Stark Mad Abolitionists

by Robert K. Sutton

  The largest such structure, the Pioneer Boarding House, was twenty feet wide by forty-six feet long, and served as the boarding house, the temporary church, and the community gathering center. Fortunately, the first winter was relatively mild, and while these “straw tents” left a great deal to be desired, they provided adequate temporary shelter.

  In its haste to encourage as many antislavery settlers to Kansas as possible, it soon became clear that the Emigrant Aid Company had not adequately planned for accommodating their needs. The lack of comfortable housing was one problem. Another was that when new groups arrived, there was nowhere to put them. The third Emigrant Aid–sponsored party left Boston on September 26, 1854. It started with ninety-six individuals, and by the time the party reached St. Louis, it had nearly doubled in size, picking up additional emigrants along the way. The trip took longer, the accommodations in Kansas City were inadequate for the size of the party, much of their luggage was lost or misplaced along the way, and the expenses incurred were much higher than the company had advertised. Each member had to find his or her own way from Kansas City to Lawrence, and upon arrival, each also discovered that he or she would not receive equal shares of land in the community.

  A reporter for the New York Times, observing the plight of this third group, wrote on October 9: “the truth is, that the Boston Emigrant Aid Company has by no means fulfilled its pledges to the public, or its duty to its protégés. There seems a total lack of system in their operations, and of efficiency in their agents.” Several members of the party expressed their frustrations in letters home. Charles Loomer wrote that “those who bring with them $500 or $1,000 to buy stock and implements for their farms, and are young, or have good constitutions, get along very well; but for men without capital, or whose health is none of the best, it were better for them to stay at home.” Another young man reported to the Boston Daily Evening Traveller “that of the party of one hundred and sixty who left with him, at least ninety are on their way back to the Eastward, well satisfied that they are not fitted to settle a new and unbroken country, and quite disposed to pronounce the whole Kanzas scheme a grand humbug.”62

  The fourth party of 126 left Boston on October 17, and by the time it reached Kansas City, the number had swelled to 230. Their complaints were similar to those of the third party. George O. Willard, a member of the fourth party, wrote that “of our company, which numbered 230 when we landed, I do not think 100 can be found in the territory.” He continued, writing that “few were dissatisfied with the country, but the cost of living was so much more than they had been told at the east [sic], that many became discouraged and returned. In fact, while we were coming out we met a number of the previous company [the third party] returning.”

  When the fourth party arrived in Lawrence, many decided to start a new community at Rock Creek, about seventy-five miles west of Lawrence. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the Emigrant Aid Company in a resolution they prepared on November 12, 1854. The document opened with their admiration for the “beautiful scenery, and … the healthfulness of its climate, and the fertility of its soil…. But in our candid opinion, the ‘Emigrant Aid Company’ [has] erred in failing to present the dark, as well as the bright side of the condition of things here.” The group was particularly upset that the company had not made more of an effort “to select locations for parties arriving here, and that misrepresentations have been made respecting the price of provisions and the cost of living.” They advised others to be careful and not to accept all of the pronouncements of the Emigrant Aid Company.

  Recognizing that the complaints of the third and fourth parties were valid, when the fifth and sixth Emigrant Aid groups—both much smaller—arrived in November and December 1854, Charles Robinson encouraged many of the new arrivals to head further up the Kansas River to settle in the future site of Topeka. Although the members of these parties complained about the expenses they incurred, those who settled in Topeka were pleased with the site of the new town. They laid out a plan for the town, and by late December called their community “Topeka,” an Indian name for the wild potatoes growing along the riverbanks.63 Before long, Topeka would equal Lawrence as a hotbed of antislavery advocates. It also would become the capital of the free-state movement, and later the capital of the new state.

  4 You Might as Well Read Bibles to Buffaloes

  THE EMIGRANT AID COMPANY CLEARLY had not prepared for the settlers it was encouraging to emigrate to Kansas. The goal of flooding the territory with antislavery advocates as quickly as possible was working, but these poor souls encountered numerous practical problems, as well as other problems, upon arrival. Although Eli Thayer and other company members traveled throughout New England successfully recruiting new emigrants, they met with much less success raising money.

  Amos Lawrence, who continued to serve as treasurer, became more and more exasperated with the fund-raising efforts and with the promises Thayer and others were making to prospective Kansas emigrants. In a letter to his friend, John Carter Brown, he shared his frustrations. “There is a great deal of bluster in regard to the movements of this company,” he wrote, “and statements to the magnitude of our plans are untrue.” He continued: “I am sorry to say the prospect under our present arrangement is very poor; some change must be made. Meantime we are making large promises as to what we will do for settlers which are certain to be broken, and which will entail much dissatisfaction.”64

  Even with his frustrations, Lawrence remained devoted to the cause of making Kansas a free state. He had already spent thousands of his own money to scout the land, to purchase supplies and property, and to buy out squatters. As he had intimated to friends earlier, he did not invest his money expecting a return, but he was becoming alarmed that the effort might drain more from his wallet than he could afford. One day, in his personal diary he wrote: “Kansas drafts came in; no money in the treasury and never have had, and no money of my own. So I transferred some manufacturing company’s stock to be sold and pay them. If Kansas should not be a free State, I shall lay it to heart and to my pocket too.”65 Later in 1855, Lawrence wrote his friend Dr. Samuel Cabot complaining about the constant requests for more money, and in a note at the bottom of the letter marked “private,” he wrote: “I am out of pocket $13,000 for Kansas by loan & gift within the last 12 months & think it time to hold up, since every cent of it is borrowed money.”66

  Finally, in September 1855, Lawrence seemed to have reached the end of his patience and submitted his resignation as treasurer of the Emigrant Aid Company.67 When his friend, John Carter Brown, caught wind of Lawrence’s resignation, he announced that he would resign as well. Lawrence obviously had a change of heart because he continued as treasurer without a lapse in service.

  In addition to money, organizational, and planning problems, the Emigrant Aid Company experienced public relations problems as well. Pro-slavery advocates started spreading the rumor that the Emigrant Aid Company was paying the expenses of its settlers, and that its emigrants were radical abolitionists. In the 1850s, there was an important nuanced distinction between antislavery advocates and abolitionists. Neither liked the institution of slavery. Generally, abolitionists demanded that slavery in the United States should end immediately, no matter the cost, whereas antislavery advocates such as Lawrence wanted slavery to end but they begrudgingly were willing to accept slavery confined to the states where it already existed. The antislavery group was passionate, however, that slavery should not be introduced into new territories.

  Lawrence attempted to deflect the bad publicity by writing to Thomas Hart Benton, who had just left his seat in the House of Representatives, and who had recently published a speech claiming that the Emigrant Aid settlers’ expenses were being covered by the company. “I am the treasurer and a trustee of the only New England society which has sent out settlers,” Lawrence wrote, “and know that all the money collected has been spent in erecting schoolhouses, temporary huts, steam saw and gristmills, … and for
similar purposes, and for nothing else.”

  Regarding the claim that the company was only recruiting abolitionists as settlers, Lawrence, in another letter to President Franklin Pierce, wrote that he “had been pained often by seeing this association [the Emigrant Aid Company] called an affair of abolitionists.” He continued, “some societies [claiming to send emigrants to Kansas] under this name have been formed by abolitionists, but have accomplished nothing.”68

  Even with bad publicity, funding and logistical problems, plus a drought, Emigrant Aid Company parties kept coming. The first 1855 party of about 200 set out from Boston on March 13, followed by a second party of about 170 leaving a week later, and the third party of about 100 leaving the following week. In all, some 900 settlers, almost all from New England, ventured to Kansas in 1855. They encountered the same problems faced by the late-1854 parties, namely that Lawrence was not ready for them, so the company had to scout adequate sites. Further, a drought that had gripped the region lowered the level of the Missouri River to the point where it was difficult, and later impossible, for steam vessels to navigate through the shallows. The cost of transportation rose accordingly. As was the case with many of the later emigrant parties in 1854, many arrived in Kansas, turned around, and returned to their home states.69

  George Brown devoted considerable space in his newspaper to the problems, but also to the potential for Lawrence. By the spring of 1855, farmland within a twelve- to fifteen-mile radius was taken. There were, however, still plenty of lots available in town. To encourage development, a block of building sites was set aside at no cost, if the prospective owner committed to erecting buildings from $300 to $3,000 in value within eighteen months. If someone wanted to purchase property in prime business locations, the cost could reach as much as $3,000 per lot.

  In several editions, Brown decried the lack of adequate lumber for construction, along with the need for many more sawmills. He continuously scoured newspapers and publications from the East for new construction techniques and alternative building materials. He found and described composition roofing materials, advertised as fireproof. He was particularly enamored with concrete houses, as described in O. S. Fowler’s A Home for All (1854). Fowler provided guidance for building octagon-shaped houses made from concrete. He gave instructions for preparing the materials, erecting the forms, and pouring the concrete. The problem, of course, was that while there was plenty of lime, sand, and gravel readily available, the lack of lumber to form the walls was a major issue.70

  At this early stage of the immigrants living in Lawrence, it mattered little whether houses were built of wood or concrete. What mattered most was whether or not Kansas would be a free state. On the other hand, pro-slavery advocates were just as determined that Kansas would enter the union as a slave state. The first test for the territory’s future came with the first territorial elections in March 1855. The census taken in January and February 1855 identified 2,378 adult males qualified to vote in the upcoming election for a territorial legislature. In Lawrence, 369 men were eligible to vote. But when the election was held on March 30, 6,307 men cast ballots throughout the territory, and of that number, 1,034 voted in Lawrence. Granted, the census likely missed some residents and new settlers who arrived in Lawrence and elsewhere after the census, but neither of those factors accounted for the disparity. How did this happen?

  The Reverend Richard Cordley described what happened in his History of Lawrence, Kansas (1895). Weeks before the election was scheduled, groups of pro-slavery Missourians organized and targeted areas in Kansas where they planned to vote, ensuring that their numbers would be substantial enough to outvote the free-soil settlers. Then, starting three days before Election Day, they crossed the border in organized bands and traveled to the areas they had targeted. According to Rev. Cordley, “the evening before, and the morning of the day of the election, about one thousand men arrived at Lawrence, and camped in a ravine a short distance from the town, and near the place of voting. They came, in wagons (of which there were over one hundred) or on horseback…. They were armed with guns, rifles, pistols and bowie [sic] knives; and had tents, music and flags with them. They [also] brought with them two pieces of artillery.”

  The Reverend Richard Cordley. Kansas State Historical Society.

  Election judges volunteered, and were on hand, to ensure that only eligible voters—residents of Kansas Territory—were allowed to cast ballots. Three election judges agreed to serve in Lawrence. One judge, N. B. Blanton, was absent, later reporting that Missourians threatened to hang him if he appeared. The Missourians replaced him with one of their own judges, a Mr. Cummins. Mr. Cameron, one of the three judges, did not object to allowing Missourians to vote. The third judge, James B. Abbott, did show up, but was outvoted by Cummins and Cameron on each voting challenge. Abbott resigned his post and left. He was replaced by a Mr. Benjamin.

  The voting pattern started when Colonel Samuel Young, the leader of the Missourians, stepped up and “refused to take the oath prescribed by the governor, but said he was a resident of the territory.” James Abbott objected, but he was overruled by the other election judges, and Young cast his ballot. The other Missourians did the same, with the oldest voting first. Very few votes were challenged, and most legal Lawrence voters were either so intimidated or so disgusted with the whole affair they did not vote. Some mustered enough courage to vote later in the day, but only about half of the eligible Lawrence residents cast ballots. After they voted, most Missourians left and returned home.71

  The story of the election in Lawrence was repeated throughout the territory. In Leavenworth, five times the number of voters recorded in the census showed up to vote. As in Lawrence, a free-state judge was intimidated and resigned his post, replaced by one sympathetic to the Missourians. In Bloomington, the judges who were prepared to exclude the interlopers from voting were threatened with instant death if they did not resign. Not surprisingly, they left their posts. Missourians penetrated as far as Pawnee, some 120 miles west of the Missouri state line, to vote. Of the 6,307 men who voted throughout the territory on March 30, 5,427 voted for pro-slavery candidates.72 Not surprisingly, the entire new territorial legislature was sympathetic to the pro-slavery cause.

  Charles Robinson had just returned to Lawrence from leading the first 1855 Emigrant Aid Party from Boston when the election was held. Soon after the election, he dashed off a letter to Eli Thayer reporting what had happened, writing that an “election in Kansas Territory has passed [and it] was controlled entirely by Missourians.” The violent nature of the vote, with Missourians threatening judges and voters, was making it clear that for Kansas to become a free state, antislavery forces might need to fight. To that end, he reported that “our people have now formed themselves into four military companies & will meet to drill till they have perfected themselves in the art…. Give us the weapons & every man from the north will be a soldier & die in his tracks if necessary to protect and defend our rights. It looks very much like war & I am ready for it & so are our people.” He then asked Thayer if he could send at least two hundred Sharps rifles to Kansas.73

  Shortly after Amos Lawrence heard the results of the territorial elections, he recorded in his diary that Kansas “may be saved, and be a free state, but the prospect is dark.” Several days later, he noted that his stepmother accompanied his business partner, Robert M. Mason, to Washington to meet with her nephew, President Pierce. During their meeting, the president expressed his regret that her stepson Amos was “mixed up in the [Kansas] business.” Lawrence’s observation was that his position “was better than [Pierce’s],” and that by “mixing up with Douglas and getting the Kanzas and Nebraska Bill passed has overturned him and his party.”

  Following the election, territorial governor Reeder was in a bind. Up to that point, he had conducted his responsibilities well. He called for a census to identify the eligible voters. He called for an election for the territorial legislature. He issued the proper instructions to the electio
n judges. But the Missourians foiled his best intentions. Following the elections, six districts protested the results. The governor declared the results invalid and called for new elections for those districts on May 22, 1855. Before the special elections were held, however, Reeder headed for Washington to confer with President Franklin Pierce. He was seeking the support and assistance of the federal government to deal with the political turmoil in Kansas. Pierce offered neither, and likely had already decided to replace Reeder. While the governor was away, the special election in the six districts was conducted with little disturbance. Antislavery candidates won in the new elections, but the results made no difference because the pro-slavery faction held a solid majority in the new territorial legislature.74

  Dr. Robinson was ready for battle, if necessary, to ensure that Kansas would become a free state. His wife, Sara, on the other hand, was more circumspect. As the territorial legislature was about to meet, she observed that it would “enact laws for the people of this territory. They, many of them residents of Missouri, and all of them elected by Missouri voters, ignorant and brutal men, having gained their election at the point of the bowie-knife [sic] intend to enact laws to govern enlightened and intelligent people.” She continued, “The question is, shall the laws, whatever they may be, be boldly repudiated as no law for us?”75

  The newly elected territorial legislature convened in Pawnee on July 2, 1855. Its first act was to expel the free-state legislators elected from the May 22 special election, replacing them with pro-slavery members. Its second act was to move the meeting place to Shawnee Mission, which was near the border of Missouri—a more convenient location—since these “lawmakers” were residents of Missouri. Governor Reeder had returned to the territory on June 23. He vetoed these first pieces of legislation. Reeder also vetoed a harsh slave code and new voting regulations that essentially allowed any adult male to vote, so long as he paid a one-dollar poll tax, and swore to uphold the federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The governor went further to declare the territorial legislature illegal. For his actions, President Pierce removed Reeder from office on August 16, 1855, on trumped-up charges that he had illegally speculated on Kaw Indian lands.76