Stark Mad Abolitionists

by Robert K. Sutton

  The Cincinnati group also brought a printing press, parts to build a small gristmill, a steam engine, cooking stoves, seeds and agricultural implements, the components to build prefabricated buildings, and 153 barrels of whiskey. Manhattan would not have the violent future of Lawrence, but it remained a solid antislavery settlement. Goodnow also was instrumental in receiving a charter from the territorial legislature in 1858 to establish Blue Mount Central College just outside Manhattan. In 1863, after Kansas achieved statehood, and with the federal Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862, the legislature transformed this private college that was teetering on the brink of insolvency into Kansas State Agricultural College, which later became Kansas State University.47

  Other organizations, such as the New York State Kansas Committee, raised funds and sent antislavery emigrants to Kansas as well. Dozens of organizations were formed to encourage emigration to Kansas. Most were small, several merged with the New England Company or other groups, and many fizzled. Among the more interesting unsuccessful groups were the Vegetarian and Octagon Settlement Companies. Chartered in 1855, Henry S. Clubb recruited antislavery vegetarians to settle in two large planned communities, in the shapes of octagons, in Allen and Woodson Counties. Enthusiastic settlers traveled to Kansas in 1856 and laid out their claims, but in short order the communities failed, mostly because the sponsor, Mr. Clubb, promised far more infrastructure improvements than he could deliver.48

  The relatively quick settlement of places such as Lawrence and Manhattan by antislavery emigrants was a surprise to many, especially to those who assumed that Kansas would become a slave state. Pro-slavery emigrants were settling in Kansas, but mostly as individuals rather than as part of organized groups. To try to compete, the “Law and Order Party of Kansas Territory” was created in 1856 for the primary purpose of appealing to the “Friends in the South, and the Law-Abiding People of the Union.” In the group’s publication, The Voice of Kansas, the organizers railed against the antislavery organizations saturating Kansas with settlers, and issued the appeal for Southerners to “send us men and means. We must have your help.”49

  The pro- and antislavery sides were jockeying for position, but they were doing so under the legal framework of the Kansas Territorial Government. Soon after establishment of the territory, President Franklin Pierce appointed a Democrat, Andrew Reeder of Pennsylvania, as territorial governor in July 1854. Reeder arrived at Fort Leavenworth on October 7 and immediately began a tour of his new domain. In November, he called for a census to count the number of residents, and, in particular, the number of eligible male voters for the upcoming elections for the territorial legislature. The territory was divided into seventeen districts, and census takers asked the names of the males twenty-one years or older, where they were from, their occupations, the number of people in their households, if they were United States citizens or intended to become citizens, if they had any enslaved people and if so how many. Finally, the most important question was if they planned to remain as permanent residents of Kansas. The census also counted free blacks, but excluded Indians and members of the military stationed in Kansas territory.

  Andrew W. Reeder. Kansas State Historical Society.

  The census was conducted in January and February 1855. It counted 8,521 total residents, of which 5,138 were males and 3,383 were females. Many males were dependents because only 2,378 of them were eligible to vote. Breaking the numbers down a little further, of the eligible voters, 128 were from Massachusetts, with another 50 from other New England states. There were 1,358 from Missouri and another 235 from other slaveholding states. Midwest states, not including Missouri, produced 607 residents. Finally, the census takers identified 211 enslaved people, owned by 166 individuals, with the highest concentration living near the Missouri border.50

  District 1, including Lawrence, was populated with 87 people from Massachusetts and 20 from other New England states. Another 101 were from Midwestern states, excluding Missouri—58 from there—from which no enslaved people were counted in this district. Scattered throughout the territory were families from other countries, of which the highest concentration was in District 16, in which 62 foreign families, many from Germany, were counted.51

  The presence of so many residents from Missouri and other slave states did not mean that Kansas would automatically become a slave state. If the census takers would have added a question such as “why did you decide to settle in Kansas?” to their list, a large majority from free or slave states likely would have answered something such as: “I came here looking for a better life for myself and my family.”

  3 I Shall Build a Cabin for Myself Forthwith

  BEFORE THE NEW RESIDENTS OF Lawrence could slay the pro-slavery dragons, they first had to provide for the spiritual, economic, and physical needs of their community. B. R. Knapp, one of the first Emigrant Aid Company pioneers, documented the beginnings of the settlement, recording and then mailing his notes to a Boston newspaper on August 9, 1854. He reported that it cost thirty dollars to build a log cabin, thus placing carpenters and laborers in high demand. “I shall build a cabin for myself forthwith,” he wrote, “and have already commenced log-cutting.” It was hard work “for a green hand,” but he hoped he “would soon get used to it.” Knapp also reported that each member of the party was developing his own claim.52

  Ferdinand Fuller, another pioneer, added to Knapp’s description. He reported that as soon as the first party arrived on August 1, 1854, at about noon, they ate their meal on the ridge where the state university eventually would stand, and which they called Mount Oread, in honor of the school established by Eli Thayer. They held a meeting in which Mr. Fuller was elected president of the community. The first order of business was to decide if the site was appropriate to establish the town—it was—and so they stayed and started laying out their town and their claims.53

  Dr. Doy, reported that when the second party arrived, he was forced to take down his temporary log house. He and his pioneer party colleagues thought they would be granted more land, since they were the first ones to arrive. Instead, Doy reported that they were granted “only one lot apiece extra.” He was upset but undaunted; he “went out and selected a beautiful farm of one hundred and sixty acres, with a stream, timbered on each side, running through it, about a mile and a half from Lawrence[.] There I built my second log-house….” In October 1854, he wrote: “my family [arrived], consisting of my wife and nine children—six sons and three daughters—the eldest then about twenty-one, and the youngest two years old.”54

  Joseph Savage, a member of the second party, recorded his reminiscences several years later in weekly installments in the Western Home Journal, published in Lawrence. He reported that the Emigrant Aid Company had planned well. The journey took seven days from Boston to Kansas City, and when they arrived in Kansas City, the society had tents for them and a pleasant area in which to camp. On the steamship journey from St. Louis to Kansas City they had several “sharp discussions” with slavery men, who backed off when they saw James Sawyer’s Sharps rifle in action. When he arrived, Savage reported that a Mr. Stearns had a log cabin, and that he asserted his squatter rights to 160 acres under the Preemption Act, which became the heart of the community. The Emigrant Aid Company bought him out for five hundred dollars, and thus took possession and clear title to most of the town site.

  It seems that the early settlers were given to appointing committees for almost everything. Ferdinand Fuller reported that his committee was in charge of setting up tents and taking a vote that decided Lawrence would be their home. When the second party arrived, a new committee replaced the first one, with Charles Robinson as its head. Of the myriad committees, one was formed to make a recommendation about religious affiliations—or lack thereof—in the new community. Some of the more liberal residents thought it would make sense to not worry about denominational differences, but instead pool the community resources, build one big nondenominational church, and invite a prominent, well-know
n minister to shepherd the collective flock. The committee did not reach an agreement, and apparently strayed somewhat from its charge into theological issues. A majority focused on orthodox Christian dogma, arguing that the dead would rise from their graves upon the second coming of Jesus. The minority, on the other hand, argued that the resurrection of the dead was physiologically impossible since, with decomposition, bodies turned into something else. Thus, the idea of one unified church was stillborn.55

  Although the residents dropped the concept of one big, ecumenical church, they did organize a church, and the first service was held on October 1, 1854. An unnamed source reported a detailed account of the service: “Last Sabbath was my first prairie Sabbath. Sabbath our parties had assembled for the ‘hearing of the word.’ Rev. Mr. Lum, sent us by the American Home Missionary Society, preached very acceptably. The place of meeting was one of the large receiving and boarding houses. We have two nearly adjoining each other, each of them about 20 by 48 feet, covered and thatched with prairie grass, very warm and very good. We had a large and attentive audience.”56

  Straw houses, the first structures built in Lawrence. Sketch by J. E. Rice c. 1854–55. Kansas State Historical Society.

  From this first service, two weeks later the Congregational Church was organized on October 15, 1854. The members drew up a creed and constitution, based on the model of Mount Vernon Church of Boston, and named their church Plymouth Church, drawing a similarity to the Pilgrims who had also settled a new land two centuries earlier. Plymouth Congregational Church is still in existence. The first church structure was a small brick building. The second—still used today—was completed in 1870, designed by architect John Haskell. The church celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2004, and remains an important fixture in Lawrence.57

  One member of the church/theology committee and a gentleman whose name popped up frequently in early Lawrence was Franklin Haskell, the father of the architect who later would design the new Plymouth Church. He was listed on the manifest for the second group as a farmer from North Brookfield, Massachusetts, and was selected as one of the surveyors to lay out the town plan. His wife and thirteen-year-old son joined him in 1855. Haskell died suddenly in January 1857, and his two older sons came to Kansas to care for their mother and younger brother. Franklin, but for his early death, would likely have been one of the leading individuals in the state. His sons, though, would have made him proud. John was the leading architect in early Kansas. Another son, Dudley, later was elected to the US House of Representatives from Lawrence.

  For the most part, the Emigrant Aid Company settlers purchased the land claimed by settlers without much difficulty. But several other squatters were not so easy to deal with. John Baldwin had selected a claim in the future site of Lawrence, but he was not willing to sell. Under the Preemption Act of 1841, individuals could “squat” on up to 160 acres, provided they actively resided on and continually improved the land and did not allow it to sit idle for six months or longer. They could then purchase the land from the government for not less than $1.25 per acre before it was made available to the general public.

  John Baldwin had staked out his preemption claim, then left Kansas. He returned when he heard that the Emigrant Aid Company intended to settle in Lawrence. He set up a tent in the middle of the community and refused to sell or relinquish his claim. Baldwin was a pro-slavery man from Missouri. Dr. Robinson set up a tent as well on the land Baldwin claimed. On October 6, 1854, Baldwin brought in a wagonload of pro-slavery Missourians armed to the teeth, and threatened to go to war if Robinson did not remove his tent from the disputed land. Baldwin sent a note to Robinson, saying that if he did not remove his tent within one-half hour, “we shall take the trouble to move the same.” Robinson responded to Baldwin that “if you molest our property, you do it at your peril.”

  The half hour passed, then another quarter hour, with both sides wondering what would happen next. Neither side, it seemed, wanted bloodshed. After some saber rattling, both sides dispersed, and the first salvo in what would later be called “Bleeding Kansas” was averted. Several months later, Baldwin brought his case before a panel headed by Governor Reeder. The panel divided the town into 220 shares. Baldwin and his associates would hold 100 shares, the Lawrence Association would own 110 shares, the Emigrant Aid Company would hold 10 shares, and 2 would be held in trust for a college that would be built in the future. The antislavery residents of Lawrence were not happy with the decision, but as a local newspaper editor wrote, it did remove a cloud that “hung like an incubus over the city for several months.”

  George Washington Brown. Kansas State Historical Society.

  The newspaper reporting on the land issue was the Kansas Herald of Freedom, published by George Washington Brown. Brown had practiced law, and then became the editor of a newspaper in Conneautville, Pennsylvania. He was drawn to the Emigrant Aid Company and agreed that he would go to Kansas and start an antislavery newspaper, with financial backing from the company. He claimed to have the first newspaper in Lawrence, publishing the first edition of the Herald on October 21, 1854, in his offices in Pennsylvania, then shipping the papers to Lawrence. In this first edition, Brown printed a letter from Eli Thayer, asking him to “represent our [the Emigrant Aid Company’s] interests” in Kansas. Thayer went on to request the Herald print truthful news about individuals and the community, share news provided by Emigrant Aid Company agents, and publish news shared by emigrants to Kansas.58 Brown moved to Lawrence in December 1854 and set up his newspaper office.

  In the first edition printed in Lawrence, Brown announced that he had enough paper and ink on hand to last for several months. He reported that a minister from a New Jersey church planned to lead his entire congregation of some forty families to Kansas. He also reported that a group of Quakers from North Carolina inquired about land in Kansas—its fertility and availability—and asked if there was a Quaker community in the territory. Brown asked for volunteers to answer numerous similar inquiries. In this first Kansas edition, a doctor, a dentist, four lawyers, a produce and meat store, and several other businesses placed advertisements. Dr. John Doy advertised that he had opened a practice in “hydropathic medicine.” Brown wrote that he would also be more than happy to print just about anything anybody wanted. He continued publishing his paper for the next five years.59

  Although George Washington Brown claimed to have the first newspaper in Lawrence, it was not the only paper. In a letter Charles Robinson wrote to Amos Lawrence in December 1854, he mentioned plans for two new ventures, “making three antislavery newspapers in Lawrence.”60

  John Speer. Kansas State Historical Society.

  John Speer established the Democratic Whig newspaper in Medina, Ohio, in 1843, which he operated until 1854. After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, John and his brother Joseph came to Lawrence. They started the Lawrence Kansas Pioneer, an antislavery newspaper, in 1855, but the first issues were printed from Medina. They later changed the name to the Kansas Tribune and eventually moved the newspaper to Topeka. John Speer later returned to Lawrence and revived his newspaper there. He remained active throughout the troubled territorial years of Kansas, denouncing slavery, attending the Topeka constitutional convention of 1855, and serving in the first free-state legislature in 1857.

  Josiah Miller. Kansas State Historical Society.

  Of Lawrence’s earliest newspaper editors, Josiah Miller had, by far, the most interesting background. He was from South Carolina. His family members were strong antislavery advocates. His father was nearly beaten to death by pro-slavery men when he defended his minister, who had been tarred and feathered for preaching an antislavery message from the pulpit. Having observed the cruelties inflicted on his father and other antislavery individuals in South Carolina, Josiah adopted his parents’ views on slavery. He attended Indiana University and later studied law. With the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, he was among the early Emigrant Aid Company immigrants, arriving in Kansas in August 185
4. His newspaper, the Kansas Free State, which he published with R. G. Elliott, was the first printed in Lawrence on January 3, 1855. Miller reported that its newspaper office had neither “floor, ceiling, nor window sash.” The pro-slavery faction in Kansas considered Miller a serious threat due to his abolitionist connections, so in the summer of 1856, he was seized by pro-slavery men and charged with treason against the State of South Carolina. He was nearly transported back to his native state for trial, but when cooler heads prevailed, he was released from prison after a few weeks.61

  In the first run of the Free State, Josiah Miller and his partner described the primitive office from which the paper was produced. Many structures in early Lawrence were similar. When the first parties arrived, they stayed in the tents provided by the Emigrant Aid Company, but these were temporary and not suitable for winter. The company also promised a sawmill, but it had not yet arrived. Timber was scarce, and the trees that grew along the streams and rivers were quickly used up. There was one framed lumber house built for the minister of the Plymouth Church, but that was the only one in town.

  As a temporary measure, the new residents built their houses and other buildings with straw. They set two rows of poles together, attached them at the top in an A-frame, and then filled in the gaps between the poles with straw.