16 and 30 in each township, as they are surveyed.
section 35 prescribes the mode of defining the judicial districts of the territory, and appointing the times and places of holding the various courts.
section 36 requires officers to give official bonds, in such manner as the secretary of treasury may prescribe.
section 37 declares all treaties, laws and other engagements made by the united states government with the indian tribes inhabiting the territory to remain inviolate, notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of the act.
it was under the provisions of the above act that those coming to kansas to civilize it and to erect their homes were to be guided.
edward everett hale, in his history of kansas and nebraska, published in 1854, says, “up to the summer of 1834, kansas and nebraska have had no civilized residents, except the soldiers sent to keep the indian tribes in 41order; the missionaries sent to convert them; the traders who bought furs of them, and those of the natives who may be considered to have attained some measure of civilization from their connection with the whites.” so it will be seen that at the time of the passage of the kansas-nebraska act, atchison county was very sparsely settled.
all movements in the territory, or elsewhere, made for its organization, were provisional, as they were subject to the rights of the various indian tribes, whose reservations covered, by well defined boundaries, every acre of northeastern kansas, except such tracts as were reserved by the government about ft. leavenworth, and other military stations, but with the move for the organization of the territory came an effort to extinguish the indian’s title to the lands and thus open them to white settlers. one of the most interesting books bearing upon the history of kansas of that time was “greeley’s conflict.” he makes the following statement with reference to this subject:
“when the bill organizing kansas and nebraska was first submitted to congress in 1853, all that portion of kansas which adjoins the state of missouri, and, in fact, nearly all the accessible portion of both territories, was covered by indian reservations, on which settlement by whites was strictly forbidden. the only exception was in favor of government agents and religious missionaries; and these, especially the former, were nearly all democrats and violent partisans of slavery. * * * * within three months immediately preceding the passage of the kansas bill aforesaid, treaties were quietly made at washington with the delawares, otoes, kickapoos, kaskaskias, shawnees, sacs, foxes and other tribes, whereby the greater part of the soil of kansas, lying within one or two hundred miles of the missouri border, was suddenly opened to white appropriation and settlement. these simultaneous purchases of the indian land by the government, though little was known of them elsewhere, were thoroughly understood and appreciated by the missourians of the western border, who had for some time been organizing ‘blue lodges,’ ‘social bands,’ ‘sons of the south,’ and other societies, with intent to take possession of kansas in behalf of slavery. they were well assured and they fully believed that the object contemplated and desired, in lifting, by the terms of the kansas-nebraska bill, the interdict of slavery from kansas, was to authorize and facilitate the legal extension of slavery into that region. within a few days after the passage of the kansas-nebraska act, hundreds of leading missourians crossed into the adjacent territory, selected each his quarter section, or a larger area of land, put some sort of mark on it, and then united with his fellow-adventurers in a meeting, or meetings, intended to establish a sort of missouri pre?mption upon all this region.”
42immediately following the passage of the territorial act the immigration of missourians to kansas began, and, indeed, before its final passage the best of the lands had been located and marked for pre?mption by the missourians. this was true, apparently, in the case of george m. million, whom the records disclose was the first settler in atchison county, after kansas was made a territory. mr. million was of german descent and came to the vicinity of rushville in the hills east of atchison from coal county, missouri, prior to 1841, where he was married to sarah e. dixon before she was fifteen years old. in 1841 million occupied the present site of east atchison as a farm. at that time the bottom land just east of atchison was covered with tall rushes and was known as rush bottom. the town of rushville was originally known as columbus, but the name was subsequently changed to rushville because of the character of the country in which it was located. during the winter million eked out his livelihood by cutting wood and hauling it to the river bank, selling it in the spring and summer to the steamboats that plied up and down the missouri river. sometime subsequent to 1841, million built a flat-boat ferry and operated it for seven or eight years and did a thriving business during the great gold rush to california. he accumulated considerable money and later operated a store, trading with the indians for furs and buying hemp, which he shipped down the river. in june, 1854, he “squatted” on the present townsite of atchison, and built a log house at the foot of atchison street, near his ferry landing, and just opposite his cabin on the missouri side of the river. following million, in june, 1854 came a colony of emigrants from iatan, mo., and took up claims in the neighborhood of oak mills. they were f. p. goddard, g. b. goddard, james douglass, allen hanson and george a. wright, but the actual settlers and founders of atchison county did not enter the territory of kansas until july, 1854. on the twentieth day of that month dr. j. h. stringfellow with ira norris, leonidas oldham, james b. martin and neil owens left platte city, mo., to decide definitely upon a good location for a town. with the exception of dr. stringfellow they all took claims about four miles southwest of the present city of atchison. traveling in a southwesterly direction from platte city the party reached the river opposite ft. leavenworth and crossed to the kansas side. they went north until they reached the mouth of walnut creek, “and john alcorn’s lonely cabin upon its banks.” they continued their course up the river until they came to the “south edge of the rim of the basin which circles around from the south line of the city, extending west by gradual incline to the divide between white clay and 43stranger creek, then north and east around to the northern limits of the city.” it was at this point that the missouri river made the bend from the northeast, throwing the point where atchison is now located, twelve miles west of any locality, north, and twenty miles west of leavenworth, and thirty-five miles west of kansas city. when they descended into the valley, of which commercial street is now the lowest point, dr. stringfellow and his companions found george m. million and samuel dickson. mr. dickson followed million to kansas from rushville, and while there is some dispute as to who was the second resident in atchison county after the passage of the kansas-nebraska bill, the best authorities lead to the conclusion that to samuel dickson belongs that honor. mr. dickson erected a small shanty near the spring, which bore his name for so many years, on the east side of south sixth street, between park and spring streets. his house is described as a structure twelve feet square, having one door and one window and a large stone chimney running up the outside. as soon as dr. stringfellow arrived he at once commenced negotiations with mr. million for the purchase of his claim. mr. million, apparently, was a shrewd real estate speculator and only surrendered his claim upon the payment of $1,000. dr. stringfellow considered this a very fancy figure for the land, but he and his associates were firm in their decision of founding a city at this point on the missouri river and they gave mr. million his price. the organization of a town company which followed will be discussed in a subsequent chapter of this territory.
the first territorial appointment for the purpose of inaugurating a local government in kansas was made in june, 1854. governor andrew. h. reeder, of easton, pa., was appointed on that date. he took the oath of office in washington, d. c., july 7, and arrived in kansas at ft. leavenworth october 7, becoming at once the executive head of the kansas government. governor reeder was a stranger to kansas. with the exception of senator atchison he scarcely knew anybody in kansas. he was a lawyer by profession, one of the ablest in the state of pennsylvania. from early manhood he had been an ardent and loyal democrat and had defended with vigor and great power the principle of squatter sovereignty and the kansas-nebraska bill. he was not a politician and was an able, honest, clear-thinking democrat. upon his arrival in kansas he set himself at once to the task of inaugurating the government in the territory. according to his own testimony before the special congressional committee appointed by congress to investigate the troubles in kansas in 1856, he made it his first business to 44obtain information of the geography, settlements, population and general condition of the territory, with a view to its division into districts; the defining of their boundary; the location of suitable and central places for elections, and the full names of men in each district for election officers, persons to take the census, justices of the peace, and constables. he accordingly made a tour of the territory, and although he did not come to atchison county his tour included many important and remote settlements in the territory. upon his return he concluded that if the election for a delegate to congress should be postponed until an election could be had for the legislature, which, in the one case required no previous census, and in the other a census was required, the greater part of the session of congress, which would terminate on the fourth of march, would expire before a congressional delegate from the territory could reach washington. he, therefore, ordered an election for a delegate to congress, and postponed the taking of the census until after that election. he prepared, without unnecessary delay, a division of the territory into election districts, fixed a place of election in each, appointed election officers and ordered that the election should take place november 29, 1854. atchison county was in the fifteenth election district, which comprised the following territory: commencing at the mouth of salt creek on the missouri river; thence up said creek to the military road and along the middle of said road to the lower crossing of stranger creek: thence up said creek to the line of the kickapoo reservation, and thence along the southern and western line thereof to the line of the fourteenth district: thence between same, and down independence creek to the mouth thereof, and thence down the missouri river to the place of beginning. the place of the election was at the house of pascal pensoneau, on the ft. leavenworth and oregon road, near what is now the town site of potter. the election which followed was an exciting one. public meetings were held in all of the towns and villages, at which resolutions were passed against the eastern abolitionists, the platte county argus sounding the following alarm:
“we know we speak the sentiments of some of the most distinguished statesmen of missouri when we advise that counter-organizations be made, both in kansas and missouri, to thwart the reckless course of the abolitionists. we must meet them at their very threshold and scourge them back to their covers of darkness. they have made the issue, and it is for us to meet and repel them.”
the secret organizations, of which greeley spoke, known as the “blue 45lodges,” “social bands,” and “sons of the south,” became very active, and knowing the condition of affairs along the missouri border, and having learned the needs and wishes of the actual settlers in the territory, governor reeder decided that their rights should not be jeopardized. therefore, in ordering an election of a congressional delegate only, with the idea of a later proclamation ordering a territorial election of a legislature, he knew that much trouble would be spared. in his proclamation for the congressional election, provision was made for defining the qualifications of legal voters, and providing against fraud, both of which provisions were received with alarm by the leaders of the slavery democracy, who, up to that time had hoped that the administration at washington had sent them an ally. it was not long until they discovered that they were mistaken.
the actual settlers of the territory did not evince much interest in the election. they were all engaged in what appeared to them to be the more important business of building their homes and otherwise providing necessities before the approach of winter. there were no party organizations in the territory. the slavery question was not generally understood to be an issue. the first candidates to announce themselves were james n. burnes, whose name has for sixty years been prominently identified with the social, political and business history of atchison county, and j. b. chapman. these two candidates subsequently withdrew from the campaign, and the names finally submitted to the voters were: gen. john w. whitfield, robert p. flenneken, judge john a. wakefield. whitfield ignored the slavery issue during his canvass, but his cause was openly espoused by the missourians. flenneken was a friend of governor reeder, with free soil proclivities. wakefield was an outspoken free-soiler. hon. david r. atchison, then a united states senator, and for whom atchison county was named, was the head and front of the pro-slavery movement. he had a national reputation and was a power in the united states senate, and won for himself the highest position in the gift of the senate, having been chosen president protempore of that body after the death of vice-president king. he was loyal to the southern views regarding slavery and this made him the unquestioned leader of the party which believed, as senator atchison himself believed, that the passage of the kansas-nebraska bill would inevitably result in a slave state west of missouri. it was to senator atchison that dr. j. h. stringfellow, himself one of the strong leaders of the pro-slavery forces, looked for inspiration and direction. in a speech senator atchison made in weston, mo., november 6, 1854, which was just prior to the congressional election in kansas, he said:
46“my mission here today is, if possible, to awaken the people of this country to the danger ahead and to suggest the means to avoid it. the people of kansas in their first elections will decide the question whether or not the slave-holder was to be excluded, and it depends upon a majority of the votes cast at the polls. now, if a set of fanatics and demagogues a thousand miles off could afford to advance their money and exert every nerve to abolitionize the territory and exclude the slave-holder, when they have not the least personal interest in the matter, what is your duty? when you reside within one day’s journey of the territory, and when your peace, your quiet, and your property depend upon this action you can without any exertion send five hundred of your young men who will vote in favor of your institutions.”
on november 28, the day preceding the election, the secret society voters in missouri began to cross over into kansas. they came organized to carry the election and in such overwhelming numbers as to completely over-awe and out-number the legal voters of the territory at many of the precincts. they took possession of the polls, elected many of the judges, intimidated others to resign and refusing to take the oath qualifying themselves as voters and prescribe to the regulations of the election, cast their ballots for general john w. whitfield and hastily beat their retreat to missouri. the whole number of votes cast in that election was 2,233, of which number whitfield received 2,258; wakefield, 248; flenneken, 305, with twenty-two scattering votes. the frauds which were at first denied by both the pro-slavery newspapers and general whitfield himself, were not long in being discovered.
in the fifteenth district, of which atchison county was a part, the total number of votes cast was 306, of which wakefield got none; flenneken, 39, and whitfield, 267. the total number of votes given by the census was 308, and in the majority report of the congressional committee of the following year 206 illegal votes were shown to have been cast in that district. however, there was little immediate disturbance following the election. the settlers continued to busy themselves in completing their homes and were more interested in securing titles to their lands than in the future destiny of the territory.
in the following january and february governor reeder caused an enumeration of the inhabitants to be taken preparatory to calling an election for a legislature. h. b. jolly was named as enumerator for the fifteenth district and mr. jolly found a total of 873 persons in the district, divided as follows: males, 492; females, 381; voters, 308; minors, 448; natives of the 47united states, 846; foreign born, sixteen; negroes, fifteen; slaves, fifteen. the date appointed for the legislative election was march 30, 1855. the proclamation of the governor defined the election districts; appointed the voting precincts; named the judges of the election, defined the duties of the judges, and the qualifications of voters. thirteen members of the council and twenty-six members of the house of representatives were to constitute the legislative assembly of the territory. atchison was in the ninth council district and in the thirteenth representative district. following the precedent established in the election for congressional delegate the november before the blue lodges of missouri became active and large numbers of members of the secret societies of missouri were sent into every council and representative district in the territory for the purpose of controlling the election. they were armed and came with provisions and tents. they overpowered and intimidated the resident voters to such an extent that only 1,410 legal votes were cast in the territory out of 2,905 enumerated in the census.
d. a. n. grover was the pro-slavery candidate for councilman in the ninth council district with no opposition and he received 411 votes which was the total number of votes enumerated for that district. h. b. c. harris and j. weddell were the pro-slavery candidates for representative in the thirteenth district with no opposition. they each received 412 votes, being the total number of votes enumerated in the district.
it was another victory for the pro-slavery sympathizers and the free state men were indignant, while on the other hand the pro-slavery residents, with their missouri allies, did not conceal their joy, at the same time admitting frankly the outrages which were practiced at the polls. the leavenworth herald of april 6 headed its election returns with the following:
“all hail.
pro-slavery party victorious.
we have met the enemy, and they are ours.
veni vidi vici!
free white state party used up.
“the triumph of the pro-slavery party is complete and overwhelming. come on, southern men; bring your slaves and fill up the territory. kansas is saved! abolitionism is rebuked. her fortress stormed. her flag is dragging in the dust. the tri-colored platform has fallen with a crash. the rotten timbers of its structure were not sufficient to sustain the small fragments of the party.”
48the parkville luminary which was published in platte county, missouri, very mildly protested against the manner of carrying the election and spoke in friendly terms of the free soil settlers. the following week its office and place was destroyed by a mob and forced its editors to flee the country for their lives.
the election of november 29, 1854, so incensed the anti-slavery element that the free state movement was given a great impetus. a convention of free state men at lawrence june 8, 1855, and the big springs convention september 5, 1855, were the result, and from that date many other public meetings of free state men followed. the free state sentiment fully crystalized itself in the momentous election of october 9, 1855, following eight days after the date set by the pro-slavery legislature for an election of delegate to congress to succeed j. w. whitfield, who had been elected the year before. the first election in 1855 was held october 1 but was participated in only by pro-slavery men. the abstract of the poll books showed that 2,738 votes were cast in the territory and whitfield received 2,721, of which it is only fair to say that 857 were declared illegal. in the free state election ex-governor andrew h. reeder received 2,849 votes, of which 101 were cast in atchison county. on the same day an election for delegates to a constitutional convention to be held at topeka took place and r. h. crosby, a merchant of oceana, atchison county, and caleb may, a farmer, near the same place, were elected delegates.
the returns of the pro-slavery election having been made according to law, the governor granted the certificate of election to whitfield, who returned to washington as the duly elected delegate from kansas. the territorial executive committee, elected at the big springs convention, gave a certificate of election to reeder. the topeka constitutional convention subsequently convened october 23, 1855, and was in session until november 11. this body of free state men framed a constitution, and among other things memorialized congress to admit kansas as a state. it was understood by all that the validity of the work of the convention was contingent upon the admission of kansas as a state. meanwhile the executive committee of kansas territory appointed at the topeka primary, september 19, 1855, under the leadership of james h. lane, continued to direct and inspire the work for a state government.
as a counter-irritant to the activities of the free state men, and for the purpose of allaying the insane excitement of the territorial legislature, the 49pro-slavery followers organized a law and order party, which was pledged to the establishment of slavery in kansas. from thenceforth it was open warfare between the two great forces contending for supremacy in the territory. atchison was the stronghold of the law and order party, as lawrence was the stronghold of the free state party. the free state party was looked upon by the law and order advocates as made up of revolutionists and the law and order party was determined to bring them to time as soon as possible, but as the members of the free state party held themselves apart from the legal machinery devised for the government of the territory, bringing no suits in its courts; attending no elections; paying no attention to its county organizations; offering no estates to its probate judges, and paying no tax levies made by authority of the legislature, they were careful to commit no act which would lay themselves liable to the laws which they abhorred. they settled all their disputes by arbitration in order to avoid litigation, but as they could build, manufacture, buy and sell and establish schools and churches without coming under the domination of the pro-slavery forces, they managed to do tolerably well. where the inhabitants were mostly free state, as in lawrence and topeka, conditions were reasonably satisfactory, but in localities like atchison and leavenworth, where the law and order party dominated affairs, the free state inhabitants were forced to suffer many indignities and insults.
during the month of august, 1855, a negro woman belonging to grafton thomassen, who ran a sawmill in atchison, was found drowned in the missouri river. j. w. b. kelley, a rabid anti-slavery lawyer, from cincinnati, who became a resident of atchison, expressed the opinion that if thomassen’s negro woman had been treated better by her master she would not have committed suicide by jumping into the river. thomassen was greatly angered at this personal illusion and deluded himself into believing that if he satisfied his own vengeance he would at the same time be rendering the pro-slavery party a service. he therefore picked a quarrel with kelley and they came to blows, after which thomassen’s conduct was sustained by a largo meeting of atchison people. while it is said that thomassen was a larger and more powerful man than kelley, the people did not consider this fact, but rather considered the principle involved, and as a result they commended the act in the following resolution:
“1. resolved. that one j. w. b. kelley, hailing from cincinnati, having upon sundry occasions denounced our institutions and declared all pro-slavery men ruffians, we deem it an act of kindness and hereby command him 50to leave the town of atchison one hour after being informed of the passage of this resolution never more to show himself in this vicinity.
2. resolved. that in case he fails to obey this reasonable command, we inflict upon him such punishment as the nature of the case may require.
3. resolved. that other emissaries of this ‘aid society’ now in our midst, tampering with our slaves, are warned to leave, else they too will meet the reward which their nefarious designs so justly merit.—hemp.
4. resolved. that we approve and applaud our fellow-townsman, grafton thomassen, for the castigation administered to said j. w. b. kelley, whose presence among us is a libel upon our good standing and a disgrace to our community.
5. resolved. that we commend the good work of purging our town of all resident abolitionists, and after cleaning our town of such nuisances shall do the same for the settlers on walnut and independence creeks whose propensities for cattle stealing are well known to many.
6. resolved. that the chairman appoint a committee of three to wait upon said kelley and acquaint him with the actions of this meeting.
7. resolved. that the proceedings of this meeting be published, that the world may know our determination.”
after the passage of these resolutions they were circulated throughout atchison and all citizens were asked to sign the same and if any person refused he was deemed and treated as an abolitionist. a few days after this incident rev. pardee butler, a minister of the christian church, who was living at that time near the now abandoned townsite of pardee, west of atchison, about twelve miles, came to town to do some trading. butler was an uncompromising anti-slavery advocate and never overlooked an opportunity to make his sentiments known. he had strong convictions backed by courage, and while he did not seek controversies, he never showed a desire to avoid them. he was well known in the community as a free state man, and so when he came into atchison after these resolutions were passed and the town was all excited about them it did not take him long to get into the controversy and he condemned in strong terms the outrage upon kelley and also the resolutions which were passed. in the course of a conversation which he had at the postoffice with robert s. kelley, the postmaster and assistant editor of the squatter sovereign, he informed mr. kelley that he long since would have become a subscriber to his paper had he not disliked the violent sentiments which appeared in its columns. mr. kelley replied: “i look upon all free soilers as rogues and they ought to be treated as 51such.” mr. butler responded: “i am a free soiler and expect to vote for kansas as a free state.” “i do not expect you will be allowed to vote,” was mr. kelley’s reply. on the following morning mr. kelley called at the national hotel, corner of second and atchison streets, where mr. butler had spent the night, accompanied by a number of friends and demanded butler to sign the resolutions, which of course mr. butler refused to do, and walked down stairs into the street. a crowd gathered and seized mr. butler, dragging him towards the river, shouting that they intended to drown him. the mob increased in size as they proceeded with the victim. a vote was taken as to the kind of punishment which ought to be given him and a verdict of death by hanging was rendered. it was not discovered until forty years afterwards that mr. kelley, the teller, saved mr. butler’s life by making false returns to the excited mob. mr. kelley subsequently was a resident of montana and gave this information while stopping in st. joseph with dr. j. h. stringfellow, the former editor of the squatter sovereign. instead of returning a verdict of death by hanging mr. kelley announced that it was the decision of the mob to send mr. butler down the missouri river on a raft, and an account of what followed is best given by rev. pardee butler himself:
“when we arrived at the bank mr. kelley painted my face with black paint, marked upon it the letter “r.” the company had increased to some thirty or forty persons. without any trial, witness, judge, counsel or jury, for about two hours i was a sort of target at which were hurled imprecations, curses, arguments, entreaties, accusations and interrogations. they constructed a raft of three cottonwood sawlogs, fastened together with inch plank nailed to the logs, upon which they put me and sent me down the missouri river. the raft was towed out to the middle of the stream with a canoe. robert s. kelley held the rope that towed the raft. they gave me neither rudder, oar nor anything else to manage my raft with. they put up a flag on the raft with the following inscription on it:
‘eastern emigrant aid express.
the rev. pardee butler again for the underground road;
the way they are served in kansas: shipped for boston; cargo insured. unavoidable danger of the missourians and missouri river excepted.
let future emissaries from the north beware.
our hemp crop is sufficient to reward all such scoundrels.’
“they threatened to shoot me if i pulled the flag down. i pulled it down, cut the flag off the flag staff, made a paddle out of the flag staff and ultimately got ashore about six miles below.”
52the mob was considerate enough to provide mr. butler a loaf of bread and permitted him to take his baggage on board, afterwards escorting him down the river for some distance.
when mr. butler landed he returned overland to his home near pardee. on april 30, 1856, he again ventured to make his appearance in atchison, where he says: “i spoke to no one in town save two merchants of the place with whom i had business transactions since my first arrival in the territory. having remained only a few minutes i went to my buggy to resume my journey when i was assaulted by robert s. kelley, junior editor of the squatter sovereign; was dragged into a grocery and there surrounded by a company of south carolinians who are reported to have been sent out by a southern emigrant aid society. after exposing me to every sort of indignity they stripped me to the waist, covered my body with tar and then for the want of feathers applied cotton wool, having appointed a committee of three to certainly hang me the next time i should come to atchison. they tossed my clothes into the buggy, put me therein, accompanying me to the suburbs of the town and sent me naked upon the prairie. i adjusted my attire about me as best i could and hastened to rejoin my wife and two little sons on the banks of stranger creek. it was rather a sorrowful meeting after so long a parting.”
the above incident gives some idea of the prevailing sentiment in atchison county during the period beginning in 1854 and ending in 1857.
there was little chance of free state settlers to avoid trouble except by discreet silence. it would not be just, however, to fail to disclose the fact that the free state men also had their secret organizations. the kansas legion was a military organization for defensive purposes only. its members were organized into companies, battalions and regiments and were officered and armed with rifles and pistols sent from the east. these organizations were the natural result of the secret pro-slavery organizations of missouri and were known to exist to protect the free state settlers against the attacks of the blue lodges, sons of the south, and the social bands.
a man by the name of pat laughlin became a member of the kansas legion and was very active in organizing companies of that organization at different points in the territory. he subsequently became a traitor to his associates and gave out information to the enemy, thereby creating great indignation among his former friends whom he had betrayed. later laughlin and samuel collins, of doniphan county, became engaged in a fierce altercation and friends of both parties to the dispute were present and armed. 53laughlin shot collins and killed him on the spot and was slightly wounded himself. this affair occurred october 25, 1855. no attempt was made by the appointed peace officers of the territory to bring the guilty parties participating in the pardee butler outrage or the murder of collins to justice. shortly after laughlin recovered from his wound he secured a position in a store in atchison and lived there for many years.
this condition of affairs could not long exist without an open rupture between the two opposing forces and from this time on there was a succession of personal encounters of wide significance, and in addition there was the war along the border in which atchison county played a conspicuous but not a glorious part. the activities here at that crucial period were largely in the interest of the pro-slavery forces. it was at this juncture that the immortal john brown appeared on the scene to begin his work of driving the slavery advocates from kansas and making it and the nation free. his first appearance among the free state men was december 7, 1855, but he had been in the territory several months before that with his four sons. john brown did not reach atchison county during his stormy career in kansas. the nearest he ever came was in 1857 when he passed through jackson county with a party of slaves which he was taking from missouri to nebraska for the purpose of setting them free. in the historical edition of the atchison daily globe of july 16, 1894, there appears the following short reference to this excursion:
“in 1857 john brown made a trip from missouri into nebraska with a party of slave negroes which he intended to set free. his route was through jackson county, kansas, and up by where the town of centralia now stands. a lot of the pro-slavery enthusiasts in atchison heard of the affair and went out to intercept brown. they came up with him near centralia, but brown had heard of their coming and captured the entire party. one of the men in the pro-slavery party was named george ringo; afterwards he soldiered with dwight merlin in the thirteenth kansas and often talked of the trip to merwin around their camp fires. ringo says that james t. herford was another member of the pro-slavery party, and a man named cook was another. john brown looked at cook critically after the capture and asked his name. cook said his name was thomas porter. “i believe you are lying. i believe your name is cook and if i was certain of it i would kill you,” brown said. cook was one of the men accused of killing brown’s son at osawatomie, but brown was not certain of his identity and let him go with the others. george ringo says that brown held a prayer meeting in his camp every evening and asked a blessing at every meal.
54“one night when the atchison party was in the custody of brown, brown asked jim herford to pray. ‘i can’t pray,’ herford replied. ‘didn’t your mother teach you to pray?’ brown inquired. ‘she taught me to say, “now i lay me down to sleep,” that was all,’ herford answered. ‘all right,’ brown said, ‘get down on your knees and say, “now i lay me down to sleep.”’ herford did as he was requested, being afraid to refuse and brown soon rolled himself in a blanket and went to sleep.”
as the activities of brown increased so likewise the activities of the pro-slavery forces increased under the leadership of senator atchison, of missouri, and dr. stringfellow, editor of the squatter sovereign. the squatter sovereign, about which more will appear in a subsequent chapter, was published in atchison and was largely supported by government advertising patronage. it was the leading pro-slavery newspaper organ of the territory. senator atchison’s activities were of the most pronounced sort. he not only urged his missouri constituents to invade the territory in all their might and capture the yankees, but he went himself. at platte city, mo., february 4, 1856, senator atchison made a speech which gives some idea of the language he employed in urging the people of western missouri to join in the invading of kansas. he said:
“i was a prominent agent in repealing the missouri compromise and opening the territory for settlement. the abolition traitors drummed up their forces and whistled them onto the cars, and whistled them off again at kansas city: some of them had ‘kansas and liberty’ on their hats. i saw this with my own eyes. these men came with the avowed purpose of driving or expelling you from the territory. what did i advise you to do? why, to beat them at their own game. when the first election came off i told you to go over and vote. you did so and beat them. well, what next? why, an election of members of the legislature to organize the territory must be held. what did i advise you to do then? why, meet them on their own ground and at their own game again: and, cold and inclement as the weather was, i went over with a company of men. the abolitionists of the north said, and published it abroad, that atchison was there with bowie-knives, and by god, it was true. i never did go into that territory—i never intend to go into that territory—without being prepared for all such kinds of cattle.
“they held an election on the fifteenth of last month and they intend to put the machinery of the state in motion on the fourth of march. now you are entitled to my advice, and you shall have it. i say, prepare yourselves. go over there. send your young men, and if they attempt to drive 55you out, then, damn them, drive them out. fifty of you with your shotguns are worth 250 of them with their sharpe’s rifles. get ready—arm yourselves; for, if they abolitionize kansas you lose one million dollars of your property. i am satisfied that i can justify every act of you before god and a jury.”
all of the pro-slavery papers were open in their advocacy of an immediate war of extermination. the squatter sovereign in its issue just after the election of january 15, commenting on certain disturbances at easton and a murder at leavenworth, did not condemn what took place at easton and had no word of apology or pity to offer for the murdered man. on the contrary it upheld those who committed the murder and gave them encouragement in their campaign of killing abolitionists. dr. stringfellow employed his violent rhetoric to give vent to his feelings and the opening paragraph of his leading editorial in the issue of the squatter sovereign he used the following language:
“it seems now to be certain that we will have to give the abolitionists at least one good thrashing before political matters are settled in this territory. to do so we must have arms; we have the men. i propose to raise funds to furnish colt’s revolvers for those who are without them. we say if the abolitionists are able to whip us and overturn the government that has been set up here, the sooner it is known the better, and we want to see it settled.”
during the whole of the following winter preparations for attack and defense went quietly on. there was drilling along the border and disquieting rumors came from time to time of companies that had been organized and equipped to move into kansas as soon as spring opened to uphold the rights of the southerners.
atchison county took a prominent part in the border warfare. the bold attitude assumed by the free state forces in and around lawrence; the wakarusa war; the free state elections, and the determination of the free state party to convene their legislature in march, 1856, kept the partisan pro-slavery sentiment in atchison in a constant tumult. in march large numbers of south carolina emigrants, armed and equipped with the avowed purpose of enforcing southern rights in kansas, arrived on all the incoming steamboats. capt. f. g. palmer, of atchison, commanded one of the earliest if not the earliest company of these emigrants. robert de treville was first lieutenant. the home company had been formed prior to the arrival of the south carolinians. dr. john h. stringfellow was captain; robert s. kelley, first lieutenant; a. j. g. westbrook, second lieutenant, and john h. 56blassingame, third lieutenant. their arms were supplied from ft. leavenworth and by the last of april they were ready and waiting for the assault and the subsequent “sacking” of lawrence. the whole countryside was aflame with the passion of war. by may 1 quite a large army of pro-slavery sympathizers was organized. the south carolinian company, from atchison, was among the first to start the assault upon lawrence and it was not long before “its flag was planted upon the rifle pit of the enemy.” dr. stringfellow was there and robert s. kelley, his able assistant on the squatter sovereign, was also there. in an account of the assault the following appeared in the squatter sovereign.
“the flag was carried by its brave bearer and stationed upon the herald of freedom printing office, and from thence to the large hotel and fortress of the yankees, where it proudly waived until the artillery commenced battering down the building. our company was composed mostly of south carolinians, under command of capt. robert de treville, late of charleston, s. c. and we venture the prediction that a braver set of men than are found in its ranks never bore arms.”
the squatter sovereign continued to be without fear the most bitter and uncompromising pro-slavery organ in the territory. its watch-word was “death to all yankees and traitors in kansas.” at a large mass meeting at atchison, held in june, 1856, robert s. kelley, its assistant editor, was nominated as the “commander-in-chief of the forces in town,” but for some reason now lost to view kelley declined the honor and it was passed on to capt. f. g. palmer who accepted it without remorse and without apologies. senator atchison was present at this mass meeting and made a speech, and so was col. peter t. abell, afterwards president of the atchison town company, and captain de treville, and others not so famous, and they all made speeches.
during that summer, because of the continued activities of old john brown and the agitation which those activities created in the breasts of the pro-slavery sympathizers in atchison, another military company was formed, called the atchison guards, of which john robertson was the commander, who was so prominent in the battle of hickory point, and atchison county continued to take a prominent part in the border warfare which continued for sometime thereafter. during all of this time the free state settlers of atchison were very quiet and undemonstrative. they were not strong in number and aside from a few virile souls like pardee butler, they held their tongues and kept their own counsel. they were treated with scant courtesy and consideration by their pro-slavery neighbors, and it can be said to their credit that no set of men ever displayed greater self-restraint or suffered more for the cause of peace than the free state settlers of this county. it doubtless unsettled their minds and disturbed their slumbers to read from time to time sentiments such as these taken from the squatter sovereign of june 10, 1856:
57
(upper) atchison hospital. (center) atchison county court house. (lower) y. m. c. a.
58“hundreds of free state men who have committed no overt act, but have only given countenance to those reckless murderers, assassins and thieves, will, of necessity, share the same fate of their brethren. if civil war is to be the result of such a conflict, there cannot be, and will not be any neutrals recognized. ‘he that is not for us is against us,’ will of necessity be the motto, and those who are not willing to take either one side or the other are the most unfortunate men in kansas and had better flee to other regions as expeditiously as possible. they are not the men for kansas.”
in another issue dr. stringfellow said:
“the abolitionists shoot down our men without provocation wherever they meet them. let us retaliate in the same manner. a free fight is all we desire. if murder and assassination is the program of the day we are in favor of filling the bill. let not the knives of the pro-slavery men be sheathed while there is one abolitionist in the territory. as they have shown no quarters to our men they deserve none from us. let our motto be written in blood upon our flags. ‘death to all yankees and traitors in kansas.’ we have 150 men in atchison ready to start in an hour’s notice. all we lack is horses and provisions.”
and then follows an exhortation from dr. stringfellow to his friends in missouri to contribute something that will enable his constituents to protect their lives and their families from the outrages of the assassins of the north, and ends by stating that the war will not cease until kansas has been purged of abolitionists.
pro-slavery committees from doniphan, atchison and leavenworth counties were organized to call on their friends in the south for arms, ammunition and provisions, and a circular letter appeared in the leavenworth herald, and an urgent invitation was issued to all the pro-slavery papers to give the circular wide publicity. it read, in part, as follows:
“to our friends throughout the united states:
“the undersigned, having been appointed a committee by our fellow citizens of the counties of leavenworth, doniphan and atchison, in kansas territory, to consult together and to adopt measures for mutual protection 59and the advancement of the interests of the pro-slavery party in kansas territory, this day assembled at the town of atchison, to undertake the responsible duty assigned us; and in our present emergency deem it expedient to address this circular to our friends throughout the union, but more particularly in the slave-holding states. * * * * the time has arrived when prompt action is required and the interior of kansas can easily be supplied from various points in the above named counties. the pro-slavery party is the only one in kansas which pretends to uphold the government or abide by the laws. our party from the beginning has sought to make kansas a slave state, only by legal means. we have been slandered and vilified almost beyond endurance, yet we have not resorted to violence, but steadily pursued the law for the accomplishment of our objects. * * * * we have proclaimed to the world that we recognize the principle of the kansas bill as just and right, and although we preferred kansas being made a negro slave state, yet we never dreamed of making it so by the aid of bowie-knives, revolvers and sharpe rifles, until we were threatened to be driven out of the territory by a band of hired abolitionists, brought up and sent here to control our elections and steal our slaves. we are still ready and intend to continue so, if our friends abroad stand by and assist us. our people are poor and their labor is their capital. deprive them of that, which we are now compelled to do, and they must be supported from abroad, or give up the cause of the south. the northern abolitionists can raise millions of dollars, and station armed bands of fanatics throughout the territory and support them, in order to deprive southern men of their constitutional rights. we address this to our friends only, for the purpose of letting them know our true condition and our wants. we know that our call will meet a ready, willing and liberal response. * * * * heaven and earth is being moved in all the free states to induce overwhelming armies to march here to drive us from the land. we are able to take care of those already here, but let our brethren in the states take care of the outsiders. watch them, and if our enemies march for kansas let our friends come along to take care of them, and if nothing but a fight can bring about peace, let us have a fight that will amount to something. send us the money and other articles mentioned as soon as practicable, and if the abolitionists find it convenient to bring their supplies, let our friends come with ours. arrangements have been made with messrs. majors, russell & company, leavenworth, k. t.; j. w. foreman & company, doniphan, k. t., and c. e. woolfolk & company, atchison, k. t., to receive any money or other articles sent for our relief, and will report to the undersigned, 60and we pledge ourselves that all will be distributed for the benefit of the cause. horses, we greatly need—footmen being useless in running down midnight assassins and robbers.”
the following residents of atchison county signed the circular: p. t. abell, chairman; j. a. headley, a. j. frederick, j. f. green, jr., c. e. mason.
this circular was signed june 6, 1856, and was published in the lawrence herald of freedom, june 14, 1856.
from this time forward the conflagration spread with ever increasing fury, and not only did the appeals for aid from the pro-slavery forces find immediate response, but likewise the anti-slavery forces throughout the whole north came to the rescue of the free soilers in kansas, and during all of this great excitement atchison county was the focal point of pro-slavery activities. the news of the “sacking” of lawrence served to awaken the nation in the north. it was at this time that henry ward beecher, with all of the great eloquence at his command, advocated from his brooklyn pulpit the sending of sharpe rifles instead of bibles to kansas, and pledged his own parish to supply a definite number. and on and on they came to kansas out of the north with determination in their hearts and sharpe rifles in their hands, to help the free soilers in their battles against the forces of atchison and stringfellow and abell. then came lane’s “army of the north,” which sounded more terrible than it really was, following in quick succession the second battle of franklin; the siege and capitulation of ft. titus, and the famous battle of osawatomie. at last the mobilization of the forces of atchison and stringfellow not far from the outskirts at lawrence in september, 1856, for the purpose of a final assault on that free state stronghold, marked the collapse of the atchison-stringfellow military campaign. it was a critical hour for lane. old john brown was there, and the citizens were ready for whatever might befall them, but further hostilities were averted by the action of governor geary on the morning of september 15, 1856, when he appeared in person in the midst of the missouri camp several hours after issuing a proclamation for the missourians to disband. he found both senator atchison and gen. b. f. stringfellow (brother of dr. stringfellow) there, and in the course of his speech severely reprimanded atchison, who “from his high estate as vice-president of the united states, had fallen so low as to be the leader of an army of men with uncontrollable passions, determined upon wholesale slaughter and destruction.”
when governor geary had concluded his remarks his proclamation and 61order to disband the army were read and the more judicious obeyed.
the troops thus disbanded, marched homeward. those enlisting at atchison returned to missouri by way of lecompton. this was the last organized military invasion from missouri and ended the attempts of the pro-slavery forces to rule kansas by martial law.
it must not be concluded, however, that the stringfellows and other pro-slavery leaders in atchison county were not law-abiding citizens. they believed in the institution of slavery, as many good men of that day did, and they had the same rights to peacefully enter the territory of kansas and endeavor to make it a slave state under the principle of squatter sovereignty, as dr. charles robinson, and lane, and john brown did to make the territory a free state. it would not only be unjust to the memory of the stringfellows and their compatriots, but unjust to posterity also to leave the impression that they had no semblance of justification, for many of their acts, which the impartial historian will admit, were very frequently in retaliation of wrongs and outrages suffered. the terrible stress and strain under which good men on both sides labored in those critical days led them to extremes, and in the midst of the discordant passions of good men, the bad men—those who are the lawless of every age and clime—flourished and their lawlessness only served to complicate the dangerous and ever threatening situation. calm judgment may not have been lacking in the territory in and around atchison and lawrence in the days between 1854 and 1857, but if it existed at all it was lost in the riot of partisan feeling and did not evince itself until later.
following the disbanding of the “territorial” militia before lawrence, general atchison seemed to have somewhat recovered his composure and in an address to the troops after governor geary had retired, he said:
“as was well known to all present the gentlemen composing this meeting had just been in conference with governor geary, who in the strongest language had deprecated the inhuman outrages perpetrated by those whom he characterized as bandits, now roving through the territory, and pledged himself in the most solemn manner to employ actively all of the force at his command in executing the laws of the territory and giving protection to his beloved citizens, and who had also appealed to us to dissolve our present organization and stand by and co-operate with him in holding up the hands of his power against all evil doers, and who had also retired from the meeting, with a request that he would consult and determine what course would be taken. now the object of the meeting was thus to consult and determine what should be done.”
62general atchison also impressed the meeting with the solemnity and importance of the occasion and said that it was time for men to exercise their reason and not yield to their passions and also to keep on the side of the law which alone constitutes our strength and protection. these words of general atchison breathed a far different message than his strong language of a few years before and indicated more plainly than anything else the general trend of pro-slavery sentiment.
after the cessation of military movements in the territory, more or less peaceful elections, sessions of the legislature and conventions, at which constitutions were framed and voted upon, took place, and the work of preparing the territory to become a state went forward.
four constitutions were framed before kansas was admitted to the union.
the topeka constitution, which was the first in order, was adopted by the convention which framed it november 11, 1855, and by the people of the territory at an election december 15, 1855.
the lecompton constitution was adopted by the convention which framed it november 7, 1857, and was submitted to a vote of the people december 21, 1857, and the form of the vote prescribed was: “for the constitution, with slavery,” and “for the constitution, without slavery.” as no opportunity was afforded at this election to vote against the constitution the free state people did not participate in it. the territorial legislature was summoned in extra session and passed it without submitting this constitution to a vote of the people, january 4, 1858, and at that election 138 votes were cast for it and 10,226 against it. in spite of this overwhelming vote against the constitution it was sent to washington and was transmitted by president buchanan to the senate who urged the admission of kansas under it, thus starting the great contest which divided the democratic party, the election of abraham lincoln as president, and the final overthrow of the slave party. the bill to admit kansas under this constitution failed, but a bill finally passed congress, under the provisions of which the constitution was again submitted to the people august 4, 1858, with the result that there were 1,788 votes cast for it and 11,300 votes cast against it.
the convention which framed the leavenworth constitution was provided for by an act of the territorial legislature, passed in february, 1858, at which time the lecompton constitution was pending in congress. the leavenworth constitution was adopted by the convention april 3, 1858, and by the people may 18, 1858.
63the wyandotte constitution was adopted by the convention which framed it july 29, 1859, and adopted by the people october 4, 1859. it was under the wyandotte constitution that the state was admitted into the union january 29, 1861.
in this last convention atchison county played a very important part. three members were sent from this county: caleb may, to whom reference has been made before, a farmer, born in kentucky, and residing near the now abandoned townsite of pardee; john j. ingalls, a lawyer at sumner, who arrived in kansas from massachusetts, october 4, 1858, exactly one year previous to the adoption of the constitution by the people of the territory, and robert graham, a merchant at atchison, who was born in ireland. john a. martin, the editor of freedom’s champion, the successor to the squatter sovereign, at atchison, was secretary of the convention.
caleb may remained a successful farmer and leading citizen of the county for many years after this convention, subsequently drifting to the indian territory, where he died.
john j. ingalls became united states senator from kansas, where he remained for eighteen years, part of the time as president protempore of that body.
john a. martin became one of the leading military heroes of kansas, and served as governor of the state from 1886 to 1888. he played an important part as an officer of the convention, as also did mr. ingalls, who, samuel a. stinson says, was the “recognized scholar of the convention, and authority on all questions connected with the arrangement and phraseology of the instrument.” for this reason he was made chairman of the committee on phraseology and arrangements. robert graham was chairman of the committee on corporations and banking, and on the ballot to locate a temporary capital of the state atchison received six votes. topeka received twenty-nine and was chosen as the temporary capital and afterwards became the permanent capital of kansas.
