Stark Mad Abolitionists

by Robert K. Sutton

  Captain Walker and his army moved quickly and attacked Fort Titus. Captain Henry J. Shombre, who had raised a company of soldiers from Indiana, led the first cavalry charge but was shot from his horse, mortally wounded. His company retreated, waiting for the main force. When the rest of the free-state men arrived, they started firing their rifles at the fort, with little effect. But then Captain Bickerton brought up and started firing several well-placed lead balls into the fort from his cannon, announcing that they were the latest “edition of the Herald of Freedom.” The free-state companies were deployed surrounding the fort on all sides, closing off any route for escape. After several salvos from Bickerton’s cannon, Titus raised a white flag in surrender. Titus and several men were wounded, and two were killed. Titus, who had terrorized residents in and around Lawrence, was a blubbering, pitiful coward in surrender, begging for his life. When Captain Walker and the free-state men entered Fort Titus, they carried away four hundred muskets, knives, thirteen horses, several wagons, a large stock of household provisions, farm equipment, and $10,000 in gold and bank drafts. They also discovered several slaves owned by Titus, whom they set free and instructed to go to Topeka, where they would be cared for. Then Walker and his men burned the fort to the ground.145

  Titus and thirty-four survivors were marched to Lawrence, where they were held as prisoners of war. The next day, Governor Shannon and Major Sedgwick traveled to Lawrence to meet with the town leaders. Charles Robinson and the others were still in custody, so Captain Walker and the other militia captains negotiated for the town. Both sides agreed to surrender prisoners. Titus and his men were surrendered to Major Sedgwick, and members of the Lawrence militia held at Lecompton were surrendered to the town. Walker and the other captains agreed to turn over some of the arms they had captured to the army as well.

  At the end of the negotiations, Governor Shannon asked if he could address the town. His tenure as territorial governor was nearly over, and, as one reporter wrote, “he wanted to leave the territory with the people feeling better towards him, and in a quiet state, to his successor.” When Governor Shannon rose to speak, he was greeted with jeers and catcalls, but Captain Walker stood before the crowd and asked for quiet out of respect for the governor. He was interrupted several times, but he concluded with: “Fellow citizens of Lawrence, before leaving you I desire to express my earnest desire for your health, happiness, and prosperity. Farewell.” Shannon left Kansas several weeks later, no doubt hoping never to return. Not long after, however, he did return to Kansas and practiced law in, of all places, Lawrence, where he was well respected until he died in 1877. Several visitors to his office reported that when asked about his experience as territorial governor, he would say: “govern Kansas in 1855 and ’56! You might as well attempt to govern the devil in hell.”146

  Wilson Shannon was replaced by John Geary, a veteran of the Mexican War and a former mayor of San Francisco. He was an imposing figure, both with his ability as a political leader and with his stature—he stood six feet six and weighed in at 260 pounds. President Pierce chose Geary as territorial governor in the hope that this mountain of a man could bring order to the chaos reigning in Kansas. Pierce knew he would not have a second term as president, because the Democratic Party Convention held in Cincinnati in June nominated James Buchanan as the party’s standard bearer.

  Geary arrived at the territorial capital in Lecompton on September 10. In his first speech, he made it clear that he would not side with either the pro- or antislavery factions. He immediately disbanded the existing territorial militias and created a new militia, but he decided early on that he would mostly rely on the US Army to keep the peace. Geary’s neutrality rankled the Border Ruffians, who for the most part had been able to coerce Shannon to support their positions; the free-state advocates were not pleased either because they had hoped the new governor would see things their way.147 Charles Robinson was certainly willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, writing that he hoped both sides—pro- and antislavery—would agree that when the “new Governor [Geary] takes his seat, [it would be good to] give a chance for justice & peace to reign if he wills it.”148

  John W. Geary, Library of Congress.

  On the day Geary arrived in Kansas, Charles Robinson and the others were released from their confinement. Amos Lawrence and Sara Robinson had roles in their release. After Sara was forced to leave her husband when he was charged with treason, she ended up in Boston, where she met with Amos Lawrence, who started a letter writing campaign to gain support for Kansas and to seek the release of Charles Robinson and the others from their imprisonment. He wrote to President Pierce and several members of Congress, to no avail. Then, Lawrence cleverly offered a draft of a letter for Mrs. Robinson to edit and rewrite in her own hand to send to Mrs. Pierce, along with a letter written by his stepmother, seeking her husband’s release. The letter to Mrs. Pierce had the desired effect, for Lawrence wrote to Sara that “not long since the President wrote to my brother that he had given such instructions [presumably to release her husband from his confinement] as would gratify him [his brother] and his friends here, especially my mother, whose good opinion he valued more than that of all the politicians.”149

  Charles Robinson and the other prisoners were released on bail on September 10, 1856. Before they were released, and before Geary arrived, however, territorial secretary Woodson had one more chance to work his mischief on the free-state residents of Kansas. On August 25, 1856, as acting governor, Woodson issued a proclamation declaring that the territory was in “an open state of insurrection and rebellion,” and that “all law-abiding citizens” should rally to support the “territory and its laws.” To the Border Ruffians this was a blank check to raid and pillage. So, on August 30, a band of some three hundred ruffians attacked the community of Osawatomie, John Brown’s stronghold. This time the ruffians prevailed; they killed several abolitionists, including John Brown’s son Frederick, and burned the town to the ground. Of the communities reviled by the Missourians, Osawatomie was only a notch below Lawrence.

  With the successful attack on Osawatomie, the pro-slavery militia felt emboldened to again attack Lawrence, with the goal of annihilating the entire town. The militia planned its attack for September 1856. In short order, an army of nearly three thousand Border Ruffians started gathering near Lawrence on September 14. The town was still recovering from its sacking in May, and many members of its militia companies, such as the “Stubbs,” were away. Mustering every able-bodied man available, the town could only count three hundred defenders. On the fourteenth, there was a brief skirmish outside of town, but the Missourians were waiting for their forces to arrive. What the ruffians did not count on, however, was that Governor Geary intended to end the violence in Kansas and would not tolerate any independent militias.

  The situation in Lawrence was Geary’s first test. Would he maintain a neutral course or side with the pro-slavery or the antislavery factions? On September 14, as more and more Missourians poured into the area, the town sent a messenger to Geary, apprising him of the situation. Geary immediately sent Colonel Johnson and a force of artillery and cavalry, which arrived during the night. The next morning, Geary himself arrived and went to the ruffians’ camp and informed them that they were disobeying his order, and if they did not disband immediately, he would unleash the full force of the US Army on them. They grumbled, but quickly realized that they were no match for the army, so they turned tail and headed back to Missouri.

  The “Stubbs” were away from Lawrence on September 14, attacking a pro-slavery stronghold at Hickory Point, several miles from Lawrence. They were victorious, but killed one pro-slavery man, and several on both sides were wounded. By attacking a pro-slavery target, the Stubbs were just as guilty of breaking Governor Geary’s orders as were the pro-slavery force lined up against Lawrence. So, as they were returning to Lawrence, they encountered the US Army. They were placed under arrest, taken to Lecompton, and charged with murder. Geary wanted to make
it clear that he would not tolerate militias from either side. The Lawrence militiamen were confined for several months, then released.150

  Geary achieved what his predecessors had not. By taking charge immediately, and initially refusing to take sides, he brought temporary peace to Kansas. Both the pro- and antislavery factions were wary of him. The Border Ruffians were outraged that he had thwarted their attack on Lawrence. On the other hand, the free-state side was equally angry with his order to arrest the Stubbs following the raid on Hickory Point. Charles Robinson met with Geary, and wrote to his wife that he feared that Geary would “turn out a worse man than Shannon knew how to be.”151

  While he was imprisoned, Charles Robinson decided to relinquish his position with the Emigrant Aid Company in favor of devoting his attention to the political situation in Kansas. Amos Lawrence agreed with his decision, but asked him not to sever all ties with the company, and further requested that he not submit his resignation until after the November presidential election. Lawrence also went to the Emigrant Aid Company board and asked that Robinson continue to receive a salary for six months after his resignation took effect. The board agreed, and Robinson threw himself into the political maelstrom.152

  When George Brown returned to Lawrence after his incarceration, he found that his printing presses and lead type were destroyed, and that the paper stock was burned as well. The ruffians had tried to burn his printing office to the ground, but the citizens extinguished the fire and saved the building. It took some time to acquire new presses, lead type, and a supply of paper, but the Herald of Freedom resumed publication on November 1, 1856. Not surprisingly, Brown devoted a great deal of attention to Kansas politics. The advertisement section was much smaller, but he was back in business and, for the time being, without any competition.153

  At about the same time Brown and Robinson were released and Governor Geary arrived in the territory, the Reverend Thomas Wentworth Higginson led a group of emigrants to Kansas. He arrived in Topeka on September 25 and was immediately discouraged, meeting other parties who were leaving the territory. The consensus among those departing and the settlers who were staying was that Governor Geary was a tyrant much worse than his predecessors.154 He heard more of the same when he arrived in Lawrence three days later. Within a few days, he met Governor Geary and developed his own opinion of the man. “He impressed me as a man who intends to do the right thing,” wrote Higginson, “and is profoundly convinced that he has the full ability to do it.” However, Higginson also observed that Geary neither had “the mental ability to understand the condition of Kanzas nor the moral power to carry out any systematic plan for its [the territory’s] benefit.”155

  While Higginson was concerned about the political situation in Kansas, he was buoyed with the steadfast resolve of Lawrence’s residents to ensure that the territory would become a free state. “A single day in Kanzas makes the American Revolution more intelligible” than almost anything else. He went on to say that “in Kanzas, nobody talks of courage, for everyone is expected to exhibit it.”156

  Higginson spent about two weeks in Kansas, and when he returned to Massachusetts, he wrote down his observations about the situation in the territory. In his opinion, the greatest threat to the antislavery residents was not the bullying of the Border Ruffians, but rather the “bogus laws” passed by and enforced by the “official” territorial government. Further, in his opinion, Governor Geary, who was trying to placate both sides, would ultimately fail because although he was attempting to make both sides equal, he was not taking any steps toward ending the armed conflict. Higginson feared that if John C. Frémont, the Republican Party candidate for president, was elected in November, the Pierce Administration would make a last desperate attempt to quickly push for the admission of Kansas as a slave state. Frémont, who rose to fame for his explorations in the West and for his participation in the Mexican War, was the first presidential candidate for the new Republican Party in the 1856 elections. Higginson concluded by saying that before he went to Kansas, he “feared that her children would gradually scatter and flee, rather than meet the final desperate struggle. I stand corrected,” he wrote. “They will stay and meet it. They will meet it, if need be, unaided.”157

  9 Will Buchanan See That Justice is Done?

  THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1856 dominated discussions in Kansas and the rest of the country. The fate of Kansas was the central topic of many of these discussions. The Whig Party, which had elected a president in 1848 and had nominated Mexican War hero General Winfield Scott as its candidate in 1852, was all but dead in 1856. The Whigs joined forces with the American Party, also known as the “Know Nothing” Party, whose main platform was to use whatever means necessary to keep emigrants—mostly Irish Catholics and Germans—out of the country. Some Whigs shared these nativist views. Most, however, had almost nothing in common with the Know Nothings but hoped that by joining forces they would have a chance for a showing in the upcoming election. The American Party rallied around former President Millard Fillmore as their standard bearer along with Andrew Jackson Donelson, who, as his name implied, was Andrew Jackson’s nephew, as his running mate.158

  Franklin Pierce had been one of the darkest of dark-horse candidates of the Democratic Party in 1852, but because the Whig Party was nearly dead, he won the election that year in a landslide. But his handling of Kansas, among other missteps, caused the Democratic Party leaders to abandon him and turn instead to James Buchanan from Pennsylvania in its convention. Buchanan had been a member of the House of Representatives and the Senate. He had served as minister to Russia and Secretary of State, and during much of the Pierce Administration, he had served as minister to England. Based on his credentials, Buchanan might very well have been—at least on paper—the most qualified candidate for president in our nation’s history. Further, because he was out of the country during the Kansas conflict, Democratic Convention delegates thought he would be a safe candidate.

  The Republican Party did not even exist in 1852, and so the 1856 election was its first entry on the national political scene. Some party optimists believed their candidate for president, John C. Frémont, would win in 1856; most, however, hoped that whoever was nominated for president would at least make a decent showing. Voters knew that he had explored the American West, was a hero in the Mexican War, and was the son-in-law of the venerable Democrat, Thomas Hart Benton. Politically, his supporters knew that he held strong antislavery views and supported the party’s platform plank to keep slavery out of new territories.

  Since Kansas was still a territory, the residents were not allowed to vote for president in 1856. Most northern antislavery advocates and nearly all Emigrant Aid Company officers enthusiastically supported Frémont with the notable exception of Amos Lawrence. Lawrence supported Millard Fillmore, not so much because he was in tune with the American Party platform, but because he was an old and very dear friend. Buchanan won with 45.3 percent of the vote, with Frémont second at 33.1 percent, and Fillmore third with 21.6 percent. The vote in the Electoral College was 174 for Buchanan and 114 for Frémont, who carried New York and Ohio, the largest and third largest states.

  In a brief article in the Herald of Freedom on November 15, George Brown reported the preliminary results from the election. And although the Electoral College votes were weeks away, he noted that Buchanan was an almost certain winner. He wondered if the territory would have “to submit to another four years of mob violence,” or “will Buchanan see that justice is done to the American citizens in Kansas?”159 Perhaps Brown buried the results of the presidential election in the recesses of his paper because he and the citizens of Lawrence understood that their world could change dramatically between the election and the inauguration.160 Their immediate concern was how they would be treated by their current territorial governor, John Geary.

  Geary continued with his policy of not favoring either the free-state or the pro-slavery sides. After several months as governor, however, he became more
and more disgusted with the pro-slavery side. In November 1856, he ordered the arrest of Charles Hays, a member of the notorious pro-slavery Kickapoo Rangers, for the murder of a free-state man. Before his case could be brought before the grand jury, however, Judge Lecompte released Hays on bail. Geary ordered Hays’s rearrest, but while he was away from the territorial capital, Lecompte again released Hays on a writ of habeas corpus. Geary was livid at this blatant breach of justice and vented his anger toward Lecompte in a letter to President Pierce, which also asked for the judge’s removal. Pierce agreed, but the Senate would not confirm a successor, so Lecompte remained on the bench.161

  Judge Lecompte was only one source of Geary’s growing anger with the pro-slavery faction. The territorial legislature passed several bills overriding Geary’s vetoes. One bill would have bypassed a referendum of the citizens for a new state constitution, sending it directly to Congress. At some point near the end of 1856, Geary gave up completely on balancing his actions between the pro- and antislavery sides and threw his lot with the free-state leaders. He hoped he might remain in Kansas and become its governor. As Geary moved to the free-state side, Charles Robinson later wrote that he would have been happy with Geary as governor, but, by taking sides, his days as territorial governor were numbered.162 Geary resigned at the end of President Pierce’s term. While his governorship was short, Geary did manage to keep the peace, which was no small accomplishment.

  James Buchanan was inaugurated as the fifteenth president on March 4, 1857. In his inaugural address, he announced that the issue of slavery in the territories would soon, and “happily, [be] a matter of but little practical importance.” This was so, because he believed that it “is a judicial question, which legitimately belongs to the Supreme Court of the United States, before whom it is now pending, and will, it is understood, be speedily and finally settled.” Buchanan was referring to a case that had been wending its way through the court system, Dred Scott v. Sandford, which would become one of the most infamous decisions by any Supreme Court. “To their decision,” the president said, “in common with all good citizens, I shall cheerfully submit, whatever this may be.” He went on to address the situation in Kansas, saying that “though it has ever been my individual opinion that under the Nebraska-Kansas act [sic] the appropriate period will be when the number of actual residents in the Territory shall justify the formation of a constitution with a view to its admission as a State into the Union….”163 He intended for his administration to move quickly to admit Kansas to the Union, but what was left unsaid was that he intended for Kansas to be admitted as a slave state.