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DOUGLAS COUNTY, KANSAS A HISTORY OF LAWRENCE, KANSAS FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE CLOSE OF THE REBELLION BY RICHARD CORDLEY, D.D. Who came to Kansas in 1857; Pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church at Lawrence from 1857 to 1875 and 1884 to Present Time an Eye Witness of the Quantrill Raid Published by: E. F. CALDWELL PREFACE. About three years ago, it was suggested that the writer prepare a history of Lawrence covering the period of its early settlement. Without realizing what was involved in such an undertaking, he consented. Since coming to understand the difficulties in the way he has often been inclined to withdraw his consent. It soon became evident that no history can ever be written which will be satisfactory to those who took part in those early struggles. It was a time of intense excitement, and those who passed through those scenes retain vivid impressions of them. Any description will seem tame compared with the graphic picture they have in mind. Then it is impossible to do justice to all the actors engaged. The movement that saved Kansas was of the people, rather than of the leaders. There were leaders, but they were leaders chiefly because they went before. They did not create the movement, nor the sentiment out of which it grew. The people moved towards Kansas of their own impulse. They did not go at the beck of any man. They followed certain men because they were going their way. If all the leaders had failed them they would have chosen others and gone on. They were moved by individual conviction and a common impulse. Men and women who have never been heard of displayed a spirit of self sacrifice and heroism as worthy of remembrance as anything history records of the noted names. No history can do honor to all who deserve it. It is becoming quite common to under-rate the heroism that saved Kansas for freedom. The cold blooded historian goes mousing among old letters and he finds that these early heroes were men and women, of like frailties with ourselves. But the glory of heroism is not that angels come down to mingle in the affairs of men, but that common men and women, when the occasion demands, can rise to such sublime heights of heroism and self sacrifice. It becomes the people of Kansas to appreciate her own history and the men who laid the first foundations. It was the heroic age, and in the future it will take its place with Plymouth Rock and Lexington. The writer acknowledges his indebtedness to those who have written before him. It would be impossible to name all the writers who have been of service to him. The following are among the number: A. T. Andreas, History of the State of Kansas; especially his military history and county histories; Charles Robinson, The Kansas Conflict; Leverett W. Spring, Kansas; D. W. Wilder, Kansas Annals; Eli Thayer, The Kansas Crusade; J. H. Gihon, Governor Geary's Administration; United States Biographical Dictionary; J. N. Holloway, History of Kansas; W. A. Phillips, Conquest of Kansas; C. S. Gleed, Kansas Memorial; The publications of Kansas State Historical Society. The writer gladly acknowledges his special obligation to Hon. F. G. Adams of the State Historical Society who has at all times given him free access to the remarkable collection of early newspapers which are on file in the rooms of that institution. RICHARD CORDLEY. CONTENTS The Kansas-Nebraska Bill - The North Aroused - The Emigrant Aid Company - Eli Thayer, Amos A. Lawrence and dr. Charles Robinson - The First New England Emigrants Reach Mount Oread, Organize a Town Company and Lay Out the Town - What Shall We Call It? - Pitching Tents and Building Cabins - Pioneer Boarding House Reinforcements - The Disgust of the Kid-gloved Contingent - First Sabbath Services - The First Funeral - Town Site Troubles - Shoot to Hit - First Election for Delegate to Congress - Judge Wakefield - The First School - Three Newspapers - Winter in Tents and Cabins Spring Election, March 30th, 1855 - Excitement in Missouri - An Army of Voters Invade Lawrence - Missouri Voters Elect a Kansas Legislature - Slavery Triumphant and Exultant - Free-State men Despondent and Indignant - What Shall We Do? - dr. Robinson's Policy - Bogus Legislature Repudiated The Conflice Begun - The Dow Murder - The Branson Rescue - Sheriff Jones Appeals to the Governor - The Governor Calls Out the Militia - Missouri Responds to the Call - The Wakarusa War - The Army at Franklin - Preparations for Defense Governor Shannon Alarmed - Telegraphs the President for Regular Troops - They Do Not Come - The Governor Visits Lawrence - Confers with the Free-State Men - A Treaty of Peace - The Militia Go Home - A Love Feast at Lawrence - The Murder of Barber - Old John Brown A Hard Winter - Conflict Takes A New Form in the Spring - The Courts Come to the Rescue - Judge Lecompte's Charge - The Grand Jury's Indictment - High Treason - The Sacking of Lawrence - Burning of the Free-State Hotel and Printing Offices The Summer of 1856 - Outrages Everywhere - Lawrence Invested by Pro-Slavery "Forts" - The Capture of Franklin, Fort Saunders and Fort Titus - Titus A Prisoner - Governor Shannon Makes Another Treaty - Governor Shannon Resigns - Daniel Woodson Acting Governor Retaliation - Matrial Law - Militia called Out - Missouri Responds - Twenty-eight Hundred March on Lawrence - Governor John W. Geary Arrives - Appears in Lawrence with Troops - The Militia Sent Home - The Benign Influences of Peace The Bogus Legislature Again - Governor Geary Comes into Collision with it - He is Bitterly Assailed by Pro Slavery Leaders - Resigns in March - Walker and Stanton - Peace and Progress and Prosperity - Lawrence and her Voluntary City Government - Martial Law Once More Lecompton Constitutional Convention - The Census and Apportionment - Free-State Men Ignore It - Election of Territorial Legislature - Shall We Vote? - Free-State Men Carry the Election - Oxford and the Cincinnati Directory - Walker Throws Out the Fraudulent Returns - Is Removed from Office The Territorial Legislature Adjourns to Lawrence - The Bogus Laws Sent Home - The Lawrence Charter - A City Government at Last - Samuel Medary Governor Lawrence in 1858 - The Ebb of the Tide - Spring Immigration which Failed to Come - The Underground Railroad - Progress in Building; In Churches - Temperance in Lawrence - The Drouth of 1860 - The Last Territorial Legislature - Kansas Admitted into the Union - A Free State The Beginning of the Civil War - Exposed Condition of Kansas - Her Interest in the Conflict - The First Enlistments - The Battle of Wilson's Creek - The Contrabands - Lawrence in Close Touch with the Soldiers The Lawrence Raid - Its Antecedents and Causes - William C. Quantrill, its Unique Character - Other Raids - Its Unparalleled Brutality The Lawrence Raid - The Approach - The Charge and the Surprise - The Surrender of the Hotel - The Burning and the Killing Begin - Four Hours of Slaughter - Marvelous Escapes - The Heroism of the Women The Lawrence Raid - The Departure and Pursuit - The Scene left Behind - The Burial of the Dead - The Ruin and the Loss - Sympathy and Help - Rebuilding the Town Another Summer - Lawrence Restored - Improvements - The New Bridge - Enlargement - New Alarm - Price is Coming - Preparations for Defense - Martial Law - Militia Ordered Out - The Battles on the Blue - A Night of Anxiety - Joy Cometh in the Morning - The War is Over - Peace at Last
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