THE
Kansas Historical
Quarterly
NYLE H. MILLER, Managing Editor
KIRKE MECHEM, Editor
JAMES C. MALIN, Associate Editor
Volume XXIV
1958
(Kansas Historical Collections)
VOL. XLI
Published by
The Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka, Kansas
34—6550
72289
Contents of Volume XXIV
Number 1— Spring, 1958
SOME RARE WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALBERT BIERSTADT Now IN THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS Joseph W. Snell, 1
With photographs of Pike's Peak emigrants at St. Joseph, Mo., and Wolf
river ford, Doniphan county (1859), frontispiece.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY, 1857-1862: Part One,
1857 Edited by Edgar Langsdorf and R. W. Richmond, 6
With portraits of Daniel Anthony of Rochester, N. Y., and Daniel Read
Anthony of Leavenworth, facing p. 16, and a map of eastern Kansas in
1857 showing the Indian lands, facing p. 17.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT James C. Malin, 31
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: From Horses to Helicopters —
Fort Riley, 1904-1957 — Concluded George E. Omer, Jr., 57
With photographs of the medical officers' training camp and temporary
barracks for nurses, World War I; Fort Riley hospitals, 1918, 1926
and 1953; operating room scene and Irwin Army Hospital, 1957, and
portraits of Daniel B. Leininger, William N. Bispham, Leonard Wood
and Edward R. Schreiner, between pp. 64, 65.
THE ANNUAL MEETING: Containing Reports of the Secretary, Treasurer,
Executive and Nominating Committees; Address of the President,
A GOLDEN ERA OF KANSAS JOURNALISM, by Rolla A. Clymer; THE
CRITERIA BY WHICH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE EVALUATES HISTORIC
SITES, by Ray H. Mattison; Election of Officers; List of Directors of the
Society 79
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 119
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 121
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . . . 125
Number 2 — Summer, 1958 PAGE
WAR AND POLITICS: The Price Raid of 1864 Albert Castel, 129
With three water colors, by Samuel J. Reader, illustrating incidents of the
Price Raid, frontispiece.
THE SACKING OF LAWRENCE Alan Conway, 144
THE EVOLUTION OF A HOME GROWN PRODUCT,
CAPPER PUBLICATIONS Homer E. Socolofsky, 151
With an illustration of an 1878 printed letter from Arthur Capper, facing
p. 160, and photographs of Arthur Capper and the Capper building,
facing p. 161.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 — T. B. TAYLOR, JOEL MOODY, AND
EDWARD SCHILLER James C. Malin, 168
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY, 1857-1862: Part Two,
1858-1861 Edited by Edgar Langsdorf and R. W. Richmond, 198
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY,
Compiled by Alberta Pantle, Librarian, 227
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 250
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 251
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 253
(iii)
Number 3 — Autumn, 1958
PAGE
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY IN INDIAN COUNTRY,
1859-1861 Edited by Louise Barry, 257
With map showing the travels of the First U. S. cavalry, facing p. 272,
and portraits of Thomas J. Wood and Eugene A. Carr, facing p. 273.
THE MUDGE RANCH, HODGEMAN COUNTY Margaret Evans Caldwell, 285
With photograph of the Mudge ranch house, facing p. 288, and plan of
the ranch house and the Mudge cattle brand, facing p. 289.
FOREIGNERS OF 1857-1865 AT SCHIPPEI/S FERRY,
SALINE COUNTY /. Neale Carman, 305
"CREATIVE EVOLUTION": The Philosophy of Elisha Wesley McComas,
Fort Scott James C. Malin, 314
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY, 1857-1862: Part Three, October 1,
1861-June 7, 1862. . .Edited by Edgar Langsdorf and R. W. Richmond, 351
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 371
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS , . 375
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . . 381
Number 4— Winter, 1958
PAGE
THE HORSE-CAR INTERURBAN FROM COTTONWOOD FALLS TO STRONG CITY,
Allison Chandler, 385
With photographs of cars in downtown Cotton wood Falls, and sketch of
the route of the Consolidated Street Railway, frontispiece.
IMMIGRANTS OR INVADERS — A DOCUMENT P. /. Staudenraus, 394
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY IN INDIAN COUNTRY,
1859-1861 — Concluded Edited by Louise Barry, 399
With sketches of Forts Washita and Arbuckle, facing p. 400, and por-
traits of William H. Emory and Samuel D. Sturgis, facing p. 401.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, SWEDENBORGIAN PUBLICIST, EDITOR OF THE
WICHITA BEACON, 1875-1887, AND PHILOSOPHER EXTRAORDINARY: Part
One James C. Malin, 426
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY, 1857-1862 — Concluded: Part Four,
June 20-September 14, 1862 Edited by Edgar Langsdorf
and R. W. Richmond, 458
With map showing portions of Tennessee and Mississippi where Colonel
Anthony was stationed, facing p. 464, and portraits of Charles R. Jenni-
son, and James H. Lane, facing p. 465.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 476
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 477
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 479
ERRATA AND ADDENDA, VOLUME XXIV 482
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV 483
(iv)
THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Spring 1958
Published
Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka
NYLE H. MILLER KIRKE MECHEM JAMES C. MALIN
Managing Editor Editor Associate Editor
CONTENTS
SOME RARE WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALBERT BIERSTADT Now IN THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS Joseph W. Snell, 1
With photographs of Pike's Peak emigrants at St. Joseph, Mo., and Wolf
river ford, Doniphan county (1859), frontispiece.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY, 1857-1862: Part One,
1857 Edited by Edgar Langsdorf and R. W. Richmond, 6
With portraits of Daniel Anthony of Rochester, N. Y., and Daniel Read
Anthony of Leavenworth, facing p. 16, and a map of eastern Kansas in
1857 showing the Indian lands, facing p. 17.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT James C. Malm, 31
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: From Horses to Helicopters —
Fort Riley, 1904-1957 — Concluded George E. Omer, Jr., 57
With photographs of the medical officers' training camp and temporary
barracks for nurses, World War I; Fort Riley hospitals, 1918, 1926
and 1953; operating room scene and Irwin Army Hospital, 1957, and
portraits of Daniel B. Leinineer, William N. Bispham, Leonard Wood
and Edward R. Schreiner, between pp. 64, 65.
THE ANNUAL MEETING: Containing Reports of the Secretary, Treasurer,
Executive and Nominating Committees; Address of the President,
A GOLDEN ERA OF KANSAS JOURNALISM, by Rolla A. Clymer; THE CRI-
TERIA BY WHICH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE EVALUATES HISTORIC
SITES, by Ray H. Mattison; Election of Officers; List of Directors of the
Society 79
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY . 119
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 121
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 125
The Kansas Historical Quarterly is published four times a year by the Kansas
State Historical Society, 120 W. Tenth, Topeka, Kan., and is distributed free to
members. Correspondence concerning contributions may be sent to the manag-
ing editor at the Historical Society. The Society assumes no responsibility for
statements made by contributors.
Entered as second-class matter October 22, 1931, at the post office at To-
peka, Kan., under the act of August 24, 1912.
THE COVER
A rare photograph taken in the spring of 1859
by Albert Bierstadt showing emigrant wagons in the
bustling town of Bellemont, Doniphan county. It
was located on the Missouri river, 1/2 miles north of
Wathena. Bellemont failed to survive, and the
townsite was officially abandoned in 1876.
Pike's Peak emigrants preparing to shove off from St. Joseph, Mo., in the spring
of 1859. This is another of the rare Bierstadt photographs recently acquired
by the Kansas State Historical Society (see pp. 1-5).
Bierstadt labelled this scene, "Wolf River Ford, Kansas/' It was an Oregon trail
crossing of the Wolf river in northwest Doniphan county in 1859.
THE KANSAS
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Volume XXIV Spring, 1958 Number 1
Some Rare Western Photographs by Albert Bier-
stadt Now in the Historical Society Collections
JOSEPH W. SNELL
ECENTLY the Kansas State Historical Society acquired five rare
photographs of the West which have been lost to the public for
nearly 100 years. They are part of a large group of stereoscopic
views which Albert Bierstadt, the noted artist, made in the spring
and summer of 1859. Three of these pictures are featured in this
issue of the Quarterly and are being published probably for the
first time anywhere.
The scene on the cover of the Quarterly was taken by Bierstadt
in the now extinct town of Bellemont, Doniphan county, probably
in early May, 1859. At that time Bellemont was one of the major
outfitting points for emigrants to Pike's Peak and the West. One
writer said that Bellemont was the busiest town in Doniphan
county during the Pike's Peak gold rush.1 Today the town does not
exist, but this photograph provides excellent physical evidence of
its appearance during its heyday.2 Also reprinted are two other
photographs taken about the same time. One shows a group of
Pike's Peak emigrants waiting on the banks of the Missouri at St.
Joseph for the steam ferry which would carry them across the river,
perhaps to Bellemont. The third picture is a view of a ford on
Wolf river in northwest Doniphan county, but the exact location
has not been determined conclusively.3
JOSEPH W. SNELL is a member of the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society.
1. Historical flit Book of Doniphan County, Kansas (Chicago, 1882), pp. 43, 44.
2. Bellemont had its beginnings in 1852 with the establishment of a trading post on
the west shore of the Missouri river in present Kansas by John H. and James R. White-
head. For many years the place was known as both Whitehead and Bellemont. In the
spring of 1855 the Whitehead Town Company was organized, land was purchased and
settlement began. In 1855 the territorial legislature authorized James R. Whitehead to
operate a ferry across the Missouri. This act was repealed in 1859 and a new ferry com-
pany was organized. This company obtained a steam ferry boat and the trip from Belle-
mont to St. Joseph was made twice daily. This ferry was discontinued after two years of
service. The town of Bellemont was incorporated on February 18, 1860, and the White-
head Town Company changed its name to the Bellemont Town Company a few days later
In 1876 the townsite was officially abandoned by an act of the state legislature. Bellemont
was located in the SWJ4, Sec. 15, T 3 S, R 22 E, or on the Missouri river 1% miles north
of Wathena.— Ibid.; The Statutes of the Territory of Kansas, 1855, pp. 773, 853; Private
Laws of the Territory of Kansas . . ., 1859, pp. 97-99; ibid., 1860, pp. 76-78, 224,
225; The Session Laws of 1876 . . ., Kansas, p. 326; St. Joseph (Mo.) Weekly West,
June 12, 1859.
3. The two photographs which are not reprinted are pictures of a Shoshone warrior in
Nebraska and an Indian pony somewhere in Kansas.
2 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The date of these pictures suggests that they may be the earliest
photographs extant which show this Kansas branch of the Oregon
trail. Kansans will be interested in the fact that the only other
Kansas photograph — excluding portraits — in the collections of the
Historical Society which predates these is a daguerreotype of a
Free-State cannon and its crew taken in Topeka in 1856. In fact,
the Society in all of its over 33,000 pictures, has only three other
photographic scenes of territorial Kansas. One of these, the Doy
rescue party, was portrayed on ambrotypes4 by A. G. DaLee of
Lawrence in July, 1859, and another, a Manhattan street scene of
1860, was made by a photographer, now unidentified. The third
scene shows the office of the Neosho Valley Register, Burlington,
probably late in 1859. (Three photographs of street scenes in
Atchison are borderline cases but they have not yet been positively
identified as dating from the territorial period.) So these new
Bierstadt photographs are important to the history of Kansas in
two respects — they are "firsts" of the northern branch of the Kansas
portion of the Oregon trail and they add to the meager number of
Kansas territorial views.5
Albert Bierstadt, widely known today for his huge canvasses of
Western Americana, is less well known as a photographer. At the
time of his first trip west he was a young man just home from art
study in Europe. The object of his journey was to make sketches
and photograph scenery for later paintings. Bierstadt took a great
many pictures on the trip, a fact which is remarkable in itself when
one considers the bulky equipment and the technical difficulties
inherent in photography in those days. He may have taken as
many as 100 photographs though only 51 have been listed. Bier-
stadt wrote "we have taken many stereoscopic views, but not so
many of mountain scenery as I could wish, owing to various
obstacles attached to the process, but still a goodly number/' 6 The
artist photographed many Indians for he realized that the race was
disappearing and he felt it his duty to record as much of the van-
ishing culture as possible.7
4. The daguerreotype and ambrotype are considered photographs since they fall within
the definition of photography: the production of an image on a sensitized surface by the
action of light or other form of radiant energy.
5. The Bierstadt photographs were obtained through the generous assistance of Mrs.
Byron Dexter 9f South Woodstock, Vt., who for years has been interested in photographs
and stereoscopic views of the American scene. Mrs. Dexter also sent a list of Bierstadt
stereos from an 1860 catalogue.
6. E. S. Wallace, "Albert Bierstadt, Artist," The Westerners-New York Posse Brand
Book, New York, v. 2 (1955), no. 1, p. 20, from The Crayon, New York, September,
1859, p. 287.
7. Ibid.
WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALBERT BIERSTADT 3
Bierstadt did not travel west alone. At St. Joseph he and several
other Eastern artists joined the surveying expedition of Col. Fred-
erick West Lander. Colonel Lander was then superintendent of
the Fort Kearny, South Pass and Honey Lake (California) wagon
road and the trip was designed to relocate certain portions of the
emigrant route as well as to survey the road. Bierstadt and the
other artists traveled with the train only for protection; they paid
their own expenses and were not officially connected with the ex-
pedition.8
The Lander train left St. Joseph during the first week of May,
1859,9 traveling through the northern tier of Kansas counties to the
upper crossing of the Big Blue and then northwest toward Fort
Kearny and the Platte emigrant route. Bierstadt took pictures all
along the way. Several other photos were made of St. Joseph and
Bellemont as well as views of Troy and the fords of the Little and Big
Blue rivers. He also photographed a ferry on the Big Blue but
failed to indicate its identity. If this were Francis J. Marshall's
ferry at Marysville, which was used by thousands of travelers on
the Oregon trail, then this picture, too, would be of unusual his-
torical interest. Unfortunately it is among the many Bierstadt
photographs which have disappeared.10 In Nebraska territory
Bierstadt photographed natural landmarks, Sioux and Shoshone
Indians, and the Lander expedition's train. At South Pass he and
two companions turned back. The artist returned to his home in
New Bedford, Mass., where a few months later, in 1860, a company
consisting of his two brothers, who were stereographic photogra-
phers, placed copies of his Western views on the market. Their
catalogue stated that "these views were procured at great expense,
and as far as we know are the only views on the market giving a
true representation of Western Life and Western Scenery."
Today, 99 years later, only five of the Bierstadt stereos — those
purchased by the Historical Society — have been located. What
became of the others has long been a mystery. Leading depositories
of historical photographs have no information of their whereabouts.
Should anyone find others, the Society will be interested in hearing
about them.
8. "Maps and Reports of the Fort Kearney, South Pass, and Honey Lake Wagon Road,"
House Ex. Doc. No. 64, 36th Cong., 2d Sess. (1860-1861), p. 5.
9. St. Joseph (Mo.) Weekly West, May 8, 1859.
10. For information on the ferries operated by Marshall on the Big Blue see George
A. Root, "Ferries in Kansas: Part III — -Blue River," in The Kansas Historical OuarterTv
v. 3 (1934), pp. 137-142.
4 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The following list of Bierstadt's 51 Western pictures is taken
from the 1860 catalogue. Asterisks indicate the five photographs
purchased by the Society. Missing numbers between 50 and 150
were blank, so it is not known if they were Western photos or scenes
in other areas.
53. Oglala Sioux, Fort Laramie, Nebraska.
54. Colonel Lander's train.
56. Emigrant team, St. Joseph, Mo.
58. Cheyenne Village, Platte river, Nebraska.
63. Bellemont ferry-boat, Kansas.
64. Devil's Gate from above, Nebraska.
65. Market place, St. Joseph, Mo.
* 66. Shoshone warrior.
67. St. Joseph, Mo.
69. Salt river valley.
72. Sioux village near Fort Laramie, Nebraska.
73. Study of horses, Missouri.
75. Devil's Gate, passage of the Sweet Water river, Nebraska.
77. Part of Colonel Lander's men.
81. Emigrants waiting for the ferry, St. Joseph, Mo.
82. Shanty in Bellemont, Kan.
83. Ford of the Big Blue, Kansas.
* 84. Bellemont, Kan.
85. Unpacking Indian goods, Nebraska.
86. Waiting for the ferry, St. Joseph, Mo.
87. Bellemont, Missouri river, Kansas.
88. Emigrant train on the Big Sandy river, Oregon.
89. Near Troy, Kan.
90. Shoshone children, Nebraska.
91. Ferry on the Big Blue, Kansas.
92. Ford of the Little Blue, Kansas.
93. Log cabin, Kansas.
94. Oglala Sioux, Horse creek, Nebraska.
* 95. Indian pony, Kansas.
* 96. Wolf river ford, Kansas.
97. Shoshone Indians, Nebraska.
98. Oglala Sioux village, North fork of the Platte, Nebraska.
99. Sioux lodge, Nebraska.
101. Shoshone family, Nebraska.
102. Sioux Indians, Nebraska.
103. Warrior.
106. U. S. train in camp, Nebraska.
107. Shoshone warriors, mounted, Nebraska.
116. Shoshone guide, Nebraska.
118. Indian interpreter, Nebraska.
119. Emigrants traveling on the plains, Nebraska.
122. Oglala Sioux, the Indian Queen, Nebraska.
WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALBERT BIERSTADT
123. Colonel Lander's ambulance on the plains, Nebraska.
124. Culinary art on the plains, Nebraska.
125. Cottonwood trees, near Boiling Springs, Nebraska.
126. Cottonwood Springs, Platte river, Nebraska.
128. Colonel Lander's men among the Rocky Mountains.
131. Shoshone village, Nebraska.
132. Lander's train camping on the Colorado.
134. Pike's Peak emigrants, St. Joseph, Mo.
138. Rocky Mountain trapper.
Letters of Daniel R. Anthony, 1857-1862
Edited by EDGAR LANGSDORF and R. W. RICHMOND
PART ONE, 1857
I. INTRODUCTION
IN June, 1957, D. R. Anthony, III, of Leavenworth lent to the
State Historical Society 122 manuscripts of his grandfather, the
first Daniel Read Anthony, most of them dated from 1857 through
1862. With a few exceptions, these papers are letters written by
Anthony to his father, Daniel; to his sister, Susan B., who later
became nationally prominent as a leader of the woman suffrage
movement; to his sister, Mary; and to Aaron McLean, husband of
his eldest sister, Guelma. Because of their general interest, and
particularly for their description of business activities in early Leav-
enworth, selected letters will be printed in this and the Summer
numbers of the Quarterly. Other letters, dealing with Anthony's
military service during the Civil War, will appear in the Autumn
and Winter numbers.
Born August 22, 1824, at South Adams, Mass., the first son of
Daniel and Lucy Read Anthony, young Daniel was one of seven
children. He had one brother, Jacob Merritt, the youngest of the
family, and five sisters, of whom only Susan and Mary figure in this
correspondence. Daniel attended common school at Battenville,
N. Y., and completed his formal education with a six-month term
at the academy in Union Village, N. Y. His father was a partner in
the cotton manufacturing firm of Anthony, McLean & Co., and
Daniel worked for some time with him. When the business failed,
like many others, during the panic of 1837 — "which condition of
things," Anthony wrote many years later, "was brought about by
Democratic rule and free trade" 1 — he worked at various jobs until
he moved to Rochester in 1847. There he taught a country school
for two winters before going into the insurance business.2
In 1854, having become interested in Kansas, he joined the Emi-
grant Aid Company's pioneer party. This group reached Kansas
EDGAR LANGSDORF is assistant secretary and ROBERT W. RICHMOND is the state archivist
of the Kansas State Historical Society.
1. Kansas City Tribune, August 27, 1897.
2. There are many chronological and factual conflicts in accounts of Anthony's early
life. Dates and events given here are those which seem to follow most logically.
(6)
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 7
City on July 28 and on August 1 encamped on present Mount Oread.
Thus Anthony may be numbered among the founders of Lawrence,
even though he left the territory within a short time. Returning to
Rochester, he engaged in the insurance business for three years
before deciding to go west again.
Arriving at Leavenworth in June, 1857, Anthony went into busi-
ness there and made that city his home for the rest of his long life.
He played a leading role in local affairs both business and political,
as well as in the larger field of state politics. He was nominated
seven times for the office of mayor and elected three times, nomi-
nated twice for the state legislature and elected once, served as a
delegate to innumerable Republican state conventions and several
times as chairman of the state central committee, and was three
times a presidential elector. He was appointed postmaster of Leav-
enworth five times, holding the position nearly 16 years. The prize
which he desired most, the governorship, eluded him, although he
was twice a candidate for the Republican nomination, in 1870 and
again in 1888. His brief, though interesting, career as a lieutenant
colonel of Kansas volunteers in the Civil War will be discussed in
later installments.
Anthony is best known in his role of newspaper publisher. He
established the Leavenworth Conservative, a daily, with D. W.
Wilder as editor, and published the first issue on January 28, 1861.
Next day the Conservative printed an extra containing the most
glorious "scoop" in Kansas newspaper history, the news of the ter-
ritory's admission to the union. A legend of Kansas journalism is
that Anthony himself carried copies of the paper on horseback from
Leavenworth to Lawrence to bring the news to the legislature which
was in session there.
His career as an editor and publisher was interrupted by the Civil
War and later by other business interests. In November, 1861, he
sold the Conservative to D. W. Wilder, and with the exception of
a period from September, 1864, to August, 1865, when he published
the Leavenworth Bulletin, he did not enter the newspaper business
again for nearly ten years. In May, 1871, he purchased the Leav-
enworth Times, which meantime had absorbed both the Conserva-
tive and the Bulletin. The Times today has the distinction of being
the oldest newspaper in Kansas still published under its original
name. Other Leavenworth newspapers were later acquired and
also merged with the Times, until Anthony had obtained a monopoly
in the Leavenworth daily newspaper field.
8 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Throughout his life Anthony was a fighter, a man of strong opin-
ions who never hesitated to speak his mind and one who took de-
light in any contest of strength and wits. A fellow journalist, Mil-
ton W. Reynolds, who knew Anthony well, wrote that his work
showed a personality and individuality of character possessed by
no other man in the state except Jim Lane, who was a person of
"weird, unique and peculiar nature." Anthony's blood "boiled
on a minute's notice/' said Reynolds. He had "the most powerful
enemies of any man in the state. He has always had them; he
always will." 3
His outspokenness and his violent temper caused him to be in-
volved in at least nine reported physical encounters. The first is
said to have occurred immediately upon his arrival in Leavenworth
in 1857, when he made such a radical speech at a "Free Soil" meet-
ing that he was shot at by Rorder Ruffians three times that night.
In 1861 he killed R. C. Satterlee, a printer, and later exchanged
shots with Charles R. Jennison, the notorious Jayhawker who fig-
ures prominently in the last two installments of these letters. In
other incidents he beat former Sen. E. G. Ross with a cane, and in
turn was reportedly spit at, shot at on two occasions, beaten with an
umbrella, and finally horse-whipped, the latter fracas taking place
when he was 67 years old. A majority of these affrays were with
printers or editors, or in one way or another were results of An-
thony's journalistic activities, and in his case may therefore be
classed as occupational hazards.
Anthony was married January 21, 1864, to Anna E. Osborn of
Edgarton, Mass. Four daughters and a son were born to them,
but only Maude, the oldest child, and Daniel R. Anthony, Jr., sur-
vived their father. Colonel Anthony died November 12, 1904, in
his 80th year. His wife, who lived to be 86, died October 20, 1930.
II. THE LETTERS
Boat F H Aubry 4
Friday 6 P. M.
June 5, 1857
JEFFERSON CITY
DEAR FATHER
I reached here this day at 3 P M leave at 8& P. M. by this boat for
Leavenworth — will reach there at about Monday noon if we
3. Article by "Kicking Bird," in Kansas City (Mo.) Times, October 18, 1886.
4. The F. X. Aubrey, a Missouri river steamboat, was in service during the years
1853-1860 and called regularly at Kansas ports during the latter 1850's. The boat was
named in honor of Francis X. Aubrey, who gained fame as the result of a daring horseback
ride over the Santa Fe trail.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 9
[don't] run on too many sand bars — It now looks as though the
boat would be crowded — nearly full now and the St. Louis Express
has not yet arrived — Most of the passengers are Kansas bound —
very few are going to Nebraska — A Leavenworth man on board
says Leavenworth now has a population of nearly 5,000 Suppose
he enlarges some upon the fact — he says there are already four or
five Banking offices there —
The general opinion seems to be that it will be the largest town
in Kansas I have no doubt I can make a good thing out of the
money operation I talked of — Drafts were selling at 1% discount
only four weeks ago — but this cannot last long —
My Pas[s] was good to this point. It costs me $10. from here
to L[eaven worth] — The Baggage man at Chicago weighed my
Packing Trunk filled with Stationary & Insurance paper — it weighed
215 pounds — he was going to charge me one dollar extra to St
Louis — but concluded on my showing my ticket to let it pass with-
out extra charge. —
I have this afternoon visited the Capitol — Penitentiary and Jeffer-
son City generally — it has only 3000 people — and looks like a
very slow town —
Tea is nearly ready
Yours &
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH No 1
June 10 1857
LEAVENWORTH CITY K. T.
DEAR FATHER
Here I am in the land of Border Ruffians. Arrived here Monday
morning June 8th at 10 Oclock Safe & Sound Stop at the Planters
House, a good 5 Story brick building.5 Sleep 4 to 8 in a room —
board $2.00 per day at that — Am going out to Squat with A. C.
Wilder & Scott J Anthony an old resident of this city.6 Am going
5. The Planters' House, opened in 1856 and intended originally to serve only Pro-
slavery patrons, was once one of the most popular and elegant hostelries of the West. It
stood until 1958 at the northeast corner of Shawnee and Main streets.
6. Abel Carter Wilder, 1828-1875, came to Kansas in March, 1857, engaging in the
land business at Leavenworth. He was a supporter of the Free-State cause and was one
of the organizers of the Republican party in Kansas. He served as a member of the
Kansas delegation in the 38th congress but left the state to return to Rochester, N. Y., in
the fall of 1865.
Scott J. Anthony, a cousin of D. R. Anthony, was a native of New York. He came
to Leavenworth in 1854, where he became a member of the merchandising firm of Bailey,
Anthony & Co., and an active Free-State partisan. In 1860, following the announcement
of rich gold strikes at Leadville, he went to Colorado, where he won success as a soldier
and businessman.
10 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
for the Sovereignty principle.7 Am well satisfied Leavenworth
City is the most enterprising city in all Kansas — but lots are high,
high, high, wouldn't touch them at half what is asked for them —
Lots as far from the center of business as Adams Street & Chatham
Street in Rochester they here ask $30. per foot front 140 feet deep—-
Every body is a land agent — and most every body owns land — I
won't touch anything but lands at first prices or nearly so —
This town is very much like St Paul Minnesota T[erritory] — It
has from 3,000 to 5,000 people — mostly young men — and fast
men — they call me an old "fogy" already — Scott J. Anthony
is a first rate man O. K. and said to be perfectly reliable in all re-
spects— Wilder has been making some money since he has been
here — If I had invested $1,000 here six months ago it would have
been worth $10,000 now — but that time is past — I think city
property will decline this winter and in the spring before the emi-
gration commences. I think a good speculation can be made —
money is worth from 3 to 5 per cent a month — but it can be used
to much better profit buying lands — at least so I think —
If Aaron wants to invest that $400. in the Union Savings Bank
let him send on the Gold at once — so that it will reach here by the
10th of July — the sales are on the 15th July —
Sell that $1400. & the $600. mortgage if you possibly can— I
think the money could be doubled in less than one year. I shall
not do any thing at loaning Money — but if I had it would buy drafts
on New York, and could make enough to more than pay express
charges — The charge for expressing currency to Leavenworth
city is $3.50 per $1,000 and less when you contract — Gold costs
more — Gold is worth more than currency —
I have seen Gen Harney at Fort Leavenworth — s Saw "Sheriff
Saml J Jones" the man who was shot — he is very docile now — in-
deed many of the Border Ruffians now say Kansas must be a Free
State — 9 When it was announced that Adams "Free State" was
elected Mayor of this city they said property rose 25 per cent —
Judge Lecompte is holding court here — Charles Fugett is on
trial for the murder of Hopps — They have been at work two
days and got only six jurrors over 60 had formed an opinion and
many were challenged by Fugetts council They (the counsell)
7. The principle of "Squatter Sovereignty," as stated in the Kansas-Nebraska act of
1854, provided that the actual settlers should decide by majority vote whether or not slavery
would be permitted in the territory.
8. Maj. Gen. William S. Harney, 1800-1889, gained fame as an officer in the Mexican
War and on the Indian frontier. During 1857-1858 he was in Kansas to help quiet the
difficulties between Proslavery and Free-State partisans.
9. Samuel J. Jones, Proslavery sheriff of Douglas county, 1855-1857, was wounded by
Free-Staters at Lawrence in April, 1856.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 11
accept none but "B [order ] . R [uffian] .s" full blooded — Lecompte,
Marshall & District Atty have thus far acted fairly in this trial —
But Lecompte is a thick headed Jack ass and acts as though he was
afraid of his own shadow — he is a coward — almost yes every
man says Fugett murdered and then scalped Hopps in cold blood —
one young man said to me that he would be cleared as he had only
killed a damned abolitionist — 10 The Free State men speak right
out plain. They will not vote at this election — Scott J Anthony
was driven out of town last summer for his Free state principles,
and this spring the Deputy Marshall gave his Revolver to Scott
and wanted him to assist in arresting Fugett — Scott laid hold of
him first — this shows a change
I shall go and see Merritt next Monday and stay there two weeks
and attend the "Wea Trust Land Sales" u Scott has gone this day —
Wilder goes with me Monday — Tell Mary to send her money
also and I will buy her 160 acres — which will cost about $300. to
$325. These lands are priced at 1.50 to 2.50 per acre — Insurance
is going to be a good business here — many good buildings are
already built & being built.
I shall want to get that note discounted for 2000 or 3000—
$1,000—2 or $10,000 even is small to operate in city Lots— The
Planters House was sold for $50,000 a few weeks ago — They are
making money fast — I don't think trade is very good — If you
can get the agency of the Aetna for Lawrence you might move
out — I write this on my knee in the Hotel office we now have
a daily mail from & too this city —
Yours &c
D R ANTHONY
#35 Miles west of LEAVENWORTH
Delaware Trust Lands K. T. Near
the South East Corner of the Kickapoo
Reservation
DANIEL ANTHONY 5 P. M. Thursday June 11, 1857
DEAR FATHER
These lands are comeing into ma[r]ket July 15th Send on the
$800, or 1,000 in the Union Savings Bank for the Empire Co or
10. On August 19, 1856, Charles Fugit murdered a settler named Hoppe on the out-
skirts of Leavenworth. He was not brought to trial until June, 1857, and was acquitted
June 23. Samuel D. Lecompte, who had been appointed chief justice of the territorial
supreme court in 1854, was the presiding judge. The trial and acquittal were bitterly
criticized by the Free-State faction in Kansas.
11. Anthony's young brother, Jacob Merritt Anthony, had come to Kansas in 1856,
when he was 22 years old, and settled at Osawatomie. The public sale of the Wea Indian
lands began at Paola on June 24, 1857.
12 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
get $1,000 discounted on the strength of it for three months — Send
gold — or send their notes if they much prefer to do so.
There is money in these lands — Speculation among the Squat-
ters rages high — I shall go down to the Wea lands near where
Merritt is about next Monday the 15th — those lands come into
market at that time — I have made a small investment and expect
to make a claim good — The whole land is overrun with Squatters
They are the greatest speculators in the country — The lands here
are as good as any in the county — Claims are selling from 50 to
$2000 each — and nothing but a Squatters right at that.
Make a note payable as Mr. Erickson may direct — for $2,000
and express his Bank notes to me at Leavenworth K. T. v[i]a Amer-
ican Express to St Louis thence by Ritchardsons Mo Express to
Leavenworth — Money will have a good circulation here — I am
fully convinced that money is made here in buying Lands at first
prices — I enclose a blank note which you can fill out.
Mr. Erickson said he would want your name & Aarons on the
note — I can get a note discounted at the Canajoharie Bank to pay
— if not the Lands can be sold any day to I wish to dispose of
them — Money loans at 5 per cent a month — but I am fully Sat-
isfied that a larger per cent can be made in these trust lands and be
perfectly safe — I am now engaged in securing claims and will
want the money to pay for them by the 10th July — I know you
are not posted in regard to these land speculations, but I am pretty
well acquainted already —
This note is written in a log shanty with rived shingle roof —
cracks all open Hay for flooring — one small Box for furniture &
Blankets for Bedding — I am writing on my memorandum Book —
which rests on my knee — while I am sitting flat on the ground
Wilder is sitting on the Door Sill — (no door) making a memoran-
dum in his book — he takes this letter to Leavenworth city on
Friday — & returns on Monday when I go with him & Scott J.
Anthony to the Wea Lands — I hope you wont fail of sending me
atl[e]ast$2,000byjulyll
Missourians, Border Ruffians, Virginians, Indianans and three
New Yorkers are stoping in this hut — We live on crackers, Ham
Tea Sugar Molasses & "whiskey" the latter the only staple
article of living. It is said no Squatter can have his claim unless
he has Flour & whiskey in his cabin — I am on the Grasshopper
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 13
creek bank (East bank) about 11 miles north of Grasshopper Falls
town — 12 I wrote you once from Leavenworth —
Yours &c
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH CITY K. T July 3, 57
DEAR FATHER
I have this P M arrived here from Ossawottamie & Paoli — the
latter place the Wea Trust lands are now selling and have been
since the 25th June— Webb Wilder a brother of A. C. Wilder &
a Mr Achilles are here from Rochester, all well — 13
Wilder, his brother Webb, Achilles & myself go to the Delaware
Lands to morrow to attend to our claims. I have as yet made no
money but have done enough to pay my expenses since my arrival
here — I am so busy that I cannot tell you fully all I have been
doing and what I intend doing but shall buy some of the Delaware
Lands —
Lands at Paoli sold mostly to settlers, (bogus) at the apprisal
which was from $1.50 $1.75, $2.00 $2.25 for the best— and at
least one half was afterwards sold by the Settlers to Speculators at
prices rangeing from $2.00 to 5.00 per acre — and some few very
choice lots more — I cannot now explain the "Modus operand?'
nor give you the definition of "Settler" "Squatter' and Speculator —
You will call on Mr Mann of Wilder Case &Co and he will explain
or rather post you up in what we are doing
I am engaged with Wilder, not in partnership. I think I shall
make something this month Susans & Marys « money is reed to-
gether with two letters from you & one from Susan —
You entirely misapprehend the manner in which I want to you
use the funds. If I had had $100,000 at Paoli I could have made
from 1 to $2,000 in ten days with it and could do the same thing at
the Osaukee Land Sale of the Delaware trust lands — but it is now
to late — You cannot understand how matters stand here — I
shall attend to other matters when the sales are over —
I know (and others think with me) that speculation runs high
here —
12. Grasshopper creek is now called the Delaware river. Grasshopper Falls is present
Valley Falls in Jefferson county.
13. "Webb" Wilder was Daniel W. Wilder, 1832-1911, who became prominent as
a Kansas newspaperman, author, and public official. Achilles has not been identified.
14 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
LEAVENWORTH K. T. July 13, 1857
DEAR SISTER [SUSAN]
Your letter of the 29th Ult was reed by me this day It probably
reached this city some days ago. I have just returned from the
Grasshopper River where I went one week ago. I leave again to
night for Osaukee 30 miles west from Leavenworth with Mr.
Wilder — The Land sales commence on the 15th Inst 14 I shall
go to Topeka on Tuesday to attend the convention of the Free State
Party having been delegated by the people of Atchinson Co where
for the present I hail from — 15
My land will not be sold before the 20th to the 25th July— there
is from 300,000 to 400,000 acres to be sold. 160 acres will cost from
$300 to $3,000. Lands here are very high and city property enor-
mously high — the latter so high that I would not touch it at any price
for which it could be had — I think many people coming here will
make money and many more will loose I think it almost impos-
sible for one to write a statement plain enough to give eastern
people a correct idea of the political and speculation condition of
this Territory.
I shall return to this city about August 1st when I shall be sta-
tionary for a while at least — I have made arrangements to have
my letters sent to me at Osaukee. I have one or two chances to
invest your $300, but cannot yet decide — will see at Osaukee what
is best — I shall probably see Merritt at Osaukee I have heard
from him since I left the Wea Lands he'd bid off his land and so has
made the $125. out of it — I think his chances for making more
than his expenses at Osaukee are very small but I will assist him all
I can —
I shall endeavor not to loan anything, and from present appear-
ances shall not when I close up, can most likely tell more about
it — The more I see of the West the more I am convinced it is
the place for me. Although I cannot say that the life I have led
the last 5 weeks has been the pleasentest. that I have the most
cream in my coffee and slept in the best of beds — Yet my living
temporarily on Bread — Coffee & Ham fried by some of our boys
Sleeping on the Ground — in the waggon many times and but once
in a good bed — and not once in a clean bed — I have now hired
a room with A C Wilder and hereafter when in the city shall have
a good room and bed — better that the Planter Hotel can afford —
14. The reference is to the sale of the Delaware trust lands, which took place at
Ozawkie.
15. This convention, held July 15 and 16, was for the purpose of nominating officers
under the Free-State Topeka constitution.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 15
My new cousin Scott J Anthony I like very much — he is highly
esteemed here, although quite young — Our party from here to
Osaukee consists of A. C. Wilder, D W Wilder, C P Achilles, Brown
& Coman and myself —
LEAVENWORTH CITY KANSAS
August 7th 1857
DEAR SISTER [SUSAN]
Your letter of the 20th Ult I found on my table here yesterday —
I have been to the Osaukee Sale of the Delaware Trust Lands
found Merritt there. Staid there until the 30th then went [to]
Grasshopper Falls, then to my claim — then to visit the piece of
Land which I bought for you (the recpt is in your name the Gov-
ernment would not have two names in the assignment) the 86
acres I bought for you is on the Delaware trust Lands adjoin [in] g
the Kickapoo Preemption Lands — I have made arrangements to
buy the fractional quarter east of it 33 acres for Mary — (expect it
was bid in for her yesterday at Osaukee) —
Merritt and I have built cabins on the two fractional quarters on
the Kickapoo preemption lands so that you or some one else can
preempt them at $1.25 per acre — or buy a 120 and an 80 acre
warrant and get it for about $1.00 per acre besides expenses of
preemption I paid $3.00 per acre for your 86 acres and am to pay
the same for the 33 acres for Mary It is A no 1 Prairie Land But
if you do not like the investment I will take it off your hands — at
any time — Merritt says the Land is the best kind — We have
built on the Kickapoo side two good firm cabins which will pre-
vent any one from taking them at present — I send you a diagram
of your Land — also a copy of the recpt which I hold — I do not
send the recpt itself as I may need it.
I bought the Land from Mr. Willis at $3.00 per acre — An the
cabin which he had on it I have removed on the fraction of same
quarter right north —
I have just seen Wilder who has just come from Osaukee and he
gives me M S. Anthony recpt — I managed to have Marys bid of
in her name — She is a Settler, Bona fide She is now undoubtedly
tilling her 40 acres of Land — I had to pay $30. to the man who
built the cabin on her claim & which will make her 39 acres cost
$78.70— and she will have 121 4/100 acres to preempt at $1.25—
You will see by the diagram the two claims join each other —
Wilder owns the claim west of Susans —
It would be impossible for me to explain the manner in which
16 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
all this business is done — These Delaware Lands are sold by
Gov for the Indians they are appraised at from $1.25 to $4.50 per
acre none are sold below the appraisal and Actual settlers can
have them at that price — but most every one manages to evade the
Law of the commissioner of sales — The cost of putting up cabins
for you and Mary on the Kickpoo claims is about $50. — I think
you can send me $80, which will answer until your preem[p]tion
Land wants to be paid for which will be in November next or later —
S B & M S Credit By cash $300.
Dr
To Express charges $ 2.00
To S B A 86 73/100 Land at $3. 260.19
To Cost of putting up two cabins f or S B A
& M S A on the Kickapoo Land— Say 39.11
To M S A Land recpt 38 96/100 acre at 1.25 48.70
To paid Mr Osborn for putting cabin & for
his interest in the claim — 30.00
Balance due 80.
$380.00 $380.
Merritt & I throw in our time & labor putting up cabins — and I
have drawn one of my cabins on to your Kickapo claim
LEAVENWORTH CITY KANSAS
August 8, 1857
DEAR SISTER [SUSAN]
Yours of the 29th come to hand this day — . . . You speak
of coming to Kansas It may be ( if the Land office opens in Octo-
ber or November ) best for you to come out and buy your own land
on the preemption tract — You will understand that the dividing
line between the Kickapoo & preemption Lands and the Delaware
Trust Lands runs diagonally through about the center of your 160
acres and through the South part of Marys — . . .
So you will see that on the south of the diagonal line you have
a title from Government for 86 73/100 acres— and will have to pre-
empt or buy from Gov. the balance of 73 23/100 acres when the
land office opens which will be in Oct or Nov they say — Mary
has a title to 38 96/100 acres and will have to buy the 121 04/100
of Gov same as you do — providing you wish to buy it — You are
not obliged to buy it — And in order to hold it I have had to build
two good firm matched lumber cabins & will have some plowing
I
3
I
"S
-- °.
<D <-K
St Joseph
A' ;.\ D &S = A ^
amloHCiti
ansai« f U
Wrjtport
EASTERN KANSAS IN 1857 SHOWING THE INDIAN LANDS
A reproduction of a portion of a map accompanying the
Annual Report of the Surveyor General (1857).
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 17
done on both of them—it is better to have the whole 160 acres
then you & Mary will have 160 each —
LEAVENWORTH Aug. 17, 1857
DEAR FATHER
Can you negociate one of those bonds & mortgages I may want
4 Land Warrants in October or November I wish you would
write me what has been done. I have written once or twice but
you forget to answer —
I think something could be raised from them without looseing
much. I would give 10 pr cent off to get them cashed — Mary
need not sent the $80. now unless she wishes— if She sends it-
send draft on New York or your check — Drafts are par checks
would cost %% to collect — I don't know as the Doniphan Land
office will be open before November — I want to enter the 4
quarters on the Kickapoo lands as soon as the office opens and
allow us to preempt — when they do open I may want two or
three of you to make Kansas a visit — Merritt has gone to Ossa-
wottomie — I may go down there again in a week or two — He
will come up again to our Kickapoo claims in 4 or 6 weeks — It
will depend on the time the Land office opens — The Land office
at Lecompton has not opened yet — Merritt will have to enter his
Ossawottomie Land there — I think if three or four were to go
into Ossawottomie Money could be made there — I hardly think
further troubles need be apprehended here — Walker dont know
what to do — he has surrendered himself almost entirely to the
Pro Slavery Party.16
Yours of Aug 3rd is reed.
Yours Truly
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH K. T. Aug 17 1857
Monday 12 Oclock
DEAR BROTHER
I returned on Sunday at 13* P. M. from a exploration trip — A. C.
Wilder Glenny & myself left Leavenworth on Monday August 10th
at 1 P. M. in a good Rockaway carriage with a good span of Black
Horses — traveled west that night about 20 miles on the Fort Riley
road stopped & got a good chicken supper, then went on 10
16. Robert J. Walker, although a Democratic appointee to the office of territorial
governor, suffered criticism from both Proslavery and Free-State elements, as did other
members of the territorial administration. Walker was especially criticized by Free-Staters
because he sent troops to Lawrence in July, 1857, after that town had set up an inde-
pendent city government, an act which he considered illegal.
2^-1958
18 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
miles further, turned our horses loose on the Praries, laid our blan-
kets on the Ground, pulled off our boots wrapped a blanket
around each of us and went to sleep — Slept quite sound in the
morning woke up nearly wet through with the dew — harnassed up
and drove 9 miles to Osaukee. 8 A. M. got a 50 cent breakfast of
nothing eatable — Staid at the sales until 2PM then went north
to Grasshopper Falls, thence north 10 miles to our claims —
thence west 1M miles to Kapioma city 17 Got stuck in the mud
crossing the Grasshopper, left our waggon. Went up to Godwins
house — (Brother of Parke Godwin) had Bacon and biscuit for
Tea. Slept on a matrass on the floor with our blankets over us —
enormous ground bugs were crawling over us all night the log
house was full of them —
In the morning had Mackerel, Soda Crackers & Tea & vilanous
coffee for breakfast — Godwin is not the housekeeper just now —
he had but just arrived — Then hauled our Waggon out of the
creek, harnessed up and travelled over rolling Praries & across
creeks for ten or fifteen [miles] west to Eureka, Pleasent View
&c — 18 got back to Kapioma City about 5 P. M. but concluded
to come 10 miles further East to Monrovia, got there about 9
P. M. ordered a good Supper had chicken, milk Toast &cc all
O. K. they live in a tent have about 20 boarders — live the best
of any place or hotel yet — Slept on a matrass on the floor,
wrapped up in our blankets — good breakfast in the morning bill
$1.00 per head — traveled east 4 miles to the Great Fort Leaven-
worth & Fort Larimie Military Road — thence north 6 miles to my
claims.19 found Merritt had finished the cabins and gone to Ossa-
wottomie via Leavenworth, so I shall miss him this trip — took
in a cabin built on a claim of 160 acres bought by A. W. McLean
of John Gray — I have been asked who & where McLean is "I
gues he is in Leavenworth now or there or there" — 20
After feeding men & horses — traveled north over an unknown
Prarie — without compas or guide — a very comfortable feeling when
you dont know whether you go right or wrong — A man cant
travel in this country with a carriage unless he knows where "ford-
ing places" are — After 6 miles travel we come to the St Joseph
17. Kapioma City was located at the mouth of Straight creek in western Atchison
county, south of present Muscotah.
18. Eureka (present Jackson county), which changed its location and its name before
its death in the 1870's, was 32 miles west of Atchison when Anthony visited it. Pleasant
View has not been located.
19. This route, another of the many branches of the Oregon or California trail, was
also known as the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Kearny road.
20. The mysterious McLean was Aaron McLean, of Rochester, N. Y., Anthony's brother-
in-law, to whom this letter presumably was addressed.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 19
& Kennekuk road21 took that east and after traveling 10 miles
found water 10 miles further brought us to the house of Mr
Mathews — a proSlavery man — a first rate fellow who believes
Slavery is a divine institution and that it will yet be established
in Kansas — He has an A no 1 Black cook — gave us good coffee
Tea — Chicken Ham Biscuit & Butter for Tea & Same with corn
cakes for Breakfast— also Christian Bed's— Bill $1.00 per
head — traveled over the best country I have yet seen in Kansas —
from the time we struck the Military Road so up along between
the sources on [of] the Grasshopper on the west and the sources
of Independence Creek on the East and Wolf river on the north —
a high divide all the way —
Left Mathews at 7 a. m. with blessings on the beloved institution
of Black cooks and reached Elwood City at 9 a.m. (10 miles) A
new town of 40 houses — great chances for Speculation — Humbug
all over — bought a Subdivision Share of the city ten Lots for
$3.50 and left at 6 P M Same day — disgusted with the city — (we
crossed over to St Joseph it is one of the largest of the towns
(8000) on the Missouri River) — but like all of them has a dilapi-
dated look — The Hannibal and St. Joseph will help it and Elwood
also 22 — that night reached Palermo ten miles south23 — "Wilder
swearing that it was all damn foolishness to drive in the dark over
the damn precipices — that we would get into Missouri &c but
we come around at the Palermo Hotel safe and sound at 9 P. m —
poor bed — poor breakfast — rained all night until 11 a.m.
After hunting a long time found our horses — got wet through —
got our carriage mended and started south over hills and down
precipices — The River Roads are almost impassible particularly
after a rain — passed Geary City in 10 miles — 40 houses 24 — 10
miles further passed Doniphan 60 or 70 houses two Sawmills
&c. has a Pro Slavery look — this is the town bought by Jim
Lane — we called on the General but he was not a[t] home — He
is just the man for the times. The Free State Boys love him — The
National Democrats hate him and the Missourians & Border Ruf-
fians generally fear him — thence 5 miles south to Atchison of
100 or 200 houses — and 20 Stores will make a town some time
21. Three years later the Pony Express followed this road across Doniphan and
southeastern Brown counties.
22. The Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad, which reached St. Joseph February 23, 1859,
gave Elwood a rail connection with the East, although no railroad was to bridge the Mis-
souri for several years.
23. Palermo, in Doniphan county, was on the Missouri river, two miles southwest of
Wathena.
24. Geary City, in Doniphan county, was on the Missouri river, ten miles south of Troy.
20 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
then we went 8 miles out on the Military road again a few miles
below South of where we crossed it on the Thursday before —
Stayed all night with a Missourian — 8 or ten men 3 women slept
side by side on the floor in our room in an old log hut — had a nasty
breakfast — rained in the morning got away at 8 a m and
reached Leaven worth on Sunday at 13£ P. M. whole expense for
the 6 days about $50 — this is an excellent place to spend money —
You have above a hasty account of life in Kansas I am now
well — I nearly starved my self on the trip, and it had a good
affect upon my digestive organs. On the whole I am pleased with
Kansas life thus far — I am fully convinced it is the place to make
money — no man can help making money here providing he is
willing to "rough" it — and is economical and will not expend to
much time in looking about the country — many people come
here who travel all over the country and after all cannot make up
their minds which is the best point and loose all the best chances —
For myself I made up my mind to pitch in a little here and a little
there and come out some where — but I have no fear of the result —
A man could hardly go amiss — Any business will pay here except
doing nothing — That will not pay except to dead politicians like
Shannon &c who offer their influence in the market for a considera-
tion25
Most of Buchanans office holders here are hard drinkers and
Gamblers — The Free State Party in refusing to vote last year
did the very best thing The National Democracy and the Pro
Slavery Party and Gov Walker are ah1 one — Walker attempted
to deceive and cajole the people — he failed in that — then he tried
to intimidate them, he failed in that — The people laugh at
him — He is mad with himself and with every body except Brown
of the Herald of Freedom and Cory correspondent of the New
York Times — 26 Little Walker is dead — his influence here is gone
forever — his intrigues to make Kansas a National Democratic
State did not work The people despise him for his trickery it
was unworthy of any man —
The two men hung here two weeks ago were National Demo-
crats— the two in Prison are National Democrats — ** There is
25. Wilson Shannon, a Democrat and Proslavery sympathizer, was the second governor
of Kansas territory.
26. George W. Brown, editor of the Lawrence Herald of Freedom was not as criti-
cal of Governor Walker as most of his fellow Free-State newspapermen. The New York
Times also was less critical than other Eastern papers. No information has been found on
Cory.
27. On July 31, 1857, James Stevens was murdered by John C. Quarles and \V. M.
Bays. The two were hanged by citizens of Leaven worth on August 1. William Knighten
and Bfll Woods, arrested as accomplices in the murder, were jailed in Delaware City.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 21
something about an honest Pro Slavery man I like — he is frank
and honest with you — but a National Democrat will lie will do
anything mean — Little Walker has nothing to do — the bogus
laws are now not enforced (in general I mean) indeed all the
government officials are supernumerarys — unless it is the Land
offices and Post Masters —
I dont know whether any more difficulties will occur here or not —
but if they do come — it will be a fight such as has never occured
here before — Men of property do not regard money at all in
respect to this continually infringing upon their God given rights —
Time will tell the story and Kansas will be Free — The Pro
Slavery still cling to idea of making it a Slave State —
Write me all the Rochester and Washington county news —
Yours truly
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH CITY KANSAS
October 1, 1857
DEAR FATHER,
I have written home several times but have heard nothing from
any of you in two or three weeks. Merritt wrote me on the 27th
Ultimo saying he had heard nothing in some time.
I see by the papers you are having a great panic in money mat-
ters with all care on your part you can Shun the Shoals — give no
credit to any man who is doubtful, in any case or for any reason,
demand prompt payment, better loose some business than to run
any hazard. Always make them pay up before the month is up —
I had one case of 37.50 premium the man wanted me to wait
a few days I told him I could not & canceled his policy instanter —
I shall do a good business for one or two months this fall — In
the month of September 1 issued 15 policies premiums $792.45
profits on same 10 per cent & policies & Surveys making about $100.
pretty well for the first month — I write $10,000. in one risk one
premium which I took amounted to $225. one 162.50 one 73.50
one 52.50 one 60. and lesser ones —
I wrote you very urgently for funds — but if you cannot get them
— why I must do without, but now is the time [to] buy here — say
about January or February next —
I have made arrangements here so that I can get Land Warrants
to enter 4 quarters this fall — I loaned $300. last week 90 days 5
per cent per month and took a deed of 160 acres of land and a good
note into the bargain. I could loan any amount almost at same
rate —
22 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Merritt expects to come up again after election. The Charter
Oak Co offer me their agency — I have written the Home Co all
I have got to do is to stick to my business here — I am the agent
and command the best business in town I have the power to
appoint Surveyors in all the towns (except Lawrence) in die Terri-
tory for the Aetna. I hope you will write me fully about the busi-
ness. I don't like to be in the dark — My office is nearly finished.
I move into it about the 10th Oct.
Marcus J Parrott will be elected to congress by a large majority
as to the result in the council & lower House can not tell. A great
effort is made by the Pro Slavery party to carry this election all
depends upon the frauds which may be perpetrated.
I have little confidence in Walker or the honesty of any of the
party. Their officials here are not men of common honesty — dur-
ing the troubles here last fall our post master stood on the Levee
with a axe saying he would kill any God Damn Yankee who dare
land from the Steam Boat — The whole Party is as corrupt as
Hell itself — What the Democratic Party deny at the east is here
openly advocated by the Nationals — Well I hope the good Pious
Christians at the East who support the Democratic Party will Some
day have the pleasure of associating with their allies here — God
Almighty has written on their faces in legible characters the words
Scoundrels — But then the time is coming when these men cannot
live in Kansas, and they know it and consequently the desperate
effort they now make
Write soon
D. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
Wednesday Oct. 14th 1857
DEAR FATHER
Yours of the 2ond Inst has this day come to hand. . . .
Business this month not as good as last — Our Free State men
are very much depressed on account of the frauds in the last elec-
tion. They are more glaring than ever before — 28 I will write you
more fully in a few days. I wrote you a letter of 5 pages a few
days ago. Many letters are lost or stolen on the route somewhere —
The clerks in this office I think are honest — but I cannot say as
much for the Post master himself
28. On October 5-6 an election was held for territorial delegate to congress and for
members of the territorial legislature. Despite the frauds referred to, the Free-State party
won a decisive victory, electing 9 of 13 members of the territorial council and 24 of the 39
members of the lower house. In addition, Marcus J. Parrott, the Free-State candidate
for delegate to congress, defeated his Proslavery opponent 7,888 to 3,799.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 23
The money panic affects us here to some extent — although noth-
ing to what you describe —
Tis mainly the want of currency
Expect Merrit here in a few days
Yours Truly
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH CITY KANSAS
Tuesday Oct 20th 1857
DEAR SISTER [SUSAN]
Your letter dated at Westfield Oct 10th come to hand yesterday,
our mails have been quite irregular for a few weeks. Am pleased
to know our folks have had such a good Peach harvest and hope
they will continue to be fruitfull. I always had confidence in fruit
and wanted our folks to cultivate large orchards. As to your com-
ing here to preempt I would advise it, If you was so situated that
you could preempt but no single wooman can avail herself of that
privilege unless she be a widow or a guardian, or has some one
dependent on her for a support (what would be termed a family)
Therefor I think it useless for you to come — and then you would
have to remain here 6 weeks and by that time the River would be
frozen up. I think your claim is safe, and if you can get a Land
warrant I think I could get some one to preempt it for about $600.
I have less faith than ever in preaching or Lecturing. The world
is bound to go to the Devil anyway, and the easiest way is to slide
along easy. I am infidel in almost everything. When an adminis-
tration can not only sustain but boldly defend the flagrant frauds
which have been perpetrated on this people for the last three years,
I think that Satan has such a fast hold of them that [it] is entirely
useless to endeavor to reclaim them.
When men who stood at the gang way plank with Broad Axe in
hand threatning to cleave the Skull of any damned Northern man
who attempted to Land from the Steamer on Kansas Soil, when
men who have perpetrated cold blooded murder & who publicly
boast of it, when men who with drawn sword flourished over the
head of a lone woman Swearing if she did not leave the Country in
so long a time he would cut out her heart, when almost every man
who holds any important office in this Territory have been guilty of
the above or Similar acts, when these men and these men alone are
the men selected by an administration to fill the various Post offices
Land offices, what is the use of talking? My God men who will
approve and defend such mens acts, are not men to reason with. I
24 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
know many of them will not reason. The only argument is the
strong arm of might. And were the people once to stand up and
say we will have our rights, they would be granted at once — The
Pro Slavery Border Ruffian Democracy never attack a man here
who says he will defend himself. So I have been compelled to
wear a knife and carry a Colts Revolver — and the consequence is
no trouble will be made on my account. The hounds never attack
a man single handed with very few exceptions they are cowardly
dishonorable in all their intercourse with Free State men.
The Pro Slavery business men here are a better class of men.
They denounce the Bullying course of some of their party but dare
not speak for fear of loosing their own Standing. When Kansas
comes in Free, A large number of these scoundrels will leave the
country and Kansas will then boast of as good a population as any
State or Territory —
You probably get all the Election news The [New York] Trib-
une's report can be as fully relied on as any — The fact is the truth
can not be had on the ground — We dont know what to believe
we here are credulous enough to believe any thing may be perpe-
trated by the Pro Slavery Party no matter how absurd, or flagrant
a wrong it may be — What can they do worse than they have in
the last election Our Free State Congressman M J Parrott is
elected — also a majority of both branches of our Territoral Legis-
lature, but we do [not] believe it until we see the certificates, and
the members actually take their Seats. If there had been common
honesty the Free State men would have all —
My business looks, have very flatering prospects ahead — I may
come home in December. Have not heard from Merritt in two
or three weeks he was well then — Expect him here in a few
days — Money matters here are more quiet [than] that east, no
failures.
Hope to hear from you often
Yours Sincerely
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH CITY KANSAS
Wednesday Oct. 28, 1857
DEAR FATHER
I have been thinking over about my visiting home this winter,
and can hardly come to a conclusion. If I go home my expenses
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 25
will not be less than $100, and then I shall loose over a months
business which will be over another $100. So you see by visiting
home I am $200 or more poorer than I would be to stay here. And
in these money Panic times one must economise as much as possi-
ble in Dress, traveling expenses, &c My Cigar, Whiskey, & Pleasure
Bills generally are mere nothing for the last two months. And if I
keep on improving in this way, I see no reason why I may not one
day be a rich man. In this country one can most readily under-
stand that [it] is far easier to make than to save money.
I hope you will send on the funds to use in Kansas. I can invest
for you as you may think best. I would rather have one dollar now,
than two after March next. In these close times, a much sharper
lookout is required than in times when money is plenty. At the
same time now is the time to make the most money, by a cautious
investment in such manner that should one operation fail, all would
not be lost. I am not one to believe that all the country will be
ruined by this Panic, on the contrary now is the time for everyone
having spare money to operate.
Could you have the agency of the Aetna company for Lawrence
I would like to see you settled in that town. Lawrence contains the
best population of any town in the Union — and is destined to
become a large town. I think I could get you the agency for any
other except that — but then no place unless it is this city will com-
pete with it — but I suppose there is no chance to sell property in
Rochester. I am sure Mother would be pleased with living in this
country, and particularly in Lawrence, because there is such a
unanimity of sentiment prevailing among all of them. I hope to
hear by next letter that Mother is getting better. Also that she will
write me a few words, as she has not written me since I left home.
LEAVENWORTH CITY KANSAS
October 30, 1857
DEAR FATHER
I notice by New York Tribune 22ond under head of "Commer-
cial Matters" that Land warrants have been selling as low as 60
to 65 cents per acre, & are now worth 75 to 85 cts I think you can
find 4 or 5 in Rochester for a very low figure, I wrote you fully
about this a day or two ago. I can loan Land warrants here, for
the purpose which I want them, but I will have to pay $1.00 per
acre and 3 per cent per month interest on same, six months time. —
26 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
You will readily see a good business in buying there and selling
here at $1.00 per acre. Have heard nothing from Merritt, tis not
time—
I have issued ten fire policies this month prems $557.75 and two
Cargoe policies premiums $6.22. I charge $2.00 for policy and
Survey on fire risks and $1.50 on Inland — And am thinking of
charging $2.50 for policy & Survey on fire risks, business for No-
vember I think will be good. Made up and sent my report to com-
pany for October yesterday. So you see I am prompt. All Kinds
of produce continues very high — Potatoes 75 cts. apples 1.00 to
1.25 and other things in same ratio. I wrote you yesterday 29th
and also two or three days before that enclosing diagram of Susan
& Marys land. I perhaps ought to number my letters as many
people are satisfied that their mail matter is tampered with at the
Post office here — . . .
Oct 31. Well another mail boat has come up — and shall get her
mail tomorrow Sunday noon. We have to wait for slow men to
distribute the mail Letters 1M hours and papers from 6 to 48 hours,
tis very negligently conducted —
I am satisfied that money can be made in buying stocks at pres-
ent prices, although not as sure as loaning on lands — and then it
takes too much money to dabble in stocks
Yours Truly
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH CITY, KANSAS
Monday November 2, 1857
DEAR FATHER
I am writing you almost every other day. I have now made ar-
rangements for preempting Susan & Marys fractions. The cost of
doing it will be one 160. acre Land warrant and $150. cash, which
will be needed at once —
I have made arrangements for the preempting of four quarters
of land 640 acres. I preempt one quarter myself, and shall want
for that 4. 160 acre warrants and $300. cash.
My total wants are
5 Land Warrants 160 [acres], and $450. cash. This Land is
worth $5.00 per acre as soon as title is perfected Hope you can
arrange matters and forward funds & warrants immediately. . . .
I have not many arrangements for any further outlay of funds and
the above I know to be tip top.
My insurance . . . business opens well today for the first
days business in Nov. have taken five risks as follows
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 27
$250. Rate 6 Prem $15. on Hearse in Stable
$10,000. " 18 150. Brick building $5,000,
Clothing 5,000
300 "2 "6. Dwelling— expand 10 ft.
to Dwelling
3000 "6 " 180. Groceries & Provisions
3,000. " 1% " 52.50 on Clothing
$403.50 total and
have charged $9.50 for policies fees on them. Shall take over a
$1,000 prems this month.
My premiums for last month are all paid but $2.22 and that is
owing by one of our best merchants for a small river risk, and will
be paid whenever I call — I dont give any time longer than the
20th of each month and then all prems must be paid at any rate —
I have but very little bantering about rates, can do here much
better in that line than you can in Rochester — The people do not
value money so highly here and the money panic has not affected
them much.
What arrangements are you making for next years business. If
you could sell farm, and mother and all could be satisfied to move
to Kansas say Lawrence, and you follow insurance there I have no
doubt you would like it much better than Rochester They are the
best set of men that ever breathed over in Lawrence — and our
old Fogy conservative men here who have heretofore been de-
nouncing Lawrence men — now unite in saying they have always
taken the true stand, and to them is owing the privilege which we
now enjoy, that of success, they are earnest men, no boys play,
and report here says that Gov Walker would not have thrown out
the Oxford returns had he not been laboring under a wholesome
fear of his neck.29 I never saw men more desperate than were the
Free state men a few days after the Election. They were ready for
any move — for open rebellion, and more — In fact I dont think it
possible for Gov Walker to have recognized the fraud and preserved
peace also —
Write soon.
Yours &c
D R ANTHONY
Nov3
I think the Home Co have some thought of establishing an agency
here This morning I reed a Statistical sheet from them and have
29. Oxford precinct in Johnson county polled 1,628 Proslavery votes in the October
election. Most of them were illegal and were thrown out by order of Governor Walker —
"for informality, not for fraud."— D. W. Wilder, Annals of Kansas (1886), p. 195.
28 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
filled it up and sent them. If I succeed in getting my Kickapoo
land through all O. K. there will be 640. acres in a square body of
as handsome land high rolling Prarie rich as rich can be. within 12
miles of Atchison on the Missouri River And it must be kept for
years, as ten years hence 640 acres in that place lying in that shape
will be valuable.
You had best keep business operation quiet — Weather very
pleasant has been rainy during last month.
DRA
LEAVENWORTH CITY KANSAS
Saturday Nov 7, 1857
DEAR FATHER
I have heard nothing from you since Oct 15th — We have filed
on 5 quarters of land and can prove up and preempt on the 4th of
December when I shall want the 5. 160 [acre] warrants and $300,
or $600, cash — You need not send the cash but give me orders to
draw on you payable in current funds or Gold as you may prefer —
Send warrants by Express, you ought to get them for 70 to 80
cents — If I can close my land matters before the River closes
think I shall go to Rochester from the 7th to 15th December (Start
then ) for home ) —
My business this month is good — have issued 9 fire & 1 River
policy. Amt premiums a little over $800. — one premium was
$240, one $180, one $150, one $130. reckon you dont issue many
such policies. I take all the desirable risks. Although there are 3 or
4 other agents, yet some how the damned Yankee does the business,
best pro Slavery men give me business, insured one dwelling,
$5,000 on building & $2500 on furniture & Clothing therein prem
$75 one year, can you beat that.
I must make some arrangements for money next year. It seems
to bad not to have money to loan at 5% per month when it can be
had east at 7 to 10 per cent per annum and on poorer security than
we get here.
I see you are like all the world who have had no experience in
the west. You look upon most everything as moonshine. You
dont believe half [of] what I write. You think every body here is
crazy and while you think so every body here is getting rich. Now
is the time to dip in — Money wont be made here at this rate five
years hence, dont allow any thing to prevent the prompt sending
of those 5 warrants by the 20th Nov at farthest.
Business here this winter will be dull — insurance I mean, next
year it must be good. I shall want to get back by Jany 20. to get
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 29
ready for River business &c and at that time the best bargains in
Real Estate can be made —
Wilder has gone to the Doniphan Land office to enter Land for
preemption or rather to Loan them Warrants.
Affairs here look well and if Buchanan would only turn a few
of the Federal office holders out who have been guilty of murder
& robbery, people would feel better, but it does grind them to have
men controll Post offices & Land offices in whom nobody has any
confidence — Not even the Ruffians themselves. The time will
soon come when they also will get their deserts —
The Steamer "New Lucy" is now lying at the Levee, but I am
to late to put this letter in her mail.
Write soon & fully —
Yours &c
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
Monday Dec. 1, 1857
DEAR FATHER
Your letter of the 12 & 14th Susans of the 9th & 10th with moth-
ers letter enclosed, yours of the 17th and Susans & yours of the llth
Nov containing two Land Warrants, Power of Atty and much news
frome home were all received to day and Saturday in good order
Warrants appear to be all right, shall probably use them this or next
week.
Dont understand me as complaining in the least — I can get
along and do well without any funds from home, and in case of
necessity could assist you if required. I could sell the Land war-
rants to day for $160, or could loan them one year for a note of $280.
and a deed of 160 acres of Land to secure the note. Dont you make
any investments at home unless to improve the farm in the way of
trees &c Am inclined to think you can do best on the farm. Would
advise selling the whole business to Sheldon if Aaron could make
up his mind to come to Kansas, and farm it, start a Lumber yard —
wood & coal yard, Grist mill or any other business most, but I will
not take the responsibility of advising again. I think any man who
will come here and adopt the "go ahead" system will succeed.
As for my Self I consider a fixed fact, and dont want you to lay
awake o' nights on my account, for I have confidence in my suc-
cess ultimately — Am satisfied that thus far my business has
equalled my anticipations and while I would and could use a large
amount of funds in business could I obtain the article, yet I can work
on a smaller scale — I have paid for my Kansas experience very
30 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
lightly in comparison with many. When title is obtained to Kick-
apo Lands I will give you statement of investments of your funds
in Kansas — And let the times be good or bad I know the prices
are for much less than others making for permanent investments. If
I could have had two or three more land warrants at 76tf the
Kickapo Section would not cost over $2.00 per acre, and a bet-
ter section of 640 acres you never saw, A No 1 every inch of it —
would sell for $3.00 cash to day, $5.00 next summer, and situated
within 12 miles of Atchison & Doniphan, on the Missouri River and
only 1& mile south of the St Joseph & Fort Riley road 30 & 1M miles
north of the Fort Leavenworth & Fort Laramie Road — both exten-
sively traveled roads. I think the location desirable —
Our political matters remain very much mixed up the national
"Democratic Constitutional Convention" has framed a constitution,
as you will see by the Tribunes correspondent They may foment
more trouble, and the administration may back them in their plans,
as they do in retaining John Calhoun in office J J Clarkson Fred
Emory & Clark and many others who have assisted in foisting the
foul thing upon the people of Kansas.31 but you [see?] there are
too many freemen here. Although many of them are of the milk
and water kind yet there are enough good and true men on the Soil
to put down the usurpation.
30. This is apparently another name for the route from St. Joseph to Kennekuk which
had its junction with the Fort Leavenworth road at Kennekuk.
31. Anthony here refers to the Lecompton constitutional convention and the Proslavery
instrument which it produced in November, 1857. John Calhoun, United States surveyor
general for Kansas and Nebraska, was president of the convention. Frederick Emory,
who was at various times a United States mail contractor and register of the Western land
district at Ogden, made himself conspicuous during 1856-1857 as the leader of a gang of
"regulators," or Border Ruffian vigilantes. Clark was probably George W. Clarke, a Pro-
slavery Democrat who was employed for a time in the Fort Scott land office and who won
notoriety as the murderer of the Free-State settler, Thomas Barber, in December, 1855,
while he was United States agent to the Fottawatomie Indians. J. J. Clarkson has not been
identified.
(Part Two, the D. R. Anthony Letters of 1858-1861, Will Appear
in the Summer, 1958, Issue.)
Early Theatre at Fort Scott
JAMES C. MALIN
I. THE SETTING
THE setting for the beginning of theatre in Fort Scott and south-
eastern Kansas was quite different from that of Leavenworth
and Atchison. Northeastern Kansas, as well as central and north-
western Missouri, had been served by the river traffic of the Mis-
souri river. Several towns, four of which were of considerable size,
Kansas City, Leavenworth, Atchison, and St. Joseph, afforded sub-
stantial patronage in their own right, and operated as bases for ac-
cess to the near-by interior towns. But Fort Scott and southeastern
Kansas were far removed from water navigation, and were served
only by expensive animal-powered land communications. That is,
until the coming of the railroads and associated services. Other
factors, of course, contributed to the delay in settlement and de-
velopment of the area, particularly southern Bourbon and Neosho
counties, and those farther south. The Missouri-Kansas border
wars, by 1865, had virtually depopulated the border tiers of coun-
ties on both sides of the state line. There were also controversies
over Indian titles, and over land grants to railroads.
Just prior to the Civil War, the village of Fort Scott was visited
by occasional entertainers, but not theatre. Professor Searl, magi-
cian and ventriloquist, in May, 1860; the New York Vocalists, in
June, 1860; Seguar Ferrello, the "Italian Ole Bull/' and Peabody,
the banjo performer, at Williams' Hall, December, 1860, March,
1861; the Great Western Minstrels, in April, 1861.
In the latter part of 1862, when Union troops were concentrated
at Fort Scott, soldier entertainment attracted attention. During
most of August the "Union Opera and Variety Troupe" provided
that type of diversion, and again the same organization reopened
for the fall season late in September and continued through much
or all of October. This was the "Varieties" combination that had
become notorious at Leavenworth under the direction of the ex-
pansive and irrepressible Irish comedian, Ben Wheeler, at the Amer-
ican Concert Hall — derisively called the "Moral Show." In August
Ben had with him the humorist, Oscar Willis, "the graceful Mile
DR. JAMES C. MALIN, associate editor of The Kansas Historical Quarterly, is professor
of history at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and is author of several books relating to
Kansas and the West.
(31)
32 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Carolista and LaBelle Louise," the jig-dancer, Johnny Mitchell,
and the violinist, A. G. Cooper. For the later engagement the bal-
ladist, Leon DeBerger, was featured in place of LaBelle Louise. As
the Bulletin put it: "The Union Varieties are running gay. Ben
Wheeler is a whole troupe in himself, and is 'well supported/ "
Another group of entertainers were advertised as "Franklin and
Baker's Amphitheatre." The components of this company had also
appeared at Leaven worth in the "Variety" type of show: Baker,
the Red Man of Agar, and his son Willie, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin,
and Mr. and Mrs. (Kate) Navo.1
After the war a limited assortment of miscellaneous entertainment
visited Fort Scott by stage. But, allowing for certain kinds of di-
versions associated traditionally with saloons, gaming rooms, and
dance halls, serving particularly the unattached population of a
pioneer town, the citizens were thrown back mostly upon their own
resources for amusement.2
II. THE NATIONAL THEATRE, 1870
The coming to Fort Scott of the first railroad, the Missouri River,
Fort Scott and Gulf, in December, 1869, was long anticipated and
worked a revolution in most all aspects of the activities of this city
of about 4,000 population. Commercial entertainment, especially
theatre, was a conspicuous beneficiary. Watching the advancing
construction work on the railroad in Bourbon county, the Monitor
wrote wishfully, May 12, 1869, that if the contractors at the north
end did as well "we may expect the cars in Fort Scott by the 4th
day of July." Not altogether by coincidence a few days later the
Monitor described the new furnishings of McDonald Hall; new
chairs, three chandeliers, eight side lamps — "It is now one of the
1. Fort Scott Democrat, May 19, June 23, 30, December 15, 1860; March 9, April
13, 20, 1861; Fort Scott Bulletin, August 9, 23, 30, September 27, October 4, 11, 1862.
James C. Malm, "Theatre in Kansas, 1858-1868: Background for the Coming of the
Lord Dramatic Company to Kansas. 1869," Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 23 (Spring,
1957), pp. 23-25; Leavenworth Daily Conservative, August 28, November 27, 1861.
Mrs. C. H. Haynes, "Early Theatricals in Fort Scott," Fort Scott Daily Monitor, April
8, 1895. In this article, primarily reminiscences, Mrs. Haynes said:
"The first traveling troupe that gave public entertainments in this city was a company
from Leavenworth, whose 'advance agent' found great difficulty in obtaining a building.
. . ." — the only place available being an ice house, which was furnished for the purpose
of the soldier shows with benches, a drop curtain, and candles with tin reflectors for foot-
lights. She added:
"I cannot vouch for the quality of these first theatricals, as the ladies did not patronize
them, for the reason, that we were not wanted, the performances being regular 'variety
Mrs. Haynes dated this episode 1863, but it should have been a year earlier; also, this
was "entertainment," but not theatre.
No contemporary verification has been found for the ice-house housing of these shows,
but space was exceedingly short. The school house had been turned into a military hos-
pital during the summer of 1862, and a citizens' drive to construct a temporary building
for the fall opening of school failed. — Fort Scott Bulletin, June 7, 14, July 12, August 2.
9, 1862.
2. Charles W. Goodlander, Memoirs and Recollections of C. W. Goodlander of the
Early Days of Fort Scott (Fort Scott, 1900). The author gave more attention than is
usual in such reminiscences to the devices for self-amusement.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 33
best halls in the State." But at year's end and the railroad a reality
the owners went a step further; erected "a fine stage" and provided
a "very tolerable scenic property." By this time the facilities were
under contract to the National Theatre.8 McDonald Hall, named in
honor of a former citizen, then carpet-bag Republican senator from
Arkansas, Alexander McDonald, occupied the second floor of the
annex, Main street side, of the Wilder House, the principal hotel
and saloon, with billiard and pool rooms. This was Fort Scott's
theatre until the Davidson Opera House was opened in January,
1875.4
In Fort Scott during the decade of the 1870's there was no more
unanimity than in the 20th century about the nature of either enter-
tainment or humor. In the public communications field they are
inseparable and equally treacherous:
The individual who left three kittens, and a dog with a tin pan tied to his
narrative, on our office stairs last night, can have them in a transfigured state
by calling at the butcher shop. We would modestly suggest that we have no
further call for such supplies.
Telephones had not yet arrived, but evidently the people made
known their reactions immediately and in no uncertain terms. The
next day a somewhat chastened ( ? ) editor wrote in disillusionment
and bewilderment, real or feigned:
Whenever people learn to walk upon their eye-brows, to balance ladders
on their chins and climb to the tops of them — when fleas shall swallow ele-
phants and elephants traverse space upon mosquitoes — then, and then only,
will an Editor be found whose items give pleasure alike to rich and poor,
honest and false, respectable and low.5
The railroad brought a somewhat greater assortment, but not nec-
essarily a uniformly higher quality of entertainment — the railroad
was a common carrier.
On January 17, 1870, the National Theatre opened in McDonald
Hall for about six weeks, and undertook to play daily, except Sun-
day, and a matinee "for the especial accommodation of Ladies and
children," extra on Saturday afternoon. A different piece was pre-
sented each day, allowing numerous repeat performances. Ban-
croft and Fessenden were lessees and proprietors, C. P. DeGroat,
stage manager, O. H. Perry, leader of the orchestra: "This elegant
place of amusement is now open for the regular season, with a First
Class DRAMATIC COMPANY, Selected from the principal the-
3. Fort Scott Daily Monitor, January 16, 19, 1870.
4. Fort Scott Monitor, May 19, 1869; Daily Monitor, April 8, 1895.
5. Ibid., March 16, 17, 1870.
S— 1958
34 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
atres of the East/' among whom were Mary Preston, Edith Blande,
Emma Stowe, and a male contingent that was headed by DeGroat,
with O. H. Barr, etc., "The whole forming an array of talent second
to none either east or west. . . ." 6
Lest the 20th century reader be misled into thinking that the
National Theatre was a "going concern/' certain discrete facts
should be pointed out which the contemporary public may or may
not have known at the beginning. Except, possibly, for a small
nucleus the company was in prospect only. To be sure, actors had
been engaged, but most, apparently, as individuals only. After their
arrival rehearsals were necessary to train them into an effective
group unity. They were to open Monday evening, January 17, but
the Sunday morning Monitor announced that they had arrived on
last night's train which had been delayed by "a heavy load and
slippery track." Competition was announced at the same time:
"The can-can opened last night at Rubicam & Dilworth's, and the
Dramatic Troupe from Chicago opens tomorrow night at McDonald
Hall." If the identification "from Chicago" was correct, then again
the ubiquitous combination was in evidence: Chicago, railroads,
and theatre. After the second performance the Monitor revealed:
"We understand that if the management are successful, the hall
is to be enlarged, and additions made to their stock company."
Except for the use of the term "stock company" in the news item
no other reference was made to the form of organization of this
troupe, a resident theatre or a traveling company. The circum-
stances indicate the former. This was an era of transition, how-
ever, from the resident to the traveling company as had been illus-
trated at Leavenworth and Atchison.7 In practice, whatever the
original intentions may have been, the Nationals soon took to the
road as a traveling dramatic troupe.
On Monday night McDonald Hall was crowded, but the name
of the play was not mentioned, possibly it was not important. The
Monitor conceded that:
We were most agreeably surprised by the character of the entertainment.
Knowing our limited population, the small size of our halls, and the utter
impossibility of putting proper stage machinery into them, we were disposed to
think that no company of any merit whatever could be persuaded to come here.
And considering the inevitable drawbacks of an opening night, lack of acquaint-
ance with the stage from short time for rehearsal, creaking machinery and poor
entrances, we marvel that the company did so well.
6. Advertisement in ibid., January 19, 1870 ff. Mary Preston was usually referred to
thereafter as May.
7. Tames C. Malin, "Theatre in Kansas, 1858-1868 " Kansas Historical
Quarterly, v. 23 (Spring, 1957), pp. 15-20.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 35
Mrs. Pontifex did not know her part, and the prompting was unartistically
done. . . . Miss Mortimer (Preston au billet) swung out too much voice,
forgetting the size of the hall, but modulated it with exceeding tact, and was
throughout graceful, piquante, and versatile. Not the least interesting part of
her performance was the by-play with the foot, hurt by the rough stage, and
the deft way she went through the narrow crack left for an exit, or doubled
herself up in a corner, when unable to get out. Of Lieut. Kingston (O. B.
Barr) we did not see enough to judge — he appeared worn out.8
On Wednesday evening the opening play was repeated and "was
much better rendered than at the first attempt . . . and Miss
Mortimer ( Preston ) had donned a sparkle and life that carried her
smoothly over poor support. In the sofa scene, Mr. Barr did nicely,
and Miss Preston was — well, tantalizing." The bad name associ-
ated with theatre even at its best had to be overcome, if possible,
and the Monitor assured the public about the Nationals: "To their
credit be it said that they confine themselves strictly within the lim-
its of legitimate drama, and none need stay away through tenderness
on that point." 9
In any case, the first week in which such a group worked together
would be considered a breaking-in period. However, the situation
in which the Nationals found themselves was not so simple. New
personnel were trickling in during the second week, January 24-29.
Edith Blande appeared for the first time on Monday, and Gaston
and Frye wired that they would arrive on Tuesday to take their
places on the stage the same evening. Thus, the Monitor, January
25 (Tuesday) explained to the public: "The management have la-
bored under peculiar difficulties for the past few days; — coming
players have failed to meet their engagements promptly, the best
on hand have been sick, and changes in the programes — so provok-
ing to the audience — have been necessary." Possibly it was out
of kindness to the company that no reports on the shows of the
latter part of the first week were printed. Also, stage properties
were incomplete, and on January 27, Thursday of the second week,
the new drop curtain was announced, painted by George Fessenden,
artist of the theatrical company.
Miss Blande was billed to make her debut in "Asmodeus" on
Monday of the second week, January 24, with the "Little Rebel'r
as an afterpiece. She was represented as an English girl, late of
the Drury Lane Theatre, London, who had made her American
debut October 4, 1869, at Baltimore: "We trust her foot and lips
have not lost their cunning since she left the fostering care of Lydia
8. Daily Monitor, January 18, 1870.
9. Ibid., January 19, 20, 1870.
36 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Thompson." The Monitor of Tuesday was kindness itself in com-
mentary upon the "Little Rebel" — she "dances as lightly as of yore."
The play "Asmodeus" had not been presented Monday because a
new actor, Mr. Gaston, did not arrive, but apparently was offered
Tuesday. As reported, the Wednesday production, " 'Peter White's
Wife' was rendered with more spirit and better effect than 'As-
modeus/ Miss Blande's dancing was especially pleasing. . . .**
The "Black Eyed Susan" performance of Thursday "was undoubt-
edly the best they have yet given us." Miss Preston was "Su" and
"Her fainting was very artistic; so was the last hook on her dress —
[but] Miss Blande was evidently suffering from severe indisposi-
tion." For the ladies and children "Peter White's Wife" and "Pas
de Fascination" were presented for the Saturday matinee — "chaste
and unobjectionable entertainment." For the evening performances
of Friday and Saturday, the bill was "The Ticket-of -Leave Man," —
"the most successful and satisfactory performance yet given. . , .
The spirited and effective acting of May Preston several times
elicited hearty applause; she is a favorite, and grows in popularity
with every appearance." The Sunday Monitor, January 30, was
probably justified in its week-end summary: "The playing of the
National company shows decided signs of improvement of late,
and they have been rewarded for their efforts by excellent houses
for several nights." 10
During the third week the Nationals appeared to have been
somewhat stabilized. Monday's plays, "Caste" and "Nan, the Good-
for-Nothing," were repeated Tuesday. DeGroat, the comedy man,
made a hit, and Miss Preston appeared "in her customary animated
and engaging manner." The lighter feminine lead was evidently
gaining favor: "The blonde is generally acknowledged a very en-
gaging style of beauty, but when the blonde is united with the
Blande, the effect is absolutely irresistible." The "Serious Family"
was coupled with "Pas de Fascination" on Wednesday and "Black
Eyed Susan" with "Toodles" on Thursday night. Management was
commended particularly
in the selection of pieces suited to the tastes of the people, as well as adapted
to the special ability and talent of their troupe. The "Serious Family" and
"Toodles," two as rich and laughable farces as the language affords, and
entirely within the capacity of the company, we regard as among the best
selections yet made. DeGroat, as "Aminidab Sleek," and "Timothy Toodles,"
is scarcely to be surpassed by any comedian now on the stage.
On Thursday "Black Eyed Susan" was coupled with "Toodles"—
'The crowning attraction of the evening — DeGroat's incomparable
10. Ibid., January 22, 23, 25, 27-30, 1870.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 37
Toodles' . . . must be seen to be appreciated." On Friday
"Toodles" was again paired with the feature play, the "Marble
Heart/' In the latter:
Mr. Barr's "Rafael Duchalet" surpassed in true histrionic inspiration all his
former characters. May Preston, as "Marco, the marble hearted" was truly
artistic and effective. Miss Blande, as "Marie" surpassed herself. She has
never appeared before with such grace and naturalness. Divested of a cer-
tain degree of affectation, which almost makes the spectator nervous, she has
both the beauty and ability to become a charming actress. We were pleased
to notice her improvement in this respect last evening.
Saturday's matinee pieces were the "Serious Family" and the "Little
Rebel," repeating the "Marble Heart" and the "Little Rebel" in the
evening: Miss Blande's "rope-skipping dance, in the second piece,
is a truly delightful exhibition of grace and skill. . . ." n
The National's fourth week was disheartening. DeGroat became
seriously ill and "All That Glitters Is Not Gold" gave way to "As-
modeus," but without one of the principal characters: "The enter-
tainment closed with 'The Little Rebel,' but the previous mishaps
of the evening has so thoroughly demoralized the esprit of the com-
pany that they did not do as well as usual. Miss Blande in great
measure retrieved the misfortunes of the night by her excellent
dancing." Performances for Tuesday and Wednesday were can-
celled, and the Monitor explained: "It is but justice to the manage-
ment to say that this unfortunate state of affairs was entirely beyond
their control. Several actors with whom they have made engage-
ments have failed to arrive." The hope was expressed that the new
players, and DeGroat's recovery would enable the Nationals to
offer "a better class of pieces than have heretofore been attempted."
Upon resumption of production Thursday, some reorganization
had been effected in the orchestra, and D. K. Russell, a popular
comedian made his first appearance. The following evening a new
leading lady, Olive Kneass, was introduced. DeGroat was not
back, and the Monitor had nothing to say about the Saturday per-
formances.12
If the fourth week was disheartening, the fifth week was disas-
trous to the Nationals. Monday's bill was the "Lady of Lyons,"
but internal differences erupted in open rebellion and both sides
told the public their stories. The Monitor presented the manage-
ment side:
The performance last night was sadly interfered with by an internicine
strife among the subordinates of the company, evidently engendered for the
11. Ibid., February 1-6, 1870.
12. Ibid., February 8, 10, 11, 1870.
38 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
purpose of involving the management in so much difficulty as to render the
production of the piece advertised for the evening an impossibility. According
to Mr. Bancroft's statement, Mr. Barr, the leading man, since the illness of
Mr. DeGroat, has taken advantage of the situation to make demands upon the
management not warranted by their contract, and to which the management
could not, in justice to themselves, accede. One of the other principal mem-
bers of the company, Mr. Frye, so far espoused the cause of Mr. Barr as to
refuse to appear unless his demands were complied with. Mr. Frye became
so demonstrative as to make his arrest by the police necessary during the
performance.
At this point in the story a diversion is desirable, in order to intro-
duce one of the participants in the evening's bizarre activities. A
local of the day reported that: "Gen. Darr, the genial host of the
Wilder House, returned last evening from a Northern tour." He
would scarcely have been in a position to know anything of the
current status of the theatre. There would have been time for din-
ner and a drink or two at the bar "to swell the receipts" before
the curtain rose. But to resume the Monitors narrative:
When the cause of the difficulty became known the sympathies of the
audience were warmly enlisted in behalf of the management. General Darr
came promptly forward and volunteered to take the place of Mr. Frye, and
although he was obliged to read the part, he acquitted himself right nobly;
in fact, we think the audience derived more real pleasure from the novelty
of the affair than they would have done had the original programme been
carried out.
Mr. J. D. Thompson, of Leavenworth, kindly helped to rescue the manage-
ment from their complications by taking Mr. Barr's place.
The play proceeded, in spite of all drawbacks — and they seemed at one
time nearly insurmountable — and the audience retired entirely satisfied with
the performance, and warm in their determination to support the management.
Mr. Barr is a meritorious actor, and was making many friends here; we
should regret to do him any injustice, but it would seem from a candid state-
ment of the facts, that he was endeavoring to take undue advantage of the
circumstances which had already involved the very gentlemanly managers of
the company in considerable trouble and expense. The conduct of Mr. Frye
would appear entirely unjustifiable.
Barr's card challenged the accuracy of the Monitors version: "It
does me injustice by placing me in a false light before the public
of Fort Scott." He insisted that he had "not only labored ardently
and faithfully to discharge all duties," but had even "played various
parts which were entirely uncalled for by the terms of my engage-
ment." He maintained that the management had violated the
contract and refused to pay the week's salary due: "My connection
with them is severed because I would lend no further aid to imposi-
tion upon the public, by placing pieces upon the stage without
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 39
proper rehearsals — which proceeding can only end, as has been
demonstrated on two or three occasions, in disgraceful perform-
ances."
Monday's play was repeated Tuesday and: "Notwithstanding
the difficulties under which the Company have labored, the ren-
dering of 'The Lady of Lyons' last night was excellent. . . . We
hope that the Company will not be disheartened by their many mis-
fortunes, but hope for better times in the future/' Theatre was
scarcely reported the remainder of the week, but on Saturday the
Monitor reporter responded to the Nationals' persistence: "It is
with much pleasure that we notice marked improvement in the
work of the theatre, and the presentation of a bill that we can hon-
estly commend." The names of plays thus approved were not given.
On Sunday, whether in the nature of a prod to the management, or
a reality accurately reported, the Monitor said: "It is rumored that
Miss Preston is to have a complimentary benefit. We hope that it
may be soon, and that the hall may be crowded/' 13
Belatedly, and justly, the sixth week of the National's run was
May Preston's. "Honey Moon" was Monday's play: "The manage-
ment have good reason to congratulate themselves upon the pos-
session of Miss Preston. Throughout their many troubles she has
never failed them, but alike in good and poor support, has filled
her varied parts to the best of her ability, and that ability is far
above the average." On the day this was written, Tuesday, Febru-
ary 22, the reporter announced, with regret, that this was the last
week of the National Theatre in Fort Scott. DeGroat returned to
his place on Wednesday, recovered from his illness, but Miss Pres-
ton was ill and absent for the first time: "The play last evening
showed powerfully the absence of its leading attraction — Miss Pres-
ton"— in "Under the Gaslight." In keeping with the irony of this
comedy of errors, the confirmation of the rumored benefit for Miss
Preston revealed the probable cause of her illness:
Since her debut, which was highly successful, she has surely and stead.ly won
her way in admiration and regard of all habitues of the theatre, until she has
come to be the reigning favorite. Untiring in her efforts to administer to the
amusement and entertainment of the public, she has nightly retired from the
stage to assume the equally arduous duties of the sick room, and that she has
been able to fill both duties so ably is as much a matter of surprise as of
credit.
On Friday, after two days of illness, the Monitor announced:
"Miss Preston, we are pleased to say, returns to the boards to-night,
13. Ibid., February 15, 16, 19, 20, 1870.
40 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
as 'Juliana* in the comedy of 'The Honey-Moon*. ... It will
contrast well with her tragic role at her benefit Saturday
night. . . ."
On Saturday morning the Monitor insisted: "Miss Preston has
recovered from her illness and will appear in full force as 'Juliet*
to-night." The play she had chosen for her benefit was Shake-
speare's "Romeo and Juliet."
Although the Monitor did not make an issue of it, the probabili-
ties are that this was really the first presentation of a Shakespeare
play in Fort Scott. In any case the rarity of such an event focuses
attention upon the manner of local reaction:
Shakespeare's sublime tragedy, will be produced at the theatre to-night,
on the occasion of the benefit of Miss May Preston. Of the beauties of the
play, it is almost unnecessary to speak. Our readers are, most of them, as
well acquainted with it as school boys with their readers — but comparatively
few have had the pleasure of witnessing it upon the stage, and as it may
never be reproduced in this city, all should avail themselves of the opportunity.
We shall see Miss Preston depart from us with regret, and have willingly given
a large part of our space for the past few days in calling the attention of the
public to the last tribute they can pay to her worth.
The next morning, February 27, the Daily Monitor reported:
An extremely crowded house at the theatre last night betokened that Miss
Preston has made many friends in her short stay amongst us, and that her
absence will not be unregretted. — Despite the drawbacks which attend Shake-
speare's dramas upon any stage, and more particularly upon the provincial
one, the play passed off easily and with sustained interest. Many parts of
Miss Preston's acting were excellent— her tableau work was faultless, and the
"potion scene" — one of the most difficult — was charmingly rendered. [Thomp-
son, as Romeo, received only passing comment, but the nurse,] rarely well
played, redounds more to Miss Stowe's credit than any representation she
has yet given us.14
The next in the closing round of benefit performances was one for
Miss Blande, Monday, February 28. She appeared as "Claude, the
love-lorn hero" in "Claude Melnotte," a burlesque on the "Lady of
Lyons." The Sunday Monitor explained the situation thus:
The roles in which she has been obliged to appear have been of a different
character from those in which she has been accustomed to, and almost entirely
foreign to the department of dramatic representation in which she has been
schooled. For this reason she has not always appeared to that advantage
which her merit should ensure her. The play selected for her benefit, however,
is one of the class to which she is adapted both by nature and training, and
one in which she is entirely at home.
In spite of the careful build-up, however, the Blande performance
was a disappointment: "The fault lay not with Miss Blande" ac-
14. Ibid., February 22, 24-27, 1870.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 41
cording to the drama critic — "that Miss Blande carried herself
through as well is more to her credit than success under other
circumstances."
Three more performances by the company were scheduled. On
Tuesday "Under the Gaslight" was pronounced good, and was to
have been repeated on Wednesday, but Miss Preston was again too
ill to appear, and, that the show might go on, farces were substi-
tuted. On Thursday, the closing night of the season for the Na-
tionals in Fort Scott, Barr returned to the company and to his
former position of leading man, the event being celebrated by a
benefit performance for him — the play, "Under the Gaslight/* The
attendance was not large for a farewell occasion, but there was
unusual competition, and "The play . . . did not go off with
the same spirit as on Tuesday evening, the zest with which it was
rendered previously not seeming to animate scarcely one of the
performers." In spite of this reservation about the success of the
evening, the critic continued that: "The re-union of Mr. Barr with
the company adds very greatly to its character and force, furnishing
just what the company has lacked since he left it." Of course, Miss
Preston played "despite her indisposition" and her recovery seemed
assured so that she could "give her almost indispensable support
to the company ... an artiste and true woman." Miss Blande
was credited with "a more favorable impression . . . than al-
most any character she has previously undertaken."
On Friday, March 4, the Nationals went on tour, playing "Lady
of Lyons" in Kansas City on Saturday. The chapter was not quite
closed at Fort Scott, however, as announcement had been made
Sunday, February 27, that:
On Friday evening, a select grand masquerade and fancy dress ball will
take place at McDonald's Hall, for the benefit of the National Theatrical Com-
pany. The gentlemanly proprietors of the theatre have suffered considerable
pecuniary loss in favoring our city with the first respectable dramatic enter-
tainment we have had, and on this occasion our citizens should show their
gratitude for their labors by making at least partial restitution of their pecuni-
ary losses.
Mr. Bancroft remained behind to represent the Nationals at the
ball on Friday night. The next day the Monitor reported that the
receipts were "quite gratifying." 15
The major competition with which the Nationals had to contend
on their closing night in Fort Scott was a special excursion train
carrying the Fort Scott delegation to "The Grand Celebration" of
the coming of the Gulf railroad to Girard, the county seat of the
15. Ibid., February 27, March 1-5, 1870.
42 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
county adjoining Bourbon on the south. Fort Scott had been the
"end of the line" only about ten weeks. The coming of the rail-
road to Fort Scott had really brought the Nationals to the city, so
the celebration of its extension, competing with their closing show,
was a part of the "price of progress," which so often was two-edged.
But as the Monitor pointed out, such railroad celebrations "are com-
ing to be of almost weekly occurrence in Kansas. Towns in the
interior are being connected with the balance of the world with
such rapidity that we can scarcely keep tract of them." 16
Although technically Fort Scott had now lost its position on the
Gulf railroad as a dead-end town, nevertheless it and other towns
on the road remained substantially in that condition so long as their
one railroad ran no where in particular and had no connections
with other roads at its southern end. Not until at least a second
railroad came, and only when rails ran through Fort Scott to large
towns to the south, to the east, and to the west could traveling
troupes work out itineraries for continuous tours; going out on
one line and returning to home base on another. Prior to the
winter of 1875-1876 not much of that was possible.
III. THE SPRING INTERLUDE WITHOUT THEATRE, 1870
"The departure of the theatre has left our amusement seekers at
a loss," complained the Monitor, March 6, 1870. "Some lectures
from men of acknowledged eminence, would fill the gaps." A vol-
unteer theatrical troupe was attempted under General Darr, who
was like an old fire horse who responded to every alarm. The per-
formance was reported poorly attended, 26 tickets including
comps.17 A month later, with an ironical enthusiasm, the Monitor
reviewed the prospects:
Fort Scott just now has a varied and liberal variety in her amusement line.
The "Opera House" presents its peculiar attractions nightly; the Wizard Oil
[patent medicine] men hold forth daily and nightly at the street corners — and
their performances are by no means the least pleasing of the catalogue; the
Stereopticon is setting the children wild with delight at McDonald Hall; Or-
ton's Circus pitch their pavilion here on Friday; the Nationals will revisit us
next week, and we shall have the fascinating and eloquent Olive Logan with
her "Girls" on the 25th.«
The so-called "Opera House" received some unwelcome publicity,
which nevertheless possesses historical importance as revealing
aspects of competition in the amusement field and sidelights on
the social scene: "Behind the scenes of the Opera House is a
16. Ibid., March 3, 1870.
17. Ibid., March 6, 13, 16, 1870.
18. Ibid., April 21, 1870.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 43
little apartment called the wine-room, where some of the privileged
do nightly congregate, for a glass of wine and a closer acquaintance
with the ballet dancers/* This setting introduced the story of a
man who visited the wine room drunk and woke up the next morn-
ing at home minus $150. The aid of the police was solicited, a
trap laid, and one of the "frail sisters" caught, and the unspent half
of the money restored. Immediately the proprietor of the Opera
House replied by "card*' denying that the incident occurred in the
wine room, but in the supper room of another establishment, the
Magnolia. Furthermore, an entirely different version of the story
was told, alleging that the money was given expressly for the pur-
chase of a watch, the donor "being smitten," and that he admired
the watch after the purchase. Only two or three days afterwards,
they charged, did he, coward like, invent the story about losing the
money, and obtained the co-operation of the police. The card
closed with a defense of the "Opera House," good order being kept
in every department and the place kept "'respectable* in every
sense of the word." But unsavory tales continued to be associated
with the institution: "A young farmer from the country sold grain
yesterday for a handsome roll of bills; celebrated the 15th amend-
ment; went to the Opera House, and came out delighted; visited
the keno rooms, — and borrowed fifty cents for his night's lodging.
Sic transit gloria!" 19
The year 1870, the first under the railroad regime, introduced
intense competition among hotels, saloons, billiard halls, and as-
sociated amusement facilities for entertaining the influx of traveling
population as well as residents. Gunn's Domino Billiard Hall and
Saloon was rearranged, and the Crystal Palace imported a new
steward. The new hotel, the Gulf House, was opened to challenge
the Wilder House. General Darr, wholesale liquors, with new
business connections in Kansas City, was one of the proprietors of
the Wilder House, and its Saloon and Billiard Hall. He was sure
that with his new Kansas City connections "the 'receipts' will be
'swelled* enormously." The phrase "swell the receipts" had become
a byword in Fort Scott and was peculiarly identified with General
Darr, who supposedly, after each new guest had registered, sug-
gested: "Let's go to the bar and swell the receipts/'20
Only a few fragments of biographical data have been available
about Darr. The federal census enumeration of Fort Scott listed
him as Joseph Darr, Jr., 40 years of age, single, born in Ohio of
19. Ibid., March 5, 6, 10, 1870.
20. Memoirs and Recollections of C. W. Goodlander of the Early Days of Fort Scott
(Fort Scott, 1900) p. 77.
44 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
foreign-born parents. He had a younger brother, George, 17 years
of age, associated with him in the hotel as clerk. In 1867 Darr
opened a music store in Leavenworth.21 Nobody appeared to
question his right to use the title of "General," or to explain how he
acquired such rank. No information was forthcoming either, about
how he became a "veteran" theatrical manager. In pioneer com-
munities it was sometimes best not to be too inquisitive about ori-
gins. In the case of Joseph Darr, his character was being gradually
exposed to public view.
General Darr was determined to meet all competition in the
spring of 1870, so "The Wilder House is undergoing a general puri-
fication by soap and water, paint, whitewash and new wall paper."
Also, "The 'Delmonico' billiard hall is being repainted, newly
papered, and generally burnished up for the summer campaign." 22
Another sign of spring was the dog notice announcing that after
May 15 "all dogs found running at large" on which taxes had not
been paid would be dealt with according to law. General Darr
had a sense of humor comparable to that of the editor of the
Monitor. He did not mix kittens with dogs, but the day following
the city dog notice he did inaugurate the "Dog Lunch": "Gen. Darr
yesterday regaled the habitues of the Wilder with a lunch of splen-
did, highly flavored Bologna sausage. The General calls it 'Dog
Lunch/ and says it will be served regularly, every day at 10 A. M.
All are invited." That was only one of his innovations. The next
item on the list: "Darr's elegant piano in the Delmonico is being
nightly punished by ambitious amateurs: it draws a big crowd."
But that was only a by-product. An announcement headed: "Darr's
Opera House" was explained in some detail:
General Darr is introducing some very seductive attractions at the Delmon-
ico. A splendid piano, presided over by a first-class musician, is now operated
daily and nightly, and a splendid violinist will soon be added. The General
also informs us that he has engaged the professional services of a leading
prima donna of one of the Eastern Opera troupes, who will shortly make her
debut in Fort Scott. These attractions together with the "Dog Lunch," the
General thinks will "swell the receipts" enormously.23
Entertainment and improvement of young men had been the
principal argument used in the library association discussions, but
the Monitor reading room descriptions had credited George A.
Crawford, the owner of the Monitor, with interest in provision for
women as well. A Monitor editorial, November 24, 1869, on the
21. Leavenworth Daily Times, August 25, 1867; Leavenworth Daily Conservative,
August 21, 27, September 5, 1867.
22. Daily Monitor, April 12, 13, 17, 22-24, 29, 1870.
23. Ibid., April 29, May 5-7, 1870.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 45
theme of "Long Evenings" asked what could and should be done
with the long evenings between supper and bedtime; gambling,
drinking, etc.? What else was there to do for those without homes
and family associations? When saloons, gambling houses, dance
halls, etc., were the only recreation available, the fair sex should
not be intolerant if young men pursued their pleasures there. An
examination of the manuscript census rolls for 1870 and 1875 is a
vivid reminder of how many young men and women lived in Fort
Scott without the family associations of a home.
It was only natural however that some should resent too much
emphasis upon the wickedness of Fort Scott ( a city with the repu-
tation of more saloons than any other type of business ) , and among
them was the editor of the Monitor, February 3, 1870: "Our city
has acquired the reputation abroad of being a Tiard town/ and ex-
pressions of like import are not infrequent even at home." But he
insisted that this reputation was both undeserved and undesirable;
especially if Fort Scott was compared with towns along the Union
Pacific and Kansas Pacific railroads: "Our town is undoubtedly
quite bad enough, and there is abundant room for moral improve-
ment, but that we are such a cess pool of iniquity as is often repre-
sented is not at all true."
In the spring of 1870 the Methodist women took up the challenge
about entertainment. They acted in the matter by dividing them-
selves into four bands, each of which took turns in providing a
week's amusement for young people.24 The record of activities is
lacking, and there is reason for the assumption, that, like most such
enterprises, the plan withered for lack of continued support.
In May, after showing in Kansas City, Leavenworth, Topeka, and
elsewhere, and undergoing major reorganization, the National The-
atre returned: "Fort Scott has an almost paternal interest in the
'Nationals/ and will give them a warm welcome home."25 This
was a perspective quite different from the pretentious advertisement
of January and much more realistic. The only remaining member
of the former cast to register upon the Monitor editor was Miss
Stowe, whose finished performances were in sharp contrast with
her "stammering beginnings" of the previous January. Misses
Preston and Blande were no longer with the company, but instead,
the leading lady was Nellie Boyd, a newcomer who did not make a
marked impression upon the theatrical editor. He did not realize
that Nellie Boyd was soon to rise to an enviable stardom, heading
24. Ibid., Aprtt 8, 1870.
25. Ibid., April 27, 1870.
46 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
a company of her own, one of the leading traveling troupes to en-
tertain Midwestern audiences for more than a decade. After a few
performances, the ubiquitous General Darr helping out on occasion,
the National Theatre moved on.26 About a month later the Wil-
liam A. Rouse Dramatic combination made history of a sort, when
on June 1, for the first time in Fort Scott, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was
presented.27
On June 15, the Daily Monitor chronicled the "closing of the
Opera House." — "The exhibitions have not been of a very exalted
moral tone, and since the novelty of the affair wore off, it has not
been so well patronized, and has lately entirely lost favor with our
citizens. Its sudden demise provokes no mourning." Four days
later the editor lamented: "Mr. and Mrs. Couldock will play in
Leavenworth this week. We hope they will come to Fort Scott. A
meritorious dramatic entertainment in this city would be really re-
freshing."
IV. THE OLYMPIC THEATRE, 1870-1871
Preparations for the winter amusement season were announced
in August, 1870. General Darr had returned after a prolonged
absence looking like he had been "swelling the receipts." As re-
lated to the theatre, the Monitor, August 24, announced that "Fort
Scott's genial favorite, Gen. Darr," would manage "a full theatrical
company," which would open the season at McDonald's Hall about
September 1: "The General is not slow in the histrionic line, him-
self. . . ." The enterprise assumed the name "Olympic Theatre."
McDonald Hall underwent another remodeling; further ventilation,
a new stage door, changes in the main entrance, and redecoration.
Also, "With regard to the theatrical enterprise, no effort will be
spared to furnish a company equal to any in the West, and induce-
ments will be held out to the most prominent stars to favor us with
their delineations." The costs of the preparations were being fi-
nanced by the owner of the hall and General Darr: "A city without
public amusements is most forlorn, and only by aiding the proprie-
tors of the enterprise can we hope to retain it." 28 This description
indicated clearly the nature of the institution contemplated; a resi-
dent company (often called a stock company) which could func-
tion as a "full company" staging plays in its own right, or provide
the support for traveling stars. This was the sort of thing that
Leavenworth had attempted during the early 1860's, but had aban-
26. Ibid., April 27, 28, May 5, 7, 1870.
27. Ibid., June 1, 1870.
28. Ibid., August 30, 31, 1870.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 47
doned after 1867. The experiences of the coming season would
determine whether or not Fort Scott could succeed, or await the
circumstances that might afford the city entertainment by the newer
type of traveling theatre.
The first contingent of players arrived August 30: Annie Jamison,
leading lady, Annie Ward, "soubrette, dauseuse, and cantatrice,"
Thompson and Russell, formerly of the Nationals, and some others.
O. H. Barr joined the group on September 3, and from time to time
additional players were announced. Apparently, performances
began as scheduled, but the names of the plays were not featured,
and only fair houses were reported. The troupe was taken to Ne-
vada, Mo., about mid-September for three days. Although opti-
mistic notices appeared in the Monitor about the support given the
theatre during September, reality caught up with the reporter and,
October 4, the public announcement was made that it would be
closed temporarily.29
Before the Olympic Theatre reopened something new had oc-
curred in the offices of the Monitor, announced September 29, 1870:
"Capt. E. F. Ware, of Cherokee County, takes charge temporarily
of our local columns." Prior to this time Ware had divided his year,
summers and winters, between his farm and the Fort Scott harness
business. Upon coming to town for the winter on this occasion, he
undertook editorial work. Just how long his temporary tenure
lasted is not clear, but probably until the end of the year, when the
owner of the Monitor, George A. Crawford, obtained the services
of D. W. Wilder to take over the managing editorship, January 1,
1871. During his short term as locals editor, Ware was supposedly
responsible for what appeared on the city page. In due course,
however, some questions on this score do arise.
A "new edition" of the Olympic Theatre was announced in the
Daily Monitor, October 19, to open October 24, "a new company
and change of scenery" which would entertain "with first class
dramatic art." Day by day the advertising campaign unfolded:
"General Darr is a man of energy, and we have no doubt that his
efforts will be crowned with success." The "news story" of October
23 opened with the hackneyed but realistic statement of fact, ap-
plicable probably to most people concerned: "The Winter season
now approaching demands a succession of amusement festivities
to relieve the dreary monotony pervading an inland town. . . ."
In this particular instance the public was assured that "we know of
29. Ibid., September 3, 4, 6-8, 10, 11, 15-18, October 4, 1870.
48 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
no more formidable indication that 'fun will reign supreme* than
the announcement of the reopening of the Olympic Theatre and
Darr's Fort Scott Varieties/' both under General Darr's manage-
ment: "It would be superfluous to state that the company selected
for the ensuing season at the 'Olympic Hall' will rarely find its
equal in any first class Opera House outside New York."
The "Varieties" and the "Theatre" were separate investments; "the
'Varieties' will be conducted on first class principles" in the place
"lately occupied by Gunn's Domino" and
will be a favorite resort for the general convenience of those who attend light
amusements. Music, singing and dancing will comprise the bill of fare at
the latter place;
A lunch counter on the Eastern plan will be provided and meals can be
secured at all hours with little cost.
General Darr promises some great novelties in both of these public resorts,
and nothing will be tolerated in either that can offend the most fastidious.
The energy and enterprise of the Proprietor deserves a most suitable
acknowledgment in the way of greenbacks.
The announcement had significance to the competitive scene—
outwardly, at least Darr had won out over Gunn's Domino. Another
question is not clear, however, because the article had appeared
in the locals column in the form of a locals editorial; who was re-
sponsible, the business manager or the locals editor? Was it a local
or an advertisement?
The Olympic Theatre did not open on schedule, October 24,
"owing to extensive preliminary arrangements," but supposedly
the varieties did: "The General is 'immense* on 'popular amuse-
ment.'" But in another editorial type of advertisement, printed
October 26, the statement was made that "General Darr proposes
to open an institution commonly termed as 'Varieties/ where Afri-
can Minstrels, Fun and Jollity predominate." The location was the
former Gunn Domino premises, "nearly opposite the Wilder House,
and will begin its season in a few days ... it caters only to
enjoyment without vulgarity. If the performances will be as repre-
sented, and the promises held out fulfilled, there is every reason for
congratulations. . . ." This carried the advertisement tag "Oct
26dlt."30
On October 27 the Monitor reported that "Gen'l Joseph Darr vis-
ited our office yesterday, in company with Mr. [M. V.] Lingam
. . . the Manager of the Olympic Theatre. ... If the the-
atre is conducted as promised by the General and Mr. Lingam, it
30. Ibid., October 25, 26. 1870.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 49
will be a favorite resort for our citizens." Again a definite date,
October 31, a Monday, was set for the opening of both the theatre
and the varieties, and the editorialized advertisement closed: "with
reference to both entertainments, we repeat the saying, *y°u pays
your money, and you takes your choice/" The Sunday Monitor,
October 30, recorded that: "Darr's Varieties were in full blast up
to a late hour last night." An item of the same Sunday urged that
ladies should patronize the Olympic Theatre performances, and
Tuesday morning's paper reported that many had been in attend-
ance. Although extravagant boasts were made about the quality
of the players, the best troupe that had ever been in the city, those
named were Lingham, the new manager, and some members of
the former cast, George Beach, D. K. Russell, and Annie Ward. No
leading lady was listed.31
If there is any relevance to the question of authorship of what
appeared in the locals columns of the Monitor during these weeks,
who wrote this (carrying the tag "Nov 4 dlt" for Friday morning's
Monitor, November 4 ) , and why? —
The proprietor of the "Olympic Theatre" is at a loss to know in what fit-
ting terms to express his most intense gratification at the very liberal and enor-
mous patronage extended to his managerial enterprise by the overflowing
houses of this week, which enables him to add to the debit side of his Ledger
over $500. A farewell performance will be given for the benefit of Gen.
Darr on this Friday evening. When, if the attendance is as liberal as here-
tofore experienced, he will probably leave the city in debt and enabled to
effect his long cherished desire of selling another corner lot for the benefit of
this "one horse village."
The following day two announcements were made. First, that
the proceeds of the theatre for Wednesday night, November 9,
would go to the Catholic church building fund under the direction
of General Blair and Dr. Hays. The second announcement was
that there would be four more performances, ending Wednesday,
when the troupe would go on tour of neighboring cities: Paola,
Lawrence, Topeka, Sedalia, etc. Instead of closing Wednesday,
however, performances continued through the week.
On November 11 the announcement was made that Annie Tiffany
had been secured for an engagement of six days, November 14-19; a
"leading lady" who would be supported by the resident members
of the Olympic Theatre. Thus the star system was introduced in
Fort Scott. Plays in which Miss Tiffany specialized were being
rehearsed over the week-end — "The Hidden Hand," "The Little
31. Ibid., October 27, 28, 30, November 1, 4, 1870. Lingham was the spelling of
the manager's name used later.
4—1958
50 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Treasure," 'The Lady of Lyons," "Camille?" etc. Then Miss Tiffany
stayed on a second week playing "The Honey Moon," "East Lynn,"
"Othello," and "The Stranger," translated from the German of
Kotzebue. Of "East Lynn," the theatre critic of the Monitor re-
ported:
It was played with much ability — too much in fact. There is no use in
putting a whole audience in tears; an actor ought to play kind of easy when
he sees the eyes of the audience getting humid; at least when he sees a
prominent citizen stepping down for his handkerchief with his eyes shut, he
ought to "weaken" on the pathos; still it is impossible to find fault, for the
play was splendid. . . .
In "Othello," Lingham played Othello, D. K. Russell was lago,
and Miss Tiffany did Desdemona to Edwin Tiffany's Cassio. The
Monitor made no comment on the play itself or on Shakespeare:
"The Hall was so crowded last night that all of the audience could
not be seated. The play last night was very fine . . . [and]
was fully appreciated." The surprise of this performance appar-
ently was the acting of D. K. Russell, the troupe's funny man. The
impression persisted, because at a later time the theatre critic re-
verted to the occasion by remarking that: "He surprised us all by
his delineation of lago a week ago." 32
The year 1870 was the occasion of the Franco-Prussian war, the
fall of the Second Empire, and the attempt to establish a French
Republic. Frenchmen and sympathizers had met in the Monitor
reading room and the office of the town company in October to
pass resolutions and raise money; "As France loaned us a Lafayette
when we were trying to start a republic, we ought to return the
favor now." The French feeling at the theatre was strong enough
that late in November, the report was made that the orchestra
"plays the 'Marsaillaise* every evening, and it is always received
with uproarious applause. It is the song of a Republic and belongs
as much to us as anybody, and the Americans have adopted it." 33
A new leading lady, Alice Gray, was engaged to open in the play
for Monday, November 28 — Wilkie Collins* "Man and Wife," as
dramatized by W. W. Austin. The house was reported crowded:
"The ladies turned out en masse." The same play was repeated
Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday morning the Monitor ad-
monished: "This play is fearfully tragic, and all those who come
ought to bring two or three extra handkerchiefs." But the theatre
critic had some ideas of his own: "The death of Delmaine strikes
32. Ibid., November 11-14, 19, 20, 22-24, 26, December 2, 1870.
33. Ibid., October 29, November 1, 24, 1870.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 51
us as not being poetically just." The suggestion was offered that
he should be disposed of suddenly.
The next production was "Ingomar," originally a German play.
Whether or not the orchestra played the "Marsaillaise" was not
recorded. The theatre critic was enthusiastic: "Last night Fort
Scott had the best theatrical entertainment that it has ever had."
He insisted that people who were familiar with the play had never
seen it better done in the East: "We do not propose to praise
theatrical efforts unless they are meritorious, but will say that the
performance last night was GOOD." On Friday night "The Hunch-
back," and on Saturday night "The Marble Heart" were the offer-
ings as benefits for Miss Gray and Lingham, respectively, and the
"season" ended. In retrospect the theatre critic "bid farewell to the
talented Miss Gray with the hope that she will not confine her
dramatic reputation to the performance of such stupid disagree-
able pieces as 'Man and Wife/" His only adverse criticism was
that Miss Gray was "too lachrymose," and Miss Tiffany "too fear-
fully gushing for Southern Kansas." 34
General Darr took his Olympic Theatre on a three-week tour of
the cities at the opposite end of the Gulf railroad. As the Leaven-
worth performances are most fully documented they may be used
as a mirror of General Darr in that setting; first a two-night engage-
ment, December 6, 7, and later a full week's run December 12-17.
All the advertising was in the name of the star, Annie Tiffany — "The
Tiffany Troupe." The press notices were reprinted from Eastern
newspapers; for example from Memphis, and were in praise of
Annie Tiffany, without a reference to General Darr and "The Olym-
pic Theatre" of Fort Scott. Scarcely was General Darr's name to
be found in connection with the Leavenworth engagements, and
then only casually as the manager — it was Tiffany's show, for pub-
licity purposes the "property" of the star.33 That was pretty much
the way the star system worked. Upon leaving Topeka the Com-
monwealth, December 23, indicated the troupe's itinerary: Law-
rence, Fort Scott, Sedalia, St. Joseph, and other Missouri towns, and
then back to Topeka for the session of the state legislature. In
neither place was the name of the Olympic Theatre used, and
neither was Fort Scott credited with being the base of General
Darr's company.
34. Ibid., November 26, 29, 30, December 2-4, 1870.
35. Leavenworth Dotty Commercial, December 1-4, 6-8, 10 13-17, 1870.
In Topeka the Darr troupe played five days, December 19-23 (Monday through Fri-
day). Miss Tiffany dominated the publicity but General Darr's name was used in a sec-
ondary role — 'genial whole souled gentleman." — Topeka Daily Commonwealth, December
16, 17, 20-23, 1870.
52 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
On home ground, things were a little different. The Olympic
Theatre returned to Fort Scott for a short engagement, beginning
Saturday, December 24, Christmas Eve: "The company, as at
present organized, is the best that has ever played in the city.
. . ." The stars were "The dashing and versatile Miss Tiffany,
the refined and lady-like Miss Boyd, the lively and graceful Miss
Ward, and the masterly and accomplished Mr. Lingham." The
people were admonished to show their appreciation of General
Darr. The opening play for December 24 was "Delicate Ground,
or the French Republic." In the personals appeared the following:
"Gen. Darr, that man who knows, and is known by everybody,
called on us yesterday. We are glad to learn from the General's
own lips that he has 'accumulated great wealth* from the north,
since he showed his smiling face at our sanctum; and that he has
come home for the benefit of Fort Scott."
Miss Tiffany's last night with the Olympic Theatre was December
30, when the hall was reported crowded — "our citizens turned out
to 'swell the receipts/ " On January 7, 1871, the Olympic Theatre
closed in Fort Scott, a benefit for Mr. Lingham: "The management
had reason, for one night at least, of the holiday season, to be
grateful to the Fort Scott public." But adverse comment was
added: "His support was not altogether of a character that would
call forth unqualified praise; the prompting was altogether too
plentiful, and the halting and stammering of a portion of the char-
acters absolutely painful in some of the scenes." These factors,
no doubt, helped to explain the final statement: "We regret that
financially our energetic and jovial friend, Darr, has not been suc-
cessful during his present stay among us. . . ." 36
But the cup of woe for Joseph Darr, Jr., was not yet full. The
Wilder House Hotel and the Wilder House Saloon were sold, the
dissolution of partnership notice being dated January 3, 1871. Be-
sides Darr's varieties, there was one other house of entertainment
that had been mentioned occasionally, but March 7, 1871, the
Monitor commented bluntly its pleasure that the varieties was
closed, the Alhambra had died a few weeks earlier. Now there was
no place of "amusement" in Fort Scott. Of course he was using the
word "amusement" in a special sense. The editor stated frankly
that he had opposed such "dens" and had refused them advertising
in the Monitor. This was a new voice speaking in behalf of the
paper — D. W. Wilder had taken the editorship, January 1, 1871.37
36. Daily Monitor, December 22-29, 31, 1870, January 1, 3-8, 1871.
37. Ibid., December 3, 8, 20, 23, 31, 1870, January 1, 4, March 7, 1871.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 53
Although George A. Crawford was owner of the Monitor, he was
not a newspaper man, and he had too many other interests to run
the paper himself. Ware was filling in temporarily in a secondary
position. The record is not clear as to who was responsible for
the policy details of the paper, or how far Ware was accountable
for what appeared on the locals page. In any case, the record was
unsatisfactory, and Wilder's explicit overhauling of the course of the
Monitor sets off that situation in sharp relief. Also, Wilder's as-
sertion about the exclusion of certain types of advertising is import-
ant to the historian, because it is a candid reminder that, as a matter
of voluntary censorship, he was excluding from the newspaper the
record of an unsavory segment of the town's social history.
Not only had General Darr been closed out at Fort Scott, but
elsewhere his credit had run out. The Olympic Theatre was re-
ported as playing in Humboldt. It was advertised to open in
Wyandotte, Friday, February 3, and in Leavenworth, Monday,
February 6, but did not appear at Leavenworth. The Times re-
ported: "A despatch from Wyandotte informs us that they are 'up
in a balloon/ We hope, if the balloon passes over this city, the
agent will drop the small sum of fifteen dollars due this office for
printing." But a week earlier a report was in circulation that Darr
had already left the theatrical business, and was operating the
Baldwin House at Thayer, the terminus of the Leavenworth, Law-
rence, and Galveston Railroad.38 The Lawrence Tribune, February
11, elaborated upon General Darr's career, opening its editorial
with a comment that the Fort Scott papers were no longer praising
him "to the sky." —
Since his retirement, from one place and another, and in one way and another,
we have heard a great deal of Gen. Darr, and what we have heard, instead of
altering to his advantage the poor opinion we had of him, has, on the other
hand, confirmed this opinion and made it poorer still. Just before breaking
up, Darr contracted debts in several newspaper offices, which now remain
unpaid. We heard, some time ago, that he was in debt to every one of the
actors he had employed. . . . [Russell confirmed this.] Our own trans-
actions with the gentleman were of such a nature as to cause us to lose all
respect for him.
We are not surprised that Darr has left the dramatic business, or rather
that the business left him. ... He had the best troupe that ever came to
town. They are now scattered all over the country. . . .
One might say that doing of "facetious Joseph" became legendary
in Kansas. A year later the Leavenworth Times, February 1, re-
38. Ibid., January 17, 1871; Leavenworth Daily Bulletin, January 31, 1871; Lawrence
Daily Kansas Tribune, January 31, 1871; Wyandotte Gazette, February 2, 1871; Topeka
Daily Commonwealth, February 1, 1871; Leavenworth Daily Commercial, February o, 7,
1871; Leavenworth Daily Times, February 7, 1871.
54 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
printed "for the edification of the General's numerous friends" a
letter he wrote to one of his creditors in Ottawa:
My Dear Hayes: — I have several times instructed my clerk (as I am away
very often) to remit the amount of your bill, but since it has been so shame-
fully neglected, I begin to think of several reasons why it should
NOT BE PAID AT ALL.
FmsT. The property was shipped by you solely for my accommodation.
SECOND. You made no profit on the articles, but cleverly run yourself in
debt to others for them on my account.
THIRD. You are now properly mad because of the neglect of repayment;
but you are as mad as you ever can be, and you
CAN'T BE ANY MADDER.
FOURTH. It seems to be an unfortunate characteristic of mine to tax the
patience of my friends in many matters far beyond endurance. I know of a
taylor who has consumed dollars of postage stamps in earnestly calling my
attention to an unpaid account; a dry goods merchant who weekly sheds
bottles of ink mixed with tears in refreshing my recollection about an
OPERA CLOAK
and sundry and divers articles of female apparel, for which he has not to
this day been reimbursed; and several mournful hotel keepers who long to
obtain a sight of my fractional currency or legal tender for meals furnished
and lodging given to my late disbanded
THEATRICAL CORPS
and multitudinous others who weep over my pecuniary frailties.
If you ever read Dickens' "Bleak House," you will no doubt remember my
prototype "Horace Skimpole," who luxurated owing others, and to whom im-
possibility to pay his debts was a joy forever.
FIFTH. If I were now to pay you, my name would be obliterated from
your books. Your clerk in glancing over the alphabetical index of his ledger
would fail to take any
INTEREST IN MY NAME
among the D's, including the D. B.'s and the D. H.'s, and I myself should be
wiped away, perhaps, forever from your recollection, unless at some future
time my portly form should loom up, and your lips would utter the euphonious
exclamation, "There goes the
DARNED RASCAL!
SIXTH. Our poorly paid Congressional legislators have very wisely placed
it in the power of every so-disposed scoundrel to entrench himself behind the
complacent bankrupt law, where he can smile upon his soft or otherwise
hearted creditors and be returned by a legal tribunal as "non comatibus in
swampo," in which order of society I long to enroll myself a member of high
standing.
SEVENTH. You may
POSSIBLY NEED THE MONEY,
and this would, in the nature of things, add to my placidity of temper while
it would correspondingly exasperate yours.
EIGHTH. Your politeness in all this matter, deserves a decided rebuke, and
therefore I take great pleasure in enclosing the amount, and hope to drink a
bottle of fine Rhine wine with you on the result.
EARLY THEATRE AT FORT SCOTT 55
V. THEATRE, RAILROADS, AND KANSAS CITY EXCURSIONS
About the same time, 1870-1872, the ambitions of Kansas City,
Mo., were tested out in new directions, based upon her rapidly
developing rail net radiating to all points of the compass. Some
of her leaders were thinking of their town as more than a city.
They envisioned a metropolitan area, with the city as a focus. In
this perspective Kansas City was reaching out to tie into her met-
ropolitan area as much territory as her railroad system made pos-
sible.39 Opera House excursions were organized over all roads
leading to Kansas City. Special package rates were offered, cover-
ing the round-trip ticket, omnibus fare between the railway station
and the Coates Opera House, supper, and tickets to the show. In
November, 1870, the Fort Scott tickets cost $2.50 to see Alice Gray
in the "Long Strike" by Dion Boucicault. The following winter,
1871-1872, four excursions occurred: to hear Janauschek in "Mary
Stuart" for $3.00; Edwin Forrest in "Jack Cade" for $3.00; Lucille
Western in "Oliver Twist"; and the "irresistable Lotta" as Capt.
Charlotta and Lady Lorrogan, for $2.25 each. Train schedules
varied, but for example: on one occasion the train left Fort Scott
at 10:46 A. M., arriving in Kansas City at 4:00 P. M., and returning
left Kansas City at 12:00 midnight, arriving in Fort Scott at 6:25
A. M. Supposedly, Fort Scott contributed as many as 200 excur-
sionists on a trip.40
VI. THE RAILWAY NET AND TRAVELING THEATRE
Of course Fort Scott wanted entertainment closer home, some-
thing less strenuous and costly, and besides the city was ambitious.
In spite of the great drouth of 1873 and 1874 and the world-wide
panic and depression which, beginning in the fall of 1873, demor-
alized business for several years, the Davidson Opera House was
launched during the winter of 1873-1874, J. G. Haskell, architect.
It was finished and formally opened January 1, 1875. In order to
meet the competition, the old McDonald Hall, that had served for
so long, was again rejuvenated, law offices occupying the upper
floor.41 These were brave attempts but the times had not been
right for big shows to patronize Fort Scott.
• 3?' e,STethix£ abo,ut the Kansas City story is told in James C. Malm, Grassland His-
torical Studies: Natural Resources Utilization in a Background of Science and Technology,
nd me A'' 8y and Ge°Sraphy (Lawrence, 1950). See especially chapters 20-22
lg
, 1871'
I1- Ibid-> November 16, 1873, November 21, December 29, 1874, January 1, 3, 6,
56 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
In the meantime a few traveling companies showed in Fort Scott,
the year 1871-1872, the best being Louise Sylvester. In 1872-1873
the Renfrew Troupe disbanded in Fort Scott, although the Lord
Dramatic Company played to good houses for several nights, and
again the following winter.42 The Simons Comedy Troupe began
periodic visits to Fort Scott during the winter of 1873-1874. This
company was built around a man-and-wife team.43 By the mid
1870's, the railway net had matured sufficiently in southern Kansas
that the day of the small traveling theatre company had fully ar-
rived, there as elsewhere.
42. Ibid., December 8, 1871, November 22, 24, 26-28, 30, December 8, 1872, No-
vember 9, 11, 15, 1873.
43. Ibid., December 17, 21, 23, 27, 28, 1873; March 3, 4, 1874; June 6, 11, 12,
September 7, 8, 1875; January 19, 20, 1876.
An Army Hospital: From Horses to Helicopters —
Fort Riley, 1904-1957— Concluded
GEORGE E. OMER, JR.
VIII. WORLD WAR I HOSPITAL
THE second half century of army medical service at Fort Riley
began with solid constructive progress as a three-story lime-
stone wing was added on the south side of the post hospital in 1906.
A medical department stable was erected near the hospital in 1908.
Then in 1909 the final three-story south wing of the hospital was
completed. This completed the second permanent post hospital
begun in 1888. The isolation hospital was completed in 1910.
War Department General Order 191, September 13, 1907, changed
the designation of the Cavalry and Light Artillery School to the
Mounted Service School. But with the advent of 20th century
military terminology, the distinctive, descriptive, and professional
titles within the medical department were discontinued. Thus,
surgeons and hospital stewards were reduced to a common military
denominator and were addressed simply and drably by title of rank.
In 1909 Maj. Joseph H. Ford, medical corps, was post surgeon.
Seven years later Major Ford served as assistant division surgeon
under James D. Glennan during the punitive expedition into Mex-
ico. Capt. Henry L. Brown, medical corps, was also on the Fort
Riley hospital staff and later helped hunt Pancho Villa. Captain
Brown listed the Fort Riley command on the "Sick and Wounded
Report" of February, 1909, and included the Seventh cavalry, Tenth
cavalry, Sixth field artillery, detachment of farriers and horseshoers
school, detachment signal corps, detachment cooks and bakers'
school, detachment of hospital corps, and detachment of mounted
service school. In November, 1909, the troop strength of the post
averaged 2,267, with 99 hospital admissions during the month.
Lt. Col. William P. Kendall, medical corps, was post surgeon of
Fort Riley from 1910 through 1912. Kendall was born in Massa-
chusetts on September 10, 1858, and received his M. D. in 1882 from
Columbia University. Doctor Kendall retired on October 18, 1920,
with the rank of colonel. The first member of the medical reserve
corps to serve at Fort Riley was 1st Lt. Leonard P. Bell, medical
MAJ. GEORGE E. OMER, JR., MC, is chief of surgery, Irwin Army Hospital, Fort Riley.
(57)
58 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
reserve corps, when he reported in 1910. In January, 1911, the
Seventh cavalry left Fort Riley en route to the Philippine Islands
and Lt. Floyd Kramer, medical corps, accompanied the command.
The "Reports of Sick and Wounded" for 1912 included newborn
sons for proud fathers Capt. Addison D. Davis, medical corps, and
Lt. Frederick R. Burnside, medical corps.
In 1912 the chief of staff of the army was Maj. Gen. Leonard
Wood, who received his M. D. at Harvard University in 1886. The
adjutant general of the army was Maj. Gen. F. C. Ainsworth, who
received his M. D. at New York University in 1874. This remark-
able circumstance of two doctors-turned-soldiers and commanding
the army will not likely occur again. Meanwhile at Fort Riley, 2d
Lt. George S. Patton was "Master of the Sword" at the mounted
service school in 1913.
From 1913 until July, 1915, Col. Henry I. Raymond, medical
corps, was the Fort Riley post surgeon. Colonel Raymond, Maj.
William R. Eastman, medical corps, and Capt. James C. Magee,
medical corps, were members of a board of preliminary examina-
tion of applicants for appointment in the medical corps. In 1915
Colonel Raymond left Fort Riley to assume charge of the medical
supply depot at San Francisco.
Maj. Chandler P. Robbins, medical corps, reported to Fort Riley
in 1915 to be post surgeon. Doctor Robbins* entire medical staff
included Maj. George H. Crabtree, medical corps, Capt. Jacob M.
Coffin, medical corps, and Capt. Larry B. McAfee, medical corps.
Maj. C. T. Robbins was regimental surgeon for the Tenth cavalry
and went with the regiment to Mexico in 1916. Capt. L. B. McAfee
joined the cantonment hospital on the Mexican border in 1916 and
later became brigadier general and assistant surgeon general of the
army.
The only remaining medical officer at Fort Riley during the puni-
tive expedition into Mexico was Lt. John Hewitt, medical reserve
corps. For almost 12 months in 1916 and 1917, Doctor Hewitt was
post surgeon at Fort Riley. Almost all military personnel were off
with John J. Pershing chasing Francisco "Pancho" Villa, but Lieu-
tenant Hewitt soothed babies and treated wives. During this duty
tour the first elevator was installed in the post hospital. Maj. John
Hewitt, medical corps, retired in 1931 and died at the Fort Riley
post hospital on May 1, 1956.
World War I brought tremendous medical changes to Fort Riley.
The high for total medical activity in terms of personnel and organi-
zational activities was reached during that period.
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 59
The first new medical activity was the medical officers' training
camp. The training camp at Fort Riley existed longer than the
three other medical officers' training camps that were established,
beginning on June 1, 1917, and finally closing on February 4, 1919.
The site selected was northeast of the post hospital. There the
terrain rises gradually from the main road through the reservation
(K-18) up through Magazine canyon to the eminence of Wireless
hill. Near the eastern edge is One-Mile creek. In the southern
portion of the camp site were the medical officers' barracks, while
the quarters of the ambulance companies and field hospitals were
on the northern side. Headquarters of the training camp was first
established in cavalry headquarters, which was the first permanent
hospital on the post. As no barracks were completed, the artillery
guardhouse was temporarily assigned to the training camp for use
as quarters. A newspaper clipping of June 6, 1917, noted: "A num-
ber of the surgeons . . . have been put in the guardhouse" —
but only until their quarters were finished.
No allotment was made to prepare the barracks of the medical
officers' training camp for winter occupancy. The buildings were
built with partially cured lumber and the walls soon shrunk with
many visible cracks. As an expedient, permission was obtained to
haul scrap lumber left over from the construction of Camp Fun-
ston. Carpenters were recruited among the enlisted men and or-
ganized into a detachment and put to work lining the inside of the
buildings with the scrap lumber. The walls were first covered with
newspapers and tar paper, then wainscoted to the windows. This
kept the most severe winds out, if not pneumonia. The cantonment
occupied by the 13th and 20th cavalry regiments on main post was
turned over to the training camp in December, 1917. Again a con-
struction company of enlisted men was formed to remodel the
buildings. Stairways were built, stable stalls were floored, baths
and toilets installed, and a gun shed was converted into a mess hall.
The final quarters that were occupied by officers and enlisted men
had a capacity varying from 80 to 100 men for each barracks. It
would have to be an understatement to suggest that during the
severe winters of 1917-1918 and 1919 there was some discomfort
from the cold.
When the medical officers' training camp opened, the academic
staff consisted of the commandant, nine medical officers and two
enlisted men. The commandant was Lt. Col. William N. Bispham,
medical corps. Doctor Bispham was born in Virginia and received
his M. D. from the University of Maryland in 1897. He was an
60 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
enlisted man in the infantry and had been a contract surgeon for
two years before joining the regular army. Colonel Bispham re-
tired from the army in 1939.
The program of instruction for the training camp included field
classes with such subjects as map reading, professional subjects
like orthopedics, and combined military-medical problems such as
sanitary tactics in the field. Special schools for officers in ortho-
pedics and roentgenology were established in December, 1917. The
orthopedic classes were taught at the base hospital where a ward
was set aside for bone surgery cases. Another building was as-
signed for the orthopedic out-patient clinic and classroom. Approx-
imately 15 physicians graduated from the course each month. The
orthopedic course was taught by Maj. J. P. Lord, medical reserve
corps. A similar four-week course in roentgenology was taught by
Maj. Arial W. George, medical reserve corps. Other special classes
in military sanitation and epidemiology were taught by Maj. Charles
S. Williamson, medical reserve corps, and Maj. Daniel M. Shew-
brooks, medical corps. A basic general medical course was taught
to the enlisted men and was under the supervision of Maj. Henry
C. Pillsbury, medical corps.
The medical officers' training camp band was the first 50-piece
band to be organized within the army. At the special request of
the American Medical Association, the band was sent to Chicago
in June, 1918, to present special concerts at the annual meeting
of the association.
Evacuation hospital No. 1, the first evacuation hospital organized
in the United States, was formed at the training camp in 1917.
During the life of the camp 54 student companies were organized
and more than 4,500 officers and 25,470 enlisted men reported for
training. Some of the units that were organized included: Evacu-
ation hospitals 1, 7, 9-12, 15-17, 19-21; ambulance companies 27,
28, 36-41; base hospitals 70, 81-90; hospital trains 38, 39; corps
sanitary train 1; army sanitary train 1. In July, 1918, the medical
officers' training camp was partially consolidated with the training
camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
With the merger, Col. William N. Bispham, medical corps, was
transferred to Fort Oglethorpe. The new commandant of the train-
ing camp was Lt. Col. H. F. Pipes, medical corps. The consolida-
tion of training left the Fort Riley camp with responsibility for
training regimental detachments, ambulance companies, and field
hospitals. Courses of instruction continued, as here listed for
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 61
August, 1918, Order No. 39, Fort Riley MOTC; army regulations,
Maj. K. W. Kinard; field sanitation, Capt. A. G. Byers; system of
trenches, Lt. R. A. Hennessey; examination of field equipment,
Capt. E. H. Morgan; field regulations, Lt. Carl Davis; tent pitching,
Capt. H. C. Parsons; map reading, Capt. F. E. Ellison; mess man-
agement, Lt. H. I. Conn; and medical department in campaign,
Maj. H. C. Parker. Perhaps the courses listed do not fall under
any recognized medical professional specialty, but all the instruc-
tors noted in this paragraph were physicians on active duty in the
medical corps.
The other major medical organization at Fort Riley during World
War I was the base hospital. The base hospital was organized
September 27, 1917. To obtain the needed facilities as soon as pos-
sible, the artillery post was converted to medical buildings with
headquarters of the base hospital in Building 92, which is now
called Custer Hall and is the headquarters of the U. S. army ag-
gressor center. Six two-story gray limestone artillery barracks
fronting on the parade ground, were adapted to hospital purposes.
Around the southern portion of the artillery parade were eight brick
buildings utilized for the neurological section. Just east of the
permanent limestone buildings on the artillery parade were six
temporary wooden buildings used for genitourinary patients, and
one hundred yards on east were 12 semipermanent buildings utilized
for various contagious diseases.
Occupying the summit of the hill east of the contagious disease
section, a group of ten ward buildings was constructed and utilized
as the convalescent hospital. In the middle of this convalescent
group (Godfrey Court) the American Red Cross built a two-story
building for patients and their families. This is now the main of-
ficers' mess. The old post hospital was called section "K" and be-
came the surgical services with a group of semipermanent buildings
constructed to the north and east for additional cases. The isola-
tion hospital was used for the treatment of meningitis. More than
50 buildings were occupied by the base hospital during its lifetime
from September, 1917, until June, 1919.
The first commandant of the base hospital was Col. Douglas F.
Duval, medical corps. Doctor Duval was born in Maryland on
June 4, 1870, and received his M. D. from the University of Virginia
in 1894. Colonel Duval retired from the army in June, 1934. The
base hospital was commanded for the longest period of time by Col.
Edward R. Schreiner, medical corps. Doctor Schreiner was born
62 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in Pennsylvania on November 18, 1873, and received his M. D. from
the University of Pennsylvania in 1896. Colonel Schreiner entered
federal service as a contract surgeon, joined the regular medical
corps and commanded the cantonment hospital on the Mexican
border in 1916. He retired from the army in 1928.
The army nurse corps was established in 1901 by Surg. Gen.
George Miller Sternberg, a former Fort Riley post surgeon. But
army nurses were not assigned to Fort Riley until 1917. The first
chief nurse at Fort Riley was 1st Lt. Elizabeth Harding, army nurse
corps. A recent letter from Miss Harding describes the flavor of
World War I nursing at Fort Riley:
"I arrived at Fort Riley about the middle of October, 1917, in a snow
storm! I spent the coldest winter of my life and the hottest summer that I
can remember. Barracks were being converted into hospitals. At first it was
very primitive with no toilet or bath facilities except in the basement of the
buildings. Hot water and heat were scarce. The nurses were first quartered
in the various buildings on the parade ground but finally moved into
wooden cantonment type buildings and felt we were in a palace. In those
days there was a great deal more bedside nursing than I am inclined to think
is done now. Excellent nursing care was given and we rarely dropped below
one nurse to ten patients.
The uniform of the nurses was "not uniform" and there were very few
regular army nurses. As usual in large groups as were housed together at
Camp Funston, there were many epidemics. Many of the troops came from
the farms where they had never come in contact with contagious diseases.
The most serious outbreak was meningitis. The penicillin teams of World
War II reminded me of the teams doing spinal punctures and giving serum at
Fort Riley. Several years previously, Kansas had had a meningitis epidemic
due to human carriers, and research was completed under the direction of the
Rockefeller Foundation. A carrier was found among the nurses and one
night we cultured over three hundred to see if there were any others. At one
time we had over 800 cases of mumps, there was measles, smallpox, diph-
theria, and every conceivable contagious disease. Our surgical work was
light. In those days cars were few and far between, eliminating automobile
accidents. However, post-operative care was much longer than it is now.
I left Fort Riley in October of 1918, for duty in the Office of the Surgeon
General. The flu epidemic had just struck, and the day I left there were
over 5,000 patients. Barracks were opened at Camp Funston to accommodate
the sick. Several nurses died, I am not certain, but it seems to me at least
sixteen. The nurses who had been on duty at Fort Riley stood up very well,
but nurses who were rushed in for the emergency were hard hit, and arrived
sick. Oh, yes, it was not all work and no play. We had many parties, dances,
and picnics at Fort Riley in 1917-1918.
Lieutenant Colonel Harding was retired from the army and now
lives in New York City.
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 63
Statistical data indicates that the highest census of the Fort Riley
base hospital was in October, 1918, when there were 11,645 patients
in the hospital; the same month there were 958 deaths. In 1918
there were 122 assigned doctors and 297 nurses on duty at the hos-
pital, in addition there were 1,024 attached enlisted men. This was
a contrast to the outbreak of the war when the entire medical de-
partment of the army consisted of approximately 500 officers and
3,000 enlisted men.
A famous physician and cavalryman, Surgeon Leonard Wood,
served at Fort Riley during World War I but did not practice
medicine. He had won his Congressional Medal of Honor while
chasing Apaches with the Fourth cavalry. He became chief of
staff of the army after transferring to the line. As major general,
he trained more than 150,000 recruits at Camp Funston. He or-
ganized the 89th division and later the 10th division. Wood came
to Fort Riley on August 26, 1917, and stayed throughout the war.
He died in 1927 and was buried in the plot in Arlington cemetery
reserved for the "Rough Riders" regiment, which he raised and
commanded.
The position of post surgeon of Fort Riley was retained during
World War I, but referred only to the physician who was on the
staff of the commandant of the mounted service school. Maj.
Chandler P. Robbins, medical corps, returned from Mexico in 1917,
and a newspaper story of July 19, 1917, noted that Post Surgeon
Robbins had ordered that all workers of the Fuller Construction
Company be given typhoid shots. Later, the important medical
decisions for the entire reservation were made by the highest rank-
ing medical officer, first Colonel Duval and then Colonel Schreiner.
Maj. L. A. Clary, medical corps, followed Major Robbins in the
position of post surgeon from October 31, 1919, to February 6, 1920;
then Maj. John A. Martin, medical corps, filled the staff position
until October 30, 1920.
The mounted service school continued to function throughout the
war period. The department of hippology included the veterinary
hospital, the school for stable sergeants, and the school for horse-
shoers. The department of hippology had existed since 1902 with
civilian veterinarians and enlisted farriers as instructors. The vet-
erinary corps was established in 1916 and the first Fort Riley post
veterinarian was Capt. Daniel B. Leininger, veterinary corps, who
was senior instructor of the department of hippology in 1918.
64 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Doctor Leimnger was born in Pennsylvania in 1879 and received
his D. V. S. degree from Kansas City Veterinary College in 1906.
He was promoted to colonel in 1937 and retired in 1943.
In addition to the staff medical officer at the main post area, a
camp surgeon was maintained at Camp Funston. Funston had
accommodations for over 50,000 men, and 14 infirmaries were main-
tained as well as numerous regimental dispensaries. The first camp
surgeon was Maj. Fred W. O'Donnell, medical corps. Doctor
O'Donnell was born at Milton Malby, Ireland, in 1869. In 1888
he came to Kansas with his parents and in 1896 graduated from
medical school. He first practiced medicine in Bushton, but later
took a year's graduate work at Columbia University and then
opened his office in Junction City. Following his tour at Camp
Funston, he accompanied the 89th division overseas and served with
distinction. As a lieutenant colonel, O'Donnell returned to Kansas,
where he remained in private medical practice in Junction City
more than 60 years. In 1946, on the anniversary of his 50th year
in practice, Doctor O'Donnell was honored by the Fort Riley-Junc-
tion City community. Following his death on November 6, 1956,
his memory was perpetuated when a housing area on Morris Hill
at Fort Riley was named "O'Donnell Heights" on May 18, 1957.
The public health service assumed some responsibility for the
medical care of Fort Riley personnel when typhoid fever was re-
ported in Ogden on August 14, 1917. Col. Charles E. Banks, senior
surgeon arrived from Washington and met with Doctor Montgom-
ery, Riley county health officer, and Doctor Northrup, Geary county
health officer. A health zone or quarantine area was established
around Camp Funston and rigid sanitary inspections were main-
tained for drugs, food, and dairy products. Maj. L. G. Brown,
medical corps, 89th division surgeon, co-operated in the preventa-
tive medicine program by placing recruits in a large detention camp
for quarantine purposes. A newspaper clipping of December 22,
1917, noted that a new detention camp was being built north of
Junction City on Pawnee Flats with 500 tent houses for 5,000 men.
This is the site occupied by the World War II cantonment hospital.
Red Cross nurses assisted the public health officials and also
worked in the base hospital. The first Red Cross nurse at Fort Riley
was Ann Marie Hannon, who arrived August 18, 1918, and worked
several months before leaving the post with hospital train duty.
Nurse Hannon is now Mrs. Alan Eustace of Wakefield.
HOSPITALS AT FORT RILEY
Upper: Converted artillery barracks, part of the 3,000-bed World War I
base hospital, 1918.
Cenfer: Permanent hospital group, 1926, now post headquarters.
Lower: Camp Whitside, World War II cantonment hospital, 1953 (on K-18
opposite First Capitol building).
Operating room scene in cantonment hospital, 1957.
The new Irwin Army Hospital, dedicated February 7, 1958.
Daniel B. Leininger
(1879- )
First post veterinarian and senior instructor
in the department of hippology.
William N. Bispham
(1875-1945)
The first commanding officer of the medical
officers' training camp at Fort Riley.
Leonard Wood
(1860-1927)
A surgeon turned soldier who trained
the 89th and 10th divisions in World
War I.
Edward R. Schreiner
(1873- )
Post surgeon and one of the commanders
of the 3,000-bed base hospital in World
War I.
(Photos courtesy the National Archives, the Armed Forces Medical Library,
and the Photo Laboratory, Fort Riley.)
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 65
IX. PEACE-TIME ARMY
What is currently considered the "old-army" is the model that
existed between the two World Wars. The military establishment
compressed into a pattern of garrison duty, service schools, and
troop assignments. Camp Funston was amputated from Fort Riley
when the wooden barracks of the cantonment were sold for sal-
vage at public auction. But continuity of the post was assured
when the mounted service school was officially changed to the
cavalry school on September 19, 1919. The station medical service
returned to the pre-war hospital group north of Highway K-18,
with hospital headquarters in Building 108. The telephone direc-
tory for 1920 listed only three medical officers on the post in addi-
tion to the post surgeon, Maj. L. A. Clary, medical corps.
From 1921 until 1924 the post surgeon was Lt. Col. Llewellyn P.
Williamson, medical corps. The army surgeon general's report for
1905 stated that Asst. Surg. L. P. Williamson had reported an out-
break of beriberi among the Philippines at the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition. This is the only epidemic of this disease that has been
reported in the United States. A complement of five nurses was
assigned to the hospital, with 1st Lt. A. L. George, army nurse
corps, as the chief nurse. The chief of the hospital medical service
was Maj. Arthur D. Jackson, medical corps, who was born in
Argentina in 1873 and had received his M. D. from Northwestern
University in 1899. The chief of the hospital surgical service was
Maj. Douglas Miltz McEnery, medical corps, a native of Louisiana
who had entered service in 1911 after receiving his degree in medi-
cine from George Washington University.
During most of World War I the dental officers assigned to Fort
Riley were reserve officers on temporary active duty. The first
regular dental officer who functioned as post dental surgeon was
Maj. Arthur W. Holderness, dental corps. His son, A. W. Holder-
ness, Jr., was born at Fort Riley on October 28, 1920, and gradu-
ated from West Point in 1943. The post veterinarian was Robert J.
Foster, major, veterinary corps, a native of Ohio who had received
his D. V. M. degree from Cornell University in 1902.
Lt. Col. Alexander Murray, medical corps, was the Fort Riley
post surgeon from 1924 until 1927. Doctor Murray was born in
Virginia in 1874 and received his degree in medicine from Colum-
bian University, D. C., in 1902. Colonel Murray retired from the
army in 1938 but was recalled to active duty from 1940 to 1944. The
5— 1958
66 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
hospital staff included Maj. Charles C. Hillman, chief of medicine,
and Maj. Joseph Casper, chief of surgery. Hillman retired from the
army in 1947, a major general.
One of the more utilized areas of the Fort Riley reservation
is Pawnee Flats, the territory north of the Kansas river between
One-mile creek and Three-mile creek. This area included the
site of Pawnee where the first territorial legislature of Kansas
met. Camp Root was built on Pawnee Flats in 1902 for the first
army field maneuvers and field hospitals with ambulance companies
were utilized for the first time. The largest quarantine camp for
Camp Funston during World War I was built on the Flats. A
National Guard camp was built there in 1924 and named in honor
of Col. Warren W. Whitside, the post quartermaster. Camp Whit-
side was the site selected for the cantonment hospital of World
War II. The new Irwin Army Hospital has been built in the Camp
Whitside (Pawnee Flats) area. Perhaps it is appropriate that
medical activities should dominate Camp Whitside and Pawnee
Flats, since Colonel Whitside had previously worked with medics.
The army surgeon general's report for 1904 noted the appointment
of Capt. Warren Webster Whitside, 15th cavalry, as instructor in
equitation at the army medical school.
In 1926 2d Lt. Seth Overbaugh Craft was the first member of
the new medical administration corps to be assigned to Fort Riley.
Craft was born in New York state in 1900 and had been an enlisted
man in the medical department of the army from 1920 to 1925, prior
to his commission. Colonel Craft retired in 1955 from his position
as executive officer of Brooke Army Hospital.
Col. Jay W. Grissinger, medical corps, was the Fort Riley post
surgeon from 1927 until 1929. Doctor Grissinger received a M. D.
degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1898 and entered
active duty in 1902. He was awarded the Distinguished Service
Medal during World War I. The hospital staff included Maj.
Dean F. Winn, chief of surgery, and Maj. Paul Richard Eddins
Sheppard, chief of medicine. Winn retired in 1948, a brigadier
general. First Lt. Lulu M. Gerding, army nurse corps, was the
chief nurse. Post dental surgeon was Lt. Col. Frank P. Stone, den-
tal corps, a native of Missouri who had received a D. D. S. degree
from Washington University in St. Louis in 1900. Maj. Paul Ram-
sey Hawley, medical corps, was assigned to Fort Riley in 1927; he
retired as a major general in 1946, after awards including the
Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and Bronze Star
Medal.
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 67
From 1929 until 1931 the post surgeon of Fort Riley was Col.
Ernest L. Ruffner, medical corps. Doctor Ruffner was born in
Kansas in 1870 but went east to obtain his M. D. from the University
of Buffalo in 1894. During World War I he was awarded the Dis-
tinguished Service Medal. The post dental surgeon was Capt.
James Harvey Pence, dental corps, who had earned his D. D. S. at
Kansas City- Western Dental College in 1921. Maj. James B. Owen,
medical corps, was chief of medicine at the post hospital and Maj.
Robert Burns Hill, medical corps, was chief of surgery. Hill re-
tired as a brigadier general in 1950 with decorations including
Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, and Commendation Ribbon.
Col. Edgar William Miller, medical corps, was the Fort Riley
post surgeon from 1931 until 1936. A native of Iowa, Doctor Miller
earned his M. D. in 1899 from Creighton Medical College in Ne-
braska. Colonel Miller entered federal service as a contract sur-
geon and was afterward appointed an assistant surgeon in 1903.
His bravery during World War I was recognized by awards of Silver
Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and a Purple Heart. Colonel Miller
retired in 1941. The post veterinarian was Col. John Alexander
McKinnon, veterinary corps, a Canadian who had received degrees
in veterinary surgery from Ontario Veterinary College and Toronto
University. The office of post dental surgeon belonged to Maj.
Albert Fields, dental corps, who was born in Kansas in 1888 and
graduated from the Louisville College of Dentistry in 1915. The
post hospital staff was headed by Maj. Charles Robert Mueller,
medical corps, chief of medicine; Maj. James M. Troutt, medical
corps, chief of surgery; and 1st Lt. Anna A. Montgomery, army
nurse corps, chief nurse.
Depression times enveloped Fort Riley and the military progress
pace was marching-in-place. The annual report of the post sur-
geon for 1933 recorded a station complement of 212 officers, 13
nurses, 9 warrant officers, and 2,437 enlisted men. This human total
of 2,671 was less than the 2,807 animals supported on the reserva-
tion. Units at Fort Riley included the 2d cavalry, 13th cavalry,
9th cavalry, 84th field artillery, and the 16th air corps observer
squadron. Medical activities were extended in 1933 to support
units of the civilian conservation corps within a wide radius of
Fort Riley. More than one medical administration officer was as-
signed for the first time in 1935 when the post telephone directory
listed 1st Lt. Walter D. McFarlon, medical administration corps,
2d Lt. Frank R. Day, medical administration corps, and 2d Lt.
William R. Chamberlain, medical administration corps. The mili-
68 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tary profession became more attractive as the economic pinch
increased so that reserve medical officers, contract physicians, and
contract nurses appeared on the rolls of the hospital staff. But
good patient care continued and research projects were accom-
plished, as indicated by the establishment of a Seventh corps lab-
oratory at Fort Leavenworth in 1933 and active study was made
of meningococcus meningitis.
From 1936 until 1939 the post surgeon of Fort Riley was Col.
Morrison Clay Stayer, medical corps. M. C. Stayer was born in
Pennsylvania in 1882 and was a private in the army hospital corps
from April 27 to December 8, 1898. He left the army for an edu-
cation and earned an A. B. degree from Lafayette College in Penn-
sylvania in 1903, and then a M. D. from Jefferson Medical College
in 1906. He retired as a major general in 1946 with decorations in-
cluding the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
and the Legion of Merit. The hospital staff included Maj. Henry
Cheesman Dooling, medical corps, chief of medicine; Maj. James
Albertus Bethea, medical corps, chief of surgery; and 1st Lt. The-
resa Anne Wilson, army nurse corps, chief nurse. Brigadier Gen-
eral Dooling retired in 1947, Major General Bethea in 1949, and
Lieutenant Colonel Wilson in 1951.
In 1937 nurses' quarters were built just east of the post hospital.
The brick structure contrasted with the limestone hospital. The
first signs of the future women's medical specialist corps were evi-
dent when Dorothy Grace Tipton was assigned in 1939 as physio-
therapy aide, while in 1940 Elizabeth M. Murray was the first
dietitian and 2d Lt. Laura Skillon, army nurse corps (physiother-
apist), became the first commissioned therapist assigned to Fort
Riley.
The peace-time era ended with the tour of Col. Sanford Williams
French, medical corps, as the post surgeon of Fort Riley from 1939
until 1941. A native of New York, French was a hospital steward
in the U. S. navy from January, 1902, until February, 1910. Mean-
while, he earned a M. D. degree from George Washington Univer-
sity in 1909. Then began his career as an army medical officer that
lasted from 1910 until 1944. Lt. Col. Arthur Benedict McCormick,
dental corps, was post dental surgeon and Col. Jacob E. Behney,
veterinary corps, was post veterinarian. The annual photograph of
the hospital staff showed 13 smiling nurses in 1939. Perhaps the
unlucky number was the omen of the future, for early in World War
II, Minnie L. Breese, Dorthea M. Daley, Sallie P. Durrett, and Ruth
M. Stoltz became Japanese prisoners.
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 69
X. WORLD WAR II CANTONMENT HOSPITAL
With war an ominous probability, the tempo of building and ac-
tivity at Fort Riley rapidly increased. Camp Funston was rebuilt
in 1940 with more than 900 buildings that were subsequently used
by the Second cavalry division and the Ninth armored division.
The cavalry replacement training center at Camp Forsyth was con-
structed in the fall of 1940 and contained over 250 buildings, in-
cluding five dispensaries and one dental clinic. Over 150,000 men
trained at Camp Forsyth during World War II.
In 1939 the post hospital consisted of 11 wards with 250 patient
beds. The first major remodeling since 1889 was completed in 1939
with the air conditioned and tiled operating suite complete with
two operating rooms, orthopedic cast room, and various utility
rooms. Operating room nurse was Lt. K. "Red" McNulty, army
nurse corps. Sgt. Glenn Ens worth was chief surgical technician, but
now is Capt. G. Ensworth, medical service corps. A 500-bed can-
tonment type temporary hospital was constructed at Camp Whit-
side to relieve the acute shortage of hospital facilities. Work was
started on December 8, 1940, and the cantonment hospital was
first opened for patients in March, 1941. The old post hospital was
designated as the surgical annex. In 1941 the 250-bed surgical
annex was beautified by further landscaping, trees, shrubs, and
flowers while oats were planted around the cantonment station hos-
pital to keep down the dust.
War came, and changing confusion became the pattern of the
times. Pearl T. Ellis, army nurse corps, who had been at Fort Riley
since 1927, was promoted from lieutenant to major in less than one
year. Hospital Sgt.-Maj. William W. Smith received a direct com-
mission as captain. Col. Sanford W. French, medical corps, opened
the new station hospital at Camp Whitside and then was ordered
to Oliver General Hospital in Georgia.
Col. Adam E. Schlanser, medical corps, was post surgeon of Fort
Riley from 1942 until 1945. Doctor Schlanser was born in Ohio
in 1880 and earned his M. D. from the University of Cincinnati in
1908. The hospital staff included Col. Raymond W. Whittier, med-
ical corps, as chief of surgery, and Lt. Col. Paul A. Paden, medical
corps, as chief of medicine. The detachment commander was Capt.
Adolph Guyer, pharmacy corps, who now lives in Hays. Lt. Col.
Pearl Tyler Ellis, army nurse corps, remained as hospital chief nurse
until 1945, thus completing more than 17 years of service at Fort
Riley.
70 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Meanwhile, the post population climbed to 38,299 in 1942. Al-
though that was a huge human medical problem, consider the last
big animated task of the veterinary medical service. There were
6,649 animals in the Second cavalry division, cavalry replacement
training center and the cavalry school. The permanent veterinary
hospital on main post had 46 stalls and an isolation ward, while
the cavalry replacement training center had a temporary 50-stall
hospital. The Second cavalry division was inactivated in 1942, the
last division surgeon was Lt. Col. Lucius K. Patterson, medical corps.
Construction of the new station hospital was completed in 1942
and consisted of 84 cantonment-type temporary buildings occupy-
ing 80 acres of Camp Whitside. There were 38 wards with a ca-
pacity of 1,292 patient beds. In addition, there were eight barracks
for the medical detachment. During the winter those barracks
became expansion patient wards and the capacity of the hospital
was increased to 1,750 beds. The post surgeon's office was moved
back to the surgical annex in 1943 from the station hospital, but the
surgical annex was not entirely administrative in function, since
4,031 operations were performed that year. In 1943 the station hos-
pital became part of the army service forces under the seventh
service command with 142 officers and 283 enlisted men assigned.
Medical units in training on the Fort Riley reservation included:
46th general hospital, 217th general hospital, and the 715th medical
sanitary company.
The station hospital became a regional hospital in June, 1944,
and the increased responsibility was reflected by the average census
of 807 patients during October, 1944, the highest during World
War II. There were 45 medical officers, 45 dentists, and 43 nurses
attached to the hospital; 32,704 dental patients were seen during
the year and medical supply processed 35 tactical organizations de-
parting from Fort Riley for overseas. Four numbered medical
units completed training, including the 54th general hospital, 56th
portable surgical hospital, 57th portable surgical hospital, and 23d
veterinary station hospital.
A prisoner-of-war camp was established at Camp Funston in 1944
with satellite stations and small infirmaries established at Eskridge
in April, Peabody and Council Grove in August, El Dorado in Oc-
tober, and Camp Phillips at Salina in November. The Camp Fun-
ston POW surgeon was Capt. Max Feldman, medical corps, while
the outlying infirmaries were staffed by German medical officers.
Col. Irwin Bradfield Smock, medical corps, was post surgeon of
Fort Riley from 1945 until 1949. A native of Pennsylvania, Doctor
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 71
Smock graduated from the medical school of the University of
Pennsylvania in 1912. Colonel Smock retired in 1949 with decora-
tions including the Legion of Merit and Commendation Ribbon.
His son, Richard Smock, was the honor graduate of the ground
general school, officers candidate school at Fort Riley in 1949. Sec-
ond Lt. Richard Smock was killed in action in Korea in 1951 and is
now buried in the Fort Riley cemetery.
The army intelligence school was established at Fort Riley in
December, 1945, but with the end of World War II, both the cav-
alry and intelligence schools were terminated on October 31, 1946.
The ground general school was activated on November 1, 1946.
The last cavalry replacement training center surgeon was Lt. Col.
Frank F. Harris, medical corps, while Colonel Smock was the last
surgeon of the cavalry school. The last mounted cavalry parade
was in Junction City on November 11, 1946, in honor of Dr. Fred
W. O'Donnell's 50 years of service to civilian and military patients.
In 1945 plywood floor covering was installed in the corridors of
the station hospital and then finished with linoleum. Thirty-six
mechanical ventilation units were installed in the wards. By 1947
the inevitable postwar cutback had skeletonized the hospital, and
the staff was limited to 13 medical officers, eight dental officers, 15
nurses, five medical service officers, and 90 enlisted men. The
post population was 4,067 on December 31, 1947, with 68 patients
in the station hospital.
Post headquarters moved into the first permanent hospital in
1890 when the second permanent hospital was occupied. The
pattern was repeated in 1947 when the surgical annex was con-
verted into Fort Riley post headquarters. The station hospital at
Camp Whitside became the primary medical facility on post.
The Tenth infantry division was reactivated on August 9, 1948,
at Camp Funston, the same post at which the division was first
organized in 1917. The division surgeon was Col. Felix Shelley
Bambace, medical corps. The training division boosted the post
census to 12,593 on December 31, 1948, with a hospital census of
252 patients.
In 1949 the hospital hit a home run in the usual peace-time
austerity game by having the lowest net cost per inpatient day of
all station hospitals in the army. The hospital staff included Col.
John Presly Bachman, medical corps, as chief of surgery, and Lt.
Col. John Henry Taber, medical corps, as chief of medicine. Colonel
Bachman was previously assigned at Fort Riley in 1936 under
Colonels Stayer and Bethea. Doctor Taber, a native of Nebraska,
72 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
was once commissioned in the chemical warfare service. Maj. Wil-
liam W. Smith, medical service corps, was adjutant of the same
hospital where he had been sergeant-major in 1939. Lt. Col. Arthur
N. Kracht, dental corps, was post dental surgeon, and Maj. John
H. Shoemaker, veterinary corps, was post veterinarian. Maj. Susan
W. LaFrage, army nurse corps, was chief nurse. Later in the year,
Col. Norman H. Wiley, medical corps, was assigned as chief of
surgery following his completion of residency training at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, and Maj. Pauline Henriette Girard, army
nurse corps, became chief nurse.
XI. COLD- WAR MEDICS
In 1950 Col. Norman Hyde Wiley, medical corps, became Fort
Riley post surgeon and held the position until 1952. A native of
Pennsylvania, Doctor Wiley received his A. B. degree from Lafay-
ette College and earned his M. D. in 1928 from Jefferson Medical
College. The hospital staff included Col. Robert W. DuPriest,
medical corps, as chief of surgery; Capt. Herbert Tucker, medical
corps, as chief of medicine; and Maj. Helen L. Tucker, army nurse
corps, as chief nurse. Lt. Col. John M. Abrams, medical service
corps, was the hospital executive officer.
On January 1, 1950, the ground general school became the army
general school by General Order No. 53, department of the army.
There was little functional change, since the officer candidate
course, the mythical enemy aggressor, intelligence extension courses
and training were all continued. The cold war flamed hot when
the Korean conflict began in June, 1950. The increased activity was
reflected in a post population of 17,274 on December 31, 1950,
and an associated hospital census of 478 patients. As usual, the
hospital had been understaffed with professional personnel and to
meet the increased patient work-load, six navy medical officers were
assigned to Fort Riley in October, 1950.
A series of emergency flood memoranda published in July, 1951,
reflect the threatened disaster of the rising Smoky Hill, Republican,
and Kansas rivers. Tenth division soldiers worked 24-hour duty
tours to reinforce the dike at Camp Funston while dependents were
evacuated. Conservation of food supplies, gasoline, and water
became mandatory. On July 12, the water was ten feet deep at
the Fort Riley railroad station and both Camp Funston and Marshall
Field were inaccessible and out of communication. The water level
was subsiding by July 17, with the cantonment hospital and Camp
Whitside as the only post area to entirely escape the flood.
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 73
Throughout the time of the Korean conflict the cantonment hos-
pital served the swollen station complement and the Tenth division
with its many training activities. More than 600 major operations
were performed in 1952. The chief of surgery, Col. R. W. DuPriest,
died of an acute heart attack in April, 1952, and was replaced by
Lt. Col. John W. Patterson, medical corps. Less tragic assignments
included the appointment of Lt. Col. Clarence B. Johnson, veter-
inary corps, as post veterinarian, and Maj. Helen L. Staehlin, army
nurse corps, as chief nurse of the hospital. Colonel Wiley, the
post surgeon, was assigned to Percy Jones Army Hospital on April
29, 1952, and his position was temporarily assumed by Lt. Col.
Kenneth Eugene Hudson, medical corps.
Col. Lyman Chandler Duryea, medical corps, was the post sur-
geon of Fort Riley from August, 1952, through May, 1956. Doctor
Duryea was born in Massachusetts and served in the navy from
1917 until 1921. He earned his M. D. degree from the University
of Vermont in 1931 and his graduate studies included a master of
science in public health from Johns Hopkins University in 1936.
The hospital staff included Lt. Col. Donald Campbell, medical
corps, as chief of surgery and Lt. Col. Donald Lavern Howie, med-
ical corps, as chief of medicine. Doctor Campbell was born into
an army family stationed in Hawaii and earned his M. D. at Cornell
University in 1940. Doctor Howie received his degree in medicine
from the State University of Iowa in 1948. Col. Fayette G. Hall,
dental corps, replaced Col. Willard LaGrand Nielsen, dental corps,
as post dental surgeon. Col. Don L. Deane, veterinary corps, be-
came post veterinarian and Lt. Col. Eleanor R. Asleson, army nurse
corps, became chief nurse of the hospital.
The dry facts of hospital statistics hid the tremendous medical
team effort responsible for the total number of hospital days-lost
decreasing from 191,242 in 1952 to 44,018 in 1954 within a command
that averaged 20,000 population during the entire period. The
noneffective rate dropped from 26.49 to 6.38 during that time, the
lowest of all station hospitals in the army.
Fort Riley celebrated its centennial in 1953. From many medical
aspects, the passing scene could be viewed only with nostalgia.
The days of rugged individuals with saddlebag medical kits were
gone, and specialty nosomathetes replaced the cavalry surgeons
competent in any situation from Indian ambush to garrison ampu-
tation. The tremendous veterinary service of the days of the cav-
alry school had dwindled to a few pampered family pets, and even
in the centennial year the number of government retired horses
74 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
gradually decreased from 43 to 30 and the military police detach-
ment dog platoon was transferred to Camp Carson, Colo. The
largest hospital in the history of the state of Kansas, the huge 3,000-
bed base hospital of World War I, was only a memory with its re-
maining buildings now serving as barracks and offices. No trace
remained of the medical officers' training camp that prepared al-
most 30,000 medical soldiers for World War I duty. The real
feature of the second half century was the efficient and effective
healing team composed of individual doctors, dentists, nurses, vet-
erinarians, administrators, therapists, enlisted technicians, and
ancillary personnel within the army medical service. In 1953 the
cantonment hospital was capable of handling up to a peak load of
1,000 patients. In addition, eight dispensaries were operated and
a blood donor center drew and shipped over one thousand pints
of blood each month. The area of medical service extended by Fort
Riley had grown from the 50-mile radius of frontier days to a mod-
ern hospital that treated military patients from an area that included
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.
XII. IRWIN ARMY HOSPITAL
Construction of the new hospital began on July 19, 1955, when
the first shovel of earth was dug by Lt. Col. Eleanor R. Asleson,
army nurse corps, the hospital chief nurse. Over 43 million pounds
of concrete have been poured to erect a building 111 feet high with
six working floors. No feature of superior medical care has been
overlooked. Irwin Army Hospital has a pneumatic tube distribu-
tion-communications system with 42 stations and an audio-visual
call system which provides two-way conversation between each
patient and his ward nurse. Bulk oxygen is piped into all critical
medical treatment areas. Approximately six millions of dollars
have been spent to build this modern 250-bed hospital. Maj. Wil-
liam J. Deragisch, medical service corps, has been project officer
during most of the construction period.
Even in peacetime, military units are transferred and a new
technique called gyroscope was utilized at Fort Riley on September
27, 1955, when the Tenth infantry division at Fort Riley and the
First infantry division in Germany traded home stations. The
division surgeon of the First division (1957) is Lt. Col. John B.
White, medical corps. A native of Ohio, Dr. White earned his
M. D. in 1927 from the University of Oregon medical school.
Other medical units were in training at Fort Riley. The hospital
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 75
plant furnished patients, classroom space, and instructors for techni-
cal skills. In 1955 the 900th surgical hospital, 388th evacuation hos-
pital and the 928th medical company (ambulance) were released
from active duty. Training continued in the 93d evacuation hos-
pital (semimobile) commanded by Col. Walter B. Lacock, medical
corps; the 47th surgical hospital, commanded by Lt. Col. Harold I.
Drinkaus, medical corps; and the 58th medical battalion (separate),
commanded by Lt. Col. Ross R. Haecker, medical service corps.
Colonel Duryea, post surgeon, was assigned to Washington, D. C.,
in May, 1956, and his position was assumed by Col. Walter B. La-
cock, medical corps. The hospital staff included Lt. Col. Jack T.
Rush, medical corps, as chief of surgery, and Maj. Mary C. Jordan,
army nurse corps, as hospital chief nurse. Lt. Col. Gerald E. Geise,
medical service corps, was hospital executive officer.
Col. Milford Timothy Kubin, medical corps, became post surgeon
of Fort Riley in July, 1956. History completed the first full circle
for Fort Riley physicians with the assignment of Doctor Kubin,
since his first duty station after internship was Fort Riley. First
Lieutenant Kubin rode field-patrol with the horse cavalry while
Colonel Kubin supervises the evacuation of patients from field
maneuvers with helicopters, a change of hospital techniques from
horses to helicopters within one professional career. A native of
Kansas, M. Tim Kubin earned his degree in medicine from the
University of Kansas in 1929 and his graduate studies have included
a M. S. in public health from Harvard University in 1946.
The post dental surgeon is Col. John E. Finnegan, dental corps.
Doctor Finnegan was born in Minnesota and received his D. D. S.
from the University of Minnesota in 1935. His chief dental assist-
ants include Lt. Cols. C. J. Blum, E. D. Chase, H. G. McMaster,
J. C. Sexson, and N. E. Sondergaard, all of the dental corps.
The post veterinarian is Lt. Col. William Ginn, veterinary corps.
A native of South Carolina, Doctor Ginn earned his degree in vet-
erinary medicine from Auburn in 1934.
The last professional staff of the cantonment hospital and the first
of Irwin Army Hospital includes Lt. Col. Robert James Bradley,
medical corps, as chief of medical services, and Maj. George E.
Omer, Jr., medical corps, as chief of surgical services. Doctor
Bradley earned his B. S. from the University of Wisconsin, followed
by a degree in medicine from the University of Wisconsin in 1945,
with his post-graduate residency training in internal medicine at
Fitzsimons Army Hospital. Dr. Omer, a Kansan, received an A. B.
76 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
from Fort Hays Kansas State College, an M. D. from the University
of Kansas in 1950, and his post-graduate studies include residency
training at Brooke Army Hospital with a master of science in ortho-
pedic surgery from Baylor University. Maj. Florence E. Judd,
army nurse corps, became the Fort Riley hospital chief nurse fol-
lowing an assignment at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Major Judd
earned her R. N. degree in 1934 from Saint Mary's Hospital in East
Saint Louis and her postgraduate studies have earned a B. S. in
nursing education from Columbia University and an M. S. in hos-
pital administration from Baylor University. Lt. Col. Virgil T.
Yates, medical service corps, is the hospital executive officer. Lieu-
tenant Colonel Yates earned his B. S. and A. B. from Northwest
Missouri State Teachers College and postgraduate work includes
a master of science in hospital administration from Baylor Univer-
sity.
A Fort Riley Historical Society was founded in August, 1957,
under the patronage of Maj. Gen. David H. Buchanan, command-
ing the First division and Fort Riley. To deposit and display the
rich history of Fort Riley and the surrounding community, the first
permanent post hospital was dedicated as the Fort Riley Museum
on September 20, 1957. It is most appropriate that the first building
used to rebuild, administer and preserve the men of Fort Riley
should now be used to perpetuate their memory.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
VIII. WORLD WAR I HOSPITAL
"Annual Report of Fort Riley Post Surgeon," 1942.
W. F. Pride, History of Fort Riley (Topeka, Capper Publications, 1926), pp.
258, 260, 262, 278, 286, 308, 312.
"Report of Sick and Wounded," Army Medical Department: H. L. Brown,
February, 1909; J. H. Ford, August, 1909; Paul Greeman, September, 1909;
W. P. Kendall, 1910-1912.
Official Army Register, 1945, pp. 611, 1083, 1158, 1220, 1251, 1267, 1368.
Interviews: Mrs. John Hewitt, Wakefield; Mrs. Alan Eustace (Ann Marie
Hannon), Route 3, Wakefield; Mrs. Cleary (daughter of Doctor O'Donnell),
Junction City.
Letter to Major Judd, chief nurse, U. S. A. H., Fort Riley, from Elizabeth
Harding, 30 Park Ave., Apt. 3-D, New York 16, N. Y.
J. K. Herr and E. S. Wallace, The Story of the U. S. Cavalry (Boston, Little,
Brown and Company, 1953), p. 208.
Junction City Union, June 6, July 19, August 14, 16, 18, September 4, 6,
November 19, December 4, 22, 1917; January 21, 1918; June 24, 1953.
AN ARMY HOSPITAL: HORSES TO HELICOPTERS 77
The Army Almanac (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950),
p. 90.
Frank Tompkins, Chasing Villa (Harrisburg, Pa., Military Service Publishing
Co., 1934), pp. 257-270.
Souvenir of Fort Riley, 1918: "The Base Hospital," p. 13; "Department of
Hippology," p. 14; "Medical Officers' Training Camp," p. 18.
Telephone Directories, Fort Riley, Kansas, 1918 and 1919.
Col. Charles Lynch, ed.-in-chief, The Medical Department of the U. S. Army
in the World War (Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1921-
1929), v. 7, "Training" (Col. William N. Bispham, M. C., ed.), pp. 180-
258.
The U. S. Army in World War II (Washington, Office of the Chief of Military
History, Department of the Army, 1956), v. 5, "The Medical Department
Hospitalization and Evacuation in Zone of Interior" (Clarence McKittrick
Smith, ed.), pp. 304-313.
The Military Surgeon, Washington, v. 34 (1914), p. 452; v. 35 (1914), p.
506; v. 36 (1915), p. 289.
Kansas City (Mo.) Star, May 12, 1957.
General Order No. 156, Headquarters, Fort Riley, Kansas, May 18, 1957,
Sec. I, naming of O'Donnell Heights.
Fort Riley, Its Historic Past, 1853-1953, pp. 16, 19.
Junction City Republic, June 25, 1953.
IX. PEACE-TIME ARMY
Telephone Directories, Fort Riley, Kansas, 1918-1937, 1939, 1940.
"Annual Report of Post Surgeon," Fort Riley, Kansas, 1933, 1935.
Report of the Army Surgeon General, 1904, pp. 11, 12; 1905, p. 52.
Fort Riley, Its Historic Past, 1853-1953, p. 17.
Souvenir of Fort Riley, 1918, p. 14.
Official Army Register, 1945, pp. 62, 72, 203, 235, 257, 326, 438, 446, 618,
624, 676, 713, 730, 885, 941, 1018, 1198, 1238, 1362, 1396.
Ibid., 1957, pp. 207, 862, 984, 999, 1004, 1010-1012, 1021, 1024, 1025, 1045,
1046, 1048, 1051, 1057, 1069, 1073, 1088.
X. WORLD WAR II CANTONMENT HOSPITAL
"Annual Report of Post Surgeon," Fort Riley Kansas, 1941-1944, 1947-1950.
Junction City Daily Union, June 24, 1953.
Fort Riley, Its Historic Past, 1853-1953, pp. 9, 10.
Telephone Directories, Fort Riley, Kansas, 1948, 1949.
The Army Almanac, p. 378.
Official Army Register, 1945, pp. 36, 530, 715, 871, 911, 1003, 1367, 1434.
Ibid., 1957, pp. 40, 314, 478, 655, 844, 924, 980, 1007, 1056, 1072.
Personal Interviews: Sfc. William F. Paris, medical detachment, U. S. A. H.,
Fort Riley; M/Sgt. Lloyd C. Glass, dental detachment, U. S. A. H., Fort
Riley; Capt. Glenn Ensworth, medical service corps, headquarters, Fifth
U. S. army, Chicago.
78 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
XI. COLD- WAR MEDICS
"Annual Report, Fort Riley Post Surgeons," 1950-1954.
"Emergency Floor Memoranda," Nos. 1-6, July 11-17, 1951, U. S. A. H., Fort
Riley.
Junction City Daily Union, June 24, 1953.
Official Army Register, 1945, p. 269.
Ibid., 1957, pp. 127, 208, 241, 411, 634, 664, 924.
Fort Riley, Its Historic Past, 1853-1953, p. 11.
XII. IRWIN ARMY HOSPITAL
"Army Medical Service Activities Report (Annual Report, Post Surgeon),"
Fort Riley, 1954-1956.
"Memorandum Report," Irwin Army Hospital, October 30, 1957, Major Dera-
gisch.
"Officers Roster (RCS ATPER-16)," U. S. A. H., Fort Riley, August 26, 1957.
"AMEDS Personnel Status Report (RCS ALFMD-21)," U. S. A. H. (5021),
Fort Riley, December 31, 1956.
"Professional Staff Conference Program," U. S. A. H., Fort Riley, 1956, 1957.
Telephone Directories, Fort Riley, Kansas, 1955-1957.
Official Army Register, 1957, pp. 29, 91, 110, 215, 445, 446, 481, 647, 949.
The American Traveler, Fort Riley, September 18, 1957.
The Annual Meeting
THE 82d annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society
and board of directors was held in Topeka on October 15, 1957.
The meeting of the directors was held in the rooms of the Society
and was called to order by President Holla Clymer at 10 A. M.
First business was the reading of the annual report by the secretary:
SECRETARY'S REPORT, YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 15, 1957
At the conclusion of last year's meeting the newly elected president, Rolla
Clymer, reappointed Will T. Beck, John S. Dawson, and T. M. Lillard to the
executive committee. Members holding over were Charles M. Correll and
Frank Haucke.
Two members of the Society's board of directors have died since the last
meeting. Robert Stone, a Topeka attorney since 1892, an organizer and past
president of the Shawnee County Historical Society, active throughout his long
life in many civic and charitable organizations, and for many years a member
and director of this Society, died in June. Mrs. Mae C. Patrick of Satanta,
widely known for her participation in literary and political activities, died in
July. She helped to found the libraries of Santa Fe and Satanta and was
instrumental in organizing several women's clubs in western Kansas. The loss
of these two friends is noted with sorrow.
APPROPRIATIONS AND BUDGET REQUESTS
Last year it was necessary to report, with regret though without surprise
considering the state of our treasury, that almost all requests for major improve-
ments to the Memorial building and the other properties operated by the
Society were denied. The same statement must be repeated this year. The
1957 legislature did make appropriations for completing the rewiring of the
Memorial building, installation of standpipe fire protection units, construction
of museum storage closets, and partial interior painting. However, requests
for funds to complete the air-conditioning system, replace exterior doors, mod-
ernize plumbing and fixtures, install steel stack floors, and to make several
other desired improvements were rejected, some for the third and fourth times.
A supplemental appropriation was made for reroofing the First Territorial
Capitol, the original grant having proven insufficient. A request for $350 for
drilling a water well at the Funston Home was approved. The hole was drilled
but the water proved too salty to be usable. Another appropriation has
therefore been asked for next year to rebuild two cisterns on the property.
Funds were allocated for tree-trimming at Shawnee Mission and for water-
proofing and partial interior painting in the East building. No capital improve-
ment requests were approved for the Kaw Mission at Council Grove.
Appropriations asked for routine operating expenses were granted, with
only a few exceptions, both for the Society itself and for the properties which
it administers.
Budget requests for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1959, were filed with
the state budget director in September. In addition to appropriation requests
for salaries and operating expenses, which amount to about the same as last
(79)
80 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
year, the major long-term improvements listed above were submitted again.
New requests included $2,000 for repairs to the roof of the Memorial building,
$17,500 for installing steel shelving in the basement vault, $650 for repair of
the loading dock and the walk at the south entrance, $2,500 for interior paint-
ing, and $1,000 for tree-trimming, lawn work, and landscaping. With the
exception of relatively small amounts requested for minor items of special
maintenance, such as tree-trimming at the Funston Home and the Kaw Mission
and enlarging of the parking area at Shawnee Mission, all capital improvement
requests for these and the other properties were repetitions of last year's budget.
PUBLICATIONS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Kansas Historical Quarterly is now in its 23d year. Articles of interest
in the Spring number include Emory Lindquist's story of the contribution of
three Kansans to the development of the dial telephone, and James C. Malin's
series on the early theatre in Kansas, which has continued through the year.
Featured in the Summer number was the report of a survey of Kansas historic
sites and structures made by the Society. Other articles appearing or sched-
uled to appear in 1957 include a story on the Lecompton constitutional con-
vention by Robert Johannsen, a sketch of Thomas Benton Murdock and William
Allen White by Rolla Clymer, an article on Fort Larned by William E. Unrau,
and the story of the Kiowa and Comanche campaign of 1860 as recorded in
the personal diary of Lt. J. E. B. Stuart, edited by W. Stitt Robinson.
The Mirror, the bimonthly newsletter, continues as a worthwhile medium,
bringing news of the Society's projects to its membership. Many fine museum
items have been received as a direct result of stories appearing in the Mirror.
Monthly news releases, based on items from the Kansas territorial press and
other newspapers of a century ago, continue to be sent to the editors of the
state. Selections appear in many Kansas newspapers, and the Society is happy
to contribute in this manner to the growth of interest in the state's beginnings.
A report entitled A Survey of Historic Sites and Structures in Kansas was
published and submitted to the 1957 session of the legislature, as required by
a law of 1955. The work of the survey occupied the better part of 18 months,
but because it had to be done by the regular staff as time and other duties
permitted the report does not pretend to be a complete or final inventory of
the state's historic places. In fact, several additions and corrections were
made when the copy was re-edited for publication in the Quarterly and others
will be necessary in the future. Considerable interest, both in and out of
Kansas, has been aroused by this report.
Work has continued on the cumulative index to the Society's publications.
Approximately 54,000 index entries have been completed for the first 16 vol-
umes of the Collections. Only one volume of the Collections now remains to
be indexed, plus the Biennial Reports for 1877-1930 and the three small vol-
umes of special publications which were issued in 1886, 1920, and 1930, to
finish the first phase of this project. The second phase is the compilation of
a similar index for the Quarterly. Preliminary estimates indicate that the
complete index for all publications can be issued in two volumes, and funds
have been requested in next year's budget for printing the first.
The Annals of Kansas, the second volume of which was formally presented
at last year's meeting, has proven to be an acceptable contribution to Kansas
historical literature. However, more volumes should be sold, and can be if
their availability is known to persons interested. A book review which ap-
THE ANNUAL MEETING
81
peared in the September, 1957, number of The Mississippi Valley Historical
Review called this Annals "better balanced and more authoritative than
Wilder's work" and emphasizes its importance not only as a chronological list
of Kansas events but as a "valuable statistical and pictorial reference."
There has been a noticeable revival of interest in the historical marker pro-
gram during the past two years. Texts have been prepared by the Society on
the following topics: at Fort Leavenworth, a brief history of the fort; at Russell,
the conflict with the Indians as the railroad pushed westward; at Victoria, the
establishment of the towns of Victoria and Herzog; and near Belvue, the Louis
Vieux ford on the Oregon trail. In addition, a text was written for a marker
on the bluestem pasture region which is to be placed on the turnpike at the
Matfield Green service area.
Some months ago Governor Docking named the first members of a com-
mittee to make preparatory plans for the observance of the centennial of
statehood, which comes in 1961. Credit for this early development is due the
Society's president, Rolla A. Clymer. The 1957 legislature appropriated $2,500
for the committee's initial expenses, with the Society being designated as book-
keeper for the fund.
ARCHIVES DIVISION
Public records from the following state departments have been transferred
to the archives during the year:
Source Title Dates Quantity
Administration, Depart-
ment of (Accounts &
Reports Div.) Fiscal records 1861-1950 299 vols.
Agriculture, Board of. ... Statistical Rolls of Counties, 1950 1,714 vols.
Abstracts of Agricultural
Statistics & Population.. 1943-1953 1,185 vols.
Population Schedules of
Cities & Townships 1956, 1957 8,417 vols.
Alcoholic Beverage Con-
trol Samples of first liquor ship-
ment affidavits and stamp
orders 1949 22 items
Alcoholism, Commission
on Correspondence & Papers, 1953-1957 5 transfer
1923-1942 3 vols.
State Auditor Soldiers' Compensation
Warrant Registers
Secretary of State Original House and Senate
Bills, Resolutions and
Petitions . . 1919-1947 26 transfer
Enrolled Laws, Kansas Ter-
ritory 1855-1860 11 vols.
Social Welfare, Depart-
ment of Records of the Kansas
Emergency Relief Com-
mittee 1932-1937 17 vols.
Minute Records of Institu-
tions 1939, 1940 18 vols.
6—1958
82 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Annual reports were received from the Accounts and Reports Division of
the Department of Administration, the Board of Medical Registration and
Examination, and the Board of Podiatry Examiners for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1956. Annual reports were also received from the Banking Depart-
ment, Corporation Commission, and the Labor Department for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1957.
A small amount of county and local government archival material was
received during the year. Mrs. J. P. Winslow of Padonia donated two volumes
of Brown county justice of the peace records — a "Stray Record, 1876-1898,"
and a "Justice's Docket, 1873-1904." A microfilm print of four journals of
the proceedings of the governing body of Wichita, 1870-1889, was lent by
Chester Ellis, city clerk of Wichita, and a copy has been made.
One of the most interesting items deposited in the archives of Kansas in
recent years was received in September.. The engrossed copy of the Lecomp-
ton Constitution, famous Proslavery document of the territorial period, has
been returned to the state through the courtesy and generosity of the New
Brunswick Historical Club, New Brunswick, N. J., and the library of Rutgers
University. The constitution was taken from Kansas by one of its signers,
Alfred W. Jones, and given to the New Jersey organization in 1875. Now,
100 years after its creation, it is back in the area of its origin.
The 1957 legislature passed two laws concerning the disposition of records.
One revised the membership of the State Records Board and gave that group
additional authority. The board, which originally consisted of the attorney
general, the state librarian and the secretary of the Historical Society, now
includes also the state auditor and the state archivist, the latter acting as sec-
retary. In the past all recommendations of the board concerning the disposal
of state records had to go before the regular session of the legislature for
approval. Now the board has final authority in such matters and may rec-
ommend whatever disposition it feels is best for the business and historical
interests of the state. Since the board has this power it may meet at frequent
intervals through the year, thus eliminating a confusing rush of records business
during the legislative session.
The second law provides for the establishment of a state records center
under the control of the Historical Society which will serve as a depository
for inactive records of state agencies. It has long been realized that some
method of inexpensive storage of noncurrent records, which have limited
retention value but are not worthy of permanent archival preservation, is
needed in Kansas. This law paves the way for such storage even though no
funds were appropriated to make the plan operative. Both new laws are
important steps toward more effective records management and storage in
Kansas.
A new assistant archivist, Eugene D. Decker, joined the staff in September,
replacing Carl W. Deal who was promoted to fill a vacancy in the library. Mr.
Decker is a graduate of Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia and has
done graduate work in history there.
LIBRARY
For the sixth consecutive year there has been an increase in the number of
patrons using the library. This year the total was 4,099, of whom 1,616
worked on subjects of Kansas interest, 1,569 on genealogy, and 914 on general
THE ANNUAL MEETING 83
subjects. Most of the queries by correspondence came from Kansas patrons,
but many out-of-state people asked for information about members of their
families who lived in Kansas in the early days. The extensive cataloguing of
biographical material which has always been the practice in the library makes
prompt replies possible in most instances, and several patrons have written in
appreciation of this fact.
The prevalence of Western dramas on television has prompted a large
number of requests for information on Kansas marshals and cowtowns. Typical,
and perhaps most frequent of such queries, is: Was Matt Dillon, of Gun Smoke
fame, a real or imaginary character? To those of you who do not follow
Westerns, the answer to that, of course, is that Dillon is an imaginary character.
Requests from school children for histories of their home towns or localities
have increased in number. Free material in the form of Kansas state publica-
tions is sent whenever possible, but a large percentage of the 142 loan packages
has gone to junior high and high school students.
Five special newspaper editions and 3,142 miscellaneous issues were read
and clipped in addition to the seven daily newspapers which are regularly
searched for Kansas items. This material was augmented by clippings from
newspapers over the state supplied by a clipping bureau, making a total of
6,520 clippings for the year. Nine older clipping volumes and 3,539 miscel-
laneous pages were remounted.
Remounting of the 17 volumes of the Webb scrapbooks has been started.
This unique collection of clippings from Eastern newspapers was purchased
in 1877 from Mrs. Thomas H. Webb, widow of the secretary of the New
England Emigrant Aid Company. The first 16 volumes cover events in Kansas
from March, 1854, to September, 1856, and the last volume contains clippings
dated from October 21, 1859, to December 12, 1860, relating to John Brown
and the Harpers Ferry raid.
A textbook display designed to show the changes in schoolbooks from
territorial days to the present was arranged on the third floor early this year.
Except for those most recently printed the books came from the Society's
textbook collection, which is growing steadily through gifts of friends and
other libraries.
The library is one of six in Kansas asked to contribute entries for the Na-
tional Union Catalog of books, the successor to the Library of Congress Catalog.
Since many locally printed books do not reach the Library of Congress they
have not been included in the old catalog, and the National Union listing,
which includes entries sent in by co-operating libraries in each state, is expected
to be more representative of the books published each year throughout the
country.
Microfilm copies of the 1850 Federal census records for Maine, Wisconsin,
and Minnesota were added this year, the gift of Lyal Dudley. The Marks
ir Brand Record of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and the 1884 edition
of The Brand Book of the Western Cattle Growers' Association were lent by
Lee Larrabee for microfilming. Theses lent by the authors to be microfilmed
included: "The Kansas Soldier as a War Correspondent, 1898-1899," by Alan
J. Stewart; "The History of Fort Lamed, Kansas: Its Relation to the Santa Fe
Trail and the Plains Indians," by William Enrol Unrau; "A Sociological Study
of Sheridan County, Kansas," by Lillian Ruby Toothaker, and "A Brief History
of Emerson Carey's Carey Salt Company, 1901-1956," by George W. Simpson.
84 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Centennial booklets and other materials were received from Emporia,
Greeley, Holton, Americus, Hiawatha, Olathe, Hartford, Madison, Muscotah,
and DeSoto. Gifts of local histories included: Mahaska Sodbusters, by Clyde
W. Miller; 90 Years of Ellsworth and Ellsworth County History, by George
Jelenik; 75 Years in Kansas, or Corn Bread and Sorgum Molasses, by the
late Frank A. Russell; Ottawa University, Its History and Its Spirit, by B. Smith
Haworth; History of Ionia, Kansas, by Lester Stites, and Kansas Monks, His-
tory of St. Benedict's Abbey, by Peter Beckman, O. S. B. Caroline Walbridge
gave a copy of her thesis on Kansas textbooks, Randolph Orville Yeager, his
thesis on the "Indian Enterprises of Isaac McCoy, 1817-1846," and Harrie S.
Mueller, a thesis by Virgil Vesper Hinds on the "History of Provisions for
Religious Instruction in Selected Public Schools of Kansas." This is the first
product of the recent history scholarship Colonel and Mrs. Mueller so gener-
ously endowed at Kansas State. Sizable collections of books were received
from Eugene and Justis N. Ware and Mrs. Amelia Cozier, grandchildren of
Eugene Fitch Ware, and from Mrs. Eugene L. Bowers, the Capper estate,
and Mrs. J. C. Ruppenthal.
An unusual gift is Merchant Sail, by William Armstrong Fairburn. This
definitive six-volume work on sailing ships is not for sale but has been placed
in selected libraries throughout the country as a public service by the Fairburn
Educational Foundation, Inc.
Two histories of the state have been published within the past year. Kan-
sas, a History of the Jayhawk State, by William Frank Zornow, the first one-
volume adult history of Kansas published in several decades, and Kansas, the
First Century, a four-volume history edited by John D. Bright, giving up-to-
date historical and biographical material.
Library accessions, October 1, 1956-September 30, 1957, were:
Books
Kansas 174
General 682
Genealogy and Local History 144
Indians and the West 57
Kansas State Publications 99
Total U56
Pamphlets
Kansas 1,162
General 448
Genealogy and Local History 51
Indians and the West 11
Kansas State Publications 288
Total 1>960
Clippings ( bound volumes ) 35
Magazines (bound volumes) 167
Microfilm (reels)
Books, periodicals, etc 44
Census
Total . 54
THE ANNUAL MEETING 85
MANUSCRIPT DIVISION
Valuable papers including two large collections have been received during
the year.
Thirty-six file drawers of letters and documents from the office of the late
Arthur Capper were received from his estate. These fall mainly within the
period of his service as U. S. senator from Kansas, 1919-1949. Agricultural
legislation received much of his attention during these years. Arthur Capper
was governor of Kansas, 1915-1919, and founded one of the great publishing
houses of the country. The papers are not yet organized but are open for
limited research.
Clifford Hope of Garden City, U. S. representative from Kansas for 30 years,
has deposited papers from his Washington office which fill 156 transfer cases.
Mr. Hope was for many years senior member of the house committee on agri-
culture and his papers should prove valuable to students working in the fields
of agricultural and political history. The collection is temporarily restricted to
such use as Mr. Hope approves.
Daniel Read Anthony, III, of Leavenworth has presented letters of his
grandfather, Daniel Read Anthony, written during the period 1857-1862.
There are 122 items in the collection. Daniel Read Anthony, of Rochester,
N. Y., came to Kansas in 1854 as a member of the first party sent out by the
Emigrant Aid Company of Massachusetts. He settled in Leavenworth and
became active in territorial affairs; also, he entered the newspaper field and
published the Leavenworth Times which is still in the hands of the Anthony
family. Early letters reflect economic and financial conditions in the territory;
those of the war years tell something of Anthony's service with the 7th regi-
ment Kansas Volunteers.
Sixty-seven letters written by Eugene Fitch Ware to members of his family
were received from the children of his daughter, Amelia Ware Baird. Nearly
all were written in 1904 while Ware was in Washington, D. C., serving as
commissioner of pensions. Because of their historical importance, the Society
would like to know the location of other Ware papers; the information is also
wanted by Prof. James C. Malin of the University of Kansas who is making a
study of Ware.
Mrs. Stuart F. Hovey of Kansas City, Mo., gave papers of her grandfather,
Dr. Andrew Jackson Huntoon. There are 150 items in the collection. Dr.
Huntoon came to Kansas in 1857. He served during the Civil War with the
5th Kansas cavalry and the 2d regiment Kansas State Militia. Following the
war, he settled in Topeka and was prominent in public affairs until his death.
Most of the letters in the collection were written by Huntoon and his wife
during the period of his military service.
James W. Wallace, Scott City, and Richard W. Wallace, Topeka, have given
a collection of nearly 500 items relating primarily to their grandfather, Capt.
Augustus W. Burton, and Co. H, 12th Kansas Volunteer infantry regiment.
The papers extend over the unit's entire period of active service, 1862-1865.
Included are ordnance, clothing, and equipment records; requisitions; general
and special orders, etc.
Papers of Jessie Kennedy Snell were given by Omer A. Snell of Colby.
They include reminiscences of Thomas county pioneers and notes on Thomas
county history.
86 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Two volumes of business records were received: Webb Woodward, Topeka,
gave a volume of prescription records from the pharmacy of B. W. Woodward
and Company, Lawrence, 1874-1878; and Dr. Wilson Hobart gave a day book
with cash account records from the business of Wilson Keith, dry goods
merchant of Topeka, 1878-1895.
Thomas H. Bowlus, lola, gave ten pieces of large currency, series 1899,
1907, 1914, 1918, and 1923.
Microfilm copies of the following have been acquired:
Seven reels of correspondence, 1833-1884, from the library of the Presby-
terian Historical Society, Philadelphia. The letters relate to the work of Presby-
terian missionaries among Indians in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
Record of soldiers buried at Fort Wallace. The list was compiled when
bodies were removed in 1886 for reinterment at Fort Leavenworth. Film
was made from photostats lent by R. F. Brock, Goodland.
Diaries and papers of Bertha and Hermann C. Benke, 1886-1893, residents
of Barton county. Originals were lent by Paul Gibler, Claflin.
Letter books of Thaddeus Hyatt, 2 volumes: 1858-1859, 1875-1876. The
earlier volume contains copies of many letters pertaining to Hyatt's interests in
Kansas; letters in the second volume were written while Hyatt was in England
and on the Continent and relate mainly to his inventions and business enter-
prises. The books were lent by Hyatt's grandson, John K. Hyatt, St. Louis.
Scrapbook of Emerson C. Lewellen, for many years a resident of Harvey
county and Newton; and records of the Jantzen Hillsboro Creamery, 1899-1903.
Originals were lent by Earl McDowell, Cherokee, Okla.
Diary of William T. Barnett, 1899-1900. Barnett was a member of Co. I,
12th U. S. infantry, and the diary is a record of his service in the Philippines.
Original was lent by Horace J. Smith, Los Angeles, Calif.
Records of Osage Mission on the Neosho river, now St. Paul, Kan., 1820-
1885. Included are lists of baptisms, marriages, and burials. The five manu-
script volumes were made available for reproduction by the Passionist Mon-
astery, St. Paul.
Other donors were: Mrs. Jessie Jenner Baker, Topeka; Edward M. Beougher,
Grinnell; Berlin B. Chapman, Stillwater, Okla.; Harry E. Chrisman, Liberal;
Mrs. W. B. Collinson, Topeka; Pauline Cowger, Salina; Charles Darnell,
Wamego; Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Ellis, Wichita; Alan W. Farley, Kansas City;
Mrs. Jeannette Burney Gibson, Ottawa; Mrs. Edna Piazzek Gilpin, Valley
Falls; Mrs. George Hedrick, Lawrence; Alfred G. Hill, Swarthmore, Pa.;
George J. Hood, Lawrence; Kansas State Auditor; T. M. Lillard, Topeka;
Alfred Lower, Topeka; Fred R. Marckhoff, Elgin, ID.; Don Maxwell, Topeka;
Dr. Karl A. Menninger, Topeka; Howard S. Miller, Morrill; Clyde M. Reed,
Jr., Parsons; Mrs. W. W. Reed, Topeka; Mrs. F. Homer Richart, Denver, Colo.;
Harold E. Rorschach, Tulsa, Okla.; J. C. Ruppenthal, Russell; John W. Shuart,
Topeka; Mrs. J. R. Throckmorton, Hays; Mrs. C. E. Toothaker, Hoxie; Mrs.
Benjamin Weaver, Mullinville; and Thomas Bayne Wilson, Williamstown.
Joseph W. Snell. Topeka, joined the staff in January as assistant cataloguer
in the division of manuscripts. Mr. Snell is a graduate of Washburn University,
has completed his course work for a master's degree in history at the University
of Kansas, and is currently doing research for his thesis which will deal with
a phase of the government's Indian policy.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 87
MICROFILM DIVISION
In the past 12 months the microfilm division has made nearly 370,000 ex-
posures, bringing the total since the division was established to more than
4/i million. Most of this year's production, about 229,000 exposures, was of
newspapers. About 100,000 exposures were made of archival records, and
the balance was divided between library and manuscript materials.
Kansas newspapers filmed included the Arkansas City Weekly Republican
Traveler, April 16, 1887-January 2, 1908; Clay Center Weekly Times, January
5, 1882-December 29, 1955; Kinsley Graphic, December 18, 1880-July 11,
1940; Leavenworth Weekly Times, July 7, 1870-September 5, 1918; Ottawa
Daily Republican, September 29, 1879-February 8, 1902; Ottawa Daily Re-
public, February 10, 1902-December 31, 1914; Ottawa Weekly Herald, No-
vember 7, 1889-March 18, 1915; and Wyandotte Herald, January 4, 1872-
December 29, 1910. The Kinsley Mercury has been filmed from August 4,
1883, to February 23, 1900, and work on this paper is continuing. In addi-
tion, short runs of 19 other newspapers were microfilmed.
Filming of the 1905 state census, which was begun last year, has been com-
pleted. The original record, in 478 large volumes, has now been condensed
into 177 hundred-foot rolls of film. More than 15,000 exposures were also
made of records of the State Insurance Department.
MUSEUM
The museum has completed its most successful year. Attendance was
52,412, an all-time record, and 11,000 more than last year. Two factors are
primarily responsible for this increase: the modernization program which
includes construction of period rooms and new displays, and an educational
program which offers planned and guided tours to school children and other
groups. Some 300 organizations and groups took advantage of these tours,
almost double the number registered last year. Roscoe Wilmeth, assistant
museum director, who joined the staff in February, is in charge of the educa-
tional program. He is professional archeologist also, and has inaugurated
a systematic field survey of archeological sites along the Kansas river from
Junction City to Kansas City.
Twenty new displays relating to various aspects of Kansas history have
been constructed in the second group of cases which were received early
this year. Another 20 cases, to be used for military and Indian displays, have
been ordered.
Two period rooms, a doctor's office and a dentist's office, are nearly finished,
and construction of a general store, complete with post office, has begun. These
rooms are in the east gallery.
During the year 130 accessions were received, comprising 1,526 separate
items. Mrs. Emma Kelley and Lowell Kelley, White Cloud, Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Miller, Delavan, and Mrs. Dora Priddy, Ozawkie, donated a large num-
ber of articles which are to be used in the general store display. Mrs. Alice
G. Sennrich, Valley Falls, gave the equipment used in her early photographic
studio; Mrs. W. R. Smith, Topeka, presented a collection of early hats; Mrs.
C. H. Strieby, Council Grove, donated a number of toys; Mr. and Mrs. Bill
Bradley and Mr. and Mrs. William A. Bradley, Cunningham, sent an early
88 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
model Linotype; Mrs. Esther Gray Crumb, Pittsburg, donated a collection of
scale models made by her father; W. M. Richards, Emporia, Roderick Bentley,
Shields, Mrs. Benjamin Weaver, Mullinville, and James C. Malin, Lawrence,
gave collections of barbed wire which include many old and unusual types.
Other donors were: Ed Abels, Lawrence; Abilene Public Library; Mr. and
Mrs. Harry Althof, Topeka; Portia Anderson, Topeka; Robert Appleton Co.,
New York; Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad; Charles Avery, Topeka;
the children of Amelia Ware Baird; Rebecca Updegraff Bellamy, Topeka;
Beloit Chamber of Commerce; W. H. Benedict; J. Leland Benson, Topeka;
Dr. M. L. Bishoff, Topeka; Mrs. Howard B. Blackmar, Norwood, Mass.; Mrs.
Henry S. Blake, Topeka; Mrs. Emily Broker, lola; J. L. Brownback, Fort
Riley; Mrs. Dora Renn Bryant, Junction City; Alfred A. Carlson, Prairie Vil-
lage; Estella Case, Wichita; Mrs. W. B. Collinson, Topeka; Oscar Copple,
Wilsey; Julia Cotton estate, Topeka; Christina Grader, Paxico; Charles Dar-
nell, Wamego; Mrs. Edwin W. Davis, Topeka; John H. Davis, Jr., Belvue;
J. C. Denious estate, Dodge City; Bertha Dennett, Wellington; Mrs. Joan
Dibble, Topeka; Mrs. Hattie M. Dillon, Scranton; Mrs. John DuMars, Topeka;
Mrs. John L. Engert, Manhattan; Dr. Elvenor Ernest, Topeka; Mrs. Paul Ernst,
Olathe; Dr. E. W. Eustace, Lebanon; Ben H. Fischer, Lincoln, Neb.; Herman
C. Frahm, Topeka; Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Freed, Topeka; Mrs. Spencer A. Card,
lola; Mrs. O. L. Garlinghouse, Topeka; B. J. George, Kansas City, Mo.; Mrs.
Edna Gilpin, Valley Falls; Mrs. Robert Gleason, Topeka; Globe Clothing Co.,
lola; Frank Graham, Florence; Harry Griffin, Topeka; Mrs. Betty Griffiths,
Hartford; Arnold Hallover, Burlingame; Dea Hart, Grenola; Mrs. Albertine
Harvey, Long Beach, Calif.; Mrs. Frank Haucke, Council Grove; Dr. and Mrs.
H. L. Hiebert, Topeka; Mrs. Don Hopson, Phillipsburg; Nina Catherine Howe,
Kansas City; John Hudson, Topeka; Dr. James G. Hughbanks, Independence;
Arthur D. James, Topeka; Mrs. Charles Jones, Topeka; Mrs. Erwin Keller,
Topeka; W. A. Kingman, Springfield, Mo.; Mrs. Joe Kinnaird, Kiro; Mr. and
Mrs. W. D. Kirkbride, Herington; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Knowles, Valley Falls;
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest LaLouette, Florence; Ceora B. Lanham, Topeka; Mrs.
Harry Lemon, Topeka; Helen D. Little, LaCrosse; Dr. A. Louis Lyda, Salina;
Wendel Maddox, Garden City; Mark Marling, Topeka; Marquart Music Co.,
Topeka; Mrs. Helen Martin, Brookville; Don C. Maxwell, Topeka; Robert
Maxwell estate, Topeka; Mrs. Vernon Me Arthur, Hutchinson; Orville, Amsa,
and Earl McDowell, Cherokee, Okla.; Dr. Wm. M. Mclnemey, Abilene; L. D.
Merillat, Topeka; Mrs. John O. Miller, Topeka; Dorthadean Moorman, To-
peka; Mrs. Howard E. Morrison, Jr., Topeka; Will Morrison, LaHarpe; L. F.
Morse, Benedict; H. C. Mulroy and Margaret Jetmore Mulroy, Topeka; D. W.
Muns, lola; Mrs. Ethel H. Neff, Wichita; Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Nichols, Osage
City; Mrs. Malcolm B. Nicholson, Long Beach, Calif.; Dr. A. R. Owen, To-
peka; Jennie A. Philip estate, Hays; Francis Phillis, Topeka; George Preston,
Paxico; Carl Puderbaugh, Ozawkie; B. W. Purdum, Topeka; Rebecca Lodge,
Tola; Mrs. W. W. Reed, Topeka; Frank Reeder, Jr., Easton, Pa.; James W.
Reid, New York; Charles Remaley, Topeka; Mrs. C. H. Reser, Hamilton;
R. W. Richmond, Topeka; Col. G. L. Robinson, Jacksonville, Fla.; Mrs. J. E.
Rosebrough, Topeka; Phyllis and Patricia Safirite, lola; Mr. and Mrs. Ellwood
H. Savage, Topeka; Stanley D. Sohl, Topeka; Mrs. Nellie Sparks, Whitewater;
Edwin H. Stade, Belvue; Mrs. W. E. Stanley, Wichita; Gary Steams, Topeka;
Edith Updegraff Stephenson, Wichita; W. E. Steps, Topeka; L. C. Stevens,
THE ANNUAL MEETING 89
Topeka; Mr. and Mrs. Wm. C. Stevens, Lawrence; Charles S. Stevenson, Kan-
sas City, Mo.; Cydnee Sue and Jeanne Lue Stillwaugh, lola; C. A. Stinson,
Carlyle; Mrs. Jacob F. Strickler, Topeka; Mrs. William E. Studebaker, Topeka;
Miss E. E. Terry, Olathe; Mr. and Mrs. Luther Tillotson, Topeka; Mrs. Rita
S. Timpson, Elizabeth, N. J.; F. C. Troup, Logan; Fenn Ward, Highland;
Mrs. Wm. J. Wertz, Topeka; Westminster Presbyterian church, Topeka;
J. Howard Wilcox, Anthony; Ronald Wilson, Topeka; Gen. Thomas B. Wilson,
Williamstown; Edwin Wolff, Tooele, Utah; and Mrs. Chester Woodward,
Topeka.
NEWSPAPER AND CENSUS DIVISIONS
In the past 12 months 5,495 patrons who called in person were served by
the newspaper and census divisions, and several times that number by corre-
spondence.
Use of the newspaper files remained at about the same level as last year. A
decrease in the number of original issues used was offset by the increased use
of microfilm. Single issues of newspapers read totaled 5,589, bound volumes
6,210, and microfilm reels 2,057.
On April 15, under an act of the 1957 legislature, the Society began charg-
ing $1.00 each for certified copies of its records. In consequence the number
of requests for such copies has fallen off noticeably, 13,550 certificates being
issued during the year as compared with more than 17,500 the previous year.
Census volumes searched dropped to 36,134 from last year's all-time high of
43,886.
Almost all Kansas newspaper publishers send their publications to the
Society for filing. One triweekly, ten semiweeklies, 291 regular weeklies, and
55 dailies are now received regularly. In addition, 146 newspapers published
by Kansas schools, churches, labor unions, and other institutions are donated
by the publishers. Ten out-of-state newspapers are received, including the
New York Times and the Kansas City Star and Times. The collections now
total 57,582 bound volumes of Kansas newspapers and over 12,000 volumes
of out-of-state newspapers. With the addition of 493 reels this year the col-
lection of newspapers on microfilm now includes 6,419 reels. Twelve Kansas
publishers contribute film copies of their current issues.
Among the older Kansas newspapers received was a single issue of the Iowa
Point Weekly Enquirer, July 30, 1858, given by George and Fred Massey of
Iowa Point. The People's Herald, Lyndon, January 6, 1916-December 19,
1918, was received from Jack Miller, Lyndon. This fills a period missing in
the files. Another gap was filled by the purchase of the Washington Repub-
lican, July 26, 1872-April 17, 1874.
Other donors of older newspapers included: Mrs. H. W. Burgess and L. D.
Merillat, Topeka; Mrs. Stuart F. Hovey, Kansas City, Mo.; R. E. McCluggage,
Juneau, Alaska; Frank S. Boies, Battle Creek, Mich.; Myron McGinnis and
Tom Buchanan, Bucklin; Mrs. Albertine Harvey, Long Beach, Calif.; and the
Robert Maxwell estate. B. B. Chapman, Stillwater, Okla., was instrumental
in obtaining for the Society a copy of the historical edition of the Guthrie
(Okla.) Daily Leader published April 16, 1957.
PHOTOGRAPHS AND MAPS
During the year 1,213 photographs were added to the collection. Of these
792 were gifts, 127 were lent for copying, and 294 were taken by staff members.
90 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
In addition, one reel of motion picture film and many color slides were added.
The revision of the filing system mentioned in last year's report has been
completed. In the course of this work a new count of the collection was
made. The current total is 30,668 black and white photographs and 404
color slides.
Several large groups of photographs were given to the Society, among them
more than 200 pictures from the Arthur Capper estate, a set of modern views
along the route of the Santa Fe trail from the Kansas Industrial Development
Commission, 60 prints of historic sites and buildings in Kansas from the
Omaha office of the National Park Service, and 34 Sedgwick county pictures
lent for copying by Floyd Souders, publisher of the Cheney Sentinel
The Society has furnished photographs during the year to many individuals,
newspapers, and business firms, to other historical institutions, to authors and
book publishers, and to such publications as Holiday, American Heritage, and
the Encyclopedia Americana.
Thirty-eight new maps have been accessioned. One of the most interesting
is an original plat of Iowa Point in Doniphan county which was given by
George and Fred Massey of Iowa Point. The map collection, not including
atlases and separate maps held or catalogued in the library division, now totals
4,913. Town lithographs total 53.
SUBJECTS FOR EXTENDED RESEARCH
Subjects for extended research during the year included: Indian affairs in
Alabama territory, 1817-1819; Delaware Indian language; the French fur
trade in Kansas; history of medicine in Kansas; early cattle industry in western
Kansas; tent theatre activity in the Midwest; histories of Kansas City, Kan.,
and Kansas City, Mo.; use of balloons in the Civil War; gas and oil in Kansas;
banking in Kansas; the Philippine insurrection; the Mexican War; the Texas
revolution; the automobile industry in Kansas, 1890-1918; the legislature of
1893; wives of Kansas governors; the Kansas river basin; the Kansas Power
and Light Co.; the Fort Riley hospital; Fort Zarah; Pardee Butler; Gov. J. W.
Denver; George S. Park; David J. Brewer; John Palmer Usher; Jerry Simpson;
and Charles M. Harger.
THE FIRST CAPITOL
John Scott, for 20 years custodian of the First Territorial Capitol, died
February 6. He was a loyal and conscientious employee. His successor, J. L.
Brownback of Mound City, began work late in January, and is proving to be
a capable and congenial addition to the staff.
Registration of visitors was 6,582, approximately 3,000 more than last year.
Of this total, 4,591 were Kansans, 1,906 came from 44 other states and the
District of Columbia, and 85 came from four United States territories and
possessions and from 12 foreign countries. The only states not represented
were Nevada, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
During the year the caretaker's cottage was painted and the Capitol building
itself was reroofed. Propane gas was installed in the cottage for heating and
cooking, replacing the coal and kerosene which had been used for many years.
THE FUNSTON HOME
Attendance at the Funston Memorial State Park during its first full year of
operation totaled 1,008, approximately three times as many as were registered
THE ANNUAL MEETING 91
in the five months it was open in 1956. Kansas visitors numbered 886; the
remaining 122 came from 21 other states.
Largely through the donations of Mrs. F. A. Eckdall of Emporia and Aldo
Funston of Parsons, a sister and brother of Gen. Frederick Funston, the home
is gradually being furnished and decorated as nearly as possible as it was when
Congressman Edward H. Funston and his family lived there.
THE KAW MISSION
Registrations at the Kaw Mission totaled 5,525, a slight decrease from last
year. The visitors' book showed 4,407 Kansans registered and 1,118 other
persons from 15 foreign countries, four United States territories and possessions,
and 46 states. Only New Hampshire and Vermont were not represented.
The local Rotary Club has put in part of the walk leading to the Indian
cabin which the club erected several years ago on the Mission grounds, and it
is hoped that this project will soon be completed. The Nautilus Club of
Council Grove presented two new roses for the grounds and Mr. and Mrs. L.
D. Fike gave a large number of named varieties of day lilies. The Council
Grove Republican, edited by Don McNeal, has given every possible co-
operation since the Mission was acquired in 1951. Its news items and weekly
"Museum Scoreboard," showing the number of visitors and the states repre-
sented, have done a great deal to stimulate interest. The information bureau
operated by the Junior Chamber of Commerce has also continued to direct
visitors to the Mission.
Donors this year included: Mrs. Norma Comer Bates, W. J. Bay, Lillian
Blim, C. C. Bowman, Mrs. Lalla M. Brigham, Louise Brown, Oscar Copple,
Mrs. R. R. Cross, Floyd Flynn, Harold Hallaver, Mrs. John Jacobs, Axel
Johnson, P. J. Kirkbride, Minnie Lee Marks, Mrs. A. O. Rees, Mrs. Linnie
Strouts, C. H. White, and the Women's Federated Clubs. Materials were
also received on loan from Mrs. Frank Haucke and Mrs. A. H. Strieby.
OLD SHAWNEE MISSION
Although 4,428 persons registered at the Shawnee Mission, it is estimated
that another 800 to 1,000 visited the property without signing the guest book.
Thirty states and the District of Columbia were represented, as well as six
foreign countries.
Visitors included Gretchen and Gordon Whittaker, great grandchildren of
the Rev. John Thompson Peery, a missionary and teacher who served at the
Mission; Willard P. Russell, great-grandson of the Rev. Jerome Berryman,
superintendent of the Mission when the North building was constructed in
1845; and Harris Martin, son of John A. Martin, tenth governor of the state of
Kansas. Approximately 100 members of the Kansas department of the Daugh-
ters of the American Revolution attended the annual meeting and picnic at
the Mission on Constitution Day, September 17.
On July 1 two guides were employed to help with the reception of visitors.
They are to work on a part-time basis when the tourist season is at its peak.
Physical improvements to the property included painting of the exterior wood-
work, and wallpapering, and interior painting in the North building. All trees
were pruned and several dead trees removed.
The Society is indebted to the state departments of the Colonial Dames,
Daughters of American Colonists, Daughters of the American Revolution,
92 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Daughters of 1812, and the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society for
their continued assistance at the Mission.
THE STAFF OF THE SOCIETY
The accomplishments noted in this report are due to the Society's splendid
staff of employees, and I make grateful acknowledgment to them.
I should like to mention particularly Edgar Langsdorf, assistant secretary,
and the heads of the Society's main departments: Mrs. Lela Bames, of the
manuscript division, who is also treasurer of the Society; Robert W. Richmond,
archivist; Alberta Pantle, librarian; Stanley D. Sohl, museum director; and
Forrest R. Blackburn of the newspaper division.
Recognition is also due the custodians of the historic sites administered by
the Society: Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Hardy at Shawnee Mission, Mr. and Mrs.
Elwood Jones at Kaw Mission, Mr. and Mrs. V. E. Berglund at the Funston
Memorial Home and Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Brownback at the First Territorial
Capitol. Respectfully submitted,
NYLE H. MILLER, Secretary.
At the conclusion of the reading of the secretary's report, James
Malone moved that it be accepted. Motion was seconded by
Charles M. Correll and the report was adopted.
President Clymer then called for the report of the treasurer, Mrs.
Lela Barnes. The report was based on the post-audit by the State
Division of Auditing and Accounting for the period July 27, 1956,
to August 8, 1957:
TREASURER'S REPORT
MEMBERSHIP FEE FUND
Balance, July 27, 1956:
Cash $3,318.88
U. S. bonds, Series K 5,000.00
$8,318.88
Receipts:
Membership fees $1,186.00
Gifts and donations 43.00
Interest on bonds 138.00
Interest, Bowlus gift 27.60
1,394.60
$9,713.48
Disbursements $1,234.24
Balance, August 8, 1957:
Cash $3,479.24
U. S. bonds, Series K 5,000.00
8,479.24
$9,713.48
THE ANNUAL MEETING
JONATHAN PECKER BEQUEST
93
Balance, July 27, 1957:
Cash $20.56
U. S. bond, Series K 1,000.00
$1,020.56
Receipts:
Interest on bond $27.60
Interest on savings account 2.48
30.08
$1,050.64
Balance, August 8, 1957:
Cash $50.64
U. S. bond, Series K 1,000.00
$1,050.64
JOHN BOOTH BEQUEST
Balance, July 27, 1957:
Cash $117.07
U. S. bond, Series K 500.00
$617.07
Receipts:
Interest on bond $13.80
Interest on savings account 1.26
15.06
$632.13
Balance, August 8, 1957:
Cash $132.13
U. S. bond, Series K 500.00
$632.13
THOMAS H. BOWLUS DONATION
This donation is substantiated by a U. S. bond, Series K, in the amount of
$1,000. The interest is credited to the membership fee fund.
ELIZABETH READER BEQUEST
Balance, July 27, 1957:
Cash (deposited in membership fee fund) $775.19
U. S. bonds, Series G 5,200.00
$5,975.19
94 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Receipts:
Bond interest ( deposited in membership fee fund )
Disbursements, books
Balance, August 8, 1957:
Cash (deposited in membership fee fund) $595.19
U. S. bonds, Series K 5,500.00
$6,095.19
$6,105.19
STATE APPROPRIATIONS
This report covers only the membership fee fund and other custodial funds.
Appropriations made to the Historical Society by the legislature are disbursed
through the State Department of Administration. For the year ending June
30, 1957, these appropriations were: Kansas State Historical Society, including
the Memorial Building, $207,970; First Capitol of Kansas, $3,822; Kaw Mis-
sion, $4,333; Funston Home, $1,300; Old Shawnee Mission, $12,280.
Respectfully submitted,
MRS. LELA BARNES, Treasurer.
On motion by Wilford Riegle, seconded by Frank Haucke, the
report of the treasurer was accepted.
President Clymer then called for the report of the executive com-
mittee on the post-audit of the Society's funds by the State Division
of Auditing and Accounting. The report was read by Will T. Beck:
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
October 11, 1957.
To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:
The executive committee being directed under the bylaws to check the
accounts of the treasurer, states that the State Department of Post- Audit has
audited the funds of the State Historical Society, the Old Shawnee Mission,
the First Capitol of Kansas, the Old Kaw Mission, the Funston Home, and
Pike's Pawnee Village, for the period July 27, 1956, to August 8, 1957, and
that they are hereby approved. WILL T. BECK, Chairman,
CHARLES M. CORRELL,
JOHN S. DAWSON,
FRANK HAUCKE,
T. M. LILLARD.
Fred W. Brinkerhoff moved that the report be accepted. James
Malone seconded the motion and the report was adopted.
The report of the nominating committee for officers of the Society
was read by Will T. Beck:
THE ANNUAL MEETING 95
NOMINATING COMMITTEE'S REPORT
October 11, 1957.
To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:
Your committee on nominations submits the following report for officers
of the Kansas State Historical Society:
For a one-year term: Alan W. Farley, Kansas City, president; Richard M.
Long, Wichita, first vice-president; and E. R. Sloan, Topeka, second vice-
president.
For a two-year term: Nyle H. Miller, Topeka, secretary.
Respectfully submitted,
WILL T. BECK, Chairman.
The report was referred to the afternoon meeting of the board.
The following resolution was presented by Charles M. Correll:
RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING REMODELING OF THE G. A. R. HALL
Whereas, there is on the second and third floors of the Memorial Building
in Topeka a large auditorium known as the G. A. R. Hall which occupies a
substantial portion of said floors, and
Whereas, said auditorium is seldom used because of its poor arrangements
and acoustics, and
Whereas, a smaller hall to be used for meetings and lectures is badly needed,
therefore
Be it resolved by the directors of the Kansas State Historical Society, and
it is hereby ordered: That the Secretary shall, as soon as practicable, request
an opinion from the state architect as to the feasibility of remodeling the
G. A. R. Hall with a view to constructing a smaller hall and utilizing the re-
maining area more efficiently, and if such remodeling is found to be practical
shall at an appropriate time petition the legislature of the State of Kansas for
funds to accomplish said remodeling;
And be it resolved by the directors of the Kansas State Historical Society:
That the name of the Grand Army of the Republic, which the present audito-
rium now bears, shall be suitably perpetuated by the Society in naming the
new hall.
And be it further resolved by the directors of the Kansas State Historical
Society: That the Secretary shall cause copies of this resolution to be made
and sent to the Governor and to each House of the Legislature.
The resolution was explained and after discussion Charles M.
Correll moved its acceptance. Alan Farley seconded the motion
and the resolution was adopted.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
96 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY
A luncheon in the roof garden of the Jayhawk hotel opened the
annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society at noon.
About 200 members and guests attended.
The invocation was given by the Rev. Ernest Tonsing, pastor of
the First Lutheran church, Topeka, who is a grandson of Former
Governor John A. Martin.
Following the meal the secretary introduced the special guests.
These included Governor and Mrs. Docking, Historical Society
officers and their wives, Ray H. Mattison of the National Park
Service, Omaha, Neb., and members of the Greater Kansas City
Posse of the Westerners.
After folk songs by Prof, and Mrs. William E. Koch of Manhattan,
President Clymer addressed the meeting.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 97
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT
A GOLDEN ERA OF KANSAS JOURNALISM
ROLLA A. CLYMER
KANSAS, pausing momentarily in its steady, forward stride,
today harbors a stirring centennial sentiment. Three years
ago, this state observed its territorial centennial anniversary. Four
years from now, we will all be joyfully acclaiming the completion
by Mother Kansas of a full 100 years of statehood.
We who ponder the historical progress of our state need no
formal reminder of the immensity of the task that was necessary
to break open the hard shell of a rich and virgin land. Our mem-
ories turn in constant tribute to those sturdy settlers who came in
living flood a hundred years, and more, ago. These were the true-
hearted who came and stayed — who planted their pilgrim banner
firmly upon the plains and prairies, and who eventually created
from this lovely Kansas parallelogram the stronghold of their
liberties and the domain of their dreams.
It is strictly significant that in those dark and confused years,
the printed word helped to keep alight the power of the spirit in
Kansas. The first printing press and a few fonts of type followed
closely the footsteps of the Rev. Jotham Meeker, 'lie that speaks
good words," and of blessed memory, who appeared among the
Shawnee Indians 20 years before the territorial act.
The missionary's press was used primarily in the printing of
religious matter, and it was not until two or three months after
Kansas became a territory, when type for the Leavenworth Herald
was set under a tree, that the first newspaper appeared.
The Herald was quickly followed by the Herald of Freedom at
Lawrence and by other vigorous specimens of their kind. Since
those early beginnings, the newspaper has flourished in this state —
where both soil and climate seem to have contributed to its un-
quenchable vigor.
The early-day editors were both rugged and valiant. The times
called for boldness and plain speech — and they responded in kind.
While it is not our purpose today to discuss them in detail, we are
free to acknowledge that they were peculiarly gifted with the nec-
essary elements to infuse the Kansas paper with the rare and dis-
tinctive flavor it has borne ever since.
7—1958
98 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Their papers, as the state grew in stature and sloughed off its
pioneer traces, emerged from provincial mode and habit about the
time the 19th century turned into the 20th. Therefore, in our life-
times, many of us have seen the old flatbed press and movable types
pushed into obscurity by the modern perfecting press and the swift,
precise processes that feed it.
In the early 1900's the average weekly newspaper owner in
Kansas was taking less cash out of his enterprise than he paid his
foreman, whose going wage was then about $12 a week. Fifty
years later the printing and publishing industry has risen to such
dimension in tangible value that it ranks among the state's first ten
group enterprises. To point the startling change that has occurred
in the newspapers' financial status, only a few months ago in this
Year of Our Lord, the publisher of a daily paper in a moderate-
sized Kansas town cheerfully invested a million dollars solely in
the building necessary to house his plant.
Thus, as Kansas has surged swiftly upward in its evolution in a
fleeting half century of time, its newspapers have sped along with
it — and, more than that, their editors have provided counsel and
color and leadership in many of its growing phases.
Not many years after the 20th century rolled upon Time's stage,
I was a stripling lad living with my parents in a little northern
Kansas town. One day, without any rubbing of Aladdin's lamp,
a kindly elf led me through the door into the mysteries of a country
printing office. My legs were barely long enough to reach the
pedals of a foot-powered press, but I was a willing neophyte — and
there I stayed.
I have been there ever since — if not in that particular office, at
least in others of its kind, all the way. Printer's ink has been for
me, I imagine, much as ambrosia and nectar were for the gods —
a lifting stimulant — and it has never lost its allure. While I have
been engulfed by its potent elixir, I have been in position to view
at close range the Kansas newspaper men and women who have
written a romantic chapter of history for their state and their pro-
fession.
A stately procession of newspaper titans has marched across the
Kansas scene in a span of 50 years. Perhaps no other state has had
so many of them, or of such surpassing superiority, in any compar-
able period. They came from no common source — those titans.
They were different in background and character and in personal
traits — but all of them were endowed, in one fashion or another,
with the true newspaper touch.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 99
Theirs was the spirit of Kansas — lifting its heavy head from the
pioneer epoch behind it. Gone were the days of hardship and
abject futility — though abundance was not yet at hand. The signs
were clear that ahead lay the witching reality of fulfillment. So
these toilers at the tripod — looking forward with inexhaustible zest
— set themselves to the work of their hands, and strode with Paul
Bunyan tread upon the earth and the fulness thereof.
And I — I was a witness, playing a small role and a faint fiddle in
the stirring drama — but I saw it all. Today I offer my testimony
before this high court — neither as a witness for the plaintiff nor
the defendant, but as a friend of the court. If I seem to have viewed
these performers through rose-colored glasses, please remember
that many of them helped to write imperishable pages of Kansas
history, that the works of those who are dead have lived after
them — and that all are worthy of that supreme designation, "mag-
nificent dust."
Now the titans march again — back across the stage where they
wrought their handiwork, affording those who watch a fleeting
glimpse of the traits and virtues they personified, which have been
impregnated into the marrow of this state.
First and foremost among them all was William Allen White of
Emporia — and probably every Kansan will agree with this estimate.
He was unique in his mold; no other Kansas editor has matched
him in sheer ability, in the depth of his wisdom and vision or in
range of influence. A Kansan to the core and never departing
from his home land as a base, he nevertheless exercised a powerful
sway upon national thought. "As authentic a saint as ever wrote
American/' declared Ellery Sedgwick in terse appraisal of his
capacity.
Mr. White gained eminence in the three fields of newspaper
making, of creative literature and in politics and government. His
contributions to any of these would have rendered him lasting
fame; taken as a whole, they are prodigious in their sum. Coloring
all these and endearing him to countless hundreds of people was
his gay and infectious personality, and the tenderness of his heart.
On his 65th birthday — and ten years before he died — he wrote
that his life's motto had been the words he saw emblazoned on a
large carnival banner at Coney Island one night, "Ain't it grand
to be bughouse?" And then he quickly made the serious point that
"there is no insanity so devastating in a man's life as utter sanity.
It will get him quicker than whisky."
100 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
His philosophy was broad and down to earth, and could be dem-
onstrated by a myriad of examples. One day, when I was a reporter
for his paper, he asked me if anyone had mentioned a particularly
challenging editorial he had published the day before. Reluctantly,
I said no. And then he declared, in that breezy and sincere way
of his: "It doesn't matter. Always remember this — you are not
entitled to any favorable comment about anything you write. Your
responsibility ends when you have published it. Your sole duty
is to be absolutely certain that you did your dead, level best when
you wrote it."
In the more than 13 years that have passed since he left us, a
great void has existed where he once stood, "thumbing his nose at
the future, and throwing kisses at the past."
Among the rare newspaper geniuses that Kansas has produced
was Edgar W. Howe, of the Atchison Globe. He was doubtless
the best straight-away reporter that this state ever had, and he
built up the prestige of his paper on the power of the personal
item. He was also an able business man; in the period around 1912
when purse-proud editors were scarce, Mr. Howe was netting
$20,000 a year from his newspaper without a job printing office.
He retired from the paper in 1912, only to enhance his national
reputation through the medium of Howes Monthly and gain stand-
ing as the "Sage of Potato Hill." He wrote about a dozen books,
The Story of a Country Town being a standout. But his fame
mainly rests upon the thousands and thousands of short items which
he wrote about folks and their foibles. Carl "Snort" Brown, who
worked for the Globe for many years, once said that Howe was
an unparalleled reporter because he "dug jokes, jests, useful infor-
mation and cold facts, figures and fiction out of farmers, merchants,
bankers, railroad men, preachers, peddlers, gamblers, hack drivers,
janitors, doctors, dentists and blooming idiots. Mr. Howe, bless
his gizzard, never acted like a journalist."
Hundreds of Howe's paragraphs are still going the rounds, and
here are some that reflect the universality of them all:
"The Lord never intended that a father should hold a baby, or
He would have given him a lap."
"When you say 'everybody says so/ it means that you say so."
Victor Murdock, the son of a famous sire — Marsh Murdock of
the Wichita Eagle — was one of the most gallant figures of the past
half century. Tall and of commanding presence, with a shock of
bright red hair standing up like an oriflamme, enthusiastic, vocal,
THE ANNUAL MEETING 101
he embodied a fascinating personality. The fighting strain ran
strongly in his blood, and he satisfied its urge in many epic struggles
as an insurgent congressman battling against the forces of en-
trenched conservatism.
His political and public career was long and vivid, but he was
a true newspaper man all the way. He was an indefatigible worker,
who possessed the rare art of combining alliterative words into
short sentences. His flair for human interest stories developed as
a young reporter was still with him years later when he became
editor-in-chief.
He wrote with power — and he had what was probably the most
extensive vocabulary among all his contemporaries. Once, dis-
embarking from a streetcar in the middle of a busy Wichita street,
he held a small knot of friends spellbound for several minutes —
while traffic buzzed by — with his vivid description of a word he
had just found in the New York Times. This deponent was in that
group and confesses with shame that he has forgotten what that
word was — but he can still see Murdock swinging away from the
scene, slapping the paper against his leg, head up with the pride
of discovery.
He not only accepted life greedily, but he took life by the nape
of the neck and shook it, thus gaining more than his share of thrills
perhaps. Mentally and spiritually, he bowed to no man in this
generation.
Charles F. Scott, of the Tola Register, was described by a con-
temporary as being "one of the few living Kansans worthy to be
called a gentleman."
He engaged largely in public life, served as a Kansas congress-
man and ran unsuccessfully for higher office. But his newspaper
life was always the ruling passion for this gracious man, who wrote
effortlessly with a smooth, pleasing, persuasive style. After his
death, a friend wrote:
"His literary style partook of the grace of his character. He wrote
in repressed fashion — but every sentence was a block that fit into
a pleasing, well-considered whole. A gleaning of the Scott editorials
over five decades would make a volume to add to the classical litera-
ture of Kansas/'
Here are illustrative lines taken from an address he delivered on
Kansas Day, 1892:
"Kansas does what she starts out to do. No weakness. No hesi-
tation. No timorous shivering on the brink. No retreating. No
102 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
whining. No cowardice. What she undertakes she does. The
road she starts on is the road she travels. She is never discouraged.
She never sulks. She never gets rattled. Steadily, buoyantly, with
the keenest intelligence, with courage that no disaster can daunt,
she is climbing to the shining stars. And the world loves her!"
Charles F. Scott was a rare spirit — in his sanctum, on the streets,
in a group of his friends, on the public forum, in the church pulpit
where he ably presided on occasion, on the golf course — a man
among men, and yet living zestfully in the charming sphere of his
orderly mind's own making.
Henry J. Allen was a bouncy and ebullient sort. No setback
stopped him for long. He possessed in high degree that intangible
known as color; he was both loved and hated. When he first ran
for governor, he carried every county in the state; when he ran
for election as senator, an office to which he had been appointed,
he was badly beaten — and particularly in his home precincts.
Mr. Allen's newspaper experiences were varied. He was a first-
class reporter, a persuasive editor and a successful publisher. He
tried his hand at several Kansas newspaper properties before he
paid $100,000 for the Wichita Beacon in 1905— an act that set the
state by the ears. But he made that venture pay enormously. He
was otherwise gifted. In a vocal age, his was a genuine silver
tongue — "the greatest orator Kansas has produced since John J.
Ingalls," many said. No major conclave over many years was com-
plete without his golden voice lifted in eloquent stanzas.
He served as governor and senator, he was boomed for President
and he came within an eye-lash of winning the Republican vice-
presidential nomination in 1920. He kept ever busy at various en-
deavors, not neglecting the Allen interests, and maintained a wide
personal popularity.
His flashing wit was famous. He and a friend were talking one
day about a public figure. Said the friend, "I can't believe that
man is honest." "Oh, yes," replied Henry comfortably, "he's honest
all right, but he's not a fanatic about it."
At a campaign meeting at Olathe in 1932, the chairman intro-
duced Allen, saying: "Not since Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown
has any man made such an impression on the U. S. senate as the
junior senator from Kansas has achieved."
When Henry took the floor, he exclaimed: "Some may think our
chairman too enthusiastic, but I enjoyed every word of his intro-
duction. So far as I am concerned, he could have gone back before
Cornwallis."
THE ANNUAL MEETING 103
Arthur Capper was not noted as a writer or a speaker, but as a
publisher and statesman he was immense. By dint of his strict
Quaker honesty and his unfailing diligence, he built up a publishing
empire at Topeka that ranked with the greatest in the Mid-West.
Through his confidence-inspiring personal traits, as well as the power
of his papers, he gained an enormous following all over Kansas —
and wielded vast influence with the common folk for many years.
As governor, and later during his long tenure as U. S. senator, he
exercised a potent hand in public affairs — and never let his constit-
uency down. A soft-spoken, shy, and plain man, he nevertheless
held his own with the bull-voiced and assertive paladins who sur-
rounded him.
No man in the newspaper field in Kansas in the past half cen-
tury was held in greater respect than Charles Moreau Harger, of
Abilene, who spent 68 years in editorial offices. He was a shrewd
and talented man, achieving a multitude of accomplishments in
newspaper making, in literary effort, Republican politics and the
public service. He possessed a marked beauty of writing, and his
style was terse and concise — for that's the way he thought.
He was the friend and confidante of many public men, including
Dwight D. Eisenhower and several other Presidents. A year or
two before his death, he was the recipient of the first annual award
for journalistic merit by the William Allen White Foundation. In
his modest acceptance of that award, he referred to his advanced
age and said that life had led him on "into the 90's — a restricted
area in which few persons ever enter." He died at age 92.
Among some of the enduring lines which he wrote were those
of the "Kansas Creed" — to which every succeeding generation in
Kansas now pays tribute — and beginning with the simple, stately
words: "We believe in Kansas, in the glory of her prairies, in the
richness of her soil, in the beauty of her skies, in the healthfulness
of her climate."
Over at Parsons was a handsome, jut- jawed man — Clyde M. Reed
— who might well have served Kipling for the model of his toast —
" 'ere's to you Fuzzy- Wuzzy, with your 'ayrick 'ead of 'air" — a first-
class fighting man. He didn't exactly go out looking for trouble
but he found plenty of it round and about — and he never backed
off one step from any battle. He had brains and the power of
expression — and in many of his editorials he ruthlessly tore down
the veils hiding private and public iniquity.
He was variously an ace in the postal service, a railroad tariff
expert, governor, and U. S. senator, as well as an editor and pub-
104 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
lisher of parts. It was natural that such a man as he would make
enemies, and he made some powerful ones. At the same time, how-
ever, he was also making friends — and these were bound to him
with cables of steel. No more intriguing figure than Clyde Martin
Reed embellished the Kansas newspaper family during the past
half century.
George W. Marble, of the Fort Scott Tribune-Monitor, was a
crusader who discerned and fiercely battled what he considered
the evils of his time. He wrote scores of vigorous and slashing edi-
torials, which were always on the liberal side of the fence in con-
tent, and held his torch high for the greater uplift of humanity. A
Democrat by political faith, he published an independent news-
paper; only once was he persuaded to run for office, and that was
for the United States senate. When he lost, he eschewed political
participation forever.
He was a sound business man whose hobby was cows; he per-
sisted in his efforts for the upgrading of dairy cattle in Kansas to
the point where one of the first milk condenseries in this section of
the country was established in his home town. The career of this
brilliant, fair-minded man who was highly esteemed by his news-
paper associates was cut short when he died at age 59.
W. Y. Morgan, gay and bright-eyed Welshman, gained fame as
publisher of the Hutchinson News. His forte was zest and charm;
he made friends easily and kept them; his hands were always busy
in a spate of affairs; his undersized figure threw a long shadow in
his day.
He was a writer of parts and a shrewd and astute business man;
his paper prospered and was respected. He held several state
posts in which he served honorably, but when he essayed to become
governor he suffered a painful defeat by Jonathan Davis.
The grace of "Billy" Morgan shone round about and illuminated
the court of the titans.
Paul A. Jones was a full-fledged admiral of the Kansas navy —
and the rampant red-head from Lyons. He constantly kept the
Kansas pot boiling with his provocative editorials and barbed para-
graphs. His Lyons News — normally a 4-page daily — was eagerly
sought in every newspaper office in the state to see what new form
of hypocrisy and sham he had attacked.
His salty observations left no lasting sting, for humor rode on
all his words — humor and a lasting love for humanity which was
returned tenfold. A frolicsome caballero and a Democrat, he served
THE ANNUAL MEETING 105
as a sort of Daniel in a den of Republicans — but he lambasted the
New Deal along with the severest Republican critics. He was a
student of the Spanish influence in the Southwest United States —
and wrote two fascinating books on the subject. When he died,
now almost four years ago, a charm went out of the Kansas news-
paper circle that has never been restored.
Harold T. Chase, while not a publisher, achieved a wide follow-
ing as an editorial writer for the Topeka Daily Capital over many
years of stewardship. W. A. White once estimated that if Chase's
editorial writings were compiled, they would make the equivalent
of 131 full-sized novels, or 196 books on current history, and eco-
nomic, political, and social topics.
"His work was consistently honest, intelligent and courageous/'
praised White. Mr. Chase's contemporaries cordially accorded him
high professional ranking — and the reputation he fairly won has
carried his name into the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame.
"Comrade" J. M. Mickey, another warrior who was among the
most pungent and powerful writers of his era, served the Leaven-
worth Times for many years — and lived past his 97th birthday. A
relentless fighter, he was a fit editorial functionary for some of the
rough times that surged about him — though he could also write
with tenderness and compassion.
A contemporary has testified: "A polemic by nature in thought
and action, he never approached a question by sap or mine or
encirclement. For him the assault on any position which did not
meet his approval was by direct attack from the front."
The procession of our titans grows long in passing. There was
Jess C. Denious, of the Dodge City Globe, a mild but immensely
substantial man who made a shining success with his newspaper
as well as in the field of friendship. He might have won to almost
any Kansas elective office, had he so desired, but was content to
serve as state senator and lieutenant-governor. . . . And there
was Jack Harrison, who for 15 years (from 1914 to his death in
1929) made the Beloit Gazette a forceful voice in Kansas. A friend
characterized him after his death as the "best historian, the most
classical scholar — and a constructive objector who asked no quarter
and knew nothing of the meaning of fear."
At Coffeyville, the eminently wise and sensible Hugh J. Powell
held forth with his Journal whose editorial page got down to the
meat of every matter every day, and which prospered under the
astute touch of its owner. ... At Leavenworth, the son and
106 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
grandsons of Col. Daniel R. Anthony have carried on the fame and
fortune of the Times even unto the fourth generation. . . . Here
marches the square-toed and combative Harry L. Woods of the
Wellington New s; the industrious and always effective Roy F. Bailey
of the Salina Journal; the able Gene Howe — chip off the old block —
who forged his chief newspaper fame in Texas; the burly, bass-
voiced and always lovable Carl "Snort" Brown, of the Atchison
Globe; the solemn and plodding J. L. Bristow of Salina who became
a U. S. senator; John Redmond, the busy and obliging publisher
of the Burlington Republican, whose memory is still so green after
his death four years ago that his name has been suggested for the
new federal reservoir along the Neosho; John Mack, the Solid
Muldoon of the Newton Kansan who might well be called the father
of the modern highway system in this state; Will Townsley, of the
Great Bend Tribune; Frank Motz, pepper pot of the Hays News;
Charles S. Finch, of Lawrence; and J. L. Brady, both of Baldwin
and Lawrence; Jackson T. "Doc" Moore, of the Pittsburg papers;
Herb and Wilfrid Cavaness, Chanute; R. C. "Dick" Howard, of
Arkansas City; W. G. Anderson, of the Winfield Courier.
Among those who are still adding hugely to the laurels of the
profession are Fred W. Brinkerhoff, the old master of the spoken
and printed word who exerts powerful influence on public opinion
through the Pittsburg Headlight and Sun, and whose place in the
king row of the titans is already firmly established; John P. "Jac^"
Harris and Dolph Simons, of the Hutchinson News and other Harris
papers and of the Lawrence Journal-World respectively. Both of
these last are exceptionally gifted, inasmuch as they possess busi-
ness genius of a high order, and also can write like angels. Then
there are such sparkling scions of famous fathers as Clyde M. Reed,
Jr., at Parsons; Angelo C. Scott at lola; Watson Marble at Fort
Scott; J. C. Denious, Jr., at Dodge City, as well as Henry Jameson
who is performing with distinction at Abilene.
The steadily moving titans embody among their number a group
of those who, with thorough understanding and regard of the news-
paper function, have also exercised the Midas touch. Among these
may be mentioned Frank P. MacLennan of the Topeka State Jour-
nal, Oscar S. Stauffer, who heads an imposing assembly of news-
paper properties and who has scored one of the signal successes
of his generation; Fay N. Seaton, of Manhattan, who founded the
Seaton newspaper dynasty; W. C. Simons, of Lawrence; Marcellus
M. Murdock, of the Wichita Eagle; and the Levands — Max and
Louis and John, of the Wichita Beacon.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 107
No review would be complete without inclusion of Walt Mason,
fat poet of the Emporia Gazette, who was also an editorial writer
of vigor and skill, who read the dictionary through on occasion to
enrich his already massive vocabulary, and who lived by the motto
hung over his desk, "Cheer Up; there ain't no other heir; of Laura
M. French, who ripped to shreds the copy of shrinking cub reporters
and eventually made of them fitting graduates of the William
Allen White "school of journalism"; or of Brock Pemberton, who
had worlds of newspaper talent but left a lasting name in the field
of drama.
Topeka has contributed a vast number of capable and illustrious
men to the newspaper ranks. Among these, whose names spring
instantly to mind, are Arthur J. Carruth II, T. A. McNeal, A. L.
"Dutch" Shultz, Jay E. House, Charles Sessions, J. Frank Jarrell,
Henry S. Blake, Charles Trapp, Jay B. Iden, Walter A. Johnson, W.
R. Smith, Oscar K. Swayze, Harvey G. Parsons, E. B. Chapman,
Clif Stratton, Milt Tabor.
Wichita has been distinguished by such worthies as Dave Leahy,
Farmer Doolittle, J. Burt Doze, Charles Driscoll, Elmer T. Peterson,
Sid Coleman, Bliss Isely, Hank Givens, Paul I. Wellman, Josh Wil-
son, Lester F. Kimmel, Dick Long.
Then, there was that trio — the salty Fred Trigg, the affable Lacy
Haynes and the industrious Alvin McCoy, a Pulitzer prize winner —
all of the Kansas City Star, which has been a staunch friend to the
entire Kansas newspaper family.
Women have also played a most helpful role in attainment of
the high standards that the Kansas press has gained over past years.
This record would be remiss without mentioning, at least, a few
of the many whose contributions have been of marked value.
One thinks of the sprightly Nellie Webb, of the Atchison Globe;
of Marion Ellet, the talented sweet-singer of Concordia, whose
spiritual-like description of Kansas wheat fields "a-moverin*, a-mov-
erin', a-moverin' " under the wind's light feet, as well as many other
of her charming and sentimental word pictures have thrilled her
readers; Anne Searcy, of Leavenworth; Anna Carlson, of Lindsborg;
Mrs. Cora G. Lewis, of Kinsley; Mrs. Zula Bennington Greene,
Topeka, the "Peggy of the Flint Hills"; Bertha Shore, Augusta, the
blithe and uninhibited spirit of the Walnut Valley; Jessie P. Strat-
ford, of El Dorado; Mrs. Mamie Boyd, of Mankato and Phillips-
burg, ageless and tireless worker in the vineyard — and scores of
others.
108 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Thus far in our accounting of the sterling figures who made a
glory and an epic of the Kansas press in a fabulous 50 years, we
have been mostly concerned with those who were affiliated with
daily publications. But the weeklies, too, had their stars — men of
devotion, of energy and of perception — and the array of them
swirls as one of the brightest galaxies in the Kansas newspaper
firmament.
At least a dozen of these have won to lasting distinction by inclu-
sion in the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame, which was started 26
years ago. Their designation in that select company eloquently
attests to the respect in which they were held in their lifetimes and
afterwards, as well as to the enduring marks they left upon their
time.
We think first of one of them who is still, most fortunately, with
us and still in the newspaper harness — Will T. Beck, the grand
gentleman of the Holton Recorder, who was the second recipient
of the William Allen White Foundation award for journalistic merit.
Closely following comes Gomer T. Davies, the vocal and brilliant
Welshman who caused his beloved Concordia Kansan to move like
an army with banners. Gomer, who lived well into his 90's, had
lost half of one leg in a mining accident in Wales in his youth, and
ever therafter wore an artificial peg. He was the object of much
affectionate spoofing by his fellow scribes, who always sent the
same paragraph on its rounds of the papers about February of each
year to the effect that an early spring was in prospect because the
sap was beginning to run in Comer's wooden leg.
Then, there was Tom E. Thompson, the Polk Daniels of the
Howard Courant — and his Sophie and Pip Daniels, who made
merry with their neighbors in every issue of their sparkling paper;
and
E. E. Kelly, long of Toronto, later of Garden City, a schoolmaster
turned editor, whose wit scintillated like a rapier in play;
Leslie E. Wallace, the modest publisher of Larned's Tiller and
Toiler, who possessed in superlative degree the true touch of the
born newspaper man;
O. W. Little, of Alma, whose Enterprise blasted with blizzard-
like fury when any of his newspaper friends referred to a blizzard
as a blizzard, who was the Kansas Press association's first secretary,
and who was beloved by all;
W. E. Blackburn, a serious and determined type whose "October
in Kansas" still ranks with the best of any Kansas prose;
THE ANNUAL MEETING 109
W. C. Austin, courtly pilot of the Chase County Leader, who
afterwards served long and faithfully as state printer;
J. M. Satterthwaite, the saintly "Neighbor Joe" of the Douglass
Tribune — editor, state legislator, and churchman, who published
papers in El Dorado and Douglass for 70 years and was near 95
when he died;
A. Q. Miller, the keen and enterprising Kansan who built his
Belleville Telescope into one of the finest weeklies to be found any-
where on the continent;
Frank Boyd, staunch and steadfast in his ways, whose papers at
Mankato and Phillipsburg gave him state-wide standing;
B. J. Sheridan and W. D. "Billy" Greason, rivals whose papers at
Paola were models of weekly publication;
Seth Wells, the red necktie man from Erie, whose hustle and
diligence was a parable in its time;
Frank Henry Roberts, of the Oskaloosa Independent, who had the
oldest paper owned by one family in Kansas, who also lived into
the tenth decade of his life, who testified that he always had fun,
and that he "just stood still while the years rolled by."
Asa F. Converse, soft-spoken and admired editor of the Wells-
ville Globe; W. C. Markham, the scholarly helmsman of the Baldwin
Ledger; H. J. Cornwell, the solid man who owned and operated
the St. John News for 44 years; the friendly Lew Valentine of Clay
Center; George C. Adriance, of Sabetha; Ed Eaton, of the Gardner
Gazette, much cherished all his days; Homer Hoch, of Marion,
congressman and justice of the supreme court who wrote a Lincoln
classic; Col. Charles H. Browne, of Horton; Ben Mickel, of the
Soldier Clipper; Frank P. Frost, of the Eskridge Independent; J. E.
Junkin, of the Sterling Bulletin; W. W. Graves, of the St. Paul
Journal; Ewing Herbert, of the Brown County World at Hiawatha;
Clark Conkling, of Lyons; Austin V. Butcher, of the Altoona Trib-
une, who rollicked through life with his pals, "Mace Liverwurst,"
and "Kate Bender," the nudist queen; H. E. Brighton, of the Long-
ton News; W. F. Hill of the Westmoreland Recorder; George Har-
man, of Valley Falls; Drew McLaughlin, of Paola; Earl Fickertt,
of Peabody; W. E. Pay ton, of Colony —
One might go on and on. Perhaps your chronicler may have
overlooked some who justly deserve a place in this accounting —
yet whether they are specifically named or not, the records of them
all, great and small, have been woven inextricably into the fabric
that is Kansas.
110 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
And so this "phantom caravan" has flowed along before us today —
a wondrous cavalcade of knightly spirits who left an indelible im-
print upon the state which they cherished. Their return from out
the mists and shadows — if only for a fleeting instant — assuredly
brings back to us, in some degree, a perception of the discourage-
ments and delights, the failures and the fortune, the trials and the
triumphs that fell to their lot.
These men and these women were the recorders and the inter-
preters of the swiftly-changing and kaleidoscopic scene in their
span. They not only set down, in buoyant, yet meticulous, fashion
the narrative of the history in the making about them — but they
also helped to make that history.
Their state was moving toward the stars — and they moved with
it — always in the van and even out ahead on occasion. They were
dreamers and prophets and seers and missionaries and crusaders,
but always doers — and while their heads may have been above the
rose-tinted clouds at times, their feet were ever planted upon the
solidity of Old Mother Earth.
These were they who, by the labor of their hands and the valor
of their hearts, brought to pass in Kansas during the first half of
the 20th century what well may be called a Golden Era of Jour-
nalism.
The first five decades of this century have constituted a prodigious
period — the crucible of cataclysmic events and vast overturns in
the mode and manner of the world. It has presented challenges
to daunt the wisest and the bravest — but these men and women
of the Kansas newspapers have met them all with such valiance
and such sagacity that today the good name of their product is
glowing at its highest point in public estimation.
For their deeds and their achievements we can freely offer the
highest praise. For the lasting nature of what they have wrought,
we can entertain the highest hope. Already the institutions they
founded and the standards they set are undergoing subtle trans-
formation. Already — with the second half of the 20th century
winging on its way — newspapers are responding with altered
format, content and methods — though unchanged in their basic
character of trustworthiness — to the thrust of modern forces about
them.
The sons of many eminent editorial sires have taken over the
reins — bright, alert, confident young men of the modern persua-
sion— and others like them are entering the field. These are now
THE ANNUAL MEETING 111
engaged in pushing the service of their newspapers into countless
virgin areas. They hold within themselves, and by the inestimable
aid of newly-devised facilities, the power to generate from their
mediums such all-embracing usefulness as their fathers never con-
ceived.
Thus, the Golden Era of the immediate past will make way for
another golden age in Kansas newspaper circles — and, after that,
still others. But we who stand upon the tongue of time dividing
these periods, may look back with affectionate gratitude upon these
titans of bygone days who enhanced journalistic endeavor here by
their mighty works — and accord to them a never-ending tranquility
in the "summer isles of Eden lying in dark-purple spheres of sea."
Following the president's address, another group of folk songs
was presented by Professor and Mrs. Koch.
Ray H. Mattison, historian, Region Two, National Park Service,
then addressed the meeting.
THE CRITERIA BY WHICH THE NATIONAL PARK
SERVICE EVALUATES HISTORIC SITES
RAY H. MATTISON
DURING the past quarter of a century the interest in history of
our country has been greater than ever before. This new
consciousness of the nation's past has been reflected in many ways.
For example, the new historical magazine The American Heritage
with which you are all familiar has proved very popular. Visita-
tion to the nation's historic shrines is exceeding all previous records.
The American Association for State and Local History has stimu-
lated great interest in history on both the state and local levels.
Specialized groups, such as the various Civil War roundtables, have
sprung up in many of the cities throughout the country. Various
corrals of Westerners, which comprise people interested in Western
history, have likewise been organized in many American cities and
even in some foreign countries. Most of these have come into
existence since World War II.
The nation has also shown an increased interest in preserving
its historic sites and buildings. These are an important body of
source materials for reconstructing, understanding, and appreciating
our country's past. A noted observer once appropriately wrote:
"Poor is the country that boasts no heroes . . . but beggard
is that people, who having them, forget/' We recognize more and
112 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
more that historic sites and buildings are a national asset. They
recall to us the most cherished of our national traditions such as
pioneer courage, as are typified by such leaders as Washington,
Jefferson, and Lincoln.
The first of our national historical areas were established in the
1890's. These included a number of Civil War battlefields, such
as Chickamaugua-Chattanooga National Military Park, Shiloh Na-
tional Military Park, Gettysburg and Vicksburg National Military
Parks. Other national military parks, battlefield sites, national
parks, memorials, national monuments, and cemeteries which
totaled in all some 40 areas, were subsequently authorized and
placed under the War Department jurisdiction. These were trans-
ferred to the National Park Service in 1933.
In 1906 congress authorized the President, through the antiquities
act, to establish by proclamation national monuments on lands
owned or controlled by the federal government, provided the areas
in question possessed historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric
structures, or other objects of scientific interest. Among the places
saved under this act were the Tumacacori Mission, in southern
Arizona, Inscription Rock and Gran Quivira in New Mexico, Scotts
Bluff in Nebraska, and Castillo de San Marcos in Florida.
Other areas were established by congressional action. Among
the better known of these were Abraham Lincoln National Historical
Park, Kings Mountain National Military Park, Fredericksburg and
Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park, and Co-
lonial National Military Parks. At the present time, the Park
Service has 82 federally-owned historical areas under its jurisdiction.
Prior to 1935 the only way a historical area could become a part
of the National Park System was ( 1 ) by Presidential proclamation,
in case the historic site or building was on federal lands, and (2)
by a special act of congress.
In 1935 congress, by the national historic sites act, set up new
machinery by which the federal government could take the initiative
in selecting historic sites and buildings and objects of national sig-
nificance for preservation by the federal government. It authorized
the Secretary of Interior, through the National Park Service, to plan
and execute a program for the survey, acquisition, development and
operation of historic and archeological sites of exceptional value
for commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States.
Congress in the following year established a code of procedure
to carry out the provisions of this act. This code directed the Na-
THE ANNUAL MEETING 113
tional Park Service to study and investigate historic and prehistoric
sites and buildings throughout the United States, and to list, de-
scribe, tabulate and evaluate such sites for the purpose of develop-
ing a long-range plan for their acquisition, preservation and use.
The National Park Service during the late 1930's began such a study,
known as the National Historic Sites and Buildings Survey. Before
the survey was completed, World War II brought it temporarily to
an end. In 1936 also, the Secretary of Interior established an ad-
visory board on national parks, historic sites, buildings, and monu-
ments comprising 11 persons, including nationally recognized au-
thorities in the field of history, archeology, architecture, etc., to
advise the National Park Service in the conduct of the historic sites
survey and other National Park Service matters. This board meets
about three times a year in key cities of the United States.
In classifying historic sites, the advisory board has grouped the
history of the United States into 16 different themes, listed below:
I. Spanish Exploration and Settlement.
II. French Exploration and Settlement.
III. Dutch and Swedish Colonial Settlements.
IV. English Colonization to 1700.
V. Development of the English Colonies, 1700-1775.
VI. The War for American Independence.
VII. Political and Military Affairs, 1783-1830.
VIII. The Advance of the Frontier to 1830.
IX. Political and Military Affairs, 1830-1865.
X. The War Between the States, 1861-1865.
XL Westward Expansion and the Extension of National
Boundaries, 1830-1898.
XII. Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture to Within Fifty Years.
XIII. Travel and Communication.
XIV. Development and Conservation of National Resources to
Within Fifty Years.
XV. The Arts and Sciences to Within Fifty Years.
XVI. The United States as a World Power, 1898—.
Most of the historic sites in Kansas would probably fall in Theme
XL This would likewise be true of most of the historic sites in
Nebraska, Colorado and the Dakotas.
To determine if a historical or an archeological area should be-
come a part of the National Park System, the Service has set up
criteria for selecting sites.
8—1958
114 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The determining factor in the preservation of a historic area by
the national government is that it must possess certain matchless
and unique qualities which entitle it to a position of first rank
among historic sites. The quality of outstanding national signifi-
cance or uniqueness exists:
( 1 ) In such sites as are naturally the points or bases from which
the broad aspects of prehistoric and historic American life can
best be presented, and from which the student of the history of
the United States can sketch the large patterns of the American
story. An example of an area of this type is Jefferson National Ex-
pansion Memorial in St. Louis. As you know, St. Louis was a focal
point in the Westward movement. It was the point from which
many of the exploring expeditions, such as Lewis and Clark, Zebu-
Ion Pike, the Astorians, and Stephen H. Long, set out. It was the
center of the fur trade for the trans-Mississippi West. The city also
played an important role in the overland migration over the Santa
Fe and Oregon trails and the later military operations on the Mis-
souri river.
(2) An area is considered to have outstanding significance and
uniqueness if it is associated with the life of some great American
and which may not necessarily have any outstanding quality other
than that of association. An example of an area of this type is the
birthplace of George Washington Carver, famous Negro scientist,
at Diamond, Mo.
(3) A site also is considered to possess outstanding significance
if it is associated with some sudden or dramatic incident in Ameri-
can history, which is unique and symbolic of some great idea or
ideal for the American people. The Perry Victory and International
Peace Memorial, in Ohio, which commemorates Perry's naval victory
during the War of 1812 and a century of peace between the United
States and England is an area in this category.
One might wonder why Mount Vernon, the home of George
Washington, and Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, are
not national areas. I am sure that both would qualify. However,
both these national shrines are being adequately preserved and
interpreted by other agencies than the national government. When-
ever a historic site or building is being satisfactorily preserved by
a state or local, or quasi-public agency, the National Park Service
gives every encouragement possible and in some instances provides
technical assistance to those organizations to continue their good
work.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 115
Unfortunately all sections of the country have not contributed
equally to the history of our nation. As a result, some states have
a number of national historical areas; others have none. Virginia,
for example, has eight national historical areas.
The National Park Service also endeavors to maintain a logical
balance between the various historical themes so that a well-
rounded pageant of America may be presented and undue emphasis
not be placed on one particular epoch in American history. Some
claim the Service has too many Civil War battlefields. There are
24 of these in the Park Service. This is largely the result of the fact
that many of these areas were established many years ago and
they have since been transferred to the National Park System.
Some themes, such as "French Exploration and Settlement" are not
adequately represented. Others are not represented whatever.
Integrity of a site or building is likewise an important factor in
designating a national area. If a historic building has undergone
considerable architectural changes or has been moved from its
original setting, it will not be given as great a consideration as one
which has undergone few alterations or is in its original location.
However, consideration in the selection of sites for national
designation must be given to practical as well as theoretical grounds.
Unfortunately many historic sites and buildings are located in the
heart of big cities. For example, it would be impossible to give
the atmosphere of an early 19th century trading post in the heart
of modern Kansas City. Abstract themes such as our cultural
advancement are impossible to interpret in terms of historic sites.
These are only a few of the more practical aspects in selecting a
national area.
In the MISSION 66 program, the National Park Service is pre-
paring a comprehensive National Park System Plan which will
point out areas needed to round out the System, and also to identify
areas now in the Service which might be appropriately administered
by other agencies. To implement this program in the field of his-
tory, congress has voted funds to renew the National Historic Sites
and Buildings Survey which the Park Service began in the late
1930's and was brought to an end during World War II. We be-
lieve that four years will be required to complete this work. Under
this program, it will be the job of the Region Two Office, National
Park Service, to inventory and evaluate the principal historic sites
in ten states: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North and South Da-
kota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. The sur-
116 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
vey of the Old Santa Fe trail in Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado, is
a project of first priority.
I might add that in the past several years many of us in the Na-
tional Park Service have had occasion to visit a number of the
historic sites which are being administered by the Kansas State
Historical Society. The Society is to be congratulated for the ex-
cellent work it is doing in preserving the areas which it administers
and getting the maximum benefits for the funds it expends in this
direction.
Following Mr. Mattison's address the report of the committee
on nominations for directors was then called for and was read by
Will T. Beck:
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS FOR DIRECTORS
October 11, 1957.
To the Kansas State Historical Society:
Your committee on nominations submits the following report and recom-
mendations for directors of the Society for the term of three years ending
in October, 1960:
Bailey, Roy F., Salina. Long, Richard M., Wichita.
Baughman, Robert W., Liberal. McArthur, Mrs. Vernon E.,
Beezley, George F., Girard. Hutchinson.
Beougher, Edward M., Grinnell. McCain, James A., Manhattan.
Bowlus, Thomas H., lola. McFarland, Helen M., Topeka.
Brinkerhoff, Fred W., Pittsburg. McGrew, Mrs. Wm. E., Kansas City.
Brodrick, Lynn R., Marysville. Malone, James, Gem.
Cron, F. H., El Dorado. Mechem, Kirke, Lindsborg.
Docking, George, Lawrence. Mueller, Harrie S., Wichita.
Ebright, Homer K., Baldwin. Murphy, Franklin D., Lawrence.
Farrell, F. D., Manhattan. Rogler, Wayne, Matfield Green.
Hall, Fred, Topeka. Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell.
Hamilton, R. L., Beloit. Simons, Dolph, Lawrence.
Harvey, Mrs. A. M., Topeka. Slagg, Mrs. C. M., Manhattan.
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove. Templar, George, Arkansas City.
Hodges, Frank, Olathe. Townsley, Will, Great Bend.
Lingenfelser, Angelus, Atchison. Woodring, Harry H., Topeka.
Respectfully submitted,
WELL T. BECK, Chairman,
CHARLES M. CORRELL,
JOHN S. DAWSON,
FRANK HAUCKE,
T. M. LLLLARD.
Will T. Beck moved that the report be adopted. Motion was
seconded by Wilford Riegle and the report was accepted. Members
THE ANNUAL MEETING
117
of the board for the term ending in October, 1960, were declared
elected.
Reports of local societies were called for and given as follows:
Lucile Larsen for the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society;
Mrs. Clyde E. Glandon for the Wyandotte County Historical So-
ciety; and Mrs. C. M. Slagg for the Riley County Historical Society.
There being no further business, the annual meeting of the So-
ciety adjourned. Many of the members and guests then attended
an "open house" at the Memorial building where refreshments
were served.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The afternoon meeting of the board of directors was called to
order by President Clymer. He called for a rereading of the report
of the nominating committee for officers of the Society. This was
read by Will T. Beck who moved that it be accepted. Lloyd
Chambers seconded the motion and the board voted to adopt the
report. The following were elected:
For a one-year term: Alan W. Farley, Kansas City, president;
Richard M. Long, Wichita, first vice-president; and E. R. Sloan,
Topeka, second vice-president.
For a two-year term: Nyle H. Miller, Topeka, secretary.
After the introduction of new officers, the meeting adjourned.
DIRECTORS OF THE KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
AS OF OCTOBER, 1957
DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1958
Barr, Frank, Wichita.
Berryman, Jerome C., Ashland.
Brigham, Mrs. Lalla M., Pratt.
Brock, R. F., Goodland.
Charlson, Sam C., Manhattan.
Correll, Charles M., Manhattan.
Davis, W. W., Lawrence.
Denious, Jess C., Jr., Dodge City.
Godsey, Mrs. Flora R., Emporia.
Hall, Standish, Wichita.
Hegler, Ben F., Wichita.
Jones, Horace, Lyons.
Kampschroeder, Mrs. Jean Norris,
Garden City.
Kaul, Robert H., Wamego.
Lillard, T. M., Topeka.
Lindquist, Emory K., Wichita.
Maranville, Lea, Ness City.
Means, Hugh, Lawrence.
Owen, Arthur K., Topeka.
Owen, Mrs. E. M., Lawrence.
Payne, Mrs. L. F., Manhattan.
Richards, Walter M., Emporia.
Riegle, Wilford, Emporia.
Bobbins, Richard W., Pratt.
Rupp, Mrs. Jane C., Lincolnville.
Scott, Angelo, lola.
Sloan, E. R., Topeka.
Smelser, Mary M., Lawrence.
Stewart, Mrs. James G., Topeka.
Taylor, James E., Sharon Springs.
Van De Mark, M. V. B., Concordia.
Wark, George H., Caney.
Williams, Charles A., Bentley.
118
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1959
Aitchison, R. T., Wichita.
Anderson, George L., Lawrence.
Anthony, D. R., Leavenworth.
Baugher, Charles A., Ellis.
Beck, Will T., Holton.
Chambers, Lloyd, Clearwater.
Chandler, C. J., Wichita.
Clymer, Rolla, El Dorado.
Cochran, Elizabeth, Pittsburg.
Cotton, Corlett J., Lawrence.
Dawson, John S., Topeka.
Eckdall, Frank F., Emporia.
Euwer, Elmer E., Goodland.
Farley, Alan W., Kansas City.
Knapp, Dallas W., Coffeyville.
Lilleston, W. F., Wichita.
Lose, Harry F., Topeka.
Malin, James C., Lawrence.
May hew, Mrs. Patricia Solander,
Topeka.
Menninger, Karl, Topeka.
Miller, Karl, Dodge City.
Moore, Russell, Wichita.
Motz, Frank, Hays.
Rankin, Charles C., Lawrence.
Raynesford, H. C., Ellis.
Reed, Clyde M., Jr., Parsons.
Rodkey, Clyde K., Manhattan.
Shaw, Joseph C., Topeka.
Somers, John G., Newton.
Stewart, Donald, Independence.
Thomas, E. A., Topeka.
von der Heiden, Mrs. W. H., Newton.
Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton.
DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1960
Bailey, Roy F., Salina.
Baughman, Robert W., Liberal.
Beezley, George F., Girard.
Beougher, Edward M., Grinnell.
Bowlus, Thomas H., lola.
Brinkerhoff, Fred W., Pittsburg.
Brodrick, Lynn R., Marysville.
Cron, F. H., El Dorado.
Docking, George, Lawrence.
Ebright, Homer K., Baldwin.
Farrell, F. D., Manhattan.
Hall, Fred, Topeka.
Hamilton, R. L., Beloit.
Harvey, Mrs. A. M., Topeka.
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove.
Hodges, Frank, Olathe.
Woodring, Harry H., Topeka.
Lingenfelser, Angelus, Atchison.
Long, Richard M., Wichita.
McArthur, Mrs. Vernon E., Hutchinson.
McCain, James A., Manhattan.
McFarland, Helen M., Topeka.
McGrew, Mrs. Wm. E., Kansas City.
Malone, James, Gem.
Mechem, Kirke, Lindsborg.
Mueller, Harrie S., Wichita.
Murphy, Franklin D., Lawrence.
Rogler, Wayne, Matfield Green.
Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell.
Simons, Dolph, Lawrence.
Slagg, Mrs. C. M., Manhattan.
Templar, George, Arkansas City.
Townsley, Will, Great Bend.
Bypaths of Kansas History
SOMETHING ELSE TO BLAME ON THE KANSAS BALKANS
From The Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, April 17, 1858.
A society of Free Lovers has been organized on the Neosho, in the Southern
part of Kansas. It now comprises forty members, and active exertions are
being made to extend the influence and numbers of the association. They
all take the New York Tribune, and of course are in for Freedom.
BUFFALO WITHIN THIRTY MILES OF JUNCTION CITY
From the Junction City Statesman, October 13, 1860.
BUFFALO HUNTING. — This sport is becoming quite popular. Everybody and
all their relations are indulging. Men and women, married and single, take
to it like a duck to water, or a hog to a mud-hole. Junction is nearly depopu-
lated and has been all the fall, caused by this unprecedented rush to see the
"monarch of the prairies." There's no one seriously injured yet, but we have
some hopes that the news of a fatal accident will reach us by the next express —
we mean, of course, fatal to the buffalo. They are grazing now within thirty
miles of Junction — just one-half day's ride. All who wish to get a glimpse
had better go now. We shall start in the morning on bull back! Who wants
to ride behind?
No SUNDAY BUSINESS IN MARYSVILLE
From The Big Blue Union, Marys ville, June 11, 1864.
We hear it whispered around that one of our merchants broke the solemn
pledge, last Sabbath, entered into a few weeks ago, to do no business on Sun-
day. We hope it is a mistake, and that the rumor is unfounded. The day was
quiet here in town, the stores were closed, business suspended, and it really
seemed like Sabbath, and as though we were becoming civilized. Let it con-
tinue.
BEFORE THE ERA OF COFFEE BREAKS
From The Kansas Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, March 26, 1872.
Paola can boast of a man — a doctor, — strange to say, who does not swear,
drink, smoke nor chew; and, better still, he hasn't drank a cup of coffee for
thirty-five years!
(119)
120 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
A SHORT MARRIAGE
From the Washington Republican, August 2, 1872.
LIFE IN KANSAS! . . . CHAPTER IST.— SHORT COURTSHIP.
Last week, not a hundred miles from Washington, out on the broad prairie,
and under the canopy of Heaven, two souls met and pledged heart and hand to
love, cherish and obey each other through the remaining days of their lives.
Heaven seemed to smile on the would-be happy couple, and they resolved to
have their desires consummated. An ox team at their command, and the two,
wishing to be one, vended their way to Washington. It was a happy journey.
The trees even seem to bow their branches in congratulations as the oxen
passed, and flowers by the roadside looked more beautiful than ever before.
Washington loomed up in the distance, and after a due course of time, the
oxen were stopped at the public square. After a new hat was purchased from
our friend Williams for the intended husband, by the owner of the ox team,
everything seemed then to be ready.
CHAPTER HD. — THE MARRIAGE.
Hon. Judge Wilson was never more sought for than on this occasion. A
happy group assembled at the Court House. The bride and groom entered —
Judge Wilson officiating. The ceremony was said. The knot was tied. — Two
souls were made one. Congratulations and kisses were given. The wedded
pair seemed to have a bright future in store for them.
CHAPTER IIlD. — WEDDED LIFE.
"The world is not what it seems." — The happy pair bent their way to the
ox cart. A start homeward was made. The husband not being a good ox
driver, received angry words from the wife. Storms began to cross their
pathway. Oxen received some fearful blows, and all looked dark. Storms
and darkness set in around them.
CHAPTER IVra. — A SAD PARTING.
"Dark clouds sometimes have a silver lining." Not any of this in the case
of our hero and heroine. Home was reached. Blows and angry words came
in where connubial bliss should have ruled supreme. The wife declared her
husband was one of the poorest ox drivers in Kansas, and threatened to dis-
solve her allegiance to him forthwith. The husband possessed other qualities
quite essential, yet she heeded them not. The farewell was uttered. The
golden link of wedlock snapped asunder. With tearful eyes the husband saw
the new made wife of the hour depart. He cast a last glance on the oxen
and his departed, as they receded toward the setting sun. The new-made wife
now is open to another engagement, but the husband of the hour, has fairly
resolved never, never to marry a woman with a pair of horn cattle.
HE SHOULD KNOW THE WHITE MEN TODAY
From the Ellis County Star, Hays City, July 6, 1876.
Running Antelope, a Sioux chief, says that when he learned that the white
men had killed their Saviour, he was astonished, but he changed his mind when
he got better acquainted with them.
Kansas History as Published in the Press
Publication of a 60-page Indian Peace Treaty special edition by
The Barber County Index, Medicine Lodge, October 3, 1957, marked
the approach of the seventh performance of the Indian Peace Treaty
pageant and a three-day celebration at Medicine Lodge, October
11-13. Among the historical articles in the edition were: "Forrest
City Tells Sad Story of Birth and Death of Many Towns," "Battling
Carrie's [Nation] First Raid," "Famous Men of Frontier Here for
Treaty Meeting," "Suspicious Indians, and Wary Whites Gathered
Here to Complete Peace," and "Work to Set Treaty Terms."
Stories of pioneer life, by Orvoe Swartz, Oklahoma City, have
been published in recent issues of the Bushton News, beginning
August 22, 1957. Swartz was born on a Kansas homestead in 1878.
Late in 1907 the Everest Christian church was organized, ac-
cording to a history of the church, compiled by Lena Holley, in
the Everest Enterprise, October 3, 1957.
Biographical sketches of the 11 presidents of Kansas State Teach-
ers College, Emporia, began appearing in Orville Watson Mosher's
column, "Museum Notes," in the Emporia Gazette, October 5, 1957.
Lyman B. Kellogg was the school's first president.
Items of Doniphan county history were printed in the Highland
Vidette, October 10, 1957, and on October 31 the Vidette published
historical notes on the Highland Presbyterian mission and Highland
College.
A history of the pony express entitled "Rugged Riders Fathered
Southwest Mail Service," by Beatrice Levin, was published in the
Wichita Eagle, October 13, 1957. The Eagle also printed "Kansans
Revive Pre-Civil War History," by Lynne Holt, the story of Fort
Scott's campaign to preserve buildings and relics of old Fort Scott,
November 10; and "Adventure, Peril Marked Santa Fe Trail," by
Philip S. Edwards, January 19, 1958.
Heinie Schmidt's column, "It's Worth Repeating," continues to
appear regularly in the High Plains Journal, Dodge City. Included
in recent months were: A biographical sketch of Richard L. Hall,
Minneola pioneer, October 17, 1957; the story of the longhorns
along the Dodge City-Ogallala trail, by Mrs. Cora Wood, October
(121)
122 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
24; a biographical sketch of Benjamin L. Stotts, November 14; a
biographical sketch of Hercules Juneau, November 21 and 28;
"Homesteader's [Zacariah F. Hodson] Life Recalls 1874 Grasshop-
per Plague," December 5; and "Christmas in 1884," December 26.
Mrs. Ruth Jackson is the compiler of a Wallace county history
which began appearing in The Western Times, Sharon Springs, Oc-
tober 24, 1957.
An 88-page "Abilene Has It" edition of the Abilene Reflector-
Chronicle was issued October 30, 1957. Several articles reviewed
phases of Abilene history and one summarized the history of the
community of Holland.
"Built in 1870's, Monrovia School House Still Serves," is the title
of a short article by Charles Spencer in the Atchison Daily Globe,
October 30, 1957, giving the history of the Atchison county school.
On January 19, 1958, the Globe printed a history of Highland Col-
lege, founded in 1858.
Historical articles in recent issues of the Butler County News, El
Dorado, included: a biographical sketch of Ella Shriver Otten,
Towanda artist, October 31, 1957; "Life in Oil Fields," a history of
the Midian community, by Mrs. Cyril L. Green, November 14 and
21; and sketches of the Dr. L. A. Harper and Jedediah Hull families,
December 26.
A history of the Cedar Vale Methodist church was published in
the Cedar Vale Messenger, October 31, November 7, 14, and 21,
1957. The church had its beginning in 1871 as the Greenfield cir-
cuit.
The church history of the Mt. Pleasant community, Dickinson
county, by Mrs. Frank Entriken, was printed in the Hope Dispatch,
October 31, 1957. At least five congregations have been active in
this area, first of which were the Fairview Methodist and Presby-
terian churches.
Garnett's First Christian church was organized in the autumn of
1857 by John Ramsey in the Cornelius Anderson home, a history
of the church in the Garnett Review, November 4, 1957, reports.
Sam McDaniel was the first pastor.
In observance of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the
Ottawa United Presbyterian church, the Ottawa Herald printed a
brief history of the church November 7, 1957.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 123
Horton's First Baptist church was organized November 16, 1887,
it is related in a history of the church printed in the Horton
Headlight, November 14, 1957. The Rev. W. A. Biggart was the
first pastor.
Articles of historical interest appearing in the Hutchinson News
in recent months included: a description of the private museum
established and maintained by Mr. and Mrs. Merle Young of Pretty
Prairie, by Ted Blankenship, November 10, 1957; "Pretty Prairie
Founded by Widow [Mary Newman Collingwood], Mother of
Nine," by Blankenship, November 24; the reminiscences of S. F.
Miller, November 28; and "Early Day Disasters Plagued Ellsworth's
Survival," by Ruby Basye, December 15.
Emporia's First Congregational church observed its centennial
November 24, 1957, and histories of the church appeared in Em-
poria newspapers: the daily Gazette, November 18; Weekly Gazette,
November 21; and Times, November 28. Other historical articles in
the daily Gazette recently included: a history of the First Chris-
tian church of Emporia, September 28, 1957; the recollections of
J. W. Bolton concerning Twin Mound school, October 18; a history
of the Emporia First Presbyterian church, November 7; a series of
articles based on reports made from Emporia during 1857-1858 by
the Rev. Grosvenor C. Morse to the American Home Missionary
Society, December 4, 5, 6; and the reminiscences of C. L. Soule in
regard to the opening of the Cherokee Strip, January 21, 1958.
Historical articles in recent issues of the Independence Daily
Reporter included: "Cholera Epidemic in 19th Century Spread
Much Like Asian Influenza," by Lily B. Rozar, November 18, 1957;
a history of the Independence public library, November 24; the
story of a battle between Indians and Confederate officers near
Independence in 1863, by Lily B. Rozar, December 15; and a history
of the Elk City Methodist church, January 26, 1958.
"A Chapter of Rawlins County History," by Alfaretta Courtright,
was published in The Citizen-Patriot, Atwood, November 21, 1957.
Many early families, businesses, and schools are mentioned.
Some of the early history of Neosho Falls, by Mrs. Belle Mefford,
was published in die lola Register, November 27, 1957. The first
settlers arrived in the area in the spring of 1857.
A history of Arcadia, by G. W. Corporon, was published in two
installments in the Fort Scott Weekly Tribune, November 28 and
124 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
December 5, 1957. Arcadia, first called Findlay (or Finley) City,
had its beginning in the early 1860*8.
Harold O. Taylor has written a story about the Marais des Cygnes
massacre of May 19, 1858, which was published in the Pittsburg
Headlight, Topeka State Journal, and Newton Kansan, November
30, 1957; and the Manhattan Mercury, December 1.
A history of the First Baptist church of Fredonia appeared in the
Wilson County Citizen, Fredonia, December 5, 1957. The church
was organized December 18, 1882, and the first minister was the
Rev. A. E. Lewis.
Scott City's history was reviewed in a six-column article published
in the News Chronicle, Scott City, December 12, 1957. Portions of
the article are quoted from a brochure published in the middle
1880's to promote settlement in the Scott City area. Scott City was
chartered in 1885.
Mrs. Hal Russell has recalled some of her experiences as an early-
day school teacher in the Bird City area in a two-column article
published in the Bird City Times, December 26, 1957.
An article entitled, "William Dean Howells, Ed Howe, and The
Story of a Country Town," by James B. Stronks, was published in
American Literature, Durham, N. C., January, 1958.
Publication of Virginia Johnson's series, "Gardner — Where the
Trails Divide," in the Gardner News, has continued in recent issues.
Gardner's history also appeared in a 73-page booklet by Mrs. John-
son and under the same title, as a centennial publication.
Kansas Historical Notes
Burlington celebrated its 100th anniversary September 28-Octo-
ber 3, 1957. Events during the period included a centennial ball,
special religious services, historical pageant, parade, and other
appropriate features.
More than 300 persons attended the annual Kiowa county old
settler's reunion in Greensburg, October 3, 1957. Mrs. Mernie Ely
was chosen president of the group. Other officers are: Mrs. E. E.
Davis, vice-president; Mrs. B. O. Weaver, secretary; and Mrs. Jessie
Keller, treasurer.
Angelo Scott addressed the annual meeting of the Allen County
Historical Society in Tola, October 8, 1957, on the life of Frederick
Funston. The following directors were elected during the business
session: Lewis Drake, W. C. Caldwell, and Nat Armel, Humboldt;
R. L. Thompson and Stanley Harris, Moran; Mrs. Mary Ruth Car-
penter, Mary Hankins, Spencer Card, and Angelo Scott, lola.
The seventh quinquennial presentation of the Indian peace treaty
pageant was held at Medicine Lodge, October 11-13, 1957. The
outdoor pageant is presented every five years in observance of the
1867 treaties between the government and Indians made near
Medicine Lodge. However, the pageant is scheduled to be given
next in 1861, the year of the state's centennial.
Robert Jennison, Healy, was elected president of the Lane County
Historical Society at its meeting in Dighton, October 14, 1957.
Other officers elected were: Walter Herndon, vice-president; Mrs.
Arle Boltz, secretary; Mrs. Dale Jewett, treasurer; and Frank Vyci-
tal, A. R. Bentlcy, and Mrs. W. A. Charles, directors. The featured
speaker at the meeting was Lea Maranville, president of the Ness
County Historical Society.
Homer D. Cory was named president of the Leavenworth County
Historical Society at a meeting in Leavenworth, October 17, 1957.
James E. Fussell was elected first vice-president; Mrs. Jesse M.
Jones, second vice-president; Mrs. Gorman Hunt, secretary; and
Col. Ralph Stewart, treasurer. Re-elected to the board of directors
were: E. Bert Collard, Sr., D. R. Anthony, III, Byron Schroeder,
Ruth Burgard, Hans Freinmuth, George S. Marshall, and J. V. Kelly.
Mrs. Jones was the retiring president.
(125)
126 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Re-elected for two-year terms at the annual meeting of the Dick-
inson County Historical Society at Mount Pleasant church, near
Abilene, October 17, 1957, were: B. H. Oesterreich, Woodbine,
president; Mrs. A. W. Ehrsam, Enterprise, first vice-president; and
Mrs. Carl Peterson, Enterprise, secretary. Other officers are: Mrs.
Ray Livingston, Abilene, second vice-president; Mrs. Walter Wil-
kins, Chapman, treasurer; and Marion Seelye, Abilene, historian.
Dr. C. W. McCampbell was the principal speaker at the annual
meeting of the Riley County Historical Society October 18, 1957,
in Manhattan. Officers elected included: Wm. E. Koch, president;
N. D. Harwood, vice-president; Sam Charlson, treasurer; Homer E.
Socolofsky, recording secretary; Mrs. C. M. Correll, membership
chairman; Mrs. G. B. Harrop, corresponding secretary; Ed Amos,
historian; Mrs. C. M. Slagg, curator; Mrs. Max Wolf, publicity
secretary; and Mrs. C. B. Knox, James Carey, and Earl Ray, direc-
tors. Mrs. Slagg was the retiring president.
Mrs. Yolande M. Smith was installed as the new president of the
Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society, October 28, 1957. Other
new officers are: Mrs. Roy E. Boxmeyer, first vice-president; Mrs.
Robert F. Withers, second vice-president; Mrs. Eugene Kotterman,
recording secretary; Mrs. W. A. Carr, corresponding secretary; Mrs.
John L. Smith, treasurer; Margaret Hopkins, historian; Mrs. E. H.
Walmer, curator; Mrs. John Barkley, member-in-waiting; Mrs. G. W.
McAbee, chaplain; and Mrs. Percy M. Miller, parliamentarian.
Lucile Larsen was the retiring president.
Mrs. Donald Booth was re-elected president of the Comanche
County Historical Society at the annual meeting November 6, 1957,
in Coldwater. Mrs. George Deewall was elected vice-president;
Mrs. Ben Zane, recording secretary; Mrs. Dan Crowe, corresponding
secretary; and F. H. Moberley, treasurer.
Tescott's history was featured at the meeting of the Ottawa
County Historical Society in Minneapolis, November 9, 1957. At
the business session Fred Miller was elected president; Ray Halber-
stadt, vice-president; Mrs. Myrtle Thompson, secretary; Mrs. Fred
Jagger, treasurer; and Mrs. C. G. Heald, reporter. Marshall Con-
stable was the retiring president. At a meeting of the society De-
cember 14, the history of the Niles area was presented, and the his-
tory of Culver was the feature of the January 11, 1958, gathering.
The annual meeting and pioneer mixer of the Clark County His-
torical Society was held in Ashland, November 23, 1957, with over
130 persons in attendance. New officers chosen at the business ses-
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 127
sion included: Mrs. Venna Vallentine, president; Mrs. Florence
Walker, vice-president; Sidney Dorsey, first honorary vice-president;
Chester L. Zimmerman, second honorary vice-president; Mrs. Mel-
ville C. Harper, recording secretary; Mrs. Kathryn B. Seacat, assist-
ant recording secretary; Rhea Gross, corresponding secretary; Wm.
T. Moore, treasurer; Mrs. Dorothy B. Shrewder, historian; Leo
Brown, curator; and Willis A. Shattuck, auditor. Dorsey was the
retiring president.
The Kearny County Historical Society was organized at a meet-
ing in Lakin, November 25, 1957, and Mrs. Virginia Hicks was
elected its first president. Other officers are Mrs. Helen Rardon,
vice-president; Mrs. Edith Clements, secretary; Foster Eskelund,
treasurer; and Margaret Hurst, historian. Vivian Thomas was ap-
pointed custodian at a later meeting.
Tecumseh was the theme of the annual meeting of the Shawnee
County Historical Society in Topeka, December 5, 1957. Dr. Giles
Theilmann, director of curriculum for the Topeka public schools,
was the principal speaker. The following trustees were re-elected
for three-year terms: J. Glenn Logan, Maude Bishop, Mrs. Harold
Cone, Charles E. Holman, Tom Lillard, Helen McFarland, A. J.
Carruth, Jr., J. Clyde Fink, Mrs. Frank J. Kambach, and Leland H.
Schenck. The trustees met February 4, 1958, and elected Louis R.
Smith, president; Robert H. Kingman, vice-president; Mrs. Cone,
secretary; and Mrs. Kambach, treasurer.
Mrs. Harry M. Trowbridge was elected president of the Wyan-
dotte County Historical Society at a meeting of the society January
9, 1958. Other officers chosen included: Harry Hanson, vice-presi-
dent; Mrs. Hazel Zeller, secretary; Raymond Lees, treasurer; Harry
M. Trowbridge, historian and curator; and Mrs. James L. Gille and
Henry Gauert, trustees. Mrs. Clyde Glandon was the retiring pres-
ident. The society's annual Kansas day dinner was held January
23. Fred Brinkerhoff, Pittsburg editor, was the principal speaker.
Elected to the board of directors of the Old Fort Hays Historical
Association, Inc., at a meeting of its sponsoring group, the tourist
and convention committee of the Hays Chamber of Commerce,
January 24, 1958, were: Paul Ward, Austin Evans, Gene Baird,
Clarence Isbell, and Dale Dunn. Bylaws for the association were
adopted and plans were made for membership promotion.
Roy L. Bulkley, Topeka, was named president of the Native Sons,
and Mrs. Hobart Hoyt, Lyons, president of the Native Daughters at
the business meeting of the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas
128 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in Topeka, January 28, 1958. Other officers selected by the Native
Sons included: Wayne T. Randall, Osage City, vice-president;
Dean Yingling, Topeka, secretary; and Floyd R. Souders, Cheney,
treasurer. Evelyn Ford, Topeka, was elected vice-president; Mrs.
J. C. Tillotson, Norton, secretary; and Mrs. Chester Dunn, Oxford,
treasurer, of the Native Daughters. The Rev. Dale Emerson Turner,
pastor of the Plymouth Congregational church, Lawrence, was the
principal speaker at the dinner meeting of the organization. Mrs.
Olive Ann Beech, president of the Beech Aircraft Corporation,
Wichita, was presented the "Kansan of the Year" award.
"Prominent Women of the Last Quarter of a Century" was the
theme of the annual meeting of the Woman's Kansas Day Club in
Topeka, January 29, 1958. The president, Mrs. Edna Peterson,
Chanute, presided and gave a report of the year's work. Mrs. Lu-
cile Rust, Manhattan, was elected president for the new year.
Other officers elected include: Mrs. Harry Chaff ee, Topeka, first
vice-president; Mrs. Eugene McMillin, Lawrence, second vice-pres-
ident; Mrs. Paul Wedin, Wichita, recording secretary; Mrs. Claude
Stutzman, Kansas City, treasurer; Mrs. J. Raymond Smith, Parsons,
historian; Mrs. McDill Boyd, Phillipsburg, auditor; and Mrs. Marion
Beatty, Topeka, registrar. District directors are: Mrs. Lawrence
Gabel, Topeka, Mrs. L. B. Gloyne, Kansas City; Mrs. Vincent Mc-
Cune, Chanute; Mrs. Larry Vin Zant, Wichita; Mrs. Clyde Lillard,
Great Bend; and Mrs. Rosemary Siebert, Beloit.
Directors elected for two-year terms by the Finney County His-
torical Society at the tenth annual meeting in Garden City, February
11, 1958, were: Edward E. Bill, John R. Burnside, C. H. Cleaver,
A. M. Fleming, Abe Hubert, Clifford R. Hope, Jr., Mary Hope,
Lester McCoy, Delia Gobleman, Will Renick, and Cecil Wristen.
Amy Gillespie was elected to fill an unexpired term. R. G. Brown
is president of the society.
Kinsley has a new building — a 34- by 15-foot sod house. Built as
a tourist attraction, the "soddy" is the result of the combined efforts
of the Kinsley Booster Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and city
officials.
A private museum has been opened to the public at the bank
building in Scottsville. Items were collected and the display ar-
ranged by Mr. and Mrs. Carl Cox as a hobby. A description of the
museum and of some of the articles on display, by Cosette Mclntosh,
appeared in the Beloit Gazette, December 26, 1957.
THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Summer 1958
Published by
Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka
NYLE H. MILLER KIRKE MECHEM JAMES C. MALIN
Managing Editor Editor Associate Editor
CONTENTS
WAR AND POLITICS: The Price Raid of 1864 . Albert Castel, 129
With three water colors, by Samuel J. Reader, illustrating incidents of the
Price Raid, frontispiece.
THE SACKING OF LAWRENCE Alan Conway, 144
THE EVOLUTION OF A HOME GROWN PRODUCT,
CAPPER PUBLICATIONS Homer E. Socolofsky, 151
With an illustration of an 1878 printed letter from Arthur Capper, facing
p. 160, and photographs of Arthur Capper and the Capper building,
facing p. 161.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 — T. B. TAYLOR, JOEL MOODY, AND
EDWARD SCHILLER James C. Malm, 168
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY, 1857-1862: Part Two,
1858-1861 Edited by Edgar Langsdorf and R. W. Richmond, 198
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY,
Compiled by Alberta Pantle, Librarian, 227
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 250
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 251
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . . . 253
The Kansas Historical Quarterly is published four times a year by the Kansas
State Historical Society, 120 W. Tenth, Topeka, Kan., and is distributed free to
members. Correspondence concerning contributions may be sent to the manag-
ing editor at the Historical Society. The Society assumes no responsibility for
statements made by contributors.
Entered as second-class matter October 22, 1931, at the post office at To-
peka, Kan., under the act of August 24, 1912.
THE COVER
"The Battle of the Big Blue, October 22, 1864,"
an 1897 painting in oil by Samuel J. Reader of Topeka.
The picture is in the museum of the Kansas State His-
torical Society.
THE KANSAS
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Volume XXIV Summer, 1958 Number 2
War and Politics: The Price Raid of 1864
ALBERT CASTEL
THE people of Kansas early in the fall of 1864 probably felt
more secure than at any time since the beginning of the war.
To the south, the Confederate Trans-Mississippi armies were deep
in Arkansas and Texas. To the east, QuantrnTs bushwhackers had
been forced by Order No. 11 into central Missouri where they no
longer threatened the border.1 Only in the west did the Plains
Indians continue to disturb the outer fringe of settlements, but they
did not constitute a serious menace to the state as a whole. Conse-
quently, Kansans were inclined to regard the war as being prac-
tically over so far as they were directly concerned. Aside from the
usual subjects of crops and the weather, their chief interest was
the forthcoming state election.2
This election was being contested by the rival Republican fac-
tions of Sen. James H. Lane of Lawrence and Gov. Thomas Carney
of Leavenworth; the Democrats, a hapless and persecuted minority,
had found it "inexpedient" to nominate candidates of their own.
Governor Carney, a rich wholesale merchant, owed his office to
Lane's influence, but had quarreled with him over patronage mat-
ters, and now desired to supplant him as senator. Lane, for his
part, was desperately resolved to secure re-election and so main-
tain his long-held domination of state politics. Under the name of
"The Union Party," the Lane Republicans met at Topeka on Sep-
tember 8 and nominated Col. Samuel J. Crawford of Garnett for
governor and Sidney Clarke of Lawrence for congressman. Five
days later the Carney wing, calling itself "The Regular Republican
Union Party," likewise assembled in Topeka and named a slate
DR. ALBERT CASTEL, a native of Kansas, is an instructor in history at the University of
California, Los Angeles.
1. Order No. 11, issued by the Union military authorities on August 25, 1863, required
all the inhabitants of the Missouri border counties of Jackson, Cass, and Bates, with the
exception of those living in certain specified towns, to evacuate their homes by September
9. The order was occasioned by the Lawrence massacre of August 21, 1863, and was
intended to deprive QuantruTs guerrillas of the support of the population of the area.
2. The above descriptions concerning the attitude of Kansans in the fall of 1864 are
based on a study of the surviving newspapers, journals, and letters of the period.
(129)
130 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
headed by Judge Solon O. Thacher of Lawrence and Gen. Albert
L. Lee of Doniphan county. A victory by the Union party would
mean Lane's re-election when the legislature convened in January,
whereas a Thacher-Lee success would result in the legislature elect-
ing Carney.
In the fierce campaign which followed, Lane enjoyed the power-
ful advantages of President Lincoln's support and of control of the
regular state Republican organization. However, he had accumu-
lated many influential enemies during his stormy career, was blamed
in some quarters for unpopular military and railroad policies, and
had alienated Leavenworth, then the state's most populous town,
because Rep. A. Carter Wilder of that city had not been renom-
inated for congress.3 As the election drew near, the Carney faction
was confident of victory, while Lane was so despondent over his
prospects that a friend found him suffering from "appalling" melan-
choly, even "aberration of mind/' 4
Before the election could take place, however, the political sit-
uation was radically altered by a series of military events over
which neither Lane nor Carney had any control, but which were
to be very helpful to the former and extremely harmful to the
latter. On September 19, a Confederate army of 12,000, mostly
cavalry, marched northward into Missouri. In command was Maj.
Gen. Sterling Price, a former governor of that state. With him were
the hard-riding Missourians of Gens. Jo Shelby and John Marma-
duke, and the Arkansas troops of Gen. James Fagan. Price was
determined to make one final effort for the Confederate cause in
Missouri. He planned to strike at St. Louis and Jefferson City,
march up the Missouri river to Kansas City, and withdraw south-
ward by way of Kansas and the Indian territory. Recruits, plunder,
and the encouragement of Confederate adherents were his main
objectives.5
Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, federal commander of Mis-
souri, had been aware for some time of Price's intentions, but had
relied on the Union forces of Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele in Arkan-
sas to contain the Confederates. Steele, however, had remained
behind the fortifications of Little Rock and had done nothing to
3. See Albert Castel, "A Frontier State at War: Kansas, 1861-1865" (Ph. D. disserta-
tion, University of Chicago, 1955), pp. 351-356, 377, 383-385, 388, 389.
4. Letter of Charles Robinson to Mrs. Sara T. Robinson, October 16, 1864, "Charles
and Sara T. Robinson Papers," manuscript division, Kansas State Historical Society; White
Cloud Kansas Chief, September 1, 8, 1864; John Speer, Life of Gen. James H. Lane
(Garden City, Kan., 1897), pp. 333, 334.
5. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1881-1901), Series I, v. 41,
pt. 1, pp. 626, 627; pt. 2, pp. 1023, 1024, 1040, 1041. (In subsequent references this
work will be cited as Official Records. )
THE PRICE RAID OF 1864 131
halt Price. This failure left Rosecrans in an extremely perilous
situation. His army of about 17,000 men was scattered throughout
Missouri fighting guerrillas, and a large portion of it consisted of
militia and recruits. As soon as he learned that Price had evaded
Steele he began hurriedly concentrating all available troops, and
at the same time obtained permission to use Maj. Gen. A. J.
Smith's veteran infantry corps, then at Cairo, 111., en route to Sher-
man's army.
Definite information as to Price's movements was lacking, and
Rosecrans at first thought that his destination was western Mis-
souri. Therefore, when he received word on September 24 that
Shelby was near Pilot Knob, in the southeastern corner of the state,
he ordered Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing, Jr., to go there and ascer-
tain whether Price was moving in that direction. If so, Ewing was
to delay him as long as possible in order to gain additional time
for strengthening the defenses of St. Louis.6
Ewing arrived at Pilot Knob on September 26 and on the follow-
ing day was attacked by Price. Although the Confederates heavily
outnumbered his garrison, Ewing beat off the assault and retained
possession of the fort. However, he lost nearly one fourth of his
command, and realized that another Confederate attempt would
be successful. Hence, under cover of night, he evacuated the fort
and slipped away to the northwest. By this gallant stand at Pilot
Knob, called by one writer "The Thermopylae of the West," Ewing
accomplished his mission of developing Price's plans and delaying
his advance. Moreover, he inflicted heavy casualties on Price's
army, blunting its fighting edge for the remainder of the campaign.7
Price merely demonstrated against St. Louis and Jefferson City,
as both towns were now too heavily garrisoned to be attacked suc-
cessfully. On October 10 he reached Boonville, on the Missouri
river, where he remained nearly four days. During this period
1,200 to 1,500 Missourians, including Bill Anderson's bushwhackers,
joined his army. He also sent orders to Quantrill to raid the Han-
nibal and St. Joseph railroad, but Quantrill did not receive the or-
ders and took no part in the campaign. On October 13, after a
skirmish with the advance elements of Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleason-
ton's cavalry division, which had been sent by Rosecrans in pur-
suit of the Confederates, Price left Boonville and headed west
toward Kansas.8
6. Ibid., pt. 1, pp. 307-309, 447; pt. 2, pp. 717, 967; pt. 3, pp. 82, 83, 113.
7. Ibid., pt. 1, pp. 446-450, 628-630, 679, 680, 709.
8. Ibid., pp. 340, 345, 387, 388, 630-632.
132 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The commander of the Department of Kansas was Maj. Gen.
Samuel R. Curtis. A West Point graduate, amiable and likable, he
had commanded the victorious Union forces at the important battle
of Pea Ridge, Ark., fought in March, 1862. Later on, however, he
had become so deeply involved on the radical side in the factional
politics of Missouri that Lincoln was forced to remove him from
the command in that state. He owed his present post to the influ-
ence of Lane and other Western radicals, and to the personal
friendship of the President.9
Curtis first received word on September 13 when he was at a
camp on the Solomon river, where he had gone to supervise opera-
tions against the Indians, that Price had crossed the Arkansas river
and possibly would invade Kansas. With less than 4,000 regular
troops under his command, he realized that if Price did attempt to
enter the state he would have to rely largely on the militia to stop
him. Therefore he hurried to Fort Leavenworth and on September
20 requested Governor Carney to alert the militia. Carney replied
that he would do so, but indicated an unwillingness to have the
militia serve in the field. Curtis thereupon assured him that if at
all possible the militia would be employed solely in garrison duty.
For a while Curtis was under a misconception as to Price's move-
ments. Initially he thought that Price was in the vicinity of Fort
Gibson, in the Indian territory. Then a dispatch from Fort Scott
caused him to believe that Price was at Cane Hill, Ark., advancing
from there on southern Kansas. Not until September 29 did he
receive positive information in the form of a telegram from Rose-
crans telling him of the battle of Pilot Knob and stating that "the
question of Price's being in Missouri is settled." Even then he was
unsure whether Price would march toward Kansas, but when a re-
port arrived on October 5 that the Confederates were 15 miles be-
low Jefferson City he concluded that the danger was real, and asked
Carney to call out the entire state militia.10
At this juncture Curtis encountered serious opposition from the
governor. Carney, like many other Kansans, believed it unlikely
that Price would invade the state. Moreover, also like many other
Kansans, in particular those of the anti-Lane faction, he regarded
Curtis as being the mere tool of Lane. Consequently he suspected
that Curtis' intention to mobilize the militia was simply a political
trick cooked up by Lane, with the purpose of taking and keeping
the voters away from their homes and the polls until after election
9. Castel, "Frontier State at War," pp. 343. 344.
10. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 523, 524; pt. 3, pp. 279, 290.
THE PRICE RAID OF 1864 133
day, thus either preventing an election or making it possible for
the Lane faction to win it. On the very day that Carney received
the request from Curtis to order out the militia, his newspaper or-
gan, the Leavenworth Times, openly voiced this suspicion, while on
the following day Sol Miller, anti-Lane editor of the White Cloud
Kansas Chief, proclaimed:
People of Kansas, do you know that Gen. Curtis has entered into a con-
spiracy with Lane, to call out the entire Kansas Militia, to compel their ab-
sence at election time? It is the only hope Lane has of succeeding. They
admit that the danger is remote, but are determined to make Price's move-
ments a pretext for taking the voters away into Missouri, or from their homes.
Past political tricks by Lane, and his unscrupulous reputation,
made it easy for his opponents to believe that he was capable of
anything, even this.11 Therefore, instead of complying with Curtis'
request, Carney asked that the call be deferred pending the receipt
of more information regarding Price's movements. He also sug-
gested that the western counties of the state share more of the bur-
den of supplying the militia, since the border ones had been called
on many times before, the interior ones hardly at all.12 Inasmuch as
Carney's political strength lay in the eastern, Lane's in the western,
counties, the possible ulterior motive behind this proposal is ob-
vious.
Carney's reluctance to order out the militia was intensified when
on October 8 Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt arrived in Leavenworth to
replace Maj. Gen. George Sykes as commander of the District of
Southern Kansas. Blunt was the military and political henchman
of Lane, and Carney correctly believed that Sykes' removal was
made by Curtis at the prompting of Lane, who wanted Blunt to be
in a position to control the Kansas troops and militia.13 Further-
more, Carney and Blunt were bitter personal enemies.14 But on
October 9 word came from Rosecrans that Price had left the Jeffer-
son City area and was moving westward in the direction of Leaven-
worth. This left Carney little choice except to issue a proclamation
calling the militia into "the tented field until the rebel foe shall be
11. On one occasion Lane allegedly gained control of a Free-State convention by falsely
reporting that the Proslavery party was attacking Free-State settlers. — George W. Brown,
Reminiscenses of Goo. R. /. Walker, With the True Story of the Rescue of Kansas From
Slavery (Rockford, 111., 1902), pp. 129-131. On another occasion, his supporters are said
to have attempted to prevent the state legislature from voting on a matter to which he was
opposed by falsely reporting that Quantrill was about to attack Topeka. — See Troy Kansas
Chief, February 7, 1889; House Journal of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Kansas,
1864, pp. 297, 298.
12. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 3, pp. 650, 651.
13. Charles Robinson to Mrs. Robinson, October 9, 1864, "Robinson Papers"; James G.
Blunt, "General Blunt's Account of His Civil War Experiences," The Kansas Historical
Quarterly, Topeka, v. 1 (May, 1932), p. 252; Speer, op. cit., p. 286.
14. During the summer of 1863 Blunt on one occasion threatened to challenge Carney
to a duel. — See Official Records, Series I, v. 53, pp. 565-567.
134 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
baffled and beaten back." At the same time Curtis placed the state
under martial law and directed "all men, white or black, between
the ages of eighteen and sixty," to join some military organization.15
Intense excitement now gripped the state. Rumors circulated
that Price was already above Kansas City. In Lawrence an acci-
dental discharge of firearms created a near panic. At Leavenworth
the sound of bells ringing and cannon firing to summon a citizens'
defense rally caused "wild anxiety" as the townspeople thought
that the rebels were upon them. All business halted throughout
the state, and every man capable of bearing arms marched or rode
in wagons to the threatened border. Those who remained behind,
the very young and the extremely old, organized home guard units.16
Carney placed Gen. George Deitzler in command of the militia.
Deitzler's "staff" consisted exclusively of prominent anti-Lane poli-
ticians: Gubernatorial Candidate Solon Thacher, Charles Robin-
son, D. W. Wilder, John Ingalls, and Mark Parrott. At first the
militia concentrated at Olathe, but when the water supply proved
inadequate, moved on to Shawneetown. By October 16 about
10,000 militiamen were assembled near the border, with another
2,600 stationed at interior points. Nearly all the militia were poorly
equipped and armed, and badly deficient in training and discipline.
Their only uniform was a red badge pinned to their hats.
Curtis divided his forces, which he entitled "The Army of the
Border," into two divisions. The first he assigned to Blunt, who
organized it into three brigades under Cols. Charles Jennison,
Thomas Moonlight, and Charles Blair. Blunt advanced his divi-
sion to Hickman Mills, Mo., on October 14, where it formed the
right wing of Curtis' army. The other division, composed entirely
of militia, was commanded by Deitzler and constituted the left
wing. In all, Curtis had approximately 14,000 men in the field. His
plan was to make a first stand along the Big Blue river in Missouri,
then in front of Kansas City, and finally, if overpowered, at Wy-
andotte. Accordingly he had field works constructed at all these
places by colored troops and civilian volunteers.17
Day after day passed, however, without any sign of Price's army
15. Ibid., v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 467-470; pt. 3, pp. 762-765.
16. Wiley Britton, The Civil War on the Border (New York, 1904), v. 2, p. 437;
Richard Cordley, Pioneer Days in Kansas (Boston, 1903), p. 242; S. W. Eldridge, Recottec-
tions of Early Days in Kansas (Publications of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka,
v. 2, 1920), pp. 199, 200; Richard J. Hinton, Rebel Invasion of Missouri and Kansas, and
the Campaign of the Army of the Border Against General Sterling Price, in October and
November, 1864 (Chicago, 111., and Leavenworth, Kan., 1865), pp. 38, 54. Hinton was
a newspaper correspondent and served on Blunt's staff during the campaign against Price.
17. Charles Robinson to Mrs. Robinson, October 16, 1864, "Robinson Papers"; Official
Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, p. 473; pt. 3, p. 897; Blunt, "Civil War Experiences," loc.
cit., p. 253; Hinton, op. cit., p. 60.
THE PRICE RAID OF 1864 135
or authentic news as to its location and movements. A great many
Kansans decided that Price was not coming or had retreated south,
and that there was no actual peril of invasion.18 In particular the
suspicions of the anti-Lane men became rearoused, and by October
15 they were almost convinced that the mobilization of the militia
was a political trick of the wily senator after all. The pro-Carney
Oskaloosa Independent of that date expressed this view, and on
the following day ex-Gov. Charles Robinson, Lane's archenemy,
wrote his wife from Shawneetown that:
It is beginning to be thought that our being called out is all a sham & trick
of Lane & Curtis's to make political capital. We cannot hear anything of
importance as to the movements of Price. We think that we are kept in
ignorance of the true condition of affairs in order to keep the people out as
long as possible. Steps are being taken to ascertain all the facts. I have no
doubt Price has gone South & that there are only a few guerrillas prowling
about. Nobody thinks we shall have anything to do but go home in a few
days & attend to our business.19
At Hickman Mills on October 16 a serious disturbance occurred
among the militia in Blunt's division. Lt. Col. James D. Snoddy,
a pro-Carney newspaper editor from Mound City, asked Blunt to
permit his regiment to return to Linn county. Blunt of course
refused, whereupon Snoddy started to march home anyway. Backed
by another regiment, Blunt personally blocked the attempted de-
sertion and placed Snoddy and Brig. Gen. William H. Fishback of
the militia, who was also involved in the mutiny, under arrest.
Blunt's action, however, did not prevent numerous desertions by
the militia several days later when his division moved to the Big
Blue.20
The Leavenworth Times, the Lawrence Journal, and other anti-
Lane papers soon began declaring that Price was no longer in Mis-
souri and that the campaign against him was "an egregious hum-
bug." 21 Carney adherents circulated copies of these publications
among the militia, who increasingly manifested a desire "to go home
and attend to their fall plowing." Many of the militia regiments
18. O. E. Learnard to Mrs. Learnard, October 15, 1864, "Oscar Eugene Leamard
Collection," University of Kansas, v. 4 (Learnard was on the staff of Deitzler); Cordley,
op. cit., pp. 245, 246. The telegraph lines east of Leavenworth were broken on October
7. — Leavenworth Daily Conservative, October 8, 1864.
19. Charles Robinson to Mrs. Robinson, October 16, 1864, "Robinson Papers." A week
previously Robinson had been sure that Price was coming toward Kansas. — See Robinson
to Mrs. Robinson, October 9, 1864, ibid.
20. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 572, 619, 620; pt. 4, pp. 18. 22, 23, 57.
58, 94, 97; Hinton, op. cit., pp. 65, 66. Fishback, who was also a pro-Carney politician,
apologized for his part in the mutiny, and was restored to duty.
21. Leavenworth Daily Times, October 18, 19, 1864; White Cloud Kansas Chief,
October 13, 20, 1864; Oskaloosa Independent, October 22, 1864. The Western Journal of
Commerce, Kansas City, Mo., October 22, 1864, stated that the general opinion was that
Price had gone south. On this very date he was well within the present city limits of Kansas
City, Mo.!
136 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
refused to cross the state line into Missouri, or if they did so, to go
any distance. Deitzler, who believed that Price was south of the
Arkansas river and had so told his troops, supported them in their
refusal. The Leavenworth militia in particular were recalcitrant.
On October 19 they burned Lane in effigy and paraded a jackass
with Blunt's name on it through the camp at Shawneetown. And
when, on the following day, they were ordered to march into Mis-
souri, over one half of them went back to Leavenworth. Political
speeches at the Shawneetown camp by Lane and Blunt did not im-
prove matters.22
By October 20, Carney had about decided that the danger of an
invasion had ceased to exist, if in fact it had ever existed. He
therefore asked Curtis to revoke martial law and, according to a
subsequent charge by his opponents, prepared a proclamation dis-
banding the militia.23 The Leavenworth Times of that date, in an
editorial captioned "How Much Longer," also demanded that mar-
tial law be lifted, and declared that the militia should be permitted
to go home. But at this juncture, before a real crisis involving the
militia could develop, definite news as to Price's whereabouts at
last arrived. An advance detachment of Blunt's division had en-
countered Shelby at Lexington, Mo., on the 19th. Heavy skirmish-
ing had followed, with Lane in person participating with a carbine.
Blunt immediately reported the action, and slowly fell back toward
Independence, Mo. There was no longer any doubt, even among
the most skeptical Carney supporters, that Price was coming.24
Blunt continued to retreat before the advancing squadrons of
Shelby until he arrived, on the morning of October 20, at the Little
Blue, nine miles east of Independence. He decided that this stream
would be the best place to make a stand against the enemy, and
hence called on Curtis to send him reinforcements. Curtis, how-
ever, refused to abandon his plan of fighting the main battle at the
Big Blue. Carney and the militia generals were unalterably op-
posed to having the state troops serve more than a few miles be-
yond the Kansas border, and he believed that in choosing a battle
line it was necessary "to have united councils as well as a strong
position." Therefore he ordered Blunt to conduct only a delaying
action at the Little Blue with Moonlight's brigade.
22. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 4, pp. 96, 118, 144; Kansas Weekly Tribune,
Lawrence, October 27, 1864; Oskaloosa Independent, October 29, 1864; Hinton, op. cit.,
pp. 80, 81; Samuel J. Crawford, Kansas in the Sixties (Chicago, 1911), pp. 143, 144;
Blunt, "Civil War Experiences," loc. cit., p. 253; Cordley, op. cit., pp. 245, 246.
23. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 4, pp. 142, 143; Leavenworth Daily Conserva-
tive, October 26, 27, 1864; Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, November 3, 1864; Blunt,
"Civil War Experiences," loc. cit., p. 256.
24. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 574, 633; Leavenworth Dotty Times,
October 20, 1864; Hinton, op. cit., p. 52.
THE PRICE RAID OF 1864 137
At noon on the 21st, Marmaduke's division appeared and en-
deavored to force its way across the bridge that spanned the Little
Blue. Moonlight's troops were strongly posted behind stone walls
overlooking the river and were armed with repeating rifles and a
battery of howitzers. They held off the Confederates for several
hours, and finally Price had to bring up Shelby's division to assist
Marmaduke. This added pressure was too much, and Moonlight
was obliged to give way. He retreated in good order through In-
dependence and on to the Big Blue. The Confederates followed
only as far as Independence, where they went into camp for the
night.25
Curtis now had his entire army, including the militia, in posi-
tion behind trenches and barricades along the Big Blue. He hoped
to hold Price at this line until Pleasonton could close up from the
rear and destroy him. But when Price attacked at midday on Oc-
tober 22 he broke through the Union defenses with ease. Shelby
crossed the river above and below Byram's Ford and turned the
right flank of the Army of the Border, forcing it to fall back north-
ward to Westport. Several regiments of raw militia tried to stem
Shelby's advance on the prairies south of Westport, only to be
ridden down and captured "en masse." According to Confederate
sources Shelby could have kept on going, but withdrew on his own
accord with the approach of darkness. Federal accounts, on the
other hand, state that Curtis' troops rallied and drove Shelby back,
after which they voluntarily retired again to Westport.26
Meanwhile, to the east, Pleasonton's cavalry division was over a
day's march behind the Confederates, not having reached Lexington
until the morning of October 21. Pleasonton was ignorant of Curtis'
plans and movements and feared that the Kansas troops were not
yet ready or able to co-operate effectively with his force. But on
the night of October 21 Daniel Boutwell, a volunteer scout from
Curtis' army, contacted Pleasonton after a daring journey through
guerrilla infested country and told him that Curtis was preparing to
withstand Price on the Big Blue. Upon receiving this information
Pleasonton quickened his pursuit. At four P. M., October 22, he
25. Official Records, Series 1, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 476, 683; pt. 4, p. 145; Blunt, "Civil
War Experiences," loc. cit., pp. 254, 255; Brttton, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 448, 449.
26. For Confederate accounts of the Battle of the Big Blue, see Official Records, Series
I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 634, 635, 658; John N. Edwards, Shelby and His Men: or, The War in
the West (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1867), p. 425; Joseph O. Shelby, "Price's Raid," Kansas City
(Mo.) Journal, November 24, 1881. For the Union versions, see Official Records, Series I,
v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 478-485, 526, 575, 584, 585, 593; Thomas Moonlight, letter of December
5, 1881, unlabeled newspaper clipping in "Kansas in the Civil War" clippings, v. 1, Kansas
State Historical Society library; Hinton, op. cit., pp. 128-132; Crawford, op. cit., pp. 146-
148. See, also, the diary of Samuel J. Reader, October 21, 22, 1864, in manuscripts divi-
sion, Kansas State Historical Society.
138 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
reached Independence, where he engaged Price's rearguard under
Marmaduke. By nightfall he had driven Marmaduke to the Big
Blue and inflicted heavy losses on his division.27
Messengers from Pleasonton saying that he had closed up with
Price reached Curtis and Blunt at sundown — the first intelligence
they had received in three days of his movements. Yet, notwith-
standing this heartening news, Curtis ordered Blunt's division to
fall back to Kansas City. But Blunt countermanded the order and
backed by Lane, Samuel J. Crawford, and other members of Curtis'
staff, persuaded Curtis to retain the army in front of Westport.28
During the night Curtis and Blunt withdrew Deitzler's militia from
the northern portion of the front and placed them in the trenches
south of Kansas City as a reserve. Large numbers of the militia
discovered a "peculiar attraction" in the north side of the Kansas
river, and the staff officers had to threaten, then plead, to keep
them in line.
The morning of Sunday, October 23, dawned clear and cold. On
the prairie in front of Westport both Blunt and Shelby advanced
to attack. At first the battle went in favor of Shelby, as his men
forced Blunt almost into the streets of Westport. Shelby, however,
was fighting only to cover the retreat of the rest of Price's army.
Up to this point, he later declared, the campaign had been a "walk-
over," but now the Confederates were in danger of being sur-
rounded. Hence Price's only desire now was to escape to the
south with his immense train of plunder.
At this juncture disaster struck the rear of the Confederate army.
Price had assigned Marmaduke's division to protect the train,
which he had sent off to the southwest along the Fort Scott road.
Marmaduke endeavored to prevent Pleasonton from crossing the
Big Blue at Byram's Ford, but a savage onslaught by Pleasonton
drove him back. Price, fearful for the safety of his train, ordered
Shelby to come to Marmaduke's assistance. But as Shelby started
to do so the Union forces at Westport, heavily reinforced with
militia, counterattacked. Soon Shelby was not only withdrawing
to aid Marmaduke, but was being driven back by Curtis and Blunt.
Pleasonton's troopers intercepted him, and his men had to fight
27. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 340, 683; pt. 4, pp. 163. 183, 184;
Hinton, op. cit., pp. 117-119.
28. Blunt, "Civil War Experiences," loc. cit., pp. 258, 259; Moonlight, letter on the
Price raid, loc. cit.; Crawford, op. cit., pp. 148-150. Crawford asserts that Curtis wanted
to retreat all the way back to Leavenworth, that he abandoned this intention only when the
staff officers threatened to depose him and put Blunt in command. This is undoubtedly
greatly exaggerated. Blunt, who had little respect for Curtis, does not mention any such
threat in his account, and states that Curtis wished to fall back only as far as Kansas City,
which would have been in accordance with his original plan.
THE PRICE RAID OF 1864 139
their way through the Union lines. They then retreated till they
caught up with the remainder of Price's army, now in full flight to
the south.29
Blunt and Curtis pushed on till they met Pleasonton at a farm
house ten miles south of Westport. The generals held a conference
and determined to pursue Price in order both to destroy him and
protect southern Kansas. Pleasonton, however, wanted to return
to Missouri. He maintained that Curtis had enough men to take
care of Price, whereas his horses and soldiers were exhausted from
30 days of constant marching. Carney and Deitzler, who were also
present, objected. They argued that the Kansas militia should be
allowed to go home first. Curtis and Blunt supported this view,
and Pleasonton finally acquiesced. Curtis then rescinded martial
law in northern Kansas and ordered the militia from that area mus-
tered out. He retained the militia from southern Kansas since that
section was still threatened. These matters settled, the conference
ended, and the combined forces of Curtis and Pleasonton continued
on to Little Santa Fe (ten miles south of Westport in Johnson
county, Kansas ) , where they encamped for the night.30
At sunrise on October 24 the Union forces were on the march.
Curtis was in command, with Blunt's division in advance and
Pleasonton's following. A separate column under Moonlight moved
parallel to Price's right flank in order to prevent him from raiding
Mound City and Fort Scott. Price had retreated all night, but was
less than five miles ahead. The country along the line of march was
entirely desolate. Here and there were the stark chimneys of
burnt houses — called by Missourians "Jennison's monuments," in
reference to the border raids allegedly perpetrated by Kansas Jay-
hawkers led by that commander. The road was littered with broken
wagons, caissons, rifles, blankets, bits of harness, and other debris.
The Union troops captured many Confederates who had fallen by
the wayside, sick, wounded, or exhausted.
The day's march ended near Trading Post, Kan. The advance
guard found the body of an elderly preacher lying in a field, shot
by some of Price's men. His family was "frantic and crazed with
terror and grief," his cabin plundered and afire. A dead horse had
been dumped into the well. The Confederates had robbed and
29. The above account of the Battle of Westport is based on the following sources:
Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 486, 576, 635, 658, 659; pt. 4, p. 209; Hinton,
op. cit., pp. 144-181; Shelby, "Price Raid," loc. cit.; Crawford, op. cit., pp. 150-152; Blunt,
"Civil War Experiences," loc. cit., pp. 258-260. Again there are differing Confederate and
Federal versions, and even these versions contradict themselves. It would require a special
monograph to collate them.
30. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 341, 491, 492; Hinton, op. cit., pp. 175-
140 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
murdered three other settlers in the neighborhood and shot at sev-
eral more.31 These and other atrocities were probably committed
by Shelby's Missourians, in whose ranks were numerous bush-
whackers. Shelby's chief of staff, Maj. John N. Edwards, wrote a
few years later:
Shelby was soothing the wounds of Missouri by stabbing the breast of Kan-
sas. ... He was fighting the devil with fire and smoking him to death.
Haystacks, houses, barns, produce, crops, and farming implements were con-
sumed before the march of his squadrons, and what the flames spared the
bullet finished. ... If the crows could not fly over the valleys of the
Shenandoah without carrying rations, the buzzards of the prairies had no need
of haversacks. . . ,32
During the day the Union forces had gained ground on Price
and were within striking distance. Blunt, "with great pertinacity,"
urged Curtis to move around Price's western flank so as to block
his retreat, thereby compelling him to fight or surrender. Cur-
tis, however, thought that this plan was impracticable and rejected
it. He then proceeded to waste several hours shifting Pleasonton's
division to the front. At daybreak Sanborn's brigade of Pleason-
ton's division attacked the Confederates in their camp south of
Trading Post. They offered little resistance but simply resumed
their retreat, departing in great haste and leaving behind cattle,
captured Negroes, and partially cooked provisions. They at-
tempted a stand at the ford of the Marais des Cygnes, only to
abandon the position quickly when Sanborn again charged their
line.
Price continued to retreat until he reached Mine creek. Here
he was forced to halt, for his train had become bogged down in
the ford and blocked the crossing. In order to save the train he
turned back with Pagan's and Marmaduke's divisions and prepared
to give battle. But before he could complete his dispositions
Pleasonton's troopers were upon him. They thundered across the
plain at a gallop and struck Price's lines with a terrific impact.
Panic broke out among the Confederates. Men and regiments
threw away their guns and fled across Mine creek like a "herd of
buffalo." Pleasonton's troops captured over 500 Confederates, in-
cluding General Marmaduke. Only the timely intervention of
Shelby's division, frantically summoned to the front by Price, saved
the Confederate army from complete rout and destruction.
Price made another stand two miles north of the Marmaton river.
The fighting that followed was neither vigorous nor important.
31. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, p. 492; Hinton, op. cit., pp. 183-190.
32. Edwards, op. cit., pp. 447, 448.
THE PRICE RAID OF 1864 141
Only one of Pleasonton's brigades, NcNeil's, attacked, and a Con-
federate countermove nearly flanked it. The rest of Pleasonton's
division was strung out over the countryside, badly disorganized,
both men and horses exhausted. Blunt's division had failed to
catch up with the battle, and could not be expected to come up
before nightfall. Consequently Pleasonton turned his division west-
ward to Fort Scott to secure food and rest. Blunt, by some mix-up,
did not receive orders sent him by Curtis to keep after Price, but
also marched to Fort Scott. As a result Price continued his re-
treat unpursued.33
Soon after arriving at Fort Scott, Curtis abolished martial law
in southern Kansas and relieved the militia of that section from
further duty. He felt that the danger to the state was over, and
that the regular troops would now be sufficient to dispose of Price.
At noon on October 26 his army resumed the pursuit, stopping for
the night at Shanghai, Mo. The next day, however, Pleasonton
notified Curtis that he was withdrawing himself, one of his brigades,
and his artillery from the army. He gave personal illness and the
great fatigue of his troops and horses as the reason. Curtis pro-
tested, but since the army was now in Missouri, Pleasonton was
subject only to the orders of Rosecrans, who telegraphed him per-
mission to do as he desired. Pleasonton left the brigades of San-
born and McNeil with Curtis. Probably the real reason he de-
parted was because he had quarreled with Curtis over the credit
and spoils of the victories at Westport and Mine creek.
Curtis took up the march again and on the morning of October
28 reached Carthage, Mo. Blunt pushed on ahead with his di-
vision and came upon the Confederates at Newtonia. Although
he had only 1,000 men and was far in advance of the rest of the
army, he attacked, in a desperate personal gamble to win the glory
of an independent victory. But a Confederate counterattack led
by Shelby soon placed Blunt in a perilous situation. His troops,
however, held on until Sanborn's brigade arrived. The combined
forces of Sanborn and Blunt then forced Price to retreat once more,
and that evening the Army of the Border occupied Newtonia.34
Before Curtis could follow Price any farther, Rosecrans, who
regarded Curtis as incompetent, ordered Sanborn and McNeil back
to their districts in Missouri. This left Curtis with only Blunt's de-
pleted command and therefore with no alternative except to break
33. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 335, 341, 493-496, 502, 503, 559, 637,
659, 660, 684, 700; Edwards, op. cit., pp. 450-455; Hinton, ov. cit., pp. 179-238.
34. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 314, 342, 504-507, 547-549, 577, 638;
Blunt, "Civil War Experiences," loc. cit., pp. 262, 263; Edwards, op. cit., pp. 455-459;
Hinton, op. cit., pp. 266-275.
142 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
off the pursuit. Much disappointed, he was in the course of re-
turning to Kansas when he received instructions from Grant, su-
preme commander of the Union armies, to keep after Price until
he was driven south of the Arkansas river. Backed by this higher
authority he countermanded Rosecrans' orders and regained con-
trol of 1,800 of Pleasonton's troops. He then turned about and
again resumed the pursuit.35 On November 6, after a march in
a snowstorm through the rugged country of northwestern Arkansas,
he reached Cane Hill, which had been evacuated by the Confeder-
ates two days previously. Two days later his advance guard rode
up to the banks of the Arkansas river at Pheasant Ford, only to
find that Price's army had already passed over. One of the Union
batteries fired a parting salvo across the river and the campaign
came to an end.36
The same day that Curtis terminated his pursuit of Price the
voters of Kansas went to the polls. For awhile the Leavenworth
Times, whistling in the political dark, claimed a victory for the
anti-Lane Republicans, but it was soon apparent that the regular
Republican ticket had won a complete and decisive triumph. Craw-
ford received 13,387 votes and carried 28 of the state's 35 counties.
Thacher got only 8,448 votes and lost even in his home county.
Lee came much closer to defeating Clarke, losing by only a little
over 1,000 votes. Most importantly, nearly all of the new mem-
bers of the legislature were committed to Lane's re-election as
senator. On January 12 a joint session of the legislature, on the
first ballot, by a vote of 82 to 16, named Lane to another term in
the U. S. senate. Carney was not even nominated.37
Although Lane possibly would have been triumphant in any
event, owing to Lincoln's backing and his control of the Repub-
lican organization, both his adherents and his opponents were of
the opinion that the Price raid "made Lane successful." 38 Carney's
unwillingness to call out the militia, the foolish statements of the
Times, the White Cloud Kansas Chief, Deitzler, and other Carney
supporters that Price was not in Missouri, the mutinies and de-
sertions in the militia traceable to these statements, and Carney's
probable intention to disband the militia when Price was only a
35. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 511-514. Rosecrans' action in with-
drawing the troops from Curtis was in direct violation of the orders he had received from
Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, chief of staff of the Union army, and Maj. Gen. E. R. S.
Canby, commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi. — See Canby to Halleck,
October 15, 1864, ibid., pt. 3, p. 879; and Halleck to Rosecrans, October 27, 1864, ibid.,
pt. 4, p. 274.
36. Ibid., pt. 1, pp. 516, 517; Hinton, op. cit., pp. 292, 293.
37. D. W. Wilder, The Annals of Kansas (Topeka, 1886), pp. 398-404; Leavenworth
Daily Conservative, January 14, 1865.
38. Wilder, op. cit., p. 406; Speer, op. cit., p. 334.
THE PRICE RAID OF 1864 143
few miles from the state, all combined to make the governor and
his faction appear not only unpatriotic but fatuous. The Lane
newspapers did not fail to make the most of these errors by
"Carney and his bolting copperhead crew," and to contrast them
unfavorably to the supposedly heroic exploits of Lane and Craw-
ford in repelling Price and saving Kansas.39 Charges of blatant
corruption against Lane by the Carney press had little effect. As
one editor expressed it in a post-mortem on the election, if the
people of Kansas "cannot have an honest man in the Senate they
prefer that the rascal who represents them, should be a man of
brains/* 40
None of the major commanders who participated in the cam-
paign against Price emerged from it with credit. Grant angrily
removed Rosecrans and Steele for what he deemed to be their
gross incompetence in permitting Price to march clear through
Arkansas and Missouri, and he shunted Curtis, who had at least
won a nominal victory, off to the Department of the Northwest,
with headquarters at Milwaukee, Wis.41 As for Price, he was being
tried by a court of inquiry when the end of the war brought an
abrupt termination to its proceedings.42 His army had been com-
pletely shattered, and along with the other Southern forces in the
Trans-Mississippi it could only await the coming of spring and the
inevitable collapse of the Confederacy. Militarily, the Price raid
culminated the Civil War in Kansas and the West.
39. Freedom's Champion, Atchison, January 19, 1865; Leavenworth Daily Conserva-
tive, October 26, 27, November 2-4, 6, 1864; Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, Novem-
ber 3, 1864.
40. Troy Investigator, quoted in Leavenworth Daily Conservative, November 24, 1864.
41. Official Records, Series I, v. 41, pt. 4, pp. 126, 673, 674, 811; v. 48, pt. 1, pp.
656, 780.
42. Ibid., v. 41, pt. 1, pp. 701-729.
The Sacking of Lawrence
ALAN CONWAY
I. INTRODUCTION
IN 1841 the Rev. Benjamin Williams became the minister of Taber-
nacle Baptist Church in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. Fourteen
years later his son, Peter Williams, became founder, publisher,
printer, and editor of the Merthyr Telegraph, a weekly penny news-
paper which lasted until 1881. The paper was violently anti-
Catholic and fairly radical in its political ideas. When the Civil
War broke out in the United States, the initial reaction was
strangely cautious; whilst unable to support the South on account
of slavery, the paper adopted a chiding tone towards the North on
account of its failure to come out immediately in favour of emanci-
pation.
If there is any one thing which would weaken the South and strengthen
sympathy for the North it would be the determination of the latter to in-
corporate with . . . the preservation of the union, the abolition of slav-
ery. ...
But the North refuses to exercise the power placed in its hands. The rank
fumes of slavery will still contaminate the nation and the Southern plantations
re-echo the shriek of the tortured negro. The bloodhound's bay will still pro-
claim the abhorred institution's existence and the crack of the driver's whip the
domineering tyranny of the white man over the black. . . . War may rav-
age and desolate North and South, hundreds of thousands of gallant citizens
may fall, millions of money may be expended, the union must be preserved,
and with it slavery. This is the text of Mr. Lincoln's policy. Who will justify
it? ... The North requires a better cause than that of honour. . . .
Let the emancipation of the negro be her battle cry . . . and then every
patriot, every freeman, every lover of liberty will say, go on and conquer
for the redemption of the slave.1
Like many others, however, Peter Williams had to wait for Lin-
coln's Emancipation Proclamation but in his New Year editorial of
1863 he declared his intention to destroy, if at all possible the sym-
pathy among his countrymen for the "vile, tyrannical South"
created by the agents of the Confederacy with the co-operation of
the London Times.2
The opportunity to deal a telling blow in this direction occurred
in September, 1863, when an eye-witness account of the sacking of
ALAN CONWAY is a lecturer in American history at the University College of Wales,
Aberystwyth, Wales, U. K.
1. Merthyr Telegraph July 27, August 10, 1861.
2. Ibid., January 3, 1863.
(144)
THE SACKING OF LAWRENCE 145
Lawrence came into his hands. Together with a violent diatribe
against the South he printed the letter as coming from the Rev.
Samuel Roberts. The latter was a Congregational minister from
Llanbrynmair in Montgomeryshire, a man of great influence and
known throughout Wales as "S. R." Considerably troubled by the
difficulties of the Welsh tenant farmers, he organized a company
which bought 100,000 acres of land in east Tennessee in 1856 for
the purpose of founding a Welsh settlement. Disputed titles to the
land, court cases and finally the Civil War rendered the project
virtually still born and eventually Samuel Roberts followed the ma-
jority of those who had emigrated with him in 1857 to the North.
The editor of the Merthyr Telegraph, by attributing the author-
ship of the letter to Samuel Roberts, was, however, wielding a dan-
gerous two-edged weapon. Undoubtedly the latter still had great
influence in Wales but to many of the Welsh both in the United
States and in Wales itself, deeply concerned over the abolition of
slavery, Samuel Roberts was suspect, firstly on account of his at-
tempt to establish a settlement in Tennessee and secondly be-
cause he had shrewdly, if unwisely, pointed out that the abolition
of slavery could create as many problems as that of slavery itself.
Typical of such feeling was a letter written in June, 1861, from Ohio
by Humphrey and Sarah Roberts to their family:
The Welsh in America have worshipped Samuel Roberts, Llanbrynmair like
Great Diana of Ephesus. He sent a letter here to the North recently Baying
that he had swallowed the accursed doctrine of the Slave dealers in Tennes-
see. . . . If he came with his letter, the preachers of the North would
give him the coat of tar and feathers which he deserves.3
Whether the editor was aware of this feeling towards Samuel
Roberts or whether he felt his residual prestige justified the printing
of the letter is problematic.
Unfortunately, he would seem to have been mistaken on this
question of authorship, because a study of the papers of Samuel
Roberts in the National Library of Wales 4 indicates that at the
time of the raid he was travelling in Ohio and Pennsylvania. More-
over there is no knowledge of Samuel Roberts ever having been in
Lawrence, let alone the eight years mentioned in the letter, as he
did not leave Wales until 1857.
As a result of the researches of the editorial board of the Kansas
State Historical Society, the identity of the writer has been estab-
lished as that of Samuel Reynolds. The U. S. census for Kansas,
3. National Library of Wales— Ms. 2600 E.
4. National Library of Wales — "S. R.," Tennessee papers.
10—3189
146 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
1860, shows that one T. Reynolds, age 32, a native of England, was
farming in Wakarusa township of Douglas county, and S. Reynolds
held agricultural lands in the same township, although apparently
out of the county at the time the census was taken. In the Kansas
state census, 1865, Thomas Reynolds, age 37, is listed in the city
of Lawrence as a tailor, and Samuel Reynolds, a native of England,
age 40, is shown as a farmer of Wakarusa township. Samuel's fam-
ily included a child, age 9, born in Kansas, which would put him
in the area at the latest by 1856.5 The fact that the men's birth
places are listed as "England" does not preclude the probability
that they were emigrants from Wales.
An examination of the Merthyr parish records for the period
1824-1826 shows a family by the name of "Reynolds" living in the
Merthyr area but the baptismal records make no mention of either
Samuel or Thomas. They may well have been born in another
parish as the sending of the letter to the Merthyr Telegraph is no
guarantee that they were originally from Merthyr. It is, therefore,
virtually certain that the true writer of the letter was Samuel
Reynolds but the historian is left to speculate whether Peter Wil-
liams, the editor, over-hastily jumped to the conclusion that "S. R."
could only be Samuel Roberts or whether, in his eagerness to damn
the South, he changed the authorship of the letter on the basis that
the name of Samuel Roberts, famous throughout Wales despite a
decline in prestige, would carry more weight than that of the un-
known Samuel Reynolds. The first explanation is the more likely
and the more charitable but why were no protests forthcoming
from Reynolds' brother to whom the letter was sent or from those
who knew that Samuel Roberts had never lived in Lawrence or,
if received, why were they not published?
Nevertheless the following editorial comment and letter on the
"Tragedy of Lawrence," published in the Merthyr Telegraph on
October 3, 1863, undoubtedly had considerable influence on the
attitude of many Welshmen towards the Civil War and provided
a formidable stick with which to beat the Confederacy.
II. THE WELSH EDITOR INTRODUCES THE LETTER OF 1863 UNDER THE
TITLE, "THE TRAGEDY OF LAWRENCE"
A letter from the Rev. Samuel Roberts (late of Llanbrynmair )
now residing in Lawrence, a town in Kansas, one of the Western
States of America.
5. The Kansas State Historical Society has a Douglas county map of 1857, compiled by
T. Cooper Stuck from field notes in the Surveyor General's Office at Lecompton, which shows
that S. Reynolds occupied the NE1^, Sec. 13, T 13 S, R 19 E, and T. Reynolds occupied
the SW1^, Sec. 7, T 13 S, R 20 E.
THE SACKING OF LAWRENCE 147
Horrible as are the details of the following letter, their correct-
ness is beyond question, as they are written by a gentleman known
throughout Wales, not only for his eloquence as a minister, and
pre-eminence as author of some of the best hymns of our Welsh
Sanctuary but for his undoubted Christian character. Much has
been said by the sympathizers of the South, and we regret to know
that some of these may be found in Merthyr, that the army of the
Confederacy is composed of men moved exclusively by patriotic
feelings and that in the prosecution of the war, it is they only who
practice what are called the amenities of modern warfare. The
"Tragedy of Lawrence'* will show the falsity of this, and will prove
— if anything is capable of proof — that this army is a herd of as-
sassins and that in their raids among unarmed people, neither the
cries of women and children, nor the entreaties of old age, have
any influence in staying their hands from shedding innocent blood.
There is no doubt that for years past the cruelties of these pro-
slavery people have been such as to call forth, by means of this
rebellion, the vengeance of Almighty God upon them and that in
His good time unnumbered hosts of these cut-throats, cowards, off-
scourings of Europe and the American Continent, which now com-
pose the Southern army, will be drained away from the face of
the earth and that with their ignominious end will dawn an era of
liberty and justice for the oppressed negroes, as well as many
politically enslaved whites of the Southern States of America.
May God strengthen, say we, the arms of the noble army of the
North, to bring about such a noble consummation and the world
will be better by being rid of men whose conduct like that in Law-
rence, is a reflection on our common humanity.
III. THE LETTER
LAWRENCE, 23 August 1863.
DEAR BROTHER,
You have doubtless heard before this will reach you of the dread-
ful calamity that has befallen Lawrence and vicinity, by the sack-
ing and burning of the town and the indiscriminate slaughter of its
citizens, on Friday, the 21st inst. by Quantrell and his band of
incarnate demons (Flying cavalry in the Confederate service).
The record will make a page in the history of America alike hu-
miliating to every American who has a spark of manhood left
within him, and disgracing, insulting and outraging to common hu-
manity. Such a record would degrade the wildest savage tribe of
148 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
our Western plains; and yet these beings, animals (for I cannot call
them men) are said to be our "erring brethren" whose rights have
been invaded and whose institutions have been trampled upon.
What rights has a murderer, an assassin, a highway-man, but the
right to be shot whenever and wherever found? The issue is forced
upon us, the people of Kansas. These bushwhackers will kill us or
we must kill them. They have proclaimed this policy for some time,
and now they have practically and fully adopted it; and by the
blessing of God, the issue shall be met by us, as men and patriots,
firmly, quickly and, I hope, courageously.
Language fails me to depict the scenes enacted on last Friday.
May I never behold the like again. But I must give you some idea
of the raid and its dire results.
About sunrise, or a little before, on the 21st ult., four men forcibly
entered the house of a Rev. Mr. Snyder, living about a mile south-
west of Lawrence, and pierced him through and through with balls
from their revolvers, while lying in bed by the side of his wife. At
the same time, a body of about three hundred well mounted beings
in the shape of men, and armed to the teeth, dashed into the town
and spread themselves instantly over the whole business part of the
place, shooting down every man who dared to show himself.
In this dash, two small camps of recruits on Massachusetts
street ( one of white, and the other coloured ) were surrounded and
the poor defenceless fellows, without a gun in camp and begging
most piteously for their lives, were pierced through and through
with bullets and all but four of the two unfilled companies [sic]
left mangled corpses on the ground. One of these poor fellows
thus barbarously murdered for daring to become a Union soldier
was a nephew of mine, the sight of whose bleeding, mangled body
I shall never forget.
The armoury was cut off from the citizens, pickets stationed
around the town and no chance whatever of concentrating even
twenty men with arms. The people were completely paralysed
by this sudden and audacious dash; indeed the most of them were
still in their beds when the work of murder commenced. The
banks were robbed, safes broken open, stores ransacked and the
best of everything taken, and then the buildings fired. Every man
that was encountered was met by them with "Your money or your
life" and with few exceptions the poor victim would be shot dead
after handing over his purse and answering what questions they
chose to put to him.
In several instances they ordered men to get water for them and
THE SACKING OF LAWRENCE 149
wait upon them in various ways, pledging themselves if they would
do so their lives should be spared, and as soon as they had done
with them, would turn round and shoot them down like mad dogs.
One little child they shot dead because it cried. There were those
with them who were evidently well acquainted with the town, as
the places and persons of active and prominent Union men were
made the special marks of vengeance.
General Lane's residence was among the first, and he himself had
a narrow escape. The editors of the several papers were objects of
special vengeance and two of them were caught and murdered. I
shall not attempt to give you a list of the precious lives taken, nor
shall I attempt to make an estimate of the property destroyed. This
will be done through the papers more correctly than I can do it.
I believe, however, that half our business men were either shot
down or burnt alive in their houses; and out of the fine blocks of
stores of every description only two solitary buildings remain and
they were sacked. The rest is a mass of blackened ruins, under
which lies, I fear, many a charred body, as many were shot down
while attempting to escape from the burning buildings. I fear the
dead will foot up nearly, or quite, two hundred. Nearly every
house was fired and the best ones fired; but owing to the very
stillness of the air at the time, the flames were extinguished in many
of the houses as soon as the rebels would leave, and as they had
such a large programme before them, the[y] could not repeat any
of the performance. The work of murder, arson and robbery lasted
about two hours and a half, in which time they had sent over 100
innocent men to the eternal world — deprived a large number of
families of food, raiment, house and home and destroyed about two
million dollars' worth of property. They then took up their line
of march due south, detailing squads of men on either side of the
road to burn every house and murder every man. Family after
family would slip out into their cornfields to watch their houses
burned by these invaders, without being able to offer the least
resistance; and woe to any man who had the hardihood to remain at
his house and offer remonstrance.
I live but two miles south of Lawrence, and three men were shot
between Lawrence and my place for daring to remain in sight —
all of them quite peaceable men, and two of them too old to be
called upon to do military duty. And now comes the practical ap-
plication of my own case. A squad of six men were sent from the
main body to visit my house. With guns cocked and eyes glaring
more ferociously than a tiger's, they dash up to the buildings, apply
150 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the match to a large stack of Hungarian, then to the outbuildings,
the barn and sheds and while these are rolling up their volumes of
smoke and flames, the house is visited, trunks burst open, drawers
and shelves ransacked, all valuables that could be crammed into
pockets or strapped on their horses, taken and the rest enveloped
in flames.
In a little longer than it has taken me to write this, everything
inflammable was consumed — houses, furniture, bedding, clothing,
books, provisions, outbuildings — all, all utterly destroyed. The
work of eight years hard toil gone in as many minutes and another
family thrown out of house and shelter.
By the time the flames began to recede the next house south of
mine is rolling up dense volumes of smoke and soon the next, and
next and next; and now they visit the house of the old greyheaded
Dunkard, who, alas, thought that his age and religion would pro-
tect him, but the infuriated demons, thirsting for blood, shot him
down regardless of the poor old man's cries and entreaties to spare
his life. The track by fire and sword of these murderous villians
was made through the valleys and over the hills as far as the eye
could reach.
I cannot refrain from giving you an instance or two of the sav-
age barbarity practised by these demons. They brought Mr Trask
to the door of his house and told him if he would give up his money
they would not shoot him, but as soon as he had given it up, he
was instantly shot — he then tried to escape by running, but they
shot him dead.
Dr Griswold was in his house when they attacked him. His wife
ran and put her arms around him and begged most piteously for
his life, when one of them passed his arm holding a revolver,
around her and shot him dead.
Mr Fitch they shot in his house and his wife while running to his
rescue was dragged away, the house fired and poor Mr Fitch
burned up, it may be, alive.
A gentleman by the name of Palmer and his son were burnt up in
their shop before dying from their wounds.
Mr Allison of the firm of Duncan and Allison, crawled out from
under the burning ruins and they threw him back again into the
fire.
But the heart sickens. I can write no more. Oh! God! who shall
avenge?
Your brother. S. R.
The Evolution of a Home Grown Product,
Capper Publications
HOMER E. SOCOLOFSKY
THE recent purchase of Capper Publications by Stauffer Pub-
lications reveals again the size of the enterprise to which Arthur
Capper devoted his business career.1 This transfer of ownership
involved buildings and business equipment, two daily newspapers,
a monthly home magazine, a weekly newspaper, a printing com-
pany, an engraving company, a farm monthly, five state farm papers,
two radio stations and a television station.2
Arthur Capper, the son of Herbert and Isabella McGrew Capper,
was born in Garnett on July 14, 1865.3 Except for a brief sojourn
in Elk county, Capper's youth was spent in Garnett where he be-
gan selling and delivering the Kansas City (Mo.) Times at ten
years of age.4 At 13 he began his first real newspaper work as
"devil" on the Garnett Journal. For a while he edited a young
folks department in the newspaper and he had letters published in
American 'Young Folks, a monthly periodical in Topeka.5 The seri-
ous and intent interest of the young Capper in a career in journal-
ism is shown in these letters. During his high-school years Capper
continued his work at the Journal and learned the printing trade.
Upon graduating in 1884 he set out to look for work which he
hoped to find in one of the larger towns of the Kansas river valley
or farther upstream at Salina. After stopping at Lawrence, and
finding no opening for a young printer, he went on to Topeka.6
There he was befriended by Will Scott, foreman in the composing
room of the Capital, who put him to work on May 16, 1884.7 As
DR. HOMER E. SOCOLOFSKY is an assistant professor of history in the department of
history, government and philosophy at Kansas State College, Manhattan.
1. Capper had no other business interests and owned no other real estate than that re-
lated to his multimillion dollar business and his home.
2. Radio station KCKN of Kansas City, Kan., was sold by Stauffer before the final
transfer was completed.
3. Letter from Earl L. Knauss of the Garnett Review, n. d., to Clif Stratton, in the
"Capper Collection" in the Kansas State Historical Society, tells that Mary, another sister, was
born in 1863 and died the next year, so Arthur was considered the oldest child. The births
and deaths of the other members of the family were: Herbert Capper, 1833-1897; Mrs.
Herbert Capper, 1841-1903; Mary May Capper, 1866-1939; Bessie Capper Myers, 1870-
1909; Benjamin Herbert Capper, 1874-1887; Edith Capper Eustice, 1879-1953. Herbert
Capper was one of the founders of Garnett.
4. Copy of letter from Capper to J. Howard Rusco, July 27, 1946. — "Capper Collec-
tion."
5. American Young Folks, Topeka, July and December, 1878.
6. Zula Bennington Greene, "As Peggy of the Flint Hills Sees It," Topeka Daily
Capital, July 14, 1944; Boonville (Mo.) Weekly Advertiser, November 3, 1911; interview
with F. D. Farrell, July 10, 1952. Dr. Farrell, the former president of Kansas State College,
heard the story from Capper on at least three occasions.
7. Topeka Daily Capital, February 28, 1909. This friendly act was important in con-
tributing to Capper's later feeling that he, too, should help young people.
(151)
152 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
a printer, Capper continued to learn his trade and when he heard
a newly elected official declare in a speech that he would enforce
the law against the Topeka "jointists," he wrote up the story and
followed through to see that it was printed in the next morning's
paper. As a result, publisher J. K. Hudson encouraged Capper to
accept a job as reporter even though it meant a reduction in weekly
salary. After working a short time as a cub reporter Capper be-
came city editor of the Capital on June 9, 1885, a job which re-
quired that he gather news from business and governmental estab-
lishments and report the meetings of the legislature when it was in
session.8
In the early summer of 1887 Capper visited Hugoton, in south-
west Kansas, with every intention of buying the Hugoton Hermes.
Stevens county was just being settled and State Representative
John L. Pancoast wanted a newspaper to compete with "Colonel"
Sam Wood's paper in nearby Woodsdale. Wood suspected Cap-
per's mission and tried to point out the difficulties and disadvan-
tages of settling in Hugoton. Capper's brief encounter with the
boisterous, raw frontier soon ended his intention of becoming a
western Kansas editor.9
Back home on the Capital, Capper's fortunes continued to rise.
In a reorganization of the newspaper company, he became a di-
rector, but his ambitions extended beyond the Capital alone.10
He took a leave of absence from the Topeka paper and went to
New York, where he obtained a reporting job on the Tribune, under
the editor, Whitelaw Reid. After a time in New York he moved to
the Mail and Express, and then on to Washington in 1892 where he
reported the activities of the Kansas delegation for the Capital.11
8. Ibid., February 28, 1909; Jewell County Record, Mankato, December 27, 1951.
9. C. C. Isely, "Senator Capper Once Almost Became Hugoton Editor," Wichita
Evening Eagle, March 2, 1945; See, also, Topeka State Journal, October 28, 1911.
10. Reprint from Brown County World, Hiawatha, in "Biographical Scrapbook C,"
v. 1, Kansas State Historical Society; stock certificates in the vault of the Capper building
show that one share of stock, apparently the qualifying share as director, in the Topeka
Capital Company was made out to Arthur Capper on July 1, 1890. Four other stock cer-
tificates were assigned to him on July 2, 1890, for a total transfer of ownership of 19
shares from J. K. Hudson. Attached to the last ten shares is a promissory note for $3,000
"payable in one year from July 2nd 1890 bearing 8 per cent interest." This amount was
paid June 1, 1892. Par value of a single share was $500. Another stock certificate of 22
shares in the company was transferred to Capper on March 23, 1894. This was some six
months after Capper had purchased the Mail. By that time he had a total of 42 shares
or about eight per cent ownership in the Topeka Capital Company. The presence of these
stock certificates in the vault of the Capper building is a mystery to Capper's associates
for they had never heard him mention them. The Topeka Capital Company went bankrupt
in 1895 and Capper, no doubt, lost money in this investment. "Corporation Charters
(official copybooks from office of secretary of state, now in Archives division, Kansas State
Historical Society)," v. 40, p. 299, show that the charter of the Topeka Capital Company
was filed June 6, 1890, and that Capper was one of six directors.
11. Anne Hard, "Printer's Devil to Fame," New York Herald Tribune, May 20, 1928.
Some of the stories were also used by the Tribune; the Topeka Daily Capital of January
29, 1892, is a typical issue in promoting Capper's efforts in Washington. The Kansas dele-
gation in the house had been enlarged as a result of the 1890 census, and such men as
"Sockless" Jerry Simpson and Sen. William A. Peffer were now in Washington. The
Capital, as a Republican paper, was probably more concerned with reporting every ac-
tivity of the Populists in hopes of discrediting them.
EVOLUTION OF CAPPER PUBLICATIONS 153
After congress adjourned, Capper returned to Topeka to his job
on the Capital. He was married to Florence Crawford, the only
daughter of the third governor of Kansas, Samuel J. Crawford, on
December 1, 1892. After a wedding trip he began to look for a
newspaper and in 1893 the North Topeka Mail looked like a good
buy at $2,500.12 Capper was able to borrow $1,000 from the Citi-
zen's Bank of North Topeka, which together with his own $1,000
savings in building and loan stock, enabled him to complete the
transaction. In buying a newspaper he did not have to depend
upon the plentiful financial resources of his father-in-law at this
time nor in the future.13
Capper had very little help when he began the operation of the
M ail. He spruced up the first page of his paper and actively sought
advertising among Topeka merchants. He was soon receiving
pleasant notices of his new venture in the state press. New features,
including articles written by distinguished Kansans, were used to
promote circulation. He continued to study trade journals to see
what was new in journalism and who was doing it, but he seem-
ingly had no definite long-term policy other than to get out a good
paper.14 Unsuccessful competitors apparently offered to sell out
to him so that they could escape the burden of refunding subscrip-
tion money. Capper maintained years later that he had been asked
to buy all his papers except one; that exception was presumably the
Mat!15
In 1895 Thomas A. McNeal approached Capper with an offer to
sell his paper — a proposition which resulted in the consolidation on
September 5 of the Topeka Mail and the Kansas Breeze. McNeal's
publication is said to have cost Capper $2,500 and the consolidated
paper, under McNeal as editor, had the largest circulation of any
weekly newspaper in Kansas.16
The Mail and Breeze moved gradually in the direction of agri-
cultural journalism during the next decade. In the meantime new
features were introduced in the paper to attract new subscribers.
12. A photostat of the three-page contract in Capper's handwriting on the Topeka
Mail stationery is in the "Capper Collection." Payment of $200 sealed the bargain and
$1,600 was to be paid to Frank Root, the owner, on the date of transfer, September 21,
1893. Of the remainder, $500 was to be paid in 90 days and $200 worth of advertising
was due Root. Root retained his railroad pass and visited the Chicago World's Fair and
his mother in Pennsylvania.
13. Notes on Capper's speech at the E. H. Crosby dinner on the occasion of the first
50th business anniversary in Topeka, n. d., ca!930, "Capper Collection"; interview with
Marco Morrow, June 16, 1952. Capper always expressed such sentiments with pride.
14. Interview with Marco Morrow, August 1, 1952.
15. Interview with F. D. Farrell, July 10, 1951.
16. Reprint from Brown County World, Hiawatha, in "Biographical Scrapbook C," v. 1,
Kansas State Historical Society. McNeal and F. C. Montgomery were the owners of the
Breeze and they presumably were not aggressive in gaining advertising support.
154 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
One of the first of these was the series of political cartoons by Al-
bert T. Reid, then a young man from Clyde, Kan.17
The growth of his paper caused Capper to obtain new quarters
at 501-503 Jackson street, nearer the principal business district in
Topeka. New printing equipment was added and the Mail Print-
ing House was established early in 1897. 18
In April, 1900, with the purchase of the Missouri Valley Farmer,
Capper stepped into the field of agricultural journalism.19 Changes
were immediately made to departmentalize the journal and a wider
circulation was obtained.
In the meantime the Topeka Daily Capital, with its weekly paper
the Kansas Weekly Capital, was having serious financial difficulties.
John R. and David W. Mulvane, Topeka bankers, became owners
in 1895 and operated the newspaper until 1899 when a newly
organized Capital Publishing Company took over.20 It was during
ownership by this company that Charles M. Sheldon, of In His
Steps fame, engaged in his famous experiment as editor of the
Capital. But financially the Capital was still in poor shape, so
the Bank of Topeka sought a new buyer for the publishing firm.
On March 23 and May 10, 1901, contracts were made for the sale
of the Capital Publishing Company stock for $56,529 of which
$5,000 was a down payment. The new owners were Arthur Capper
with majority control, his wife, Florence, Harold T. Chase, R. L.
Thomas, and W. B. Robey.21 Capper took over complete control
of the company by December 30, 1904.22 In his quiet way Capper
led his papers into the fight, along with other Kansas newspapers,
against railroad domination of state government. He lost railroad
advertising and eventually his own railroad pass because of his
campaign but he did not permit this to disrupt his personal friend-
ship with many Topeka railroad officials.
Although he was greatly interested in politics Capper's growing
17. Albert T. Reid, "Friends Continue to Praise Arthur Capper's Character," Topeka
Dailti Capital, December 25, 1951. Reid dated the regular use of his cartoons in the Matt
and Breeze from August, 1896.
18. Topeka Daily Capital, July 16, 1939. A three-way partnership of Capper, Mary
May, his sister, and George H. Crawford, his brother-in-law, made up the organizers of the
new business. It was not Capper's practice to bring relatives into his business but this
may have been his way of providing extra income for his closest relatives.
19. No figures on the cost of the Missouri Valley Farmer have been discovered. There
is a general feeling among many Capper employees that this monthly magazine, with a
circulation of about 16,000 was run-down at the time of the sale.
20. The Topeka Matt and Kansas Breeze, November 15, 1895; Topeka Daily Capital,
February 28, 1909. The directors of the new company were Fred O. Popenoe, Chas. L.
Holman, Dell Keizer, Harold T. Chase, Richard L. Thomas, and Col. A. S. Johnson.
21. The contract for the purchase of the Capital is in the vault of the Capper building.
This purchase set no precedent for future Capper newspaper purchases as each transaction
was an individual matter. Chase, Thomas, and Robey were all employees of the Capital.
22. Notes in the "Capper Collection" indicates that Thomas' shares were purchased
August 10, 1904, and those of Chase and Rob^y on December 30, 1904. Mrs. Capper re-
tained ownership of a single share.
EVOLUTION OF CAPPER PUBLICATIONS 155
publishing business required a considerable amount of his time.23
One of his acquisitions was a little publication, named Push, which
Tom McNeal and Albert T. Reid began as a non-partisan, literary,
fun-and-art magazine, in September, 1902. They were interested
in presenting material of the nature of the defunct Kansas Magazine
or of Agora but were unable to obtain sufficient advertising and
circulation to sustain their publication. So they sold out to Capper
in 1903.24 In February, 1904, Household, successor to Push, made
its appearance with the volume number of the preceding journal.
Circulation was expanded and "Arthur Capper, Publisher," along
with a stated advertising policy appeared for the first time in
Household in the issue of April, 1906.
The oldest Capper paper, the Mail and Breeze, continued its no-
ticeable evolution in the direction of a strictly agricultural pub-
lication after the purchase of the Capital and the Kansas Weekly
Capital. Capper then had two weekly newspapers which caused
advertisers to consider carefully before using both of them. While
Capper maintained that his papers "don't compete" he made
changes in the Mail and Breeze to make the differences more evi-
dent.25
By October 1, 1904, the Mail and Breeze had a subtitle of "An
Agricultural and Family Journal for the People of the Great West,"
but the change in character to a farm paper was not generally
known to national advertisers.26 So a new name, Farmers Mail
and Breeze, appeared on the paper with the issue of February 17,
1906.
By 1906 Capper was solidly established as a Kansas publisher
with his publications, except for Household and the Missouri Val-
ley Farmer, still confined primarily to Kansas.27 In anticipation of
future growth of his business and to bring his widespread organi-
zation under one roof, the publisher ordered the construction of
the Capper building at the southeast corner of the intersection of
Eighth and Jackson streets in downtown Topeka. Construction
began in 1907 and the five story, fireproof, stone, terra cotta, and
23. Capper was frequently mentioned as a choice for state printer, then an ap-
pointive position made by the legislature.
24. The transfer of ownership probably came with v. 1, No. 8 (April, 1903), the first
issue which did not have a Reid cartoon on the cover and a named editor on the masthead.
The cost, presumably low, has not been determined.
25. Interview with Marco Morrow, August 1, 1952.
26. Ibid., Morrow, then in the agricultural advertising business in Chicago, did not
know of the change until 1905, when he made a business trip to Salina.
27. N. W. Ayer and Son's American Newspaper Annual . . . (N. W. Ayer and
Son, Inc., Philadelphia, 1907), 1907, pp. 1186, 1187. Total circulation amounted to al-
most one half million. Of political importance was the fact that Capper published Topeka's
largest daily and it was one of the largest dailies in the state.
156 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
reinforced-concrete building was completed and occupied by De-
cember 10, 1908. The first new executives from outside the organi-
zation, Marco Morrow in the advertising department and Frank
Ball in the circulation department, were also added in 1908.
The next new Capper publication, in April, 1908, was Poultry
Culture, the official organ of the Kansas State Poultry Association.
This journal was published in the interests of the specialized poul-
try raiser and as such was different from the usual Capper paper
which attempted to satisfy wider and more general interests. Prob-
ably because of these characteristics, Poultry Culture was sold on
February 1, 1916, to Victor O. Hobbs of Trenton, Mo.28
The expansion of Capper's publishing business had been limited
to journals that had a large Kansas circulation until August, 1908,
when he bought the Nebraska Farm Journal from W. T. Laing of
Omaha.29 The Capper policy toward this Nebraska paper was to
stress the interests of Nebraska agriculture and to identify the
paper closely with the state by maintaining editorial and business
offices in Omaha. But the paper was printed in Topeka.
In 1910 Capper bought The Ruralist of Sedalia, Mo., from W. E.
Hurlbut. The initiative for this purchase was probably taken by
Col. Ed R. Dorsey of Topeka because he received a letter from
Hurlbut early in June, enclosing a complete inventory and an offer
to sell the paper and its assets for $10,000.30 Since Capper pur-
chased the paper before the end of June and renamed it Missouri
Ruralist, this letter presumably played a part in the negotiations.31
The formula for close identification with the local area, as used
in Nebraska, was applied in Missouri. Department editors and
editorial contributors, mostly Missourians, were obtained and a
circulation drive netted many new subscribers. Part of the in-
crease in circulation was due to the purchase of the Breeders
Special, of Kansas City, on August 16, 1910, and its consolidation
with the Missouri Ruralist on December 10, 1910.32 The editorial
office was moved to Kansas City at that time, and in 1914 to St.
28. Winifred Gregory, editor, Union List of Serials in Libraries of the United States
and Canada, 2d ed. (The H. W. Wilson Company, N. Y., 1943), pp. 2246, 2848. This
journal was subsequently known as Useful Poultry Journal; see, also, "First Things," a
manuscript copy of changes around Capper Publications, in the "Capper Collection."
29. Ayer, op cit., 1909, next to p. 1233; interview with Marco Morrow, April 7, 1953.
Laing had been struggling to keep his paper going so he sold it to Capper and got a job
with Capper Publications.
30. Letter from W. E. Hurlbut to Col. Ed R. Dorsey, June 10, 1910. — "Capper Col-
lection."
31. Missouri Ruralist, Sedalia, Mo., August 20, 1910. Capper's name does not appear
in the paper until this issue, but letters congratulating him for purchasing the paper were
dated as early as June 23, 1910.
32. Ayer, op. cit., 1911, p. 501. There were no reports on the circulation of Breeder's
Special, which was presumably very small.
EVOLUTION OF CAPPER PUBLICATIONS 157
Louis, where John F. Case, for years identified with the Missouri
Ruralist, became its editor.
The Capper invasion of Oklahoma was announced in the April 1,
1912, issue of the Oklahoma Farmer, of Guthrie. In this sale the
Farmer Publishing Company sold the paper to M. L. Crowther, a
former Osage City, Kan., newspaperman, for $1,000 in cash and
$2,000 in notes. Crowther then transferred the Oklahoma paper
to Capper.33 In Oklahoma, as in Missouri, Capper set about to
gain circulation, to consolidate with other papers and to employ
local editors for the special departments. A consolidation was
made with the Oklahoma State Farmer on May 1, 1912, and with the
Oklahoma Farm Journal on December 25, 1915.34
Meanwhile the name of the Kansas Weekly Capital was changed
on September 6, 1913, to Cappers Weekly™ The change in name,
which came after Capper's narrow defeat in 1912 as a candidate
for governor of Kansas may have been politically inspired by a de-
sire for greater recognition, but the justification for the new name
was that
The Kansas Weekly Capital has outgrown the title given it years ago in
its infancy. ... Its growth was so rapid that the realization that it had
so far outstripped its name came as a surprise. The word "Kansas" didn't
cover the field at all. ... "Capper's Weekly" seemed better suited than
any other name proposed and was adopted.36
Prolonged negotiations with Charles W. Bryan of Lincoln, Neb.,
in 1915 resulted in Capper's purchase of The American Homestead,
a monthly farm magazine.37 Capper agreed to send his own pub-
lications to each subscriber turned in by Bryan, at no extra cost,
until the number of subscriptions at a low pre-determined rate
(12/2^ per year for the Missouri Valley Farmer) would amount to
$10,000.
Other developments in the composition of Capper's papers came
after his first election to the United States senate in 1918. The
Missouri Valley Farmer became Cappers Farmer on April 21, 1919,
and the first issue under the new title was in June. The change,
which could have been politically motivated in a desire for more
33. The contract and bill of sale transferring Oklahoma Farmer to Crowther and the
acceptance by Capper are in the vault at the Capper building.
34. Oklahoma Farmer, Guthrie, Okla., May 1, 1912, and December 25, 1915. The
price of the State Farmer has not been determined, but Capper paid $24,000 for the Farm
Journal, a price that included some equipment.
35. Capper's Weekly, September 6, 1913.
36. Ibid.; Capper's first public office was membership on the board of regents of Kansas
State Agricultural College in 1909. — See Topeka State Journal, March 4 and 6, 1909.
37. Letters from Charles W. Bryan to Capper, October 26, and November 1, 1915. —
"Capper Collection." The major source of income for farm papers was through advertising
and as far as Capper was concerned, subscription departments never made money on the
first subscription.
158 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
widespread recognition of the Capper name, was warranted by the
same reason for renaming the Kansas Weekly Capital?* Announce-
ment was made that the circulation of Missouri Valley Farmer
has not been confined to the valley of the Missouri River nor has the paper
editorially limited itself to the peculiar farm problems of the Missouri Valley;
hence it is apparent that we should not retain a name local in character. In
selecting a new name we are happy in being permitted to identify the paper
with the owner and publisher, a man who is a champion of the rights of com-
mon people in general and the farmers in particular.
We shall not handle any subject, agricultural, economical or political, with
gloved hands or in a hesitating manner. . . . Capper's Farmer will al-
ways endeavor to recognize the light ahead that will brighten and make more
perfect a life on the farm, realizing in full measure that here is the foundation
of all true prosperity and national existence.39
Another change in 1919 resulted in the purchase of the Kansas
Farmer and its consolidation with the Farmers Mail and Breeze
as the Kansas Farmer and Mail and Breeze*® The sale of the Kan-
sas Farmer, according to its last independent issue, December 6,
1919, was reputed to have resulted from a "deplorable scarcity" of
print paper. There was a paper shortage, but due to agreements
within the agricultural press, 16-page papers such as the Kansas
Farmer were not reduced in size by governmental restrictions
which were placed on farm publishers as a group. Most pub-
lishers had presses with a minimum press capacity of 16 pages.41
A glance at the issues of Kansas Farmer during 1919 show a deplor-
able lack of revenue-producing advertising matter.42 Circulation
had reached a high point of 63,071 in 1913 but declined to 20,728
by 1919.43 The entire Kansas Farmer staff was offered employment
with Capper Publications. Thus, through purchase and consolida-
tion Capper cleared the field of competition for his old Mail and
Breeze**
Long hours and intensive labor helped Capper become the head
of a large business early in the 20th century. His employees con-
sidered him a prodigious worker.45 The usual routine, before the
construction of the Capper building, would find Capper at the of-
38. See above.
39. Capper's Farmer, June, 1919.
40. Ever since the formation of the Farmer's Mail and Breeze, the Capper paper had
circulated two to three times as many papers each week than did the Kansas Farmer.
41. Interview with Marco Morrow, November 28, 1953. The purchase price has not
been determined.
42. Kansas Farmer, January 4 to December 6, 1919.
43. Ayer, op. tit., 1914, p. 339; ibid., 1920, p. 351.
44. There was a national trend for a slight increase in the number of agricultural pub-
lications from 1910 to 1920 with a sharp drop in the next few years. Competition still
existed with such papers as the Weekly Kansas City Star, now the Weekly Star Farmer,
but there was no state farm competition.
45. Interviews with Marco Morrow and Leland Schenck, April 7, 1953.
EVOLUTION OF CAPPER PUBLICATIONS 159
fice of the Daily Capital on East Eighth street during the mornings.
Afternoons were spent five blocks away in the office of the Mail
and Breeze at 501-505 Jackson street. After dinner, almost every
evening, including Sunday, he would again be at the office of the
daily, thus working six full days and Sunday evening each week.
On the surface, Capper seemed to have few rules to guide him.
In some matters he was inclined to go into great detail. After ob-
taining heads for the advertising and circulation departments in
1908, Capper stopped looking at mail relating to those fields, ex-
cept that he had a policy to read all pro-and-con comment about
his papers. After becoming governor of Kansas he requested that
none of his employees come to the governor's office to talk business.
As a rule, he stopped at his own business office in the Capper build-
ing, after five o'clock to take care of business matters. When he
left Topeka for Washington after his election to the senate, he found
it necessary to turn over more control of his business to employees.
His publications by 1919 were Capper's Farmer, Topeka Daily Cap-
ital, Cappers Weekly, Household, Kansas Farmer, Missouri Ruralist,
Oklahoma Farmer, and Nebraska Farm Journal.4®
The pent-up demand of the war years caused expectations for
widespread sale of American farm products in 1919 and 1920.
Plans were formulated at Capper Publications to make use of the
newly enlarged Topeka plant, to increase circulation and to im-
prove the reading matter and format of various papers.47 To fa-
cilitate this expansion Capper made use of the good will and pres-
tige of his name and papers among his subscribers. In July, 1920,
subscribers were offered "Capper Certificates" in denominations of
$100 and $500 with seven percent interest payable semiannually.
These were a kind of promissory note backed by Capper's personal
pledge. Interest rates were later lowered and by 1937 the aggre-
gate amount of these unsecured demand notes was $3,952,400.4S
Almost immediately after the first sale of the certificates, Capper
purchased Field and Farm, a Denver, Colo., farm journal.49 The
general Capper formula for operation of the new journal was made
to direct its appeal to the diversified farming interests of Colorado,
46. A four story, 75-foot addition, at a cost of $300,000 for the building and equip-
ment, was constructed east of the original structure in 1919. Other publications, used
mostly for advertising publicity, were published irregularly under such titles as the Capper
Bulletin and Rural Trade.
47. Copy of a letter from Capper to Ralph W. Mitchell, January 3, 1919. — "Capper
Collection."
48. From the prospectus of Capper Publications, Inc., which was sent to the Securities
and Exchange Commission, ca!952, p. 8. There was no particular objection to other
sources of capital but Capper felt he had more freedom in this financing method.
49. Field and Farm, Denver, Colo., September 25, 1920.
160 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico.50 Prices of agricultural com-
modities took such a precipitous decline during the last quarter of
1920 that Capper became alarmed over possible injury to his busi-
ness. A cutback in costs was almost immediately achieved in De-
cember, 1920, by having the subscription list of Field and Farm
absorbed by the Kansas Farmer.51
Retrenchment in Missouri resulted in Capper's purchase of the
Missouri Agricultural Publishing Company, and its paper, the Jour-
nal of Agriculture, from John M. Branham for $86,500.52 Thus,
Capper cleared away all Missouri competition through consolida-
tion in the same way that he had done earlier in Kansas. How-
ever, the mechanical work, as well as the editorial, advertising,
and circulation offices were located in the building of the Missouri
Agricultural Publishing Company in St. Louis. To save expenses
the printing of Missouri Ruralist was transferred to Topeka on Jan-
uary 1, 1933.53
Capper's empire expanded greatly in 1922 with the surprise pur-
chase of the Lawrence Publishing Company, the owner of the Ohio
Farmer, Michigan Farmer, and Pennsylvania Farmer.54 Capper
paid $594,550 for most of the stock of this company. The sale was
culminated on January 12, 1922, and the Lawrence farm journals
announced the change in ownership in their January 28, 1922, is-
sues. Newspaper wire services picked up the story under a Janu-
ary 31 date line.55 Editorial employees of Lawrence Publishing
Company had fully expected to have a chance to "buy in" to the
company when their publisher was ready to sell his stock.56 Some
of them were minor stockholders and Capper offered to buy their
shares then or in the future at the current price.
Thus far, purchases of newspapers and magazines had been ac-
complished in spite of no over-all Capper plan for increasing his
holdings. After buying the Lawrence papers considerable time
was spent investigating the Indiana Farmers Guide, the Rural New
Yorker, the Florida Farmer, and perhaps other journals.57 Though
50. Letter from Marco Morrow to agencies and advertisers, October 22, 1920. —
"Capper Collection."
51. Interviews with Marco Morrow, June 16, August 1, 1952, and April 7, 1953. The
last issue of the Field and Farm was December 5, 1920.
52. Missouri Ruralist, St. Louis, February 1 and 15, 1921; "First Things."
53. "First Things." The St. Louis building was sold for $40,000 on October 5, 1944.
54. Pennsylvania Farmer, Philadelphia, January 28, 1922.
55. "First Things"; Topeka State Journal, January 31, 1922; additional material about
this sale is found in Topeka Daily Capital, July 16, 1939, and in the prospectus of Capper
Publications, Inc., which was sent to the SEC.
56. Interview with Marco Morrow, June 16, 1952.
57. Interviews with Marco Morrow, April 7, 1953, Leland Schenck, April 7, 1953,
and Rod Runyan, April 7, 1953.
TO TEACHER OF PUBLIC SCHOOL OR DEPARTMENT, HAVING AN ATTENDANCE OF JO SCIIOLAKS
'^jou will permit younchool 10 rtfcidf by labile ballot, within Itn diyi after rooflpl of tbi* paper who i» Ibi-
BEST SCHOLAR Deportment, riinciimlii* «nd r*r/W. Ic.ion. to bo con.iderrd ,ud ..nd br Icilor or poTf I . ", I
r°^0JL?5.1^f y°'.°J.°J'l!l?ffl^*; _V. *'!! Pr'n"j'» •cbol«r-« njmcjmoim "THE PR1ZK SCHOLARS/ •nil .end ii
A Journal for the Amuioment and Instruction of the Boyi and Olrli of Amcrirt.
ItL'DSON & EWINC. EJaots and Proprieloil ] TOI'EKA. KANSAS. DECEMBER |3;6.
1 «»\ \\
.uotRtf have Kur^ friends.
Arthur talks In a business-like manner, and Aunt' Mary
feels quite sufc in predicting that printing will not turn out
to be the Avorst trade In America; no trade would in the
hands of a boy who makes such sensible calcu'ations. and
such good resolutions.
" 6porJ-
Excerpts from the American Young Folks, Topeka, December, 1878, when
13-year-old Arthur Capper of Garnett early broke into print.
Arthur Capper
(1865-1951)
Famed Kansas Publisher, Governor
and U. S. Senator.
Erected in 1908 at Eighth and Jackson in Topeka, this building was long the
main office of Capper Publications, and is now headquarters for the Stauffer
Publications.
EVOLUTION OF CAPPER PUBLICATIONS 161
tempted, Capper never again went into a new state to buy a news-
paper. Instead he seemed inclined to withdraw. On May 21, 1924,
he sold the Oklahoma Fanner to the publishers of the Oklahoma
Farmer-Stockman.58 The following month the Nebraska Farm
Journal was purchased by Samuel R. McKelvie, owner of the Ne-
braska Farmer.59
In keeping with the trend towards consolidation of state farm
papers throughout the country, the two leading state farm journals
in each of the states of Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania were
consolidated in September, 1928.60 The names of his Eastern farm
papers were retained and Capper owned 60 per cent of the stock of
the new company, Capper-Harman-Slocum, Inc.61
In the nonagricultural part of Capper Publications there was con-
siderable change just as there had been with the farm journals.
Beginning on January 31, 1921, the Kansas City Kansan, a daily,
was published in Kansas City, Kan., under Capper's auspices.62
The Kansas city had found it difficult to support a daily because of
the local strength of the Star and Times. Kansas City, Kan., had
the dubious distinction of being the largest city in the United States
without a daily newspaper. Previous publishers had failed to de-
velop a paper which would do much more than carry the legal
advertising of the city. In hopes of promoting more community
spirit the Chamber of Commerce sent representatives to Capper to
persuade him to sponsor a Kansas City paper. In spite of his efforts
to retrench elsewhere, Capper agreed to take over the name and
good will of the old Kansan, if the Chamber would guarantee 15,000
subscribers and obtain pledges of $200,000 in advertising for the
first year.63 The Kansan failed to show a profit during its first three
years of operation. Nevertheless, it obtained a position of influence,
for the Kansas City Star Company shifted its policy to carry news
about Kansas City, Kan., rather than about the "West end/' and
special editions were delivered to the Kansas City, Kan., reader.64
Another expansion of the Capper papers was the extensive pro-
58. The handwritten contract of the sale on stationery of the New Willard Hotel,
Washington, D. C., is on file in the vault at the Capper building. The price was $85,000.
The last issue of Oklahoma Farmer was May 25, 1924.
59. Interview with Marco Morrow, June 16, 1952. The last issue of Nebraska Farm
Journal was June 15, 1924.
60. Ohio Farmer, Cleveland, September 22, 1928.
61. Topeka Daily Capital, July 16, 1939.
62. "First Things."
63. Elbert B. Macv, "Former Educators Among Kansas Editors and Publishers," M. S.
thesis, Kansas State College, 1939, pp. 54-57.
64. Ibid.', interview with Marco Morrow, June 16, 1952. Capper invested $350,000
in the Kansan in getting started and he arranged the business so that he expected a six per
cent profit. He was cautious in his Kansas City venture so that he would offer no serious
competition to the Star and Times.
11—3189
162 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
motion of several journals designed for readers in the Eastern
United States. Cappers Weekly began operation of an Eastern
edition, published from Washington, D. C., on January 6, 1923.65
It was identified as a political publication and was organized for
the purpose of enhancing Capper's political career by making his
name more widely known in the East.66 The circulation of all
editions of Cappers Weekly increased rapidly, but financial losses
were great and the Eastern edition ceased publication with the
issue of June 6, 1925.67 In its place, Cappers Magazine, a monthly,
made its first appearance the following month with no greater
monetary success, and it suspended operations on January 1, 1927.68
Still interested in offering a journal that would appeal to the
businessmen and businesswomen who wanted to keep informed on
public matters, Capper took over the publication of Public Affairs
in January, 1929.69 This was a short-article magazine, which pre-
sented the news in a factual, readable manner, and was printed in
Topeka.70 In September, 1929, the journal's name was changed to
Cappers Magazine and it ceased publication after continued losses,
in October, 1931.71
The radio activities of Capper Publications were closely related
to the publishing media of the company. Capper obtained a li-
cense for WJAP, one of the nation's pioneer stations, in 1922, only
to have it leave the air in 1924. In 1927 he sponsored the move of
WIBW, originally intended for Loganport, Ind., to Topeka. By
September, 1928, he had controlling interest in the station and in
1934 the studios and business offices were housed in the Capper
residence at 1035 Topeka boulevard.72 WIBW-FM operated as a
sister station for a short time after World War II. KCKN of Kan-
sas City, Kan., was acquired on November 13, 1935, and operated
in close harmony with the Kansas City Kansan.73
Although plans for incorporation of Capper Publications were
begun in 1935, the business did not begin operations as a corpora-
tion of the state of Kansas until October 9, 1937. All but 114 of the
65. "First Things."
66. Interview with Marco Morrow, April 7, 1953; Topeka Daily Capital, July 16, 1939.
Carl Sandburg described Capper's Weekly as the folklore publication of American jour-
nalism.
67. Aver, op. cit., 1923, p. 377; ibid., 1924, p. 386; ibid., 1925, p. 394; "First
Things."
68. "First Things."
69. Topeka Daily Capital, August 25, 1929.
70. Ibid. This magazine had been published from Washington, D. C., for 11 years.
71. "First Things"; according to Marco Morrow, interview, April 7, 1953, Capper's
Magazine was suspended without saying anything to its subscribers.
72. Topeka Daily Capital, June 7, 1953.
73. "First Things." The option for purchase of KCKN was signed December 26,
1934, and was extended three times.
EVOLUTION OF CAPPER PUBLICATIONS 163
100,000 shares, which were issued to 114 individuals, were retained
by Capper.74
The Capper Printing Company, Inc., was chartered at the same
time. Capper, his sister, Mary, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. George
M. Crawford, held all but two of the 10,000 shares.75
When Oscar S. Stauffer purchased the Topeka State Journal early
in 1939 an opportunity to make changes in the Topeka newspaper
field seemed to present itself. Negotiations between Stauffer and
the management of the Topeka Daily Capital were begun almost a
year later to determine the advisability of some sort of consolida-
tion.76 Much study was made of the possible methods of con-
solidating.77 There was a general consensus that Topeka could
not support two papers such as the Journal and Capital except in
above average times. A schedule of prospective savings to the
Capital of such a merger was developed. In general, discussion
seemed to bog down on the division of ownership of the new con-
solidation. Stauffer seemed willing to give Capper Publications 60
percent ownership while Capper seemed to feel that a more equita-
ble division would give two thirds ownership to Capper Publica-
tions.78 One of the big questions was the political consequence of
such a move. Capper received advice that the two papers should
be autonomous; that they should be as independent of each other
editorially as they could be, without having the public say, "Capper
is straddling the fence. He blows hot and he blows cold." 79
Finally after prolonged study, the business, advertising, circula-
tion, and mechanical departments of the Topeka Daily Capital and
the Topeka State Journal were combined to form the Topeka News-
paper Printing Company, Incorporated, on July 31, 1941.80 The new
joint publishing operation was patterned after the plan of develop-
ment of the Nashville Printing Company in Tennessee.81 The Journal
moved its offices into the Capper building. Both papers maintained
separate editorial expressions and independent news policies.82
Capper Publications held two thirds of the stock in the new com-
74. "Amendments and Miscellaneous Charters (official copybooks from office of sec-
retary of state, now in the archives division of the Kansas State Historical Society)," v. A-44,
pp. 432-436.
75. Ibid., pp. 436, 437. The Capper Engraving Company that was located in Wichita
was sold on April 16, 1937, for $25,000.
76. Letter from H. S. Blake to Capper, January 17, 1940. — "Capper Collection."
77. Letters from H. S. Blake to Capper, February 8, 1940, and from Marco Morrow
to Capper, March 22, 1940. — Ibid.
78. Letter from Marco Morrow to Capper, March 22, 1940.
79. Ibid.
80. "First Things"; Topeka Daily Capital, August 1, 1941.
81. Editor and Publisher, New York, August 2, 1941, p. 18.
82. Printers' Ink, New York, August 8, 1941, p. 65.
164 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
pany and was responsible for two thirds of the members of the new
board of directors.83 Profits or losses were to be divided on the
basis of ownership.
Expansion of business activities after 1920 made it impossible to
accommodate the entire staff and necessary equipment in the Cap-
per building. Especially after World War II, Capper Publications
employees worked in buildings which were often some distance
from the Capper building. Changes in magazine publishing also
made greater use of color so that much of the mechanical work for
Household and eventually Cappers Farmer was shifted to Louis-
ville, Ky., where it was printed and mailed by Bearing Company.84
In 1949 Capper returned to Topeka, after 34 years in public
service. Though actively interested in his business, his long im-
mersion in politics had seen control of business decisions pass to
other hands.85 He enjoyed coming to his office each day to be
among his employees. And he greatly appreciated the recognition
received from many organizations, for it gave him an additional
opportunity to be among friendly people.86
Capper died December 19, 1951, at the age of 86 years.87 Presi-
dent Harry S. Truman wired that "it may almost be said that an
era in the history of the old Midwest came to a close with the
passing of Senator Capper." 88 Capper was honored while he lived,
and he was honored and remembered at his death.
Capper's ten-year-old will was filed in the Shawnee county pro-
bate court on December 27, 1951.89 The major bequest was $250,-
000 for the Capper Foundation for Crippled Children. Thirteen
Topeka charities were named to receive $1,000 each and $10,800
in cash was bequeathed to relatives.
Provision was made for the perpetuation of Capper Publications,
Inc., under the same managers who had operated the company for
many years. Mrs. Edith Capper Eustice, Capper's surviving sister,
and 29 employees, on condition that they were living at the time of
his death and in his employ or that of Capper Publications were
to receive stock in the company.90 About half of the named em-
ployees were able to qualify for their bequests.
83. Topeka Daily Capital, August 1, 1941.
84. Letter from H. S. Blake to Capper, March 21, 1947. — "Capper Collection";
Capper's Farmer, February, 1953.
85. Interview with Arthur Capper, April 7, 1950.
86. Interview with Julia McKee, Capper's private secretary, April 7, 1950.
87. Topeka Dotty Capital, December 20, 1951.
88. Capper's Weekly, December 29, 1951.
89. Kansas City Times, December 28, 1951; Topeka Daily Capital, December 28, 1951.
The will was executed March 19, 1941, and the witnesses were Frank Carlson, Clifford R.
Hope, Thomas D. Winter, and W. P. Lambertson, who were all members of the Kansas
delegation to congress.
90. Topeka Daily Capital, December 28, 1951.
EVOLUTION OF CAPPER PUBLICATIONS
165
Capper's plan for his company was probably influenced by the
development of the Kansas City Star Company but the manner in
which his ownership was transferred was more like developments
in the Milwaukee Journal. There was no provision requiring the
new owners of Capper Publications, Inc., stock to dispose of their
ownership upon retirement from the business, but the new owners
made private arrangements for maintenance of ownership by active
stockholders.91 Henry S. Blake, long a vice-president in the com-
CIRCULATION OF CAPPER PUBLICATIONS
5,000,000
U,5oo,ooo
1|,000,000
3*,5oo,ooo
3,000,000
2, 500, 000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
jf
X
TOT
IL
X
—
*s
^
S >
f
1
lion
Ca
-Agri
pper
cultt
PubL
iral
cati
3ns
/
,/
w
s
^V
+s~
**•*-,•
/
/
r*
The
Capi
er F«
rm P
*ess
/
/
X
v
,— — •
/
,_— —
3?
1895 tfOO 1505350.0
1520 1525 1500 1535 l&O && 1550 1555
/ears
This chart was compiled from figures found in N. W. Ayer and Sons, Directory of
Newspapers and Periodicals, 1894 to 1957.
The lower line shows the development of the Capper Farm Press while the upper
line shows the total circulation of all Capper Publications. The difference between the
upper and lower lines is the circulation of the non-agricultural Capper Publications.
pany, was named executor to serve without bond. Blake also be-
came president of Capper Publications.
In June, 1953, a construction permit was obtained by Capper
Publications for the erection of facilities for WIBW-TV.92 A
Columbia Broadcasting System hookup was obtained and the main
studio was housed in the old school building on the grounds
of the Security Benefit Association, located just west of Topeka.
Operations on a daily schedule began in November, 1953.98
91. Ibid., AprU 24, 1956.
92. Ibid., June 7, 1953.
93. Ibid., November 11, 1953.
166 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Final settlement of the Capper estate was not completed before
the death, in March, 1956, of Blake.94 Under Blake's tenure as
executor the Shawnee county probate court agreed to use 25,000
shares of stock in Capper Publications to satisfy the bequest for the
Capper Foundation for Crippled Children.95 But after Blake's
death a new petition was filed with the court asking that the earlier
ruling be set aside and the Capper Foundation bequest be handled
with cash rather than stock. The petitioners held that the trustees
of Blake's estate, who were also directors of the Capper Founda-
tion, were in a position whereby they could control the majority of
the publishing company's stock. Litigation over the disposition of
Capper Publications' stock continued through the summer of 1956
only to cease with the announcement in mid-September that Stauffer
Publications, Inc., had purchased all stock in the company.96 The
formal transfer of ownership, delayed because of required Federal
Communications Commission approval over the radio and television
properties, took place February 1, 1957.97 Stauffer Publications
paid $2,498,675 for the stock in Capper Publications.98 In addition,
the purchaser assumed obligations amounting to four and one half
million dollars making the total transaction in excess of seven
million dollars.99
New press facilities, to greatly enlarge the printing capacity of
the Topeka plant, were purchased for the joint Stauffer-Capper
companies. Personnel changes were made gradually. Phil Zach,
for a short time the Capper Publications president, announced that
Oscar S. Stauffer, the president of Stauffer Publications, Inc., was
a "logical and worthy successor to Arthur Capper as the owner of
this business." 10° Stauffer in his statement said,
Capper Publications, through its many years under the leadership of the
late Senator Capper and his associates, has a heritage of which Kansans can
be proud.
It shall be the aim of the new owners, insofar as possible, to live up to
these traditions, ideals and standards.101
The Capper enterprise showed an extensive growth by almost any
measure. At least 20 publications were purchased or consolidated
by 1930. The staff had increased greatly. The number of com-
94. Ibid., March 10, 1956.
95. Ibid., April 24, 1956. March, 1953, was the time of the court ruling.
96. Ibid., September 16, 1956.
97. Ibid., February 2, 1957.
98. Ibid., December 21, 1956.
99. Editor and Publisher, September 22, 1956, p. 9; November 17, 1956, p. 42;
December 22, 1956.
100. Ibid., September 22, 1956, p. 9; Topeka Daily Capital, September 16, 1956.
101. Topeka Daily Capital, September 16, 1956.
EVOLUTION OF CAPPER PUBLICATIONS 167
munication media had grown. Circulation had increased from
1,600 for the Mail in 1893 to more than 5,000,000 for ten varied pub-
lications in 1956. 102 These were Household, Cappers Farmer, To-
peka Daily Capital, Capper's Weekly, Kansas City Kansan, Kansas
Fanner, Missouri Ruralist, Ohio Farmer, Michigan Farmer, and
Pennsylvania Farmer. In addition, the radio stations, WIBW in
Topeka, and KCKN in Kansas City, and WIBW-TV in Topeka
claimed an extensive although unnumbered audience.
102. See the chart for circulation of the Capper periodicals, p. 165.
Kansas Philosophers, 1871 —
T. B. Taylor, Joel Moody, and Edward Schiller
JAMES C. MALIN
I. SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND THEOLOGY: FORT SCOTT
AS A PHILOSOPHICAL CENTER
THE material interests of Fort Scott were intimately involved in
the successful exploitation of the mineral resources of the area
and in relations with neighboring communities. This meant the
discovery and development of deposits of coal, oil, gas, hydraulic
cement, paint, lead, and zinc. The press gave attention to such sub-
jects as news. The state geological surveys of Mudge and Swallow
were studied and private surveys were always a source of interest
for what promise they would turn up. Thus an amateur interest
in the sciences of geology and paleontology was widespread, and
some acquired a certain competence in that field. When the Rev.
Jacob B. Saxe preached on "Geology and Revelation/' some, at
least, in his audience, and among the readers of the Monitor, which
reported the discourse, possessed some scientific background for
an appreciation of the issues. It was a subject that came up fre-
quently, because the controversies precipitated by geological and
biological science over evolution of the human species were known
and discussed.
Neither Kansas as a state nor Fort Scott, one of the lesser cities
of the state, is usually considered a philosophical or theological
center. Yet, after their peculiar fashion, both gave a rather courage-
ous account of themselves during the decade of the 1870's. On
July 22, 1871, D. W. Wilder wrote an editorial "Who Reads a Kan-
sas Book?" of which this is the final paragraph:
Within five months, four citizens of Kansas have published books — Joel
Moody, the "Science of Evil," Edward Schiller, "Progressive Philosophy," C. C.
Hutchinson, "Resources of Kansas," and T. B. Taylor, "Old Theology/' Mr.
Schiller's book was printed in New York, the others in this State. It is not
a little singular that three of these books are on religious topics, and that
they all agree in rejecting the common theological notions. Is Kansas to be
as radical on religions as she has been on political questions?
The only feature of this paragraph that was strange was the
failure to point out that two of the three books on "religious topics"
DR. JAMES C. MALIN, associate editor of The Kansas Historical Quarterly, is professor
of history at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and is author of several books relating to
Kansas and the West.
(168)
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 169
were written by Fort Scott men — Schiller and Taylor — that Moody
was a close neighbor and had been intimately identified with Fort
Scott, and that Taylor's book had been printed by the Monitor com-
pany. One objection might have been raised by a purist whether
or not these books were on religious topics; possibly "philosophical"
would have been a more accurate term, at least for two of the three.
In these several works and commentary upon them science occu-
pied a conspicuous role. As the word was used it was too inclusive
except as the concept of science was associated with an emphasis
upon the inductive method — conclusions drawn from an array of
established facts. The new disciplines of psychology, archeology,
anthropology, geology, and biology, along with a new critical
spirit in history derived especially from the German historian
Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886), provided new intellectual tools
that were being brought to bear upon all areas of knowledge, and
especially as they related to the role of man on the earth. That
they should be applied also to religion was only normal procedure.
But like all new instruments they might be subject to misuse. Also,
legitimate applications might be misunderstood and arouse hostility
when they ran counter to established tradition.
The English historian, Henry T. Buckle (1821-1862), in his book
A History of Civilization in England ( 1857-1861 ) , had viewed his-
tory as determined by natural phenomena; physical agencies such
as climate, soil, food, etc. David Friederich Strauss (1808-1874),
a German theologian and philosopher, wrote Das Leben Jesu
(1835), translated into English and published in the United States
as The Life of Jesus, in 1855. Ernest Renan (1823-1892), a French
philologist and historian, published Vie de Jesus ( 1863 ) , translated
and issued in the United States as The Life of Jesus, in 1864. These
books and other publications in the same vein as these authors
represented Jesus as a mortal man, a historical character as other
men, stripped of the supernatural. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903),
English sociologist, published Social Statics, in 1851, an essay on the
development hypothesis in 1852, in which organic evolution was
stated seven years prior to Darwin's Origin of Species, and several
other works on science and psychology. Charles Darwin's (1809-
1882) Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871)
formulated the doctrine of evolution of man from lower forms of
life. Thomas H. Huxley (1825-1895), also an English biologist,
did not accept fully the Darwinian doctrine, but wrote that: "of
moral purpose I see no trace in nature. This is an article of exclu-
sive human manufacture." His early books which were widely read
170 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
by the public included Zoological Evidences as to Mans Place in
Nature ( 1863 ) , and On the Physical Bases of Life ( 1868 ) . He gave
currency to the term "agnostic" that "the existence of anything be-
yond and behind material phenomena is unknown and (so far as
can be judged ) unknowable. . . ." 1
All these names appeared repeatedly in the news articles printed
in the Fort Scott Daily Monitor during the year 1871, and reap-
peared from time to time during the next five years. How accurately
the issues raised by these men were understood by Kansans is an-
other question. Nevertheless, the pros and cons were discussed in
Fort Scott, sometimes intellectually in good temper, and sometimes
emotionally in anger. And the Daily Monitor reported them, but
not always sympathetically or accurately.
II. THE REV. MR. T. B. TAYLOR
The book by the Rev. T. B. Taylor, carried a long descriptive
title: "Old Theology Turned Upside Down or Right Side Up; by a
Methodist Preacher; or Eight Lectures: — Six on the Resurrection of
the Dead, One on the Second Coming of Christ, and One on the
Last Judgment — Showing From the Standpoint of Common Sense,
Reason, Science, Philosophy, and the Bible, the Utter Folly There
Is in the Doctrine of the Literal Resurrection of the Body, a Literal
Coming of Christ at the End of the World, and a Literal Judgment
to Follow. By Rev. T. B. Taylor, A. M., author of 'The Inebriate/
'Death on the Plains/ and one anonymous work."2 The author's
advertisement appeared in the Daily Monitor, July 14, 1871, and a
young woman was to start canvassing the city for sales.
In his introduction Taylor explained the origin of the book, a series
of lectures delivered at the Methodist church in Fort Scott during
the previous winter "to crowded audiences, such as had not been
witnessed in that city, on ordinary occasions of religious worship at
any previous time; thereby evincing the interest the people were
taking in the subject. . . ." The publication of the lectures was
alleged to have been undertaken at the instance of S. T. Armstrong
and others who heard them, the letter of request and Taylor's reply,
both dated February, 1871, being reproduced in full. The critical
resurrection question was discussed briefly, calling upon St. Paul
(I Corinthians 15:44) for support: "There is a natural body, and
there is a spiritual body" — the resurrection was of the latter. This
introduction was dated May 4, 1871. Then, prior to going to press
1. The Oxford English Dictionary (1933), under "agnostic."
2. The present writer has not found copies of either of the Taylor books, The Inebriate,
or Death on the Plains.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 171
a note, or postscript, was added below the date: "The lectures were
given while yet the author was a member of the Methodist ministry:
hence the title of the book."
A brief examination of the contents of Taylor's book is in order.
He insisted that "the fog, rubbish, nonsense, absurdity" which dog-
matists "during the past days of ignorance and creed worship,
gathered around this profoundly interesting subject" must be
cleared. Taylor insisted that he had believed for years, "that Re-
ligion and Science were twin sisters, and ought to stand up proudly,
side by side," but he suggested to religious teachers that "when a
well established fact of science comes in contact with a theory of
religion, let the theory in religion, quietly, but as speedily as pos-
sible, be remodeled. . . ." He concluded the admonition by
asserting "that the facts of science, when once established, are
. . . unalterable; and as quiet as the goddess of science seems
to stand, when she does strike at false theories, it is with a most
crushing power."
Taylor's argument is a reminder of a dictum that once upon a
time religion was the chief source of error, but in recent times sci-
ence has assumed that unenviable role. He did not differentiate
facts, theories, and philosophical speculation, and did not explain
how affection could survive between the loving "twin sisters" if re-
ligion must always submit abjectly to science. Taylor did not ex-
plain who was to act as umpire in disputes about whether facts, the-
ories, and philosophical speculations of either religion or science
were "well established." He did raise the question in his first lecture,
however, about the status of difference of opinion in religion:
"Are opinions, when honestly entertained, either criminal or vir-
tuous? If so, what, or who, is to be the umpire?" His answer
was that among Roman Catholics the church decided, and among
Protestants, the Bible was the arbiter: "But [unfortunately for
certainty] the believers in the Bible have as many phases of belief
as Proteus had shapes." And then he admonished his Methodist
brethren to have "patience with, and charity for those who differ
with us in matters of opinion, inasmuch as there is and can be no
absolute standard of human opinions." Taylor's confusion about
absolutes and relativism was not new in his time and has not been
resolved since.
In Taylor's eight lectures dealing directly with the resurrection
theme he recognized three main views: (1) outright denial; (2) a
general literal resurrection of the physical body, judgment, and re-
ward and punishment, followed by destruction of the world; (3)
172 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
immediate resurrection of everyone who dies. Taylor defended a
version of the third view in which he held that the resurrection was
of the spiritual body, and not of the natural or physical body "which
we wear as we do our clothes, and which we lay off in death as we
do our clothes when we retire."
On the subject of the judgment, Taylor argued that it began as
soon as man was created and became a responsible moral agent, and
would continue until men and angels cease to be created. The
umpire in this judgment was not God or Christ in person, but "the
word of eternal truth, addressed to man's intelligent understanding,
whether written in a book with pen and ink, or upon the never-
ending pages of man's own conscience by the spirit of God, or
upon the ever-unfolding pages of nature. . . ." In another
place the working was somewhat different — each was judged "ac-
cording to the principles of progress and development," and that
"judgment commences in their state of probation, and ends in
eternity."
In a final lecture, "The Magnetic Forces of the Universe," not
numbered into the series of lectures, Taylor elaborated more fully
upon the points suggested in the final numbered lecture. Of all the
natural forces, he asserted that "electricity, or the Magnetic Forces of
the Universe is the most wonderful. . . ." This he associated
with man's mind and nervous system. After referring to strange
religious experiences, observed during his 23 years as an ordained
minister, and his service during 1868-1869 on a committee of
scientific men who investigated spiritualist phenomena that excited
Ohio and Indiana about that period, Taylor concluded that all such
phenomena could be explained upon purely natural and scientific
principles — electricity and magnetic force — and the more "the oc-
cult and hidden forces of nature" were understood, the less the
occasion "to look to the supernatural for a solution. . . ."
These preliminaries prepared the way for an application to "the
domain of futurity, of spirituality and religion." Taking the prin-
ciple of action and reaction from natural science as his point of
departure Taylor suggested that every act of man had its repercus-
sions, not only throughout the world, but throughout the universe,
and, for better or worse, these constituted the irrevocable record of
every man's life; and conscious beings in other worlds might possess
perceptions so acute that they could read the records of men on
earth; and furthermore, after this life of men on earth was over
each might read the other's history. Thus, every man was his own
recording angel, and "every man must see in eternity ... his
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 173
own most truthful record written, signed and sealed with his own
hand, not on paper or parchment, but upon the more durable ma-
terials of the material, though spiritualized universe/'
Strictly speaking, all this was not new. In the course of the
discussion Taylor quoted from a Dr. Hitchcock as an authority but
without citation of the full name of the author, or of the title of the
work in question. The reference was, however, to Dr. Edward
Hitchcock, president of Amherst College, and professor of natural
theology and geology, and to his book of lectures The Religion of
Geology and Its Connected Sciences (Boston, 1852). In Hitch-
cock's preface, besides pleading for theologians trained in the
sciences and in natural theology, he recounted that these lectures
had first been written eight to ten years earlier, or about 1842-1844,
and had been delivered before many audiences prior to publication.
The one from which Taylor quoted was the 12th: "The telegraphic
system of the universe." A comparison of the Hitchcock and Taylor
printed lectures reveals the fact that Taylor, except for his own
autobiographical introduction had not only quoted from Hitchcock,
but had done little more than condense, at times in close paraphrase,
the Hitchcock lecture. In this perspective, the question occurs;
why all the controversy about Taylor's ministry in Fort Scott? The
ideas were not new in fact, but were new only to the local audience.
The crisis which terminated Taylor's ministerial career occurred
between the time of his commitment to the Monitor company for
printing the book of lectures and the actual presswork. The fore-
shadowing of it can be seen in an exchange of letters in the Daily
Monitor, February 25 and 26, 1871. A letter to the editor signed
"Chairman" called attention to Taylor's sermon scheduled the com-
ing Sunday evening on the "Effects of Anger," and recounted the
advance notice by Taylor the previous Sunday intended to arouse
the interest of his listeners. A hypothetical case was described: if
Taylor was unexpectedly struck by one person, arousing anger, and
at the same instant, he was killed by an accidental shot of another
person, "where would I go?" "Chairman" insisted that the answer
was simple — under such circumstances anger was an instinctive
reaction associated with self defense, and "the conscience would go
free," even if a blow was instantly struck in return before reason
acted. "Chairman" continued by asserting that this simple case in
Taylor's opinion involved such metaphysics and theology that he
would devote a whole evening to it, and what he would make of it
"Chairman" did not know, but as he had upon other occasions
174 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
shown himself "wiser than the Scriptures," on this "he may be able
to give it a Spiritual meaning. But we are weary of Spiritualism,
Swedenborgianism and skepticism from a Methodist pulpit."
Taylor replied "in anger" in the Sunday morning Monitor de-
nouncing the anonymous attack, which he compared with a snake
in the grass, or a skunk behind a stump, and yet "Chairman" claimed
to be a Christian. Taylor insisted that "Chairman" had not learned
the first law of Heaven: "Harmony is Heaven; discord is Hell" — a
soul in anger was not in harmony with the element that is heaven.
At the Methodist church, that evening, Taylor insisted he would
"put a little common sense, reason and Scripture into the discussion
of this subject. . . ."
The meeting of the Methodist conference at Paola which dis-
missed Taylor had occurred shortly thereafter. On Sunday,
March 26, Taylor spoke at McDonald Hall on the subject of "In-
tolerance," even standing room being occupied. The writer of the
Monitor article, probably Wilder himself, admitted he had not
heard Taylor before, and went in a frame of mind not favorably dis-
posed toward him. But Taylor's conduct made a favorable impres-
sion, the sermon being such as might have been heard elsewhere:
"but very little was said about his own case. He did not charge
the Methodist Church with intolerance in expelling him." His one
witticism, which brought laughter and applause, was that "he had
lately attended a diet of the worms at Paola, and been consumed by
the worms. Perhaps the laughter aroused by this was heightened
by the fact that Mr. Taylor was so lately a 'worm' himself, and that
he may want to consume other worms — which would be intolerance
again."
At the close of the meeting a subscription was raised to employ
Taylor as pastor of
The Independent Congregation of Fort Scott. The man and his friends are
plainly in earnest, and the movement will succeed. Fort Scott is large
enough and liberal enough to sustain an independent church, and we hope
there are very few here who are not willing to let the worship of God be
free — republican and democratic in the highest sense of those words. The
world is large enough for us all, but life is too short to be spent in abusing
all who differ from us in opinion.
The temper of the times was such, however, that some took
offense at the Monitor's comment, and the next day an explanation
appeared:
We did not say yesterday, and no one ought to infer from what we said,
that the Methodists had persecuted Mr. Taylor. . . . Republicans cease
to elect men to office who do not stand on the party platform, and that is
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 175
precisely what the Methodists have done. . . . Our remarks were on the
general question of toleration.3
On April 1, at Institute Hall, "The First Independent Society of
Fort Scott" was organized, and the necessary machinery of operation
set up. Each Wednesday evening, a sociable of the society was to
be held. On Sundays, morning and evening sermons were sched-
uled, and on Sunday afternoons a service for the children. Meeting
places caused some trouble, but when summer came the sociables
were held at the residences of the pastor and members.4 Theological
conflict was not at an end, however, one instance being an invita-
tion extended to the Rev. Mr. Saxe, Universalist minister, to occupy
the pulpit on Sunday evening, April 22, on the subject "Resurrection
of the Dead," intended as a reply to the sermons of the Rev.
A. Beatty, rector at St. Andrew's Episcopal church.5
The Methodists were very much embarrassed by the turn of
events, the number of prominent men involved, and the apparent
strength of the Independent society. In order to present their case
to the public, an extract was published from the report of the com-
mittee to whom the charges against Taylor had been referred —
three charges, each supported by specifications. The first charge
was doctrinal and dealt with his view of resurrection, conversion,
inspiration of parts of the Bible, miracles and "Stating that human
probation does not terminate with the present life, and teaching
the doctrine of purgatory/' The second charge was personal:
slang, vulgar witticisms, irreverence, violent language, and threats
to split the congregation because some complained of his preach-
ing. The third charge was falsehood; that in seeking the Fort Scott
assignment the preceding year, he had lied to the presiding bishop
and to the presiding elder of the district in saying
that he had no sympathy with the views of Modern Spiritualism and after-
wards publicly and privately disseminating such views.
On the last charge the committee were divided in opinion and the charge
was not sustained, but the specification under this charge was sustained
unanimously.
Taylor replied vigorously, alleging: (1) that the accusation of
falsehood had not been made in the copy of the charges sent to him
through the post office, and he learned of it only when it was read
before the committee; (2) that he had been denied a hearing by
the "Paola inquisition"; (3) that the printed extract relating to the
third charge had been falsified — that the original document merely
3. The Daily Monitor, Fort Scott, March 28, 29, 1871.
4. Ibid., April 4, 11, 12, 15, 22, 27, 1871.
5. Ibid., April 22, 1871.
176 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
stated: "Not sustained." Taylor had appealed his case to the
general conference of May, 1872, filing seven exceptions to the rul-
ings of the court, and five to the finding of the jury as not being
in accord with the evidence.6
By going back into the record of the circumstances of Taylor's
coming to Fort Scott, his version appears to have had substantial
support. The manner of his first contact with the congregation has
not been determined, but on February 20, 1870, Prof. F. B. Taylor
was advertised to preach at both the morning and evening services,
and was represented as "one of the leading Methodist divines.
. . ." The report on his appearance made no reference to his
sermon subjects or the substance of his remarks, merely that he
"drew a full house," and that "the audience were well repaid for
the coming." Several weeks later his assignment to the Fort Scott
charge was announced thus: "Mr. Taylor comes among us at the
urgent solicitations of a large number of the members of the con-
gregation. . . ." Also the explanation was made that he had
been associated with the Northwestern Former, Indianapolis, selling
out his interest in the paper to return to the ministerial profession,
and to accept the appointment to Fort Scott. The implication of
the data points to the conclusion that his visit of February 20 had
been a tryout and that he had made so favorable an impression as
to give rise to the remark about the solicitation from the members
of the congregation.7
Shortly after arrival, and on Easter Sunday, Taylor had preached
upon the subject "Evidence of Immortality." He explained that he
did so on request:
A subject of such profound importance cannot but be of interest to every
human being, and we question if there is a person in existence who does not
anxiously incline to hear everything that may be advanced in proof of the
gravest and most momentuous question that can agitate the human mind.
Once convinced of immortality, men cannot but embrace such religious belief
as he feels convinced will secure him happiness in the eternal hereafter. There
is little doubt that the great neglect manifested toward Christianity, and the
apathy prevailing in regard to what is claimed as "revealed religion," arises
more from want of actual evidence of the immortality of the human soul
than from any other cause.
Taylor immediately found himself, not between two fires, but in
the midst of several. One letter to the editor signed "X" related
that Taylor's morning sermon was only an introduction to his even-
ing discourse so he had heard both. Among many other things
6. Ibid., April 8, 9, 1871.
7. Ibid., February 20, 22, March 31, April 1, 6, 1870. The Monitor, February 20,
had given his initials F. B. instead of T. B.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 177
"X" declared that in repudiating modern spiritualism, Taylor had
exhibited "narrow-minded bigotry/' Taylor replied through the
Monitor declaring that criticism was both legitimate and desirable,
but that the "X" letter was mere faultfinding and misrepresentation.
Thus for the guidance of those who were not present, but who read
the paper, Taylor outlined his main arguments under four heads:
1. REASON says, "If man is not immortal, then his creation was a grand
mistake."
2. THE BIBLE, which no where argues the immortality of the soul, neverthe-
less lays down this doctrine as the great substratum on which true religion is
based. If man be not immortal then the whole Bible story is a farce.
3. THE VOICE OF THE NATIONS PROCLAIM THIS TRUTH, and the argument
[of the original] was based upon the probable truth of the Platonic philosophy
— that "the voice of the people is the voice of God." Here I cited the ancient
Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, Scythians, Grecians, etc., quoting from
Zoroaster the Second, Socrates, Plato, and Homer.
4. ANCIENT and MODERN facts come to the defence of these three pre-
sumptions, and demonstrate the truth of human immortality. . . .8
On June 1, 1870, the Ministerial Association of the Fort Scott
District of the Methodist Church met in the city. The presiding
elder of the district, the Rev. J. Paulson, formerly minister at Fort
Scott, was chosen chairman, and the Rev. T. B. Taylor, secretary.
One item of the proceedings as reported in the Daily Monitor,
June 2, is pertinent to the present narrative:
Rev. Mr. Taylor of the church of this city made a report of his charge,
which though in the main satisfactory and encouraging, still showed some slight
indications that the congregation were not staying up the hands of their pastor
in the good work he has auspiciously commenced.
Further evidence in the negative direction was not long in being
presented. Near the end of July, Taylor apologized publicly through
the press for his illness and the resulting impairment of his ability
to perform his pastoral duties. He considered illness a sin, but
placed the blame upon climate — he found it necessary to keep out
of the sun until he became acclimated. A physician, writing over
the name "Nux Vomica," accused him of bad taste and with being
a publicity seeker. Taylor admitted that friends advised him to
ignore the attack, but he denounced "Nux Vomica" on two counts:
(1) a personal attack under an assumed name; (2) he was a
slanderer. If he would only sign his name, Taylor would fill out
the details, but "otherwise I shall treat you as I would a *barldng
fisteV Others then joined in the controversy, but added nothing
pertinent to the present story.9
8. Ibid., April 16, 17, 20, 21, 1870.
9. Ibid., July 30, 31, August 5, 6, 1870.
12—3189
178 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Of a positive nature was a letter to the editor in September
written by a man who admitted not being a habitual church goer.
The announced subject of Taylor's sermon, telegraphy and its
relation to religion, aroused his curiosity because he could not see
the connection. The letter was by way of report and an apprecia-
tion of Taylor's sermon:
Here, however, was something new. His text I have heard quoted an
hundred times. "They have sought out many inventions/' but always hereto-
fore, in opposition to science, to progress and all discovery.
The Rev. gentleman proceded to address his very large and intelligent
audience upon the very great importance and intimate relation of those forces
in the universe around us, to our moral as well as physical being.
He quoted passages of scripture, which, if they do not support this theory,
do not have any meaning at all. The theory is, that sound, light, and even
thought, make an indellible impression upon the material universe around us.
How grand and overwhelming is the very idea indeed, which the book of life
will one day open to our view; the bare possibility of its truth should make
men and women ponder well their conduct.
I must confess that in all my long and eventful life, I have never yet heard
so good an argument in favor of a virtuous life as this theory affords.
We are made our own recording angels, and as we surely can never get
away from ourselves, our every sin and short-coming must be known; and
when we add to this that other important fact that we can never forget
anything, that some time or other our memory will picture to us our whole
past life; how very appalling does sin seem to be!
His assertions were Bible extracts and were well supported by quotations
from those who are at the lead of all science, such as Hitchcock and Babbage,
and the eminent Professor of chemistry, Prof. Hare.
We were well entertained, much instructed and benefitted, and notwith-
standing the assaults of men who have "finished their education" upon Rev.
Taylor, we earnestly hope he will feel called upon to give us more such
sermons, and thus help on the reformation of
AN OLD FRIEND.™
This leads the story full circle to the point of beginning, the ser-
mons of midwinter, and the announcement in the Daily Monitor,
February 9, 1871, that Taylor had responded to the urgent request
of hearers of his lectures on the "Resurrection of the Dead," and
would publish them in a few weeks in book form, printed by the
Monitor press. But the crises these lectures precipitated brought
his loyal admirers face to face with a social reality. After the ca-
pacity for heroic action in the face of emergency had been demon-
strated by the organization, April 1, 1871, of the First Independent
Society of Fort Scott, what of the capacity to demonstrate the con-
tinuity of interest and performance necessary to insure lasting
success?
10. Ibid., September 13, 1870. Evidently this discourse was the one that was printed as
the finad chapter of Taylor's book.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 179
In due course, April, May, and June passed, and on July 1, Satur-
day, the Monitor announced that T. B. Taylor would take a July
vacation: Accordingly, after Sunday, July 2, services at Institute
Hall would be closed: "In the meantime the Society will make a
vigorous effort, as tight as money matters are, to bring up all ar-
rearages." The sermon subjects for Sunday were to be: "The Re-
form Essential to the Perpetuity of National Life," and "The Coming
Fate of the Physical World." Applicable to the latter title, the re-
mark was added that the philosophers had speculated on it for ages.
Also, a 25 cent admission charge would be asked for the benefit of
Mr. Taylor. The next day the Sunday Monitor announced a change;
that as the Rev. S. S. Hunting, Western secretary of the American
Unitarian Association, was in town, Taylor had yielded the pulpit to
him for the morning service, but Taylor would speak in the evening
as announced, when a good attendance was solicited for his benefit
as the salary arrearages amounted to $300. The amount of salary
promised him had not been announced, but had it been $100 per
month, probably thus far he had not been paid anything. Appar-
ently, services were not resumed.
Still maintaining residence in Fort Scott, and still with loyal
friends, Taylor in late December, again found himself in difficulty.
Upon the death of Phineas Clough, a former member of his congre-
gation, Taylor had been asked to officiate at the funeral. The
Methodist minister, the Rev. M. A. Buckner, had permitted the use
of the church. In reporting the funeral service, the Monitor had
inadvertently linked the names of Taylor and Buckner. The latter
published a card in which he explained that "so far as Mr. Taylor
is concerned, he is an expelled member and minister of the M. E.
Church, and has no right to partake of its sacraments. . . . [But
out of consideration of the family and friends] we thought it would
be very unkind to object to a funeral service being held in the
church." The Pleasanton Observer made a bitter attack upon
Buckner, but later apologized after a conversation with the latter
in which it was learned that the use of the church was requested
by Mrs. Clough. But the Observer added a gloss of its own, which
Buckner corrected in a second card, explaining that his first card had
not been published, as alleged by the Observer ". . . to satisfy
a gossipping, croaking public. ... I did it from a sense of duty
and for no other reason." n
Approximately three months later, Taylor was reported to be lec-
turing at Topeka for the spiritualists society where he was assaulted
11. Ibid., December 29, 1871, January 9, 10, 1872.
180 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
by R. N. Collings worth, a revivalist, recently converted from spirit-
ualism, who beat him with a cane. The background of the incident
was that Collingsworth had attacked spiritualism and spiritualists
in his sermons and a group of men approved a written reply pre-
pared by Taylor, which he published in the Commonwealth. After
the beating of Taylor they published over their own names a state-
ment of the circumstances. All were men of distinction in Topeka,
and particularly well known were F. P. Baker, G. S. and E. Chase,
and George W. and F. L. Crane, and they jointly took responsibility
for Taylor's article.12
Nearly a year later, Taylor was reported lecturing on spiritualism
in Manhattan, where the Nationalist said that "the Doctor unques-
tionably proved that the Bible refers to the return of departed spirits
to this earth. . . ." 13 Toward the end of the same year, Taylor
was reported to be lecturing in Chicago where he was more hetero-
dox than when in Fort Scott.14 By using the terminology of ortho-
doxy and heterodoxy, and harping upon doctrinal conflicts, the
main issue was confused. Science had led many to reject immor-
tality, and many more were harassed with doubt. The central con-
cern of the spiritualist emphasis, whether within the Christian de-
nominations as Taylor had pursued the quest, or within the ranks of
modern spiritualism as a movement opposed to Christianity, was a
renewed certainty about immortality that would insure meaning to
life on this earth. The prevailing faith in science and reason was
being turned to account in trying to prove immortality.
The excesses of modern spiritualism disturbed many people dur-
ing the decades of the 1860's and the 1870's, and for different rea-
sons. That topic is dealt with more appropriately elsewhere, but
one aspect applicable here was focused as follows:
While these people [scientific spiritualists] are active and zealous trying to
demonstrate the immortality of the soul, we learn that the big gun of the Ma-
terialists, B. F. Underwood, of Boston, designs invading us with two lectures
next week at McDonald Hall. Mr. Underwood will try to prove that we have
no soul, or at least that we have no existence after death. He is the extreme
opposite of Spiritualism.15
Here was indeed the crux of the matter — the search for certainty
about immortality which had been under attack by many scientists
and others using science. By employing the method of science —
experiment and demonstration — the sincere spiritualist hoped to
12. Ibid., March 29, 30, 1872, reprinted from the Topeka Daily Commonwealth.
13. Daily Monitor, January 28, 1873, the wording is the Monitor's summary.
14. Ibid., November 29, 1873, commenting upon a Chicago Tribune report of his
lectures.
15. Ibid., January 4, 5, 8, 1873.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 181
provide conclusive proof of immortality, which, thus far in the his-
tory of the culture of man, had been based upon faith alone. If the
sceptic argued that even this resort to scientific method and to
science was nothing more than an exercise in faith, then a sufficient
reply was that scientific spiritualism and scientific materialism were
both based upon the same faith. Of course, such a formula would
be two-edged, but that was proper, because scientific method and
science were often abused by both materialists and spiritualists.
The truth is that all was not "sweetness and light" within the ranks
of either spiritualism or scientism.
III. JOEL MOODY
Joel Moody's The Science of Evil; or First Principles of Human
Action: Together With Three Lectures; Salvation and Damnation
Before Birth, or the Scientific and Theological Methods of Salva-
tion Compared. — Sunday; — Its History, Uses and Abuses. — Prayer;
— the True and False Methods Compared, was claimed by its pub-
lishers, Crane & Byron, Topeka, to be "the first literary work pub-
lished in Kansas." Wilder challenged that claim, but what was
more important was the content of the book which he condemned
unmercifully: "The book does not seem to us to be wise or profound,
and critics will deny that it is literature. The reading of it would
not make us wiser or better, and we prefer to read authors who
either instruct or amuse." 16 Unfortunately, Wilder was too con-
servative, too prejudiced because of matters on which they were at
odds, or simply too obtuse in matters of philosophy and theology
to state accurately for the information of his readers the trend of
Moody's argument. Agreement is not necessary for a reviewer to
discuss a book at an intellectual level.
Joel Moody was born at or near Lake George, New Brunswick,
October 28, 1833, and died at Topeka, February 18, 1914. His
family moved to St. Charles, 111., in 1834, so Joel's early years were
spent in that state. As his parents died in 1846 he shifted for him-
self, graduated from Oberlin College, received a degree, in 1858,
from the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the bar at
Columbus, Ohio, the same year. On January 1, 1859, he was mar-
ried to Elizabeth King and came to Kansas. The young couple
lived at Leavenworth from February to October, 1859, at Belmont,
Woodson County, from October, 1859, to 1866, when they moved
16. Ibid., January 28, 1871. In his Annals of Kansas (1886) p. 546, Wilder gave the
date of publication of Moody's book as February 14, 1871, but Wilder's review appeared
in the Monitor January 28, with the announcement that the book was then for sale by Dyer
Smith at the post office news depot.
182 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to Linn county which continued to be the Moody home until
August, 1892, Elizabeth having died during the 1880's. He served
in the house of representatives from Woodson county in 1865 and
from Linn county in 1881, and in the state senate 1889 and 1891
where, as chairman of the committee on education, he sponsored
a bill "to place the University of Kansas on a plane above the
preparatory school, and to take rank among the higher universities
of the country." As a member of the board of regents he had a
hand "in its management as well as in its new birth." 17 Also, Moody
achieved some local distinction as a poet: The Song of Kansas, and
Other Poems (Topeka, 1890).
In 1881, when a reporter was refused biographical data by
Moody, he wrote to Mrs. Moody to supply them. Her reply is
precious and opened thus:
In answer to your conundrums about my husband, I will say: Mr. Moody
has been quite a study to me. I have lived with him a long time, and the
longer I live with him the more I find out and the less I know really about
him.
When and where he was born are questions I know nothing about, but
that he was bora I have very little doubt, and really on the whole do not
regret it.
By the time Mrs. Moody had finished her letter the reporter was
none the wiser about the biographical facts he needed. But, surely
he had received a memorable document that suggests that life
with Joel, Elizabeth, and their three boys at Mound City must have
been anything but dull.
When Moody began lecturing on the subjects that found their
way into his book The Science of Evil ... is not yet clear,
but he delivered several series of such lectures during the years
1868-1870 at Mound City, Topeka, Leavenworth, Lawrence, Fort
Scott and other places in Kansas, and in Eastern cities, and appar-
ently with some success. At that time he was referred to as the
"Rev. Joel Moody, Minister of the Free Religious Society at Mound
City," or "Professor" Moody.
No record has been found of the factors which induced the
Moody family to throw in its lot with the Mound City community.
The unorthodoxy of both may suggest more than the facts war-
ranted, but from the major beginnings of 1857 onward, radicalism
was conspicuous at Mound City in the form of Quaker abolitionism,
17. Kansas State Historical Society, "Biographical Circulars"; Collections, K. S. H. S.,
v. 14 (1915-1918), p. 208 note, portrait p. 211; Admire's Political and Legislative Hand-
Book for Kansas, 1891, p. 405, is the authority for the credit attributed to him for the Uni-
versity bill. See, also, his annual opening address delivered September 13, 1889, at Law-
rence on "The University and the Student."
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 183
woman's rights, and prohibition. In 1864 the Ladies Enterprise
Society, one of the earliest woman's clubs in the United States,
built the Free Meeting House "for religious worship, educational
purposes, scientific, literary and political lectures or meetings.
. . ." In 1869 the building was donated to the county and be-
came the Linn county courthouse, and the Ladies Enterprise
Society came to an end.18
In October, 1868, the Linn County Spiritualist Association was
organized.19 Another group fostered in Mound City in the com-
munity tradition was the Free Religious Society with which Joel
Moody was conspicuously associated.
At Fort Scott, beginning December 14, 1868, Moody delivered at
the City Hall a series of five free lectures on "The History and Phil-
osophy of Evil." Concerning these a sympathetic correspondent
furnished an extended report saying that: "For Sermons they are
out of the track of popular preaching, being not only scientific and
historic, but philosophic in the highest sense of that term. . . ."
Because these are the first series on which reports have been found,
the brief references to their content are important to indicate some-
thing of the intellectual path he was to follow until his ideas were
printed formally in the book. The first sermon was introductory to
the whole series and
contained a historic and philosophic account of the Devil. — His second . . .
treated ... the popular and false theory of Evil ... a stunner to
Orthodoxy. — The third . . . was "Gods providence in man and nature,"
showed a knowledge of the Physical Sciences inostentatiously wrought into a
"Sermon" which seemed to fall upon the ear like manna into the wilderness, of
popular preaching.
He argued from the perfection of God, that if He ever created a Devil, He
must have meant the very best to the life of the Devil; that he created no evil
as evil, He meant no evil as evil; and that there could be no absolute evil in the
Universe. Sins there are many, but no sin absolute and generic tainting the
whole race.
Extracts from the manuscript of the fourth lecture were printed,
one of which may fairly indicate the trend of his argument:
No vicarious atonements can prevent the effects of our sins or errors on the
coming generations of man. No blood of Christ can wash away the diseases
of the flesh transmitted to children. . . . Ministers urge men and women to
prepare for the next world. Would to God they would spend their feeble
18. William Ansel Mitchell, Linn County, Kansas, A History (Kansas City, Mo., 1928),
pp. 331-340; Andreas-Cutler, History of Kansas, p. 1108, offered a variant on some points.
19. The Border Sentinel, Mound City, November 13, 1868, printed the text of the
constitution.
184 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
talents and earnest breath in teaching fathers and mothers to prepare them-
selves and their children for this world. . . . It is not the soul of man that
must be saved so much after death, it must be saved before birth. It is not
death, it is life which is a fearful thing.
The fifth sermon was not summarized, but the account closed:
"Suffice it to say, the course was the word fitly spoken — broadly and
well, at the right time, and in the right place. In the language of
one of our best citizens, 'Thank God there is one man who has the
courage to speak the truth/ Mr. Moody is a graduate of the Uni-
versity of Michigan, an accomplished and finished scholar, but his
best recommendation is the Sermons he preaches." The writer
announced the "intention to have him preach to us once a month."
The phrasing of this last remark implied that a sponsoring organiza-
tion was involved, but none was named.20 In a card printed in the
Monitor, Moody thanked the people for the donation of $50 for the
lectures: "It pleases me to find the most influential, intelligent and
business part of the people, wherever I go, so interested in the cause
of Man and True Religion in the world."
The plan for monthly lectures by Moody did materialize, the an-
nouncement saying he would "preach to the liberal religious element
of Fort Scott," February 7, 1869, in McDonald Hall, 4 P. M.; again
March 7, subject — "Immortal Life"; April 4, subject not announced;
and May 1, "Education." 21
His sermon of June 6, at Mound City, inspired a signed request
that the Border Sentinel print it in full: "Use and Philosophy of the
Sunday." He stripped Sunday of what he called "the black pall
of Superstitution," and proposed that it be made a day of rest,
recreation, rejoicing, social enjoyment, instruction, "or labor suited
to the condition of each human being. . . . Labor must be
reclaimed from the curse of the Bible, the curse of the law, and
the curse of avarice. . . . The Scientific lecture might profitably
be made to take the place of the popular sermon. . . . The
world demands a new religion. . . . That it will come and that
right soon, is inevitable."22 When preparations were announced
for the Fourth of July celebration of July 5 (Monday), July 4
falling on a Sunday, with Moody scheduled for a public role, his
principles were put to a test. He published a card, a defiance, he
20. Weekly Monitor, December 9, 23, 1868; Border Sentinel, Mound City, January 1,
1869. The issue of the Monitor for December 16 is missing from the file and it may have
supplied more specific information.
21. Weekly Monitor, February 3, March 3, April 7, 28, 1869.
22. The Border Sentinel, Mound City, June 18, 1869. The text of the sermon was
Romans 14:5.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 185
would not "burlesque" the Fourth of July, the National holiday in
that fashion.23
By July, 1869, but the date of organization has not yet beenx
determined, Fort Scott had a society to sponsor Moody's lectures.
Wiley Britton, its secretary, wrote to an editor under the date line
of July 25: "We have organized a Free Religious Society here,
called 'The Fort Scott Institute'" and from its constitution and
bylaws he reprinted sufficient to set forth its objects. They recog-
nized "the great principle of the unity and harmony of Nature,"
and the conviction "that a religion to be strictly true, must be strictly
scientific; and that any system of religious belief which has its
claims upon authority instead of science — the hand-maiden of God —
must necessarily be false. . . ." They proposed:
The establishment and maintenance of a library of useful books and periodicals,
in a place accessible to members, and the procuring of, from time to time,
lecturers on scientific and religious subjects; for furnishing rational and healthful
amusements; and for the purpose of better enabling us to discharge all other
acts of charity and benevolence, and whatever else tends to elevating and
benefiting mankind.
Britton concluded his communication by reporting that:
The Society is flourishing, and our reading room is well attended every
Sunday morning at nine o'clock. Mr. Joel Moody, of Mound City, gives us a
lecture about once a month, and his high literary attainments can hardly be
equalled in the West, and doubtless [are] not far behind Prof. Denton. Kansas
has done much in liberating and unfastening the shackles of the slave, and I
think will be equally as active in liberating and relieving the mind from super-
stition and bigotry.24
By order of the Fort Scott Institute a communication was pub-
lished in the Weekly Monitor, September 1, 1869, under the title:
"A Prophet Not Without Honor Save in His Own Country":
The truth of the above saying was never better exemplified than in the
reception the Rev. Joel Moody has met with in this place, contrasted with his
reception in Lawrence, Chicago, and other Eastern cities. Here perhaps not
over forty or fifty persons at a time have listened to his teachings. There
overflowing houses have greeted him, have published his lectures, and have
besought him to come again. And well they might, for a gentleman so
perfectly conversant with the writings of Parker, Buckle, Herbert Spencer,
Huxley, and other great modern philosophers and thinkers, must needs interest
and delight an audience with living, vital truths; truths that men know and
feel accord with the great laws of life. And yet what shall we say of a people
that, neglecting such teachings, will waste one-seventh part of their time
listening to the crude and superstitious dogmas of the dark ages; and strangest
23. Ibid., June 18, 25, 1869; his card was reprinted in the Monitor, June 30, 1869.
24. Joel Moody "Scrapbook" (K. S. H. S.), P. 61. Probably a Leavenworth paper, not
the Times Conservative. The Free Religious Association as a movement and its relation
to Kansas will be presented separately.
186 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
of all, though these orthodox doctrines do not accord with a single law of
nature, but come in direct conflict with nearly all. Though the modem dis-
coveries of science proclaim the system a lie, and though the whole world
practically disbelieves it, yet for no other reason than that which actuates a
majority of people when they abstain from commencing an undertaking on
Friday, or from changing a garment after being put on wrong side out, — they
still persist in paying the superstition a lip homage. But is that right? If the
laws which control the great questions of Intemperance, Poverty, Crime, and
Prostitution, can be found in any other system of philosophy — if we can by
any stretch of courtesy call this superstition a system of philosophy — it is our
duty to study that system. As well might we insist that our scholars should
found a system of astronomy on the principle that the earth is the center of
the solar system, as to try and base the laws of life upon this huge superstition.
Mr. Moody will deliver one of his great sermons next Sunday, at City Hall,
at 7& o'clock. P. M. Subject — Who Makes Our Idiots and Villains? Turn
out and hear him.
Proudly the Mound City Border Sentinel, September 10, reprinted
praise of its fellow-citizen from Lawrence, Chicago, and Fort Scott
papers and commented favorably upon the Fort Scott Institute: "A
society of men and women who fearlessly discuss all questions of
theology and human nature, and are organized for the good of man
not to teach theological dogma."
Beginning December 20, 1869, Moody announced a series of five
lectures at the court house in Mound City, which still served as a
community forum as it had while maintained as the Free Meeting
House. The theme was "Progress of Thought":
While they are philosophic, the philosophy is NEW, and the result of the
scientific requirements of the world, and peculiarly of this age. It may be
expressed in a sentence, — evolution instead of manufacture. This age is
peculiar. It may be called the Individualizing age. . . . But what the
people learn is particular. ... It has been my object to generalize and
give a more comprehensive view than people have usually been in the habit
of taking. . . .
After trying out the new series on his neighbors, Moody again made
a tour of Eastern cities during January and the larger cities of
Kansas in February, 1870.25
In the Moody "Scrapbook," the clipping from the Topeka Daily
Commonwealth was marked in pencil — "Orthodox Paper," and in
that light its contents was more illuminating than the comments
which had nothing but praise for the lecture "Progress of Thought."
He drew his illustrations from "the different historic ages, the
nebular hypothesis, the development theory, the development of
science and religion, and the growth of law. The lecturer did not
25. Border Sentinel, December 10, 1869, January 6, 1870; Daily Kansas State Record,
Topeka, February 2, 3, 1870; Topeka Daily Commonwealth, February 1, 1870.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 187
find special creative acts, such as miracles, and derived all things
by evolution. All religious faiths were developed one from another,
and put on the same level as brother and sister."
The editor thought Moody's weakest point was inaccuracies of
statement and generalization: "Another mind might perhaps take
the same facts and arrive at an opposite result." Among other things
Moody held that the world's greatest intellectual achievements were
found along an isothermal zone of 40°. In closing the editor ex-
pressed the hope that Moody would "follow his law of progress until
he shall have eliminated all error from his system and shall take his
stand on the everlasting platform of truth."
Returning the story to home ground, that multiple purpose
organization, the Fort Scott Institute, requires attention again. Hav-
ing been launched during 1869, it had been called a free religious
society in which capacity it had sponsored Moody's lectures, it had
promoted a library, and in December, 1869, it had launched weekly
Wednesday evening sociables, held often in the new Monitor read-
ing room, which sometimes, at least, included lectures as well as
dancing. Because Moody's relations with Fort Scott were so closely
allied with the activities of the Fort Scott Institute it seems justified
to present briefly in continuity some of the highlights of both
themes at this point, extending through the period 1870-1871.
On February 15, 1870, the institute sponsored a lecture "Life
Without and Life Within," by the Rev. J. C. Post, the Baptist minis-
ter. The next night they spent dancing, and to their music in the
Monitor reading room, the compositors set the type for the Monitor
issued the morning of March 17. On a Sunday, March 27, Moody
lectured, both morning and evening in the same place. The follow-
ing month, the institute provided a lecture by one of its members,
D. A. Millington, on "Speculative Astronomy." By mid-June
Moody's book The Science of Evil . . . had been written, at
least in a trial draft. He gave a series of five readings from the
book in Fort Scott and again in Mound City. The Monitor com-
mented facetiously that: "He will find no lack of material on which
to work in reducing the subject to a science." 26
In July Susan B. Anthony was visiting her brother, and while in
Fort Scott, the institute engaged her to lecture, July 14, on "Work
and Wages," admission charge 50 cents. A small but select audience
was said to have been present to hear her insist that women could
free themselves only through the ballot. On Saturday evening, July
26. Daily Monitor, February 15, 17, March 29, AprU 24, May 3, June 19, 1870; Border
Sentinel, April 1, June 17, 1870.
188 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
16, she spoke again; "Why not?" in the Methodist church, answering
objections to woman's suffrage. For full measure, Taylor asked her
to share the Methodist pulpit with him the next evening on the sub-
ject of temperance. The Monitor congratulated Taylor on being
a consistent advocate of woman's rights, and suggested that Susan
"has a somewhat new theory on the temperance problem."
"An astonishing crowd congregated at the Methodist Church on
Sunday evening," the Monitor reported — in spite of the almost un-
bearable heat, and many were turned away. After being introduced
by the minister, Miss Anthony spoke for nearly two hours: "She
contends that man, in the management of society, is a grand failure,
. . . but she does not omit occasionally to upbraid her strong-
minded sisters — but this for their mild submission to the tyranny
of the male portion of the species." The editor then concluded:
"We cannot help thinking that if Miss Anthony had ever married
it would have improved her opinion of the male sex." 27
As this lecture was delivered at the evening, or young people's
service, a constructive suggestion offered by Miss Anthony, other
than her hobby, was quite in order; the development of an institute
to serve generally the needs of young people in the community.
The local implications of that suggestion through the intervention of
interested local elements led into the problem of the Y. M. C. A. and
must be summarized in another context. In conclusion of this par-
ticular Susan B. Anthony episode, however, attention should be
called explicitly to what had happened. The Fort Scott Institute
had been her original sponsor, and admission had been charged,
resulting in a small audience. The Anthony following "snowballed"
in spite of the heat when transferred to the Methodist church, the
second, and particularly the third night, as a part of the regular
Sunday evening service. The original sponsors were forgotten and
such stimulus as Miss Anthony may have given to doing something
more for young people was capitalized upon by the more conserva-
tive Y. M. C. A. group at the expense of the institute, the much more
radical "free religious society." Of course, nothing of this sort had
been "planned" by anybody. On the other hand, but quite unrelated
to the foregoing, the position of the institute was strengthened by
the American Unitarian Association of Boston which sent a gift of 41
volumes of its publications including "the works of Channing, Nor-
ton, Stanley, Wilson, Ware, Clarke, Bellows, Morrison, Sears, and
others."28
27. Daily Monitor, July 12-17, 19, 1870.
28. Ibid., August 17, 1870, the text of resolution of thanks dated August 14, 1870.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 189
At Mound City, Moody had used the Congregational church for
the five evenings beginning June 20, 1870, upon which he had read
installments from his Science of Evil. .>, . -. Publicly, the Border
Sentinel and its readers registered no expression about the incon-
gruity of this procedure. A similar tolerance was in evidence when
Moody endorsed a spiritualist lecturer, scheduled to speak in the
Mound City courthouse, September 20, 21: "He is one of the
champions of Spiritualism, and has long been doing gallant and
honorable service in the cause of Reform. Turn out and hear the
friend of man'' 29
For the winter lecture season of 1870-1871, Moody prepared a
lecture "The Reformer," which was presented first at the Mound
City courthouse, November 29:
Prof. Moody's lecture . . . was characteristic of the man who deliv-
ered it: bold and fearless. Announcing truths which popular opinion is not
prepared to endorse, yet which are incontrovertable, and will shine with
brighter lustre as science and philosophy advance. . . .
Prof. Moody is too conversant with the history of the world to have his
zeal dampened by a small audience in Mound City. As an offering of conso-
lation, we beg to quote the old adage: "A prophet is not without honor, save
in his own country."
The editor explained further in the Moody vein, that current ac-
cepted ideas were once heresies.30
"The Reformer" was next delivered by Moody before the Fort
Scott Institute in the Monitor reading room December 1. In an-
nouncing Moody, the Monitor volunteered the comment that: "He
gained the name of a talented lecturer last winter in the northern
cities, and is recognized among the best thinkers and philosophers
in this country, as Huxley and Spencer are in Europe." Public
co-operation with the institute was asked in encouragement of first
class lectures for the coming winter. Apparently this kind thought
was wasted upon Fort Scott, because: "Mr. Moody's lecture last
night was not as well attended as it should have been. It was a
most beautiful and instructive lecture . . . Aside from the
merits of the discourse, Mr. Moody had a pleasing and elegant
delivery which is the soul of a lecture." Next, Moody took his
"Reformer" to Topeka.81
Tangible results of prolonged efforts came to both Moody and
the institute early in 1871. The publication of The Science of Evil
29. Border Sentinel, September 16, 1870.
30. Ibid., November 25, December 2, 1870.
31. Daily Monitor, November 29, December 1, 2, 16, 1870; Border Sentinel, Decem-
190 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
has been recorded already. In March, 1871, "The Fort Scott Insti-
tute" was incorporated, without capital stock, for the purpose of
"the advancement of Science, the diffusion of knowledge and the
maintenance of a library." 32 The charter was notarized before E. F.
Ware, March 4, and filed March 7, 1871. The five incorporators,
who were also its directors were O. A. Millington, J. R. Morley,
Wiley Britton, V. W. Sunderlin, and John Farnsworth. The "So-
ciable" of March 29 was held at the residence of Farnsworth. All
members were invited to be present and to bring their friends:
"Joel Moody will be present and 'dish up' the 'Darwinian theory'
to the lovers of scientific knowledge."33 Sometime during the en-
suing months, after depending so long upon the Monitor reading
room, the institute acquired a meeting place of its own. For some
reason not now apparent, no historical account of the organization
has been found and the reports of its activities in the Monitor were
so irregular that a continuity cannot be satisfactorily established.
But, in concluding this sketch it should be said, that before its
passing from the scene Institute Hall provided another meeting
place for various community gatherings.
IV. The Science of Evil
In his book, The Science of Evil, Moody's inquiry into the origin
of evil started with the questions and answers of primitive man:
"Since the dawn of history a theological notion has embraced a
scientific fact. . . . The early mind struggling for truth, seized
a fact of Nature, and dressing it in a mythical garb, passed it down
in song to the world. . . . Yet every explanation has some truth
in it. Myths are by no means devoid of truth. They are the har-
bingers of Science; the nursery songs of the world's infancy."
The introduction to the book continued by declaring that most
controversies turned, not on substance, but on a question of defini-
tion: "This is the whole story of the controversy between the
Idealist and Materialist; the whole story about Fate and Freedom.
There is truth in both; and the one is dependent upon the other."
He warned of misconceptions about natural law, insisting that it
was not a cause, but an effect, and that the characteristics of a law
could only be inferred from the effects: "a law is only an effect
of the action of [Infinite] Force on matter. Strictly speaking then,
a law of Nature cannot be violated," — we cannot violate an eclipse
32. "Corporation Charters (official copybooks from office of secretary of state, now in
archives division, Kansas State Historical Society)," v. 3, p. 192.
33. DaUy Monitor, March 29, 1871.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 191
— and violations of a law of nature as popularly misunderstood
could not affect human welfare. Thus scientific predictability was
an effect, or an evidence of law.
With these premises held firmly in mind, Moody sought to de-
scribe a subjective relativism of knowledge and ethics and reconcile
them with the unique but finite individual and with infinite force
and universal matter:
That the world is in a continual transition, that it is forever "a becoming," and
never reaches any special goal, which can be clearly defined; that Theology must
precede Science and is typical of it; and in fact that the whole religious history
of the world is only typical of Science, and all god-names are only symbols of
Force, he [Moody] has endeavored to make quite plain. Force personified in
the god; is only Force made real in Science. The tyranny of a monotheistic
worship, and the comparative freedom of a polytheistic one, is strikingly mani-
fested throughout the world. The latter is conducive to the advancement of
Science; the former is inimical thereto. . . . Science must be strangled
by the hand of the ancient Jew and Catholic, while it is nourished by the Greek
and Protestant. . . . That the freedom of Science will one day take the
place of a theologic tyranny, and that the scientific lecture will take the place
of the Sunday sermon, is a fact shortly to be realized. It is a fact already knock-
ing at the door of the Church.
Having challenged his readers' attention by a provocative intro-
duction Moody proceeded to execute, in eight chapters, his plan of
presentation of the science of evil. He concluded that evil had
always existed and was necessary to a consciousness of good, and to
a freedom of choice from alternatives in conduct. To Moody, man
was the product of development, of a dualism: a finite manifestation
of infinite force and universal matter. Man is no different from other
animals except that he achieved an intelligence that set him apart
from those animals that did not have it; and in consequence Moody
found religion and morals the product of development also, but in-
sisted that no necessary relation existed between them. As indi-
cated in his introduction, science was evolved out of religion — the
question "What?" was religious; the question "How?" was moral; and
the question "Why?" was science.
Moody cited two illustrations to serve as concrete examples of
relativism. First, the wolf-lamb-grass chain of subsistence in which
the wolf and the lamb differed in what was considered good and evil
— lamb ate grass, and wolf ate lamb. The second was an imaginary
conversation about ethics among eight participants representing
different time periods and cultures; Jesus, Moses, David, Luther,
a Protestant Christian, a Universalist, Whittier, and a Spiritualist.
Each defined ethical values differently, yet documented his view by
192 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
a suitable citation to the Bible. Moody concluded: "how useless
it is for one amidst such a complexity of opinions to define mo-
rality." For him, wisdom and ignorance were absolutes, but there
existed also, all gradations between: "It is just the same with mo-
rality. It is a variable quantity, and passes onward from imperfec-
tion, as the starting point, towards absolute perfection. The stand-
ards of individuals and the ages are all different, and must neces-
sarily be so, else there would be no varying conditions."
The several individuals or branches of the human race did not
advance equally, according to Moody's system, and he compared the
relations of human cultures with those of geological structures:
This age is not superimposed upon the past, burying it entirely . . .; but,
like the geological strata, all the formations of past ages crop out on the surface
of this age somewhere, showing us the changes which time has brought about.
We study the past in its fossil remains, both in earth and man ... so
there are living representatives of moral doctrines which predominated in past
ages, but which are now looked upon as barbarous and out of place.
This law of varying conditions is organic, and perhaps inheres in the ultimate
atom. Some generalizations upon this fact may not be out of place.
The first great law we find in the world is, Nature, distributively, never re-
peats herself. No two men, no two women, no two children, can be found
exactly alike . . .; no two animals ... no two plants alike . . .
and we presume no two ultimate atoms of matter alike. . . .
We are now able to see the immediate cause of so many conflicting opinions,
and why people are engaged in an endless discussion of rights, privileges and
duties. The true cause of an opinion lies further remote, and depends on the
degree of knowledge.
It is not safe to jump at conclusions about the consequences of
Moody's reasoning. His chapter two was headed: "Perfection in
Man Forever Impossible." He insisted upon "man's unlimited im-
perfection" in contrast with the traditional 18th century doctrine of
the unlimited perfectibility of man. A person started from absolute
ignorance, "having inherited ... at most only a certain ten-
dency or capacity to know, and perhaps certain instincts that are
irrational," but finite man could never reach absolute perfection.
Misconception on that score, Moody concluded, had "always led
to failure in ethical teachings" and to an erroneous concept of "the
perfect law," also impossible. The admonition of Jesus: "Be ye
therefore perfect," according to this logic was impossible, the prac-
tical alternative being merely to "aim at perfection" leaving the
course "open for each fallible person to aim as he sees fit. . . ."
The task which Moody imposed upon himself was formidable —
the reconciliation of the apparent complete relativism of knowledge
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 193
and of morals with his concept of the absolute ethical principle.
Immediately there was no certainty, all was relative — but the even-
tual goal of human striving was the reconciliation of the finite with
the infinite force through the instrumentality of science. Whether
or not his attempt was successful as a philosophical system may be
open to question, but in any case, Moody was not alone in challeng-
ing the still unsolved relativist dilemma. At any rate, he did not
accept the defeatist position of the prevailing 20th century rela-
tivism.
V. EDWARD SCHILLER
The third of the Kansas authored books of 1871 was Edward
Schiller's Hand-Book of Progressive Philosophy (New York: J. S.
Redfield). This was the same Schiller who had established the
Fort Scott Evening, Post in 1869. The United States census of 1870
listed him as a Saxon, and 42 years of age. His wife was born in
New York, and his two children in Louisiana in 1862 and 1864,
indicating that he had been within the Southern Confederacy dur-
ing the American Civil War. He dedicated his book to Wiley
Britton, later to be widely known as the historian of the Civil War
on the Kansas-Missouri border. He explained in the preface that
the book was designed for the general reader, and there was no
pretense of originality. "Living remote from the great centres of
thought, I have not recently had access to extensive libraries, and
some of my quotations have been made from memory:"
After commenting on the general uselessness of encyclopedias for
philosophy, he explained further that many of his notes had been
made years earlier, and might be rusty. In chapter 11 he explained
that an innate impulsion within man for self-expression was his
reason for writing this book. It was made up of 39 short chapters
divided into three groups. In part one, he laid his philosophical
ground work about the nature of the individual man. Two prop-
erties of the soul were thought and love the soul's sojourn on earth
was preparatory, any return to earth was improbable, and a day of
judgment was repudiated. "Truth was born with us," and was lost,
he said, by contact with the world: "Children will naturally speak
the truth," and "The aim of science . . . is the discovery of
truth." Furthermore: "virtue cannot exist without truth." The
powers of the soul were dormant until developed by the mutual in-
fluence of others in society, and as authority for this view, he cited
Aristotle. Although man was created in God's image, Schiller in-
13—3189
194 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
sisted that he was not a mere instrument, but possessed reason and
choice, doubt preceding knowledge.
In part two, Schiller described his theories of religious belief and
a cyclical pattern of development of theological thought in all re-
ligions: monotheism to polytheism, and return to monotheism. As
applied to Christianity, he saw the universal principle illustrated
in the monotheism of Jesus, then the introduction of polytheism step
by step with the victory of trinitarianism over unitarianism, and the
introduction of the virgin, the apostles, and saints as intermediaries
who must be venerated. He insisted, as against August Comte,
the French sociologist, that Protestantism, however deficient in
some respects, nevertheless made a positive contribution toward
separation of philosophy from religion. But Schiller dated this
separation as an explicit issue as stemming from G. W. F. Hegel
(1770-1831) through David Friederich Strauss (1808-1874), and
Joseph Ernest Renan (1823-1892), especially the latter.34
Both Strauss and Renan had been orthodox Christians, one Prot-
estant and the other Catholic, and both reluctantly arrived at sub-
stantially the same conclusions: Jesus was a mortal man only; the
Christian religion contained things that Jesus did not teach; and
the tendency of the age was toward monotheism — religion recon-
structed through the aid of philosophy. Schiller insisted that
Strauss and Renan did not wish to destroy the church, but to save
it — reconstructed. He refused to condemn ceremonies outright,
because "they have been of vast benefit to humanity itself." For
him, prayer and worship were a human necessity, because through
these rites men turned aside "to ponder on the great source of all
existence — the Creator. They inculcated love, not of God alone,
but of their fellow-men." For Schiller: "Philosophy . . . has
simplified religion." In the United States he pointed to Unitarian-
ism as the American manifestation of the return to monotheism;
but he warned that the achievement of that ideal of pure monothe-
istic religion as a general condition was slow and would not occur
in his or even the next generation.
In reviewing Schiller's Hand-Book of Progressive Philosophy,
editor Wilder, evidently not prepared to endorse the contents per-
sonally, wrote:
If this book finds many readers, it will find many haters, for it arrays it-
self against the whole theological world. The author does not believe in
the inspiration of the Scriptures or the Divinity of Christ, and is one of the
34. Schiller dismissed Hegel's philosophical system as such as "comparatively un-
noticed at present."
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 195
coolest iconoclasts we have ever read. . . - ••> But it lacks the eloquence,
the rhetoric, the enthusiasm, the wit, and the imagination which have given
to the books of Buckle, Renan and Theodore Parker, advocating the same
theories, so much of their popularity."
Although living in the same town nearly five months, Wilder con-
fessed that he had not talked to Schiller.35 But about the same
time, Wilder called the attention of his readers to Charles Dar-
win's new book, The Descent of Man, in which the conclusion was
made explicit that man had evolved from a lower form of life:
"The present work of Darwin, like his 'Origin of Species/ is at-
tracting wide notice and extensive and varied comment." 36
The Topeka Kansas State Record looked upon Schiller's book
with favor, approved its "plain English" and commended it to
the clergy and to all interested in philosophy: "It bears evidence
of being the work of a thoughtful and intelligent person, who un-
doubtedly knows more than he gets credit for among his neigh-
bors." The Buffalo ( N. Y. ) Courier said that he "rambles through-
out history to find support for his preconceived theories," but
had no system of his own. The Philadelphia Argus said: "This
book is full of modesty and mistakes. As to modesty, it is founded
on truth, and we admire its candor." The term "Progressive" was
thought to be unwarranted because men rate progress differently,
and the readers were warned about the blind leading the blind.37
At home Wilder was giving the book some second thoughts,
partly stimulated by the report of the local book dealer:
The Fort Scott Philosophy, Mr. Grossman informs us, has met with a good
sale in this city, and the demand continues. It is evident that Fort Scott is
determined to know what kind of a philosopher she has living with her, and
what his philosophy is. The book has been generally and favorably noticed
by the press — more attention having been given to it than we supposed it would
receive. The author was unwise in frankly saying that he lived in Kansas,
and could not consult great libraries. Some of the reviewers mention this
fact, and say no more. Of course no man in Kansas can think or write! Kan-
sas has done something, in days gone by, towards setting other men thinking.
Schiller next turned his attention to historical work, dealing with
aspects of European history. Delivered first as lectures, five essays
were printed in the Kansas Magazine during 1872. As were many
Fort Scott men, Schiller was interested in promoting the interests
of the city and the area it served and tied its future to its mineral
resources. From political history he turned to geological history
35. Daily Monitor, March 3, April 14, 1871.
36. Ibid., April 26. 1871.
37. Ibid., April 16, May 4, 1871.
196 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and made a geological survey of the country to the south of Fort
Scott. Communications, that is railroads, were essential to the ex-
ploitation of this potential wealth, especially a rail connection
through the mineral region to Memphis. In 1873 Schiller moved to
Memphis where he joined the editorial staff of the Avalanche,38
and in 1877 was reported as still with the same newspaper. Schiller
died, September 9, 1881, at San Antonio, Tex. Alone in the world,
and his background unknown, his fellow printers on the Daily
Express at that city buried him. From his private belongings the
fact of his former residence at Fort Scott was learned — also that
he was the author of a book. A letter of inquiry to the Monitor
sought news of surviving relatives, but an eight-year absence from
Fort Scott (1873-1881) and its shifting population had erased vir-
tually all specific memories about its once distinguished citizen.
One contribution was alleged, but cannot yet be verified, that, be-
sides the book on philosophy, he had written a book on law. But
about all this, the editor of the Monitor was quite vague.39
Before leaving the subject of Moody and Schiller a few observa-
tions are in order. Both emphasized that they were proceeding
scientifically in their philosophies, and that their findings were
the product of science. Evidently both relied for the most part
upon the same 19th century writers, but they differed somewhat in
sources and emphasis. Schiller depended more upon the European
continental, and especially the German philosophical tradition,
while Moody reflected more of English thought. They were dia-
metrically opposed, however, 011 the role of monotheism and poly-
theism in relation to freedom. Not only did the relativism of evo-
lution put them in opposite camps in these matters (pluralism v.
monism), but it deprived both of them of philosophical and moral
certainty as an immediate goal. Both were compelled to rely
upon an existentialist if not a stoical endurance of an imperfect
finite world, but both still clung to the concept of absolutes in an
infinite universe toward which man might strive through science.
The three men considered in this essay do not exhaust the budget
of philosophers for the 1870's in Kansas or even in Fort Scott. Sev-
eral others will be noticed in due course. These three were icono-
clastic in several senses. The more obvious aspect is their chal-
lenge of orthodox religion. A notable point implicit in the fore-
going review is the minor role of the so-called enlightenment of the
18th century as traditionally focused upon France and Paris.
38. Ibid., May 11, September 1, 1872; October 26, 1873; Aprtt 12, 1877.
39. Ibid., September 17, 1881. The editor was in error about dates.
KANSAS PHILOSOPHERS, 1871 197
Finally, two related Kansas myths, that Kansas is the child of New
England, and that Kansas is Puritan, are challenged indirectly by
the evidence that the inspiration for most of the philosophical and
theological dissent stemmed from elsewhere — particularly, direct
from 19th century Great Britain and Germany.
A final point of emphasis is appropriate as a closing thought.
Local history is the foundation of all history. The locality is the
special scene where occurs the intermingling with the primary folk
heritage of ideas from the outside. This hybridization, or cross-
fertilization of different strains of thought, as in the biological or-
ganism, produces new virility and originality. This folk process,
as seen here at work, is more, much more, than the mere incorpora-
tion of the great thought of the 19th century into the local levels
of culture. Out of this local space called Kansas and other com-
parable localities emerge creative minds and original ideas to com-
pete at several larger levels of partitioned space. The great per-
sonalities and great ideas of every culture originated in some local
space. The history of the United States, or of any other nation,
cannot be written adequately or be understood in all its unique-
ness except it is written from the bottom up, from the foundations
of its multiple localities.
D,
Letters of Daniel R. Anthony, 1857-1862—
Continued
Edited by EDGAR LANGSDORF and R. W. RICHMOND
PART Two, 1858-1861
I. THE LETTERS
LEAVENWORTH 2ond Jany 1858
"EAR FATHER
Can you make arrangements to spend the summer in Leaven-
worth? I will guarantee you $1,000. per annum. There is a large
number of Dwellings say 1,000, in this town uninsured, it needs
only solicitation to get them, and then not one fourth the labor re-
quired in Rochester — no dwelling insured at less than 1.%
Genl Bennett wants me to pay some attention to Kansas City &
other Missouri towns, and will probably wish me to be their super-
vising agent for the Missouri River country this year also — 1 Could
you sell any of the property do so at % the market value, or price
usually valued at by you. All appearances indicate a large business
here this spring — Is not your office business to small for two —
and cannot you or Aaron make as much alone, as both of you to-
gether? I would like to have you try the business here a short time
at any rate I think Aaron would like the place and the busi-
ness— the only question is can you do better here and enjoy your-
self better than in Rochester —
I would not exchange my chance here for the best business you
have in town (with no capital or same as I have) our telegraph
line will be completed to this place by the 15th Jany 1859 — 2
I have engaged a new office 16 ft front 38 ft deep — on first floor
of a two story building, brick, 12 ft between joints — with a front
built higher than the adjoining buildings — and am to have the whole
front for my advertising with signs &c This office is only a few
doors below my present office and is one of the best locations in the
city —
Yesterday New Years with four others made calls and I had a
good opportunity as we rode about town with a four horse carriage
EDGAR LANGSDORF is assistant secretary and ROBERT W. RICHMOND is the state archivist
of the Kansas State Historical Society.
1. J. B. Bennett of Cincinnati, Ohio, general agent for the Aetna Insurance Company.
2. Anthony's prediction about the arrival of the telegraph in Leavenworth was only
ten days in error. The poles were up at Leavenworth in December, 1858, and the line
was completed to the town on January 25, 1859.
(198)
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 199
to see the rapid growth of the place, buildings constantly going —
two or three hundred dwellings now being finished — And now is
the time to make a strike, once get them insured and then the work
is done — only continue doing so. — Write me what you think
about this matter — I think the prompt manner in which business
is done here would please you. What is needed is to talk the thing
right up —
I have a good charter for insurance Life Fire & Mar[in]e with
banking privileges — am elected President of it — with old Lyman
Scott as one of the Directors he takes $20,000 stock — he is one of
our wealthiest men — 3 think it a good thing — And if you was
here you might do a good business just insuring lives — I suppose
Aaron would have no idea of moving west — although I have written
him on the subject. Look this matter over thoroughly and see if you
dont feel disposed to try this place a month or two — or longer —
Wilder will visit Rochester about the 15 Jany — will return to
Leavenworth 15th Feby or 1st March — I shall open an account in
New York in the spring — Write soon.
Truly D. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
April 24th 1858
DEAR FATHER
About one month ago I sent you note for $1,000 Three
months dated April 4th 58. with directions to get it discounted
and have notes forwarded to me by Express.
I have not heard one word from it. Whether it has reached you
or what has been done or will be done.
New York drafts are selling here at 1% discount for currency
(Bank notes) or %% discount for Gold.
So you will readily see that I can make a good thing if I only had
the money to operate with.
Drafts on New York are selling at from 1% to 3%
I have sold the Land warrants I brought out with me (880 acres)
at a profit of $95. — Business prospects here are fine. Many Emi-
grants are coming in. Mostly bona fide Settlers.
In pleasent weather our Levee, Main Cherokee & Delaware
Streets are fairly blocked up with teams —
Leavenworth is the commercial metropolis of Kansas and will be
of the whole country west of this point —
3. Lyman Scott emigrated to Kansas from Pennsylvania in 1857 and in 1858 was
elected to the territorial legislature.
200 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
My Fire insurance premiums for this month amount already to
$1500. It is better than I anticipated, and no credits have been ex-
tended to customers.
Have made up my mind not to engage in any Land Speculations.
Our best business Lots sustain good prices, better than last year.
Outside suburban property has depreciated slightly.
Lands remain about the same. Any investments made in Lands
at or near the Government price will be profitable — and a large tract
will come into market next July. Money is comeing in more freely.
I have been buying some Exchange on New York this month and
have written to New York to open an account with some Bank, and
have also ordered a book of Drafts to be got up in good Style —
My insurance business can not continue as large during the sum-
mer Have just engaged a very competent German to canvass for
me among our foreign people — We have a large number of Ger-
mans here — his name is "Aug Shickedantz. he was educated in an
insurance office in Germany — I like him very much, he is a genu-
ine go ahead fellow. He says he is an advertisement himself — he is
popular —
Hope you will write by first mail. Have small notes sent — It
will have good circulation.
Have heard nothing from Merritt
Your Son
D. R. ANTHONY
Myron Strong has gone East, he has made some good business
arrangements there
Doct John Reid has gone into the country with Wilder
H D Mann has gone also — he likes the country very much
Mr. Williams son of Major John Williams is here, he goes out to
Utah as Train Master —
Rev. Mr. Kalloch of Boston came up on the same boat I did — he is
to locate in this city & practice Law —
Mr Green of South Adams Mass is clerking here —
Mr Marsh formerly ticket agent at South Adams is at Wyandott
The above are all the personal matters I can think of at present —
In haste
DRA
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 201
LEAVENWORTH June 20th, 1858
DANIEL ANTHONY ESQ.,
Rochester N. Y.
DEAR SIR:
... If you cant make a living in Rochester I would hire a
small boy about 65 years of age and could afford to give him $1,000
a year, providing he would pay his attention to business — last
month I sent premiums as follows
( $381. prems is let run into Aetna $670.20
June account — as my June Home 533.50
prems will be smaller ) Charter Oak 222.
My profits for May about Ocean 275. Total 1700.70
$300.
I did not expect Richardson or Chappell would call — Your fears
about troubles affecting business here are groundless — Business
can be transacted here as safely as in Rochester — I owe nobody
except $218.25 at Union Bk and $200. to A. M. McLean for which I
have cash on hand ready to pay at any moment — and be square
with the world — Now if you can sign the note and Sleep nights
without dreaming Alms houses and Poor houses &c . . . I wish
you would do so and I can make money out of and pay the notes
when due — If you think you cant — why say you dont wish to and
direct Aaron to return the note at once — I have two friends in
Kansas both rich one said to be worth $50,000. who went on my
Aetna Bail Bond for $1,500.— . . .
Had a letter from Merritt about June 5th he was working hard —
think I shall send Tim to help him the balance of the year — He
can then Plow & fence a large quantity of Land — . . .
Write often and dont have the Blues you wont live half as long —
nor as well. . ; «
Your Son
D. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
June 29th 1858
DEAR FATHER
Have just reed letter from Aetna Co desiring me ( at my "earliest
convenience") to go to "Glenwood Mills Co Iowa" relative to a
loss which they have sustained there on a policy issued by an up
River agent — I shall go on the 1st July, will be gone ten
days, so you see I shall soon be compelled to hire a "boy" to stay
in the office and run about the street on errands.
202 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I sent Tim down to Osawatomie to work for Merritt. I also sent
M some clothing and — ($20) twenty dollars "Suffolk Bank" Boston
— to buy cow &c —
Premiums in June amount to about $1200. — and think I shall
[have] every dollar due me on insurance paid by tomorrow
night — and all reports and remittance made at same time —
Weather intensly hot no rain for two whole days. River the
highest it has been thus far this season. The Missioui is so rapid
that it never rises to do much damage — The water whether high
or low runs like water at the tail of a mill race — 4 to 8 miles an hour,
and it is against this that our steamers have to run, Making only 100
to 150 miles per day. up Stream & 200 down stream.
I have some little money loaned at 5% per month — you can
Keep your funds where it brings you 5 per cent per annum. Mary
D[itt]o and Aaron I have written once or twice and he hasnt
pluck enough to say he dont want to send it out here into my unsafe
keeping —
If you could sell your property for % its value I would advise you
to move here forthwith. I think times will be hard & money will
command a high price for some time to come — . . .
Most of eastern people seem to prefer travelling on those old
fashioned slow coaches which are liable to upset at almost every
ditch or swampy place or creek, instead of which they might ride
in a new velvet cushioned Rail car at the rate of 30 miles per hour
with almost perfect safety —
Another reason why this country is better than the East is the
climate is excellent, the air so pure — that you seldom meet with a
case of consumption or "Hipo" the latter disease is almost un-
known.
I have taken but one Life risk since my return this spring pre-
mium $352.00 but I fear it will not be taken I canceled three fire
policies last month for non payment of premiums — amounting to
($126.00) — they were all good — but I did not wish to break a
good rule, the same men say they will insure with me next
month —
What arrangements are you making for business another year —
It seems you might all do better — Insurance business can only be
done here by personal solicitation and it is much harder to do it in
Rochester than here — Can give you or Aaron agency of Aetna at
any point in Kansas.
When obliged to stop in St. Joseph for a few hours I went into the
street and took two risks — profits ($20.75) —
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 203
Money can be made here — the only joke is the saving of it —
Well I hope you Mother and all are feeling as well as the married
& unmarried portion of the family in Kansas —
Truly D. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
July 4th 1858
DEAR SISTER
Have been awaiting a through Steamer for Council Bluffs, for
the last three days, very few steamers go above St. Joseph. Expect
the boat along every hour. River continues very high so boating
is good as it can be against a current which runs from 4 to 8 miles
an hour, shall be back by the 15th Inst.
I continue to board at the same place, price only $4.00 per week,
day board, live better than I have found anywhere heretofore,
weather continues hot.
Jack Henderson was advised to leave town yesterday, which he
concluded to do forthwith.4 Some other climate will be more con-
genial to his health I presume, others will soon be notified to visit
other portions of our favored country, which they no doubt will
voluntarially or involuntarially. Many of the notorious Border
Ruffians are comeing back and our citizens think for their own pro-
tection they should not be allowed to stay here —
Marcus J. Parrott our member of Congress returned last evening,
we procured a Band of Music and serenaded him at the Planters
Hotel. Think he is more decided than when he went to Wash-
ington.
Have just returned from my suday Dinner. It consisted of
Broiled Spring chickens, New Potatoes, Corn Bread, Wheat Bread,
good Butter, Lettuce, Tomattoes Stewed, Pickles, & cherry pie.
All good. So you see every thing goes on well in boarding line.
Mr. Susk [or Lusk] of Elwood Kansas, has just returned from
Paola near to Osawatomie. Said he met Merritt just beyond Kansas
City with his oxen returning home with a load of goods for mer-
chants.— I sent him $20.00 by Tim last Sunday —
Will send you deeds for you to sign when I return from the
north. Property can be bought very low, some good lands for
$2.00 which will be good investments.
4. John D. "Jack" Henderson was active in Proslavery politics and was for a short
time owner of the Leavenworth Journal. He served the territory as public printer and was
chairman of the Central Democratic Committee in 1857. A committee investigating
fraudulent votes cast at the January 4, 1858, election charged Henderson with illegal action
m connection with forged ballots at the Delaware Agency and his position in Leavenworth
apparently was not secure after that.
204 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
They are putting up a good 3 Story Brick Flouring mill here —
& 3 or 4 brick Stores this season, and any number of wood build-
ings. . . . All crops here I think will be good.
Wish I had some one East to Act in conjunction with me in
Land Warrants & Exchange, on the lot of Warrants I bought in
March I made $100. — but I have written Father and Aaron time
and again, and can get no answers, they dont want to do any thing,
are afraid, or something, I don't know, but they might write and
decline to [do] any thing. When I was in Rochester Father &
Aaron both talked matter over and I supposed it was understood
plainly what they were willing to do. If they had continued
buying Land warrants and had bought no more per month than I
did say 8 or 10, I could have made $300. or more, and so with
money If I had it. I dont want my matters talked over with every
body. I am getting along well, and can get along without help
and do better than all the family east put together, but if they
felt disposed to assist even for no more than is due — I could suc-
ceed much better. But I do want to know exactly what I can
depend upon.
I think of moving into an office just south of where I am now,
and get on the first floor. Have got my new Safe in it. Wish you
would write again soon.
Truly
D. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
July 13th 1858
DEAR SISTER
Your very welcome favor of the 28th Ultimo arrived here yester-
day. I left home on the 4th for Glenwood Mills Co Iowa, about
20 miles south of Council Bluffs to investigate a loss for the Aetna
Ins Co risk taken by the Nebraska City Agent, policy $5,000,
amount claimed $2200. after looking in to the case fully I become
fully Satisfied the Gentlemen were extravagent in their demands,
and had made some errors in their proofs — by hard work for two
days and nights taking inventories, of amount of sales on credit, for
cash, on orders & for Barter and taking the Gentlemens own state-
ments & Books for a guide they with out any admonition from me
concluded they were not entitled to over $600. — I think it one
of the cutest things I ever did, and if I mistake not — it will be ap-
preciated at the Cincinnati office — and indirectly will be of some
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 205
advantage to me. General Bennett also wrote that all my actions in
the Omaha trip last month were perfectly satisfactory, and my ap-
pointments confirmed —
You see I am somewhat conceited. But I think I can say that no
man with whom I have become acquainted in the west is better
posted in insurance than myself — Business for this month very
light— last mo $150. —less this mo.—
Havent heard a word from Merritt or Tim since I sent him down
to Oss[awatomie] two weeks ago —
When I left home for Iowa I was unwell — but took Steamer to
St. Joseph then took a Stage Hack 130 miles to Glenwood — We
have had heavy rains the creeks were high. Many bridges gone —
and one small stream was overflowed — 10 feet deep on the bottom
Lands — and 50 ft deep in the channell We could not take the
stage over and had to cross in a skiff — distance from shore to shore
one mile — ordinarially only 100 feet — rode 2 days & 2 night
stopped 2 days in Glenwood & went back over the same route —
was pretty well bunged up — but on investigation" think it has bene-
fitted the "Billious" indisposition— Yet I am not fully Satisfied that
the incessant jolting thumping was the sole cause of relief, when at
the Hotel in Glenwood I was attacked in the night by numberless
Bed Bugs as large as Pancakes, and in the morning I had the satis-
factions of seeing the Blood thirsty villians weltering in their own
blood. Now it may be they only sucked the bad blood out of
me. at any rate I am not any better satisfied with that kind of treat-
ment, than you are with allopathy. . . .
I have written in much of a hurry. My style of writing Home
letters perhaps do not show any great amount of care — but just
rattle right along. But in my business letters I sometimes write
model Letters —
As to note & money matters at home I would not have Father or
Mother do anything that will give them one hours trouble or
anxiety. —
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
July 16, 1858
DEAR AARON
Have just time to say we have had a terrible fire burning 30
Stores & contents and at one time threatening the whole town —
Total Loss $125,000, insurance 37,000 as follows Aetna $15,000,
206 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Home 10,000 Charter Oak $7,000. Western Vally (Kurd agt)
Chicago 4 to $6,000.— 5
The Genl Agent of the Phoenix of Hartford was here during the
fire. I heard of him next day and saw him — he asked me what
I could do for them. I told him he could see what I had done for
the Aetna Home & Charter Oak. and he gave me the agency of
the Phoenix Co
The Agency of the Safeguard was sent me a few days ago. — with
policies &c — one policy Aetna Co $6,000 I think is void — Home
& C. O. Cos Total — This is hard commencement, but hope to do
better. Am writing policies right along. — In all, prems taken
about $8,000.—
If money is [available?] send Draft — Water higher than any
time heretofore this season. Rain last night and tonight — It don't
[rain] in any part of the world half as hard as here —
I enclose Merritts last letter —
Tru[l]y
D. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KAN August 3, 1858
DEAR SISTER
Your letter dated the day after our long to be remembered fire
come to hand in due season, but has not been answered because
my time has been almost wholly occupied in settling & paying
losses to the amount of $27,000. Well most of them have been
paid already and I am afloat again with the same craft colors flying
and a better reputation than ever, but cant say that I want many
such advertisements.
Have move[d] into my new office a one story frame building
well finished & furnished — BedRoom carpeted &c — board at the
same place — And in the course of two weeks expect to be settled
and pursuing the even tenor of our ( my ) way — Had a letter from
Merritt a few days (20) ago — he was well &c glad to have Tim —
cant write a long letter to night Have a good many long business
letters to day.
Have got the Agency of Phoenix Ins Co. of Hartford. Their Gen
agt was here the night of the fire —
5. According to the Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, July 17, 1858, the fire started
during the night of July 14 in Market Hall at the corner of Delaware and Third streets and
extended east on each side of Delaware, north on Third and east on Shawnee. The news-
paper estimated that 35 buildings were destroyed or damaged. Since the town's fire fight-
ing equipment was practically nonexistent it was fortunate that a heavy rain began before
the blaze consumed the entire business section.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 207
Lecompton swindle I "guess" is settled — our town was wide
awake6
I worked all day in my office F C Bennett Bro[ther] of Genl
Bennett was here to settle losses, remained nine days and paid all
up — He is a gentlemanly A No 1 man — seemed to be well
pleased with my business notwithstanding the heavy losses. Says
the companies that grumble when they loose are only showing they
do not understand their business — Write soon
DANL R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS Sept 10th 1858
DEAR SISTER
Your letter of the 2ond Inst come to hand today. You are my
only regular correspondent, would like to have been home to visit
with Dan & Sarah — but it woulnd pay just now, as this is my har-
vest time, and Ive made up my mind to gather the crops before the
Storms come.
My business is better than heretofore. My first renewel ( annual )
premium was paid this month — I shall have 3 $10,000. risks this
mo 1 — of $200. prem 1 of $250. — 1 of 350. prem— two,
5,000 risks— 1 of $150. prem & 1 of $165. — several smaller
prems of $128, 140, —168, $50, $60, 36, 20, & down to $2. — pre-
mium in Aug $2,444.00. prems so far this mo 1,700. will reach
2,500 I think. You can say to all friends I am doing well — very well
& Kansas is my home — give them no figures (except family) —
If our Land sales go off, I want to get hold of 1280. — (8 quarters)
acres providing I can get it for Land Warrants — shall have the
funds to do so, and believe Lands are sure. I have arrangements
for choice selections. The sales ought to be postponed for benefit
of actual settlers but if it comes off Im in. —
Sept llth
I was interrupted last night and so will finish this morning — We
are now having beutiful weather — it has been cold & rainy,
the nights are cold now — Have had some symptoms of the Fever
— but not enough to cause me to take Quinine, or any other medi-
cine, taking the filthy condition of our city into consideration the
people have been very healthy this summer, in grading the streets
they have left whole Blocks or Squares without a place for the water
to run off —
6. On August 2, 1858, the people of Kansas voted on whether to accept the Proslavery
Lecompton constitution under the conditions established by congress. It was rejected
decisively, 11,300 to 1,788.
208 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
For the past week I have been boarding at a Hotel — Mr Harn-
lin has been moving — expect to go back again this or next week —
Have written Dan S. twice this past summer & spring and no
reply — shall let [him] write next time I reckon — Josh R. C. talked
of coming out here and wrote me in regard to it — what is he
doing — or intend to do — Have made up my mind to let the
people have their way, and if they dont want to trust Kansas they
neednt thats all —
Have heard nothing from Merritt since I wrote you before.
Our Municipal election has passed off. Elected 3 Douglass Dem-
ocrats— 2 old line whigs & 14 Republicans to the diferent offices,
all of them however run on tickets headed Free State — no ticket
was headed Republican — American whig or Democrat — all the
Whiskey — Ruffians — Irish Catholic 6- Douglas Democrats pulled
together — We have a large population of ignorance here — they
raised the cry of Free white state for white men — For one I am
in favor of putting in the word White in our Republican Platform in
Kansas to combat the ignorance and predudice of the Irish — it is
throwing cake to our enemy — but it will deprive them of their only
rallying cry — and in reality will make no difference in the end —
The great cry now is nigger nigger nigger. I tell many who raise
the cry that niggers in New York are better educated — more inteli-
gent & industrious than they themselves are — I wish Fred Doug-
las— C L Remond would come here and Lecture — 7 I think it
would be perfectly safe — and they would draw immensely — I
have already earned the reputation of being one of the most radical
men in Kansas. My name was used by the opposition] speakers
as the embodiment of all that was horibly in the way of Niggerdom.
But after all in business I have the full confidence of the people —
The Hartford Fire Ins Co have appointed an agent here a Mr
C. B. Brace — think I can keep up my row — I wish Father was
here to assist me in soliciting Dwelling Fire risks & Life risks.
Think I will try and Trotter the Napoleon if Solicitors to come out —
I wish Father or Aaron would give me full list of amounts lost by
each company in late fires in Rochester — I believe I wrote them
that I lost $1,000, for Charter Oak at St Joseph Mo fire on the 16th
August last —
The business I have keeps one man quite business [busy?] — par-
7. Frederick Douglass, 1817[?]-1895, and Charles L. Remond, 1810-1873, were out-
standing Negro leaders in the struggle for abolition of slavery. Both were noted lecturers
and Douglass was also a journalist. Remond served as a delegate to the World's Anti-
Slavery Convention at London in 1840.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 209
ticularly as I make full applications on every risk — and copy and re-
port same to company and do it all myself — I hope mother will
conclude to write — My time has been constantly occupied with
my business so that I have not visited any one or attended to any-
thing but business since my return west —
I dont think I shall come home this winter — Have written you
mostly about myself — as most every thing else you already know —
Ha vent had time to send deeds for you Mary & Father to make yet.
Regards to all good Friends
Your Bro.
D. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH Sept 15th 1858
DEAR AARON
Yours of the 7th Inst with D & F canceled note come to hand
this morning. I think Father has a $1,000. note of my make wont
you send it to me. — My business last month was $2444.00 in prems.
This month they will reach $3,000. — my first annual renewels
come round this mo.
The Piano investment may pay but $250, would buy 200 acres of
good land in some parts of Kansas which some day will be worth
$10. or more per acre
I am negotiating for a first class lot on Main St adjoining my office
— 24 by 125 ft to alley in rear — price $2,000 — during the excite-
ment 18 months ago they asked $4,000 for same Lot. I am not going
to run in debt — I have a $1,000 cash on hand over all my liabili-
ties— My opinion is property will advance here next spring. Have
not sold a foot of land and dont intend to at present — . . .
I notice Trotter is on a trip west. I would like to have him here
for this winter.
And if you and Father can make any arrangement and Father
inclines I would like to have him in Leavenworth. My business
keeps me right at home — The Western Valley Ins Co of Chicago
lost $6,700 by the fire of July 15th none of which has been
paid — they are bogus — The parties here who were insured in
that company offered to pay my expenses and $10. per day if I
would go to Chicago and settle for them to my best — My business
here would not permit — as I could leave no one to attend to it — I
wanted to go & slip down to Rochester — But concluded to work
while the sun shone —
The Charter must suffer some — did Sheldon or you take the risks
in C. O. Co If you have lost only 3,000 in all fires since the Minerva
14—3189
210 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Hall — you have escaped well. Have taken one life risk to
day — the second since my agency commenced — prem $14.20 I
charge $5. Survey & Policy on Steam risks — $2.50 on Mercantile
risk — $2.00 on dwelling risks — & $1. for Renewel Receipts —
Have just got me a new case for Ins papers Glass front all in
good shape. My office is one of the pleasentest in town although
only a one story frame —
Have just taken a risk in Aetna $10,000 on a first class Brick Flour-
ing Mill at 3%% . . .
Have had only two letters from home lately, Susan & yours —
Have had some symptoms of the Ague, took Quinine and it has
give in — I hope and believe —
Have heard nothing from Merritt lately —
Truly D. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
Oct 7th 1858
DEAR BRO
As Sept is undoubtedly my best month for 1858. thought I would
give you the Figures on premiums. Aetna Fire $2253.50 — Aetna
Inland $184.95 Home $425.60 Charter Oak $718. State $535.00
Ocean $385.40 Phoenix $150. Safeguard $168.00 Total amount
Fire & Inland premiums in Sept $4,820.45 — 1 Life policy prem
$15.00 I wanted to reach even thousands but couldnt. —
Have just reed letters from Genl Bennett saying the Omaha
agency wants attending to also that he wants me to go to western
Iowa and settle a loss — and last night I heard of the snagging of
the Steamer "D. A. January" I had insured on Dry Goods on her
about $5,000. Shall go down by first boat to attend to it may go
as far as St Louis & Cincinnati — This is the first heavy loss I have
had on the river. The river is now very low — only one boat up this
week and now is Thursday. All my business for September with all
the different companies was settled and paid on the 2ond Inst —
your letter dated 21 Sept come to hand on the 28th — pretty fair
traveling — Have had some Fever — but think I [am] over it now —
these cold snapps will wind it up — we had frost last night for the
first [time] — Have heard from Merritt by way of Tim. Tim &
Mary were the sick ones — 8 Sent Tim $10. to buy "Quinine" —
The starving process is the sure way to cure ague —
As ever
D. R. ANTHONY
8. Mary A. Luther was married to Merritt April 2, 1858. Tim has not been identified.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 211
LEAVENWORTH KAN 22 Nov 1858
DEAR SISTER
Well I am back from Omaha Bluffs Glenwood & other places
north, and was very fortunate in all my business arrangements.
Made money for the company (or rather saved) Have had 3
boats snagged on the Missouri lost on the first $60, on the 2ond
$7,300 on the 3d $2,600,— the goods on the 2ond boat I brought
to this city mostly Dry Goods and jobbed them off in 5 days —
the company write me in regard to my action and — "The result
shows your course was highly judicious and is most heartily ap-
proved"—
Business this month is better than Oct, not quite as good as Sept —
Spent Sunday in a pious way, cost me only 25 cents — church is
cheaper than the Theatre, although the acting is not near as good —
got out of bed on Sunday at 7 a. m. washed put on a clean shirt,
went to breakfast at 8/2. our family now consists of Mr & Mrs
Hamlin the "proprietors" — Mr & Mrs Drake (he is agt of the
Telegraph Co & Associated Press) young married couple, Mr
Wilder & myself — we had good Steak 1/2 inches thick tender and
juicy, Sweet Potatoes nice white also Brown Bread & Hot Rolls,
with A no 1 coffee —
at 10M a. m I waited on Mrs Hamlin (her husband is absent for
a few days) and Mr Palmer waited on her mother Mrs Knight to
the Democratic Episcopal church. Mrs. H is one of the finest
women in town, dresses as well and in as good taste as any one
in Rochester (not excepting yourself) had on a $25. bonnett (a
"love" of a bonnet) a $50. Silk (not black) and Hoops and
white skirts of the finest muslin, which in contrast with the mud in
the street looked elegantly. Mrs. Knight her mother aged about 38 is
a noble good woman full of life is worth some thousands in her
own right, her husband was formerly worth his $300,000, but lost
most of it in N. Y.— he brought $25,000, hard cash to Kansas
and made poor investments here and is down right hard up.
Palmer [is] a tip top young man 27 years old been to California.
Steady temperate & honest worth $10,000, & making more — so
you see we made a respectable party — particularly so as the
Ladies belong to the Democratic party (Douglass of course)
come around with the Box paid a quarter — got roasted — heard the
old story — went home — the weather had thawed and white skirts
were no longer white but all mud —
well Palmer took Dinner with us We had a roast wild goose.
212 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
with dressing, Baked Potatoes, fried apples, Cranberries, Pickles,
white & brown bread — Tea and Mince Pie (Cattle are much
cheaper here than cats and Dogs, so our Mince Pies are genuine. )
All cooked as fine & nice as Mrs. Wollcotts Dinners — visited
awhile after Dinner — went to office, ate apples, called on two
school marms with Mr. Palmer, took Tea with them stayed until
7/2 oclock — went to office again — We had Mr McLanathan one
of our leading merchants — Vaughan Editor of the Times Mr Weld
of New York, nephew of Theodore R. Weld come to locate in this
city as atty, Wilder & myself — talked until ten oclock, against
the Church and the Democratic party then separated & went to
bed — to sleep until 7 oclock a. m. —
Now you have how I passed one Sunday, this Sunday however
is an exception, as I have been to church but once before since my
return to Kansas. Expect to have a call to day to give funds to
support the Church —
I notice your long article about murder think sympathy in the
special case named by you entirely misplaced, better argue on
general principles — think there was much sentimentality mixed
up in the case. Although your course was right at the meeting and
none but flunkeys would deny it. Have written you so long
about Dinners & pretty women & Episcopal Churches that you
must be well entertained, the Spiritual and the Physical are so
intimately related that that which promotes the comfort of the one
must interest the other — . . . Will write again soon
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
26th Nov 1858
DEAR AARON
Yours of the 17th Inst come to hand to day. Am glad you are
getting the $10,000 and 5,000$ risks, only yesterday I took a
$60,000, risk on a Pork House in Weston.— You will have to try
again — My prems this Month will go over $3,000. — No more
losses, hope to have a few days peace. I note your enquiry about
purchasing house. If Rochester is your permanent home, all may
be for the best— $1,500, in this Territory amounts to $2,000 in
one year. I am loaning money for a New York City man at 4 to 5
per cent per month — he gives me 6 per cent per annium for trans-
acting the business and one half of all I can make over 20 per cent
per annium and no risk on my [part] — he sent me $2,500, a few
days ago. —
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 213
Am loaning what funds I get at that rate — 4 to 5 — with best of
securities — Mr Brace of this town has the Agency of Hartford
and Western Mass companies — he cuts under in rates but dont
succeed much I reckon.
Had a good Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday — 1st oyster soup
— 2ond Roast Wild Turkey (ok) Fried oysters, Mashed Potatoes, To-
matoes, Squash, fried apples — cranberries — White & Graham bread
— Pickles Coffee (ok) — 3rd Apple and Plum Pies — and no cham-
pain — with pleasant company. Our Thanksgiving wasnt legal — but
then Rebels in Kansas are not conservative, they do love good
Dinners — particularly when our landlady is the sweetest plumpest
prettiest lady in the world — with Black Eyes and hair — Well if
she hadnt a husband (he's made of Boots, Tailors, Brushes & Hair
oil ) Id go in dead in love — We always make a bet when we invite
our friends to dine and always win because our lady always takes
them prisoners — Well we all love her and she divides her love
equally among us — necessarially bestowing some little attention
on her husband just enough to pacify him, the dear boy.
Well as I [have] written three pages of Houses Insurance,
Turkeys Squashes & Women, (I hope Sus wont take offense at my
classing Squashes & women together) and will, in the language
of one of our Kansas orators who spoke at a Democratic Meeting
here last night ("before I proceed to take my seat") "before I pro-
ceed to close" Express the hope that your Thanksgiving Dinner at
Cousin Rosa was as generously treated as our own Kansas Dinner.
Well somehow memory does say Rosa's Dinners were equal if
not superior to Mrs. Hamlins, but Mrs H gets up Dinners in nearly
the same Style —
I believe good Dinners is the only subject over which I get
interested —
With regards to all & hopeing youl "just drop a line"
I am
DANL. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS 15th Dec 1858
DEAR BRO [EUGENE MOSHER] 9
Yours of 3rd Inst come to hand the llth. Am pleased to hear
you talk of coming west, as to what you can do, must of course,
be a subject for you to decide — I have been anxious to get some
one to assist me in my business, and for one who could "fill the Bill"
9. Eugene Mosher was Anthony's brother-in-law, the husband of Hannah Anthony
Mosher.
214 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
could afford (providing my business continues good) to pay $800.
to $1,000. per annum. Have written Father but he is so well set-
tled at home that there is little or no prospect of his selling out and
coming west. And then if he could sell it is a question whether it
would be for the best. I think would just "fill the Bill" for this busi-
ness— It wants a good solicitor for out door work. My time is
occupied constantly so much so that I cant devote the requisite time
to soliciting new business which might be done to great profit —
Now whether this business would suit you or not is more than
I can say. What think you? My business thus far has proved suc-
cessful beyond my most sanguine expectations, and from present
appearances will continue good as long as our town continues to
grow and all things indicate a splendid future for Leavenworth.
an immense emigration will probably flow into this Territory next
season, and our town cant help, what seems to be its destiny, be-
coming the Metropolis of Kansas and the west.
Could you realize from sale of your farm and how much — In
the west of all places Money is needed to make money.
You can loan money at from 3 to 5 per cent per month on un-
doubted security, better than you obtain in New York —
I now have $1500 loaned at 5 per cent per month A Gentlemen
from New York sent me a few days ago $2,500, to loan on his acct.
and I am now loaning it to parties at good rates — He gives me
6 per cent per annum for working his money and one half of all I
can make over 26 per cent per annum — I can make $6,000, pay
$1,500 to $2000. interest per annum. House rents are high, Small
houses 6 or 7 rooms 300 to $400. — Such a house as yours 400
to $500 per annum. Provisions are low. all lands of Merchandise
can be bought at fair prices. Day board is from $4.00 to $5.00 per
week, Board with Lodging from $5.00 to $10.00 — Of course if
you come here you would keep house. I think Rents and Board will
both come down —
I have written at length to Aaron about business here. Think
that the Grocery trade was a paying business — A first class Dry
Goods establishment with a Stock of $30,000, would pay. A Stock
of $10,000 of carpets, House Furnishing Goods & Queens & Glass-
ware would pay — Almost any kind of business if pushed would
prove a good thing. Have written Aaron about his comeing out
here and assisting me but dont think there is much prospect of his
coming. He is not much of a hand to push out into a new world.
I do not like to advise in such matters but think you would be
pleased with life here providing you are willing to put your Pants
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 215
inside your Boots and wade through mud to accomplish your busi-
ness. It is money and hard work that will pay here — The fare
from Albany to Leavenworth, when the Missouri is open is about
$40. — and $10. to $20. more when the River is closed as it is at
present, now you Stage 215. miles from Jefferson city —
As to MDs there are lots of them say 50 to 25 in town. Yet, an A
no 1 man will get a good business at once, and a paying one — have
thought of writing Henry K McLean but dislike to advise any one
for fear they may not like and their business may not prove re-
munerative—
Leavenworth has a population of 8,000 people 150 to 200 Stores,
5 or 6 Hotels, 5 or 6 Steam Saw Mills— 1 Pork Packing establish-
ment, 1 Large Brick Steam Flouring Mill 4 ... Stores — 2
Iron Founderies — 2 or 3 Waggon shops, an endless number of
boarding houses, and our streets present a very lively appearance —
looks like Rochester Minus the Brick Buildings. I would advise
you to sell your farm and loan the proceeds in Kansas.
As to marrying Matters am inclined to take the subject into seri-
ous consideration and if so situated that the case could be fully dis-
cussed the question might be adjusted — Dont think there is any
prospect [of] my making any such arrangement west — Please
write me fully about the marriageble Ladies in Washington
County — For reasons most satisfactory to myself, I have remained
single thus far — and suppose no one regrets my course or cares
p articularly —
My best love to Nan, Mother & yourself and regards to Easton
Friends Write on recpt of this telling what shape you can get your
affairs into for a western life — and when & how you prefer to
come & live &cc
Truly
D. R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
15th Dec 1858
DEAR BRO [AARON]
I have written you once or twice lately in reference to Kansas
Matters. Today I rec'd a letter from Eugene saying he had thoughts
of coming west, and I have answered him at length in regard to
Kansas & this town in particular. Told him to sell and invest his
money in loans here — Which he can do and realize from 3 to 4
6 5 per cent on good securities.
Whether Eugene would be of any benefit to me in Insurance
216 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
business I cant tell, and so wrote him — What is most needed in
my office, is some one to solicit Dwlg risks, make reports. I can
do best at taking all the large jobs and that occupies my time com-
pletely. And then again I confine myself more closely to my office
than if I had some [one] to stay in office, when I was out, on whom
I could depend. Of one thing I am fully convinced, viz, that it
is best for me to keep my business within myself I am now so
well advertised that every body knows the agency, and any change
would tend to mistify — whether Eugene can do any thing else
here Im unable to say. He must make up his mind on that point
himself —
My prospects for next year look bright, and unless some unfore-
seen event happens, I shall have a prosperous year.
What arrangements are you making for another. Are you think-
ing of remaining in the Rochester Agency business? Or have you
an idea about coming west? Would [you] have any notion of
trying Ins business with me here —
Think an agency at Elwood would pay well, it is a small town
only 500. people — but it is directly opposite St. Joseph a town of
7,000 people — and much business could be done there by hard
work —
D. W. Wilder a brother of A. C. Wilder is now there and doing
a handsome business as Sub agent for me — The laws of Mo do
not allow agencies from other states to transact business by agencies
without the companies pay a large tax which the Aetna dec[l]ine
to do except in St Louis — I take a good many risks in St Joseph
& Weston.
I supose there is little chance for Father to sell any Rochester
property If he can, I say sell at % of the price which you have been
asking and use the money here —
Now if you wish to make money why you must strike at the right
time I made a loan of $1,400. one year for a note of $2,000. Se-
cured on property worth $5,000, and property insured to protect
me — $1,200 cash will cancel the note I hold against Father, if
he desires, so to do.
From all appearances Leavenworth is going to continue to pros-
per— All is life with our business men.
Write your views at once, and will do all I can to give informa-
tion &c
Truly
D. R. ANTHONY
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 217
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
[D. A. TO MOTHER] March 14th 1859
It is a long while since I have [heard] from my mother and as I
happen to get a "Dressing Gown" by my good friend Wilder from
you or some one else, I may as well formally return thanks for the
same, but then it is of no use to me unless I am sick with the ague,
or get married a fellow will get pretty well shook up in either case.
However I am truly thankfull for the present — Did Ann Eliza
get the spoons or Forks I sent her? 10 (by Wilder) Everything is
looking bright — lots of people coming here — some to stop others
going to Pikes Peak, by far the largest number going to the Peak.
I have no inclination that way. Merritt did think of going but has
given up the idea —
Tell Susan I take the Atlantic Monthly & the Standard by the year
& N. Y. Daily Tribune— Daily Times & Ledger, Weekly Times, &
Herald & Weston Platte Argus — making 8 papers in all — also
the Insuranfce] — Monitor & Bank Note Reporter — 10 papers —
think she will be satisfied I have reading matter enough for one —
I continue boarding at Mrs Knights — a first rate place — Mr. &
Mrs. Knight Mr & Mrs Hamlin— N. S. Knight, Frank Palmer &
myself make up the family — Wilder comes up occasionally to
dine — We live well — better than most others —
Our town is growing rapidly about 10,000 people — One mer-
chant failed to day the second failure since I come here —
Had a letter from Eugene some two months ago — Have had
nothing from Susan in a long time — Have just had twenty shirts
made — 6 colored Linen 4 White Linen — 10 Cotton with Linen
colars & Bosoms, — Some with colars, rolling some without any
colars — So you see I will get along for shirts awhile — the lot
cost me $50.00— Also 5 Shaker Flannell Shirts & 3 Do Drawers 1
pr Cass Pants— 1 Blk Do 1 Brown Coat— 1 Blk velvet vest—
1 pr Boots— costing $75— So you see I am well clothed not likely
to freeze — particularly when the weather has been so warm and
pleasant that there has been no need for overcoats for 4 weeks —
grass is quite green — Season opens at least 4 weeks earlier than
in New York —
Write all about home matters &c I expect Father out here this
spring My weight this winter has been 165 to 170 — Now about
165 on acct of warm weather
Your Son
D R ANTHONY
10. Anna Eliza Osborne, who became Anthony's wife in 1864.
218 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
20th March 1S59
DEAR SISTER
Your letter from Albany come to hand in about ten days and
was a welcome visitor. Business was much better during the past
winter with me than I anticipated last fall — The we had a Negroe
Kidnapping case here — which made some excitement for awhile.11
It has mostly died away — They were going to "drive out" certain
Radicals, this was old doctrine, and it awoke a spirit of "wont
go"-
The Conservatives had a meeting, denounced the 'Times" — &
the next night we had a meeting and a clincher it was. — 12 I made
the most calm speech of the evening and was even complimented
by my political opponents — They didnt drive any body out of
town — And didnt injure any bodys business. Nobody was killed
— although the Slave Catcher drew his Revolver on me, but con-
cluded to put it up hastily and walk away. We made about twenty
men swallow lies in pretty short order — & were quiet again.
This morning as my Negroe was bringing a pail of water to my
office he was attacked by an Irishman, (all Irishmen seem to hate
niggers) his bucket of water spilled, and the negroe struck by the
dru[n]cken Irishman a brother negroe ran across the street to his
assistance, and at once throtteled the Irishman throwing him in
the mud. Other Irishmen in turn attacked Negroe No 2 — And
No 2 come into the office took my Revolver went into the street
again. When the said Irishman wizzeled [?] — So ended the
fracas —
A white man has no rights which a nigger is bound to respect.
The people of Kansas are not anti-Slavery — Many of them come
from such Slave States as Missouri Illinois Arkansas Pensylvania
South Carolina & Indiana and cant be relied on —
I think Indianna & Missouri are two of the hardest Border Ruffian
Pro Slavery states in the Union —
The Democracy are making great efforts to carry Kansas —
I am very certain I shall carry Kansas on the Insurance question
I continue boarding at Mr. Knights Shall move into my new
offi — about 15th April or before — The best in town. Our winter
11. On January 13, 1859, Charley Fisher, a Negro barber of Leavenworth and an
alleged fugitive slave, was kidnapped by Deputy U. S. Marshal Frank Campbell and Frank
Harrison. On January 24 Anthony was one of a group of nine Free-State men who rescued
him in Leavenworth from R. C. Hutchison, who claimed to be Fisher's owner.
12. The two meetings referred to by Anthony were held on January 26 and January 27,
1859. Proslavery partisans — the Conservatives — condemned the rescuers of Charley Fisher
and endorsed the claim that he was a fugitive slave. A Free-State group next evening de-
nounced the "slave catchers" and upheld Fisher's claim that he was a free man.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 219
has been very pleasant — grass begins to grow. Trees to leave
out. Boats running and the town full of Strangers — Every thing
looks brisk.
As to Father coming here dont think there is any trouble on acct
of sickness, I weigh from 165 to 170 this past winter — 5 to 15
pounds more than usual.
Think the visit would open his eyes about Kansas business — He
dont have any faith. And all my plans for business last year were
defeated. Money can be made here, and that Safely & surely, — if
they in Rochester Father & Aaron would only cooperate with me —
Write all the news —
Your Brother
D R ANTHONY . . .
W. W. Bloss is home by this time. I think H. C. Bloss will think
I wrote him a singular letter — But then no body can appreciate
the meanness of these would be defenders of Slavery —
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
March 25th 1859.
DEAR FATHER
I wrote you some time or days ago. about route to Leaven-
worth. Your best route is via Chicago Hanibal and St. Joseph.
Fare from Chicago to Leavenworth $16.50 — via Rail to St Jo &
Steamer to Leavenworth. Now you can learn whether tickets from
Rochester direct to Leavenworth are to high priced in Rochester —
Of course you can come either way but I think this your best
route — In returning you can go by St Louis & Cincinnati boats
run down the Missouri faster than up it —
I[n] making up your mind to visit you must determine whether
you can leave your business without damageing it materially. I
think you will never have a better time —
Susan thinks mother may be to unwell, or the climate here may
affect your health, of the latter I have no fears, and think you will
enjoy as good health here as in Rochester — as to mothers re-
maining at home alone with Susan you at home are the best
judges —
Our town is flooded with emigrants to Pikes Peak.13 The New
York Life have sent me an agency with instructions to insure Pikes
Peak men. My business continues good took 20,000, on 23rd
13. Large numbers of emigrants to the Pike's Peak region were coming through Kansas
in the spring of 1859, lured by news of the gold discoveries in what was then western
Kansas territory.
220 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
prem six months $525, &- $10. policy fees — Have only four life
policies in force.
Write me or telegraph what you conclude to do about coming
out & when you start. . . .
I want a new safe — about No 6 to No 8 — & want the new style
of Lock with combination numbers no key used I want one Fire
& Burglar proof — write me cost of one got up in good style with
description by the maker —
See whom you prefer in regard to making. I want a good one.
Write soon about it — If you cant attend to same, will Aaron do so.
I would like the arrangement made with some of the New York
Bankes to loan and circulate their notes here — I know I can do
a business that will please them I have better facilities than many
others here. I hope you or Aaron will make an effort in reference
to this Bnk arrangement I know it will pay both parties.
Am well except a slight head ache — which I hope to get rid of
it soon I weigh 167 pounds
Your son
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KAN May 14, 1859
DEAR FATHER
Your letter of the 6th Inst come to hand this day. You have
undoubtedly reed my letter countermanding order for Safe ere this.
I have bought a very good one. Stearns & Marvins make Wilder
Patent. Cost $350, in N. Y. I bought it low for cash— can sell
it almost any day and make $50. or a $100. on it.
I have made arrangements to do quite an extensive business in
the money department, and may want the safe at some future
time. Think however they ought to take $400 at 6 mos — If I
should want one —
I am in hopes you can find time to come to Leavenworth soon.
Think you did well in selling Hank, & if you sell the others as
well, you do better. I am anxious to have you see this country,
quite a Life Ins business can be done here. I have taken 5 applica-
tions this month— 2 of $2,500— 2 of $2,000 & 1 $1,500. I think
you could take 20 a month all summer long —
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 221
My business continues good. Have heard nothing new about
the St Jo agency of Aetna Co
I have thought some of going to the Osawatomie convention,
but it rains so hard now I think it almost impractible and then I
cant hardly leave — . . . 14
Money is now quite easy here at 2 per cent per month — One
loan was made this week of 10,000, 4 years at 24 per cent per annum
payable semiannually —
I have been calling in a portion of my funds and now loan on
shorter time — Have as yet not made a dollar loss — and trust
not to — . . »••••••..
I now own 1211. acres good (A No 1) Lands within 20 to 35
miles of town. And some of it is now getting quite valuable — A
large number of settlers are moving in this year.
I have written a little of every thing and will wind up for this
time
As Ever
D R ANTHONY
June 3, 1859
DEAR SISTER [SUSAN]
Your letter is reed will accept orders drawn by the party you
name to the amount of $200 — and draw on Wendell for the
amount. Cant say how much I can help the cause — we have
enough to attend to besides Womans Rights just now — 15 Would
like to cultivate our people so that they will allow white men to
live and breathe — first — as the Women already possess that right —
they must help us first and then we will help them —
Write again soon. In haste —
Yours truly
D R ANTHONY
14. On May 18, 1859, the Republican party of Kansas was organized at a convention
in Osawatomie.
15. Wendell Phillips, 1811-1884, a lawyer, orator and reformer, was allied with
William Lloyd Garrison in the abolition movement. He served as president of the Amer-
ican Anti-slavery Society and was also a leader in other reform movements — prohibition
woman suffrage and penal reform.
By 1859 Susan B. Anthony was actively engaged in reform movements including
woman s rights and suffrage. In 1852 she had joined forces with Amelia Bloomer and
from that time forward was lecturing and writing, demanding for women the rights and
privileges allowed to men.
222 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
LEAVENWORTH KANSAS
10th Oct 1859
DEAR BRO
Yours of the 3rd Inst come to hand — was glad to hear from home.
I sent you paper containing acct of an attack upon me by "Bob
Miller" Foard & Gladding & others — which is in the main correct — 16
The people of all parties sustain me in my action, and I am satis-
fied I did right — only I ought to have better prepared with
weapons to defend myself with. Gladding is considered out of
danger I have doubted all the time whether he was seriously hurt,
the wound was just above the Naple and below the Stomach —
Think they will not attack me again. If they do — I hope to be pre-
pared for them with the "Armor of truth" — with no slips —
Have sent my app to New York Life Ins. Co for Two Thousand
Insurance — I have lost by fire as follows Waggon Shop at Sumner —
of Brick
City 3,000 Stock
Charter Oak 2,000 Bldg
By fire at Leavenworth of Wood Planing Mill —
Aetna 3,700 Machinery
The above D R Anthony agt
C. B. Brace Agent lost
North Western Oswego 2,500
Western Mass — Petty 600
total
Hope to Keep clear awhile now —
Have this bought some 10,000 acres Land Warrants at 85 cts and
hope to make something on them — . . . Insurance business is
dull— . . .
Land Warrants are doing quite well — have made some money on
them since my return — I Keep close to the Wind with them, think
to make 200 or $300 on this last lot-
Have just located 4 — 160 acre warrants on Section 9 — Town 3,
Range 11 Nemeha County Kansas — running water on 3 quarters
of it & some 30 acres of wood — all A no 1 Land — think I have
16. On October 3, 1859, Anthony was involved in an argument and scuffle which
followed an exchange of remarks at a political meeting in Leavenworth. According to
the Leavenworth Weekly Times, October 8, Anthony was accosted by Bob Miller, W. F.
Foard and Gladden (or Gladding). Gladden struck him with a sheathed Bowie knife
and Miller also hit him. Anthony drew his pistol but it failed to fibre. Gladden suffered
a knife wound, inflicted by someone other than Anthony, and Miller was knocked down.
Gladden's wound was the only one suffered during the difficulty. According to the
Times neither Gladden nor Foard were the type to resort to violence but were urged on by
Miller.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 223
made a good Selection — when you want to farm it come out —
I now own some 2,000 acres Land of first quality — ... ff>
Hope to hear from you often —
As Ever yours
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KAN 9th Dec 1859
DEAR SISTER
Got home on Friday night — all O.K. found matters here pur-
suing the even tenor of their way. Business not over brisk but
doing enough to pay expenses, and a little to pay expenses east —
Had time to vote — got whipped in this county but the country
comes up all right — Our whole ticket is elected in the state, and
old Buck [President Buchanan] can do as he pleases — we will
come in as a state some time — 17
Hope your meeting went off well — The evening here was
pleasant & cold — old Brown died like a hero as he was, and
nearly all have to own that he is superior to the common herd —
I suppose Wendell Phillip was to preach to funeral sermon at
North Elba. I hope he did — & Chas Sumner will soon be heard
in the Senate again — The Hounds will have to stop yelping in
60 — If Seward is not hung as a Traitor before he gets to the
White House— . . . 18
Hope mother and all are well — Write soon
As Ever
D R. ANTHONY
11/2 P. M. just had an oyster supper and shall dream well —
I go to the Border Ruffian town of Weston tomorrow on Insurance
business — otherwise I shall remain closely at home so far as I know
this long while — Have had no chance to send the things to Merritt
— had a letter from him dated Dec 2 he was well then & in
good spirits — D R A
17. On December 6, 1859, an election of state officers and a congressional representative
was held undf>r the provisions of the proposed Wyandotte constitution. The Republican
ticket was defeated in Leavenworth county but carried the territory.
18. John Brown was executed by the federal government on December 2, 1859, because
of his attack and attempted seizure of the U. S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Brown was
buried at North Elba, N. Y., December 8, and although the Rev. Joshua Young read the
service at the burial Wendell Phillips did make a speech to the funeral assemblage.
Charles Sumner and William H. Seward, members of the U. S. Senate from Massa-
chusetts and New York respectively, were powerful supporters of Kansas' admission into the
Union as a Free state. Anthony was an admirer of Seward and favored the New Yorker
as a presidential candidate over Lincoln in 1860.
224 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
April 6th 1860
DEAR FATHER
Your letter of the 30th Inst from Lyons come duly to hand —
I went down to Osawatomie. Saw Merritt. Stopped with him
two nights found him Mary & baby all well —
Merritt & all intend going to the Peak about May 1. he will take
out farming utensils with the intention of farming on a "Ranch"
near Denver city —
He will not sell his place — 80 acres of it is deeded to you I
paid his law suit which closes all his indebtedness — he will have
enough to get a good outfit —
Generally speaking things sent on from friends East cost more
than they are worth for freight
I looked the matter of Merritts going west all over with him and
decided to give him no opinion as to whether he had best go or
not — I gave him all the information I had of the country and the
people —
Merritt knows some there — and many of our own citys best boys
are in Denver —
Some of our boys who are there are amoung the most plucky &
alliable and will aid advise & plan for him (Merritt) —
Merritt has rented his farm on shares —
I think some of going East in May and can then tell you all
about [it] but cant begin to write.
I dont think you can give him any advice except of a general
nature My idea was in favor of his going west, but I did not so tell
him —
I let him have the use of the property I bought last May — Cattle
Cows & Waggon — he thinks of taking two teams — if he does he
will make $200, for carrying over load —
Our trial come off on Monday next — Dont Know how the mat-
ter will end — it may end in trouble.19
Deputy U. S. Marshall — Mr Armes attempted to arrest Capt
Montgomery a few days ago — but the Capt took him — got the
papers from him and sent him home again.
If they press these arrests — a war will ensue — if the amnesty
19. Anthony was one of the men indicted and tried for the rescue of the Negro, Charley
Fisher, in January, 1859. On April 18, 1860, a motion to quash the indictments was
argued and John Pettit, judge of the First district court of the territory, sustained the motion
on April 23.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 225
act of 1859 is not lived up to — there will be such a war in Kansas
as never before witnessed on our soil — 20
Capt Montgomery will not be taken in any event — 200 troops
he can whip & 1000 are too clumsy to catch him
Some of the Southern Kansas Boys will attend our trial to see we
have justice done us —
Can write no more at present — . . .
D R. ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH KAN 5th Feby 1861
DEAR AARON
Yours of late date at hand. . . .
If matters do not change from present appearances I shall be in
Rochester this mo. But business and U. S Senatorial matters may
change my programme —
Parrott is expected home this week and I can then know — Our
State Legislature will be convened by Gov Robinson — we think in
March — and we wish to elect Parrott U. S. Senator — 21
I think perhaps if Father would come out here, he would enjoy
himself — do a good business for me. — And in the end would
not regret — And if his Stay was only temporary — it would benefit
all round — This spring will be a good time to open up Life Ins
here — he could start that branch If you should come — It
would be diferent — as you would take the place of my present
Bookkeeper — who is so young & inexperienced I dont like to trust
him to much —
But yet I hardly think my business would justify me in paying
what would be a fair price to you —
My present Booker is 21 years old — he is straight & honest and all
OK to appearances — as well as capable — he costs me only $300
per year — he will want more soon, but I dont trust him to draw
checks on St Louis or New York or pay checks at the counter unless
in special cases — this of course confines me closely in the office —
Had I $10,000 more cash in my business I would say come out and
20. Deputy U. S. Marshal Leonard Arms tried unsuccessfully to arrest James Mont-
gomery and other Free-State sympathizers for alleged criminal offenses committed during
the political difficulties of the late 1850's. Another attempted arrest proved fatal to Arms
on April 20, 1860, when he was shot by John Ritchie of Topeka, who refused to submit to
seizure for a supposed violation of law in 1856. The Amnesty act, passed by the legisla-
ture of 1859, was intended to make participants in the earlier struggles exempt from charges
and arrest.
21. The first state legislature convened on March 26, 1861. On April 4 it elected
two U. S. senators, James H. Lane and Samuel C. Pomeroy. Anthony's candidate Marcus
J. Parrott, finished third in the balloting.
15—3189
226 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I would give you $1,200 per annum — but dont now see where I
can get it —
If Father comes out — of course I would pay all his expenses and
something say $25, per month besides — for 4 or 6 months —
Will write you again soon — and hope to see you this month —
How do you like our paper —
Yours truly
D R ANTHONY
(Part Three, the D. R. Anthony Letters of October 1, 1861-June 7,
1862, Will Appear in the Autumn, 1958, Issue)
Recent Additions to the Library
Compiled by ALBERTA PANTLE, Librarian
IN ORDER that members of the Kansas State Historical Society
and others interested in historical study may know the class of
books the Society's library is receiving, a list is printed annually of
the books accessioned in its specialized fields.
These books come from three sources, purchase, gift, and ex-
change, and fall into the following classes: Books by Kansans and
about Kansas; books on American Indians and the West, including
explorations, overland journeys and personal narratives; genealogy
and local history; and books on United States history, biography
and allied subjects which are classified as general. The out-of-state
city directories received by the Historical Society are not included
in this compilation.
The library also receives regularly the publications of many his-
torical societies by exchange, and subscribes to other historical and
genealogical publications which are needed in reference work.
The following is a partial list of books which were received from
October 1, 1956, through September 30, 1957. Federal and state
official publications and some books of a general nature are not in-
cluded. The total number of books accessioned appears in the re-
port of the Society's secretary printed in the Spring, 1958, issue of
The Kansas Historical Quarterly.
KANSAS
Americus Centennial, 1857-1957 . . . June 1, 1957, Souvenir Program.
N. p. [1957?]. Unpaged.
AMES, WILLIAM P., The Song of a Century, and Other Poems. Dexter, Mo.,
Candor Press, 1955. 74p.
BACH, MARGARET F., Journey to Freedom. Grand Rapids, Mich., Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1953. 117p.
BAILEY, BERNADINE, Picture Book of Kansas, Pictures by Kurt Wiese. Chicago,
Albert Whitman and Company, c!954. Unpaged.
BEATTY, MARION, Labor-Management Arbitration Manual. New York, E. E.
Eppler and Son [c!956]. 167p.
BECKHARD, ARTHUR J., The Story of Dwight D. Eisenhower. New York, Grosset
& Dunlap [c!956]. 180p.
BECKMAN, PETER, Kansas Monks, a History of St. Benedict's Abbey. Atchison,
Abbey Student Press [c!957]. 362p.
BELPRE, METHODIST CHURCH, Fortieth Anniversary of the Methodist Church,
Belpre, Kansas . . . 1910-1950. No impr. [121p.
(227)
228 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
BETHEL, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, History of the First Baptist Church, Bethel,
Kansas. No impr. 34p.
BOLDS, GEORGE, Across the Cimarron [as Told to James D. Horan], New
York, Crown Publishers [c!956]. 301p.
BROWN, LENNA WILLIAMSON, From Zero to Infinity, a Philosophy of Matter.
Lawrence, Allen Press [c!956l. 176p.
CANFIELD, DOROTHY, A Harvest of Stories From a Half Century of Writing.
New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company [c!956]. 352p.
Cappers Weekly, My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon. N. p. [Capper Pub-
lications], 1956. [104]p.
CARSON, L. B., Introduction to Our Bird Friends, Vol. 2. [Topekal Capper
Publications, c!957. 25p.
Centennial History of the Topeka Schools, Compiled by the Retired Teachers
of the School System. N. p., 1954. Typed. Unpaged.
CONNELL, EVAN S., Anatomy Lesson and OtJier Stories. New York, Viking
Press, 1957. 214p.
CONNELLY, W. L., The Oil Business as I Saw It, Half a Century With Sinclair.
Norman, University of Oklahoma Press [c!954]. 177p.
CORNISH, DUDLEY TAYLOR, The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army,
1861-1865. New York, Longmans, Green and Company, 1956. 337p.
CROY, HOMER, The Last of the Great Outlaws, the Story of Cole Younger.
New York, Duell, Sloan and Pearce [c!956]. 242p.
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN COLONISTS, KANSAS SOCIETY, Directory, 1957-
1958. No impr. 52p.
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, FORT LARNED CHAPTER, LARNED,
Marriage Records, Pawnee County, Kansas, September 15, 1873, to January
1, 1889, Copied by Jessie Bright Grove. Lamed, n. p., 1957. Typed. 59p.
- , KANSAS SOCIETY, Directory of the Kansas Society, Daughters of the
American Revolution, 1955. No impr. 297p.
- , KANSAS SOCIETY, Proceedings of the Fifty-Eighth Annual State Con-
ference, March 14 to 17, 1956, Wichita, Kansas. No impr. 195p.
- , KANSAS SOCIETY, Proceedings of the Fifty-Ninth Annual State Con-
ference, March 14, 15, and 16, 1957, Beloit, Kansas. No impr. 178p.
- , SHAWNEE CHAPTER, MISSION, Genealogical Records, 1956-1957, Pre-
pared by Hazel Crane Amos. Shawnee, n. p., n. d. Typed. 26p.
- , TOPEKA CHAPTER, TOPEKA, [McFarland, Hampton and Steele Family
Records], Copied by Helen McFarland. Topeka, n. p., 1956. Typed.
DAVIS, KENNETH S., A Prophet in His Own Country, the Triumphs and De-
feats of Adlai E. Stevenson. Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday & Company,
1957. 510p.
Ellsworth, Kansas. Clay Center, Clay Center Engraving Company [1914].
Unpaged.
ENGLISH, E. Lois, Leave Me My Dreams. New York, Exposition Press
[c!955]. 119p.
_ ? Most Precious Word, Verse Variations on Several Themes. New
York, Exposition Press [c!957]. 160p.
FAETH, MARY LILLIAN, Kansas in the 80's, Being Some Recollections of Life
on Its Western Frontier. New York, Procyon Press [c!947]. [36]p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY
First One Hundred Years, a History of the City of Hartford, Kansas, 1857-
1957. N. p. [1957?]. 26p.
FLEMING, ROSCOE, Kansas, 'Ad Astra Per Aspera' N. p., Author [c!956]. 23p.
FLORA, SNOWDEN D., Hailstorms of the United States. Norman, University of
Oklahoma Press [c!956]. 201p.
FLOYD, LOUISE MCKNIGHT, The Commencement Day Murders. New York,
Vantage Press [c!954]. 202p.
FORSTER, MINNIE JANE, On Wings of Truth. New York, Exposition Press
[c!954]. 56p.
FUGATE, FLORENCE A., Afterglow. No impr. 125p.
GRUBER, FRANK, Buffalo Grass, a Novel of Kansas. New York, Rinehart &
Company [c!956]. 249p.
HALE, J. E., A Diagnosis of Our Spendthrift Trend. Kansas City, Mo., Burton
Publishing Company [c!953]. 178p.
HALL, ALICE LEE, Dog Tales. New York, Pageant Press [c!956]. 185p.
HA WORTH, B. SMITH, Ottawa University, Its History and Its Spirit. [Ottawa,
Ottawa University] 1957. 174p.
[HEMINGER, DON C.], History of Great Bend Lodge No. 15, A. F. 6- A. Af.,
1873-1956. Great Bend, n. p., n. d. Unpaged.
HIGGINS, J. WALLACE, III, The Orient Road, a History of the Kansas City,
Mexico and Orient Railroad. (Reprinted from Bulletin 95, Railway b Lo-
comotive Historical Society, October, 1956.) 43p.
HELLSBORO, MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH, In Grateful Memory of 75 Years
of Gods Grace, 1881-1956. Hillsboro, Mennonite Brethren Church, 1956.
[35]p.
HINDS, VIRGIL VESTER, History of Provisions for Religious Instruction in Se-
lected Public Elementary Schools of Kansas. A Thesis Submitted to the
Department of History, Government, and Philosophy of Kansas State Col-
lege of Agriculture and Applied Science in Partial Fulfillment of the Re-
quirements for the Degree Master of Science. N. p., 1957. Typed. [62]p.
Historical Booklet . . . Emporia, Kansas, Centennial Celebration, June 30
—July 6, 1957. No impr. 76p.
HOLBROOK, STEWART H., Wyatt Earp, U. S. Marshal. New York, Random
House [c!956]. 180p.
HOSLER, EMILY L., Booth Creek Janie. New York, Vantage Press [c!956].
68p.
HUGGINS, ALICE MARGARET, and HUGH LAUGHLIN ROBINSON, Wan-fu; Ten
Thousand Happinesses. New York, Longmans, Green and Company, 1957.
186p.
HUGHBANKS, L.EROY, Talking Wax, or, The Story of the Phonograph . v-4
New York, Hobson Book Press, 1945. 142p.
, You Can Make Records. Lawrence, World Company, c!945. 33p.
HUGHES, LANGSTON, I Wonder as I Wander. New York, Rinehart & Company
[c!956]. 405p.
, and MILTON MELTZER, Pictorial History of the Negro in America.
New York, Crown Publishers [c!956]. 316p.
HUGOTON, FIRST METHODIST CHURCH, First Methodist Church, Hugoton, Kan-
sas, 1886-1956, Seventieth Anniversary Celebration ... No impr.
230 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ISELY, FLORA (DUNCAN), Earning the Right To Do Fancy work, an Informal
Biography of Mrs. Ida Eisenhower . . . Lawrence, University of Kan-
sas Press, 1957. 38p.
JACKSON, MAUD C., Joe Clown's Trix. Columbus, Ohio, Wartburg Press
[c!954]. 83p.
JELINEK, GEORGE, History of Ellsworth County Schools. No impr. Mimeo-
graphed. [9]p.
,90 Years of Ellsworth and Ellsworth County History. [Ellsworth]
Messenger Press, 1957. Unpaged.
KANSAS AUTHORS CLUB, Yearbook, 1956. No impr. 87p.
Kansas Legislative Directory, 1957. Topeka, Midwest Industry Magazine and
Kansas Construction Magazine, 1957. 212p.
KANSAS PACIFIC RAILWAY, Guide Map of the Great Texas Cattle Trail. Evans-
ton, 111., Branding Iron Press, c!956. 21p.
KANSAS STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, EDUCATIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION,
Source Book for the School of Tomorrow for Kansas, Revised May, 1957.
Topeka, Association, 1957. 67p.
Kansas, the First Century. New York, Lewis Historical Publishing Company
[c!956]. 4 Vols.
KAUFFMAN, CAROLYN, and PATRICIA FARRELL, If You Live With Little Chil-
dren. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons [c!957]. 145p.
Keepsake Portfolio of Ellsworth, Kansas, From the Collection of George Jelinek
. . . No impr. 8 Plates.
KRAMMES, HANNA MOORE, Interludes. [Lawrence, Allen Press] 1953. 64p.
LANDES, FANNIE, Silent Men. [Topeka, Floyd Burres Printing Service, c!957.]
59p.
LINDQUIST, EMORY, The Protestant Church in Kansas: an Annotated Bibliog-
raphy. Wichita, University of Wichita, 1956. 28p. (University Studies,
No. 35.)
[LINENBERGER, JOSEPH M.], Grandfather's Story, by Helen L. Hall, as Trans-
lated by Louise Rylko. [Carthagena, Ohio, Messenger Press, c!955.] 45p.
LONGSTRETH, DOT AsHLOCK, De Soto Is 100 Years Old, 1857-1957. N. p.
[1957?]. 64p.
LOWTHER, EDGAR A., The Road Ahead, the Christian Way to World Peace.
New York, Exposition Press [c!956]. 107p.
MCCARTY, JOHN L., Adobe Walls Bride, the Story of Billy and Olive King
Dixon. San Antonio, Naylor Company [c!955]. 281p.
McGRATH, MARY CHARLES, Out of the Sunset. New York, Pageant Press
[c!957]. 272p.
McKAY, R. H., Little Pills, an Army Story. Pittsburg, Pittsburg Headlight, 1918.
127p.
McREYNOLDS, JOHN W., How to Plan for College and What to Do When You
Get There. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1956. 136p.
MADDUX, RACHEL, The Green Kingdom. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1957.
561p.
MARINO, DOROTHY, Song of the Pine Tree Forest. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippin-
cott Company [c!955]. Unpaged.
MARKLEY, WALTER M., Builders of Topeka, 1956, Who's Who in the Kansas
Capital Topeka, Capper Printing Company, 1956. 352p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 231
MATHEWS, M. K., and BESSIE F. MATHEWS, History of the Quintet Methodist
Church, Quinter, Kansas. No impr. Typed. 9p.
MEHDEVI, ANNE ( SINCLAIR ) , From Pillar to Post. New York, Alfred A. Knopf,
1956. 273p.
Memorial Number of The Traveler, the Family of Asahel and Melissa Edgerton
in 1951. No impr. Unpaged.
MENNINGER, WILLIAM C., and others, How to Understand the Opposite Sex.
New York, Sterling Publishing Company [c!956]. 192p.
MDLLARD, S. T., Goblets . . . Seventh Edition, 1956. Topeka, Central
Press [c!938]. Unpaged.
, Goblets II. [Topeka] Privately Printed [cl940]. Unpaged.
, Opaque Glass . . . Third Edition. Topeka, Central Press
[c!953]. Unpaged.
MILLER, CLYDE W., Mahaska Sodbusters. N. p., 1953. Typed. 74p.
, The Survey. No impr. Typed. 7p.
, Trails and Roads. No impr. Typed. 8p.
, You and Me Rhymes. No. impr. Typed. Unpaged.
MISSOURI PACIFIC LINES, The Empire That Missouri Pacific Serves. N. p., Mis-
souri Pacific Lines, n. d. 352p.
MOORE, CECILE (MUMAW), and JOY Fox, Through the Years . . . Gree-
ley, Kansas . . . During the Past One Hundred Years . . . Gree-
ley, Greeley Centennial Committee, 1957. 50p.
MUECKE, JOSEPH B., Ottawa-Kansas City Tornado . . . May 20, 1957
. . . Ottawa, Author, c!957. Unpaged.
MURRAY, WILLIAM G., Appraisal of Miami Tract in Kansas, 1854. Ames,
Iowa, n. p., 1956. 107p.
, Appraisal of Shawnee Tract in Kansas, 1854. Ames, Iowa, n. p., 1956.
157p.
NEWMAN, TILLIE KARNS, The Black Dog Trail Boston, Christopher Publish-
ing House [c!957]. 221p.
NORTON Daily Telegram, Norton County Automobile License Tag Directory,
1957. Norton, Norton Daily Telegram [1957?]. 52p.
, Trade Area Directory . . . 1956-61. Norton, Norton Daily Tele-
gram [1956?]. 184p.
O'CONNOR, RICHARD, Bat Masterson. Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday & Com-
pany, 1957. 263p.
OLATHE, FIRST NATIONAL BANK, Story of the First National Bank, Olathe,
Kansas, 1887-1957. No impr. Unpaged.
Olathe Centennial, "Arrows to Atoms," 1857-1957 . . . [Olathe, Olathe
Centennial, Inc., 1957.] 55p.
OLSON, B. G., and MIKE MILLER, comps. and eds., Blood on the Arctic Snow
. . . Seattle, Superior Publishing Company [c!956]. 279p.
OVERMYER, GRACE, America's First Hamlet. New York, New York University
Press, 1957. 439p.
PERRINGS, MYRA, Shadow on the Stream. Dallas, Triangle Publishing Com-
pany [c!956]. 40p.
PETTYJOHN, LURA, History of Madison, Greenwood County, Kansas, Written
by Christine Jardinier. N. p., 1956. 15p.
[PLAISTED, TIRZAH], "There Lived a Man" Mother's Story. New York, n. p.,
1914. 89p.
232 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
PLUMER, MABEL LANDON, The Patriarch of Kennebec. No impr. Folder.
Folk's Topeka (Shawnee County, Kansas) City Directory, 1956, Including
Shawnee County Taxpayers . . . Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk and
Company, c!957. [1466]p.
[POOLE, OREL (LOVEWELL), comp.], Sketches of the White Rock. No impr.
Mimeographed. 75p.
PORTER, JAMES A., Doctor, Spare My Cow! Ames, Iowa State College Press
[c!956]. 238p.
POWELL, HORACE B., The Original Has This Signature — W. K. Kellogg.
Englewood Cliffs, N. J., Prentice-Hall [c!956]. 358p.
PRYOR, ELINOR, The Double Man. New York, W. W. Norton & Company
[c!957]. 452p.
RADKE, LEE, The Living Dead. Boston, Meador Publishing Company [c!954].
48p.
RAMONA, Trinity Lutheran Church, 40th Anniversary and Rededication
. . . November 25, 1956. No impr. Mimeographed. Unpaged.
RANDALL, BLOSSOM E., Fun for Chris. Chicago, Albert Whitman & Company
[c!956]. Unpaged.
RANDOLPH, VANCE, Talking Turtle and Other Ozark Folk Tales. New York,
Columbia University, 1957. 226p.
RAYBURN, OTTO ERNEST, Forty Years in the Ozarks. Eureka Springs, Ark.,
Ozark Guide Press [c!957]. lOlp.
REICHART, VIRGINIA, Ours To Remember, a [Holton] Centennial Pageant.
N. p., c!955. 27p.
, "Song of Hiawatha," Hiawatha Centennial Pageant, 1857-1957. [Hia-
watha, Hiawatha World Print, c!957.] 34p.
REPLOGLE, WAYNE F., Yellowstone's Bannock Indian Trails. Yellowstone Park,
Wyo., Yellowstone Library and Museum Association, 1956. 80p.
Ross, H. E., Experiences of a Frontier Preacher in Southwest Kansas. Dan-
ville, Author [c!941]. 66p.
ROWAN, CARL THOMAS, Go South to Sorrow. New York, Random House
[c!957]. 246p.
RUSSELL, FRANK A., 75 Years in Kansas, or, Corn Bread and Sorgum-Molasses.
No impr. Mimeographed. lOOp.
SNYDER, RALPH, Autobiography. N. p., 1957. 22p.
, Observations, Thoughts and Conclusions — From 70 Busy Years. N. p.
[1942]. 71p.
STEINER, JOHN P., Speaking Up for Freedom. New York, Exposition Press
[c!955]. 123p.
STITES, LESTER, History of Ionia, Kansas. Ionia, Privately Printed [1956].
27p.
[SULLIVAN, FRANK S.], Homeseekers' Guide [Meade County, Kansas]. Topeka,
Crane & Company [1904]. 29p.
[SWENSON, J. H.], The Sculptor Wind and Homeward Bound. No impr. 86p.
TIBBLES, THOMAS HENRY, Buckskin and Blanket Days, Memoirs of a Friend
of the Indians. Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday & Company, 1957. 336p.
TOEPFER, MRS. AMY, and AGNES C. DREILING, The Linenberger Genealogy.
N. p. [c!955]. 432p.
TOPEKA, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, The Topeka Plan of Cooperating To-
gether for Better Public Schools. Topeka, Superintendent of Schools, 1956.
Mimeographed. 135p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 233
TOPEKA TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION, No. 121, 75th Anniversary Souvenir, Topeka
Typographical Union, No. 121, 1882-1957. No impr. 64p.
VALLEY FALLS, ST. PAUL'S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, One Hundredth
Anniversary, 1857-1957, St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Valley
Falls, Kansas. [Valley Falls, Vindicator Publishing Company, 1957?] 16p.
VAN RIPER, GUERNSEY, JR., Jim Thorpe, Indian Athlete. Indianapolis, Bobbs-
Merrill Company [c!956]. 192p.
VOSPER, ROBERT, Books and Reading: the Librarians Faith. ( Reprinted from
Association of American Colleges Bulletin, Vol. 43, No. 2, May, 1957.)
WALBRIDGE, CAROLINE K., An Annotated Bibliography of State Adopted and
Approved Textbooks for Kansas, 1897-1937. A Thesis Submitted to the De-
partment of Library Science and the Graduate Council of the Kansas State
Teachers College of Emporia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree of Master of Science. N. p., 1957. Typed. 320p.
WALDRAVEN- JOHNSON, MARGARET, The White Comanche, the Story of Cynthia
Ann Parker, and Her Son, Quanah. New York, Comet Press [c!956]. 34p.
[WAMEGO, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE], Wamego, Kansas, Queen City of the
Kaw. [Wamego, Wamego Chamber of Commerce, 1956.] Unpaged.
WELLMAN, MANLY WADE, Rebel Boast, First at Bethel — Last at Appomattox.
New York, Henry Holt and Company [c!956]. 317p.
WELLMAN, PAUL ISELIN, Jericho's Daughters. Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday
& Company, 1956. 380p.
- , Portage Bay. Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday & Company, 1957.
240p.
WHEATON, ST. LUKE'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, A Brief History and a Souvenir
Prepared for the Fiftieth Anniversary of Its Existence [1897-1947]. No
impr. Unpaged.
WHITE, WILLIAM LINDSAY, The Captives of Korea, an Unofficial White Paper
on the Treatment of War Prisoners . . . New York, Charles Scribner's
Sons [c!957]. 347p.
WHITE CITY, MARION HILL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 80th Anniversary, 1876-1956.
No impr. Unpaged.
WIER, BERYHL HOWARD, Sounding Brass. New York, Vantage Press [c!956].
313p.
WILCOX, DON, Joe Sunpool. Boston, Little, Brown and Company [c!956].
261p.
WILDER, BESSIE E., Author Headings for the Official Publications of the State
of Kansas. Chicago, American Library Association, 1956. 136p.
WILLIAMSON, JACK, and JAMES E. GUNN, Star Bridge. New York, Gnome
Press [c!956]. 221p.
WILSON, MRS. HARRY, SR., and MRS. DIEW EDMISTON, comps., History of the
First Methodist Church, Towanda, Kansas for the Sixty-Eighth Anniversary,
September, 1956. No impr. Mimeographed. 41p.
[WILSON, MRS. MIKE, comp.], Muscotah Centennial, June 21 6- 22, 1857-1957.
No impr. Unpaged.
YEAGER, RANDOLPH ORVILLE, Indian Enterprises of Isaac McCoy, 1817-1846.
A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Okla-
homa in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of
Philosophy. Norman, n. p., 1954. Typed. 625p.
234 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ZIRKLE, DAVID LUTHER, Yesteryears and Yesterdays . . . [Oxford, Kan.,
Oxford Register] c!956. 113p.
ZORNOW, WILLIAM FRANK, Kansas, a History of the Jayhawk State. Norman,
University of Oklahoma Press [c!957]. 417p.
AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE WEST
ATHEARN, ROBERT G., William Tecumseh Sherman and the Settlement of the
West. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press [c!956]. 371p.
BARBEAU, MARTUS, Totem Poles. N. p., National Museum of Canada, n. d. 2
Vols.
BEIDLER, JOHN XAVIER, X. Beidler: Vigilante, Edited by Helen Fitzgerald
Sanders . . . Norman, University of Oklahoma Press [c!957]. 165p.
BELL, JOHN R., Journal of Captain John R. Bell, Official Journalist for the
Stephen H. Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, 1820, Edited by
Harlin M. Fuller and LeRoy R. Hafen. Glendale, Cal., Arthur H. Clark
Company, 1957. 349p. (The Far West and the Rockies Historical Series,
1820-1875, Vol. 6.)
[BENEDICT, KIRBY], A Journey Through New Mexico's First Judicial District
in 1864 . . . Notes by William Swilling Wallace. Los Angeles, West-
ernlore Press [c!956]. 71p.
BILLINGTON, RAY ALLEN, The Far Western Frontier, 1830-1860. New York,
Harper & Brothers [c!956]. 324p.
BORLAND, HAL, High, Wide and Lonesome. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott
Company [c!956]. 251p.
BREIHAN, CARL W., Badmen of the Frontier Days. New York, Robert M. Mc-
Bride Company [c!957]. 315p.
BROWN, MARK H., and W. R. FELTON, Before Barbed Wire; L. A. Huffman,
Photographer on Horseback. New York, Henry Holt and Company [c!956].
254p.
BURDICK, USHER L., Jim Johnson, a Brief History of the Mouse River Loop
Country. No impr. 32p.
BURNS, ROBERT HOMER, and others, Wyoming's Pioneer Ranches, by Three
Native Sons of the Laramie Plains. Laramie, Top-of-the-World Press, 1955.
752p.
CHAMBERS, WILLIAM NISBET, Old Bullion Benton, Senator From the New
West; Thomas Hart Benton, 1782-1858. Boston, Little, Brown and Com-
pany [c!956]. 517p.
GROUSE, NELLIS M., La Verendrye, Fur Trader and Explorer. Ithaca, N. Y.,
Cornell University Press [c!956]. 247p.
DOCKSTADER, FREDERICK J., The American Indian in Graduate Studies, a Bib-
liography of Theses and Dissertations. New York, Museum of the American
Indian Heye Foundation, 1957. 399p. (Contributions, Vol. 15.)
DORSEY, GEORGE A., Traditions of the Osage. Chicago, Field Columbian Mu-
seum, 1904. 60p.
, and ALFRED L. KROEBER, Traditions of the Arapaho . . . Chi-
cago, Field Columbian Museum, 1903. 475p.
DRIGGS, HOWARD R., The Old West Speaks. Englewood Cliffs, N. J., Prentice-
Hall [c!9561. 220p.
ELLIS, AMANDA M., Bonanza Towns: Leadville and Cripple Creek. [Colo-
rado Springs] Privately Printed [c!954]. 48p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 235
, The Colorado Springs Story. N. p., c!954. 48p.
, Legends and Tales of the Rockies. N. p. [c!954]. 60p.
, Pioneers. [Colorado Springs] Privately Printed [c!955]. 52p.
FARBER, JAMES, Texans With Guns. San Antonio, Naylor Company [cl950].
196p.
FREMONT, JOHN CHARLES, Narratives of Exploration and Adventure, Edited
by Allan Nevins. New York, Longmans, Green & Company, 1956. 532p.
FRTNK, MAURICE, and others, When Grass Was King. Boulder, University of
Colorado Press, 1956. 465p.
GALLOWAY, JOHN A., Guide to the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection.
Columbia, University of Missouri, 1956. 53p.
GODFREY, EDWARD SETTLE, Field Diary . . . Under Lt. Colonel George
Armstrong Custer in the Sioux Encounter at the Battle of the Little Big
Horn . . . Edited . . . by Edgar I. Stewart and Jane R. Stewart
. . . [Portland, Ore.] Champoeg Press, 1957. 74p.
GUIE, H. DEAN, Bugles in the Valley, Garnett's Fort Simcoe. [Yakima, Wash.]
n. p. [c!956]. 144p.
HALEY, J. EVETTS, Fort Concho and the Texas Frontier. San Angelo, Tex.,
San Angelo Standard-Times, 1952. 352p.
HENDRICKS, GEORGE D., Bad Man of the West. San Antonio, Naylor Company
[c!950]. 248p.
HUGHES, RICHARD B., Pioneer Years in the Black Hills, Edited by Agnes
Wright Spring. Glendale, Cal., Arthur H. Clark Company, 1957. 366p.
HUNT, FRAZIER, The Tragic Days of Billy the Kid. New York, Hastings House
[c!956]. 316p.
HURT, WESLEY R., and WILLIAM E. LASS, Frontier Photographer, Stanley J.
Morrow's Dakota Years. N. p., University of South Dakota and University
of Nebraska Press [c!956]. 135p.
HYDE, GEORGE E., A Sioux Chronicle. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press
[c!956]. 334p.
JAMES, HARRY C., The Hopi Indians, Their History and Their Culture. [Cald-
well, Idaho, Caxton Printers, c!956.] 236p.
JOHANSEN, DOROTHY O., and CHARLES M. GATES, Empire of the Columbia, a
History of the Pacific Northwest. New York, Harper & Brothers [c!957].
685p.
KELEHER, WILLIAM A., Violence in Lincoln County, 1869-1881, a New Mexico
Item. Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press [c!957]. 390p.
KRAENZEL, CARL FREDERICK, The Great Plains in Transition. Norman, Uni-
versity of Oklahoma Press [c!955]. 428p.
LA FARGE, OLIVER, Pictorial History of the American Indian. New York,
Crown Publishers [c!956]. 272p.
LAMAR, HOWARD ROBERTS, Dakota Territory, 1861-1889, a Study of Frontier
Politics. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1956. 304p.
LAMB, EUGENE J., Rodeo, Back of the Chutes. Denver, Bell Press, 1956.
279p.
LAUBIN, REGINALD, and GLADYS LAUBIN, The Indian Tipi, Its History, Con-
struction and Use. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press [c!957]. 208p.
LEA, TOM, The King Ranch. Boston, Little, Brown and Company [c!957].
2Vols.
236 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
LEMKE, W. J., and TED R. WORLEY, The Butterfield Overland Mail in Arkan-
sas. Little Rock, Arkansas History Commission, 1957. 16p.
LLOYD, EVERETT, Law West of the Pecos, the Story of Roy Bean. San Antonio,
Naylor Company [c!936]. 88p.
MAZZULA, FRED M., and Jo MAZZULA, The First 100 Years . . . Cripple
Creek and the Pikes Peak Region. [Denver, A. B. Hirschfeld Press, c!956.]
64p.
MILLER, JOSEPH, Arizona, the Last Frontier. New York, Hastings House
[c!956]. 350p.
MONAGHAN, JAY, Last of the Bad Men, the Legend of Tom Horn. Indian-
apolis, Bobbs-Merrill [c!946]. 293p.
MUMEY, NOLIE, Bent's Old Fort and Bent's New Fort on the Arkansas River.
Denver, Artcraft Press, 1956. 239p. (Old Forts and Trading Posts of the
West, Vol. 1.)
NELSON, DICK J., Wyoming Has a Distinguished Heritage and Its Big Horn
Basin of Merit . . . Glimpsing the Past— 1806-1957. N. p. [c!957].
76p.
NORDYKE, LEWIS, John Wesley Hardin, Texas Gunman. New York, William
Morrow & Company, 1957. 278p.
O'KANE, WALTER COLLINS, Sun in the Sky. Norman, University of Oklahoma
Press [c!950]. 261p.
PENCE, MARY Lou, and LOLA M. HOMSHER, Ghost Towns of Wyoming. New
York, Hastings House [c!956]. 242p.
POMEROY, EARL, In Search of the Golden West, the Tourist in Western Amer-
ica. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1957. [240]p.
RAND MCNALLY & COMPANY, Rand McNally's Pioneer Atlas of the American
West . . . Historical Text by Dale L. Morgan. Chicago, Rand Me-
Nally & Company [c!956]. 51p.
RELANDER, CLICK, Drummers and Dreamers; the Story of Smowhala the
Prophet and His Nephew Puck Hyah Toot . . . Caldwell, Idaho, Cax-
ton Printers, 1956. 345p.
RISTER, CARL COKE, Fort Griffin on the Texas Frontier. Norman, University
of Oklahoma Press [c!956]. 216p.
RITZENTHALER, ROBERT E., and FREDERICK A. PETERSON, The Mexican Kicka-
poo Indians. Milwaukee, Milwaukee Public Museum, 1956. 91p. (Pub-
lications in Anthropology, No. 2. )
ROCKWELL, WILSON, Sunset Slope, True Epics of Western Colorado. Denver,
Big Mountain Press [c!956]. 290p.
RUSSELL, CARL P., Guns on the Early Frontiers, a History of Firearms From
Colonial Times Through the Years of the Western Fur Trade. Berkeley,
University of California, 1957. 395p.
RUSSELL, MRS. HAL, Settler Mac and the Charmed Quarter-Section. Denver,
Sage Books [c!956]. 159p.
RUSSELL, OSBORNE, Journal of a Trapper, Edited . . . by Aubrey L.
Haines. [Portland] Oregon Historical Society, 1955. [191]p.
SHEPHERD, J. S., Journal of Travel Across the Plains to California, and Guide
to the Future Emigrant, Published by Mrs. Rebecca Shepherd, 1851. N. p.,
1945. 45p.
SHIRLEY, GLENN, Law West of Fort Smith, a History of Frontier Justice
. . 1834-1896. New York, Henry Holt and Company [c!957]. 333p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 237
SPENCER, KATHERINE, Mythology and Values, an Analysis of Navaho Chantway
Myths. Philadelphia, American Folklore Society, 1957. 240p. (Memoirs
of the American Folklore Society, Vol. 48. )
SPRAGUE, MARSHALL, Massacre, the Tragedy at White River. Boston, Little,
Brown and Company [c!957]. 364p.
STANLEY, F., Clay Allison. [Denver, World Press, c!956.] 236p.
STONE, IRVING, Men to Match My Mountains, the Opening of the Far West,
1840-1900. Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday & Company, 1956. 459p.
SWEENY, THOMAS W., Journal of Lt. Thomas W. Sweeny, 1849-1853, Edited
by Arthur Woodward. Los Angeles, Westernlore Press [c!956]. 278p.
THORP, RAYMOND W., Spirit Gun of the West, the Story of Doc W. F. Carver.
Glendale, Cal., Arthur H. Clark Company, 1957. 266p.
VAUGHN, J. W., With Crook at the Rosebud. Harrisburg, Pa., Stackpole Com-
pany [c!956]. 245p.
WALLACE, WILLIAM SWILLING, Antoine Robidoux, 1794-1860, a Biography of
a Western Venturer. Los Angeles, Glen Dawson, 1953. 59p.
WESTERNERS, DENVER, 1955 Brand Book. N. p. [c!956]. 454p.
WHITE, BROWNING JOHN, Published Sources on Territorial Nebraska, an Essay
and Bibliography. Lincoln, Nebraska State Historical Society, 1956. 300p.
(Nebraska State Historical Society Publications, Vol. 23.)
GENEALOGY AND LOCAL HISTORY
ACKERLY, MARY DENHAM, and LULA EASTMAN (JETER) PARKER, "Our Kin,"
the Genealogies of Some of the Early Families . . . of Bedford
County, Virginia. N. p. [c!930]. 818p.
ALEXANDER, GLADYS, comp. and ed., The Alexander Family Records . ;• •
Samuel Stevenson Alexander and His Wife, Thurzy Ross Alexander. [Fay-
etteville, Ark., Washington County Historical Society] n. d. Unpaged.
AMERICAN CLAN GREGOR SOCIETY, Year Book Containing the Proceedings of
the 1955 Annual Gathering. Washington, D. C. Society [c!956]. 63p.
American Genealogical-Biographical Index . . . Vols. 17-20. Middle-
town, Conn., Published Under the Auspices of an Advisory Committee Rep-
resenting the Cooperating Subscribing Libraries . . . 1956-1957. 4
Vols.
American Heritage Book of Great Historic Places. New York, American Her-
itage Publishing Company [c!957]. 376p.
ATWOOD, A., Glimpses in Pioneer Life on Puget Sound. Seattle, Denny-
Coryell Company, 1903. [488]p.
BAKER, ROBERT HELSLEY, Genealogy of the Baker Family, Descendants of John
Nicholas Baker, 1701-63 . . . With Some Connecting Lines. Stras-
burg, Va., Author, c!955. 255p.
BALL, ROY HUTTON, Conquering the Frontiers, a Biography and History of One
Branch of the Ball Family. Oklahoma City, Semco Color Press, n. d. 93p.
BANKS, CHARLES EDWARDS, Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emi-
grants to New England, 1620-1650, Edited and Indexed by Elijah Ellsworth
Brownell. Baltimore, Southern Book Company, 1957. 295p.
BASS, IVAN ERNEST, Bass Family History; Esau Bass (Revolutionary Soldier),
His Brother, Jonathan Bass, and Their Descendants. Washington, D. C.,
n. p., 1955. 449p.
238 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
BATES, SAMUEL A., Genealogy of the Descendants of Edward Bates of Wey-
mouth, Massachusetts. South Braintree, Mass., Frank A. Bates, n. d. 145p.
BEERY, WILLIAM, and JUDITH BEERY CAREER, Beery Family History. Elgin, 111.,
Privately Printed, 1957. 783p.
BELL, RAYMOND MARTIN, The Baskins-Baskin Family, Pennsylvania — Virginia
—South Carolina. Washington, Pa., n. p., 1957. 70p.
BLACK, HELEN KUHN (JACKSON), comp., The Kuhn (Coon) Family of Alle-
gheny County, Pennsylvania, With a Reprint of History 6- Genealogy of the
Kuhn Family by David Kuhn . . . N. p., 1956. Typed. 186p.
BODDIE, JOHN BENNETT, Southside Virginia Families, Vol. 2. Redwood City,
Cal., Pacific Coast Publishers, 1956. 414p.
Book of Minnesota . . . Saint Paul, Pioneer Press Company, 1903. 128p.
BRADSHAW, HERBERT CLARENCE, History of Prince Edward County, Virginia
. . . Richmond, Dietz Press [c!955]. 934p.
BROWNELL, GEORGE GRANT, comp., Genealogical Record of the Descendants of
Thomas Brownell, 1619-1910. Jamestown, N. Y., Compiler, 1910. 366p.
BULLER, ALVIN, The Heinrich Goossen Genealogy. N. p., 1953. 40p.
CHALFANT, ELLA, A Goodly Heritage, Earliest Wills on an American Frontier.
[Pittsburgh] University of Pittsburgh Press [1955]. 239p.
[COLLIER, HAZEL BRADY], Your Family and Mine. No impr. Various Paging.
COTTON, MYRNA, They Pioneered — for Us. No impr. 163p.
Cox, Louis S., comp., Corrections and Additions to the Cox Families of Holder-
ness and Related Families. No impr. 90p.
CRAVENS, JOHN PARK, Records of the Ancestry of John Park Cravens, the Lines
of Direct Lineal Descent and a Summary. Booneville, Ark., Author, 1957.
17p.
CREEKMORE, POLLY ANNA, Grainger County, Tennessee, Federal Census of 1810,
Population Schedule (Third Census) and County Tax Lists for 1810. Knox-
ville, Tenn., Lawson McGhee Library, 1956. 71p. (McClung Historical
Collection. Special Studies, No. 1.)
CROFT, GRACE, comp. and ed., History and Genealogy of the Milk-Milks Family.
Provo, Utah, n. p., 1956. 354p.
CROUCH, CARRIE J., A History of Young County, Texas. Austin, Texas State
Historical Association, 1956. 326p.
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, CONNECTICUT, EUNICE DENNIE
BURR CHAPTER, Families of Our Revolutionary Ancestors, Compiled by Mrs.
Chester H. Chatfield. N. p., 1956. 151p.
, VIRGINIA, COL. THOMAS HUGHART CHAPTER, First Marriage Record of
Augusta County, Virginia, 1785-1813. Augusta County, Col. Thomas Hugh-
art Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, n. d. 75p.
DAUZAT, ALBERT, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms
de France. Paris, Librairie Larousse [c!951]. [620]p.
DAVIES, WALLACE EVAN, Patriotism on Parade, the Story of Veterans' and
Hereditary Organizations in America, 1783-1900. Cambridge, Mass., Har-
vard University Press, 1955. 388p.
DE FOREST, MRS. ROBERT W., A Walloon Family in America . . . Boston,
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914. 2 Vols.
DORMAN, JOHN FREDERICK, comp., Culpeper County, Virginia, Will Book A,
1749-1770. Washington, D. C., n. p., 1956. Mimeographed. 155p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 239
DRAUGHON, WALLACE R., North Carolina Genealogical Reference, a Research
Guide. Durham, N. C., n. p., 1956. 231p.
DUTCHESS COUNTY [NEW YORK] HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Year Book, Vol. 40, 1955.
N. p. [c!956]. 67p.
[DYCHE, RUSSELL], Laurel County, Kentucky, in the Middle of the Wilderness
. . . London, Ky., Sentinel-Echo, 1954. 292p.
[EMERY, FREDERIC BARRETT], Barrett. No impr. 119p.
EMISON, JAMES WADE, The Emison Families, Revised; Origin and History of the
Kentucky Emisons. Vincennes, Ind., n. p., 1954. 360p.
EVARD, HELEN E. ( JACOBY), Descendants of Bartholomew Jacoby. N. p., 1955.
291p.
FLICK, MEDORA HAYS, comp., History of the Hays Family. N. p., 1954. Typed.
Unpaged.
FRAZIER, CLYDE C., Descendants of John Frazier, Maryland Planter. Coffey-
ville, Kan., Author, 1956. Mimeographed. lOp.
GOERING, JACOB M., and ANNA J. (GRABER) GOERING, comps., Jacob Krehbiel,
Sr., Family Record, 1840-1951. Hillsboro, Kan., Mennonite Brethren Pub-
lishing House, 1951. 133p.
, comps., Rev. Jacob Stucky Family Record, 1824-1953. North Newton,
Kan., Mennonite Press, 1954. 233p.
GOLDTHWAITE, CHARLOTTE, comp., Boardman Genealogy, 1525-1895 . . '.
Hartford, Conn., Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1895. 778p.
GOODWIN, JOSEPH O., East Hartford, Its History and Traditions. Hartford,
Conn., Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1879. 249p.
GRANT, ARTHUR HASTINGS, The Grant Family, a Genealogical History of the
Descendants of Matthew Grant of Windsor, Conn., 1601-1898. Poughkeep-
sie, N. Y., Press of A. V. Haight, 1898. 578p.
HALL, EDWIN, Ancient Historical Records of Norwalk, Conn. . . . New
York, Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman & Company, 1865. 320p.
[HALL, MARTHA BELLE], and others, Family of Matthew Current Who Married
Jane Wilson Call, Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky. N. p. [1955]. 15p.
[HAWK, HERBERT C.], History and Record of the Hawk Family. No impr.
Mimeographed. Unpaged.
HINES, H. K., An Illustrated History of the State of Washington. Chicago,
Lewis Publishing Company, 1894. 771p.
HINSHAW, WINFORD CALVIN, comp. and ed., 1815 Tax List of Randolph County,
N. C. Raleigh, William Perry Johnson, c!957. 43p.
History of Andrew and DeKalb Counties, Missouri. St. Louis, Goodspeed Pub-
lishing Company, 1888. 591p.
History of Columbia County, Wisconsin . . . Chicago, Western Historical
Company, 1880. 1095p.
History of Daviess County, Missouri. Kansas City, Mo., Birdsall & Dean, 1882.
868p.
History of Goodhue County, Including a Sketch of the Territory and State of
Minnesota . . . Red Wing, Minn., Wood, Alley & Company, 1878.
664p.
History of Greene County, Missouri ... St. Louis, Western Historical
Company, 1883. 919p.
240 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps
and Dent Counties, Missouri. Chicago, Goodspeed Publishing Company,
1889. 1219p.
History of Nodaway County, Missouri. St. Joseph, Mo., National Historical
Company, 1882. 1034p.
History of Old Germantown [Pennsylvania] . . . Germantown, Horace F.
McCann, 1907. [474]p.
History of Scott County, Iowa . . . Chicago, Inter-State Publishing Com-
pany, 1882. 1265p.
History of the Town of Sunderland, Massachusetts, 1899-1954, Volume 2
. . . Genealogies Compiled by Fred C. Warner. [Orange, Mass., Art
Press] n. d. 503p.
HODGES, FRANCES BEAL (SMITH), Genealogy of the Beale Family, 1399-1956.
Ann Arbor, Mich., Edwards Brothers, 1956. 391p.
HOOK, JAMES WILLIAM, Lieut. Samuel Smith, His Children and One Line of
Descendants and Related Families. No impr. 377p.
, Smith, Grant and Irons Families of New Jersey's Shore Counties
... No impr. 280p.
HOOVER, HARRY M., The Huber-Hoover Family History. Scottdale, Pa., Men-
nonite Publishing House, 1928. 335p.
HORGAN, PAUL, The Centuries of Santa Fe. New York, E. P. Dutton & Com-
pany, 1956. 363p.
Hughes and Allied Families. No impr. 239p.
HUGUENOT SOCIETY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Transactions, No. 61. Charleston,
Society, 1956. 48p.
HUMPHREY, J. A., Englewood [New Jersey], Its Annals and Reminiscences.
New York, J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company [c!899]. 237p.
HUMPHREYS, ALLAN S., The Edmistons of Washington County, Arkansas. Fay-
etteville, Ark., Washington County Historical Society, 1956. 27p.
HURD, D. HAMILTON, History of Fairfield County, Connecticut, With Illustra-
tions and Biographical Sketches . . . Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Com-
pany, 1881. 878p.
, History of New London County, Connecticut, With Biographical
Sketches . . . Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Company, 1882. 768p.
IRVINE, MRS. WILLIAM, Ancestry and Descendants of Isaac W. Zigler and
Lydia J. Miller. Milwaukie, Ore., Author, 1956. Mimeographed, lip.
JACOBUS, DONALD LINES, ed., The Pardee Genealogy. New Haven, Conn., New
Haven Colony Historical Society, 1927. 693p.
JESTER, ANNIE LASH, comp. and ed., Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia,
1607-1625. N. p., Order of the First Families of Virginia 1607-1620, 1956.
442p.
JOHNSON, SAMUEL W., History and Genealogy of the Johnson Family From
Charlemagne to the Present Time. Denver, Big Mountain Press [c!956].
71p.
Joshua P. Stucky Family Record, 1855-1952. No impr. [7]p.
KELLOGG, DALE C., Ancestry, Life and Descendants of Martin Kellogg, "the
Centenarian" of Bronson, Huron Co., Ohio, 1786-1892. Elyria, Ohio, n. p.,
1954. 86p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 241
KIMBROUGH, ETHEL, Genealogy of Thomas Kimbrough, 1805-1886. Fayette-
ville, Ark., Washington County Historical Society, 1956. 52p.
KNAPP, ALFRED AVERILL, comp., The Ancestral Lines Mary Lenore Knapp.
Peoria, 111., n. p., 1947. 181p.
, George Knapp of England, and Some of His Descendants in America.
[Winter Park, Fla.] n. p. [1952]. [18]p.
KOEHN, HENRY B., Compilation of the Genealogical and Biographical Record of
the Descendants and Relation Circle of Henry B. Koehn, 1846-1955. North
Newton, Kan., Mennonite Press, 1955. 60p.
KREHBIEL, W. J., comp., History of One Branch of the Krehbiel Family. Mc-
Pherson, Kan., Compiler, 1950. lOOp.
LEMKE, W. J., ed., Some Notes on the Washburns — Father and Son, Cephas
Washburn . . . and Edward Payson Washburn . . . Fayetteville,
Ark., Washington County Historical Society, 1955. 20p.
LETCHWORTH, WILLIAM P., Sketch of the Life of Samuel F. Pratt with Some
Account of the Early History of the Pratt Family. Buffalo, Warren, Johnson
& Company, 1874. 21 Ip.
LORD, WILLIAM G., comp., History of Athol, Massachusetts. Athol, Compiler
[c!953]. 745p.
LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, Records of Ye Towne Meetings of Lyn, Part 2, 1701-
1717. Lynn, Mass., Lynn Historical Society, 1956. 107p.
McCANN, W. R., and R. L. McCANN, Ancestors — Descendants James Wilson
Wright, Sr., Who Married Cynthia Rebecca Jones, Paris, Bourbon County,
Kentucky, With Index. N. p. [1954]. 21p.
, Some Descendants of John Keand of Whithorn, Scotland, Many of
Whom Lived and Died in Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky ... No
impr. Various Paging.
McGiLL, JOHN, comp., Beverley Family of Virginia, Descendants of Major
Robert Beverley (1641-1687) and Allied Families. Columbia, S. C., R. L.
Bryan Company, 1956. 1117p.
MCMILLAN, CLAUD NELSON, A History of My People and Yours . . . N. p.,
Privately Printed, 1956. 822p.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Proceedings, Vol. 69, October, 1947 —
May, 1950. Boston, Society, 1956. 536p.
MASSEY, MRS. GUY B., The Billingsleys and the Garvins. Fayetteville, Ark.,
Washington County Historical Society, 1955. 38p.
MILLER, KENNETH DUANE, Barnard-Miller and Allied Families. N. p., Des
Plaines Publishing Company, n. d. 278p.
MISSISSIPPI GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, comp., Cemetery and Bible Records, Vol.
3. Jackson, Society, 1956. 234p.
NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA, Museum Houses.
N. p., National Historic Activities Committee, n. d. Unpaged.
OLCOTT, MARY L. B., The Olcotts and Their Kindred . . . New York, Na-
tional Americana Publications, 1956. 315p.
[OSTERHOUT, HOMER C.], Osterhout, 1653-1953. No impr. Mimeographed.
Unpaged.
Panhandle-Plains Historical Review, Vol. 29. Canyon, Tex., Panhandle-Plains
Historical Society, 1956. 1.31p.
16—3189
242 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Past and Present of Warren County, Illinois . . . Chicago, H. F. Kett &
Company, 1877. 352p.
Pauls Family Record, 1823-1952. No impr. 131p.
PHALEN, HAROLD R., History of the Town of Acton [Massachusetts]. N. p.
[c!954]. 471p.
PHILLIPS, MARY PALMER, Family Record of David Lehman Booher and His
Wife Elizabeth Nutts. N. p. [c!956]. 98p.
POOLE, HERBERT ARMSTRONG, The Genealogy of John Lindsley (1845-1909)
and His Wife, Virginia Thayer Payne (1856-1941 ) of Boston, Massachusetts.
Milton, Mass., Author, 1950. [643]p.
Portrait and Biographical Album of Barry and Eaton Counties, Mich., Contain-
ing ... Biographical Sketches . . . Chicago, Chapman Brothers,
1891. [832]p.
Portrait and Biographical Record of Portland and Vicinity, Oregon. Chicago,
Chapman Publishing Company, 1903. 883p.
Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Chicago,
Chapman Publishing Company, 1903. 1563p.
PRESCOTT, WORRALL DUMONT, A Genealogical and Biographical Record Con-
cerning Amos Reed and Annie ( Webb ) Reed and All Their Descendants to
January 1, 1955 . . . N. p., 1956. 265p.
RATTRAY, JEANNETTE EDWARDS, East Hampton History Including Genealogy
of Early Families. East Hampton, N. Y., n. p. [c!953]. 619p.
RAY, WORTH S., Austin Colony Pioneers, Including History of Bastrop, Fayette,
Grimes, Montgomery, and Washington Counties, Texas . . . Austin,
Author, 1949. 378p.
, Tennessee Cousins, a History of Tennessee People. Austin, Tex.,
Author [c!950]. 811p.
RICH, IRMA A., Kendall Genealogy, the Descendants of Thomas and Francis
Kendall of Charlestown and Woburn, Mass. . . . Boston, C. E. Good-
speed & Company, 1920. 38p.
SCHMIDT, HELENE SCHROEDER, comp., The Jacob Pankrantz Genealogy. N. p.,
1940. [61]p.
SCOTT, GEORGE TRESSLER, The Family of Thomas Scott and Martha Swann
Scott, a Century in America, 1856-1956 . . . N. p., Privately Printed,
n. d. 70p.
Shackelford Clan Magazine, Edited by T. K. Jones, Vol. 1, No. 1 — Vol. 12,
No. 12, May 1945— April, 1957. Lubbock, Tex., T. K. Jones, 1945-1957.
12 Vols.
SHAW, HUBERT KINNEY, comp., Families of the Pilgrims. Boston, Massachusetts
Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1956. 178p.
SMITH, ELDON EDWARD, History and Record of the Schartner Family. N. p.,
Privately Printed, 1952. 190p.
SMITH, ELSDON COLE, Dictionary of American Family Names. New York,
Harper & Brothers [c!956]. 244p.
SOCIETY OF INDIANA PIONEERS, Year Book, 1956. Published by Order of the
Board of Governors, 1956. 131p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 243
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY, The 1955 Year
Book [Lineage of Past and Present Members] Compiled by Floyd G. Hoen-
stine. [Pittsburgh] Society, 1956. 773p.
STEBBINS, JOHN ALFRED, A Genealogy and History of Some Stebbins Lines. No
impr. 190p.
[STINE, KATHERINE (WYATT)], comp., [Stine Family Record, 1918, of Towanda,
Butler County, Kansas.] No impr. Typed. Unpaged.
, comp., [Wyatt Family Record, 1928, of Sedgwick and Butler Counties,
Kansas.] No impr. Typed. 17p.
SWAYNE, NORMAN WALTON, comp., Swaynes Descended From Francis Swayne
of East Marlborough Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. N. p., Pri-
vately Printed, 1955. 242p.
TUCKER, WILLARD D., Gratiot County, Michigan, Historical, Biographical, Sta-
tistical Saginaw, Mich., Seeman & Peters, 1913. [1358]p.
U. S. CENSUS, 1830, [Records of the Fifth Census, 1830, of Jackson County,
Missouri, Abstracted by Mrs. H. E. Poppino.] N. p., 1956. Mimeographed.
27p.
U. S. CENSUS, 1840, Census, 1840, Jackson County, Missouri. No impr.
Mimeographed. 62p.
U. S. CENSUS, 1850, Maine, 1850 Census Population Schedules. Microfilm.
22 Vols. on 6 Reels.
, Minnesota, 1850 Census Population Schedules. Microfilm. 1 Vol. on
1 Reel.
, Wisconsin, 1850 Census Population Scheduks. Microfilm. 8 Vols. on
3 Reels.
VAN LIEW, W. RANDOLPH, comp., Van Liew — Lieu — Lew, Genealogical 6-
Historical Record . . . Revised . . . by Emerio R. Van Liew.
[Upper Montclair, N. J.] Privately Printed [1956]. 255p.
Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of the City of
Seattle and County of King, Washington . . . New York, Lewis Pub-
lishing Company, 1903. 773p.
WALDEMAIER, INEZ, comp., A Finding List of Virginia Marriage Records Before
185S. N. p., 1957. 42p.
Ware Family Chronology, January 1, 1906, Fifth Edition. No impr. 14p.
WATES, WYLMA ANNE, ed., Stub Entries to Indents Issued in Payment of Claims
Against South Carolina Growing Out of the Revolution, Books C-F. Colum-
bia, South Carolina Archives Department, 1957. 278p.
WELLES, ROGER, Early Annals of Newington [Connecticut] . . . Hartford,
Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1874. 204p.
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA, COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, Committees of
Safety of Westmoreland and Fincastle, Proceedings of the County Com-
mittees, 1774-1776. Richmond, Virginia State Library, 1956. 127p. (Vir-
ginia State Library Publications, No. 1.)
Who is Who in and From Ohio . . . the Book of Ohio . . . Cin-
cinnati, Queen City Publishing Company, 1910. 2 Vols.
WILLIAM, RUTH SMITH, and MARGARETTE GLENN GRIFFIN, Abstracts of the
Wills of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, 1733-1856. Rocky Mount,
N. C, Dixie Letter Service, 1956. 392p.
244 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
GENERAL
AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, Proceedings at the Annual Meeting Held in
Worcester, October 17, 1956. Worcester, Mass., Society, 1957. [388]p.
Americana Annual, an Encyclopedia of the Events of 1956. New York, Amer-
icana Corporation [c!957]. 900p.
ANDER, O. FRITIOF, The Cultural Heritage of the Swedish Immigrant, Selected
References. [Rock Island, 111., Augustana College Library, 1956.] 191p.
(Augustana Library Publications, No. 27.)
ANGLE, PAUL M., The Chicago Historical Society, 1856-1956, an Unconven-
tional Chronicle. New York, Rand McNally & Company [c!956]. 256p.
ASTON, JAMES, and EDWARD B. STORY, Wrought Iron, Its Manufacture, Char-
acteristics and Applications. Pittsburgh, A. M. Byers Company [c!941].
lOlp.
AYER, N. W., AND SON'S, Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals, 1957. Phila-
delphia, N. W. Ayer and Son [c!957]. 1544p.
BAKELESS, JOHN, Background to Glory, the Life of George Rogers Clark. Phila-
delphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1957. 386p.
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Edited by Ned Bradford. New York,
Appleton-Century-Crofts [c!956]. 626p.
BEGG, ALEXANDER, Alexander Begg's Red River Journal and Other Papers Rela-
tive to the Red River Resistance of 1869-1870, Edited by W. L. Morton.
Toronto, Champlain Society, 1956. 636p. (Publications of the Champlain
Society, Vol. 34.)
BENTLEY, GEORGE R., A History of the Freedmen's Bureau. Philadelphia, Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, 1955. 298p.
BONNER, THOMAS NEVILLE, Medicine in Chicago, 1850-1950, a Chapter in the
Social and Scientific Development of a City. Madison, Wis., American His-
tory Research Center, 1957. 302p.
BUCHANAN, A. RUSSELL, David S. Terry of California, Dueling Judge. San
Marino, Gal, The Huntington Library, 1956. 238p.
CATTON, BRUCE, This Hallowed Ground, the Story of the Union Side of the
Civil War. Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday & Company, 1956. 437p.
CHAPEL, CHARLES EDWARD, Gun Care and Repair, a Manual of Gunsmithing.
New York, Coward-McCann, 1956. 454p.
Civil War. New York, Grosset & Dunlap [1956]. 2 Vols.
EAST TENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Publications, No. 28, 1956. Knoxville,
Society, c!956. 202p.
Encyclopedia of American Biography. New Series Vol. 26. New York Ameri-
can Historical Company, 1957. 392p.
EWTNG, WILLIAM S., comp., Guide to the Manuscript Collections in the William
L. Clements Library. Ann Arbor, Clements Library, 1953. 548p.
FATRBURN, WILLIAM ARMSTRONG, Merchant Sail. Center Lovell, Me., Fairburn
Marine Educational Foundation [1945-1955]. 6 Vols.
FAIRLESS, BENJAMIN F., It Could Only Happen in the U.S. . . . N. p.,
1957. 54p.
FAULKNER, VIRGINIA, comp. and ed., Roundup: a Nebraska Reader. Lincoln,
University of Nebraska Press, 1957. 493p.
FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT, CALIFORNIA, California, a Guide to the Golden
State. New York, Hastings House [c!954]. 716p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 245
FIFE, AUSTIN, and ALTA FIFE, Saints of Sage 6- Saddle, Folklore Among the
Mormons. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1956. 367p.
FINE, SIDNEY, Laissez Faire and the General-Welfare State, a Study of Conflict
in American Thought, 1865-1901. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press
[1956]. 468p. (University of Michigan Publications, History and Political
Science, Vol. 22.)
FISH, ARTHUR M., The Clarke Historical Collection, With a List of Michigan
Imprints. Mount Pleasant, Mich., Central Michigan College Press, 1956.
46p.
FLEMING, HOWARD A., Canada's Arctic Outlet, a History of the Hudson Bay
Railway. Berkeley, University of California, 1957. 129p. (University of
California Publications in History, Vol. 54. )
FULD, JAMES J., Pictorial Bibliography of the First Editions of Stephen C.
Foster. Philadelphia, Musical Americana, 1957. Unpaged.
GIDDENS, PAUL H., Standard Oil Company (Indiana), Oil Pioneer of the Middle
West. New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts [c!955]. 741p.
GRAHAM, DONALD LINTON, Circuit Chautauqua, a Middle Western Institution.
A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment cf the Requirements for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the Grad-
uate College of the State University of Iowa. N. p., 1953. Typed. 310p.
Microfilm. 1 Vol. on 1 Reel.
GREEN, WILLIAM, and GERALD POLLINGER, The World's Fighting Planes. Gar-
den City, N. Y., Hanover House [1956]. 240p.
GUILLET, EDWIN C., ed., Valley of the Trent. Toronto, Champlain Society,
1957. 474p. (Publications of the Champlain Society, Ontario Series, No.
w
HAMOR, RALPH, A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia. Richmond,
Virginia State Library, 1957. 74p. (Virginia State Library Publications,
No. 3.)
HANCOCK, CORNELIA, South After Gettysburg, Letters of Cornelia Hancock,
1863-1868, Edited by Henrietta Stratton Jaquette. New York, Thomas Y.
Crowell Company [c!956]. 288p.
HARPER, JOSEPHINE L., and SHARON C. SMITH, Guide to the Manuscripts of the
State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Supplement Number One. Madison,
State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1957. 222p.
HART, HENRY C., The Dark Missouri. Madison, University of Wisconsin Press,
1957. 260p.
HARWELL, RICHARD, More Confederate Imprints, Vol. 1, Official Publications.
Richmond, Virginia State Library, 1957. 158p. (Virginia State Library
Publications, No. 4.)
, More Confederate Imprints, Vol. 2, Unofficial Publications. Richmond,
Virginia State Library, 1957. 345p. (Virginia State Library Publications,
No. 5.) .
HOLBROOK, STEWART H., The Age of Moguls. Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday
& Company [c!953]. 373p.
HOLMAN, CHARLES W., Cooperative Way Wins in America. Syracuse, N. Y.,
Metropolitan Cooperative Milk Producers Bargaining Agency, 1957. 89p.
HOLZMAN, ROBERT S., The Romance of Firefighting. New York, Harper &
Brothers [c!956]. 209p.
246 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
HORNER, HARLAN HOYT, Lincoln and Greeley. [Urbana] University of Illinois
Press, 1953. 432p.
HOWARD, PERRY H., Political Tendencies in Louisiana, 1812-1952. Baton
Rouge, Louisiana State University Press [c!957]. 231p. (Louisiana State
University Studies. Social Science Series, No. 5.)
Index to the Writings on American History, 1902-1940. Washington, D. C.,
American Historical Association [c!956]. 1115p.
JACOBS, BRUCE, Heroes of the Army, the Medal of Honor and Its Winners. New
York, W. W. Norton & Company [c!956]. 240p.
JACOBS, FLORA GILL, A History of Doll Houses, Four Centuries of the Domestic
World in Miniature. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953. 322p.
JEFFERSON, THOMAS, Papers, Vol. 13, March to 7 October 1788. Princeton,
Princeton University Press, 1956. 664p.
JOHNSON, GERALD W., Lunatic Fringe. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company
[c!957]. 248p.
JORGENSON, LLOYD P., The Founding of Public Education in Wisconsin. Madi-
son, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1956. 252p.
KINZER, DONALD Louis, The American Protective Association: a Study of Anti-
Catholicism. A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Washington. N. p.,
1954. Typed. 548p. Microfilm. 1 Vol. on 1 Reel.
KRAMER, DALE, Wild Jackasses, the American Farmer in Revolt. New York,
Hastings House [c!956]. 260p.
KRAUSKOPF, FRANCES, tr. and ed., Ouiatanon Documents. Indianapolis, In-
diana Historical Society, 1955. 234p. (Indiana Historical Society Publica-
tions, Vol. 18, No. 2.)
LEA, AURORA LUCERO-WHITE, Literary Folklore of the Hispanic Southwest.
San Antonio, Naylor Company [c!953]. 247p.
LEMKE, W. J., A History of the National Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas,
Including a List of Identified Civil War Dead. Fayetteville, Washington
County Historical Society, 1956. 32p.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, New Serial Titles, a Union List of Serials Commencing
Publication After December 31, 1949 . . . 2955 Cumulation. Wash-
ington, D. C., Library of Congress, 1956. 667p.
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, The Living Lincoln; the Man, His Mind, His Times, and
the War He Fought, Reconstructed From His Own Writings, Edited by
Paul M. Angle and Earl Schenck Miers. New Brunswick, N. J., Rutgers
University Press, 1955. 673p.
LOOK, AL, U Boom, Uranium on the Colorado Plateau. [Denver, Bell Press,
c!956.] 224p.
Loos, JOHN Louis, A Biography of William Clark, 1770-1813. A Dissertation
Presented to the Graduate Board of Washington University in Partial Ful-
fillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. St.
Louis, n. p. 1953. Typed. 1068p. Microfilm. 1 Vol. on 1 Reel.
MANSFIELD, HAROLD, Vision, a Saga of the Sky. New York, Duell, Sloan and
Pearce [c!956]. 389p.
MARSHALL, LUCDLE CARR, I, Alone Remember. Indianapolis, Indiana Historical
Society, 1956. 344p. (Indiana Historical Society Publications, Vol. 18,
No. 3.)
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 247
MARYLAND, PROVINCIAL COURT, Proceedings, 1677-1678. Baltimore, Maryland
Historical Society, 1956. 497p. (Archives of Maryland, Vol. 67.)
MEHL, B. MAX, comp., Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia. Ft. Worth, Compiler
[c!957]. [208]p.
MILLIS, WALTER, Arms and Men, a Study in American Military History. New
York, G. P. Putnam's Sons [c!956]. 382p.
MONAGHAN, JAY, Swamp Fox of the Confederacy, the Life and Military Services
of M. Jeff Thompson. Tuscaloosa, Ala., Confederate Publishing Company,
1956. 123p.
Moos, MALCOLM, The Republicans, a History of Their Party. New York,
Random House [c!956]. 564p.
MORGAN, ALFRED P., How to Use Tools. New York, Arco Publishing Company
[c!955]. 144p.
National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 40. New York, James T.
White & Company, 1955. [585]p.
National Geographic Magazine Cumulative Index, Vol. 2, 1947-1951. Wash-
ington, D. C., National Geographic Society, c!952. 388p.
OLSON, OSCAR N., Anders Jonasson Lindstrom, First Augustana Student Spon-
sored by the Church for Study Abroad in Preparation for Augustana Semi-
nary Professorship. Rock Island, 111., Augustana Historical Society, 1957.
47p. (Augustana Historical Society Publications, Vol. 16.)
O'NEILL, CHARLES, Wild Train, the Story of the Andrews Raiders. New York,
Random House [c!956]. 482p.
OSBURN, BURL NEFF, and GORDON OWEN WILBER, Pewter — Spun, Wrought,
and Cast. Scranton, Pa., International Textbook Company [c!938]. 151p.
OWENS, MARY LILLIANA, History of the Sisters of Loretto in the Trans-Missis-
sippi West. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School
of Arts and Science of the St. Louis University in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. St. Louis, St. Louis
University, 1935. Typed. 621p. Microfilm. 1 Vol. on 1 Reel.
PARKMAN, FRANCIS, The Discovery of the Great West: La Salle, Edited by
William R. Taylor. New York, Rinehart & Company [c!956]. 354p.
PARSONS, JOHN E., The First Winchester, the Story of the 1866 Repeating Rifle.
New York, William Morrow and Company, 1955. 207p.
Pattersons American Education, Vol. 54. North Chicago, 111., Educational Di-
rectories [c!957]. [716]p.
PEARE, CATHERINE OWENS, William Penn. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Com-
pany, 1957. 448p.
PETERSON, CLARENCE STEWART, Known Military Dead During the Mexican
War, 1846-48. N. p., c!957. Mimeographed. 170p.
PETERSON, HAROLD L., Arms and Armor in Colonial America, 1526-1783.
Harrisburg, Pa., Stackpole Company [c!956]. 350p.
PORTER, KIRK H., and DONALD BRUCE JOHNSON, National Party Platforms,
1840-1956. Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1956. 573p.
RANDALL, JAMES GARFIELD, and RICHARD N. CURRENT, Lincoln the President;
Vol. 4, Last Full Measure. New York, Dodd, Mead & Company, 1955.
421p.
RANDALL, RUTH PAINTER, The Courtship of Mr. Lincoln. Boston, Little, Brown
and Company [c!957]. 219p.
248 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
RECTOR, WILLIAM GERALD, Log Transportation in the Lake States Lumber In-
dustry. 1840-1918 . . . Glendale, Cal., Arthur H. Clark Company,
1953. 352p.
REDWAY, MAURINE WHORTON, and DOROTHY KENDALL BRACKEN, Marks of Lin-
coln on Our Land. New York, Hastings House [c.1957]. 121p.
RICHARDSON, ETHEL PARK, comp., American Mountain Songs, Edited and Ar-
ranged by Sigmund Spaeth. N. p., Greenberg Publisher [c!955]. 120p.
ROBINSON, EDGAR EUGENE, The New United States. Stanford University, Cal.,
Stanford University Press [c!946]. 141p.
ROSE, ERNESTINE BRADFORD, The Circle, "The Center of Our Universe" In-
dianapolis, Indiana Historical Society, 1957. 448p. (Indiana Historical
Society Publications, Vol. 18, No. 4. )
Ross, ISHBEL, Angel of the Battlefield, the Life of Clara Barton. New York,
Harper & Brothers [c!956]. 305p.
ROWE, CHANDLER W., The Effigy Mound Culture of Wisconsin. Milwaukee,
Milwaukee Public Museum, 1956. 103p. (Publications in Anthropology,
No. 3.)
ROWSOME, FRANK, JR., Trolley Car Treasury. New York, McGraw-Hill Book
Company [c!956]. 200p.
SABINE, ELLEN S., American Antique Decoration. New York, D. Van Nostrand
Company [c!956]. 132p.
SAGE, LELAND L., William Boyd Allison, a Study in Practical Politics. Iowa
City, State Historical Society of Iowa, 1956. 401p.
SCHUTZ, JOHN A., Thomas Pownall, British Defender of American Liberty
. . . Glendale, Cal., Arthur H. Clark Company, 1951. 340p.
SERVIES, JAMES A., comp., A Bibliography of John Marshall. Washington, D. C.,
United States Commission for the Celebration of the Two Hundredth An-
niversary of the Birth of John Marshall, 1956. 182p.
SHANNON, JAMES P., Catholic Colonization on the Western Frontier. New
Haven, Yale University Press, 1957. 302p.
SHAW, J. G., Edwin Vincent O'Hara, American Prelate. New York, Farrar,
Straus and Cudahy [c!957]. 274p.
SHNEIDMAN, EDWIN S., and NORMAN L. FARBEROW, eds., Clues to Suicide.
New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1957. 227p.
SINEY, MARION C., Allied Blockade of Germany, 1914-1916. Ann Arbor, Uni-
versity of Michigan Press [c!957]. 339p. ( University of Michigan Publica-
tions, History and Political Science, Vol. 23. )
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Yesterday in Sports . . . Edited by John Durant.
New York, A. S. Barnes and Company [c!956]. 136p.
SQUIRE, DICK, Lincoln in the Magazines During 1955, a Check List of Periodical
Lincolniana. Bedford, Ohio, Lincoln Press, 1956. 7p.
, Lincoln in the Magazines During 1956, a Cumulative Bibliography of
Periodical Lincolniana. Bedford, Ohio, Lincoln Press, 1957. [9]p.
STERN, EDITH M., Mental Illness, a Guide for the Family, Revised Edition.
New York, Harper & Brothers [c!957]. 95p.
STEWART, GEORGE R., 17. S. 40, Cross Section of the United States of America.
Cambridge, Riverside Press [c!953]. 31 Ip.
THARP, LOUISE HALL, Three Saints and a Sinner, Julia Ward Howe, Louisa,
Annie and Sam Ward. Boston, Little, Brown and Company [c!956J. 406p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 249
THORNBROUGH, GAYLE, and DOROTHY RIKER, Readings in Indiana History.
Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Bureau, 1956. 625p. (Indiana Historical
Collections, Vol. 36. )
TOWNSEND, WILLIAM H., Lincoln and the Bluegrass; Slavery and Civil War in
Kentucky. N. p., University of Kentucky Press [c!955]. 392p.
VAN EVERY, DALE, Men of the Western Waters. Boston, Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1956. 244p.
[WALLERSTEIN, ROBERT S., and others], Hospital Treatment of Alcoholism, a
Comparative, Experimental Study. New York, Basic Books [c!957]. 212p.
WHITEHEAD, DON, The FBI Story, a Report to the People. New York, Random
House [c!956]. 368p.
Who's Who in the Midwest. Chicago, A. N. Marquis Company [c!952].
1024p.
WILGUS, A. CURTIS, The Caribbean; Its Political Problems. Gainesville, Uni-
versity of Florida Press, 1956. 324p.
WILLIAMS, KENNETH POWERS, Lincoln Finds a General, a Military Study of the
Civil War, Vol. 4, luka to Vicksburg. New York, MacmiUan, 1956. 616p.
WITTKE, CARL, The German Language Press in America. [Lexington] Univer-
sity of Kentucky Press [c!957]. 31 Ip.
WRIGHT, Louis B., The Cultural Life of the American Colonies, 1607-1763.
New York, Harper & Brothers [c!957]. 292p.
WRITERS' PROGRAM, NEVADA, Nevada, a Guide to the Silver State. Portland,
Ore., Binfords & Mort [c!940]. 315p.
YATES, RAYMOND F., comp., The Antique Collector's Manual . . . New
York, Harper & Brothers Publishers [c!952]. 303p.
ZEITNER, JUNE GULP, Midwest Gem Trails, a Field Guide for the Gem Hunter,
the Mineral Collector and the Tourist . . . Portland, Ore., Mineralogist
Publishing Company, c!956. 64p.
Bypaths of Kansas History
A GLIMPSE OF EARLY-DAY JUNCTION CITY
From the Junction City Statesman, October 13, 1860.
LIVELY. — Our city, for the past few weeks, has presented a very lively ap-
pearance. Not a day passes but what our streets are filled with conveyances
from the country surrounding, bringing to our market the products of the soil
and dairy, and bearing away the indispensables of life from the stores of our
merchants. Little and big dirty boys take great delight in peering into the
wagons which throng our thoroughfares, and woe be to the unlucky wight who
leaves an eatable within their reach. Many of these urchins might give au-
thentic testimony as to the expertness of our farmers with the ox-gad. The
ladies from out of town are beginning to visit our thriving city in goodly num-
bers. Their presence will have a tendency to wipe the dust from our merchants
counters, and compel the clerks to brush their hair at least twice a week. We
are glad to see it, as it gives undeniable proof of the growing popularity of our
town, and places the question of Junction's success beyond the shadow of a
doubt.
FRONTIER HUMOR
From the Marysville Locomotive, July 2, 1870.
A lady on the road between this place and Seneca, at whose house a gentle-
man stopped to refresh himself with a draught of water, tasted a peculiar flavor
in the aqua, and said to her: "Madam, there seems to be something the matter
with this water?" "I don't know, sir, about that; there was a rabbit fell in
there 'tother day, but we strain all the water and get all the hairs out, sir!"
DID You EVER THINK YOU'D LIVE TO SEE THE DAY — ?
From the Washington Weekly Republican, April 4, 1873.
The chief debts of the five great divisions of the earth are thus stated:
Europe, $17,000,000,000; America, $2,865,000,000; Asia, $675,000,000; Africa,
$195,000,000; Australia, $190,000,000; total $20,925,000,000.
CALL Our THE WELCOME WAGON
From the Ford County Republican, Dodge City, February 16,
1887.
Owing to the more strict morality and purer society of Dodge City, Madam
Handie has removed to Garden City, where for a long time her branch house
has been more profitable than headquarters here. Garden City Sentinel please
copy.
(250)
Kansas History as Published in the Press
A history of the Globe School, District 64, Cherokee county, by
Marjorie V. Forbes, began appearing serially in The Modern Light,
Columbus, September 26, 1957. The district was organized in 1872.
Articles of historical interest appearing in the Hays Daily News
in recent months included: "The Rev. A. L. King Founded Hays
Baptist Church in 1875 When Settlers Were Few, Harvests Meager,"
October 13, 1957; "Government of Hays Once Operated by Widely
Acclaimed 'Boys Council,'" December 1; "St. Boniface Church at
Vincent Celebrates Golden Anniversary," by Wm. Baier, December
10; "Writers in 1870s Often Made Light of Indian Activities on
High Plains," December 29; "It Can't Happen Again," the story of
the early life of Mrs. Ellen Campbell Fairchild, now 91, at Hays,
January 5, 1958; "'Most Conspicuous Character of Hays,' Tom
Drum, Leaves for Good With the Arrival of Prohibition," January
12; "On Its Birthday or at any Other Time, Kansas Is 'High, Wide
and Handsome,'" January 29; "Early History of Ellis County and
Hays City Notes Failures in Attempts to Cultivate Land," Febru-
ary 16; "Ellis County Lost Many Residents in 1874 When Grass-
hoppers Ruined Promising Crops," February 23; "Jim Curry Is
Rated One of Most Depraved Characters in Early History of Hays
City," March 2; and "A Pioneer [Laura Rawson] of Western Kan-
sas Draws Comparison Between the '80s and Now," April 6.
The Ellis County Farmer, Hays, began a series of articles on the
history of Ellis county, January 9, 1958. On January 16 the Farmer
published an article, not a part of the series, entitled "Gold-Seekers
of 1850's Used Smoky Hill Trail Through Ellis County."
C. H. Tade's stories in the Protection Post about the early days
in the Comanche county area of Collier Flats have continued with
a series entitled "Back in 1884— Early Settlers of Collier Flats,"
beginning January 17, 1958.
Early in 1958 the First Methodist church of Elk City observed
the 75th anniversary of the dedication of its first building. A history
of the church was published in the Elk City Sun, January 17, 1958.
Charles M. Pen well is the author of a two-installment history of
the Trinity Episcopal church of El Dorado which appeared in The
Butler County News, El Dorado, January 23 and 30, 1958. The
church was started in 1884.
(251)
252 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Gordon S. Hahn is the author of two historical articles in the
Marysville Advocate: "Marysville Civil War Veteran [Henry
Landes] Saw Assassin of Lincoln Decapitated," January 23, 1958;
and "February Blizzard Played Havoc With Railroad Traffic Here
in 1915," February 6. Also on February 6 the Advocate printed a
history of the first bridge across the Big Blue river at Marysville.
G. R. Tinius has recently compiled "An Early History of the
Church of Christ in Paradise Valley." A summary of this work was
published in the Belle Plaine News, January 30, 1958.
A history of the community of Amy, Lane county, was printed
in the News Chronicle, Scott City, January 30, 1958. The town
was founded in 1905 by Nolen Yates.
"Gems of the '80's" a series of historical articles on Baxter Springs,
by Claude H. Nichols, began appearing in the Baxter Springs
Citizen, January 30, 1958. Baxter Springs history also was featured
in a story by Harold O. Taylor, printed in the Pittsburg Headlight,
March 17.
The Junction City Union included an Irwin Army Hospital sec-
tion in its edition of February 5, 1958, in observance of the dedi-
cation of the new hospital at Fort Riley. Featured in the section
was Maj. George E. Omer's history of Fort Riley hospitals.
A history of the Hesston Evangelical United Brethren church
was published in the Hesston Record, February 6, 1958. The church
had its beginning in 1888 with services in a schoolhouse conducted
by a circuit rider.
Ruby Basye is the author of the following articles in the Hutchin-
son News: "Mennonites Found a Pretty Prairie," February 9, 1958;
"A Quaker Colony Founded Haviland," February 23; "Wind Gave
Holyrood Name," March 2; "Pierceville Grew From Prairie Only
to be Sacked by Indians," March 9; "Achenbach Founder Constructs
Own Railroad," March 16; "Gray County Watched Intertown
Rivalry," March 23; and "Friends Founded Haviland," April 6.
Historical material published recently by the Delphos Republican
included: a letter by Manford Eaton of Mission, a former Delphos
resident, who recalled life in Delphos in 1909 and following years,
February 20, 1958; some of the history of Delphos, as presented at
the February 15th meeting of the Ottawa County Historical Society,
also appeared February 20; and "Memoirs of the Old Delphos
Opera House," by Ray Halberstadt, March 13.
Kansas Historical Notes
The 83d annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society
will be held at Topeka on Tuesday, October 21, 1958.
Highland College, oldest institution of higher learning in Kansas,
observed its centennial anniversary February 9, 1958. Chartered in
1858 as a Presbyterian college, the school is now a junior college
receiving support from the Highland rural high school district.
Principal founder of the school was the Rev. Samuel Irvin, mis-
sionary to the Sac and Fox Indians, 1837-1857, in the area of present
Highland.
Eleven new directors were elected to the board of the Finney
County Historical Society at its tenth annual meeting, February
11, 1958, at Garden City. Chosen for two-year terms were Edward
E. Bill, John R. Burnside, H. C. Cleaver, A. M. Fleming, Abe
Hubert, Clifford R. Hope, Jr., Mary Hope, Lester McCoy, Delia
Gobleman, Will Renick, and Cecil Wristen. Amy Gillespie was
elected to fill a vacancy on the 22-member board.
County commissioners presided February 17, 1958, when the
new Dickinson county historical room, in the basement of the
courthouse, was opened officially. The room is open to the
public daily from 8 A. M. to 5 P. M., and until noon on Saturdays.
Thomas E. Davis was named president of the Crawford County
Historical Society at a dinner meeting and election attended by
61 persons in Pittsburg, February 19, 1958. Belle Provorse was
elected vice-president; Vivian Walker, secretary; and Oscar Ander-
son, treasurer. Hugh A. Friel, L. H. Eyestone, and Al Ligon were
named to the board of directors. The program was conducted by
Mrs. Edward V. Malle. At a spring meeting of the society, held in
Pittsburg, April 23, Alan W. Farley, president of the Kansas State
Historical Society, was the principal speaker. His subject was
"Pioneers of Kansas." Mrs. Calvin Cooper spoke briefly about
Samuel J. Crawford, third governor of the state of Kansas, for
whom the county was named.
Dr. O. W. Mosher was re-elected president of the Lyon County
Historical Society at the annual meeting of the society in Emporia,
February 22, 1958. Other officers chosen included: Dr. Thomas
P. Butcher, first vice-president; John G. Atherton, second vice-
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254 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
president; Myrtle Buck, secretary; Warren Morris, treasurer; and
Mrs. F. L. Gilson, Mabel Edwards, and Lucina Jones, historians.
The following directors were named for the coming year: Wilford
Riegle, John R. Williams, Ray Mclnnes, W. L. White, Conrad Van-
dervelde, Roger Triplett, T. H. McColm, James W. Putnam, Mrs.
James McKinney, Mrs. Ora Rindom, Mrs. Arthur Childears, Ethel
Mahaffey, Mary Williams, Catherine H. Jones, and Ida Franz.
Monthly meetings of the Ottawa County Historical Society in
February, March, and April, 1958, in Minneapolis, were devoted
to aspects of local history in the Delphos, Grover, and Bennington
areas.
Charles A. Loucks was elected president of the recently organ-
ized Kearny County Historical Society at the first annual meeting
March 1, 1958, in Lakin. Other officers chosen were: Foster Eske-
lund, Lenora B. Tate, and Mary G. Smith, vice-presidents; Edith
T. Clements, secretary; Robert O. Coder, treasurer; Margaret O.
Hurst, historian; and Vivian P. Thomas, curator. City and town-
ship representatives were also elected to the executive board. At
a monthly meeting held March 31, Mrs. Clements resigned as secre-
tary and Mrs. Virginia Hicks was elected to fill the position.
The Kansas Association of Teachers of History and Related Fields
met for its 32d annual meeting at Kansas State College, Manhat-
tan, March 7 and 8, 1958. Speakers and their subjects included:
W. Stitt Robinson, University of Kansas, "Tributary Indians in
Colonial Virginia"; Homer V. Rutherford, Washburn University,
Topeka, "British Exploration in Africa, 1788-1820"; Carl Harris,
McPherson College, "Harold Ickes and the Tidelands Oil Contro-
versy"; James C. Malin, University of Kansas, "Kansas Philosophers,
1871"; Joseph Hajda, Kansas State College, "Communist Seizure of
Czechoslovakia"; Columban Clinch, St. Benedict's College, Atchi-
son, "The Committee of Public Safety and Unemployment, a
Glimpse at a Social Problem of the French Revolution"; Thomas
M. Gale, University of Kansas, "The Founding of Lima, Peru,
1535"; and William E. Koch, Kansas State College, " 'Beulah Land'
on the Frontier." Other features of the meeting were a panel dis-
cussion on "College Teaching Over Television," and a report by
Homer E. Socolofsky, Kansas State College, retiring president of
the association, on the project of the year — compilation of a Kan-
sas bibliography.
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 255
At a meeting in Scott City on March 21, 1958, the Scott County
Historical Society was reorganized. Inactive since 1952, the group
elected Dr. H. Preston Palmer as temporary president. Other
officers are: S. W. Filson, vice-president; Mrs. C. W. Dickhut,
secretary; and Matilda Freed, treasurer. The society's plans in-
clude establishment of a public park at Squaw's Den, rebuilding
of the El Quartelejo pueblo, and erection of several historical
markers.
"Kansas" was the program theme of the annual spring meeting
of the Kansas Council for the Social Studies in Topeka, March 22,
1958. Speakers included Nyle Miller, secretary of the Kansas State
Historical Society, and Dr. James C. Malin, professor of history at
the University of Kansas.
George J. Benson, El Dorado, and Ralph Grier, Andover, were
elected new members of the board of trustees of the Butler County
Historical Society at a meeting March 30, 1958, in El Dorado. Old
members re-elected for one-year terms were: Mrs. R. C. Loomis,
Mrs. Corah M. Bullock, Mrs. Ralph Wiley, Clifford W. Stone,
Clarence King, and Charles E. Heilmann. On April 12 Benson was
elected president, succeeding F. H. Cron. Heilmann was chosen
vice-president; Mrs. Loomis, secretary; and Stone, treasurer.
At an organizational meeting of the Decatur County Historical
Society in Oberlin, April 11, 1958, the following officers were
elected: Ward Claar, president; Milton Nitsch, first vice-president;
E. W. Coldren, second vice-president; Chris G. Jorn, secretary;
Wallace T. Wolfe, treasurer; and Ben Miller, Ira Laidig, Dr. A. J.
Thomsen, Don Zimmerman, John Ward, Jay Paddock, and Fay
Brock, directors. The society's first project is the establishment
of a museum, for which a building has already been purchased.
The regular semiannual meeting of the Lane County Historical
Society was held April 14, 1958, at Dighton. Edward M. Beougher,
widely-known Gove county historian, was the chief speaker.
J. V. Kelly was the principal speaker at the quarterly meeting
of the Leavenworth County Historical Society at Leavenworth
on April 17, 1958. Mr. Kelly recalled early events in the city from
his own experiences and quizzed his audience on happenings of
more than half a century ago.
The Lawrence Historical Society, reorganized last year, held a
unique annual meeting April 23, 1958. Instead of a speaker, the
256 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
meeting was devoted to a showing of pictures and drawings re-
lating to early-day Lawrence which were thrown on a screen by
an opaque projector.
On May 18 and 19, 1958, the centennial anniversary of the Marais
des Cygnes massacre was observed at ceremonies centering at
Trading Post, Linn county. Events of the program included: re-
ligious services, a parade, music, an address by Fred W. Brinker-
hoff, Pittsburg, and a centennial ball. The massacre occurred May
19, 1858, at the eastern edge of the county. About 30 Missourians
captured 11 Free-State men, subsequently killing five and wounding
five before a firing squad.
Price Raid Through Linn County, Kansas, October 24, 25, 1864
is the title and subject of a 17-page pamphlet by Samuel Tucker
published in 1958.
Pilgrim Heritage, a 16-page pamphlet by Don D. Ballou, out-
lining the history of the First Pilgrim Congregational church of
Kansas City, Kan., was issued in April, 1958, as part of the church's
centennial observance.
The story of Steel Dust, famous Texas sprinter and sire, is told
by Wayne Card in Fabulous Quarter Horse: Steel Dust, a 64-page
volume published in 1958 by Duell, Sloan and Pearce of New York.
Maj. George E. Omer's story "An Army Hospital: From Horses
to Helicopters/' published in the Winter, 1957, and Spring, 1958,
issues of The Kansas Historical Quarterly, has been published in
booklet form by the military forces under the same title.
Alba Ashby Hewitt is the author of a 231-page work entitled
Riding the Rockies, published recently by Vantage Press, New
York. Mrs. Hewitt, a Kansan, relates experiences in horseback
riding in the mountains.
n
KANSAS HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Autumn 1958
Published by j
Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka
NYLE H. MILLER KIRKE MECHEM JAMES C. MALIN
Managing Editor Editor Associate Editor
CONTENTS
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY IN INDIAN COUNTRY,
1859-1861 Edited by Louise Barry, 257
With map showing the travels of the First U. S. cavalry, facing p. 272,
and portraits of Thomas J. Wood and Eugene A. Carr, facing p. 273.
THE MUDGE RANCH, HODGEMAN COUNTY Margaret Evans Caldwell, 285
With photograph of the Mudge ranch house, facing p. 288, and plan of
the ranch house and the Mudge cattle brand, facing p. 289.
FOREIGNERS OF 1857-1865 AT SCHIPPEL'S FERRY,
SALINE COUNTY /. Neale Carman, 305
"CREATIVE EVOLUTION": The Philosophy of Elisha Wesley McComas,
Fort Scott James C. Malin, 314
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY, 1857-1862: Part Three, October 1,
1861-June 7, 1862 . . . Edited by Edgar Langsdorf and R. W. Richmond, 351
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 371
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 375
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . . .381
The Kansas Historical Quarterly is published four times a year by the Kansas
State Historical Society, 120 W. Tenth, Topeka, Kan., and is distributed free to
members. Correspondence concerning contributions may be sent to the manag-
ing editor at the Historical Society. The Society assumes no responsibility for
statements made by contributors.
Entered as second-class matter October 22, 1931, at the post office at To-
peka, Kan., under the act of August 24, 1912.
THE COVER
The Dorrance telephone office on November 6, 1909,
from a glass negative by L. W. Halbe. Courtesy J. C.
Ruppenthal, Russell, and Elmo Mahoney, Dorrance.
THE KANSAS
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Volume XXIV Autumn, 1958 Number 3
With the First U. S. Cavalry in Indian Country,
1859-1861
LETTERS TO The Daily Times, LEAVENWORTH
Edited by LOUISE BARRY
I. INTRODUCTION
TN 1858 the Wichita Indians were living in south-central Indian
1 territory not far from present Rush Springs, Okla. Early in the
autumn some marauding bands of Comanches stole horses from the
Wichitas. The latter, seeking friendly relations and a peaceful set-
tlement, invited the raiders back for a council. The Comanches
came, brought their families, and set up a 120-lodge camp not far
from the Wichita village. This was done with the consent and
approval of Capt. William E. Prince, commanding officer at Fort
Arbuckle, some 50 miles to the southeast. But Bvt. Maj. Earl Van
Dorn and a force of Second cavalry, Fifth infantry, and Indian
scouts, sent up into the territory from Fort Belknap, Tex., to find
and punish Comanche raiders, had not been informed. Soon after
setting up a camp (Camp Radziminski) on Otter creek, Van Dorn
was told by his scouts of the large Comanche village 90 miles to the
east. He marched his troops the same day (September 29), and
attacked at dawn on October 1.
The Comanches, aware of the soldiers' approach, but not expect-
ing hostility, fought back fiercely. They lost about 70 killed, all
their lodges and over 300 animals. (Van Dorn's command suffered
casualties too, as will be noted later.) Believing they had been
betrayed, the Comanches promised revenge on all concerned. The
Wichitas hastily abandoned their village and moved to the vicinity
of Fort Arbuckle. Anticipating serious trouble with the Indians,
the army took steps to strengthen Fort Arbuckle and to regarrison
Fort Washita, 60 miles to the southeast. Ordered down from Fort
Leavenworth to occupy Fort Washita were companies C and I (the
LOUISE BARRY is a member of the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society.
(257)
258 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Second squadron) of the First U. S. cavalry, commanded by Capt.
Thomas J. Wood.
The letters published here begin with an account of the Second
squadron's five-weeks' march, in late 1858, from northeast Kansas
to near the southern border of Oklahoma. They continue with al-
most monthly regularity through 1859, 1860, and up to May, 1861,
reporting events at Fort Washita and vicinity, describing a summer
scout to the Antelope Hills in 1859, and giving an account of a six-
months', 2,400-mile march with the Kiowa-Comanche expedition of
1860 which first took the Second squadron into Texas, then back
across Indian territory into Kansas, up to the Santa Fe trail, and a
few weeks later north to the Republican river ( and a fight with the
Kiowas on August 6), then to Fort Kearny, N. T., south once again
by way of Fort Riley and El Dorado, K. T., to Fort Smith, Ark., and
finally back to Fort Washita for the winter of 1860-1861. The last
letter, in late April, 1861, tells of the preparations to evacuate Fort
Washita, following the order to abandon all army posts in the In-
dian territory to the Confederates.1
As a sustained and uninterrupted account of two and a half years
of frontier army life in the mid-nineteenth century, this is a nota-
ble and unique newspaper series. The letters were written for the
Times by prearrangement, though only a few were labeled "From
our special correspondent." They appeared on the page devoted to
national and regional news under a variety of headings: "From the
Cherokee [i.e., Chickasaw!] Nation"; "Letter from Fort Washita";
"Important from the Indian Region"; etc.
The question, unanswered to date, is: Who wrote 29 of the 30
letters in the series? Letter number one, published under the sub-
head, "Notes from a Soldier's Diary," was signed "Know Nothing."
Letter number two (not written by the author of the first letter)
was signed "J. W. Reeder, Company 'C' 1st Cavalry." Of the next
12 letters, nine were signed "Cato," and three had no name. The
remaining 16 were signed "Rover." Presumably either "Know
Nothing," or J. W. Reeder settled on the pen name "Cato." But
which one? And who, then, was "Rover"? ("Rover's" letters be-
gan, incidentally, not while he was on the march, but at a time
1. On August 3, 1861, the First U. S. cavalry was redesignated the Fourth cavalry and
the Second cavalry subsequently became the Fifth cavalry. (The old First and Second
dragoons then became the First and Second cavalry.) Therefore these letters chronicle
events in the history of the Fourth, and to a lesser extent, the Fifth U. S. cavalry regiments.
The series appears to be complete as republished here (with typographical errors cor-
rected), from The Daily Times, Leavenworth, issues of February 8, 22, April 23, May 18,
July 1, 16, August 8, September 9, 24, October 6, November 3. 18, December 28, 1859;
January 28, March 19, April 18, May 22, June 28, August 2, 23, November 3, December
6, 25, 1860; January 14, February 6, March 3, April 24, May 28, 1861; and the Weekly,
issues of February 5 and March 26, 1859.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 259
when his company was spending a quiet winter at Fort Washita.)
Several of the letters were composed from diary entries, which
points to "Know Nothing" as the writer. But J. W. Reeder may
have kept a journal also. Unless the original diaries turn up, the
mystery surrounding the authorship of these letters may never be
solved.
II. THE LETTERS, JANUARY 7, 1859-ApRiL 5, 1860
FORT WASHITA, C[HICKASAW] N[ATION], January 7, 1859.
MESSRS. EDITORS: On the 25th of November last, the 2d squadron
of 1st Cavalry left Fort Leavenworth, K. T., for Fort Washita, C.
N. On the 29th we crossed the boundary line between Kansas
Territory and the State of Missouri,2 and camped on Blue river.
At this point there was an abundance of wild game, (chiefly rab-
bits, ) which were so thick that at every step one would see no less
than two or three. We killed no less than 200 in about two hours.
Everything went on smoothly until we reached the Marais des
Cygnes river, where we were compelled to lay over one day to
mend the crossing.
On the 4th of December we crossed the river, passing through
Louisville, Mo.,3 containing the immense number of "one house,"
but still called a city. While we were marching onward it com-
menced to snow; after snowing a short time, it turned into hail, and
afterwards into rain. As the hail fell, it froze on the horses and
clothes of the men, making them look like an iceberg. We marched
on until we came to wood and water, when, pitching our tents on
top of the ice, and making ourselves as comfortable as possible, we
retired for the night.
The snow remained upon the ground until we reached the South
branch of Spring river. Here we pitched our tents on a most beau-
tiful spot, environed by majestic hills and mountains on the south
and east, and the most luxuriant prairie extending for several miles
to the hills of the north. From this place to Turkey Creek, 26
miles distant, we passed through a portion of country known as
the Turkey Creek Lead Mines.4 From what I could learn, there
2. The direct route to Fort Washita would have been the old Fort Leavenworth-Fort
Scott-Fort Gibson military road (a territorial road by 1858). The roundabout journey
through Missouri is unexplained.
3. No information on a "Louisville" in western Missouri has been found.
4. Some lead was being mined around Turkey creek, near present Joplin, in the late
1850's, but the area was sparsely populated as late as 1861. In any case, the writer says
the mining region he passed through was south of the south branch of Spring river, and in
this area (Cedar creek, Granby, and Center creek) lead mining was booming. The town
of Granby (some 25 miles southeast of present Joplin) was the smelting center, with
four furnaces operating at full blast in the latter 1850's. In 1861 Granby claimed to have
a population of five or six thousand persons. — Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri (New
York, 1901), v. 3, p. 474, v. 6, p. 557; Kansas Historical Collections, v. 6, p. 307; History
of Newton, Lawrence, Barry and McDonald Counties, Missouri (Chicago, 1888), pp.
361, 362.
260 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
are no less than two thousand persons employed in these mines. On
the 12th of December we crossed the Missouri State Line, and
camped on Buffalo Creek, Cherokee Nation.
The Cherokee Indians are very industrious, raising corn, oats, &c.,
for which they demand an enormous price. There are but very few
white people living amongst them. Dec. 16th, we passed through
Talhaquah [Tahlequah],5 the capital of the Cherokee Nation, a
village containing about 500 inhabitants. About a mile south of
this place we noticed a commodious brick edifice. This building is
situated on a most beautiful place, and is used for a Seminary.6
After 18 miles we came in sight of Fort Gibson,7 which has been
abandoned since the Spring of 1857. There is no care taken of it.
The buildings are tumbling down, and every thing else is going to
destruction.
On the 18th we crossed the Arkansas river, at the head [i. e.,
mouth] of Grand [or Neosho] river. After crossing the river we
had fine weather, making from 15 to 20 miles per day. On our
course we passed through a fine country, settled by Indians. Of the
land given to the Indians, the Cherokees and Creeks possess the
most fertile. The Creek Indians are considered the most intelligent,
as also the most industrious tribe in the Western country. Our
route lay thro* the timbered portion of the country. On the 25th
( Christmas ) a slight accident occurred by the upsetting of a wagon
near camp, in which a woman was riding. The wagon lodged
against a tree, breaking everything to pieces, except the woman,
who escaped with a slight bruise upon her left hand.
We arrived at Fort Washita,8 Chickasaw Nation, on the morning
5. Tahlequah, chosen by the Cherokees as their capital in 1839 soon after their ar-
rival in the territory, was platted as a town in 1843. A principal building was a brick
structure erected in 1845 for the Cherokee Supreme Court. Here the Cherokee Advocate,
the nation's official newspaper, was printed for many years. — Oklahoma, a Guide to the
Sooner State (Norman, 1945), pp. 74, 75, 258.
6. In 1850-1851 two seminaries had been established in the Cherokee Nation, both
near Tahlequah. The one mentioned here was for males; the other, for females, was
at Park Hill, four miles to the south. Probably neither school was in operation in De-
cember, 1858, for Cherokee agent George Butler in September had reported that the semi-
naries were "still closed, and are likely to remain so for want of necessary means to keep
them in operation." — Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1858, pp. 140, 142; Okla-
homa, a Guide . . ., op. tit., pp. 259, 260.
7. Fort Gibson, founded in 1824, and for many years an important link in the chain
of frontier posts, was abandoned on June 23, 1857. In September of that year it was
turned over to the Cherokee Indians. — W. B. Morrison, Military Posts and Camps in Okla-
homa (Oklahoma City, 1936), pp. 30, 42.
8. Fort Washita was 15 years old when these First cavalrymen arrived in December,
1858. (Gen. Zachary Taylor chose the site in 1842, and the post was established in 1843.)
It was some 16 miles north of the Texas border, on a hill, on the east side of the Washita,
a mile or more from the river. (The ruins of the fort are in the extreme northwest corner
of present Bryan county, Okla.) Over a period of several years a number of substantial
buildings were constructed on the post, around the perimeter of a large rectangle. Estab-
lished to protect the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians and maintain order along the Texas
border, by 1858 this post was not as important strategically as Fort Arbuckle (established in
1851), some 60 miles up the Washita to the northwest. According to Morrison (op. tit.,
p. 86), Fort Washita had been abandoned temporarily in 1858 (from February 17 until
the arrival of the First cavalrymen on December 29). But Grant Foreman (Chronicles of
Oklahoma, v. 5, p. 382) stated that after Company K, Seventh U. S. infantry left the post
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 261
of the 27th [29th?] of December, and it is quite a neat looking
place, on the overland mail route9 to California, and about two
miles from Washita river. There are quarters for two companies of
mounted men. The buildings are mostly of wood, one or two of
stone, while the hospital is entirely of brick. Corn is cheap, bring-
ing from 25 to 30 cts. per bushel.
KNOW NOTHING.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., January 17, 1859.
EDITORS OF DAILY TIMES: — The bustle and confusion, which the
arrival of a body of troops at a post necessarily creates, being over,
I hasten to acquaint you according to promise, with a description
of our march, the Indian tribes through which our road led us, and
with the news in general, in this part of the western world:
Our march was, in comparison to the season, an uncommonly mild
and lenient one — snow or ice 10 we never saw after we had left Fort
Leavenworth. The road being very good, we traveled at an av-
erage of about nineteen miles a day, and arrived here on the 29th of
December, 1858.
We passed through the Cherokee, the Creek, the Chickasaw and
Choctaw Nations, and have found but very little difference in the
manner in which farming is conducted by the whites and these
Indian tribes. They are all mixed with whites, and seem to be
very wealthy. — They own slaves, cattle, large tracts of fertile land,
etc., — they have their villages, their manufactures, their colleges
and even their newspapers, and seem to covet the idea of living
with white men — to which conclusion I came from an offer which
has been made by old Indians to several of us, that if we choose to
settle in their country, they would willingly give us a tract of land,
help us clear it, set up a house, give the necessary implements for
farming and a stock of cattle for a start, if — now comes the condi-
tion: we would consent to marry a squaw!
This post has a very fine situation — elevated on a hill, it com-
mands a superb view for many miles around the country. It is
situated about a mile from the Washita river near the Texas frontier.
for Utah in the early part of 1858 a "small force of three companies of the Second Dra-
goons under Captain Enoch Steen had been ordered to Fort Washita; but as this force
was much reduced by sickness it was unable to give adequate protection to the Chickasaw
country. . . ." No mention is made in these letters of the Second dragoon troops. —
Morrison, op. cit., p. 81; W. B. Morrison, "A Visit to Old Fort Washita," in Chronicles of
Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, v. 7, pp. 175-179.
9. A post office had been established at Fort Washita in November, 1844, but the fort
received its mail through the Boggy Depot distributing office and was not on the direct
5?e-i°io£5 ?^er?^,d 9v?arl^?di.£fa.,ilrr~R- P' and M' B' Conkling, The Butterfield Overland
Mail 1857-1869 (Glendale, Calif., 1947), v. 1, pp. 275, 276.
•uS uApSfrent1^ thi! Cavalryman did not experience the snow-sleet-and-rain storm de-
scribed by the writer of the first letter! Possibly the command was divided and the troops
in the advance party were ahead of the storm.
262 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Of hostile Indians, not much is to fear in the immediate vicinity
of the Fort, but we have heard of them, ( the Apache and Caman-
che Indians,) from the Washita [Wichita] Mountains, where they
are combined, waiting an opportunity for the ransacking of the
country, thereabouts.
They have not quite recovered from the shock given them by
Major Van Dora's command of the Second Cavalry, who killed
fifty-four of their number, but barely escaping with his own life — he
is severely wounded.11 Van Dorn's command are encamped around
the Washita [Wichita] mountains, observing and watching the red-
skins, and intending to wipe them out if ever they come forth.
From Fort Arbuckle,12 a company of the 1st Infantry has been
sent to his re-enforcement, and the Second Company "D" and "E"
of the 1st Cavalry under command of Major Emory,13 are continu-
ally out scouting after parties of these robbing Indian rascals. I
am in hopes that in the spring, we all will be able to give them a
sound thrashing and bring them to terms.
Yours truly,
J. W. REEDER, Company "CT 1st Cavalry.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., Feb. 2, 1859
EDITOR OF THE TIMES: — DEAR SIR: — Yesterday the remains of
Lieut. Van Camp, who was killed in the recent engagement with
the Indians near Fort Arbuckle, were brought to this place with
an escort en route to Fort Smith, from which place they are to be
shipped to Philadelphia, where they will be committed to their
final resting place.14
11. This refers to the surprise attack on the Comanches October 1, 1858, mentioned
in the introduction. First reports gave the Indians' losses as 54 killed, but this figure
later was revised upward to 70. Lt. Cornelius Van Camp, three privates of H company
and Sergeant Garrison of F company were killed in this battle. Maj. Earl Van Dorn re-
ceived a nearly-fatal arrow wound. (But after several weeks of leave at his home in
Mississippi, he rejoined his command — wintering at Camp Radziminski in southwestern
Indian territory — and set out on another campaign against the Comanches in the spring of
1859. — See p. 268.) Four other cavalrymen were severely wounded, and there were a
good many with lesser injuries among the troops and Indian scouts of Van Dorn's com-
mand.— Secretary of War's Report, 1858, pp. 269-278; Report of Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, 1858, p. 132, 1859, pp. 585, 586; W. S. Nye, Carbine and Lance . . . (Nor-
man, 1937), pp. 27-30. The site of the battle is about five miles southeast of present
Rush Springs, Okla. — Ibid., p. 27, footnote.
12. Fort Arbuckle, only 60 miles west and a little north of Fort Washita, is men-
tioned often in these letters. It was established in 1851 to keep order among the wild
Indian tribes living on the Choctaw-Chickasaw lands lying between the 98-degree and
100-degree meridians. It also served as some protection to western-bound emigrants. The
site is on the right bank of Wild Horse creek, five miles from the Washita, on the slopes
of the Arbuckle mountains, near present Davis, Okla. — Morrison, op. cit., pp. 96, 97; Nye,
op. cit., p. 21; Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. 17, p. 318.
13. Maj. William H. Emory, the commanding officer at Fort Arbuckle (succeeding
Capt. W. E. Prince — see introduction), is frequently mentioned in these letters. His First
cavalry troops, Companies D and E, were the Third squadron (not the "Second Company
. . ."). The First infantry company was Company E.
14. Lt. Cornelius Van Camp, killed on October 1, 1858, was buried at Lancaster, Pa. —
Nye, op. cit., p. 30.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 263
Lieut. Van Camp was a native of Pennsylvania. He received his
education at West Point. He received the commission of Brevet
2d Lieutenant on the 1st of July, 1855, in the 1st Regiment of Cav-
alry, and afterwards as 2d Lieutenant in the 2d Regiment of Cav-
alry. He served his country faithfully up to the period of his un-
timely death.
The troops since their arrival at this place, have constantly been
engaged in taking away old buildings formerly used as quarters for
soldiers, and adding to the appearance of the Fort, making it one
of the handsomest posts in the West.
The penalty for selling liquor in this nation is quite severe. Not
long since a negro was caught in the act of selling liquor and was
taken into custody. The morning following the capture of said
negro he received fifty lashes on his bare back, and [was] released
with the assurance that if he was ever caught in a like scrape he
would receive double the amount of lashes above stated.
Horse racing is all the excitement at our camp for the present;
giving pleasant faces to the winners, and sour ones to the losers.
The weather is quite mild.
CATO.
[Inserted at this point in the chronology of letters is a communica-
tion from the commanding officer at Fort Arbuckle to the command-
ing officer at Fort Washita, regarding the Indian situation.]
HEADQUARTERS, FORT ARBUCKLE, C. N., February 27, 1859
CAPTAIN: The Comanches are down here in small and scattered
parties, and your command, or part of it, say one company, could
be of essential aid in chasing and killing these villains. My own
command is so small, and the horses so reduced by constant scout-
ing during the winter, I cannot cover as much ground as I desire
to do. We have been very fortunate so far, and if I can follow
up our success, we will soon put an end to the business. Lieutenant
[James E.] Powell, with a cavalry command, met a party thirty
miles west of here, killed five certain, and wounded others, with a
loss of one cavalry man killed, and two men and two horses
wounded. Last night the Indians attacked Mr. Moncrief s ranche,
five miles east of here. Not being able to catch his horses, or do
other damage, they shot three of his horses with arrows. Early
this morning [Lt. David S.] Stanley, with D company, first cavalry,
was sent in hot pursuit. I also sent an infantry command to the
Wachita [Wichita] village.
I have, therefore, respectfully to suggest, that you order one
264 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
company at least to come immediately and occupy the east bank of
the Wachita river, at the upper crossing, and scout the valley to
the north of this post, with orders either to report to me, or com-
municate and cooperate with me, as you may see fit. Wagons to
accompany the command will be a positive nuisance. I have plenty
of corn and pack-saddles, which will be placed at your service.
The reduced condition of the animals of this command make it
necessary I should make this request of you. By complying with
it, you will secure my rear, and leave me free to operate to the
west.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. H. EMORY, Major, commanding.
[To] CAPTAIN T. J. WOOD, commanding officer, Fort Wachita.15
FORT WASHITA, CHEROKEE NATION, March 4, 1859.
An express arrived here lately with dispatches relating to a fight
that had taken place between the United States troops and Witch-
itas, and the Camanches. The despatches contained the follow-
ing information.
Lieut. Powell, of Fort Arbuckle, in command of fifty United
States soldiers and fifty Witchitas, as guides, started on a scouting
expedition. When within twenty miles from Fort Arbuckle, they
came up to a large party of Camanche Indians, and a severe fight
took place, in which 2 Camanches were killed and two soldiers
wounded. The Camanches then withdrew, probably to await till
night to renew the attack. The Camanches had previously sent in
word that they were coming to take the Fort.
On the 1st inst., Capt. [Eugene A.] Carr left his place in com-
mand of fifty soldiers 16 for the seat of the war. The troops under
his command are eager for a brush with the foe; they will do some
execution.
On the 4th inst., another Express arrived here, with the intelli-
gence that another fight had taken place between the United States
troops, (fifty in number,) under command of Lieut. Stanley of the
1st Cavalry, and the Camanches, in which eight Camanches were
killed and several wounded. Uncle Sam lost one man, and two
slightly wounded.17 Capt. Carr arrived at Fort Arbuckle on the
15. Published in Secretary of War's Report, 1859, p. 384.
16. Probably these troops were from Captain Carr's own company — Company I, First
U. S. cavalry.
17. Major Emory reported of Lieutenant Stanley's fight that he had "succeeded in over-
hauling and beating the enemy. He left seven Comanches dead on the field. . . /*
Emory did not mention losing a soldier in the engagement. — Secretary of War's Report,
1859, pp. 384, 385.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 265
2d inst., and was marching towards the Witchita Mountains, where
another battle is anticipated. It is also stated that the Indians num-
ber upwards of 3000. There is no knowing where the contest will
end.
KATO.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., April 8, 1859.
EDITOR TIMES: — Since my last, peace and quiet has again been
restored in the vicinity of Fort Arbuckle. The Indians, upon learn-
ing that the troops now stationed at Fort Arbuckle were to be re-
inforced by others from this place, took to their heels and fled.
Capt. Carr, after a scout of several days among the Washita [Wich-
ita] mountains, returned to this place, without having seen a single
"red-skin." It is supposed that these Indians took their flight
towards the [Butterfield] Overland Mail Route, where they are con-
stantly committing the most atrocious depredations.
Subsequent to the flight of the Indians, a detachment of U. S.
troops was returning to the Fort, and while crossing a creek, be-
held, to their astonishment, that a dog was holding on to an Indian;
upon a closer examination it was found that the dog had him se-
cure, but not without a hard struggle. The dog received in the
conflict, a severe cut, from the tomahawk of the Indian, across the
neck, nearly ending his patriotic career. The dog is now on an
equal footing with the soldiers; rations are issued to him regularly
every morning. Should any one hurt the dog, the person so doing is
subject to a court-martial.
A melancholy accident happened at this place about a week ago,
of which the following are the particulars: A child, during the ab-
sence of its parents, fell into a kettle of boiling water, which its
mother had taken off the fire previous to her departure, and scalded
itself so badly that it died in a few hours after. . . .
The officers who have been absent on leave of furlough, have
reported for duty.
The train that accompanied us from Fort Leavenworth has been
busily engaged in supplying this post with provisions, from Fort
Arkansas [i. e., Fort Smith].
The weather is beautiful. The woods make quite a magnificent
appearance, with their summer clothing. The grass is sufficiently
large to afford good grazing for cattle.
CATO.
266 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
FORT WASHITA, CHDECKASAW NATION, May 2d, 1859.
We left this place on the 28th ult., to escort Capt. Cabel 18 and
lady to Fort Arbuckle. The day was a very disagreeable one; the
rain was pouring down in perfect torrents; the roads were very
muddy, making it hard traveling for our horses. We passed Tisho-
mingo City,19 the capital of the Chickasaw Nation, consisting of
about a dozen log huts, and these put up in a slovenly style. Two
groceries, a blacksmith's shop, one printing office, (office of the
Chickasaw and Choctaw Herald, ) 20 a calaboose, with a gallows
in front, to remind the offender of his doom, and a capitol edifice,
where the National Assembly meets annually to enact laws and
concoct schemes to bring the nation into debt beyond redemption.
With an annual appropriation from the U. S. Government of sev-
eral thousand dollars, they generally manage to keep up the ses-
sion until that is spent, and $25,000 besides.
Four miles beyond this place we halted at "Dofa Rock," where
we partook of a hearty meal. This rock possesses a natural reservoir,
where the wearied traveler can quench his thirst as he passes by.
The country abounds in rocks and hills, and presents a romantic
appearance. Now and then we passed villages where the inhab-
itants had undoubtedly been driven out by the Indians.
The Camanches, Apaches and other tribes, generally make this
part of the country scenes of bloodshed and robbery. We arrived
at Fort Arbuckle on the following day, where we found one of the
most miserable looking places that Uncle Sam has ever erected for
the purpose of quartering troops. The houses are constructed of
logs, which are put together in such a manner as to give the most
slovenly appearance. The next day, it being the thirtieth, and last
of the month, the troops were paraded, and after passing a review,
were mustered.
On our return we passed by the Chickasaw Nation Seminary,21
18. Capt. William L. Cabell was an assistant quartermaster.
19. Tishomingp was so named (for a Chickasaw leader) in 1856 when the Chicka-
saws organized their own government and selected a place formerly known as Good Springs
for their capital. A house and a couple of stores were then on the site. Tishomingo today
is the seat of Johnston county, Okla., and the home of the Murray State School of Agricul-
ture.— Oklahoma, a Guide . . ., op. cit., p. 396.
20. The Chickasaw and Choctaw Herald was published in 1858 and 1859. The first
issue was in January, 1858. — Ibid., p. 77; Grant Foreman, The Five Civilized Tribes (Nor-
man, Okla., 1934), p. 144.
21. Wapanucka Female Institute (or, Chickasaw Manual Labor Academy as it was
later known) opened in October, 1852, in a fine new stone building, large enough for
100 students. The school was run by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. In
July, 1859, the Rev. Charles H. Wilson, superintendent, reported that more than 100
Chickasaw girls between the ages of six and 18 had been in attendance during the year.
The school was discontinued in July, 1860. The site is on a high ridge about five miles
from Wapanucka in present Johnston county, Okla. — Report of Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, 1858, p. 168, 1859, pp. 575, 577; M. H. Wright, "Wapanucka Academy, Chicka-
saw Nation," in Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. 12, pp. 402-431.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 267
a beautiful structure, situate on the road leading from Fort Wash-
ita to Tishomingo City, 14 miles from the former, and three miles
from the latter place. It is surrounded by an elegant grove of
majestic oaks, and is an exceedingly romantic country.
Lieut. [Lunsford L.] Lomax, of Fort Arbuckle, with a detach-
ment of 20 infantry soldiers, has been out scouting for several days.
Nothing, as yet, has been heard from him. Major Emory, in com-
mand of the 3d squadron, is about to set out on a scout, with all
the convalescent troops. It is said he intends to remain out 25
days. He will march towards the Witchita mountains, where the
Indians are said to be very troublesome, of late. Should he fall
in with them, he will give them Jessie.
Emigrants are daily passing Fort Arbuckle en route for Pike's
Peak. Some are regularly organized into companies, while others
pass by with nothing but a bundle, which contains a few days' pro-
visions and their clothes. The other day an Irishman passed by the
Fort with nothing but a bridle and blanket. Upon being asked
which way he was bound, he replied, "to Pike's Peak;" and as to
what he meant to do with bridle and blanket, he said he was going
to trade them off with the Indians for a pony. It is our opinion that
two-thirds of these reckless creatures will perish before they get
sight of the much-coveted Peak. It seems to us that the Pike's Peak
fever is the most common of all diseases of the day.
We had a general stampede among our horses, a few days ago.
Two ran themselves to death, and three have not been heard of
since the occurrence.
Corn is three inches high, and progressing finely. Potatoes are
sprouting up rapidly, and promise an abundant crop. Oats are
progressing finely, and cannot be beaten by anybody. Wheat is
doing well. We saw a field of wheat which had already put forth
its heads. All other vegetation is doing remarkably well.
CATO.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., June 19th, 1859.
[EDITOR TIMES] — An amusing scene occurred not long since, be-
tween one of Afric's sons and a daughter of the Forest. As they
were passing the Fort on horseback, they proposed a race — no
sooner said than done — the woman was in advance for a distance
of about one hundred yards, when she gradually began to lose
time; as the man was passing, he caught in her dress, which of
course brought them on terra firma. After they had gathered them-
selves up, the woman commenced pitching into the man, with all
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the activity and science of a prize-fighter, beating him almost to
death. Such scenes are not uncommon in this out of the way part
of the world.
Lieut. [Walter H.] Jenifer, 2nd Cavalry, passed through here a
short time since en route to Fort Arbuckle, in command of a de-
tachment of recruits. He left nine of the uninitiated at this place.
They were all assigned to Company "I," 1st Cavalry.
Gen. D. H. Cooper,22 Chickasaw Indian Agent, returned from
the survey of the boundary between the Chickasaw Nation and the
Territory of New Mexico, for which purpose he left here the latter
part of last March. He reports that the Indians are in a rebellious
state.
On the 15th of May last, Major Van Dorn, 2d Cavalry, had an
engagement with the Comanche Indians, near the Arkansas river,
Indian Territory, in which fifty Comanches were killed, and sixty
either wounded or taken prisoners. Capt. [E. Kirby] Smith, 2nd
Cavalry, was slightly and Lieutenant [Fitzhugh] Lee, 2nd Cavalry,
was mortally wounded. Two privates, who were separated from
the main body, were killed by the Indians.23
To-morrow we set out for the Indian region, and from all ac-
counts we have some hot work before us. It is reported that the In-
dians are awaiting our arrival at Antelope Hills, where they pro-
pose to receive us, and feed us on balls and arrows. It is our opin-
ion that upon our arrival there, the tables will be turned. More
anon.
CATO.
CAMP SCARCEWATER, INDIAN TEH., June 29th, 1859
At 12 o'clock, M., on the 20th of June, 1859, a hot, sultry and
sweat-driving day, we (the 2nd Squadron of 1st Cavalry; Com-
panies C and I, under command of Capt. Thos. J. Wood, ) left Fort
22. Douglas H. Cooper, government agent for the Choctaws and Chickasaws, was a
Mississippian who had served in the Mexican War. He was an ardent secessionist and a
man of much influence among the Indians. In 1861 he became colonel of the First Choc-
taw and Chickasaw regiment, and at the close of the Civil War he was a major general
and commander of the Confederate forces in the Indian territory. He returned to Fort
Washita to live after the war, died there in 1879 and was buried in the old post ceme-
tery.— M. H. Wright, "General Douglas H. Cooper, C. S. A.," in Chronicles of Oklahoma,
v. 32, pp. 142-184.
23. This battle occurred on May 13, 1859, not in Indian territory, but in the south-
western part of present Ford county, Kansas, about 15 miles south of old Fort Atkinson.
Major Van Dorn, having recovered from his Comanche-inflicted arrow wound of the pre-
vious autumn and rejoined his troops at Camp Radziminski, set out from that place on
April 30, 1859, on a campaign against the Comanches. His command included six com-
panies of the Second cavalry and 58 friendly Indians as guides and scouts. Two weeks
later, having marched nearly 200 miles northward, Van Dorn's force surprised Buffalo
Hump's band of some 100 Comanches, stampeded the horses and forced the Indians to
make a stand in a ravine where they fought "without giving or asking quarter until there
was not one left to bend a bow. . . ." Fifty died in battle, 36 were taken prisoner and
nearly all the others were wounded. Of Van Dorn's force, Pvt. Willis Burroughs was killed,
Sgt. W. P. Leverett died later of wounds, Capt. Edmund Kirby Smith Lt. Fitzhugh Lee,
and several others were severely wounded but recovered. — Secretary of War's Report, 1859,
pp. 365-371; J. B. Thoburn's "Indian Fight in Ford County in 1859, in Kansas Historical
Collections, v. 12, pp. 312-329.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 269
Washita to proceed to Antelope Hills,24 Indian Territory. Marched
three miles, and camped on McLaughlin's Creek. Here wood and
grass are plenty, but water is scarce. We are accompanied by a
train of forty wagons, containing our provision and baggage.
JUNE 21 — Had a glorious rain last night, in consequence of which
the weather is much cooler to-day. Left camp very early; traveled
over a rich, fertile and picturesque country, a distance of 19 miles
and camped on Gravel Creek; the route is lined with a goodly
number of deserted houses; crops look well; corn, sugar-cane, sweet
potatoes, oats and wheat seem to be the chief products, of which the
two latter have already been harvested; we passed the Chickasaw
Seminary,25 where we were greeted by the applause of over a hun-
dred pupils; there is a saw and sugar mill on the premises of the
Seminary which gives employment to the idle vagabonds who are
roving over the country in search of work, but their stay is gen-
erally of short duration; we also passed through Tishomingo City;
it seemed to have a more business-like air than when we last saw it;
groups of Caddo Indians greeted us at intervals of two or three
miles all along the route; they were perfectly naked with the ex-
ception of a breech cloth.
JUNE 22 — Leave camp at 6 o'clock; the road lays in the centre of a
narrow prairie, environed by beautiful woods on either side; cattle
and ponies may be seen scattered all along the route in herds con-
taining upwards of several hundred; march 15 miles and camp on
Harris Creek; here the land is of a more rich and fertile nature.
The weather to-day is very pleasant. After the tents were pitched,
a party went fishing; they caught a goodly number of fish; amongst
them was a turtle weighing upwards of 60 pounds; at supper time
we enjoyed ourselves with a delicious dish of turtle soup.
JUNE 23 — Leave camp at 7 o'clock; travel over a picturesque
country a distance of 12 miles; camp on Rock Creek; our camp is
situated on an exceedingly romantic spot; deer, rabbits and par-
tridges are in abundance all along the route. While picketing our
horses out on grass, some of the men discovered a bee tree; after
the tents were pitched they went to take possession of their sup-
posed treasure, and found that it contained upwards of seventy-
four pounds of honey. Searching after food is the chief occupa-
24. The Antelope Hills near the 100-degree meridian and south of th« Canadian river,
are described as "six conspicuous, irregular peaks that rise out of the level plain." — Okla-
homa, a Guide, . . ., op. cit., p. 384. The War Department's General Orders No. 2
for 1859 included this paragraph: "The four companies of the first cavalry, at Fort Smith
and Fort Washita, leaving only small guards at those posts, will occupy a camp during the
summer at the Antelope hills, for the protection of travel on the route from Fort Smith to
New Mexico."— Secretary of War's Report, 1859, p. 582.
25. See Footnote 21.
270 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tion of the soldier after arriving in camp, not from choice, but from
necessity. Government provides but poorly for her soldiers;
when on a march their chief diet consists of bacon and flour, of
which they become so utterly disgusted that they will not even look
at it until hunger compels them to do so.
JUNE 24 — Leave camp at the usual hour; the country we marched
over to-day is exceedingly rich and fertile, especially the Washita
river bottom, where we would advise such as are disposed to unite
themselves for life with the fair sex of the Choctaw Indian tribe,
to emigrate, marry and cultivate the rich lands now lying idle from
want of agricultural industry. March 10 miles, and camp on the
Washita river. No person can take up a claim of this land unless
he first marries an Indian squaw. This law holds good in all In-
dian Territory, no matter what tribe or nation.
JUNE 25 — Remain in camp, our camp being located convenient
to Fort Arbuckle. We took a stroll to the last mentioned place.
The country here is exceedingly rich and fertile. Horse races were
the topic of the day at the Fort. Yesterday the officer of that place
came to our camp and challenged the 2d squadron for running
stock; the challenge was accepted. Accordingly our officers se-
lected some of our fast nags, and proceeded with them to the
Fort. At half past 4 p. m., the horses were taken to the track.
"Zipp," of the 2d, and "Nero," of the 3d squadron, were put on the
course for trial, which resulted in favor of Zipp by 25 feet — dis-
tance 500 yards; time, 20 seconds. The next race was run between
the horses of Capt. Wood and the Lieutenant of the 3d squadron,
for a basket of champagne, which resulted in favor of the 2d squad-
ron. The third race was run between "Jaco" of the 2d, and "Eagle"
of the 3d squadron, and resulted in the defeat of the 3d squadron
horse by 20 feet: time 19/2 seconds — distance 500 yards. The sport
was finally closed by trying the speed of several mules, who threw
their riders, which occasioned a great deal of mirth.
JUNE 26 — Take up the Washita bottom. A more rich and fertile
section of country than this can nowhere be found; march 15 miles,
and camp at Delaware Springs. The only objection we have to this
country is, that water is too scarce; there are creeks enough, but
they are dry at this season of the year. Delaware Indians 26 in-
habit this part of country; they are the most industrious tribe now
on the face of the earth. They devote their time to agricultural pur-
28. Black Beaver's band of some 500 Delawares lived along the Canadian river north-
east of present Paul's Valley, Okla., in the 1850's. Black Beaver was a noted guide and
scout. For a time these Indians occupied the abandoned log buildings at old Fort Ar-
buckle.— Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. 12, p. 76, footnote; Morrison, op. ctt., p. 95.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 271
suits instead of roving over the country, bidding defiance to all of
the white race who chance to come within their range.
JUNE 27 — Travel over a somewhat barren, hilly country, studded
with hundreds of acres of wild flax, with here and there spots of
good grass. Wild game, such as elk, antelope, turkies and prairie
chickens are in abundance. The 1st squadron of 1st cavalry, under
command of Capt. [Delos B.] Sacket, caught up with us to-day.
March 15 miles; camp near old Fort Arbuckle.27 There are a few
old buildings left to mark this place. Here a Pay-master was at-
tacked some years since by the Indians, who took possession of all
the specie, of which nothing has since been heard. The Fort is
situated in an exceedingly romantic spot, and about five miles from
the Canadian river, Indian Territory.
JUNE 28 — Remain in camp. From what we could learn the 1st
squadron has had a hard time of it since their departure from Fort
Smith. They set out from that place on the 10th inst, unaccom-
panied by a guide, and in consequence of which were lost amongst
the mountains of the southern portion of Indian Territory, travel-
ing over rough roads, upsetting and breaking up their wagons.
About a week ago, while traveling over an uncommonly rough
road, a teamster by the name of Robert Smith was accidentally
killed by the upsetting of a wagon.
JUNE 29 — This morning Capt. Sacket assumed command of the
1st and 2d squadrons, composed of companies B, A, I and C, of
1st cavalry. Left camp at half past six. It commenced to rain
early this morning. The country we passed over to-day is the most
richly fertile and picturesque we ever saw. Wild turkies may be
seen in flocks counting upwards of a thousand. March 18 miles,
and camp on Scarcewater Creek.
CATO.
CAMP ON MOUND CREEK, 200 MILES NORTH OF FORT WASHTTA,
July 10, 1859
JUNE 30. Mustering day. This morning the bugle notes roused
us from sleep very early. We were mustered before the sun had
shown its bright face above the horizon, — Mustering over, we sad-
dled our horses and marched 12 miles, over a rolling prairie; the
soil assumes a reddish color, and is living in richness. Wild game,
such as deer, elk, turkies, rabbits &c., are very numerous in this
part of the country. The weather is exceeding hot to-day.
27. Old Fort Arbuckle (Camp Arbuckle) was near present Purcell, Okla in Sec 14
T. 5 N., R. 2 E. — Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. 27, p. 315. In 1851 the new site for Fort
Arbuckle, on the Washita river, was selected.
272 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Evacuated Indian wigwams may be seen scattered over the
prairie all along the route. So far we have seen no unfriendly In-
dians.
JULY 1. Leave camp at 6 o'clock. Travel over a hilly country a
distance of 11 miles; camp on Lylton creek. The country assumes
a mountainous aspect. The wagons were very late getting into
camp; bridges had to be constructed over rivers and creeks before
they were able to proceed; our road, to-day, lay through a heavy
timbered section of country. The trees here are not as large as
those in Kansas.
JULY 2. Remain in camp. Weather very beautiful. Capt. Sacket,
last night, received leave of absence from the War Department,
which, however, he does not accept. He intends to remain in this
camp until the arrival of Maj. Emory, who has been ordered to take
command of the four companies of 1st Cavalry, now under com-
mand of Capt. Sacket.
JULY 4. Remain in camp. This anniversary is always given to
the soldiers as a holiday. Maj. Emory,28 escorted by 20 men, ar-
rived in camp at 1 o'clock. Not having any cannon with us we were
unable to do justice to this never-to-be-forgotten day.
JULY 5. Leave camp this morning under command of Maj.
Emory; the escort, that accompanied him returned to Fort Arbuckle.
— A very hot day. Travel over a hilly and heavily timbered coun-
try. Trees are very small not exceeding 30 feet in height nor 6
inches in diameter. March 11 miles and camp on Clear creek.
Flag creek runs into Clear creek not far from our camp.
JULY 6. Leave camp at the usual hour; march over prairie, un-
der a hot-boiling sun, a distance of 25 miles. Not a tree was to be
seen all day long. Grass and vegetation have changed considerable
to-day. We were late getting into camp. The Major stopped every
15 minutes; dispatching men in search of water, but was not suc-
cessful until we reached the Canadian. We struck Lieut. White's
[Whipple's?] 29 overland route to New Mexico; it runs along the
Canadian at distance of four miles.
JULY 7. Leave camp at 6 o'clock. Travel over a rolling prairie,
under a hot, scorching sun, a distance of 18 miles and camp a second
28. Maj. William H. Emory, as previously noted, was the commanding officer at Fort
Arbuckle. His own troops, Companies D and E of the First cavalry, were not on this
scout.
29. Apparently a reference to Lt. Amiel W. Whipple who, in 1853-1854, had sur-
veyed routes in the Southwest for a railroad. However, in 1858 Lt. Edward F. Beale fol-
lowed the same route from Fort Smith, Ark., along the Canadian river in surveying a route
for a proposed wagon road from Fort Smith to the Colorado river, so "Cato may have
referred to Beale. — Grant Foreman, ed., A Pathfinder in the Southwest (Norman, Okla.,
1941), p. 73, footnote.
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WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 273
time on Canadian river. We are now getting into buffalo country,
the carcases of which animals are very odorous. Grass and vegeta-
tion are of a decidedly different nature than any we have hereto-
fore come across; now buffalo, then blue, then salt grass.
Passed eight Indians, of what tribe we could not learn. They
were well armed, also well supplied with provisions, which they
carried on ponies, fastened with pack saddles.
JULY 8. Travel over a rolling prairie, well wooded but badly
watered, a distance of 10 miles; camp on Weepannaugh creek. This
day was the hottest day on record for the year 1859. Water is very
scarce in this part of the country. A detachment of 18 men was
sent in advance to hunt up camping places convenient to water.
JULY 9. Leave eamp at 6 o'clock. Travel over a hilly and heavily
timbered section of country — the timber chiefly consists of cedar
and oak. Met a Mr. Brown returning from a surveying expedition
of the one hundredth parallel, accompanied by a dozen or more of
Shawnee Indians (from Kansas).30 This party seemed to be in a
destitute condition; we supplied them with twenty days rations.
March twelve miles and camp on Red Rock creek. — St. Mary's rock
[Rock Mary] 31 is in sight of our camp; it is 50 feet in height, and
400 feet in circumference, and of a red sand color. Some one care-
lessly set the prairie on fire, the grass, although green, burned with
the fury of a wild raving maniac. Water is almost inaccessible; it
generally is from 100 to 150 feet below the surface of the prairie.
JULY 10. Leave camp at 8 o'clock. March over a level prairie,
studded with pyramid like mounds of countless numbers; some in
the shape of castles, others like houses, hay stacks, &c. March
twelve miles and camp on Mound creek. The weather is exceed-
ingly hot; water very scarce. The country we passed over to-day
is the most picturous that we ever saw.
CATO.
30. In the spring of 1859 Daniel G. Major, a government astronomer, established the
initial point of the western line between present Oklahoma and Texas on the 100-degree
meridian of west longitude (the southwestern corner of present Oklahoma, in other words).
The line was then run north from Red river to the Canadian (a distance of 90 miles) by
Surveyor H. M. C. Brown of the firm of Messrs. A. H. Jones and H. M. C. Brown, St. Louis,
Mo. — Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1859, p. 557.
31. Rock Mary, described by one writer as "a singular sandstone butte with forked
summit," was named for 17-year-old Mary Conway, of Arkansas, a popular member of
the emigrant party Capt. R. B. Marcy's company escorted as far as Santa Fe in 1849. —
Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. 12, p. 89; Grant Foreman, A Pathfinder in the Southwest, op.
cit., p. 70, footnote. It is a few miles southeast of present Hydro, Okla. — Chronicles of
Oklahoma, v. 28, p. 276, footnote.
18—4339
274 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
August 11, 1859
Our camp at present is on the Washita river, in North-Eastern
Texas. To-day the thermometer was 106 in the shade. The coun-
try is very barren, and we are forced to move our camp frequently
to secure grass and water.
On the 25th of July a "general call" was sounded at half -past six.
In an hour we were mounted, and on the march. Some horses had
been stolen during the night and the trail of the robbers discov-
ered. A detachment was sent in pursuit, and the chase kept up for
sixty miles. The Camanches, however, (such were the thieves)
eluded all pursuit.
Our present camp is situated in an exceedingly romantic spot,
environed on the North and West by a narrow strip of timber, run-
ning along the banks of the Washita river, which is in the shape of
a half moon; on the South and East by a vast and luxuriant prairie.
About tweny-five yards from the river, in a straight line, are the of-
ficers* tents, which are decorated with arbors constructed out of
willow bushes, with which the river is perfectly lined. Fifty yards
in front of the officers tents are the tents of the companies, occupy-
ing in length about a quarter of a mile; four hundred yards from
these are the guard tents, two in number, one for the accommoda-
tion of the guard, the other for the prisoners. About five hundred
yards to the left of the camp the commissary train has formed its
V-like encampment.
[UNSIGNED]
CAMP VAN CAMP,32 (ON OAK CREEK)
35 MILES SOUTH OF ANTELOPE HILLS,
August 25th, 1859.
On the 13th inst. we left our camp on the Washita, (from which
I wrote last) only to change it for a former one on the Canadian,
one mile north of Antelope Hills. Here everything has the ap-
pearance of death — the grass, which, only a few weeks since, was
bright and green, has now the appearance of a grainfield in har-
vest time. Since our reappearance on the eastern side of the Hills,
we have been unable to find a camp that would justify a stay of
more than two days at a time. Consequently we were compelled to
push toward home, much against the desire and wish of the com-
manding officer, who otherwise would have remained in the vicinity
of the Hills up to the latest possible moment, hoping to fall in with
32. Evidently named to honor Lt. Cornelius Van Camp, of Van Dorn's command,
killed by the Comanches the previous autumn. (See letter of February 2, 1859.)
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 275
the Camanche Indians, who were all the time roving in our rear,
running off our cattle, and when finding themselves pursued,
abandoning them and seeking refuge among the ravines and caves
of this desolate country.
The best way to corner this tribe of Indians is to take it a la Van
Dorn — (abandon the wagons and resort to pack mules.) Thus
rigged out, you are prepared to follow them wherever they go —
camp where you like, prepare your meals at any time, and be ready
for the march at a moment's warning.
The present Administration must be "hard up" for money. Not
long since an order was received to discharge mechanics, wagon-
masters and teamsters. Mechanics, at sixty dollars per month, were
all discharged, and soldiers, at twenty-five cents per day, were put
in their places. Out of ten wagon masters eight were discharged;
also eight teamsters — these being extra hands. Their wages saved
from thirty to fifty dollars per month. No doubt that before long
soldiers wages will be reduced, so as to give office holders more
pocket money.
CATO.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., Sept. 25, 1859
MR. EDITOR: We arrived here on the 22d inst. Having put
everything to order that had been misplaced during our absence,
we have now a few leisure moments which we will occupy in writ-
ing a few "hurry-graphs" to The Times.
On the 27th ult, we moved camp from Oak Creek to the Wash-
ita river. Here we camped on a plateau nearly destitute of grass,
intending to remain only till morning; but during the night it
commenced to rain, and continued incessantly for five days. Our
tents were completely inundated, not even leaving us a dry suit of
clothing. At the end of the fifth day it ceased to rain for some
hours, which time we occupied in moving camp a few miles down
the river. As the grass became trodden down, we moved camp
from place to place, until the time came for us to resume our home-
ward journey. The grass being very poor, would not allow us to
remain at one place more than twenty-four hours.
On the 5th inst., Camp Van Camp was broken up, and our home-
ward journey commenced. The recent heavy rains had swelled the
creeks to overflowing. Bridges which we erected on our outward
journey had all been washed away, causing a great deal of delay to
re-construct them.
276 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
SEPT. 6. This morning the sky was clear for the first time for
nearly two weeks. As the day wore on, it became so intensely hot
that it almost burned the clothes off our backs. An T Company
horse was found standing riderless on a sand-bar in the middle of
the Washita river, opposite the mouth of Bonet [Comet?] creek.
It was supposed he had run away from his rider, who belonged to
a party that were in search of game. The horse upon noticing the
approach of a rider who belonged to a hunting party of company C,
swam on shore, and followed him into camp. There was nothing
more thought of the matter until the next morning, when the man
was still missing. Company I was accordingly sent to search for
him. They returned to camp late in the evening, and reported
that Martin Garner, (such was his name) had been found at the
bottom of a deep hole, close to the sand-bar where the horse was
found the day previous; that his face was horribly cut up. It is
thought that the horse suddenly plunged into the river, and in so
doing threw the rider over his head; and while the man was trying
to swim ashore, the horse took after him and pawed him to death.
He now lies under the sod on the banks of the Washita river. Peace
be to his ashes.
After the above occurrence, everything went on smoothly until
we arrived at Red Rock Creek. Here we received orders to pro-
ceed to the camp of Indians who have recently removed from
Texas. This Indian camp is situated on the Washita river, ninety
miles North of Fort Arbuckle. It contains fragments of the South-
ern Camanches, Tonkaways, Wacoes, Caddos, and Witchita tribes,
numbering over two thousand.33 The Southern Camanches and
Tonkaways cannot get along with each other. The other day a fuss
was kicked up between them, which caused the latter tribe to
move camp. They cannot go far away at present, as they are con-
fined to a tract of land only ten miles square. These Indians are
great traders. Hundreds of them may be seen in camp, offering
lariats, moccasins, buffalo robes, &c., in exchange for tobacco, sugar,
coffee, bread, &c. Should the article you offer them in exchange for
some of their goods be insufficient, they would sing out, "too poketa
no bueno." After repeating this three or four times, they would
33. As Indian raids in Texas increased in the latter 1850's it became expedient to
move these remnants of wild tribes from reservations in the northern part of Texas. By
treaty, in 1855, the federal government had secured a lease to the Chickasaws' and Choc-
taws' lands lying west of the 98-degree meridian. To this area the Texas Indians were re-
moved in August, 1859 — to a location in the Washita valley. The agency for these tribes
was established on the north side of the Washita about four miles northeast of the present
town of Fort Cobb, Okla., on August 16. The site (chosen in June by Elias Rector, head
of the southern superintendency ) was near a stream later called Leeper creek. — Nye, op.
cit., PP. 33-35; M. H. Wright, "A History of Fort Cobb," in Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. 34,
pp. 53-71.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 277
walk away, apparently in disgust at the soldiers for not trading
with them.
We lay two days at the camp, at the expiration of which time we
took up the line of march. We passed a part of the Witchita tribe,
on their way to join the others, at the large or main encampment, a
distance of forty miles from the latter place. The country selected
by the Indians for their summer camp is exceedingly rich, fertile
and picturesque, also well timbered and watered. In fact the
Washita valley is undoubtedly the finest section of country west of
the Mississippi river.
On the 16th inst. John Nicholson, of Co. I, First cav., died of
scurvy. His body was consigned to the grave at sunset the same
day. — Had it not been for the salute fired, no one except those con-
cerned would have known that there was a funeral going on in
camp. — These are the principal incidents worthy of notice.
On the 25th of July last an order was issued from the War Depart-
ment for the erection of a new military post in the Washita country,
near the reserve selected for the Texas Indians, to be called Fort
Cobb.34 Four companies of first infantry, from Texas, and com-
panies E and D of first cavalry from Fort Arbuckle, are ordered to
assist in its erection. Major Emory, first cavalry, is assigned the
command. He will at once select the site, and make preparations
for constructing the fort as soon as the necessary appropriation is
made by Congress. A saw mill and other necessary preparations
will be furnished without delay. The fort will be supplied from
Fort Smith, Arkansas. Capt. W. L. Cabell, Assistant Quartermas-
ter, is assigned to duty at the new post.
The garrison at Fort Smith, (companies B and A of first cavalry)
which will be abandoned as a station for troops, will take post at
Fort Arbuckle.
The limits of the department of Texas are extended northward
between New Mexico and the State of Arkansas, to the Arkansas
river, (including Forts Smith, Washita, Arbuckle and Cobb,) and
the southern boundary of Arkansas, without crossing either.
The Chickasaw Indians are about being paid their annuity. They
are camped by hundreds in the woods around the residence of their
Agent Gen. D. H. Cooper.
The Fort has assumed its usual cheerfulness since our arrival.
34. Maj. William H. Emory selected the Fort Cobb site on October 1, 1859, and re-
ported on October 3 that it was at the junction of Pond (now Cobb) creek and the Washita
river, distant 101 miles from Fort Arbuckle. — Secretary of War's Report, 1859, p. 386.
The site is on high ground about a mile east of the present town of Fort Cobb in Caddo
county, Okla.— M. H. Wright, "A History of Fort Cobb," loc. ctt., p. 56. The agency was
about three miles east of the post. — Ibid.
278 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
According to accounts from those that remained behind, it is an
awful dull place when no troops here.
The weather is very pleasant. The corn crop is very nearly all
gathered into cribs.
CATO.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., October 18, '59
The following marriage notice, may perhaps be of some interest
to at least a few of your readers:
Married at this place, on Tuesday, October llth, 1859, by the
Rev. Mr. Burke, Army Chaplain of Fort Washita, Andrew J.
Gunnels, of Company "C" 1st Cavaky to Mrs. Augustine Brush,
of Fort Washita.
In the evening, the happy couple received a grand serenade from
the celebrated Fort Washita Band, organized for the purpose.
Since our return from Antelope Hills, we have been kept busily
engaged. "Leave of absence" is rarely granted.
Crime prevails to a great extent in this part of the country. Not
a day passes but what we hear of somebody being killed. There
must be a band of lawless desperadoes hereabouts. Justice is
slack and but rarely administered even if the rogues are caught.
Corn has yielded an abundant crop this season. Farmers are
now supplying this post with corn at the rate of one dollar per
bushel, delivered. There is but little agricultural industry among
the swarthy denizens of this Nation. The corn consumed at this
post is chiefly supplied by the farmers of Texas. — Other produce,
such as potatoes, turnips, onions, &c., are chiefly grown by the In-
dians, for which they demand enormous prices. They make such
gross charges that the Commanding officer has deemed it neces-
sary to establish a set price for each and every article brought to
market: — Potatoes $1.50 per bushel; Onions $1.50 per bushel; Sweet
Potatoes 75 cts. per bushel; Butter 15 cts. per lb.; Eggs 15 cts. per
dozen.
The weather is very beautiful. The trees of the forest are still
bedecked with their beautiful Summer foliage, and only a few, here
and there, show signs of a fast approaching Fall. We have thus
far had no frost.
[UNSIGNED]
FORT WASHITA, C. N., Nov. 2, 1859.
On the evening of the 26th ult., a fight took place between two
men, in which one was severely wounded by a pistol ball. The ball
entered the fleshy part of the thigh, and passed out near the knee,
almost entirely destroying the use of his leg.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 279
On the morning of the 27th ult, an express arrived at this place
for a detachment of troops to proceed to Nail's Bridge,35 on the
California Overland Route, (10 miles from here,) to settle a dif-
ficulty between a number of drovers and the bridge keeper, which
arose from the former refusing to pay toll for crossing their stock
over the bridge. After the arrival of the troops, and a great deal of
unnecessary talk, the drovers determined to undergo the process
of law before they would pay the required sum. The troops re-
turned, and the drovers remained.
On the night of the 30th ult., two ponies were stolen from a
stable, belonging to Jarrison [Harrison?]. The following morning
pursuit was instigated, and, after a diligent search of four hours,
the ponies was found, quietly grazing on the banks of the Washita
River, about ten miles from the Fort. The thief, evidently finding
himself in close quarters, abandoned his ill-gotten stock to make
good his escape, which he evidently did, as nothing has been seen
or heard of him.
On the morning of the 1st inst, the Sheriff of
county, Texas, came to this place to procure assistance to bring to
justice three persons (whose names I did not learn) who crossed
Red River on the night of the 31st ult., and set fire to a grocery
and shot the owner, who is not expected to live, (probably dead
before this time). A detachment of twelve men accompanied him
to Colbert's Ferry,36 where it was supposed they were concealed
in some of the houses, but all search proved in vain.
There is at present a great flow of emigration to the State of
Texas. While taking a ride in that direction a few days since, we
noticed a train of wagons, nearly two miles in length, loaded with
furniture, household goods, provisions, &c. Upon inquiry of the
teamsters, "Where are you bound to," we received for answer, "To
Texas." We were informed that no less than 3,000 emigrants had
passed over the Overland Route since the 1st of September. Mis-
souri, Arkansas and Iowa furnish the greater portion of these emi-
grants. They seem to be in low spirits, and present a most gloomy
appearance.
The troops here are in excellent health. — Since my last the
weather has considerably changed — heavy frosts in the morning and
35. Nail's bridge, a heavy wooden structure over the Blue river, was about ten miles
east of Fort Washita. The home (and Butterfield Overland Mail station) of Joel H. Nail,
a Choctaw citizen, was on the east side of the bridge. The site is some eight miles west
of present Caddo, Okla. — Conkling, op. cit., v. 1, pp. 272, 273.
36. Colbert's ferry over Red river on the Texas boundary, had been established about
1853 by Benjamin F. Colbert, a Chickasaw citizen. In 1858 it was selected as the Over-
land Mail crossing. The first west-bound mail arrived there on September 20, 1858. — Ibid.,
pp. 279, 280. The ferry was about 15 miles south of Fort Washita.
280 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
hot sunshine during the middle of the day. — The forests are com-
pletely dismantled.
Gen. D. H. Cooper, Chickasaw Indian Agent, left here a few days
since for his home in Mississippi, there to spend the winter with his
family.
There is an abundance of wild game here. We have frequently,
in addition to our delicious fare, (pork and beans,) deer, turkey,
antelope and grouse; procured by a few who delight in hunting.
On Sunday evening last, a negro was caught in the act of selling
liquor. He was taken to the guard house, and the following morn-
ing was taken out and tied to a post; when, after receiving fifty
lashes, he was released.
[UNSIGNED]
FORT WASHITA, C. N., Dec. 12, '59.
On the 1st inst, Capt. T. J. Wood left here on leave of absence,
and will probably be gone eighteen months. During his absence,
the 2d Squadron will be under the command of Capt. E. A. Carr.37
Up to the present month, we had very mild and pleasant weather.
The first of December brought with it a heavy shower of rain,
which lasted for several hours, when it turned into hail and snow,
continuing till the evening of the 3d inst. On the morning of the
4th the ground was covered to the depth of five inches with hail and
snow, hard and solid as ice. — This conglomerated mass lay, undis-
turbed, upon the ground until the 9th inst., during which time we
suffered greatly, when a thaw occurred which left no trace of the
winter "spell."
The storm proved fatal to wild game in this vicinity. Not a day
passed, while the snow lay upon the ground, but what the hunter
returned with a well filled bag, after a few hours' hunt. Rabbits
are as numerous here as flies about a slaughter-house in the summer
time. There is also an abundance of deer, turkeys and prairie
chickens, which are hunted down by the Indians, and brought to
the post for sale. They find but few purchasers amongst the
soldiers, who love sport too well to forego the pleasure of a few
hours ramble through the woods with rifle or shot gun in hand.
Crime is still prevailing hereabouts, to a great extent. Not long
since, while a party of half-breeds were proceeding towards Tisho-
mingo City, they were fired upon by some evil disposed persons
37. Thomas J. Wood, Company C's captain, and head of the First cavalry's Second
squadron (Companies C and I), had been commandant at Fort Washita since Decem-
ber 29, 1858. Eugene A. Carr, Company I's captain, thus succeeded Wood both as com-
mander of the squadron and of the army post.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 281
who lay concealed along the road behind some fallen trees. One
of the party was mortally wounded, and the remainder saved them-
selves by flight. Upon arriving at Tishomingo, they immediately
gave the alarm, and pursuit was instantly instigated by a party of
the Light Horse Troop,38 who scoured the woods for miles around
the city, but could find no traces of the rogues.
We hear constantly of Indian depredations committed on the
frontiers of New Mexico, but for which the perpetrators are severely
chastised by the troops stationed there, often losing their best and
ablest warriors.
There is at present a rumor afloat that a portion of the 1st Regi-
ment of Cavalry are to be stationed on the frontiers of New Mexico,
to relieve the Mounted Rifles, who have constantly lived in the
saddle since they were stationed there. But I think this rumor will
turn out to be like many others — without foundation. No such good
luck for the 1st Cavalry.
ROVER.
FORT WASHITA, CHOCTAW NATION, Jan. 18, 1860.
A few days since, Gov. La Flore, of the Choctaw Nation,39 re-
quested of the Commanding Officer of this post, a detachment of
troops to assist him in removing three white persons of a renegade
character, from Boggy Depot, the capitol of the Choctaw Nation,40
who had located themselves at that place without the permission of
the Governor. White persons have no right to locate themselves
among the Indians without the permission of the Governor of the
Nation where they intend to settle. The trio were placed in charge
of the troops and brought to this place for examination by the
Agent, who, after examining them, ordered them to leave the Na-
tion.
Lieut. [George A.] Cunningham, Second Cavalry, passed through
here a short time since in search of deserters, who, upon leaving,
took with them one of the Lieutenant's horses. Lieut. C. returned
to this place yesterday, without being able to obtain tidings of the
deserters or of his horse.
38. The "Light Horse" were Indian law enforcement officers — a mounted police main-
tained by the Five Civilized Tribes.
39. Basil Le Flore, was principal chief and governor of the Choctaw Nation for one
year only. He took office in October, 1859. — P. J. Hudson, "A Story of Choctaw Chiefs,"
in Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. 17, p. 193.
40. Boggy Depot, some 15 miles northeast of Fort Washita, was in 1860 the largest
and most important settlement on the Butterfield Overland Mail route between Fort Smith,
Ark., and Sherman, Tex. — Conkling, op. cit., v. 1, p. 269. Since 1855 (when the Chicka-
saw and Choctaw lands were divided by treaty), Boggy Depot had been a Choctaw town.
The Choctaw capital was Doaksville but for a time, during a factional dispute, Boggy
Depot served as a temporary capital. — Ibid.; Oklahoma, a Guide . . ., op. cit., pp.
282 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
A detachment of troops, consisting of infantry and rifles, passed
through here a few days since en route to New Mexico.
Since my last the weather king has visited us in various shapes;
at the present time we have very fine weather, with a prospect of
having no more of the cold and dreary winter season.
ROVER.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., March 6, 1860
Since my last, we have experienced a change in the weather;
winter may be classed among the things that have been, while
spring, with its radiant smiles, is daily working itself more and more
into our affections. Grass, and vegetation of all kinds, are already
sprouting up all around us, and in a few days, the grass will be
sufficiently large to afford good grazing for the horses and mules
of this post, which are at present nearly starved for want of hay
and grass.
Major Gaines,41 of the Pay Department, and Paymaster for Forts
Smith, Arkansas; Washita, C. N.; Arbuckle, C. N., and Cobb, C. N.,
died recently of wounds received by the upsetting of his ambulance,
while returning from Fort Cobb, C. N., in January last, near Fort
Smith, Arkansas.
John Phelan, not of billiard notoriety, but a simple, halfbreed
Indian, was recently killed at Tishomingo City, C. N., by a notori-
ous gambler, whose name I was unable to learn. Immediately after
committing the deed, he left for parts unknown, and nothing has
since been heard of him.
A detachment of sixty United States recruits, recently passed
through here under the command of Lieut. [George D.] Bayard, 1st
cavalry, en route for Forts Arbuckle and Cobb. There were twenty-
two of the uninitiated left at this post, of which company "I" re-
ceived fourteen, and the remainder were assigned to company "C."
Five years ago the 1st and 2d regiments of cavalry were organized,
since which time the 1st regiment has been roaming over the coun-
try and accomplished nothing but the survey of the Southern bound-
ary of Kansas,42 while the 2d regiment has constantly lived in the
saddle — dealing death and destruction amongst its savage foes. —
The terms of service for old hands, expires this year, and, conse-
41. Maj. Augustus W. Gaines, a Kentuckian, died February 19, 1860.
42. Rover appears to have been an "old-timer" in the First cavalry — perhaps serving
since the regiment's organization in 1855. Companies C, I, F, and K, First cavalry, plus
two companies of Sixth infantry, all commanded by Col. Joseph E. Johnston, had es-
corted the surveyors of the southern Kansas boundary. Colonel Johnston's journal of the
expedition (May 16-Oct. 29, 1857) was published in The Kansas Historical Quarterly,
v. 1, pp. 104-139.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 283
quently Uncle Sam will need a large number of recruits to keep
these two regiments in proper trim.
While sitting in the Sutler's store the other day, reading the latest
number of the Times, a certain Texas editor came in, took a seat
with his back towards me, ( evidently not noticing me, ) drew forth
a written circular of eight pages from one of his pockets, and com-
menced to read its contents to the proprietor of the store. From it
I learned there is a secret movement on foot amongst Southern
politicians, to secure all Territory favorable to slave labor before
the 4th of March, 1861. They propose to send agents to New Mex-
ico, Arizona and the Indian Territory, to make arrangements with
the inhabitants to secure all these Territories to the South. The
circular is signed by the most prominent politicians of the South.
One paragraph reads, as near as I can recollect, about as follows:
"In order to secure this Territory to the South, and forestall the
North for once, before the 4th of March, 1861, this movement
should be kept secret. Copies of this pamphlet are sent only to
'editors' who are considered in favor of the movement, or 'sound on
the goose/ " Some one coming in, prevented me from learning more
about this document. More when time permits.
ROVER.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., April 5, 1860
EDITOR TIMES: As we are about to proceed on the march for the
frontier of Texas, I embrace this opportunity of informing you of
the doings in this locality.
On the 26th ult, we received orders to hold ourselves in readi-
ness for the march at a moment's warning. The scene of the enter-
prise is located at Camp Cooper, Texas.43 The troops will be under
command of Maj. G. H. Thomas, 2nd cavalry, and will consist of
detachments from Forts Arbuckle, C. N.; Cobb, C. N.; Mason,
Texas; and Washita, C. N., and those stationed at Camp Cooper.
The object for the concentration of such a large force is to bring
those devils, Comanches, to terms. In this scout the 1st cavalry
will (to all appearances) have a fine chance to either ex or dis-
tinguish itself.
Eleven condemned horses were recently sold at public auction,
at an average price of $77 per head — the highest price obtained
being $112 and the lowest $43.
43. Camp Cooper had been established in January, 1856, by Col. Albert Sidney John-
ston, on the north side of the Clear fork of the Brazos river, five miles east of the mouth
of 016/8 creek, in present Throckmorton county, Texas. After the reservation Indians were
removed from northern Texas in August, 1859, Camp Cooper was no longer an important
post.— W. P. Webb, ed., The Handbook of Texas (Austin, Tex., 1952), v. 1, p. 279.
284 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Gen. Douglas H. Cooper, Chickasaw Indian Agent, has returned
and resumed his duties. During his absence, Capt. E. A. Carr per-
formed the duties of Indian agent.
First Lieut. [Alfred] Iverson left here on the 16th of last month,
on two months furlough. During his absence, Company C, 1st
Cavalry, will be under the command of 2d Lieut. John R. Church.
There is a constant flow of emigrants from Missouri, Arkansas
and Iowa, to Texas; in fact, the roads are literally lined with emi-
grant trains. In the course of five years, Texas will be one of the
most densely populated States in the Union, if the Southern fire-
eaters don't manage to dissolve it before that time.
Fishing is the chief topic of amusement here at present for the
soldier. Cat fish weighing upwards of thirty pounds are considered
small fry, when fifty pounders are daily caught and brought home.
The fish are of such an enormous size, that they frequently pull the
fisherman into the water.
An affray took place, the other day, at Nail's Bridge,44 between
two half-breed Indians, in which one was mortally wounded with a
pistol ball, the ball entering the right breast and breaking the bone.
The offender in chief has left for parts unknown. He also carries
with him a severe wound inflicted with a bowie knife.
A general court martial, of which Capt. E. A. Carr is President,
is at present ( March 28th ) in session, at this post. Eleven prisoners
are to be disposed of by this tribunal.
Last evening we received orders to proceed to Camp Cooper
as soon as practicable. The commanding officer has appointed
Monday next for us to leave this post. The requisition calls for one
hundred and twenty men, from this place, to serve three months
from date of order, then to return to winter quarters at this place.
There will be some thirty or forty left to garrison the fort, under
the command of Second Lieut. E. Ingraham.
We have fine weather, abundance of grass, wood and water, with
an occasional hurricane. Yours truly,
ROVER.
44. Nail's bridge. See Footnote 35.
[To Be Concluded in the Winter, 1958, Issue.]
The Mudge Ranch
MARGARET EVANS CALDWELL
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTORY NOTE
This account of the famous Mudge ranch in Hodgeman
county was prepared for publication by Mrs. Raymond H.
Millbrook, formerly of Ness county, Kansas, and now of De-
troit, Mich. The story of its high-living, free-spending
owner is a fantastic part of the early history of western Kan-
sas, when the rancher thought himself destined to be king
in that country. If fact herein has sometimes been slightly
embroidered by rumor and hearsay, that is but a part of the
process by which such history is transformed into legend.
To strip this story of every detail that cannot be backed by a
supporting reference would be to tamper with a folk tale
which deserves preservation. Mrs. Caldwell collected the
story mainly from the neighbors and employees of the
Mudge ranch, and in 1931 wrote it up for the Hodgeman
County Historical Society.
coming of Henry S. Mudge and his brief stay in Kansas
-L was like the flash of a meteor against the poverty-ridden back-
ground of early Hodgeman county history. Unlike most of the
pioneers who arrived here in covered wagons and who remained
because they were too poor to leave, Mudge came with money to
burn, spent it more lavishly than wisely and then stepped on grace-
fully to other fields.
Harry Mudge, as his name has come down to us, was the son of
a millionaire woolen manufacturer of Boston.1 His ancestral man-
sion stood on historic Beacon Hill2 near the Statehouse and was
separated from the Boston Common by Beacon street, the aristo-
cratic residential avenue of Boston. Around the corner of the
Common stands Park Street church of which Mudge's father was a
staunch member and in which he served many years as an elder.
Two of Mudge's sisters,3 hearing of their brother's excesses, once
came out here and tried to persuade him to sell out and return to
MRS. MARGARET EVANS CALDWELL, native of Hodgeman county, is a teacher of English
in the Hanston High School.
1. Alfred Mudge. Memorials . . . (Boston, 1868), pp. 257-259. In this family
genealogy considerable space is devoted to the career of Enoch R. Mudge, father of
Henry S. He was in 1868 a manufacturer's agent selling the entire product of a number
of woolen mills. These sales amounted to eight or nine million dollars annually.
2. Ibid. The Mudge home was at 118 Beacon street. Lew Horn, employed by Harry
Mudge on his Kansas ranch, was taken to Boston to help reroof and paint this mansion. He
described the house as one of a long row, all with rounded windows in front.
3. Henry S. Mudge was the youngest of a family of seven children. His only brother,
a young man of great promise, was killed in 1863 in the Civil War. — Ibid. By 1880 only
three of the children were living, Henry and his two sisters.
(285)
286 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Boston. They even offered to buy his whole outfit if he would
return with them. They were ladies of refinement and culture —
true Bostonians. Needless to say their brother would have none
of their advice or persuasion.4
It was about 1880 5 when young Mudge, accompanied by a
woman then supposed to be Mrs. Mudge, and a friend, Gus Ye-
sogee, came to the frontier town of Larned looking for adventure.6
He established quarters in Larned for about six months while he
scouted around to find the ideal place to try out ranching. Larned
houses were small so he rented two, one to sleep in and one to eat
in. He also hired servants. The houses stood in the same block
about two blocks north and one west of the railroad station. One
faced Broadway and the other was on the west side of the same
block. Larned was unused to so much money and servants so the
Bostonians caused quite a stir. The lady was tall and fair and wore
clothes that made western Kansas gasp. Mudge was described
variously as fine-looking, handsome, and a swell dresser. He was
brown-haired, blue-eyed, of medium height, and of rotund build;
his age was estimated from 30 to 45 years.7
Larned soon knew that the Bostonian had money, wanted a good
time and was looking for land to start a big ranch which was to be
an experiment rather than a serious investment. An Englishman,
Dell Rugg, who ran a feed store and coal yard in Larned, told
Mudge of the land in Hodgeman county and brought him out to
see it. They came first to a place where a Rev. Switzer lived.
Switzer knew of a man named Mellaney, who wanted to sell his
relinquishment to the NW X, Sec. 6, T. 22 S, R. 22 W, a fine place
for a ranch. When Mudge saw the springs, then running full
strength on this quarter, he was ready to buy immediately. Mel-
laney wanted $200 but Rugg and Switzer decided that to cover
their services too, the price quoted to Mudge should be $500.8
4. C. E. Roughton, one time county attorney, postmaster and early citizen of Jetmore,
visited at the ranch. He is responsible for this story of the two sisters. He also said of
Mud^e, "When under the influence of rum he was wild as an Arab — he was as bad as he
could be some ways and in others too good."
5. There has been some difference of opinion about this date. The first items in the
local newspapers concerning Mudge appeared in 1880.
6. Kansas Cowboy, Dodge City, October 18, 1884. (This newspaper will henceforth
be cited simply as Cowboy. ) "He [Mudge] came to the plains of Kansas because he had
grown weary of city life and longed for the freedom and unrestraint of the wild west."
As a matter of fact Mudge was probably undertaking his first independent project, as he
had left Harvard in 1878 and then traveled for a year or so in Europe.
7. Henry S. Mudge was born July 1, 1852, and was therefore not more than 28 years
old when he came to Kansas. This birth date is given in both the Mudge genealogy and the
obituary in the Kinsley Mercury, January 24, 1908.
8. At this time a relinquishment was worth very little in western Kansas. Hundreds of
settlers of 1878 and 1879 had simply abandoned the land on which they had filed pre-
emptions or homestead applications since the drought of 1879 had made it impossible
for them to stay. As this place had a house and a well and running springs it was perhaps
worth $200 but even that was a good price in those times. Mudge had yet to pay the
U. S. government for the land, $1.25 an acre or $200 a quarter.
THE MUDGE RANCH 287
After all, Mudge had let it be known he just wanted to experiment
and didn't care about making money. So he paid the price cheer-
fully, filed his papers on the place and made it the beginning of the
Mudge ranch. When some time later he discovered that he had
paid more than double for the land he started a law suit. But other
affairs intervened — the woman known as Mrs. Mudge left — and the
suit never came to trial.9 Mudge proved up on this quarter May
18, 1881.
Roy Lang and his father had worked for Rugg and they were the
first men the new ranch owner hired to work on his ranch.10 They
began right away to build corrals and to wall an old well which was
already on the place. There was also a small stone house there in
which Mudge lived while the big ranch house was being built on
the quarter of land just north, which had been bought from a man
named Stone. The building spot was located on Dry creek where
the corners of the four townships — Valley, Center, Marena and
North Marena — meet. Roads have been changed and section lines
surveyed since, but originally the ranch buildings stood on at least
three different quarters of different sections in different townships.
The chief stone contractor was Mr. Butts, but Mr. Eberly, John
and George Bradshaw, and many others helped quarry the stones,
haul them, dress them, and put them up into buildings. George
Bradshaw said he did his first stone work there.11 Stop and think
how much work and time it must have taken to build the walls of
the stone corral 200 by 500 feet, the stable 83 by 22 feet, the ram-
bling old ranch house and the miles of wire fence with stone
posts. Besides all this stone work there was lumber to haul the
long distances from some railroad town, for all the buildings had
shingle roofs.12 There was also a big two-story frame bunk house
in which the cowboys slept and ate at times.18 In the blacksmith
9. The folk-say was in error here. The case did come into court and was reported
in the Larned Optic, July 30, 1880: "The manner in which Mr. J. W. Van Winkle con-
ducted the defense in the case of Mudge vs. Rugg last week won him the golden opinion
from everybody. . . . The case . . . was decided in favor of [Rugg]. . . .
There can be no question that Mr. Rugg violated the obligations of friendship if any ex-
isted, but that he committed any criminal offense we do not believe." Mudge immedi-
ately entered another complaint and it was this latter suit that never came to trial.
10. Buckner Independent, Jetmore, July 29, 1880. — "Mr. Long has moved his family
upon the ranch belonging to H. Mudge and becomes a citizen of Hodgeman county."
11. George Bradshaw, one of a group of negroes, who made the exodus from the South
after the War and settled in Hodgeman county, learned the masonry trade from the con-
tractors imported to build the Mudge ranch house. Thereafter he and his sons built many
of the early stone houses and bams of Hodgeman county.
12. Kinsley on the Santa Fe, 32 miles from the ranch, seems to have been the nearest
railroad town. Shingle roofs were almost nonexistent in western Kansas at this time The
people lived in dugouts, soddies, and shanties. Even small houses of native stone were
apt to have sod roofs because shingles were too expensive.
13. Cowboy, tec. cit. — The editor of this newspaper visited the Mudge ranch in 1884
and wrote a Jong and kudatory description of it and its owner for his paper. At the time
of the visit the bunk house was m the process of building. It was described as being
22 x 55, with a cellar underneath the whole structure. "It will contain sleeping apartments,
a sitting-room, dining hall, lavatory, kitchen and everything requisite for the comfort of its
occupants.
288 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
all the ranch machinery was repaired and all the driving and riding
horses were shod. There were various other sheds and buildings,
a race track, polo court, tennis court, and dog kennels. Those who
remember the old ranch say the place looked like a young town14
in the early days and was a landmark for miles around. Three
fourths of a mile west was an ice house dug out in the creek bank
where ice was kept the year around for the needs of the ranch. A
plank slide was built down to the edge of the pond so the ice could
be slid along up to the ice house. An ice house was so rare a thing
in those days that the pond became known as Ice House Pond —
a name it still bears.
Mudge hired lots of help. Everyone agreed that he did more
for the early settlers of Hodgeman county than any other man who
ever came to the county.15 His vast ranching project gave work
to many and he always had plenty of money to pay the highest
wages. It is safe to say that hardly a settler living within a 20-mile
radius of the ranch but eked out his scanty living by working at the
Mudge ranch. Many families who were pioneered out and ready to
leave, were able to stay because of this work. Once when the
rancher had hired as many men as he could find work for, still
another one came with a hard luck story. Loath to turn the man
away, he looked around until a pile of rocks on the south side of
the road caught his eye. "Do you see that pile of rocks?" he asked.
"I want them moved over to this side of the road and stacked up."
When the man finished and came asking for another assignment,
Mudge decided that he really preferred the stones where they had
been originally. "Take them back." And the man received full
pay for his time.
No one will ever know how much free medicine was handed out
or how many dollars were given to the poor in reckless charity.
One story is told of a boy who worked at the ranch. His widowed
mother had mortgaged their team and was about to lose it. Mudge
heard of this, sent the boy home with a check to cover the mort-
14. Ibid. "On approaching this place one thinks he is advancing upon a town on ac-
count of the buildings thereon in close proximity."
15. The local newspaper, The Buckner Independent, Jetmore, was enthusiastic about
the Mudge development throughout the fall of 1880, mentioning it in almost every issue:
July 29, 1880. — "Mr. H. Mudge is building one of the finest stone residences in Hodge-
man county. It would be a boss thing ... if there were several such men in the
county. It would beat the aid business all out hollow."
September 16, 1880. — "We started for Mr. Mudge's sheep ranche, and arrived there
just in time to partake of a good square dinner with Mr. Lang. . . . Hands were busy
putting up millet, etc."
September 30, 1880. — "Mr. Mudge has rented Mr. Blunt's place near Marena, which
he intends to stock with . . . sheep. ... He has also purchased the crops and
set a merry lot of hands to work harvesting them."
December 31, 1880. — "Mr. H. S. Mudge gave a splendid dinner to his hands on Christ-
mas day, for all of which they desire to return their kindest regards to that gentleman
through these columns."
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on right hip.
Cattle brand of the Mudge ranch as published in
the Kansas Cowboy, Dodge City.
THE MUDGE RANCH
gage and brusquely told him to hurry back and get to work.16 It
is said that Bill Ward, who worked with his team at the ranch was
often handed a check for $100 when $50 was all he expected.
Some of the stories however indicate that the young ranchman's
charity was not always selfless. On his way to Kinsley he usually
stopped at the Gleason home to water his horses. There was at
that place then only a rope and bucket well. Mudge was not al-
ways disposed to get out, draw the water and unrein his horses to
drink. He thought there should be better accommodations, such
as a tank and windmill would afford and asked why they were not
provided. The answer was, "I haven't the $150." Mudge wrote
out the check, saying he would be back in ten days and there must
be a high tank to drink from as he did not want to unrein his
horses. "Bedad," was the answer, "and your wishes will be granted/'
Mudge's first venture in experimental ranching was sheep.17 Soon
after locating his ranch and starting men to work on the buildings,
he went, accompanied by Rugg, to Texas where he bought between
2,000 and 3,000 sheep and had them brought to his ranch in
Hodgeman county. As soon as the sheep came, Roy Lang and
Frank Owens went to herding and it is hard to say which the
young shepherds had more difficulty in understanding, their woolly
charges or their employer. Mudge himself was not any too well ac-
quainted with sheep culture.
The immense corral had been built from stone to shelter the
sheep. It was 200 feet wide and 300 feet long with a shed roof of
lumber about 18 feet wide, extending around the entire interior
of the wall. The sheep thrived fairly well during the summer. But
the next fall while Mudge was away, the foreman, either Mr. Mack
or Mr. Switzer, discovered that the sheep had a skin disease known
as the scab. No one knew what to do as Mudge had left no orders
and since he was expected home any time, the hands just waited
for him. About midwinter he returned, bringing with him a gay
party of friends from Boston. Deciding that the proper thing to do
with the sheep was to dip them, he put the hands to work building
a vat and dripping floor. The dip was prepared and the sheep
16. It is impossible to name everyone who contributed recollections to this account of
the Mudge ranch, or which person remembered which story. Some specific credits are
given throughout the manuscript. Others were W. G. Billings, Florence Linely Holtzberg,
Peter Hoehn, John A. Hoehn, Margaret Haun Raser, and Mrs. Emma Perry.
17. While there were at this time a number of sheep ranches in Hodgeman county,
Mudge possibly went into the sheep business because of some slight acquaintance with it
in his own family. His brother-in-law, James Lawrence, a gentleman farmer at Groton,
Conn., kept pure bred sheep on his farm. According to the Buckner Independent, Septem-
ber 16, 1880, Mudge had 1,600 sheep to which he intended to add about 70 fine rams and
ewes from Vermont.
19—4339
290 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
driven into it, but when they reached the dripping floor, instead
of dripping off, the dip froze on the fleece. Mudge then decided
that the only thing to do was to build a bonfire in the middle of
the corral and drive the sheep around and around the fire so they
would not freeze to death. Mudge and his New England friends
stayed up all night to help in the effort to save the sheep. When an
animal was utterly exhausted from the cold and the burden of his
icy fleece, warm milk would be brought out and the sheep drenched.
When results proved unsatisfactory, rum was substituted for milk
and two gallons of this precious liquid used up in trying to revive
the cold, dip-soaked sheep. The hands worked all night to keep
up the fire and keep the sheep moving around it, but in spite of
everything — or perhaps because of it — all the sheep that had been
doctored with milk or rum died.
Sometimes when snow thickly blanketed the ground Mudge
would insist that the sheep be taken out of the corral and herded.
Remonstrance was useless. Since they were well paid, the hands
always tried to please him, even though they laughed and joked
about his radical notions.18 His whole ranching project, as one of
the former ranch hands said, "was foolishness, all foolishness."
Most of the time his herders rode horses and when a lamb played
out, would tie it across the saddle and carry it home. Mr. Lang
said he used to take as many as three lambs home on his horse at
one time. But sometimes Mudge made up his mind that the proper
way to herd sheep was on foot and then the shepherds brought the
weary ones home in their arms. As the wildest of the sheep stories
run, the sheep often got away from the herders and crossed into
forbidden fields. Their owner saw no reason for this and he pro-
posed to train them. An arbitrary deadline was set and whenever
a sheep crossed the line, it was shot. Rumor says 500 sheep were
educated in this manner.
When the sheep failed to bring in the expected returns from
the market, Mudge got rid of the whole lot and turned his place
into a cattle and horse ranch.19 About 15 or 18 hands were kept
at the ranch during the sheep regime. Enough cows to furnish
milk and butter for these and for the dashing visitors from the East
and surrounding towns, had always been kept. There had always
18. It should be remembered that in these early days no one knew just how to raise
crops or stock in western Kansas. Many things were done in all earnestness and sobriety
that seem foolish in the light of later knowledge. Mudge's errors were magnified by the
size of his operation, his inexperience, and haphazard attention.
19. The sheep experiment seems to have lasted until the spring of 1883, as Mudge was
not mentioned in the newspapers as a cattle man until that time. It is possible that the
blizzard of February, 1883, brought losses to ths Mudge ranch as it did to the other sheep
men of that area.
THE MUDGE RANCH 291
been horses, too— thoroughbred driving horses, saddle horses, well-
trained cow ponies, strong work horses, and tough-skinned mules.20
In haying time when there was extra work to be done, 25 or 30 men
would be employed. Two or three good teams were kept continu-
ally on the road to freight supplies from Kinsley, Larned, or Dodge.
Some farming was done on the ranch; hay, rye, oats, millet, and
barley were grown.
A horse stable of stone 83 by 22 feet had been built in the south
bank of Dry creek. And in the sheds of the big corral there were
stalls for horses boxed off, some of which had plank floors — a
luxury almost unknown in Hodgeman county houses of that time.
The north wall of the stable was stone, while the south side was
dug into the bank with a row of windows above, through which feed
from the adjoining feed yard could be pushed down into the
mangers. In this stable one room was partitioned off and known
as the harness room. In it were two bunks on which the two
hostlers slept. They not only cared for the horses but kept the
harness in good repair, for Mudge delighted in good horses and fine
driving equipment. While still living in Larned, his high-headed
thoroughbreds in the gold-mounted harness, hitched to an expen-
sive buggy, were counted one of the sights of the countryside. He
always made the trip from Larned to the ranch in record-breaking
time.21
The great sport of the visitors from the East was riding over the
limitless prairies and hunting anything to be found from jack rabbits
to antelope. Many of the early settlers tell of seeing the gay
horse-back parties galloping over the winding trails. Beautiful
women in elaborate riding costumes, accompanied by the men in
cowboy outfits, more decorative than useful, rode over the muddy
Buckner ford. Mrs. Perry said she knew of at least one duke who
visited at the ranch in its heyday. He and Mudge stopped at the
Andrews home one evening on their way to Burdett. His rig-out
was the most costly and handsome she had ever seen. What tales
of adventure he must have taken back to tell his friends in sedate
old England! 22
20. Cowboy, October 18, 1884. — At that time there were 12 head of milk cows and 20
head of domestic horses on the ranch.
21. At least one newspaper reference was made to Mudge's fast horses. S. S. Prouty,
editor of the Cowboy, had spent two days at the ranch and was driven by Mudge to Kins-
ley to take the train. On the way they stopped at another ranch and stayed overlong.
With 16 miles yet to go, the distance was accomplished by Mudge's flyers in Just one hour
and 15 minutes.
22. Jetmore Reveille, July 22, 1885.— "A distinguished party consisting of Harry
Mudge, Gross Longendyke, Franklin Rubere and Lord Rawliston an Englishman, have
gone on a buffalo hunt. They are fully equipped for the expedition, and will go as far as
the Colorado line and expect to be gone about two weeks."
292 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Harry Mudge was an excellent horseman, the handsomest rider
in the country. He usually wore English hunting clothes, breeches
and boots, a big white hat with a silk handkerchief for a hat band.
One of the stories about him says that one day at Lamed, where
he was considered a dude and a tenderfoot, a horse was brought
out for him to ride. The horse of course pitched badly but in spite
of all its attempts to throw him off, Mudge rode it successfully. He
did have the misfortune to lose his watch in the fracas and could
not find it. Later some fellows found it and were given a $25
reward.
Mr. Gleason thought at least four of the most valuable driving
horses at the ranch were shipped in from the East, probably from
Boston. Among these equine aristocrats was a race horse that came
all the way from Boston in a special car by himself. Great speed
was expected of this horse, but a wiry little cow pony could out-
run him, a fact that caused considerable mirth among the hands at
the ranch. A polo field was laid out on the south side of the ranch
house and Mudge and his guests played polo on the only polo field
that has ever been laid out in Hodgeman county.
When the sheep were sold, besides the 400 head of ordinary
Durham cattle that took the place of the sheep, Mudge began
buying horses — wild mustangs from Colorado.23 There were 14
head in the first bunch; Charley Rupp and Roy Lang say some of
them died. There were 75 in the next bunch for which the Gleason
boys went to Colorado. Then Mudge began buying horses at
home — getting a bunch of mangy scrubs from George Ripple, a
rancher south of the Buckner.24 Of the next herd he bought, two
thirds were locoed. When Mudge decided that something must be
done to cure the mangy horses, he mixed up some dope which was
to be applied by dipping a rag in the mess and rubbing it on the
horse until its hair was thoroughly soaked. The horses were so
wild that the hands had to rope and throw them in order to get
close enough to doctor them. When one side was doped the horse
had to be again thrown to dope the other side. It took several days
to finish this job. Lang also told of a wild roan that Mudge under-
took to train. He kept it on a picket rope and taught it to eat
sugar out of a pan and then continued its education by accustoming
23. According to the Cowboy, the Mudge ranch had 400 head of range cattle and 170
head of range horses in October, 1884. There was an eager demand for horses in western
Kansas at that time. Although the wild horses were small and difficult to break and work,
they were readily sold. Herds of horses were also brought up from Texas and sold in
Dodge City.
24. Cowboy, September 8, 1883. — "Maj. H. S. Mudge . . . purchased sixty head
of horses from Ripple Bros., Tuesday last."
THE MUDGE RANCH 293
it to the whip. He never stayed with it long enough to conquer it;
the horse was given a lesson and then forgotten for several days
or weeks. One day when the trainer cracked the whip the horse be-
came frightened and almost broke its neck. Thereupon the horse
was tied to a big log which would move slightly when the horse ran
into the rope. During the next training period the horse began
running and kicking and dragged the log all the way to the pres-
ent site of Hanston.
It was Mudge's dream to extend his ranch until it reached the
Buckner on the south and the Pawnee on the north.25 In order to
carry out this ambition he persuaded young fellows to come here
to file on pre-emptions. Some of them were from the East looking
for adventure and thrills like Mudge himself and others were West-
erners who were broke and only too glad to get enough money to
take them out of the country. These pre-emptors were required
to live on their places six months, then by "paying out" on the land
they could prove up. Mudge would stand the expense of filing,
hire the men at good wages to work on his ranch while they were
holding down their land and then pay the $200 for the patent. As
soon as the patent came from the government it was turned over to
Mudge. Hence it was that Mudge had a decided penchant for
pre-emptors but little use for homesteaders. When Peter Hoehn
went asking for rock to wall up his well, Mudge asked him, "Have
you a homestead or a pre-emption?" When Hoehn said he was a
homesteader, the big rancher answered, "No, you can't have any
rock. I don't want any homesteaders in here."
The county records show only a little over forty quarters to which
Mudge actually gained title. These quarters of land were scat-
tered in checkerboard effect around the homeplace — only three
solid sections were included, and several quarters were in mile
strips. In some places several sections lay between the holdings
of the ranch but this in-between land was vacant in the early days
and the ranch cattle ranged over it just the same as if it had been
bought and paid for.
25. Throughout 1883 Mudge was very active buying land and stocking it with cattle.
He joined the West Central Kansas Stockgrower's Association composed of the ranchers
of that area. The local newspaper had an item on his activities nearly every week and in
contrast to the earlier whole-hearted approval of his venture, the tone had now become
slightly mocking.
Jetmore Reveitte, March 14, 1883. — "Millionaire Mudge has filed petitions to have four
sections of School land brought into the market which he intends to buy. With the excep-
tion of a few claims, this will give him the command of a township of land."
May 2, 1883.— ifC. E. Wilson has sold out his ranch in Marena township to H. S.
Mudge."
June 20, 1883. — "Harry Hudge [stc] the land king of Hodgeman, and W. P. Peter of
Lamed were in town arranging . . . land business."
August 29, 1883.— "Henry S. Hudge [sic], the cattle King of Hodgeman, and his friend
Tucker were in town last week."
294 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Mike Gleason proved up on a quarter of what is now known
( 1931 ) as the Holt place and sold it to Mudge. The quarter of land
just west of Hanston on which the high school stands was filed on
by Bill Keys, who agreed to sell to Mudge and made arrangements
to leave. Before closing the deal, Mudge took one of his sudden
trips east and forgot about buying land until he came back. Then,
sorry for keeping Keys waiting so long he gave him a check for
$450, to pay him for waiting. Mudge also bought the place famous
in local history as Duncan's Crossing.26 Reports differ as to just
what happened to the logs of this old place. But Quincy Mack
and Mike and Dan Gleason were among those who helped tear
down the old stockade and haul it to the ranch where the logs were
sawed into firewood that warmed Mudge's living room.
Not so many spectacular stories come to us about the manage-
ment of the cattle. They were herded most of the time, but two
sections were fenced for reserve grass near the ranch. The posts
for this fence were of stone.27 In order to fasten the wire to the
posts, holes were bored in them, wooden pegs driven in the holes
and the wire stapled to the wood. These two fenced sections lay
just west of the ranch buildings and besides being a pasture they
served also for a training ground. Sportsman that he was, Mudge
sometimes brought a pugilist friend of his out to the strenuous west
to train for the ring and the six-mile jaunt around the pasture was
part of the training.
Joining the pasture was a drift fence 28 extending east from the
ranch for a number of miles, following the section line closely ex-
cept where it wound around the buildings. Most of these posts
were also stone. Mudge hired Maxwell, a man from Texas, for his
boss herder. He declared feeding cattle was foolish — they never
fed them in Texas — so Mudge ordered his hands to stop feeding.
The first winter was mild and the cattle got along fairly well on the
range; the next winter was bad, but still he would not let his
hands feed until the last part of the winter when the cattle began
dying for want of something to eat. Then there was so much feed
left that he did not know what to do with it except to burn it to get
26. Duncan's Crossing was on the old Fort Hays-Fort Dodge road where it crossed the
Pawnee river. John O'Loughlin established a trading post there in 1869 and built a log
bridge and stockade. In 1872 when the Santa Fe railroad was built into Dodge, O'Lough-
lin envisioning a cessation of his trade, sold his place to George Duncan. Through the
pioneer settlement period the place was known as Duncan's Crossing or Duncan's ranch.
By 1880 the crossing was in bad shape, as reported in the Buckner Independent of August
12, 1880.
27. The stone used for these posts as well as for all the ranch buildings was the
Greenhorn or Fence post limestone, which was quarried in blocks and used for posts all
over that part of Kansas where the formation appears at or near the surface.
28. Drift fences were not to keep the cattle off the neighbor's corn but rather to pre-
vent them from drifting away before the wind in a storm.
THE MUDGE RANCH 295
it out of the way.29 When it was time to ship, Mudge took his
cattle to Kansas City,80 unloaded them at the stockyards but failed
to receive any offer for them that he would accept.81 Unwilling to
take less than the price expected, he reloaded them and went on to
Chicago. The long journey had not improved the condition of the
cattle nor did it increase the chance of getting a better price. How-
ever, he sold them and proceeded to have a good time on the money
he did get, and the good time was not limited to the cattle money
as excess bills began coming to the ranch long before Mudge re-
turned.
Luckily the ranch was not required to run on its own income.
Mudge's father had placed his son's inheritance in investments in
large woolen mills in the hands of trustees. Harry Mudge could
not touch the principal, but he had a yearly income that seemed
like fabulous wealth compared to the meager subsistence his
neighboring settlers wrung from their homesteads. Rumors vary
as to the amount — the lowest being $75,000 annually and the high-
est, $33,000 quarterly.82 Yet this was not too much.
Although Harry Mudge failed as a business man and rancher,
he did much better as a host and playboy. The extravagant tales of
this part of his life in Kansas center about the ranch house and its
plush appointments. The house was built in the old-fashioned
L shape,83 the main part running north and south facing west, 20
feet wide and 85 feet long; the other wing, 16 by 45 was built
east from the north end of the main building. In the corner
formed by these two wings was a sort of lean-to addition in which
29. During the early 1880's there was a great deal of controversy over the necessity of
feeding cattle in western Kansas during the winter. Most cattlemen insisted that it was not
necessary, any loss was too small a percentage to affect the profits. The argument was
pursued constantly in the Cowboy throughout its two years or more of publication. Up
until 1883 the weather was very dry and the cattle wintered quite well with little loss.
But then the weather turned into its wetter cycle and in the rainy, icy springs of 1884 and
1885 the cattle, already weakened by a winter of exposure, died by the hundreds. Many
of the cattlemen went broke in 1885 still refusing to admit that cattle should be fed
through the winter. Harry Mudge was only following the tenets of the stockgrower's asso-
ciation when he tried to carry his cattle through the winter without feeding. Where he
differed from the others, perhaps, was that he had feed and could have used ft. The
others had none.
30. Mudge did not always take his cattle to Kansas City. "John Glaspie has purchased
85 calves of H. S. Mudge [at $16 a head]." — Cowboy, February 9, 1884.
31. As to prices, Mudge began his cattle venture at exactly the wrong time. Com-
mencing in 1884, cattle prices went down steadily and for a decade afterwards there was
little money made in the cattle business.
32. Henry Mudge's father, Enoch Redington Mudge, died in Swampscott, Mass., Octo-
ber 1, 1881, and his will was probated October 24, 1881, at Salem, Essex county, Mass.,
where these facts of inheritance have been verified. Most of the estate was left in a trust
fund for the wife and three children. The widow died within a few months, early in 1882.
Thereafter the income from the trust fund of $1,733,017 was divided between the three
children equally. It would seem that Harry Mudge's income from this trust was some-
what exaggerated by his Kansas neighbors, although it was substantial.
33. Though this ranch-house style may have been old-fashioned when this story was
written (1931), it is very much in the fashion today (1958) and its arrangement there-
fore of some contemporary interest.
296 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
was the bath room. A big veranda ran almost the full length of
the front of the house, and there were other porches in the back.
A windmill and a large supply tank furnished the house with run-
ning water.
The main door led into a spacious entrance hall from which the
parlor opened on the right and the dining room on the left. While
an attempt was made to carry out a rustic lodge-like effect in these
rooms, the furnishings were probably the most elegant and costly
ones ever brought to this county. In the parlor deep piled rugs
imported from foreign lands covered the floor; paintings worth a
small fortune hung on the wall; a Chickering grand piano, guitar
and other musical instruments stood in one corner.34 Add to this a
marble center table, a full size triple mirror, lounges, easy chairs,
soft rich velvet hangings and huge brass fire dogs before the fire-
place.
The dining room was in the corner of the L of the house. There
the many guests, who came by couples and half dozens from Bos-
ton, New York, and closer Kansas towns, ate from the daintiest
china 35 with heavy monogrammed silver forks. Sparkling cut glass
was reflected in the mirror and in the polished surface of the wide
sideboard. Two book cases in this room were filled with valuable
books, for their owner was a student of many subjects.36 Against
the mantle in this room leaned many a noted guest, even the English
duke himself, as he sipped the famous Mudge cocktails and watched
34. Along with his other accomplishments, Harry Mudge was an excellent musician and
pianist. Mrs. Caldwell collected a number of tales of his destructive way with inferior
S'anos when in his cups. One of these incidents took place in the Long Branch saloon
Dodge City where the manager kept asking Mudge to play for the crowd. Angered, he
finally got up and stomped on the piano and then wrote a check to the proprietor saying,
"Get a good piano, if you want me to play." In another case, when urged to play in a
hotel, he tried the instrument. When its tone did not suit him, he decided the piano
needed greasing and finding a kerosene can he poured its whole content into the instru-
ment. The third piano incident took place in a music store in Kinsley, where a girl was
playing the piano while Mudge was making purchases. He asked the musician to fore-
bear until he was out of the shop. When she paid no attention to his protest, he went on
a rampage and tore up the piano. Then as always he wrote the compensatory check.
35. Mudge was quite as particular about the dishes set before him as he was about the
pianos on which he played. One time at the Galland hotel in Dodge, he was staging a
banquet for some friends when he discovered a nicked dish on the table. He kicked the
table over and told the management, "I'm a gentleman, don't feed me out of broken dishes."
36. S. S. Prouty also described this dining room and its books in the Cowboy, October
18, 1884. — "The dining hall serves the purpose of a convival and social room as well as
for gastronomic exercises. In the centre stands a heavy table, on which the viands are
spread for festive occasions. A huge chimney with another old-fashioned fireplace, pro-
trudes into the room at one end leaving an alcove at one side which is occupied by a
handsome side-board liberally supplied with an assortment of the choicest fluids the earth
produces. In one corner stands a writing desk and in another a large stand supporting
literary publications, pipes, tobacco, and cigars. Books and reading matter are seen in
every room. Among the publications that visit this ranch regularly are the New York Daily
Herald, the Chicago Daily Tribune, Boston Daily Herald, Wilke's Spirit of the Times,
London Punch, San Francisco Argonant, Puck, Harper's Weekly, Harper's Monthly, Atlantic
Monthly, The Century. Rue des Monde, of Paris, and many local newspapers. The books
consist of ... classical and modern literature; scientific, medical and legal works
and poems by the most famous authors of the world. A literary man can here revel to his
heart's content in the gratification of his intellectual taste."
THE MUDGE RANCH 297
the crackling fire eat into a log that had once been part of an In-
dian stockade.87
East of the dining room was the pantry, the kitchen and the
dining room for the help. In 1883 Granville Bradshaw cooked
for the hands and at the same time Harry Shackley from the East
was the cook for the master and the guests. Since they both
cooked in the same kitchen, Granville often complained that it was
easier for Shackley to dip what he wanted out of Granville's kettles
than to cook his own dishes. Shackley also had a tendency to skip
out at dish washing time to take the laundry to Marena.38 Louie
Bigno, who lost his H's in England and never recovered them in
Kansas, waited on the guests.39 A funny story is told of him. One
day while he was busy in the pantry during one of the frequent
shooting sprees of the host and his guests, a piece of plaster torn
loose by a stray bullet, fell on his head. He thought he was shot and
ran to inform his employer he was killed. The only sympathy he
got was, "Hell, you got to keep out of the way. We got to have
some fun."
At the extreme south end of the house was Mudge's sleeping
chamber. The bedstead in this, as in the guest rooms, was of heavy
iron — probably the first of such style to reach Hodgeman county.
In front of the bed lay a beautiful white polar bear rug. Stuck on
the dresser and hung on the walls were souvenirs of every descrip-
tion— dance programs, banquet favors, a glove, a fan, et cetera. In
this room, too, there was a fireplace.
Among his supplies Mudge kept a miniature drug store of medi-
cine and first-aid materials. For besides having a bachelor of arts
degree and a diploma in music, Mudge was also a graduate physi-
cian, having studied medicine in this country, at Paris and in Ger-
many.40 It was said that he would never go to see a patient, yet
37. It must have been quite a problem to find wood for the many fireplaces of the
house. That from Duncan's Crossing could not have gone very far. Roy Lang said that
one year he and John Bradshaw, George Scott and Norman Stapleton hauled 150 cords
of wood to the ranch from Walnut creek, a distance of at least 25 miles. The Mooney
families, who homesteaded on the Walnut and had a considerable grove of trees on their
land, supplied some of this wood.
38. Marena was a community near the present Hanston of today. When the railroad
came in 1887, it by-passed Marena and Hanston was built on the railroad.
39. Cowboy, Ipc cit. — S. S. Prouty was also impressed by the food served at the ranch:
"The cuisine of this house is as elaborate and artistic as that of any of the noted restaurants
in the east. The larder is supplied with stores of the choicest kinds, and two cooks, highly
accomplished in their profession, prepared the food for the tables. Breakfast and dinner
constitute the only regular meals served. The breakfast hour is 11 a. m. and dinner is served
at 7 p. m. It is customary, however, for the occupants of the house to partake of light re-
freshment at 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning, as their taste may elect. A guest can repair
to the dining hall at any time he may choose, and by touching a bell a magic effect is
producible. In response to the touch a genii appears, in the shape of a well-bred English
male servant, with the power to summon at will nearly every article that can be con-
ceived of for the gratification of the palate, and it is his pleasure to promptly execute the
order of the guest."
40. Letter from the archives of Harvard College Library: "Henry Mudge entered
Harvard College in 1870 and is in our records as a member of the class of 1874, although
he did not receive his degree (A. B.) until 1876. He was in the Harvard Medical School
for three years (1875-1878) but did not graduate."
298 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
he often sent medicine to those who were ill. Quincy Mack tells
that when his father was foreman at the ranch and his mother was
holding down the claim, she became so ill they sent for his father.
When Mack asked for leave of absence to care for his wife, Mudge
inquired about her symptoms and sent medicine along which gave
her immediate relief. If an ill person were described to Mudge he
would send medicine and never charge for it, but unless he came
upon the sick by accident, he would not go near. When any of the
hands became ill or were injured he doctored them or set broken
bones. During a smallpox epidemic he vaccinated all his men.
One more room of the house should be mentioned, the one at
the extreme eastern end, which was divided from the rest of the
house by a solid stone wall. This room was an afterthought, added
after the major part of the house had been built. One story has it
that when the house was almost completed Mudge suddenly ex-
claimed, "What if one of us should die out here. We have to have
some place to put us." Hence he gave orders for the building of
this room which was thereafter jokingly referred to as the "dead
man's room." It was never used as such, for it was occupied by
Lawrence Tucker,41 a wealthy friend of Mudge, who acted as his
secretary and, in his absence, as his manager.
Under the east wing of the house was the cellar, the most im-
portant part of which was the wine cellar under the corner dining
room. Former employees say the stock of the cellar was replenished
constantly. Whole barrels of whiskey were stored there. Mr.
Gleason, one of the freighters, hauled wine, whiskey, brandy, rum
and beer from Kinsley by the wagon load. Mudge never gave his
hands anything to drink and he expected them to stay sober while
working at the ranch. But as the boss was often gone, the hands
sometimes sneaked downstairs and helped themselves. Guests had
free access to the cellar as a rule, but when one evening Gus
Yesogee was discovered refreshing himself, Mudge facetiously
locked the door on him and then pretended the key had been lost.
The help thought their employer, quite as drunk as Gus, had lost
41. Robert Means Lawrence, Descendants of Major Samuel "Lawrence (Cambridge,
1904), pp. 80, 81. Lawrence Tucker, born 1844, whose mother was a Lawrence, enlisted
in the U. S. army in 1861, but his father thought he was too young for army service and
secured his dismissal. He was graduated from Harvard in 1865 and spent the next seven
years in Europe, mostly in Paris. Returning to his native land, he again entered Harvard
in 1872 and was graduated from a law course in 1875. He was admitted to the bar but
never practiced law. He spent three years on a ranch in Kansas. Returning to Boston he
was foremost in organizing the Boston Athletic Association in 1887.
S. S. Prouty wrote: ''Mr. Lawrence Tucker, the book-keeper, and manager in the ab-
sence of Mr. M[udge]., can hardly be considered in the light of an employee, for he is an
old friend and confidential adviser of Mr. Mudge, and is there more for the benefit of
health than anything else. Mr. Tucker is a grand nephew of the late Amos Lawrence, of
Boston, the wealthy philanthropist, in honor of whom the city of Lawrence, Kansas, was
named. He is a graduate of the law department of Harvard University, is a gentleman of
culture and refinement, has travelled in Europe and is the owner of a fortune.
THE MUDGE RANCH 299
the key. After Mudge had had his fun, he discovered the key and
unlocked the door.
While expecting his own cowboys to do their drinking and ca-
rousing elsewhere, Mudge once extended his hospitality to 40
round-up boys from the Smoky, who were camping on the creek
watching their herds. They all got gloriously drunk and forgot
their cattle.42 For some years the creek bed below the ranch was
full of pop cases, whiskey bottles, and beer kegs. While Mudge
drank heavily, he took excellent care of his health, often living for
several days on buttermilk after one of his wild carousals.
Easterners who visited the ranch for the first time were initiated
into the brotherhood of the Wild and Wooly West. Drinking and
shooting were always a part of this ceremony, and the hands might
be awakened at any hour of the night by shots coming from the
house where some poor sucker was learning the ways of the West.
After the tenderfoot was drunk, the Westerners would shoot at his
feet to make him dance or they would shoot over his head and then
daub pigeon blood or any red liquid on him to make him think he
had been shot. If he were brave enough to take a hand in the
shooting too, they would put the "blood" on another drunk and
show the novice where he had shot a man. The bullet holes in the
walls, ceilings, and heavy oak doors gave testimony for years after-
ward to these wild parties.43
One cold snowy night, during one of these hilarious sprees, the
victim escaped through an outside door and his tormentors were
unable to find him. The next morning when the firewater had
worn off, Mudge and the other guests realized what had happened
and a grand search began. Had the fellow perished on the prairie?
No— frightened into comparative sobriety he had run into the
"dead" room, crawled under the bed and remained there all night.
Henry Mudge was an excellent shot and surprisingly enough
with all the shooting that went on, no one was hurt outside of being
scared to death. Mudge sometimes demonstrated his marksman-
ship in odd ways. One day when he was trying to bargain with a
colored woman for a piece of land he wanted to buy from her, their
conversation was made difficult by the clacking of a flock of
42. There are other stories of this sort. One night Mudge heard the Bazine band,
tootling along in their wagon on the way home from a nolitical rally at Jetmore. He sent
a messenger to call them in and entertained them royally. — Ness County News, Ness City,
May 31, 1930.
43. C. W. Macy, of Hanston, who lived as a boy in the old Mudge ranch house, said
his mother was much distressed by the bullet holes in all the doors. Many of them were
large enough to put a finger through and therefore most undesirable particularly in bed-
room doors. Mrs. Macy finally bought an assortment of corks and pushed into these holes.
300 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
guinea fowls near by. Taking out his revolver, Mudge shot the
guineas, one at a time. The good woman protested, saying she
would not have taken a dollar a piece for her fowls. Mudge counted
the birds, wrote the check and then proceeded with the land deal.
On another occasion his aim was not so good. On warm nights the
big rancher was accustomed to sleeping out, roughing it on the
grassy prairie. One morning as the air cooled toward dawn, he
acquired a companion that wriggled into his blankets and snuggled
up to get warm. Leaping wildly from his bed, Mudge completely
riddled his expensive Navaho blankets before he finally hit his rat-
tlesnake bedfellow.
There were always a great number of dogs at the ranch. They
were used for hunting, and Mudge also apparently fancied himself
in the role of country squire when he rode three times a week to
Middle Branch post office for the mail.44 Mounted on his thor-
oughbred with a mail sack thrown over his shoulder, he would
prance along with a pack of 25 dogs or so following behind. Hunt-
ing hounds were imported from the East but dogs were also bought
from the settlers. It was easy to persuade Mudge that a dog was
worth from $25 to $75. Then if the canine failed to do what his
late owner had promised, the dog would end his days as a target in
the shooting matches.45 Only one specific tale of the hunting
prowess of the dogs remains. Tucker and Mudge once located a
nest of skunks near the house but refrained from molesting them
until the day's festivities were in full swing. Then the guests, ladies
and all, were invited to take a walk to see the surprise planned for
them. The dogs quickly found the skunks and soon cleaned them
out, returning to fawn odorously on all the watching party to the
delight of the jokers.
Those were the days too when prairie fires scourged the Plains,
making waste both the cattleman's grass and the settler's crops.
When Mudge would see the telltale smoke billowing up on the
horizon, driven by the Kansas gale, no matter how far away the
fire or how far out of its path his own ranch might be, he would
call his hands from whatever work they might be at and order them
to fight the fire. Pandemonium reigned while the men rushed
wildly about collecting the fire-fighting equipment — plows, shovels,
sacks, and barrels. While the teams were being harnessed and
44. This post office was on the Buckner, SE *4, Sec. 31, T 22 S, R 22 W. The ranch
received great quantities of mail. See Footnote 36 for periodicals that came regularly.
45. Another target used in the shooting matches when dogs or sheep were not avail-
able, was milk pans from the kitchen. The cook was always complaining he had no pans.
Presumably tin cans were not suitable targets for gentlemen.
THE MUDGE RANCH 301
hitched to the wagons in double quick time, the advance guard,
Mudge included, would be on its way on horseback. When the
wagons were loaded with old whiskey barrels, hastily filled with
water, the driver yelled "Ready/* and the rest of the hands scurried
to clamber over the sides of the wagon boxes and cling to the lurch-
ing, dripping barrels as the outfit lumbered over the prairie re-
gardless of buffalo wallows or washouts. As the wheels hit a con-
cealed rock or coyote hole, the jolt would slop the precious water
over the yelling, joking men. But enough was left to wet the sacks
to beat out the creeping flames. Many a settler's homestead was
saved by Mudge and his rollicking fire fighters.
Playboy Mudge also sought amusement in the near-by towns.
Perhaps every hotel, saloon, and gaming alley in Dodge and Kinsley
had the marks of the Mudge pistol or boasted damages that had
been covered by the Mudge check. If the window in the hotel did
not open easily, he kicked it out. He liked to rent a saloon for the
night and entertain his friends without the aid of the management,
no matter how high the price set to evade such an arrangement.
If the stock of liquor was not consumed by the guests, the bottles
and their contents were strewn on the floor.46 With all these wild
carousings there is only one story of Mudge coming through with
anything more than a hang-over. While the gay dog often stayed in
Dodge for a week at a time, he once stayed so much longer than
usual that one of the hands went down to see what was the matter.
Mudge was found with a black eye and a banged-up face and quite
ready to come home but he never confided what had happened to
him. In fact even when drinking, Mudge managed to keep his
head pretty well. One day he drove Tom Yesogee, brother of Gus,
to Kinsley to take the train to Boston. While waiting, they drank
in the saloons until they were both quarrelsome and Mudge knocked
his friend down in the street. Yesogee then perversely refused to
get up and was in danger of missing his train. Noticing an old
wheelbarrow near by, Mudge bundled him in and got him to the
train in time.
It is believed that the Mudge adventure lasted almost six years.
Although it was in no way evident to observers, who told the tale
of the ever-ready check book and the always generous check, the
Mudge money began to run short as early at 1883, at the very time
when the big rancher was buying land and cattle in quantity. On
46. This story is told specifically about one of the Kinsley saloons. There were two
of them at the time, Jake Smith's and Floor's. One night Jake Smith, after the Mudge
crowd had visited and departed, decided he wanted no more of them and locked up his
place and went home. But the celebrators were not through they came back, broke down
the door and helped themselves. Of course, Mudge paid the damages.
302 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
May 15 of that year, Mudge gave a mortgage for $15,000 on the
land of the ranch to J. S. Knox of Topeka. The next year on No-
vember 1 he gave a chattel mortgage for $7,700 to the First Na-
tional Bank of Larned on the stock of the ranch. This mortgage
covered 300 head of Durham cows, 110 calves, 60 head of northern
Texas mares, 16 grade Morgan colts, four work mules, five work
horses, six driving horses, and 12 saddle horses. The final mortgage
was given to W. P. Peter of Larned, April 18, 1885, on the following
security:
All furniture and household goods now in my possession and in my house situ-
ated on the SW& of 31-21-22 in Hodgeman County, Kansas, including piano,
music and musical instruments; books, sewing machine, glass, china and silver-
ware; sideboard, pictures, mirrors, and other ornaments, clothing, chest, clock,
churn and milk pans, together with all fire arms and all other household
effects therein, not here enumerated.47
In 1885 the entire ranch property passed into the hands of a re-
ceiver, A. D. Cronk of Kinsley.48 The local gossip was that Mudge
had overdrawn his allowance for three or more years ahead and
could raise no more money. He remained on the ranch while its
appointments were being liquidated.49
Harry Mudge took the failure of his ranch as debonairly as he
had its more prosperous period and his behavior remained as in-
teresting as ever to the other settlers thereabout. A carriageful of
people accompanied by a number of couples on horseback came a
long distance to the sale.50 They got there about noon and Mudge
insisted that they stay to lunch. The extravagant luxuries were
47. This data on the mortgages was searched out from the Hodgeman county records
by L. W. Hubbell of Jetmore. It is to wonder what was the true valuation of this ranch.
The agricultural census of 1885 listed the improvements as worth $56,000. The Cowboy,
October 18, 1884, probably overestimated the investment: "The improvements on the
ranch have cost upwards of $20,000 and the land $30,000. It would take $100,000 to
purchase the property."
48. The first newspaper notice of the Mudge ranch receivership was in the Kinsley Mer-
cury, June 20, 1885:
FOR SALE
I have for sale at the Mudge ranch in Hodgeman county, about thirty-two miles north-
west of Kinsley, and seven miles north-east from Jetmore, a large quantity of real estate
and personal property, consisting of:
140 head of high grade cows and heifers.
50 head of horses, broke and unbroke.
All the real estate belonging to the Henry S. Mudge ranch.
A very large quantity and variety of household furniture. In fact, all the property
belonging to one or the most finely equipped ranches in southwestern Kansas.
A. D. CRONK, receiver.
This notice ran unchanged in every issue of the paper until May, 1886. Mudge not
only remained on the ranch throughout the summer of 1885 but also entertained Lord
Rawlston on the buffalo hunt. Lawrence Tucker was back, too, having returned in May
after astonishing the Bostonians with his cowboy attire. — Jetmore Reveille, May 13, 1885.
49. Other large ranches also went into receivership at this time — for one, that of Gross
Longendyke, president of the West Central Kansas Stockgrower's Association. As the Jet-
more Reveille, December 30, 1885, remarked sourly, "The judge of the district court ap-
pointed a Kinsley man receiver of the Mudge estate, and a Larned man receiver of the
Longendyke ranch. Could he find no one in Hodgeman county competent for these places?"
50. Very few mementoes of the old ranch remain in Hodgeman county. Mrs. Emma
Perry had a monogrammed silver fork for some years; L. W. Hubbell has a champagne
bottle and Mrs. Frank Salmans a pair of andirons.
THE MUDGE RANCH 303
over; the servants were gone except perhaps one man in the kitchen,
a region to which the host made frequent trips while entertaining
his visitors. For lunch they had watermelon, toast, and tea which
Mudge served with all the charm and hospitality of a prince. The
guests all agreed that in spite of its sparseness, they had never
enjoyed a meal more. One of the party said of the host, "He was
the most interesting person I ever met."
After lunch was over the younger people in the group wanted to
play tennis. They had never seen a game and although the sun
was boiling that afternoon Mudge endeavored to instruct them as
long as they chose to prance around. When driven indoors by the
heat, Mudge supplied them all with fans. One of the girls hit her
eye with her fan and it swelled alarmingly. Mudge insisted on
putting some medicine into the eye, having first tactfully dropped a
little in his own eye to demonstrate its harmlessness.
Late in the afternoon when the party took their departure, Mudge
decided he would ride along to get a sack of feed corn from an old
house east of the ranch. As they rode down the Buckner valley the
sun set and the air became chilly. Having started without a coat
Mudge decided he needed a wrap more than he needed corn.
Alighting at a big cottonwood tree he had one of the party measure
to see if the sack would reach around his portliness. It just reached,
so he cut out the corners and a hole for his head. With the help
of the others he managed to squeeze into the sack. Then laughing
at the wrinkled tightness of this waistcoat, he rode away into the
sunset. His ranching experiment might be over but the adventure
and reckless gaiety for which he had come West were still his.
When the mortgages on the ranch were foreclosed many of the
hands had pay coming to them. They had been hired by Mudge
and the succeeding management did not pay them. But none of
the old ranch hands felt greatly cheated, for they had received top
pay and good treatment while the venture was solvent. Mrs. Hann,
who had always laundered the fine linen of the ranch, was also left
with an unpaid bill. Mudge paid at the rate of one dollar a dozen
for the towels and napkins and there was at the last $750 owing.
When asked what she would take in settlement of this debt, she
mentioned a certain quarter of land. Sometime after the crash,
Mudge sent her the deed which her descendants still hold. Hanston
was partially laid out on this 'laundry" quarter early in 1886.
When Harry Mudge finally left Hodgeman county he did not
entirely relinquish his interest in the West.51 One or another of
51. Lawrence Tucker, living at the Somerset club in Boston, continued to take the
Jrtmore paper. — Jetmore Reveille, June 9, 1886.
304 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the Hodgeman county folk had the word that Mudge was later in
Australia and again in South America. In 1903 L. W. Hubbell re-
ceived a letter from him at Bristol, Conn., asking about his one-time
playhouse, the old ranch.52 In 1908 the Kinsley Mercury reprinted a
clipping from the Boston Transcript telling of "the death of a man
whose memory is still green in Edwards county." Even in his obit-
uary Mudge's ranch experiment stands out as one of the more im-
portant ventures of his life.
. . . he engaged for five years in ... cattle raising and established
a ranch in Hodgeman county, Kansas. For two years he was private secretary
to the chief engineer of the construction of the elevated railroad of Brooklyn.
Some years later were spent in Australia and in the Far East.53
52. The ranch land was sold to many individuals, and probably quite readily, as 1885
1886 were boom years in western Kansas and farmers came by the thousands to re-
place the ranchers. The Mudge ranch house remained and was used as a dwelling for
many years. In 1946 when the place was purchased by Frank Salmans, the present owner,
the house was partially demolished and he removed the stones to build a house for his son
in a different location. Now (1958) there are not enough stones left to show the founda-
tion lines of the old house. There is however a hand-dug well, covered with a great round
stone, six inches thick. This is quite likely the original well that supplied the water for
the ranch house.
53. Kinsley Mercury, January 24, 1908. The death date was not given in the obituary.
The town clerk of Bristol, Conn., wrote Mr. Hubbell that Harry Mudge died January
6, 1908.
Foreigners of 1857-1865 at Schippel's Ferry,
Saline County
J. NEALE CARMAN
E most western foreign settlement in Kansas before 1861 l
•*• was just north of the Saline river near its mouth. It was about
three air miles northeast of Salina at Gotthart Schippel's ferry on
the south edge of Sec. 29, T. 13, R. 2 W. Gotthart Schippel 2 held
himself to be the oldest permanent resident of Saline county, a claim
disputed because in February, 1858, W. A. Phillips and his party
on the way to the first settling of Salina found empty the cabin
occupied by Gotthart and his brother John the summer before.
With spring they came back to reoccupy it.
The Schippels were born in Saxe- Weimar in Central Germany,
Gotthart in 1835. John lived from 1827 till 1885. The ties between
the brothers were close. Gotthart 3 landed at Montreal in 1852 and
worked successively at New York, at Blue Island, 111., and in Iowa
county, Iowa, before setting out for Kansas in 1857, always trending
west and south. In the new territory he determined to go on
beyond the area of conflict over free soil. This motivation affected
other foreigners in choosing their points of settlement.4
DR. J. NEALE CARMAN, author of several papers on foreign settlements in Kansas, is
a professor in the department of romance languages at the University of Kansas, Lawrence.
1. In "Continental Europeans in Rural Kansas, 1854-1861," Territorial Kansas, Uni-
versity of Kansas Social Science Studies (Lawrence, 1954), pp. 164-196, I asserted that
the German Baptist settlement near present Elmo was the most westerly foreign settlement
in territorial days. The statement above is a correction. The material for the present
article has as its written sources, besides others specified later: A. T. Andreas and W. G.
Cutler, History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883); Wm. E. Connelley, A Standard
History of Kansas and Kansans (Chicago, 1918), 5 vols.; John P. Edwards, Edwards Atlas
of Saline Co., Kans. (Philadelphia, 1884); Portrait and Biographical Record of Dickinson,
Saline, McPherson and Marion Counties, Kansas (Chicago, Chapman Bros., 1893), referred
to as the Chapman album; census records for 1865, 1870, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1895, and
1905 as preserved by the Kansas State Historical Society at Topeka. The 1860 census
neglected the settlement in question; everything west of the sixth principal meridian was
Arapahoe county, but the census takers worked only in that part of the county that
became Colorado.
Much of the essential information was furnished by the sons and daughters of the first
settlers, to whom the author gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness, though taking full
responsibility for all statements made; information was notably provided by John Giersch,
his wife, Emily Serault Giersch, Sister Ferdinand Giersch, Mrs. John (Rose Wessling)
Schippel, Charles F. Tressin and his sisters, Ernestine Tressin and Pauline Tressin.
2. The names appearing in this article are in Saline county currently pronounced as
follows: Gotthart as if written Goodheart; Schippel rhymes with tipple and alliterates with
ship; Giersch has the same vowel as in girl; Tressin — the last syllable is identical with
seen; Wary like the synonym of cautious; Itzen's first syllable is like the pronoun it, and
Donmyer, first syllable like done.
3. Notices on Gotthart Schippel appear in Andreas-Cutler, op. cit., p. 709; Chapman
album pp. 352-355; Connelley, op. cit., v. 5, p. 2718.
4. This motivation is fully implied in the 1918 Connelley, v. 5, p. 2718. A declared
case of similar motivation is that of the Lyon creek Germans. — See Territorial Kansas, p.
191.
(305)
20—4339
306 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The choice of Schippel's exact point of settlement doubtless re-
sulted not only from finding rich land with wood and water but
also from the existence of ready made shelter. The brothers took
over the cabin abandoned by "the government engineers who had
just completed a rough bridge across the Saline river." 5 That sum-
mer they put up hay and traded with the Indians, but in the fall
abandoned their outpost not only because they needed further pro-
visions, but more importantly because the Cheyennes, who were
warring upon the Pottawatomies, were a threat to anyone in the
area. The next year upon their return there were floods and the
bridge across the Saline was washed out. Gotthart Schippel estab-
lished a ferry and operated it for nine years, until the coming of
the railroad. It was a prosperous enterprise. The fee was one
dollar, and even that early, because of the gold strike in Colorado
in 1859, there were many very busy days, as many as 200 transports
a day. Indeed, the possession of riches became a source of fear. A
hollow tree served as a bank and the frugal brothers were never
robbed.
The two bachelors soon had neighbors, the Giersches. Peter
Giersch, senior, Nicholas Giersch, presumably a brother, and Peter's
sons, Peter, Jr., called "Big Pete," Stephen, Michael and John Peter
called "Little Pete" — the first three were grown — all arrived in
1859 or 1860. There was rich land for all the family to pre-empt,
and Peter, senior, a blacksmith, could profit from the traffic across
the river. Like the Schippels, the Giersches spoke German. Peter,
senior, bom 1805, was a Luxemburger; 6 his wife, Cecelia, born
1814, was French by nationality, born in the city of Metz. That
area was bilingual, so she spoke her husband's dialect, and her
children learned no French from her. Between 1870 and 1875 she
died, and the wife, Mary, whom Peter had in 1875, was Irish. The
Giersches immigrated to Washington county, Wisconsin, a few
miles northwest of Milwaukee about 1846, where John Peter, "Little
Pete," was born in 1848. At least part of the family, including
Stephen, made a sojourn of a year in Kansas City where news of
the characteristics of the country at the mouth of the Saline could
easily reach them.
5. Connelley, op. cit., v. 5, p. 2718; W. Turrentine Jackson, "The Army Engineers as
Road Surveyors and Builders in Kansas and Nebraska, 1854-1858," The Kansas Historical
Quarterly, v. 17 (February, 1949), pp. 42, 43.
6. The Giersches through several censuses gave themselves as Belgian, presumably
because Luxemburg was part of the nation of the Low Countries when Peter, Sr., was
born. Stephen called himself German in the census of 1905, presumably because of his
language and the general acceptance of the lower Meuse as German. The Luxemburg
identification is made by John and Emily Giersch.
FOREIGNERS AT SCHIPPEL'S FERRY 307
The farm of Peter Giersch, Sr., was next west from Schippels;
Stephen Giersch lived a little farther west still, one mile from the
ferry. Stephen remained there the rest of his life, instead of going
farther afield like his brothers, and so has something more than
passing interest for us. He was born abroad in 1840, and in 1865
was the husband of Amanda, born in 1841 or 1847 in Kentucky. In
the next five years she bore him three children, and then died. He
shortly took himself another wife, Josephine Poelma, born in 1850
in Holland, and coming to Kansas from Beloit, Wis. Her first born
arrived in 1872. This Dutch wife spoke German with her Luxem-
btirger husband while their older children were small, but not
habitually after the youngest arrived in the 1880's.
On the other side of the river some two miles down stream from
the ferry another German family settled a little before the Giersches;
the Lincks.7 Catherine Linck was born in Wurtemburg in 1820.
She and her husband came to America between 1844 and 1853,
and lived in Indiana before coming to Kansas. She appears to
have been a widow upon her arrival in Saline county, with a son
Jacob born in 1844 and at least five daughters, of whom the young-
est, Elizabeth, born in 1855, was only four or five years old.
Her motives for choosing the Saline-Smoky Hill junction as a
point of settlement are not easy to guess. She was evidently a
woman of physical vigor and forceful will, for after Jacob's de-
parture between 1865 and 1870 she stayed on her farm with her
two youngest daughters and is said to have ended her days there.
The census of 1880 does not include her in the proper township,
but in 1875 she was qualified a "farmer" and her place valued at
$10,000. Only four other estates in the township were worth more.
The Edwards Atlas of 1884 still showed her name upon the land.
She was well known, but seems to have had few intimate friends.
The marriages made by her daughters were with men of solid
qualities, but none of the families remained in the immediate neigh-
borhood; rather they are connected with the early history of Ottawa
county to the north. As an example, her daughter Mary, born in
1841, married in 1860 a young Englishman named Israel Markley,
"a man of good business tact and a great deal of energy." 8 Markley,
born 1834 in Cambridgeshire, came to Illinois, north of Chicago in
7. "Mrs. Link" is included by Andreas-Cutler, op. cit., p. 700, in the list of those
arriving before 1860.
8. The quotation is from Andreas-Cutler, op. cit., p. 698. It has greater value than
such words of praise usually have in Andreas, for it occurs in the write-up of Saline county
dS P0tt disinterested informant, while Markley's purchased biography is to be found
308 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
1856, to Kansas in 1857, and after residences in Franklin and Jack-
son counties, appeared in newly founded Salina in 1859. His capital
was that gained by peddling, but he built houses in the new town
and took Mary for his wife the next year. He was one of the ap-
pointed commissioners at the county's organization in 1859; his
name does not appear, however, among the county officers elected
in 1861, when Gotthart Schippel became a commissioner, and Peter
Giersch a justice of the peace.9
In 1863 Israel Markley deserted the Smoky Hill and Saline rivers
for the Solomon, on which he built a mill at Minneapolis, before
the town was really founded; a little later the Markley interests
also had another mill at Bennington. Sometimes his former neigh-
bors at the mouth of the Saline hauled their grain over the hilly
ridge between the rivers to be ground. Linguistically the Lincks
seem to have been Anglicized early. The Markley marriage indi-
cates as much, and while some of the other sisters married men with
German names, — Geissen, Fischer — their descendants indicate that
German was not the language of the family. Thus, Catherine Linck
and her family, though in the background of the settlement around
Schippel's ford, was not precisely part of it. This was partly be-
cause Mrs. Linck, though not particularly ardent religiously, was
sufficiently Protestant to become one of the charter members of
the New Cambria English Lutheran Church in 1873.10
John Itzen, born 1820 in Baden, who, undeterred by the drought
of 1860 settled a mile and a half east of SchippeFs the next year ( ac-
cording to the 1884 Edwards Atlas), was more indifferent to de-
nominations than Mrs. Linck. His wife and her parents were born
in Arkansas, and John therefore did not use German at home. His
six children attended with the Giersches and the Schippels the dis-
trict school (No. 3), here as elsewhere a great amalgamating force
in the community.
The Giersches were faithful Catholics, and though Gotthart
Schippel was a Lutheran, still declaring himself such in 1893,11 he
went along with the Giersches. In those days all Kansas west of
St. Mary's Mission (upstream from Topeka) was served by Jesuits
from the mission, in particular by Father Louis Dumortier. Records
quoted by Father Peter Beckman 12 show that the missionary did
9. Ibid, p. 698.
10. H. A. Ott, D. D., A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Kansas (To-
peka, 1907), p. 128.
11. Chapman album, p. 355.
12. Peter Beckman, O. S. B., The Catholic Church on the Kansas Frontier, 1850-1877
(Washington, 1943), pp. 68, 84.
FOREIGNERS AT SCHIPPEL'S FERRY 309
not go before 1861 to the Saline mouth settlement, which first ap-
pears on the map of Kansas showing Father Dumortier's activities
in 1866.18 Then he recorded 75 Catholics at this point. Part of
these were Irish. Dumortier locates his station definitely north of
the Saline, since the few Germans in town were Lutherans. Mass
was first said at the home of Peter Giersch senior. With the com-
ing of the Kansas Pacific in 1867 the town became definitely the
center of Catholic activities, though there was no church or resident
pastor for some time. John, son of Stephen Giersch, was baptized
in the courthouse in 1872. Beckman records no resident pastor
before 1876.
The Catholic cemetery at Salina contains the grave of Daniel
Humbarger, 1840-1899, whose name suggests that he is of Penn-
sylvania-German origin, and indeed his parents were born in Penn-
sylvania. Like many other Penn-Germans in Kansas he himself was
born in Ohio, in Richland county, halfway between Cleveland and
Columbus, where the Pennsylvania stock is numerous. He was in
Saline county with his parents in 1857 but the Indian troubles drove
them out. Kansas, however, remained the area of his activities
and in 1863 he married Anne Giersch, born 1845, the daughter of
Peter, senior.14 In the same year he took land just south of Schip-
pel's ferry, but he did not begin to occupy it till 1865. In the mean-
time he had been a second lieutenant in the Kansas militia. Daniel
was evidently quite Anglicized linguistically, although this was by
no means true of all Penn-Germans in Kansas at the time, and Ger-
man played little part in his family life.
The Lutherans were no prompter in reaching the field at Salina
than the Catholics. The Swedish Lutherans were organized in
1870 and the Kansas Synod Lutheran Church, St. John's, was or-
ganized in 1873. It was an "English Lutheran Church," but the
Germans joined it. Of the six families furnishing charter mem-
bers,15 two were made up of Germans who arrived before 1865,
the families of Robert H. Dihle, born 1838, a harness maker, and
Chas. W. Tressin (1833-1879), a hardware dealer. Dihle came to
Salina in 1863, Tressin in 1862. The only other Germans — or non-
English-speaking foreign-born for that matter — present in Salina
in 1865 were Nicholas Giersch, established in town as a blacksmith,
13. Gilbert J. Garraghan, S. J., The Jesuits of the Middle United States (New York,
1938), v. 3, p. 42. See, also, Sister M. Evangeline Thomas, "The Rev. Louis Dumortier,
S. J., Itinerant Missionary to Central Kansas, 1859-1867," The Kansas Historical Quarterly,
v. 20 (November, 1952), pp. 253, 254, between 264, 265.
14. A biography of Daniel Humbarger appears in Andreas-Cutler, op. eft., p. 708.
The Humbargers also became related to the Bells and Commerfords, Tipperary Irish.
15. Ott, op. cit., p. 146.
310 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
like his brother at the ford (Nicholas died that year), Bernhardt
Blau, a Saxon born 1830, and Tressin's brother-in-law, Adolphus
Huebner who died young at Ogden. Blau was Gotthart Schippel's
partner in a saw and grist mill, but it seems to have had a short
history, for Blau does not appear in censuses after 1865.
Charles Tressin 16 is of more interest to us than the others; besides
his hardware store — which failed in 1873, year of the panic — he had
a farm four miles northeast of Salina on the south side of the Saline,
near the Schippel ferry. His wife, nee Minnie Huebner, born 1839
— in Prussia like her husband — had made the farm her special care,
and it remained so when Charles, senior, died in 1879, leaving her
with a son and five daughters. The son, Charles F., was ten at
the time. He took on responsibilities early and learned German
better than his sisters because he associated so much with the
hired men, who were usually young Germans preparing to estab-
lish themselves. For many years they were a reliable lot and the
farm was sufficiently prosperous so that in 1893, when most of Kan-
sas was suffering a very bad year, Mrs. Tressin could afford a bio-
graphical notice for her dead husband in the Chapman album for
the area. Still, the help problem was sometimes pressing, and the
Tressins occasionally called upon their neighbors across the Saline
for assistance. At any rate, Mrs. John Giersch one year drove a
horse rake across a fordable point in the river so as to aid them in
putting up a threatened hay crop.
Gotthart Schippel was probably not attracted into the Lutheran
congregation, because in 1871 he, like Dan Humbarger, took a
Catholic wife, Clara Wary, born 1853. Clara was French. The
records are contradictory as to whether her father Nicholas (1819-
1871) was Belgian or French; his wife Catherine (1827-1896), was
Belgian, and his oldest son Leon (1852-1913) was born in Belgium,
but both Clara Wary and her younger brother Eugene, born 1861,
were born in Paris, France. Nicholas and his family do not appear
in the Saline county census of 1865 — not until that of 1870 — and
so they could not have arrived earlier than 1865. Peter Giersch,
senior, was an uncle, at least by marriage, of Catherine Wary, and
Nicholas Giersch and his wife, Mary C., 1837-1860, are buried on
the Wary lot, indicating that she, too, was of the family. Nicholas
Wary took a claim just above Giersch's, and Clara and Gotthart
Schippel, the "rich''* bachelor in his 30's were therefore neighbors.
The death of Clara's father in the very year of her marriage with
16. A notice on Chas. W. Tressin appears in the Chapman album, pp. 452, 455.
FOREIGNERS AT SCHIPPEL'S FERRY 311
Gotthart tended for economic reasons to bind the new son-in-law
firmly to the family. But Clara also contributed to the family
finances, for, like her mother,17 she became a midwife of sufficient
skill to be recalled into the same homes time after time.
Gotthart Schippel continued to prosper. After he married, he
and his brother John no longer had holdings in common. The
1875 census ascribes 280 acres to John and only 160 acres to Gott-
hart. Gotthart's lands had increased to 500 acres by the time of
the census of 1885. Indeed, the Edwards Atlas of 1884 puts his
name on 760 acres, and John's on 600 more. The Chapman album
of 1893 attributed to him 3,000 acres, and his family recorded in
Connelley's 1918 History of Kansas (v. 5, p. 2718) that in March,
1906, when he died, he had about 6,000 acres. By then, John's
property had become his by inheritance, but he clearly had pros-
pered even during the hard times of the 1890's.
In those days one could walk along the Saline from Salina to
New Cambria, a good six miles away, without leaving his prop-
erty. He also had important real estate holdings in Salina and
Topeka. Apparently, because of his property in town, he was re-
garded as one of the citizens of Salina; the Andreas-Cutler History
of 1883 (p. 709) recorded that he had been a member of the city
council for six years. He remained true to the old ferry location,
however. Less than a decade after his arrival, the log cabin of
the government engineers was replaced by a sturdy stone house.
Any additions made to it until 1893 were temporary structures; in
that year the "new part" was added, and Gotthart's "place" as-
sumed manorial proportions. Well it might, for he and Clara were
the parents of nine children. The names of the daughters' husbands,
White, Nelson, reveal abandonment of German and French con-
nections.
John, the second son, born in 1874, occupied the old place till
his death in 1948; his widow, Rose Wessling Schippel still lived
there in 1957. Rose, born 1879, is the product of a marriage show-
ing how the interests of the group shifted to include Salina and
territory beyond it. Her father, Michael Wessling, settled about
1870 on a farm across the river from Schippel's, toward town. In
the same year, Peter Schwarz was taking a soldier's claim south-
west of town, and following the first marriage (1876) in the newly
established Catholic parish, Peter's daughter Catherine became
17. The mother figures in the 1875 census as a "physician."
312 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Mrs. Wessling, and the mother of Rose. The parish has since been
the focus of their interest.
A scion of the Giersch family, Stephen's son John will illustrate
how the activities of the people in the Schippel's ferry area ex-
tended to the northeast. Two miles north and four miles east of
the original Schippel place, two Serault families settled about 1871.
An early generation was represented by John, who was born in
France about 1810 and who died about 1885, and by his wife
Victoria, born in Normandy in 1827. Their son Charles, born in
Paris in 1847, was their neighbor. His wife, Emma, was born in
Champagne in 1850. They had at least five children who were
brought into the world by their fellow Parisians, the Wary mid-
wives, to the accompaniment of chatter in French. Charles' fourth
child was Emily, born in 1878, who became John Giersch's wife.
The Serault farms were 80-acre affairs "back in the hills," and to
eke out a living, Charles hired himself out to the hide works in
Salina, walking the ten miles each way every day.
This is a rather isolated example of close connection between
the people at Schippel's ferry and those to the east and northeast.
Though Gotthart Schippel acquired one farm to the east of John
Itzen, Itzen himself might be regarded as rather of the New
Cambria community — his land came within one half mile of the
town. All others as far east as he was or farther definitely belonged
to New Cambria, and the Seraults and the Callabresis (a French-
speaking family of Swiss origin) were somewhat stranded in it.
It was composed of Penn-Germans (notably the Donmyers) and
Germans (Shank, Juengel) and developed somewhat after the
Civil War. They were Lutherans and established a church in
1873 at New Cambria.18 With the town so near, the settlement at
the ferry could not remain as self-contained as many foreign settle-
ments.
The group at the ferry tended to spread up the Saline valley to a
greater degree than down. The Warys spread modestly on the
western edge of the neighborhood. The name Giersch has dis-
appeared from present day landowner maps at the original point
of settlement, but it appears repeatedly in the township to the
west and even in the township beyond that. The dissemination
began early19 and soon passed beyond Saline county. Stephen
18. Ott, op. cit., p. 128.
19. As might be expected, the early settlers were hunters, often going on expeditions.
Stephen Giersch is reputed to have killed the last buffalo in Saline county in 1871.
FOREIGNERS AT SCHIPPEL'S FERRY 313
Giersch's brother "Little Pete" moved up the river near Tescott and
Michael went on into Lincoln county.
To the north there were other German families that settled not
too long after the Civil War, notably the Hahns, who arrived as
the war closed.20
The point at which settlement started remained a sort of center,
though practically forgotten, as the neighboring city became more
and more thriving.
20. Chas. Christian Hahn (Chapman album, p. 374), born in 1839 in Illinois, home-
steaded in 1865 on section 28, one and one half miles northeast of the ferry. He was
one of the charter members of the New Cambria Lutheran Church (Ott, op. cit., p. 128)
and so may be regarded as of the New Cambria group.
"Creative Evolution":
The Philosophy of Elisha Wesley McComas,
Fort Scott
JAMES C. MALIN
I. INTRODUCTION
THE thinking of three Kansas philosophers, published in book
form in 1871, has been described briefly in another essay.1 They
were T. B. Taylor, Joel Moody, and Edward Schiller. Now a fourth,
Elisha Wesley McComas, is added to the list. In 1880 his system
of philosophy matured in book form. These four men were subject
to similar immediate influences, but each was a unique person,
with a different background, and each developed his individual
preferences about the answers given to the most insistent private
problem of that generation — the impact of science upon philosophy
and theology. The challenge was presented in several forms, but
particularly by scientifically oriented inquiry into the history of the
universe ( astronomy ) , of the earth ( historical geology and paleon-
tology), of all life upon the planet (the biological sciences in the
developmental sense), of man as a specialized form of life (anthro-
pology, ethnology, and history based upon archaeology, including
the development of language), and of philosophy and religion in
the perspective of all these.
The extreme materialists insisted that science "proved" that man
was merely an animal, that life was no more than a temporary chem-
ical phenomena, that the soul, immortality, and God were myths
invented by superstitions associated with the childhood of the race.
If this view were true, were the ethical concepts of good and evil
no more than social customs? What about the nature of human
destiny without God? Four years of American Civil War had be-
come enmeshed in the assumption that human freedom was sacred.
Was all that a farce? That was a public question, or at any rate a
public aspect of the question — did life have meaning? Each indi-
vidual must live with himself, and sooner or later, he faces the
most private of all questions and insists upon answers; does his own
life have meaning? Is there a life hereafter? A God?
DR. JAMES C. MALIN, associate editor of The Kansas Historical Quarterly, is professor of
history at the University of Kansas, 'Lawrence, and is author of books and articles relating to
Kansas and the West.
1. James C. Malin, "Three Kansas Phttosophers, 1871 . . .," Kansas Historical Quar-
terly, v. 24 (Summer, 1958), pp. 168-197.
(314)
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 315
E. W. McComas brought to the consideration of this mystery
a personal background somewhat different from the other three
philosophers reviewed. In the antebellum days of the Old Do-
minion, the McComas family was prominent. William McComas
of Cabell county, Virginia, later West Virginia, raised a large family.
Two of his sons, William W. and Benjamin J. McComas, chose the
side of the Confederate States in the American Civil War. Two
others are of particular concern here: Hamilton Calhoun (1831-
1883), and Elisha Wesley McComas (1822-1890).
II. H. C. MCCOMAS
Judge H. C. McComas was born November 9, 1831; served in
the llth Virginia infantry, of which his brother, Elisha Wesley Mc-
Comas, was captain, in the Mexican War; was admitted to the Vir-
ginia bar soon after attaining his majority, and about 1855 moved
to Monticello, Piatt county, 111. There he became county judge,
and during the American Civil War was a lieutenant colonel in an
Illinois volunteer regiment. In 1868 he arrived in Fort Scott, where
he became partner in a law firm with J. E. McKeighan, which
moved to St. Louis in 1876 and was dissolved in 1880 when Judge
McComas became interested in mines in New Mexico, and, with
another brother, Rufus McComas, of Nebraska City, Neb., settled
in Silver City, N. M.
In 1869 Judge McComas married Juniatta (Junie) Maria Ware
(1846-1883), sister of Eugene Ware. For a time, prior to opening
his own law office, Eugene Ware was a clerk with the law firm of
McComas and McKeighan. In 1872 Judge McComas was nom-
inated for the office of chief justice of the Kansas supreme court
as a Democrat on the fusion Liberal Republican-Democratic ticket.
On March 28, 1883, near Lordsburg, N. M., Judge and Mrs. Mc-
Comas were murdered by Apache Indians, and their son, Charles,
was taken captive and presumably killed. Judge McComas left
two sons, David and William, by an earlier marriage, and two
daughters, Ada (born December 25, 1870) and Mary (born May,
1873), who were first taken into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene
Ware, and later were reared by their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs.
H. B. Ware.2
2. Obituary and funeral notices, Fort Scott Daily Monitor, March 30, April 8, 10, 1883;
Fort Scott Banner, April 5, 12, 1883. Rumors about the fate of Charles McComas, Daily
Monitor, April 15, 21, 1883; Banner, May 17, September 20, November 8, 1883; Fort Scott
Daily Tribune, April 18, 22, 1892. Temporary law partnerships are noted with Sen. M. V.
Yulo' w.eek1V Monitor, March 17, 1869; with A. Danford, Daily Monitor, December 28,
1869. U. S. census, 1870 (Ms.), Fort Scott city, Bourbon county, Kansas, p. 15; Kansas
State census, 1875 (Ms.), Fort Scott, Bourbon county, Kansas, p. 50. Marriage of Junie
316 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
III. E. W. MCCOMAS, 1822-1890
When E. W. McComas died, March 11, 1890, at Fort Scott, al-
though he had lived an active life there for 20 years, little appears
to have been known about his early life, even by his children. An
obituary notice was hastily and imperfectly compiled from scrap-
books, by J. B. Chapman, editor of the Democratic Daily Tribune.
At first, even his birth date could not be determined. The Monitor
explained that: "Governor McComas, during his life of nearly 70
years, wrote nothing concerning himself and deplored any effort
to obtain a knowledge of his active, useful life/' The present
writer has not had the benefit of the scrapbooks, and Chapman did
not see fit to reconstruct in any detail the aspects of the governor's
early life recorded there.
E. W. McComas was born in Cabell county, Virginia (since 1863,
West Virginia), presumably on January 21, 1822. Mrs. McComas
was born Ariana P. Holderby on January 22, 1823, at Guyandotte,
Va., daughter of James Holderby. She was married at Huntington,
Va., September 8, 1842, died at Fort Scott, March 11, 1885, and was
buried according to the rites of the Episcopal church. For many
years an invalid, her husband shaped his later life in part out of
consideration for her care. Upon her passing the comment was
made: "Her decline had been a protracted one, but her physical
sufferings were wonderfully light and her death most painless and
peaceful." Beyond that, the nature of her illness was not explained.
She left five children, three sons, Henry, Walter, and Gordon, and
two daughters, Alice (Mrs. W. R. Reed) and Ella (Mrs. E. Upjohn).
E. W. McComas was educated at Ohio University, Athens,
Ohio, admitted to the bar in Cabell county, Virginia, in 1842, served
as captain of the llth Virginia infantry in the Mexican War, was
wounded and captured, and was discharged July 20, 1848. Drawn
into politics, he was elected to the Virginia senate, and in 1855
was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia as running mate of Gov.
Henry A. Wise, the terms running 1856-1860. In 1857 McComas
resigned and moved to Chicago and a successful law practice. No
explanation of his resignation has been discovered. That document,
addressed to the governor, read: "I hereby tender my resignation
Ware, Weekly Monitor, March 17, 1869. Candidacy of 1872, D. W. Wilder, Annals of Kan-
sas (1886), pp. 580, 587. Letter: Mrs. George W. Johnson, Charles Town, W. Va., to
James C. Malin, April 25, 1956. She is Mary M. McKendrie, daughter of Irene McComas, a
sister of H. C. and E. W. McComas. For a short time, Irene McComas, aged 27, was a
teacher in Fort Scott. — U. S. census (Ms.), 1870, Bourbon county, city of Fort Scott, third
ward, p. 12. The Kansas census, 1885 (Ms.), Bourbon county, city of Fort Scott, listed Ada
and Mary McComas, aged 13 and 11 respectively, as making their home with Mr. and Mrs.
H. B. Ware, aged 68 and 70. Ada McComas was married at the Eugene Ware home, April
4, 1890, to Grant Hazelton. — Fort Scott Daily Tribune, April 5, 1890; Fort Scott Daily
News, April 5, 1890.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 317
of the office of Lt. Governor of Virginia/' Endorsed upon the let-
ter, however, Governor Wise recorded its receipt, March 21, and
this explanation: "The above is accompanied by a letter of a pri-
vate character. . . ." The private letter itself, however, is miss-
ing from the files. Probably, in the society to which they belonged,
the code applicable to what was public and what was private pre-
vailed, and such a confidential note, having served its purpose, was
destroyed. Wise acknowledged the resignation and accepted it on
the day of its receipt: "I regret that it leaves me no discretion or
election about its acceptance. It is positive and immediate and
will take effect at once. . . ." The press does not seem to have
commented upon the reasons for McComas' departure.
At Chicago, just turned 35, this young Virginian quickly gained a
prominent position in the legal profession, and when Cyrus H. Mc-
Cormick, purchased control, February 17, 1860, of the Chicago
Daily Herald, McComas was made political editor, a position he
continued to hold when McCormick acquired the Daily Times and
combined the two papers as the Times and Herald, July 31, 1860.
The HeralcFs political policy, under the purchase agreement of
February 17, 1860, was to unify the Democratic party, but, after the
conventions at Charleston in April and in Baltimore in June failed
to achieve agreement upon one candidate, the Herald, and later
the Times and Herald, supported Douglas.
The focus of the strategy was the defeat of Lincoln in the elec-
toral college by throwing the decision into the Democratic house
of representatives, or, if that body could not agree, into the senate.
In the first instance, the choice was expected to fall to Breckinridge,
but failing that, to Joseph Lane at the hands of the senate. The
preference of McCormick and his editor, McComas, was Breckin-
ridge, but the latter's support in Illinois was too slight to make
headway against Lincoln — hence the Times-Herald support of
Douglas in the stop-Lincoln strategy. After the election in No-
vember, 1860, the Times-Herald co-operated with Douglas in seek-
ing a compromise solution of the secession crisis. By May, 1861,
McCormick was ready to sell the paper, and did sell it as of June 1,
1861, to Wilbur F. Storey, the transfer occurring June 8. McComas
retired from the editorship.
For present purposes, scarcely anything is known about Mc-
Comas' activities in Chicago during the war years 1861-1865. Ap-
parently he continued to be adversely critical of Lincoln and the
conduct of the war. In 1864 General George B. McClellan was
the Democratic nominee for president on a platform which de-
318 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
clared the war a failure and called for an immediate peace. Me-
Cormick was the Democratic candidate for congress. Organized
labor, in which the Germans were conspicuous, launched a Gen-
eral Trades Assembly in Chicago to co-ordinate the activities of the
several local labor unions. McComas was influential in the activi-
ties of the assembly which encouraged the formation of a labor
party, but in this instance he supported McCormick as the prolabor
candidate for congress, losing again to Republican John Went-
worth.3
McComas returned to his old home area, now West Virginia, but
not to Cabell county. He took up residence at Charles Town,
Kanawha county, by that time the home of the Holderbys, Mrs.
McComas' family, and of Judge David McComas, an uncle, with
whom he practiced law. After the death of his father in 1868, he
moved to Nebraska where his brother Rufus lived, and then, in
1870 or 1871 to Fort Scott, Kan., where his elder brother, H. C.
McComas, was established. In Fort Scott the governor avoided
politics and journalism. In fact, he lived a life of relative retirement,
devoting himself to his family, farm, and studies. But he found
time to promote the interests of the city of Fort Scott.4
Very quickly Governor McComas impressed the people of his
new home with his intellectual attainments. During the winter of
1874-1875, a home-talent lecture series included him, February 1,
1875, with the subject: "Enfranchisement of Women, Involving the
Whole Question of the Proper Social and Political Relations and
Equality of the Sexes." As the issue of the Daily Monitor for
February 2, which should have reported the lecture, is missing from
3. Bessie Pierce, A History of Chicago, 3 vols. (New York, 1937, 1940, 1957), v. 2, pp.
168, 169. In addition to the Pierce book which touches only incidentally upon McComas in
1864, the Chicago period of McComas' career has been compiled from a number of sources,
primary and secondary, which disagree in some instances even on dates. The Virginia His-
torical Society (Richmond) and the West Virginia Department of Archives and History
(Charleston) do not have pertinent material about E. W. McComas. — Letters to present
writer, March 23, 1956, and April 9, 1956, respectively. The Virginia State Library (Rich-
mond) has the McComas letter of resignation bearing the endorsement referred to, and a
copy of Wise's acceptance, but no comment upon the resignation was found in the press of
the time. — Letter to author, April 3, 1956. Mrs. George W. Johnson (see previous note),
Charles Town, W. Va., to author, April 26, 1956, provided data from family records. Two
biographical circulars were filed with the Kansas State Historical Society by members of the
McComas family at Fort Scott, one dated September 13, 1892. The McComas obituary
notice, compiled by J. B. Chapman, appeared in the Fort Scott Daily Tribune, March 11,
1890, and in the Daily Monitor, March 12, 1890. The assumption in this obituary, that
McComas was an intimate friend of Stephen A. Douglas, is probably an error. In the shift-
ing political scene, McComas was opponent and advocate of Douglas as strategy required.
No direct evidence of private friendship is available. Chapman made a number of errors
of fact in his hasty sketch. Not only the activities of E. W. McComas during his sojourn in
Chicago, 1857-1865, but a fresh evaluation of the whole Chicago political situation in that
period is needed as an intensive local study, oriented to the national perspective. Among
other things, as an advocate of the candidacy of Douglas, after the nomination at Baltimore,
in June, 1860, McComas, as editor of the Times-Herald, was caught in the vicious, nativist,
anti-Catholic drive of Lincoln's Chicago mouthpiece, the Tribune.
4. The biographical circulars, referred to in an earlier note, gave 1871 as tibe date of
removal to Kansas, but the other sources cited gave the date as 1870.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 319
the files, all that is known about its contents is the "teaser" printed
the day before its delivery:
The lecturer holds to what is known as "The development theory of society."
According to this theory mankind is constantly not only progressing intellec-
tually and morally, but steadily improving and destined in the course of time
to arrive at a state nearly akin to moral, intellectual and social perfection. The
enfranchisement of women is a thing not only right in itself, but it is demanded
now, by this unrepealable law of progress and development, which cannot be
resisted, and must therefore, sooner or later, be obeyed. Mr. McComas, as
has been heretofore stated, is an old man, a student and a thinker. Many of
his audience will doubtless disagree with his views, but they cannot fail to be
entertained and instructed by his lecture, as it will be the result of close ob-
servation, and much reading and reflection.
This "old man," as the editor deprecatingly referred to the
governor, was just 11 days past 53 years of age, but in partial ex-
tenuation of the brash young journalist, the point may be made
that the average life expectancy in 1875 was much less than in 1958.
Men and women past 45 were frequently, if not usually, referred
to as "old." McComas had not yet reached his maturity in philo-
sophical thought if this paragraph were even approximately ac-
curate. Later he repudiated expressly the "Idea of Progress." Such
belief as he may have held in it was probably only a passing stage
in his intellectual development.
The following winter, 1875-1876, McComas again participated
in the lecture series, offering, March 2, 1876, "The Origin and
Development of Religion." The Monitor editor's cautious comment,
in announcing the event, read: "He will present in the most forci-
ble, as well as courteous, manner the advanced theories concerning
the doctrines of the Christian religion." No direct summary of the
lecture was reported, but something of its impact was revealed in
contrast with a discourse on "The Evolution Theory as Related
to the Origin of the Christian Religion," delivered by the Rev. P. F.
Warner, on Sunday, March 26, at the Congregational church. War-
ner had presided at the Opera House when Governor McComas
had delivered his lecture and the public was interested in his views
on the same subject.5
After the event, the Conservative Republican Monitor, March 28,
said only that many persons spoke in highly complimentary terms
of Warner's effort. It was left to the Democratic Pioneer, March 30,
an economic Radical paper to report, with obvious unspoken res-
ervations, upon both McComas and Warner:
5. Warner and another of his discourses has been discussed in another context in James
C. Malin, The Contriving Brain and the Skilful Hand (Lawrence, The Author, 1955), p. 422.
320 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The Governor attempted to explain all religious creeds and doctrines as
the natural result of man's development and growth, or rather the outgrowth
of man's own nature; and the nature of that religion was a sure indication of
the degree of his intellectual advancement.
Evidently Warner's strategy had been first to criticize McComas'
lecture, adversely, and then to urge the case for traditional religion:
From Mr. Warner's lecture Sunday morning, we judge he saw fully and
forcibly the tendency and necessary result of that doctrine. He saw that it
aimed a death blow to what is termed revealed religion. It necessarily took
from it everything supernatural; accounting for all its phases and even doc-
trines as the result of natural growth of man's mind, the same as the potato
is the growth of the potato vine.
On what seems to have been the positive side of the debate, the
summary stated that:
Mr. Warner made a very able defense of revealed, supernatural religion.
He was at times very eloquent, and interesting throughout. He did not hesi-
tate to attack the philosophy of the scientists, and show up the seeming weak
points in the theory of evolution.
Whether or not for editorial strategy's sake, or because he was
unsure in his own mind, the Pioneer editor concluded:
While it is not for us to determine who is right in this argument we cer-
tainly admire the man who has the ability and courage to defend his position,
and to do it in a manly way, as did Mr. Warner. We would now like to hear
Gov. McComas again.
Within the week the Pioneer editor did talk to McComas about
the subject and announced in his next weekly issue that the gov-
ernor had another lecture on evolution and might deliver it soon.
The lecture series was being poorly supported, or other reasons
may have intervened, but in any case, the proposal for an additional
lecture was dropped. The following year the suggestion was made
again, the Monitor saying that McComas had lectured twice to Fort
Scott people, "and instructed them too. We are entirely convinced
that the conclusion of his favorite system of philosophy is erroneous,
but is always thoughtful and deeply interesting." 6
In the press notices the McComas philosophy was described as
representing the developmental theory of society, but Warner used
in his title the term "evolution theory." During the decade of the
1870's, the words "development" and "evolution" were sometimes
used interchangeably, but they were not equivalents. "Develop-
ment" was the more comprehensive term, which had been popu-
larized by Herbert Spencer from the time of the original publica-
6. Daily Monitor, February 21, 1877.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 321
tion of his book Social Statics in early 1851 — the universe and life
upon earth were the product of change and development. Charles
Darwin's Origin of Species, published in 1859, is usually credited
with launching the theory of evolution, but he did not use the
term evolution. His emphasis was upon modification by "natural
selection." The general use of the term evolution spread slowly,
and so far as applied to Darwin's ideas emphasized organic evolu-
tion, rather than the larger and earlier concept of development of
society as used by Spencer. In the Kansas setting, Darwin was
seldom mentioned until after the publication of his Descent of Man,
in 1871, and even then relatively infrequently during the 1870's.
When McComas took over the term "evolution" in his book pub-
lications, his concept was primarily that of Spencer. These chang-
ing usages of language are important to history and should not be
confused by the prepossessions of the 20th century reader.
The thinking that Governor McComas was doing was more com-
prehensive by far than anything indicated by the press reports of
his lectures. The Fort Scott Herald, September 4, 1879, reported
his return from New York where he had arranged for the publica-
tion of two books on a system of theology: "He has worked a long
time on them, and the theories which he lays down will startle the
people everywhere." Their preparation represented a significantly
wide range of reading and criticism of the literature of science, phi-
losophy, and theology. The constructive thinking and the organi-
zation of abstract ideas required time. This creative operation was
in active progress during the decade of the 1870's. Early in 1880
the two books were published in New York City: A Rational View
of Jesus and Religion (706 pages), and The Divine Problem (491
pages ) .7 The first review, written from advance sheets, was printed
in the Daily Monitor, February 22, 1880, and the Herald, March 11,
1880, said the books were currently available at the local bookstores.
IV. A RATIONAL VIEW OF JESUS
The person who reads through the whole of the descriptive title
of the first of McComas' books to be reviewed here was left no
illusions about its nature and major conclusions: A Rational View
of Jesus and Religion, Embracing an Examination of the Origin and
Rationale of Religious Beliefs and of the Claims of Super-naturalism
and Revealed Religions; and a Solution of the Mysteries Enshroud-
ing the Christian Faith, and the Birth, Life, Character, and Sup-
7. The publisher was John Wurtele Lovell.
21—4339
322 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
posed Miracles and Resurrection of Its Founder. McComas was
as candid and unassuming as Edward Schiller had been in 1871:
"The work has no pretentions to erudition or literary merit," he
confessed, the information as such was abundantly available and
if it possessed any merit it was in the employment of direct, rational,
and candid methods to aid the reader "to an insight into the 'true
inwardness* of facts already accessible/' He insisted that truth
was not palatable, especially "on subjects upon which men's bias,
partisanship and prejudice are so extreme as in matters of religion.
. . . Men are rarely so interested in right thinking as in agree-
able thinking . . . new facts and fine writing." The latter
would only divert attention from the requirements of the case,
correct thinking, which were "antagonistic to fine writing."
Religious beliefs had their origin and development "in man's
imperishable love of life and his aspirations for a higher, a har-
monious, and an assured individual existence. . . . No amount
of education can eradicate it." McComas credited Herbert Spencer
with demonstrating this basic fact, but McComas went further. For
him the immortal soul and God were fundamental, only human
notions about them changed, but not the basic idea as fact. He
recognized that skepticism performed a limited function inasmuch
as "Reason is first destructive, before it is reconstructive," but:
"The human soul cannot live upon negation. Its natural life food
is affirmative belief." McComas traced the development of religion
from primitive man's blind fear, through Fetishism, Shamanism,
anthropomorphism, to the Egyptian idea of oneness — "ultimate
Essential Existence" which, in merging with Israelitic polytheism,
became the Judaic monotheism. Christianity had nothing new to
offer in theology and ethics, but according to McComas, it did
afford "a new and higher assurance — a practical proof of a future
life, and a sure mode of their escaping the consequences of earthly
. . . sins and securing endless beatitude," — in other words:
"The fact is, men's hells, like their heavens, are but reflexes of their
own natures." Christianity provided the new assurance of things
already believed: "What was needed was a case of unquestioned
actual death, and . . . — a self-resurrection. . . ."
Was the case of resurrection claimed by Christianity genuine?
McComas examined the evidence according to the canons of
historical criticism and arrived at a devastating negative verdict,
following particularly the path blazed by David Frederick Strauss
( 1808-1874 ) , and Ernest Renan ( 1823-1892 ) . He used Henry Ward
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 323
Beecher's work, also, so far as it had gone when, according to
McComas, Beecher's courage and integrity failed him.
McComas decided that credulity was the primary criterion upon
which Jesus selected his disciples, and the evidence of death and
resurrection was promulgated by oral tradition for the first century
before the conflicting accounts were written. In the fifth century
the selection was made from these accounts, which then for the first
time came to be accepted as the inspired word — in spite of their
contradictions, which incidentally, aided in the reconstruction of
historical reality.
According to McComas, it was the resurrection myth that en-
dowed Christianity with peculiar significance, and that he insisted
was clearly an afterthought: "We should judge Jesus as a man — as
a man of the time, country, religion and social class to which he
belonged — as a man subject to the conditions, influences, errors
and frailties incident to his humanity." McComas maintained that
only the social and political views of Jesus were new or singular,
not his religious or moral ideas. This conclusion focused attention
on the economic and social status of Jesus, a carpenter, born to
poverty: "The socialistic notions of Jesus were very pronounced
and fixed. . . . He repeatedly and serially denounced every
class of the Jewish people, save the simple and credulous poor who
believed in him. ... he uniformly proposed, not merely to de-
stroy distinctions, but to reverse conditions. . . ." He was no
equalitarian. At this point, in an aside, McComas exclaimed: "But,
How could a divine or perfect being proclaim such utterly imprac-
ticable doctrines?" And what had Christians done about it? — "They
dare not defend the doctrines . . ."he taught and practiced.
As a social and political agitator, Jesus was dangerous to the Jewish
leaders, but not to Rome. Thus in sequence, following Beecher,
Jesus had first been a healer; then an adventist preaching the com-
ing of the "Kingdom of God"; and finally he became convinced that
he was himself the Messiah. At that stage in the exposition Mc-
Comas took over where he insisted Beecher would not follow the
evidence, and McComas interpreted the "miracles" as fictitious — a
last desperate effort on the part of a deluded Jesus, by fraud, to
convince the public of his supernatural nature. McComas ad-
monished his readers: "Judge him leniently thenceforth."
Pontius Pilate was represented by McComas as trying to save
Jesus from the vengeance of the Jewish leaders, yielding to the
crucifixion only under pressure, and even then secretly and sue-
324 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
cessfully plotting to have the centurion and Joseph of Aramathea
to so manage the crucifixion as to prevent his death. After re-
covery from the ordeal — he did not die on the cross, according to
McComas — Jesus did actually present himself to his disciples, and
then disappeared from history. Myth-making did the rest. It was
this fictitious "Resurrection," as McComas represented it, that be-
came the taproot and foundation of Christianity as a religion — the
response to the demands of men for assurance of immortality and
of rewards and punishments adequate to compensate for the suffer-
ing and apparent meaninglessness of earthly existence. People be-
lieved, as he put it, only what they wanted so desperately to believe
— resurrection as the proof, absolutely, of immortality.
V. THE DIVINE PROBLEM
In his preface to The Divine Problem, McComas took his text
from Louis Agassiz: "We have reached a point where the results
of Science touch the problem of existence, and all thoughtful men
are listening for the verdict which solves the great mystery." The
existential mystery was described by McComas in the starkest
terms of realism, opening in these words:
Human life and destiny, as well, indeed, as the course and conditions of all
mundane life, are profoundly unsatisfactory to the human mind. The perpetual
and self-devouring war which Nature seems to wage within herself, . . .
the dreadful struggle for life . . ., and the universal reign of sin, de-
formity and death, constitute a standing mystery to the human mind, and have
never ceased to excite both the wonder and fear of man, and to call forth the
profoundest protest of both his moral and intellectual nature.
To all the explanations offered: "Reason has never ceased to enter
its final protest, and to flatly reject the very possibility of a perpetual
strife and misery ... in the creations of an infinite and ab-
solute God. . . ." Man insisted upon asking: Why are things
as they are? To the question: "Was it blind Chance?" McComas
answered, no. If it was the work of an uncreated malignant Spirit,
then the unanswerable question was: "Why should any uncreated
Spirit be malignant?" If it was the work of a created Spirit: "Why
should God create such a spirit?'' Attempted answers only added
to the irrationality of the mystery.
What men had done nevertheless had been "to shield God from
what they supposed to be so odious a responsibility." Hence they
represented God as a wronged Creator whom "nothing short of di-
vine agony and blood could finally appease and atone. ... To
avoid blasphemy they rushed into the most direct and concentrated
of all blasphemies; and so misdirected human thought by their well-
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS
intentioned, but really blasphemous explanations. . . ." Only
when this superstition and its fear were eradicated could there be
any "approach to the real solution. . . ."
But McComas was not vindictive, and neither did he indulge in
malicious accusations: "If the Fathers failed, they failed earnestly,
and with sufficient apology. If we fail, either in earnest effort or
in success, our apology will be immeasurably less. What we now
need, and feel that we need, is an utterly new and untrammelled
rational interpretation of Nature and of her methods and designs,
under the lights of modern science/' But McComas asserted that
scientists "seem to have . . . clearly evaded" the opportunity
or the responsibility, although they had "clearly laid the foundation"
for this task. The reason alleged for this default was "a bitter Ex-
perience of the power and proclivities of Superstition [which] has
driven Science to fence itself off from Philosophy and Theology.
»
McComas insisted that, as intellectual enterprise, the mystery of
existence was soluble, and that it was possible
to reconcile the reason of a developing and rising Humanity to the divine cre-
ative purposes and methods, by demonstrating that natural evolution is also
a Divine Evolution, and that it is, in its totality and in all its parts, just what
it should be and must have been, — namely: divinely wise and beneficient. In
short, we need a rational theory of Universal Being which shall at once ne-
cessitate and account for all the known phenomena of the Universe in con-
formity with the agency and designs of a Beneficent Intelligence, with the
existence of an immortal soul in all self-conscious and suffering mortals, and
with the fundamental aspirations of the human soul itself. This is what I
intend to supply — is what I hope and believe I have supplied.
On one aspect of the problem McComas was devoid of illusions:
"it is quite beyond hope that the method and style of its presenta-
tion should encourage or entertain the Reader." But he was
fortified by a resignation born of "prolonged suffering and pros-
tration" and the philosophical humility of a man who had achieved
nevertheless a private sense of peace with God: "The Theory is
in no hurry. Being ingrained and registered in the very warp and
woof of Nature, and ready for man whenever man is ready for it,
there is no fear of its being lost, even if I fail to win for it appre-
ciation and success."
A bare outline statement of the McComas system might make it
appear deceptively simple and naive, when, in fact it was nothing
of the kind. It represented the mastery of a vast amount of scien-
tific philosophical and theological literature, and was no more
naive than the works it was refuting. Furthermore, it was not
326 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
negative, and in its positive aspects offered a conception of "Crea-
tive Evolution" in an "Unfinished Universe" not clearly formulated
elsewhere at that date.
Largely, McComas used Herbert Spencer's Principles of Psy-
chology and Principles of Biology as foils. McComas admired
Spencer, but insisted that his materialism fell short of a sound
philosophy; life, consciousness, and persistent identity of self were
not explained, nor was the ethical chaos of relativism surmounted.8
McComas started with three problems about which, generally,
men of all ages were concerned in some form, however much they
differed in explanations: the soul, a self-conscious self; the mind,
somehow related to the brain; and the body, through which the
others operated. The psychicalists insisted that the soul existed
without extension, and independently of matter, time, and space.
Among other things, this view broke down over the problem of
dualism, the relation between soul and matter. The scientific ma-
terialists discarded soul, and concentrated upon mind as localized
in the brain, invoking unknowable cosmic force having its source
in one unknowable substance. This was Spencer's view, and the
most competent in the materialist camp, so McComas argued that
if Spencer was refuted the whole materialist case broke down.
Spencer's weakest point, in McComas' estimation, was the dis-
carding of soul which made impossible an accounting, among other
things, for the persistent self-conscious self, individuality, and the
surmounting of relativism.
The McComas system was a monism, based upon the concept of
atoms, which might be differently organized and related in order
to account respectively for spirit and for matter. The soul and the
8. A distinction should be made between the two types of relativism then in vogue, the
English utilitarian tradition, an expediency philosophy, especially in the form given it by Wil-
liam Paley (1743-1805). Spencer denounced the expediency philosophy of Paley in particu-
lar. In his concept of Social Statics, Spencer insisted that ethical principles were absolutes,
but they presupposed a perfect man in a perfect world. In the existing imperfection of both,
Spencer stressed the point that man did not face a choice between absolute good and evil, but
must live in the world as he found it, and what he faced was a practical choice of the lesser
evil among possible courses all of which were evil. In this unhappy situation Spencer specified
that his guide should be the greatest freedom for himself coupled inseparably with responsi-
bility for an equal freedom for others.
This principle of correlative responsibility in Spencer's ethics is the aspect which is usually
minimized or ignored altogether, and upon which he has been most unjustly misrepresented,
especially by those historians of ideas who generalize about what is miscalled Social Dar-
winism. These differentiations are essential to an understanding of Spencer. He maintained
that man had developed through untold thousands of years to reach his present condition, but
would be required to strive for yet unknown thousands of years before attaining the condition
where the absolute principles of social statics were practicable. In the meantime he must
make the best possible use of the relativism of Social Dynamics and the choice of the lesser
of evils. Consult particularly Spencer's Social Statics (authorized American edition, 1865).
The preface to the American edition and the final chapter clarify his position on the differ-
entiation between Social Statics and Social Dynamics. In his later writings, Spencer made
this differentiation more explicit, but they came after McComas had written his books. Mc-
Comas attacked Spencer's relativism from a different angle, and struck at a fatal defect, but
nevertheless was not altogether fair to Spencer on the matter of relativism.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 327
physical organs of intelligence, both atom-structured, were found
in mortal man in one phase of "an illimitable and endless career
of psychical education and development — first in mortal chrysalis
forms, and finally as a free spirit."
Atoms were in motion according to general laws; time and space
were derivatives of motion, absolute and relative, so-called real
objects "are various, formal areas of motion. . . . Some phase
of psychical change or motion, as perceived, must be the mental
object. . . . There can be nothing but Being, and its motions
and the feeling and knowledge of them/' Also, he stated that "in-
telligent motion or self-evolution is the sole manifestation and end-
less life-mode of Infinite Being." In other words: that the uni-
verse is "an Infinite Being in intelligent motion — a self-evolving,
intelligent Infinite!"
When McComas asserted absolutely that "I regard the Universe
as a unique whole, existing in a process of law-governed and di-
vinely intelligent self-evolution," he posed a problem of reconciling
such a law-governed system with the individual persistent self-con-
scious self, the immortal soul. He denied free will in the conven-
tional sense as "arbitrary and capricious mental action," which was
incompatible with a law-governed universe. But until the minds of
men were freed from this false sense of freedom "there can be [no]
hope of securing ultimate conceptions or a possibility of a rational
or final solution of the profounder problems of Existence. That
which is, is always of necessity. The Future is as definitely certain
as the Past or Present. . . ." He had no illusions about the
immediate liberation of the mind — education, habit, time, and the-
ology were formidable — but he would bide his time and reverse
Jefferson's aphorism by saying: "Truth cannot be dangerous so
long as error is left free to combat it."
Having based his system upon the atom, law-governed, as the
unit, individuality was introduced and McComas insisted that
variety was insured absolutely, in unique complex combinations,
and no two organisms could possibly be exactly alike: "If an in-
complete organism which is still developing and constantly chang-
ing, and which is subjected to constantly changing states, condi-
tions and influences, should act with the mechanical completeness
and precision of an atom ... it would be acting capriciously
and lawlessly. To be law-governed is not to act in any particular
mode, or always in the same mode, but to always act in some defi-
nite and natural mode, according to the inducements, causes and
conditions then existing." Thus, in emphasizing uniqueness within
328 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
a law-governed universe, McComas was running directly against
the tide of 18th and 19th century concepts of equality and uniformity
both in their natural science and social science aspects:
There must be adequacy, inevitability and consistency, and not equality and
uniformity. To be law-governed, therefore, we should expect an incomplete,
growing and changing structure like the psychical organism, especially when
acting through such an organism as the human body and brain and under
. . . circumstances of human life, to exhibit corresponding changes in its
own action and greater or less difference from the action of other organisms
differently circumstanced, and in different stages of growth and culture.
McComas insisted that: "The recognition of the atomic composi-
tion of Matter, of its indestructibility, and of its persistent and con-
structive activities, rendered the recognition of some theory of
Evolution only a question of time/' Also he recognized that such a
revolutionary concept would arouse violent hostility, but even that,
he pointed out, was valuable: "Doubtless, it was well that a theory
so all-embracing and so revolutionary in its results should estab-
lish itself under the most exacting and vigorous conditions and
tests. . . ."
Spencer's definition of life was rejected as inadequate in favor
of F. W. J. Schelling's (1775-1854) view that life is a "tendency to
individuation." Whether viewed from either aspect, the atomic
units or the Infinite Intelligence, "one homogeneous Being" was
involved and the process as applied to both, man or the Infinite, was
one of "creative evolution" — McComas' own term, but: "During
these evolutions, there is neither loss nor increase of essential Sub-
stance, but only continual unions, dissolutions and re-unions — con-
tinual transformations and reformations of existing forms and ma-
terials, resulting in the progressive evolution of forms and struc-
tures of greater complexity, definiteness and unity. . . ."
The scientific materialists objected to all nonmaterialistic systems
as man centered:
Indeed, it seems to have become fashionable ... to speak with a fine
disinterestedness and contempt of the pretensions and pretentiousness of man.
. . . It is the cant of the day to speak of man as a mere ephemeral speck
upon the unpretentious little orb which he inhabits — as without significance
among the mighty worlds and world-evolutions environing him. But, if man be
indeed but an insignificant speck among these more stupendous . . .
worlds — where shall we hope to find the true, or any significance in the Uni-
verse? Man, as viewed by the materialists, is indeed an Insignificance, but
his being so, leaves the world a soulless Stupidity.9
9. In his book, The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth Century Philosophers (1932), Carl
Becker made fashionable again among students of the theory of history this type of cynical
characterization of man — "a chance deposit," a helpless "foundling in the cosmos" abandoned
by the forces that created him to flounder in a neutral universe of relativism. Even without
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 329
At this point, certain aspects of the McComas argument may be
recapitulated. Atoms, law-governed, enter into variant combina-
tions. This assumption, that atoms may be organized into different
combinations, opened the way for resulting structures to assume
different properties. Thus was resolved the problem of matter and
spirit, both atom-structured. Assuming that life is a tendency to
individuation, and that all life is conscious, but not necessarily self-
conscious, the point critical to the development of life into a self-
conscious self is when it becomes self-conscious. With that transi-
tion, a new order of magnitude, continuity of life begins — the soul
and its immortality. The breakthrough is achieved by means of
the operation of unpredictable, unique combinations of atomed
structures. The number of combinations being mathematically
unlimited, although law-governed, were unpredictable in their pos-
sibilities. Creativity is the consequence of these two principles —
unlimited number and variety of combinations of atoms, and the
consequent unpredictability of the particular individual combina-
tions— which guarantee that each self-conscious self must be unique,
absolutely, although acquiring continuity of life.
McComas could not accept the materialists' mode of assessing
compensations within the ruthlessness of evolution,
the few, fleeting and unsatisfying pleasures which accompany them ere Death
has swept his victims away . . ., and yet, we are told that the individuals
who toiled and suffered to win human progress are to be personally rewarded
with annihilation; while those who enjoy that progress will receive it as an
unearned gratuity. And even these undeserving heirs of progress can only
taste and perish. ... If these be indeed the only results of evolution, it
may well be said "there is no God;" however impossible it might be to divest
ourselves of the conviction of demoniac agency.
This view of the universe was totally unacceptable to McComas,
this demoniac concept:
When we reflect upon the countless ages past and the countless ages yet to
come during which innumerable myriads of human beings and a still more
innumerable tide of lower conscious and suffering animals have drifted, and
must continue to drift, into Time, in vast successive shoals like on-coming sea
waves upon a shoreless sea, [it was inconceivable that they had] only to hope,
toil, suffer, despair, and finally end their fleeting, delusive and disappointing
lives in — annihilation! . . .
One of the major tasks undertaken by McComas was to resolve
the difficulty of reconciling the finite and the Infinite — the relative
referring back to the ancient Greek Sophists, in the modern context the idea was so old that it
was new to the generation for whom Becker was writing.
For consideration of 20th century usage of the idea by Carl Becker and others, see James
C. Malin, On the Nature of History (1954), chs. 1, 3, and 8, and The Contriving Brain and
the SkiUful Hand (1955), ch. 11.
330 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and the absolute — in all their manifold aspects. He represented
Spencer as regarding "our entire knowledge as relative, and as
merely representative of unknown modes of an unknowable Realty.
. . ." Yet, in Spencers own words "its universal presence is the
absolute fact without which there can be no relative facts."
Spencer's concept of mind was no more than an aggregate of states
of consciousness; in other words, there was no "persistent conscious
self to provide continuity of development. McComas denied "in-
nate or intuitive ideas, but insisted upon "instinctive or developed
aptitudes which produce very similar results." Furthermore, he
posited that there was no limit to developed aptitudes. For the
orientation of the reader, he offered a preliminary formulation of his
conception of the individual and the universe:
. . . I regard the Universe as a unique whole, existing in a process of law-
governed and divinely intelligent self-evolution; that the organization of the
germinal Soul or Self is the controlling event in the course of prior physical
evolution — the goal of one provisional cycle of physical progress and the
initiation of an endless psychical progression; that, as the first and only in-
destructible organism and the first self-sustained vitality and conscious personal
Intelligence, and one destined to an endless development, the soul itself must
constitute the solution or demonstration of a Divine Conception, and that this
germ of personal intelligence is inherently possessed of the necessary attributes
or capacities for progressively acquiring a true knowledge of the Universe from
the experiences won from its various environments and imposed by prede-
termined conditions and causes. I conceive, that this germ of an immortal
Intelligence or Spirit commences its career in a bodily organism, with a direct
and conscious knowledge of its own vital individuality ... as will enable
it ... to progressively develop its own organization and powers, and
to form more . . . exact and truer conceptions of the objects of knowl-
edge . . .; and that, while neither . . . necessarily true or complete
similitudes of the real objects, yet that the fully-developed conception becomes
complete and true. . . .
McComas conceived of a "progressively developed harmony be-
tween" the subjective and objective worlds:
So that, although the Soul is seemingly compelled to experimentally work its
way up through countless delusive perceptions and false provisional conceptions,
these conceptions can never permanently register their false influences in its
organism, or misdirect the necessary steps in its progressive growth and in-
telligence; and consequently, that the Soul will continue to investigate facts
and attack problems with ever higher experiences and apter powers for forming
and organizing truer and broader conceptions of objective facts and truths,
until it successively masters them.
The bodily organ of the Soul, ... is ever growing up [in] power
which we denominate Reason. ... So that our knowledge grows ever
more coherent, symmetrical, consistent, congruous and harmonious, and so
becomes true.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 331
Having arrived at the conclusion (chapter ten) "that the Uni-
verse of Being is self-conscious in its totality and unity, and that
it constitutes a vital and individual or personal intelligence" Mc-
Comas insisted that: "A God must mean something." Furthermore,
"not only are the special systems of evolution [finite personalities]
solving their own several problems, but they are, all, the interde-
pendent and inter-influencing parts of a Universal Evolution. They
constitute parts of a unique whole." Although moral, as well as
physical and intellectual development were "progressive and in-
complete," in other words relative, it had "won certain principles
and truths, of a moral nature, which are axiomatic in their cer-
tainty and universal in their applicability." Because Infinite bene-
ficence was a corallary of Infinite being, intelligence and power:
"Evil can only exist to the finite mind under finite relations and
conditions, and then only by reason of mortal needs, desires and
sufferings, and as a misapprehended process or agency of good."
McComas insisted that "we must elevate our moral conceptions to
a standard more commensurate with Infinite Beneficence. . . .
Whatever is absolutely greatest and best, that also will God do,
and is doing. . . ."
What then was the role of finite man? — "It is manifest that God,
as the Infinite Sum of Being, must necessarily embrace within his
essential and unoriginated being, the infinite sum of all possible
original, inherent and absolute intelligence, happiness and satis-
faction. It is equally manifest that this sum can neither be in-
creased, diminished nor changed; since they are the inherent at-
tributes of his very being, and there is neither room nor possibility
for other Being. . . . How, then, is it possible for him to em-
brace more intelligence or more happiness?" The only possibility
McComas could discover was "by the Infinite Personality finitely
flowing into finite personalities, and thus winning knowledge and
happiness, — . . . and of progressively acquiring relative knowl-
edge and happiness through experience and development. . . ."
This led McComas to his final definition of the divine problem:
The creation — (in addition to the fixed sum of absolute intelligence and
happiness)— of the greatest possible amount of finite and relative intelligence
and happiness — with the least possible expenditure of time and suffering, by
means of endlessly-repeated systems of evolution throughout Infinite Being,
which shall continuously and endlessly evolve, and develop into self-sustaining
maturity, an ever increasing . . . number or tide of indestructible vital
organisms or finite psychical personalities, out of the ultimate components
of Being, which shall be at once intuitively self-conscious in their primal
332 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
organic lives and personalities and satisfied in their persistent and self-sus-
tained organic relations and activities, and yet capable of an endlessly-pro-
gressive relative and rational knowledge [,] happiness, and development; and
which, by the combined and continued conditions and influences to which
they are subjected and the experiences resulting from their associations and
relations with other finite forms and beings, as well as from their own motions
and activities, however induced, are necessitated to an endless career of pro-
gressive psychical life and development and to the acquisition of ever broader,
higher and truer relative and rational knowledge and a more and more exalted
relative happiness.
If this were true, then McComas recognized that further answers
were required about "the necessity, appropriateness, adequacy,
wisdom, or justice of the means and methods actually used to
effectuate the divine purposes. . . ." Accepting this challenge,
he admitted that: "Our attention, therefore, must, henceforth be
directed chiefly to this moral aspect of evolution. . . ." This
answer was broken down into replies to two specific questions: If
God is Infinite; (1) Why the delay, (2) Why the toil, suffering, evil,
and death? His case rested upon an assumption, most complexly
elaborated, "that the facts so exist" and "that all existence implies a
right reason for existing. . . . McComas admitted candidly
that this argument "would be appreciated only by a few. . . ."
More suggestive however was his argument about the difference
between completed and incompleted beings.
Popular creeds assumed that creation was a completed process
and that created beings were completed beings. McComas in-
sisted that there was an immeasurable difference between a "crea-
tion of completion" and a self -evolving being: "It is manifest, in-
deed, that an eternal progression towards the Infinite is the highest
possible finite approach towards the Infinite. Progress, therefore,
is the necessary law of finite creations/' Otherwise souls could not
have been created as components of a self-evolving Infinite. Ca-
pacities and conscious relative knowledge could not be bestowed,
he argued: "They are, in their nature, either experiences or the
products of them. . . ." Furthermore, "all periods of time are
viewed in relation to the life and motions of the observer" and the
time necessary to the evolution of an immortal soul renders finite
time insignificant.
Pursuing explicitly then the problem of evil, sin, and death, Mc-
Comas defined the existential character of man's situation in the
world: man had no choice or agency in his own creation — "he is
born between an agony and a wail" and having thus been born
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 333
without his own consent could not avoid the vicissitudes of life; he
could know happiness only through experience of opposites; he was
forbidden absolutely to be satisfied; his enjoyments were mostly
anticipatory; and he could not find a reasoned standard of justice
in the apparent assignments of rewards and punishments. But the
turning point of the argument appeared at this juncture, McComas
pointing to what he thought was the crux of traditional error — the
assumption that each person's mortal existence involved essentially
a completed and compensated career in this world, the other world
serving only as a device for a final balancing of the scales of re-
wards and punishments. Instead, finite existence was to McComas
only a preparation and a stage in a continuously evolving system.
But the materialistic evolutionist's answer which terminated per-
sonal experience with this world was no answer. It was a resort
to individual despair: "The defense aggravates the offense." Mc-
Comas' answer insisted upon the persistent evolving self-conscious
self — the immortal soul: "The only unalloyed pleasures and pure
happiness man can enjoy, are those experiences which are purely
intellectual and those which arise out of purely spiritual sympathies
and relations." However, after reviewing the history of the doc-
trine of transmigration of souls and related spiritualistic ideas, Mc-
Comas repudiated all such thought. His concept of the evolving
soul, he insisted, possessed no kinship with such doctrines, and
their only value in relation to his own thought was that they illus-
trated the persistence throughout human evolution on this earth,
from the earliest primitive man to the present, of the imminent fact
of a soul, which he insisted was significant, regardless of how er-
roneous the particular explanations.
Although in an absolute sense McComas denied the existence
of evil, yet the idea of good and evil was necessary to finite evolu-
tion, but was "wholly relative to human notions. . . ." Accord-
ingly: "God treats the body as a mere provisional shelter and in-
strument for the early growth and education of the soul."
The Divine moral standard is specific, fixed and perfect. The human stand-
ard advances with the progress of mental development and presents a pro-
gressive moral "sliding scale/' . . . the things in nature which seem
to be evil are only seemingly so from our ignorant and relative standpoint.
. . . A full and true knowledge always shows the true to be the Good. As
positive knowledge has increased, and Science has thrown its fuller light upon
the real facts and true principles of Nature, the propriety, beneficence and
necessity of them have become even more apparent. . . . We may fairly
conclude that the general truth is inductively established; while, from an
a priori standpoint, the whole matter is, and always has been, simply conclu-
334 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
sive. ... In short, the nearer we grasp and comprehend Nature in her
entirety, the more conspicuous become the necessity and beneficence of her
methods and results — even those which seemed most unaccountable and cruel.
The groundwork was laid thus for McComas' approach to his-
tory and to valuations of particular men in history. The "Hero"
was one whose insights and successes in meeting fundamental needs
most fully met the requirements of his particular time. The virtu-
ous were those in the vanguard of their time; the rank and file were
simply good; and the laggards were the low and vicious. A man
ahead of his age was "a Dreamer," and "destined only to posthumous
honors."
Probably the crux of all of McComas' thinking was to be found
in the concept of continuous self-realization as the only and highest
good, whether applied to finite men or to Infinite Being. The only
glimpse of the Infinite which was vouchsafed to the finite mind was
by means of analogy based upon the most significant thought avail-
able about its own highest aspirations. The commitment to the
atomic theory, to a concept of time and space as functions of mo-
tion, ruled out absolutely any acceptance of an idea of completion
or of being-at-rest. Absence of motion, like vacuum was unthink-
able to McComas. Perfection meant completion, in other words, to
achieve perfection in the popular sense of either the 18th century
idea of progress or of the Christian idea of heavenly perfection,
meant for any perfect thing, finite or infinite, to stop dead — if such
a status could be thinkable it would be a condition of annihilation
or nothingness. But the insistent demand of all life was to con-
tinue to live, in other words, to maintain motion. If this complex
of thought is kept sharply focused, the logic of the McComas argu-
ment was clear: "The greatest mystery has ever been, not only why
Nature was cruel and imperfect, but still more, why she is always
imperfect." The answer lies in purpose — the concept of continuous
self-realization, self -evolution, as the only and highest good.
In his own elaborations of his ideas McComas suffered semantic
difficulties. In undertaking to explain a new system of thought he
could not find adequate old words to apply to the new conceptions,
so he often used the accustomed terminology with two meanings,
the old and the new. Thus it is necessary, although sometimes dif-
ficult, to discriminate his usage in different contexts, in order not to
attribute to him gross self-contradiction. Peculiarly difficult is the
example that follows — his use of the word perfection — the tradi-
tional usage meaning static completion, and his own concept of
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 335
dynamic self-evolution that is the denial — absolutely — that com-
pletion is possible.
These ideas McComas elaborated in dealing with nature in the
physical sense and in the process of psychical development. Thus
finite man exhibited the characteristic of working for "specific and
completed ends" and judged the "finished work" as good or bad.
Then, by analogy "we judge Nature according to the same rule."
The McComas philosophy challenged sharply the validity of such
an approach to nature, both in detail and as a whole:
We have never even conceived the ultimate achievements at which she aims.
We only see her in the midst of her primary processes. . . . The whole
of her supposed imperfections arise from the fact, that we look upon her struc-
tures and forms as completed ends. . . . The perfection of Nature, even
in her transient forms, is absolute, but that perfection is not in those forms
and results of her evolutions as forms and results, and as ends achieved, but
in her processes of which they constitute parts. We see nothing but her
processes. . . .; and as means and processes, they are divinely perfect as
the end — are exactly adequate and absolutely necessary. That completeness
which we denominate perfection, would be the death-blow to physical evolu-
tion. To keep it going as a process, it must be kept incomplete; since com-
pleteness would at once arrest it, even now. . . . The maintaining of this
continuous incompleteness in the eternal and infinite rounds of primary and
formative evolution or Soul-making, is the very sum of all mystery and divine
wisdom.
So much for the one aspect of nature. The other, the intangible
spiritual side of the finite and infinite, McComas formulated in di-
rect sequence:
It is thus, also, in Nature's processes of psychical development. . . .
That which is perfectly satisfied will neither endeavor, nor change; and the
action and effort absolutely necessary to all development would therefore be
wanting. It is apparent, then, that it is a matter of infinite wisdom to keep
the physical Universe in that exact state of continuous incompleteness and
struggle for equilibrium and satisfaction, and the Soul in that continuous state
of dissatisfaction and stimulation which in both cases, keep up a continuous
struggle, — first, for the Good against the Evil, and then, for the Higher and
Better as against the Good, and thus result in continuous physical and psychical
developments. If this does not involve supreme wisdom, I confess myself un-
able to conceive what would. Here are two "perpetual motions" — the included
and the inclusive — the Soul and the Universe! — and all made possible by the
means we deem so imperfect, evil and cruel.
Of course, McComas saw the possibility of misinterpretation and
of abuse of his ideas and hastened to establish a road block:
But, are we to encourage evil and sin because they are necessities? On the
contrary, they are necessary only, and are expressly provided, for the very
purpose of exciting our dissatisfaction, dislike and active opposition. . .
336 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Mortal life on earth, therefore, was only one stage in the con-
tinuity of uninterrupted self -evolution process:
This integrating and individualizing [of?] souls from out the Infinite, and
welding [,] hammering and tempering them for Eternity in the grim smithy of
Mortality, amid the fires of sin, suffering and death, may seem a tedious and
wiered [weird?] process, but it is a divine one, and the only one by which
finite personalities and finite intelligence and happiness can be secured, and
in which the "Divine Problem" involved in the infinite intelligence and benefi-
cence of Being or in the nature and life of God can be unfolded and mani-
fested.™
VI. A CONCEPT OF THE UNIVERSE
After the publication of McComas' two major works, in 1880, no
record has been found for a full decade of further printed exposi-
tion of his philosophical and theological position. That long silence
was broken during the winter of 1889-1890, when he had printed
by the Fort Scott Tribune Job Printing Office, a 38-page pamphlet
(n. d.) entitled A Concept of the Universe. The approximate dat-
ing of this work is established by a reference to it in the Daily Trib-
une, March 11, 1890,— "a pamphlet of some forty pages recently
printed by the TRIBUNE, entitled 'A Concept of the Universe/ "
This short paper-back volume contained a drastically condensed
version of the book, The Divine Problem. Probably it was intended
to do that and no more, but necessarily much must be lost by such an
operation. As an attempt at popularization he needed, even more
than in the original, a name for his conception of the solution of
"The Divine Problem." Although not necessarily essential to sur-
vival, the success of any project is facilitated by the choice of a
good name. All McComas offered in his title was: "A Concept of
the Universe/' Assuming that he did not intend to modify his
basic idea, the most significant omission was in terminology. He
did not contrast explicitly, by means of the terms originally used,
the concept of the finished and the unfinished world or universe, and
neither did he retain the name which, so inconspicuously, he had
given his mode of thought, "Creative Evolution/' Yet, without
that striking terminology, he insisted as before upon an open-end
system of continuous self-evolution and self-realization which was
the process he had described first as "Creative Evolution," in an
10. A list of the principal scientists and philosophers named by E. W. McComas in The
Divine Problem. In only a few cases did he cite their works by title. The men are: Alex-
ander Bain, 1818-1903; Claude Bernard, 1813-1878; Robert Boyle, 1627-1691; Thomas
Carlyle, 1795-1881; E. H. DuBois-Reymond, 1818-1896; Thomas H. Huxley, 1825-1895;
George Henry Lewes, 1817-1878; James McCosh, 1811-1894; Isaac Newton, 1642-1727;
Emile Saigey, 1829-1872; F. W. J. Schelling, 1775-1854; Herbert Spencer, 1820-1903; John
Tyndall, 1820-1893; Alexander Winchell, 1824-1891. Charles Darwin was not named.
William Paley, 1743-1805, was not cited, but if not read directly, McComas was familiar with
certain of bos views as discussed by Spencer.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 337
unfinished universe. He began with the assertion that: "An
untrammeled mind . . . demands, a priori, a perfect Being.
v , . It rejects the possibility of evil, or the tolerance of evil, by
an absolute, uncreated being/*
On the other hand, McComas still insisted that the concept of evil
arose out of the limitations of finiteness of the human mind and of
the relativity of its grasp upon the infinite whole. The atom was
the ultimate unit in the infinite universe, and everywhere life and
intelligence were manifested, extending from "the atoms to the
infinite/* with an increase "in range and capacity as it ascends
* . . through various degrees of sentience, consentience and
instinct, to psychical and personal self-consciousness." He held
still that: "Consciousness is the result of organic individuation and
activity and not the cause of them/* Thus evolution or develop-
ment required first, physical forms which were temporary or mortal,
but once the self-conscious self, ego, or soul, was achieved, it was
immortal. Although in its self-evolution, the soul was dependent
temporarily upon a succession of mortal forms of increasing com-
plexity, the ultimate goal of each unique self or soul was indepen-
dence of the physical forms. In this context the life of a human
being on earth was only one in a succession of these physical and
temporary incarnations of a "Self/* Physical death was only a
release of the "Self* to a higher form of existence elsewhere which,
if this life was lived successfully, should be the object of optimistic
anticipation.
In his conclusion, McComas insisted that there was no need for
a higher God than "the living, self-conscious Universe itself — the
veritable 'God in whom we live and move and have our being/ A
cult based upon this concept would seem to be the natural and
appropriate outcome of man's religious development/'
But Governor McComas was not himself so constituted as to
become the founder of such a cult, and he did not have an Apostle
Paul to fashion one by formalization of his "Creative Evolution."
VII. LOCAL ESTIMATES OF THE McCoMAS PHILOSOPHY
When the McComas books appeared in print, the Monitor, Febru-
ary 22, 1880, noticed them, commenting first upon A Rational View
of Jesus and Religion, which "purports to be an exposition and
rational review" of the origin of religious belief, of the Christian
movement, of the claims of Jesus to supernatural powers, and more
22—4339
338 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
especially of the claim that Jesus rose from the dead. But what
was more significant, this conservative Republican paper insisted:
The professed design of the work is not to weaken either the moral or religious
element in man's nature — since it recognizes these to be indestructible, and
Christianity to be a divine instrument of human development — but its effort
is to elevate both morals and religion from the plane of superstition and super-
naturalism to that of a rational religion. It maintains the existence of God,
of the soul, and of a future life — doctrines which are attempted to be ration-
ally established in the second work — the "Divine Problem."
Elaborating upon the other book, the editor pointed out that
the objective was "to demonstrate by rational methods from the
evidences furnished by Nature herself, the existence of God and
of immortal souls ... to substitute rational conviction for a
blind faith." For McComas' Infinite Being, the editor explained,
"it being forever unfolded in its natural evolution, or divine intelli-
gent life. . . . The whole work is based upon a theory of
universal evolution."
Having summarized the McComas argument as best he could,
and without passing judgment, the editor turned to the author,
commending both books to the public "as the offspring of a masterly
intellect, profound thought and scholarly attainment. The author
is too well known, and his gifts too highly appreciated by our people
to need or require praise." In the next phase of his commentary,
the editor presumed on the part of the reader of 1880 a personal
knowledge about McComas' private life which is denied the his-
torian, when he continued: the work "is the storehouse of years
of unremitting mental toil — toil conceived in physical affliction and
corresponding need, coupled with a conscientious and noble desire
to benefit and exalt humanity." Hints of family and personal tragedy
involve his wife's long illness and his own impaired health, details
of which are unknown, but which the editor recognized as making
a reconciliation of evil and suffering in the world more than an
abstract philosophical problem. For McComas, it was as well a
peculiarly insistent personal need.
The Monitor concluded by saying that:
The style ... is philosophic yet plain, profound yet attractive. While
disclaiming all claims to fine writing, an elevated eloquence, such only as can
be acquired by a cultivation of great natural gifts, pervades the whole work,
lending it a beauty and force so often lacking in discussions of like character.
"Regardless of preconceived notions and beliefs," the editor
commended "a work of such profound thought and exhaustive erudi-
tion" to careful reading.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 339
The Democratic Herald, March 11, 1880, reviewed both books:
Under the title of "The Divine Problem" the author endeavors to demonstrate
rationally that there is a God, and while not attempting to reconcile science
and theology, with great force and erudition he corrects many existing errors
and opinions which superstition has thrown around his subject, and treats in a
plausible as well as new and pleasing manner the subjects of the soul, mind
and kindred matter.
In A Rational View of Jesus, the Herald called attention to the
exposition "of the origin of all religious belief, endeavoring to show
by well drawn comparisons that Christianity is the outgrowth of
its surrounding circumstances." As did the Monitor, the Herald
declined to pass judgment saying instead that "In whatever light
anyone may view these works, everyone must admit that Gov.
McComas fully understands his subjects, and treats them alike with
a vast amount of learning and logic, and with his accustomed
candor and fairness." The editor recognized the issue involved in
these books as "this much vexed and most difficult problem of this
or any other age," and that they would "aid many in their investiga-
tions." In this light the books were recommended to "thinking men
of all shades of belief. . . ."
VIII. THE LATER LIFE OF McCoMAS
Attention has been called to J. B. Chapman's comments on Mc-
Comas' reticence about his early life: "He wrote nothing about
himself and disliked very much to be written about." As he was
not running for public office, what claims did anyone have for in-
vading his privacy? But public curiosity does not always respect
such an insistence upon things private as distinguished from things
public. On one occasion of record, McComas was reminded rather
rudely that the vacuum is sometimes filled by the invention of ma-
licious rumor. Probably there were other instances, but only one
has been found where he made a public explanation. His letter
to the editor was printed in the Daily Monitor, June 4, 1878, under
the title: "Correction of History." "Mr. Editor: I learn that one
of our teachers in giving the history of John Brown's execution,
accredited me with signing the death-warrant, and I have since
learned that such an impression has prevailed. Will you permit me,
through your columns, to correct this scrap of history. I was not
in Virginia during the time of the John Brown embroglio, but was
living in Chicago, and had no connection with it in any form —
save to regret both the acts and the execution of Brown."
The next episode involves also a Fort Scott school teacher, Mrs.
340 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Matthew S. Fox, and her tragic death allegedly as a victim of vicious
public intolerance. But it is best to use the story substantially as
Governor McComas told it at her funeral:
Friends: — We are asembled here to take our last look at the dead face of
our neighbor and friend, Mrs. Fox. Constituted and educated as we are,
such a service as we are here to perform must ever impress us as the saddest
and most mournful of our duties. The customary church rites and priestly
services on such occasions, as well as our education and inherited religious
faith, have so tended to heighten the solemnity of death and of our funeral
services that, whatever philosophic convictions we may have of the actual
beneficence of death as the necessary prelude to our initiation into a new and
higher phase of psychical life and development; we cannot escape our fear of
death, nor divest ourselves of the awe inspired by its presence, nor repress our
grief and tears before the still forms and open graves of those we have "loved
and lost."
On this occasion you stand in the presence of the more than usually solemn
and impressive fact, while you miss the priestly presence and offices to which
you have been accustomed. The reason for this unaccustomed course will be
more appropriately explained and better understood after the recital of a few
salient facts of Mrs. Fox's life.
For the sake of brevity at this point a summary must suffice,
mostly of the details presented by the governor, but supplemented
from other sources. Mary A. Van Vrankin was born near Racine,
Wis., June 12, 1859, was married in Missouri, near Fort Scott, June
5, 1873, at the age of 14, to Mr. Fox, a shoemaker, about a dozen
years her senior. As McComas put it: In her early girlhood, when
penniless and untutored, she was taken charge of, cared for, sup-
ported and finally married by Mr. Fox. . . . Her husband had
educated her for a teacher." She felt a responsibility for repaying
his generosity by making a success in that profession. She earned
first class certificates, winning an enviable position in the public
schools. Mr. Fox was an outspoken liberal, and so far as she had
formulated religious convictions, she shared his views: "Had her
hopeful and happy youth permitted her even to think of the bear-
ing of such a fact upon her own secular occupation, her tolerant
mind could have conceived of no possible connection between her
husband's exercise of his undoubted right of 'free thought* and 'free
speech/ with her own right to win her bread by her own toil.
. . . How gladdening and beautiful is this sublime confidence
of youth." As another put it: "She was kind in her disposition, of
a sunny nature, gentle in her bearing towards everybody, greatly
beloved by her friends and neighbors." But she received a rude
shock by being dismissed without cause from her position. No
charges were preferred against her, nor reasons given: "Her pa-
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 341
trons earnestly petitioned for her reinstatement; their appeals fell
upon deaf ears/' She suffered nervous prostration, but her final
three month's illness was a "fever of a typhoid type":
The real woman is no longer here. She has been transferred to a new and
higher school, where the sole qualification for her admission will be the fact
that she has lived, where the sole certificate required is that of her death, and
where the sole patron and commissioner is God — the All Father.
At this point, McComas applied his generalized philosophy to
the particular case; physical and psychical evolution — the continuity
of the life of Mary Fox:
Beloved, respected and supported, as she was, by her husband, her friends,
and patrons, while sheltering and growing in this now lifeless form before us,
she will yet learn, in her upward physical [psychical] progress, to regard all
these earthly experiences, whether of joy or sorrow, as alike indispensible
causes and conditions in her physical [psychical] growth and development, and
that even her despair and death were divinely beneficent both in aim and end.
A word more. Disbelieving in the efficacy of priestly pray[er]s and inter-
cessions, and believing that she had been the victim of religious persecution,
Mrs. Fox declined to have any priestly ministrations whatever, either before or
after her death. Her dying request (urgently seconded by her husband) was
that I should speak for her at her funeral. Much as I was startled by the
request I could not disregard such a dying request without exhibiting a
cowardice which I was at least unwilling to confess. In the feeblest manner,
therefore, I have now endeavored to fulfill the dead woman's wishes. May
the flowers and grasses grow kindly above her mouldering remains, and may
all-healing time bring consolation to the grief-stricken husband.11
The funeral of Mary Fox was held at the residence on Sunday
morning, August 30. The Knights of Labor and the fire depart-
ment each attended in a body, six of the Knights of Labor serving
as pallbearers. Both local papers commented that the attendance
was the largest of any funeral at Fort Scott for some time. And
this tribute of so large a number of friends of Mary Fox was in part
at least drawn from the regular Sunday morning attendance at the
several churches of the city. An "In Memoriam" tribute by Mat-
thew Fox, was Mary's own appreciation of a friend which he ap-
plied to his wife, and included original verses, two of which are
reprinted here:
At twilight time,
The musing hour,
When the past re-lives
And we feel the power
Of the subtle spell that awhile calls back
The treasures we've lost along life's track —
11. Fort Scott Daily Tribune, September 1, 1885; Daily Monitor, September 2, 1885.
Both newspapers, the Monitor probably reprinting from the Tribune, misused the word
"physical" instead of "psychical" in next to the final paragraph.
342 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
We sit and dream,
Till the present falls
In the shadow that rises
And sinks on the walls;
And the old time only is living and true,
And dreams are the things that now we do.12
Governor McComas acquitted himself creditably in the unusual
role just related, but his services were in demand as well for more
conventional tasks — he was a key personality in the activities of the
Fort Scott Board of Trade during the middle years of the decade of
the 1880's, and in December, 1885, he was elected president. On
account of ill-health he declined re-election, but served as trustee.13
In 1889 the Tribune, February 23, showed its continued confi-
dence in McComas by proposing his name for mayor of Fort Scott:
If Gov. McComas could be induced to accept the office of mayor, and if the
people could be imbued with sufficient good hard sense to elect him unani-
mously, it would be a feather in the city's cap. The influence of such a man
at the head of the city government would be far reaching and potent for the
public good. Gov. McComas is the "grand old man" of this community.
The governor did not afford the city the opportunity, however, and
a few days more than a year later he was gone.
His passing revived the stories about his resignation as lieutenant
governor of Virginia, the Topeka State Journal repeating the charge
about his signing the death warrant of John Brown. The Monitor,
March 21, 1890, came to his defense in "Justice to the Dead," re-
porting that in Fort Scott such stories were not believed. A Vir-
ginia-born attorney was quoted as saying that such an act would
have been contrary to Virginia law, as executions were carried out
on writ from a court. Thus the Monitor concluded: ". . . while
we differed with the deceased upon almost every question upon
which men have opinions, we believe this statement is due him and
his family. There is absolutely no truth in the story." The tribute,
based upon the inadequate historical evidence cited, was all the
12. The Democratic Daily Tribune, an evening paper, printed most of the items relating
to the Fox story one day ahead of the Daily Monitor, the conservative Republican paper, but
neither editor commented upon the episode as such.
Daily Tribune, August 28 (the obituary), August 31 (report of the funeral service),
September 1 (McComas' address and "In Memoriam"); Daily Monitor, August 29 (the
obituary, with several errors and the "Resolutions of Sympathy" by the Knights of Labor),
August 30 (announcement of the funeral service), September 1 (the report of the funeral
service), September 2 (McComas' address).
The census records listed the Foxes for 1875, 1880, 1885; Kansas state census, 1875,
Fort Scott, ages 29 and 17 respectively; United States census, 1880, 33 and 20 respectively;
Kansas census, 1885, 38 and 23 respectively. These data are not consistent, and under the
circumstances, the obituary notice would appear to have precedence. All the census records
listed Matthew as a boot and shoe maker, and in 1880 Mary was listed "at school," other-
wise only as wife.
13. Fort Scott Dailv Monitor, January 24, 1884; Daily Tribune, December 24, 1885,
January 17, March 11, 1890.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 343
more significant. Chapman's obituary sketch had given the cor-
rect date of his resignation, 1857, two years prior to the John Brown
episode, and that should have settled matters conclusively, but the
meaning of dates did not seem to register upon the minds of those
concerned. Furthermore, all seem to have forgotten that McComas
himself had stated the facts in print, in 1878. This same tolerance
had appeared in the obituary notice in the Tribune, March 11, and
in the Monitor, March 12: "Without discussing the views and phi-
losophy of these works, we desire here to earnestly commend them
to the attention of the public as the offspring of a masterly intellect,
profound thought and great attainments."
The Monitors editorial of the same date, after reviewing Mc-
Comas' political career and his loyalty to the principles under which
he was reared, continued:
Possessing a natural taste for the study of philosophy, he found time to turn
his hand to the expression of his ideas in book form, and while reaping no
pecuniary reward from his work in this respect, he earned the reputation of a
deep thinker and a trenchant writer upon his favored themes, and in the school
of evolution and rational thought there were few men more deeply versed or
more ready in expression. He was a theorist, and yet had few equals in all
that is practical. He was a student, and yet he was withal a generous com-
panionable and public spirited gentleman.
The Fort Scott area had not always behaved so wonderfully to
its people as individuals, as has been recorded elsewhere. That it
acquitted itself so well in some cases is important in order to main-
tain perspective upon the whole situation and on what the Fort
Scott community was capable of doing. Regardless of rumors about
his Virginia career, his Civil War position, and knowledge of the
fact that he was a lifelong Democrat, and that he was unorthodox
in religion, Governor McComas was held in high esteem. The Re-
publican Monitor, regardless of changes in editorship, always
singled him out for kind words of personal respect. However un-
orthodox his views on philosophy and religion, his sincerity and his
philosophical mind were ever the subject of admiring and respect-
ful comment, if not actual veneration.
IX. THE McCoMAS FUNERAL
The essential sequel to the story of the McComas philosophy
was the manner in which the Fort Scott community met the crisis
of his funeral. Like many other communities, because of dissension
and other factors, Fort Scott had failed on the long pull to actualize
fully upon its own potential in physical advantages. On occasion,
however, it had behaved magnificently in meeting emergency situ-
344 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ations. The unexpected passing of E. W. McComas, who died in
his sleep the night of March 10-11, 1890, presented the community
with a test of its capacity for nobility. J. B. Chapman, editor of
the Democratic Tribune wrote that:
During his residence here he has been our most prominent citizen. His great
ability and advice was invoked upon every important occasion. ... He
was always progressive, lending his indomitable energy to every public move-
ment in the development of the city. He stood foremost in encouraging
public improvements and his eloquent voice and powerful pen were always ac-
tive in the effort of enterprises that inured to the welfare of the city. . . ,14
The funeral of Governor McComas presented problems. The
McComas family had an Episcopalian tradition, which may have
included the governor. But the author of the book, A Rational
View of Jesus, could not have been considered a member in good
standing of St. Andrews parish church. The board of trade was
in charge of arrangements, and attended in a body. The service
was held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Henry
Mackay, rector of St. Andrews read the Episcopal service for the
dead, and delivered the funeral discourse. Except for the Catholic
church, the Methodist was the city's largest church building, which
may have governed the choice of place.
Undoubtedly the occasion required a certain elasticity in both
theology and conscience. Rector Mackay opened his remarks:
"Whatever is, is right." This sentence is a pivotal point for many, if not
for nearly all, of the theories of him who lies before us in the arms of nature.
It is a philosophic saying, and might be considered all [an ?] axiom. And it
requires the clear, acute, incisive intellectual powers of a philosopher to com-
prehend and analyze its avenues to any satisfactory conclusion. Such a mind
was his — such a mind knows no death. He being dead yet lives in his worth
and works as a citizen of our world. He was an evolution of some great stock,
because greatness must have its birth through great antecedents. There is no
such a thing as chance.
After surveying the conventional biographical data, Mackay re-
turned to the difficult task of reconciliation of McComas' life and
his heresy with a broad but ambiguous orthodoxy, which evaded
the main issue, that McComas had treated Jesus and Christianity
as religious fraud. Necessarily, this course required Mackay to
focus his discourse upon the characteristics of the man as they
were known to all his listeners, emphasizing those certainties as the
exemplification of a truly religious life regardless of conflicts with
theological uncertainties beyond comprehension. That life was
14. Fort Scott Daily Tribune, March 11, 1890.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 345
known to all and was such that no one could condemn, except upon
the abstractions beyond the limits of tangible proof.
The major portion of the remainder of Mackay's tribute to
McComas is reprinted as follows, omissions being indicated by the
usual signs, and the text as originally printed divided into para-
graphs 3 and 4, the headings being inserted in brackets to aid the
reader in following the transitions from topic to topic:
[INTELLECT]
The ex-governor gave early tokens of intellectual powers. His mind proved
to be a generalizing, speculative product. It was not satisfied with looking at
the surface of things — it must dig deep down, extend wide its reach — soar
aloft as with wings of light, that it might, as far as practicable, enter the inner-
most chambers of the knowable. The outlook and trend of his intellect
developed in authorship. His works are said to be ably written, clearly ex-
pressed, and their speculations presented with confidence, ability and force.
In appearance he was a towering pine. . . . His hair and beard, for some
time past, were white as snow, his figure almost perpendicular. . . . He
indeed, was a tall, noble human-tree in the forest of humanity. . . .
[RELIGIOUS CHARACTER]
But we have come to another quality of his critical, investigating mind — his
religious character. Here, too, he stands out a monument of moral principles.
. . . His morality was as high and ennobling as his intellectuality. He was
an honest man. Is not honesty good religion? He was a virtuous man. Is not
virtue good religion? He was a good, kind husband and parent. Are not these
factors of good religion? He was a generous man, open in general 'tis said,
forward to surrender rights, lest he should not be right and rather than to
give offense or injure. Is not this good religion? He read the scriptures many
times, perhaps, if you will, as a critic. Is not that good religion? Most as-
suredly these are good facts of good religion.
[BELIEF IN GOD]
But his religion was deeper, broader, better than the moralities of religion.
He read, marked, learned, inwardly digested the scriptures, and with what
result, think you? Did he turn away from this book and say, "There is no
God," "there is no heaven," "this world begun and will end our being?" No
such thing. He believed in the existence of God, and in immortality. Is not
such a belief good religion? May my right hand forget its cunning if I ever
should deny such a religion, or such a man. In fact, as an evolutionist in
theory and belief he could not well be anything else. If, indeed, he ever
endeavored, ever wished, to make merchandise of his evolution, it might have
been thought that his faith was a sham. But, as a retired man of mind, seeking
health and enjoying leisure, his evolution ideas were, perhaps, nothing more
than words. Kossuth, however, did say "words are things." Indeed, men
cannot avoid using crude thoughts. Judge him by what he is certain of —
what his life and character unfold. Do this in the late Governor McComas'
case, and you will acknowledge that his moral religious life was a grand one.
346 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
[IMMORTALITY]
And as to immortality. Did he believe in immortality? Those who are
bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, those who knew him intimately say that he
did. But you may like the words continuity of life, better than the term
immortality. You are at full liberty to adopt these words, either will suit me.
Continuity of life is immortality called by another name. He who regards
this earthly house as perishable, but its soul tenant imperishable, must, does
believe that "apart and behind the wall of sense, we are now and then, caught
up through high communings into the divine sphere where are the substances
of which the earth is only the shadow." Truly this divine particle of Plato —
this undying thing called soul, must be a substance, for what is not a substance
is nothing. I have no doubt but that this once noble man fully believed,
because he believed in immortality — that everything about us and within us
indicated that this existence is preliminary and preparatory — a segment, so to
speak, and not a circle. We want to believe that now as the mortal surface
has rolled off, his spirit is unfolding in flowers of the world of spirits.
Such, it seems to, and is believed by me is man. And he whom we wish to
honor, in this public ceremony, has left a record of which the people of the
city should be justly proud. Do you prefer character that is golden, to a
heaven of which but little is known, or can be known. Does character make
heaven? Certainly. For wherever God is, is heaven, and it is his sublime char-
acter which makes heaven what it is. May we not, then, entertain a humble
hope that character will find its affinity there as here? We want to, we will,
entertain the larger hope.15
Another tribute was printed in the Daily Tribune, March 14,
1890 — a poem by Fort Scott's young Democratic poet who was yet
to achieve national fame, Albert Bigelow Paine:
HE SLEEPS
Calmly he lies,
His tired eyes
Forever closed.
Such peaceful rest
In that calm breast
Never reposed.
Worn with the strife
And burdens of life,
Softly he slumbers,
Heedless that I
Standing near by
Murmer these numbers.
Calmly he left us
That which bereft us
Came without warning
Sleeping, they thought him
While darkness had brought him
Another morning.
15. The DaUy Monitor, Fort Scott, March 14, 1890.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 347
Tireless, he pondered,
While the world wondered
At his seclusion.
Problems that vexed him —
Long years perplexed him
Now find solution.
X. CONCLUSION
E. W. McComas' silence and even hostility toward inquiries about
his past are understandable — a son of Virginia and of a family
identified for generations with the culture of the Old Dominion,
with two brothers in the Confederate army and one, H. C. Mc-
Comas, in the Union army, and with a Democratic affiliation in
Chicago during the Civil War which would lay him open to the
charge by intolerant nationalists of being a "Copperhead," what-
ever that might mean to different people. Apparently still at heart
an unreconstructed state-rights Democrat, as pertained to constitu-
tional theory, he did not confess his "error" in public as did Gen.
John H. Stringfellow, a fellow Virginian, and Judge Samuel D. Le-
compte, a Marylander, in 1868, who endorsed General Grant, the
Republican party, and adjustment to the new centralized nationalist
order. He did not, as they did, accept the national revolution as de-
cided upon the battlefield, to the effect that the constitution placed
no limitation, beyond the principle of expediency, upon centralized
power.16 During the years following 1865, Republican Kansas was
a good place for Democrats who wished to escape even the tempta-
tion to run for office. And not having invited investigation into his
past by hostile political opponents, McComas had avoided the more
vicious forms of partisan abuse to which candidates of that day
were subjected.
Whatever his views about the past, McComas was concerned in
a different manner about the future — the individual and the uni-
verse evolving through "creative evolution." Probably relatively
few people in Fort Scott understood this facet of his personality —
the philosopher and recluse. But there was still another side. In
his quiet way he identified himself with the community and the
promotion of its future. People who did not accept his politics or
his philosophy, did appreciate his work with the board of trade.
The several facets of his personality appealed to different people,
and there appears to be no good reason to challenge the Tribune's
compliment on the occasion of its attempt to persuade him to run
16. James C. Malin, On the Nature of History (Lawrence, The Author, 1954), ch. 6,
"On the Nature of the American Civil War: The Verdict of Three Kansas Democrats."
348 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
for Mayor — "Gov. McComas is the 'grand old man' of this com-
munity."
Generalization by classification under labels of liberal and con-
servative, radical or progressive and reactionary, is misleading or
worse in most any case, even when the bases of definition are
limited to innovation versus status quo. Governor McComas is an
object lesson in the dangers inherent in such procedures. Super-
ficially, his position during the preliminaries and during the course
of the American Civil War, and on the issues of antislaveryism and
abolition would appear to set him down as conservative or even
reactionary in defense of state rights. But he did not defend slav-
ery, nor join in secession as did two of his brothers. By the same
standard, they would have been even more conservative. How-
ever, even during that conflict, and its several types of crusades
and intolerances, he was an advanced advocate of the program
for organized labor in Chicago — not a mere liberal — on that issue
he was a radical. In philosophy and religion, McComas was among
the advanced thinkers, but not an extremist. By this is meant that
extreme scientific materialism, agnostic or even atheistic, was radi-
cal, while a defense of traditional revealed or supernatural religion
was conservative. As related to those two extremes, the governor
was somewhere between, and in the unenviable position of those
who undertake to hold a straight middle-of-the-road course in the
midst of the turmoil produced by crusading extremists of both the
right and the left. He was unclassifiable because he was a unique
person. The only generalization that is really permissible in this
connection is that all persons are unique, although most become
anonymous for want of records of their complexities.
Academic philosophers of the 20th century may consider it pre-
sumptuous to mention McComas, the Kansas Prairie Philosopher
of Virginia origins, in the same sentence with the French philoso-
pher, Henri Bergson (1859-1941), but both reacted in part at least
to the same stimuli, to Herbert Spencer immediately, and to F. W. J.
Schelling (1775-1854), more remotely, and both used the term
"Creative Evolution" to describe their respective philosophies.17
Although different as systems, important similarities did not end
with that descriptive term. Both began with Herbert Spencer,
repudiating his materialism and setting themselves the task of
improving upon Spencer. McComas' book was published in 1880,
and Bergson's in 1907. If adverse critics of McComas maintain
17. Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution (1907), authorized translation from the French
by Arthur Mitchell, the University of Kansas (New York, 1911).
THE PHILOSOPHY OF WESLEY McCoMAS 349
that his thinking was defective, they may be reminded that adverse
critics of Bergson insisted not only that he had nothing new to
say but that he was guilty of plagiarism.18
Bergson appealed to intuition as an avenue of escape from science
and rationalism. Some interpreted this as a form of mysticism, or
as anti-intellectualism. McComas rejected innate or intuitive ideas,
insisting upon instinctive or developed aptitudes. The critical point
in considering both men is that in several respects they were in the
same tradition and that many minds were exploring the implica-
tions of evolutionary thought to the foundations of Western cul-
ture. Contrary to what appears to be popular belief, Charles Dar-
win was not among those who participated in these larger philo-
sophical quests. Furthermore, among the many who did attempt
the formidable task, few indeed succeeded in achieving the break-
through from the concept of completion or the finished universe, to
the philosophy of incompletion or unfinished universe. Whatever
the defects of the McComas philosophy, the remarkable aspect of
his undertaking is that as early as 1880 he had achieved so large a
measure of success.
To be sure, McComas made certain important, even critical as-
sumptions, unverified and unverifiable — so do all philosophers — but
if they are taken at their face value for the purpose at hand, he
constructed out of them an articulated system. Indeed, within this
context, it gave life and the universe a meaning, stoical or existential
in character, but balanced slightly in favor of optimism. The only
valid basis of criticism of his or other systems of philosophy, either
favorable or adverse, is to concede for the sake of analysis the
unverifiable aspects, and to examine the structure of the thought
in terms of adequacy and consistency of development. The final
acceptance or rejection of the system and its tendencies and impli-
cations depends upon personal value judgments of the critic.
So far as identifiable> McComas' inspiration came not from the
18th century French philosophers, unless by reaction against them,
but, by direct acknowledgment, primarily from English science
and philosophy and German philosophy. He made an explicit
commitment to a concept of progress, but not to the 18th century
systems of Priestley, Condorcet, or Godwin. For them the goal
of progress was the achievement of perfection, which means corn-
is. Ben-Ami Scharfstein, Roots of Bergson's Philosophy (New York, 1943); Hugh S. R.
Elliot, Modern Science and the Illusions of Professor Bergson (London, 19JL&); Charles
Nordmann, The Tyranny of Time: Einstein or Bergson? Translated from the French by
E. E. Foumier D'Albe (London, 1925).
350 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
pletion in the finished individual and the finished universe. Mo
Comas paid no tribute to New England transcendentalists, nor to
Millennialism.19 When he used the terms progress and perfection,
he meant perpetual incompletion. In creative evolution, happiness
consisted in pursuit, not possession. What sets McComas apart from
the several systems of evolutionary philosophy of his time was his
complete break with the traditional idea of progress or millenary
variants. He belonged to a new dispensation.
The system formulated by McComas did not impose upon man
a finished soul in the ennui of the traditional or Christian Heaven,
and, of course, he had no use for a Hell as a place of punishment.
Rewards and punishments were not a part of his system. The very
concept of the Christian Heaven was impossible to his thinking
because it was static. The 18th century idea of progress was a
variant of this type of "creation of completion," only "adjusted"
partially to the new religion of science. For McComas, the highest
concept of being was one of dynamics, self-realization through cre-
ative change, and nothing less than that would satisfy his sense of
the highest good and happiness to a self-conscious individual in-
cluded in a self-conscious universe.
To Spencer, and to Darwin, the organic development ( evolution )
of the human species was terminal, and death of the material body
of the individual man thus evolved closed his life span. In both
respects, the species and the individual, the developmental hypoth-
esis was man-centered. If these assumptions were valid, then
indeed the individual man must despair of a diabolical creation —
such a man would be "a mere ephemeral speck," as McComas put
it, created only to die in a completely meaningless sequence — im-
mortality was a necessity to McComas' philosophy. Consistency
in his system required an evolutionary view of the soul and of the
biological organism, the association being temporary until the self-
conscious and continuously self-evolving personality was freed from
physical and mortal forms to enjoy further self-evolution as a free
spirit — always incomplete, unfinished, unique, and unpredictable,
although law-governed. To the extent that McComas assumed
that a state-of-being continued self-evolution beyond the man-
spirit stage, he had liberated his philosophy from the traditional
view that the human species is terminal. But the true happiness
of this free spirit, as of man, depended upon an anticipation of a
unique, unpredictable, unfinished creative evolution.
19. Francis Ellingwood Abbott formulated a development philosophy of self-realization,
but apparently within the framework of traditional concepts: Stowe Persons, Free Religion*
An American Faith (New Haven, 1947), p. 35.
Letters of Daniel R. Anthony, 1857-1862
— Continued
Edited by EDGAR LANGSDORF and R. W. RICHMOND
PART THREE, OCTOBER 1, 1861-JuNE 7, 1862
I. INTRODUCTION
DANIEL R. ANTHONTS participation in the Civil War, al-
though of short duration, was productive of as much contro-
versy as the other facets of his career. He was commissioned in
the Seventh Kansas cavalry, originally called the First Kansas, and
was mustered in as a major on September 29, 1861. One month
later to the day he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, serving in
that rank until his resignation was accepted on September 3, 1862.
The Seventh Kansas was the famous "Jayhawker" regiment, orig-
inally recruited by Dr. Charles R. Jennison under authority granted
by Gov. Charles Robinson. Jennison received a colonel's commis-
sion from Robinson on September 4, 1861, but it was not until
October 28 that he and the regiment were officially mustered into
federal service. In the interim, Anthony was in command of the
companies as they were organized.
Jennison was widely known — notorious, in fact — as a guerrilla
leader during the border warfare of the territorial period. He had
taken vast quantities of loot, it is said, from Missourians, Proslavery
and otherwise, including so many horses that it has been suggested
Kansas equine pedigrees should be recorded as "out of Missouri by
Jennison/' l
Anthony's letters, and accounts from other hands, make it ap-
parent that Jennison spent little time with his troops. He has been
criticized as "too busy playing poker ... to take the field in
person,"2 but there was a certain glamour about him, a prestige,
that, as Anthony writes, was "worth a great deal." In any event the
EDGAR LANGSDORF is assistant secretary and ROBERT W. RICHMOND is the state archivist
of the Kansas State Historical Society.
1. Simeon M. Fox, "The Story of the Seventh Kansas," in The Kansas Historical Col-
lections, v. 8, p. 16. Fox served with the regiment from 1861 to 1865, first as an enlisted
man in Co. C, then as regimental sergeant major, and finally as first lieutenant and regi-
mental adjutant. He was later adjutant general of Kansas, 1895-1901.
2. Ibid., p. 28. According to Fox, the regiment "led the strenuous life" while Anthony
was in charge. See, also, S. M. Fox, "The Early History of the Seventh Kansas Cavalry," in
ibid., v. 11, p. 240. In this article Fox wrote (p. 243) that Anthony "superintended the
organization of the regiment and was the god of the machine. He was in active command of
the regiment during the brief time it served in Missouri, and to him should be given all
credit or blame that justly belongs to this organization growing out of its service along the
border.^ This service began about November 10, 1861, and ended January 31, 1862.
(351)
352 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
actual command was largely in Anthony's hands, and reports indi-
cate that he exercised his authority capably and vigorously.
On September 18-20 Confederate troops under Gen. Sterling Price
won a victory at Lexington, Mo., and it was feared that Price would
shortly launch an attack against Kansas City. The Seventh Kansas
at this time was in process of recruiting. Only three companies,
A, B, and C, had been organized, and these were rushed, under the
command of Anthony, to aid in the defense. Other companies were
sent up as they were organized, until by October 1 a reasonably
respectable force had been assembled, though the men lacked uni-
forms and mounts. For several weeks these troops served as provost
guards at Kansas City and Anthony was provost marshal.
During the remainder of 1861, and through January, 1862, the
regiment was stationed at various points in the vicinity of Kansas
City, engaged chiefly in scouting and patrolling as well as in some
guerilla activity. The Historical Society has a copy of a letter writ-
ten by John Brown, Jr., who was captain of Co. K, in which he says
that during this time the regiment seized enough horses belonging
to rebels in Missouri to outfit the entire command.
It then proceeded to deprive the rebels of every means by which they had
successfully carried on the War against the United States. Their wagons were
loaded with such household stuff as would be especially needed to set their
slaves up in housekeeping in Kansas. ... Of the property seized, the
principal part was turned over to the U. S. Quarter Master. . . . Before
our regiment left Missouri more than two thousand slaves were by us restored
to the possession of themselves, were "Jayhawked" mto freedom. This es-
pecially secured for us the title of "Jayhawkers" which ever since we have borne
without blushing. The chief difficulty we had to confront from first to last,
has been the persistent efforts of those higher in authority to make us yield
to the demands of slavery. . . .3
These raids and seizures of rebel property constituted the "Mis-
souri Policy" referred to by Anthony in his letter of April 25,
1862, which resulted in sweeping changes in the regiment's higher
echelons.
The only real battle of this period, and the only one in which
Anthony was ever a participant, occurred on November 11, 1861.
This was the Battle of the Little Blue, on which Anthony comments
in his letter of November 24. Early in February, 1862, the regiment
went into camp at Humboldt, moving in late March to Lawrence.
Thereafter it received orders and counterorders until late May,
when it left Fort Leavenworth for Southern battlefields.
3. John Brown, Jr., to Parker Pfllsbury, July 18, 1862.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY
II. THE LETTERS
HEAD QUARTERS IST KAN CAVALRY
KANSAS CITY Mo Ocr 1, 1861
DEAR BRO [MERRTTT]
From present appearances I shall be obliged to march with our
forces east towards Lexington — I now have six companies in all
400 men and more expected — we have not yet got our horses
but hope to soon — Our men are all in good spirits — they are
quartered in good brick stores & dwellings — The officers Head
Quarters are in a fine 1& story brick dwelling close by. we live
well — have to sleep on the floor —
If you are well enough to come I wish you would — See Capt
M H Insley of the Mansion House — 4 He will furnish you with a
good horse, saddle Revolver Sabre and all the equipment com-
plete for me — I have one horse here but want two — we shall
be gone say two weeks — You can come with horse on the boat —
they will pass you to Kansas City — Write me how matters pro-
gress in Leavenworth — We shall have a fine army to start with
and hope to do some good before we return —
Say to Alex to pay out no money except on an order from me — 5
he can write the companies saying I have gone on a trip comd'g
a Regiment to see P. R. J. & Co at Lexington 6
You had best write home also saying to them when I have
gone — I have little time to write and shall have less soon —
Lanes command is here — they look like fighting men — Genl
Sturgis and Lane will act in concert — 7
Yours &c
D R ANTHONY
4. Captain Insley was a quartermaster officer for Lane's brigade, which consisted of
the Third and Fourth Kansas volunteers and the Fifth Kansas cavalry. At this time he was
apparently acting as a supply officer for the Seventh (First) Kansas cavalry also.
5. Alex D. Niemann, an employee in Anthony's office, was in charge of his insurance
business during most of his absence.
6. P. R. J. & Co. is probably a reference to Generals Price, Rains, and Jackson, Confed-
erate commanders at Lexington.
7. Samuel D. Sturgis, 1822-1889, a West Point graduate and regular army officer, was
appointed a brigadier general of volunteers August 10, 1861. Sturgis and Lane did not
"act in concert" as Anthony presumed but disagreed violently on how the Missouri border
residents should be treated. Lane, also a brigadier general, was seldom concerned with any
orders other than his own and believed that the property of Southern sympathizers was due
no protection.
In this controversy Sturgis typified the regular army officer who was trained to carry out
the policies of his superiors regardless of his personal feelings. In August, General Fremont,
commanding the Department of the West, had declared all slaves held by Missourians who
were in arms against the federal government to be free. President Lincoln had disapproved
Fremont's order. The President's policy was directed solely toward restoration of the Union
and he did not want to antagonize the border states by any move toward freeing their slaves
or depriving loyal citizens of their property.
The association of Sturgis and Lane was later mentioned by General Grant, who wrote to
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton on October 14, 1865, referring to a defeat of a Union
23—4339
354 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Nov 5th 1861
DEAR FATHER
We expect to leave here within two or three days for Sedalia —
the terminus of the Pacific Rail Road — I shall be in command as
Col Jennison will remain here to perfect the organization of the
regiment — The distance from here is 130 miles — we go to escort
500 — six Yoke ox teams (miles of waggons) for transportation
for Genl Freemonts army — we expect then to either join the
"Grand Army" of the South west — or pass into the Cherokee
Nation and put down the rebellion there — then proceed to Fort
Smith in Arkansaw and effect a junction with Genl Freemont — 8
I send you a copy of my pay acct — very fair pay — I drew
$244.75 Oct 31 in full to that date
Merritt will go with me — he can do much better here than
elsewhere- Tmly
D R ANTHONY
We reed to day 329 Boxes equipments & clothing — 950 saddles
— and a complete horse equipments — also 950 over coats &c — 3
companies have Sharps Carbines — Navy Revolvers & Sabres —
3 cos — pistol carbines Sabres & revolvers — balance minnie rifles —
Sabre Bayonets & revolvers — DRA
CAMP UNION
KANSAS CITY Nov 24, 1861
DEAR FATHER
Here we are again after a trip of one week to Pleasant Hill in
Cass County Mo — with 8 companies under my command
We were surrounded by rebels who were concealed in the
brush — Had no fight with them — although our pickets were
chasing in theirs all the time — Eleven of their pickets were
killed by our men — and only one of ours wounded — Four of
force under Sturgis in 1864, as follows: "Notwithstanding his failure at Guntown, Miss., I
know him to be a good and efficient officer. . . . From the beginning of the war he
has suffered from having served in Kansas, and coming in contact with, and in opposition
to, civilians, Senator Lane probably in the lead." — Dictionary of American Biography (New
York, 1928-1958, 22 vols.), v. 18, pp. 182, 183.
8. Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont was the commanding general of the Department of the
West with headquarters at St. Louis. On November 2, 1861, three days before Anthony
wrote this letter, Fremont, then at Springfield, was relieved of his command by President
Lincoln and replaced by Maj. Gen. David Hunter.
Anthony's mention of the "Grand Army" here and in succeeding letters probably means
the "Army of the Southwest" or the "Army of the West," terms which are used in most of
the standard sources to mean Union troops operating in the Missouri-Arkansas area during
1861-1862. However, he may have been referring to a large-scale expedition which was to
move through the Indian territory and into the South — a plan advocated by Lane. — (See
letter of January 8, 1862.) Fremont had wanted to march an army through southwestern
Missouri and northwestern Arkansas to the valley of the Arkansas river and then down that
stream to the Mississippi. Had these plans worked out the two forces presumably could have
effected a meeting in Arkansas. For additional information on the abandonment of the Lane-
supported plan see Footnote 19.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 355
our men who were acting as flankers strayed away from their posi-
tion so far that they were taken prisoners — we sent a company
of men after them and retook them —
We recovered 470 of the 500 oxen 27 of the 50 waggons which
were stolen by the rebels while they were on their way from Ft.
Leavenworth to Sedalia without an armed escort —
I go this morning with 8 companies to take up Head Quarters
at Independence Mo — 12 miles east from here — I go again in
command — My side is now nearly well — for 8 or 10 days I
could not get in the Saddle — then commenced by having my leg
thrown over.
Have been in the field constantly — Last night one of our men
was shot by a Lieutenant who was out on patrol — the man drew
his revolver on the Lieut and the officer shot him dead — no com-
plaints— Last night one of our men stole some property and he
is to be shot this morning at 9 a.m.
Merritt has been very sick with the measles — he is now much
better so that he sets up— he will be out in a few days — Al-
though I doubt whether he will be fit for work this winter — And
I regret it very much — as there never was a time when I needed
him or some trusty man so much as now — and I could give him a
chance to make money fast — . . .
I doubt whether any battle has been fought which was more
desperate than the one on the Little Blue some three weeks ago—
we lost 9 men killed and 8 or 9 wounded — the enemy lost 15 killed
& a large number wounded — 9
I was only struck on the hilt of my sabre by a colt revolver bul-
lett — one of our men who was wounded and a prisoner reports
that there were several men who recognized me and say they fired
over a hundred shots at me — and thought I was killed — but I
come out safely — While in the vicinity of Pleasant Hill 12 miles
from the battle ground — they said if it had not been for me the
battle would have been lost — they all heard my commands
Merritt remains here with Doct. Thorne — 10 I hope to be back
within a week or two _ ,
Truly
D R Anthony
9. The first recorded engagement of the regiment was fought November 11 by companies
A, B, and H, under the command of Anthony. A Confederate force said to be four times
larger was attacked and driven from its camp. The rebels then took up a strong position in
the hills along the Little Blue river. Anthony's men were unable to dislodge them, but de-
stroyed their camp and captured their horses. Official reports state that the three companies
lost nine men killed and 32 wounded. — Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kan-
sas, 1861 -'65, Military History of Kansas Regiments . . . (Topeka, 1896), p. 93.
10. Dr. Joshua Thorne, a surgeon with a volunteer reserve battalion at Kansas City, Mo.,
was in charge of the military hospital in that city. — Carrie W. Whitney, Kansas City, Mis-
souri, Its History and Its People . . . (Chicago, 1908, 3 vols.), v. 1, pp. 193, 194.
356 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
LEAVENWORTH Dec 3, 1861
DEAR AARON
I am here on a short leave of absence — the first time since my
connection with the regiment — Our regiment has been ordered to
move from Westport & Kansas City Mo to some place 5 to 20 miles
south from here on the west bank of the Missouri in Kansas —
From appearances we shall make our Head Quarters near the
Mo & Leavenworth this winter for the purpose of crossing over into
Platte county Mo and annoying them as much as possible this
winter —
I have sold my paper to Webb at a loss of $2376.00 n
I have taken a Secesh Stallion worth 1,000, and a Grey horse
worth 200. I now have three tip top horses —
Dont you want a captaincy or a majorship in the army — or dont
you want to come out here and speculate in cattle — horses and
mules — there is a good chance to buy cheap — and stock a large
farm here at little expense —
There is money in it to any one who will attend to it — I would
advise you to come out and try it. Why wont you come? —
Merritt is still at Kansas City — I have sent for him to day —
D R ANTHONY
CAMP DENVER NEAR WEST POINT Mo
Dec 22 1861
DEAR FATHER
Here we are again after a trip of six days to Kansas City Inde-
pendence Harrisonville to this place —
On our route we had several skirmishes with the enemy mostly
with our picket guards — our force was only 250. — we took 150
mules & 40 Horses — 129 Negroes and gave the negroes 60 Horses
& mules a lot of oxen, 10 waggons & two carriages and all loaded
down with Household Furniture — The negroes train into Kansas
was over a mile long —
In one skirmish we killed Col Hurst of the 3rd Mo and 6 or 7
of his men (rebels) —
We will not remain here long but will move further into Missouri
to get forage — and Beef
Col Jennison hopes to be promoted to a Brig Genl — in that
case I hope to fill his place —
11. Anthony announced the sale of the Conservative to D. W. Wilder, who had been
editor since the paper was established, in an editorial note on November 8, 1861.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 357
I took a fine Secesh flag at Harrisonville— also a Secesh com-
mission which I will send you if I can —
The weather has been beautiful until this morning there is 6
inches of snow — tis not cold —
How did Merritt stand the ride home! Truly
D R ANTHONY
HEAD QUARTERS
CAMP "JOHNSON"
MORRISTOWN Mo Dec 26, 1861
DEAR SISTER
Well here I am again in command of the camp.
Our regiment of 900 cavalry 3 companies of the 7th Missouri
2 cos 8 Iowa and Capt Howard with 3 pieces artillery — and Lieut
Col Martin with 2 Cos 8th Kansas—12 in all 1500 men— quite a
handsome command — Col Jennison gone to Mound City — he will
return on Saturday —
I have selected a fine house for my Head Quarters — the owner
is in the Secesh army — (This letter is written on Secesh paper taken
at Harrisonville Mo ) My house contains 3 rooms — is unplastered —
Our Adjutant — Lieut Hoyt (of Boston) [of] John Brown Jrs.
Company R J Hinton and my orderly Robt Pierce — (one of the
best boys in the world) occupy the House with me — 13 then I
have four colored individuals for servants — one to take care of
House — one body servant one cook and one waiter To day was
our first dinner here as we had none Christmas we called it our
Christmas Dinner — We had splendid biscuit — coffee — roast
goose & chickens & Butter & Molasses — with plenty of secesh
crockery What we failed in food was made up in dishes — What
we did have was gotten up in the very best of Style — I never ate a
better dinner anywhere —
Tomorrow Lon says he will give us the same with apple dump-
lings and pies —
12. Lt. Col. John A. Martin of the Eighth Kansas infantry was mustered into service
October 27, 1861. He was promoted to colonel and regimental commander November 1,
1862, serving until his discharge November 16, 1864. Martin lived at Atchison, where he
published the Freedom's Champion, and was active throughout his life in Kansas politics.
He served as governor, 1885-1889.
13. The regimental adjutant was John T. Snoddy of Mound City. George H. Hoyt of
Boston, Mass., was mustered in as second lieutenant of Co. K on December 11, 1861, pro-
moted to captain of the company on May 27, 1862, and resigned because of disability on
September 3, 1862. This was a rifle company raised by John Brown, Jr., in Ohio, which
was mustered into the regiment on November 12. Brown himself was mustered in as captain
of the company on January 10, 1862, serving until his resignation because of ill health on
May 27, 1862. Richard J. Hinton, widely known for his work in behalf of the Free-State
cause during the territorial period, was employed at this time as a newspaper correspondent.
In 1862 he was commissioned a first lieutenant to recruit and train Negro troops, reportedly
the first man in the United States to receive such a commission. Robert H. Pierce of Chicago,
a pnvate in Co. E, became a first lieutenant in the 21st Illinois infantry, April 21, 1862.
358 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The 4 colored individuals are playing the Fiddle in the Kitchen
and the boys are playing Euchre in the front room —
Our sleeping room up stairs is carpeted but unplastered — I
have a mattrass & Feather bed on a good French bedstead but no
sheets —
Hinton sets close by reading the Chicago Tribune I put 17 men
on police duty to day for leaving camp without permission — The
men all sleep in tents snow 6 inches deep — and quite cold —
They have plenty of straw —
We expect to remain here some two months — but will probably
move south on a scouting expedition with a strong force to feel
after Price —
Ever Truly
D R ANTHONY
HEAD QUARTERS
CAMP JOHNSON
MORRISTOWN Mo Dec 28, 1861
DEAR AARON
Dont you want a Captain's Commission in the 1st Kansas Cav-
alry— If so I think I can give you a place Capt McLean worth
150 $ per month and plenty of hard wet cold riding & sleeping
in tent to do —
The news is the enemy have gone south 150 miles and we have
no fighting to do unless we move down to them —
I may go Leavenworth again first of Jany — The weather has
moderated — freezing nights and thawing days —
Our (My) Quarters are in good shape —
I fear my body Servant Griff has gone to his long home — ten
days ago I sent him from Independence Mo with a long train of
waggons and one hundred twenty negroes to Leavenworth He
arrived safely — but must have lost his way or been captured on
his return through Missouri — I would hate to lose him as he
is invaluable — A good servant is rare to be found — Griff would
take good care of trunk clothing &c
Col Jennison & Lady arrived in Camp today and this evening
at 8 o'clock we complimented them with music from our Infantry
Brass Band Also a dash of the Bugle Blast 22 strong and good
music —
How does Merritt get along — he ought to be here at work —
Truly
D R ANTHONY
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 359
HEAD QUARTERS
FIRST KANSAS CALVALRY
CAMP JOHNSON
MORRISTOWN Mo Jany 8th 1862
DEAR SISTER
Your letter of the 28th Ult. come last night—-
We now have a daily messenger from here to Leavenworth and
from here south to Ft Scott —
From present prospects we shall move as the advance guard of
the Grand Army of the West into the Cherokee Nation Arkansas
and south until we meet an enemy in force — This Grand Army
will number about 20,000 men — and will move within four or eight
weeks — While the advance is the most dangerous it is thought
the most honorable and most of our
[letter incomplete]
MOUND CITY KANSAS
Feby 3rd 1862
DEAR SISTER
Our command arrived here yesterday afternoon —
We march tomorrow for Humbolt 45 miles southwest from this
place — 14 We have been three days on the march from our old
camp at Morristown which is 50 miles northeast from this point —
Our men have had to sleep out on the snow — the weather has
been cold and cutting — today is sleety, freezing and wet — we
hope to reach Humbolt on the 4th and 5th inst — After resting
a few days I propose taking 500 men and taking our Mountain
Howitzer (12 pound) and go south 100 miles into the Cherokee
Nation 50 miles south of Humbolt there are 6000 or 7000 friendly
Indians — we are now sending them food and clothing — they
send me word they are anxiously waiting for us — that they are
ready to fight all rebeldom — They seem to understand the issue —
Col Jennison is now at Leavenworth — he expects to command
a Brigade — in that case — I of course command the Regiment and
the advance to the Grand Army of the southwest —
In our march we free every slave, every man of all nations.
Kindred tongue and color, and arm or use them in such manner
as will best aid us in putting down rebels — We hope to stir up
an insurrection among the negroes —
Many men whites and Blacks ask why dont Fred Douglass come
14. On January 31, 1862, the regiment began a move to Humboldt, Kan., where it re-
mained until late in March.
360 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
out here — raise a regiment of Blacks — I know the reasons why.
But if Fred could get $10,000 he could raise a regiment and our
Maj Genl would not refuse them — Blacks can soonest gain the
confidence of the slaves, and rebels fear nothing more than the
loss of a baby Darkie or an insurrection
I hope to do something in my southern trip — Genl Hunter told
me to go as far south as I pleased — 15 If I cant fight I can run —
We can do nothing until the weather moderates — as we must
march south without tents and luggage — go with celerity and
boldness to win —
Capt John Brown Jr is now with us — I like him much — he
remembers you and seems glad to be with us —
Truly D R ANTHONY
HEAD QUARTERS
FIRST KANSAS CAVALRY
CAMP HUNTER
HUMBOLT KAN Feby 22, 1862
DEAR MOTHER
Here I am in this out of the world place — the town the Secesh
from Missouri & Indian Country burned some two months ago — 16
The few houses remaining stand on the Prarie about one mile
east of the Neosho River one of the largest rivers of Southern Kan-
sas— it empties into the Arkansas Our camp is near the bank
of the river in an Oak Grove — Although the weather has been
intensly cold our men have lived comfortably — I live in a house
about /* mile south of camp —
Col Jennison having been appointed Acting Brig Genl — while he
is so acting I shall have command of the Regiment — It is hard
work with so many restless men — who have lived among rebels so
long that it now comes hard for them to respect the person and
property of Loyal citizens — They have lived so long on chickens
turkeys apples jellies taken from Secesh — and now they have to
come down to regular army rations —
We had a snow storm this week — but the afternoons are so com-
fortable that the snow is fast disappearing —
15. Word was received from Washington on November 12, 1861, that a new military
command, the Department of Kansas, had been established three days before, and that Maj.
Gen. David Hunter had been assigned as commanding officer. Headquarters of the new
department was at Fort Leavenworth.
16. Humboldt was raided on September 8, 1861, by a band of Missouri guerrillas,
Cherokee Indians and Osage half-breeds. A month later, on October 14, the town was again
attacked, this time by a Confederate cavalry force. Most of Humboldt's buildings were
burned by this group but only one resident was killed.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 361
My living is not half as good as when in Mo — I have good Beef
Steaks— good hot bread & Coffee—very little change— I did board
but now I have my black boys cook for me —
Our men are constantly parading in front of my quarters — we
have three hours drill in morning — and two hours in the afternoon —
I comdg on the regimental drill— of one hour 4 to 5 PM each day —
and on Parade — Inspection & Reviews Until you have seen 700
or 800 men mounted — you will have little idea of the splendid
appearance they make — they cover nearly one half mile square —
Today we have a Review of troops — and 34 guns in memory of
Washington — Also in honor of recent victories at Ft Donaldson
& by Genl Sigel— 17
We dont know how long we remain here — probably 3 or 4 weeks
more
I went to Leavenworth the last time to get a leave of absence
but our regiment was ordered to this place and I deemed it best
not to apply
I hope to hear of Merritts recovery — I think he would like to go
with us — I hope to hear from you
Susan is about the only one who writes much —
With love to yourself and all I am your son
D R ANTHONY
HEAD QUARTERS FIRST KANSAS CAVALRY
CAMP "HUNTER" HUMBOLT KANSAS
March 1, 1862
DEAR AARON
For the past two months efforts have been made by the [Leaven-
worth] Times paper and Judge Ewing assisted by parties who were
disappointed applicants to oust me from the Post office.
Upon being notified of the fact I wrote the P M Genl — Genl Lane
& Genl Pomeroy U. S. S.—
The 1st Asst P M Genl wrote me all would remain unchanged —
so long as the office was well conducted and my sureties were satis-
fied with my deputies — I forwarded their approval of my ap-
pointment of the Deputies employed —
17. Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland river in Tennessee, fell to Union forces under
General Grant on February 16, 1862. The victory was widely celebrated in the North as
balancing the Confederate victory at Bull Run the year before.
Franz Sigel, 1824-1902, organized the Third Missouri infantry regiment and became
its colonel, May 4, 1861. He rose to the rank of major general and held several important
commands prior to his resignation in May, 1865. He was serving in Missouri as a brigadier
general at the time Anthony wrote this letter but the mention of a victory by Sigel is difficult
to understand. Sigel had been at Wilson's Creek in 1861 and led a force at Pea Ridge in
March, 1862, but no record has been found of his scoring any significant victory between
those two major engagements.
362 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Genl Lane wrote to Hon Montgomery Blair P M Genl a most
emphatic endorsement of my appointment and approval of my
course while in the army — and his desire for me to remain there
during war —
Enclosed I hand you copy of letter reed by me from Genl S. C.
Pomeroy U.S.S.18
Considering all the circumstances I think I can feel proud of
these several prompt and decisive answers to my letters.
We have now been here nearly four weeks — Since we came
here Actg Brig Genl Jennison has not interfered with my disci-
plining the Regiment — Heretofore he has come to the regiment
every few days and relaxed the rigor of my orders — Jennison has
done every thing I could ask of him — but then he is in reality unfit
for any position on acct of his poor education — He spells "toock"
"Flowering Mill" "Hoit" "Shure" and "Sich" like— The prestige he
has — is his name — which is worth a great deal — I have written
Genl Hunter to give me orders to move my Regiment to Ft Gib-
son— I think I could capture it — and I want the honor of retak-
ing it — as I have suggested how and have learned the situation of
forces there — this place is 150 [miles] north of Ft Gibson — I
think that with the aid of the friendly Indians I could retake Ft
Smith also—
You might show this letter to the [Rochester, N. Y.] Express (I
mean Genl Pomeroy's) not for them to publish — but to say if they
desire that all our Senators and leading men are my friends — I
have many thanks for the Express for the many kind words spoken
by them of me — I hope the time will come when I can reciprocate.
I do not wish any thing public said of what I say of Jennison —
We are on the best of terms — But we are very careful not to
permit him to write or do any thing unless done under the super-
vision of some of his friends — who have good judgement — Jen-
nison knows his weakness and always submits to proper inspection —
There is one thing which may seem strange — Col Jennison has
been col of this regimt six months and has yet to give the first com-
mand to them — I have always commanded them — Have been
with them in all their expeditions into the enemy's country except
one time Jennison went to Independence I speak of these things
18. Sen. S. C. Pomeroy told Anthony, in a letter dated Washington, January 25, 1862,
that "... I give no aid or comfort to any man who is seeking your removal because you
are willing to serve your country. ... I have been delighted with all I have heard of
you and of your regiment. ... I dont believe you will lose the Post Office without my
knowing it. You certainly wont if I do. The P. M. General assured me that so long as your
'bondsmen were satisfied' and the office was well conducted you should not be removed.
. . ." — "D. R. Anthony Collection," Manuscript division, Kansas State Historical Society.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 363
so as to have them on the record right — I have now posted my-
self in the Tactics so that I am posted in all the evolutions of a
regiment — and can maneuver my command better than any of-
ficer in it— -
I learn today that Merritt is at the Post office— This place is
120 miles south of Leavenworth — Write the news often — From
present appearances I shall not be able to obtain a "Leave of Ab-
sence" to visit Leavenworth or elsewhere The Hunter, Lane em-
broglio is not yet settled — I hope it will soon — for now is the time
to strike — 19 I have so written Genl Hunter that I may or they
may know my ideas —
Truly D R ANTHONY
CAMP "HUNTER"
HEAD QUARTERS 1st KAN CAVALRY
HUMBOLDT KAN March 8, 1862
DEAR SISTER
Here we continue to remain — how the Lord only knows — To-
day we shot one man for desertion and attempting to go over to
the enemy — 20 he stole my horse — a valuable Black — Saddle
Briddle Halter & Saddle Blanket— I offered $200 reward and
caught him Genl Jennison ordered a court martial — and he was
condemned to be shot — I declined to have any thing to do with
the trial for the reason I had offered a reward —
Our matters are in good condition except we all want to move —
Genl Jennison continues unwell — I do wish he was well — Maj Lee
goes tomorrow to Ft. Leavenworth to see what is to be our fate or
destination. Considering all things Jennison ought to be a Brig
Genl — I want him to have [it] because it would promote me to
Colonel — I have had full command of the regiment for most of
19. Ill feeling between General Hunter and Lane had developed over the large-scale
military expedition to the South. The Leavenworth Conservative published several items
during February, 1862, indicating that Lane expected to resign his seat in the U. S. senate
to take command of this expedition. However, Hunter on January 27 issued General Orders
No. 2 in which he stated his intention to lead it in person. On March 11 the Department
of Kansas was merged in a new Department of the Mississippi, under command of General
Halleck, and Hunter was ordered to a new command comprised of the states of South Caro-
lina, Georgia, and Florida. Talk of the expedition came to an end. Said the Conservative
on March 14: "It was well called a 'Newspaper Expedition!' "
20. This was Alexander Driscol, a private of Company H. According to a letter printed
by the Leavenworth Conservative, March 20, 1862, Driscol had deserted from the English at
Sebastopol and from Price's forces at Lexington. He had enlisted in Co. H. October 10,
1861, since which time he had robbed a Union man in Missouri, stabbed a fellow soldier,
and finally escaped from his guards, stole a horse, and fled toward a Confederate camp. He
was soon captured, however, tried by court martial, and shot by a firing squad. "Col.
Anthony addressed us upon the occasion," wrote the newspaper correspondent, "and although
a man of iron nerve and possessed of a large amount of fortiter in re, yet still the solemnity
of the occasion, the sad duty to be performed, the occasion and the surroundings evidently
affected the heart of our gallant Colonel, as they did every soldier present."
364 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the time and now for 5 weeks have had absolute command —
When our men are out they make a big show
I have mastered the Tactics so that I can now put them through
all the maneuvers and evolutions —
With Love to all I am As Ever
Merrits with me he is doing well
Try
D R ANTHONY
HEAD QUARTERS FIRST KAN CAVALRY
CAMP HUNTER HUMBOLDT March 8, 1862
DEAR MOTHER
Your letter recieved in due season — was "right" glad to hear from
you —
Have been more lonesome here than at any time since I have
been in the army — for the reason I have nothing to do but to drill
the men, and the weather has been cold windy and unpleasant
for that Today the wind blows a perfect hurricane —
Merritt is now standing at the delivery in the Post office I could
give him a Lieut Corns if he felt disposed to take it and thought he
could fill it — I shall pay the note you hold of $500 & interest in
a few days and then you can have your mortgage reduced — On
the 1st July 1862 I hope to have all my debts paid — My income
this year will foot up very handsomely I shall realize as follows
Life and Health Fires Post Office & Colonelcy and all prospering to
Witt— Post Office 2,500
Rent of Anthony Buildings 3,000
My pay as Lieut Col 2,652
Interest & Insurance 1,848
My hopes are Total $10,000
A fair income for one year "Ten thousand a year" —
I hope you wont think I am speculating to much — I haven't
much to write about my own matters — I tried for a "Leave of
Absence" but it was not granted — Dont think I shall get off until
this campaign is over
As ever truly your son
D R ANTHONY
Keep right on writing
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 365
LEAVENWORTH April 23 1862
DEAR FATHER
Herewith I hand you check for $570.00 to pay my note of $502.50
& inst — Cancel the note and send it to me. I would suggest you
apply it in payment of the Home mortgage at once.
I dont know whether I can go east or not — Our regmt is now
at Topeka enroute to Ft Riley—21
Merritt makes a splendid officer — and you must not write any
thing to unsettle him — 22
Col Jennison got into trouble on acct of his own foolishness Say-
ing the regiment would disband if he resigned — the officers
resign &c — The officers wouldn't and he made extravagent state-
ments about its disolution 23 Truly D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH April 25 1862
DEAR BRO
Your letter to Merritt reed & forwarded to him. If the war per-
mit does not cost over $100 perhaps he had best get the permit —
Or perhaps you had best wait and see the destination of the
Regiment —
Merritt makes a fine looking officer and a good one too, I think
He is now at Ft Riley enroute for New Mexico — There are some
doubts about our regiment going or any other regiment — all the
troops are needed here —
21. On March 25 the regiment, now the Seventh, had been ordered to move from Hum-
boldt to Lawrence. On April 22 it received new orders to proceed to Fort Riley, where it
was to prepare for a march to New Mexico. However, this plan was later countermanded.
22. Merritt — Jacob M. Anthony — was mustered in as second lieutenant of Co. A on
April 2. He was promoted to captain of Co. I on May 16, 1863, and served until September
29, 1865. S. M. Fox, op. cit., pp. 25, 26, describes Merritt as "molded from more plastic
and tractable clay" than his brother Daniel. "He had courage and staying qualities, and
made up in persistency what he lacked in aggressiveness. He was an excellent company
commander, and I believe that he, of all the officers appointed from civil life who came to
the regiment after it went into the field, overcame the resentment of the men and served
through to the end."
23. Jennison's difficulties apparently stemmed in part from his forays against Southern
sympathizers in Missouri — his "Missouri Policy" as Anthony calls it — which were not ap-
proved by his military superiors, and in part from his immoderate remarks. S. M. Fox,
op. cit., p. 24, says that when James G. Blunt was made a brigadier general on April 8,
Jennison, "who was an aspirant for the promotion himself, was highly wroth, and made an
intemperate speech while in camp at Lawrence, during which he practically advised the
men to desert." Several, principally from Co. H, took him at his word and disappeared.
Jennison himself resigned his commission on April 11. Six days later he was arrested by
order of General Sturgis and sent under guard to St. Louis. Charges were preferred against
him but no official action was ever taken on them. He was released from arrest and re-
instated in his original rank.
A contradictory note in this affair is an explanation by Sturgis, dated April 26 and printed
in the Leavenworth Conservative April 30, that Jennison's arrest "was the result of repre-
sentations made by Lieut. Col. D. R. Anthony, of his own regiment, and Col. Geo. W.
Deitzler, his immediate commanding officer, and was made at the earnest solicitation of this
latter officer, who . . . demanded his 'immediate arrest,' and charges him with the
most grave and serious crimes known to military law." Yet Anthony, in these letters, makes
no mention of any implication in the arrest and indicates no serious disapproval of Jennison's
policy. In the following letter, in fact, he states that in respect to the events in Missouri
"we are all in the same boat." Only a few months later Anthony's own abolitionist senti-
ments caused him to defy his own superior officers and ultimately resulted in his resignation
from the army.
366 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I am trying to get leave of absence for 20 days — but it is doubt-
full if I succeed —
Col Jennison has been released — is at Barnums Hotel — and as-
signed the limits of St Louis —
He talked very foolishly about the regiment disbanding &c and
said harsh words of the officers and President — which he said might
cause his arrest — If they have charges against him for his Mis-
souri Policy — we are all in the same boat —
Truly
D R ANTHONY
LEAVENWORTH April 28th 1862
DEAR FATHER
Our Regmt is now at Ft Riley enroute for New Mexico—
I was detailed by Genl Sturgis to set on a General Court Martial
at the Fort Genl Mitchell & Col Graham having been excused
left me the President of the court — 24 We got through Saturday
and I am now waiting here for court papers to be made up by the
Judge Advocate for my signature — Also for the end of the month
to obtain special orders from Genl Sturgis to draw my pay, and
also to try and get a leave of absence for 20 days to go east —
Genl Halleck will hardly grant my request — but I thought I would
ask him and see —
Merritt makes a good officer and thus far is well liked — I spent
a couple of hundred dollars to outfit him —
Coat wescoat & Pants $44.00
Saddle 32.00
Boots 8.00
Guantlets 3.00
Sabre Revolver Belt 30.00
Horse & Blankets 150.00
And so the figures run up more than I thought but for the first
time in his life he blacks his boots — brushes his hair and tries to
look fine —
I have high hopes of him if he is now permitted by his friends
to do well Truly
D R ANTHONY
24. Robert B. Mitchell, a native of Ohio, was a veteran of the Mexican War. He moved
to Kansas in 1856, participated actively in Free-State politics and served as territorial treas-
urer from 1859 to 1861. On June 20, 1861, he was commissioned colonel of the Second
Kansas infantry, later designated the Second Kansas volunteer cavalry, and was promoted to
brigadier general April 8, 1862.
In February, 1862, Col. Robert H. Graham of Leaven worth had raised four companies
for service in New Mexico. An order issued by General Hunter on February 28, consolidated
them with the Eighth Kansas Volunteer infantry, Colonel Graham being assigned the com-
mand. In June he became ill and died at St. Louis on November 11.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 367
LEAVENWORTH May 28 1862
DEAR FATHER
Yours with canceled notes reed —
Merritt left yesterday on the "Sam Gat/' for Corinth Miss.25
Cos A. C. E. & part of F went today and tomorrow the balance of
the regiment goes — I go in command —
We have had blustering times, Jennison resigned — Lt. Gov. Root
commissioned Maj Blair our Col & Gov. Robinson when he re-
turned from Washington com Maj Lee col — both had command a
few days each — 26 On the 26th Genl Blunt issued an order revoking
the one giving Lee command — And as I was the Senior officer
giving it to me — and ordering "A L Lee to resume his position as
major and report to Col D R Anthony for duty"
Now we learn Col Jennison has been reinstated — In the mean-
time however I keep the command until the thing is settled — It
will take us 8 or 10 days to go to Corinth —
I think you had best come to Leavenworth for 4 or 6 months —
I had obtained a leave of absence for thirty days — but on the
order to Corinth thought best to go there first —
Truly
D R ANTHONY
HEADQUARTERS 7th REGT K. V.
COLUMBUS KY June 6th 1862
DEAR AARON
Here we are in the land of Dixie again —
This trip from Leavenworth was made on Steamers 700 miles
in three days — We are now camped with the 8th Kans 12th &
13th Wis 54th IU infantry 2ond Kansas & 8th Wis Batteries
2ond cavalry & ours 7th Kan cavalry on the ground and in the for-
tification of the rebels — Genl Quinby commands the post — a very
important one too 27 on his Staff I find Capt Barton & Lieut Erick-
25. On May 18 the regiment received new orders to report to Fort Leavenworth and
prepare to move south. May 27 and 28 the troops embarked on transports at the fort with
instructions to proceed via Pittsburg Landing and report to General Halleck, then operating
against Corinth. Fox, op. cit., p. 30, identified "The New Sam. Gaty" as the lead transport
in this movement.
26. Charles W. Blair, Fort Scott, was mustered in as major of the Second Regiment
Kansas volunteers on February 28, 1862. In September, 1863, he was transferred to the 14th
Kansas Volunteer cavalry, became its colonel in November, and served with that organization
until he was mustered out in August, 1865. The Report of the Adjutant General does not
show him as officially connected with the Seventh Kansas at any time.
Lt. Gov. Joseph P. Root, a Wyandotte physician, was surgeon of the Second Kansas from
December 28, 1861, to April 18, 1865.
Albert L. Lee of Elwood was mustered in as major of the Seventh Kansas October 29,
1861, promoted to colonel of the regiment May 17, 1862, according to the Report of the
Adjutant General, and to brigadier general of volunteers on November 29, 1862.
27. Brig. Gen. I. F. Quinby was commanding officer of the District of the Mississippi.
368 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
son of Rochester — A no 1 men and good officers & business men
Maj Strong of 12th Wis a Granvill Washington Co [New York] man
& capt Norton son of Reuben Norton of Easton [New York] in
same Regt — Wherever we go we find old acquaintances —
The labor and expense on these Fortifications must have been
enormous to the Rebels — over 7 miles of earth works, One of the
strongest natural points for defense I ever saw — surrounded by
water swamp & woods 200 or 300 ft high commanding the country
for miles around — The rebels ought to have put in a years pro-
visions and stood a siege — with 20,000 men they ought to have
held it against odds —
The mortality amongst them must have been fearfull — The
Post surgeon estimates 7,000 graves — Most must have died from
disease. We find the remains of dead rebels scattered about —
From appearances their sanitary regulations must have been
bad — Most of the troops were from Miss La & Texas Ala &
Geo — they dug holes in the ground, pitched their tents over
them — dug holes in the banks like out door cellars and built an
endless number of log huts — mudded up to make them warm —
The ground on which our camp is made — was covered with
Brick — burnt logs — mud — old Hay — Tents clothing Beef Bones
and other Bones — all half rotten and putrid — for the past two
days I have had 300 to 400 men policing the ground in & around
camp — Hauling off and burning every thing offensive — And to
day we begin to feel that we are breathing the pure air —
You know we started for Corinth at Cairo our destination was
changed to this point — Merritt went on the first boat and went
to Pittsburg Landing — the 3/2 companies with him have been or-
dered back by Genl Halleck — We expect him here to day.
Two of our companies under Maj Herrick yesterday went to
Moscow28 12 miles south on the Mobile and Ohio Rail Road —
this is the terminus of this road — it has not been in running order
since the rebels evacuated — Some of the bridges were destroyed
at that time— To day the 12th Wis Infantry 8th Wis Battery &
our regiment are ordered to Union City 16 miles south east of
Hickman on the M & O R. R. The road is to be put in running
order at once —
Did I tell you that when Col Jennison resigned — Lieut Gov Root
appointed Maj Blair of the Kan 2ond Colonel of this regiment —
28. Thomas P. Herrick entered military service October 28, 1861, as a major in the
Seventh Kansas. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel September 3, 1862, and on June
11, 1863, became colonel of the regiment, serving in that capacity until the end of the war.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY
that when Gov. Robinson returned from Washington he appointed
Maj Lee Col — so for a few days we had two Colonels But Genl
Blunt Comdg Dpt of Kansas recinded the order and gave me the
command of the regiment again. Now Col Jennison has been rein-
stated Col of our regmt by the Secy of War. whether he will take
command again or not is doubtful — rumor says he has been as-
signed to duty in the Indian Territory — If so I shall retain com-
mand of the Regmt —
When I left Leavenworth Thomas C Stevens of the firm of Thos
Carney & Co put on board 2 Boxes Sparkling Catawba & Cigars
with his compliments — Tom Stevens was remembered by every
officer on board belonging to 12th Wis & our regmt — Just reed
news that Merritt was still at Pittsburg — all or Anything of in-
terest herein you may publish —
As Ever D R ANTHONY
HEAD QUARTERS 7th REGT K. V.
CAMP QUINBY
COLUMBUS KY June 7, 1862
DEAR SISTER
Your letter from some where reached me at Leavenworth while
I was enroute from Fort Riley to Pittsburgh —
My time here has been passed very pleasantly — On the 2ond
I invited Marcus J. Parrott to dine with me — 29 I gave him Roast
Chicken Potatoes Bread Coffee Butter & a Bottle of Sparkling
Catawba — We ha social time — with some promises of future
good friendship— Which is somewhat refreshing in these times
of unfaithfullness — The next evening Genl Mitchell comd'g our
Brigade Leut Lines & Pratt of his Staff — Genl Quinby — Capt Barton
& Leut Erickson of his Staff — the last three from Rochester — called
on me at my tent in camp — which is about one half mile from
town — We had a pleasant chat I regaled them with Sparkling
Catawba and it was appreciated too as no one else of the 5 or 6000
troops here had the article —
The next day Maj Strong formerly of Granvile Washington Co
N. Y. and Capt Norton son of Reuben Norton of Easton N. Y. and
of the 12th Wis Volunteers dined with me — And last nighft]
Genl Quinby & Capt Barton made another social call— Night
29. Parrott, a resident of Leavenworth, had been a leader of the Free-State party during
the territorial period and was twice territorial delegate to congress. It was he who tele-
graphed news of the admission of Kansas to the Leavenworth Conservative. Parrott was at
this time an assistant adjutant general of Kansas with the rank of captain.
24—4339
370 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
before last the band of the 12th Wis Vol composed of some 20 men
with silver instrument serenaded me —
So you see I can hardly be lonesome —
Yet I desire to get out of the Army at an early day on account
of some little differences in the Regt in reference to who shall be
colonel — Gov. Robinson wont commission me for the reason I
have always belonged to the Lane party as its called — Some 20
of the officers are for me — and some 15 for Lee
Maj Blair has been commissioned Col by the Lt Gov — Maj
Lee has been com Col by Gov Robinson — Col Jennison has been
reinstated by order of the President — I prefer to have Jennison
and hope he will not be promoted to a Brigadiership — As the
matter now stands I am commanding the Regiment and I doubt
whether Jennison will rejoin the regiment — if not I will still con-
tinue to command — Two of our companies are at Moscow 12
miles south on the Mobile and Ohio R. R — Under Maj Herrick —
One Co is acting body Guard for Genl Mitchell — Seven Com-
panies are in Camp with me — Col Jennison is absent Maj Lee
just arrived — Merritt come in last night Merritt says his trip
to Pittsburgh was a pleasant one — he is well, doing well & liked
well — I never was so well pleased with him as since he come
into the service — he makes a good officer and attends to his
business
Marrying nearly ruined him — Let every one at home let him
rest — refrain from writing him about his wife or himself as
regards old matters or as regards future prospects — Dont be
anxious —
We expect to move South in a few days — As we now are well
supplied with arms. In good fighting order —
All letters of a visiting nature send to me
7th Regt Kan Vol
Mitchells Kan Brigade
Via Cairo —
El
(Part Four, the D. R. Anthony Letters of June 20-
September 14, 1862, Will Appear in the
Winter, 1958, Issue.)
Bypaths of Kansas History
HIGH LEVEL DEBATING AT LEAVENWORTH
From the Leavenworth Times, August 28, 1858.
The last question which came before the Leavenworth Debating Club was:
"Which is the most beautiful production; a girl or a strawberry?" After con-
tinuing the argument two nights the meeting adjourned without coming to a
conclusion; the old ones going for the strawberries, and the young ones for
the girls. ^
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH"
From the Marysville Locomotive, August 27, 1870.
A woman from this locality who left her husband's "bed and board" a few
days ago, and took the "responsibilities" with her, dispatched the following
consoling message to him: "You needn't worry any about the children —
none of 'em is yours."
APPLIED KNOWLEDGE
From the Washington Weekly Republican, May 30, 1873.
An Atchison youth just fresh from college is about to bring suit against his
sweet heart for breach of promise. He has learned that two negatives make
an affirmative and is going to test it in the courts, as the idol of his heart has
replied in the negative twice to his popping the question.
FIGHT WITH A BUFFALO
From the Ellis County Star, Hays City, June 15, 1876.
We learn from Mr. H. C. Allen of this city the following facts concerning a
rough and tumble fight between W. N. Morphy, late of this city, and a nearly
full grown buffalo calf, which for cool daring beats anything we have as yet
heard of. On Tuesday last, while Messrs. Allen and Morphy were driving along
the prairie between Buckner and the Saw Log a herd of buffaloes were seen
approaching. As soon as the animals came in sight a thirst for blood was
aroused within the minds of the two travelers. The only weapons in the outfit
were a thirty-two calibre revolver and a ripping knife. Morphy jumped on his
pony with the revolver, and struck out for the game, Allen following with the
ripping knife as soon as he could detach one of his horses from the wagon,
and secure the other. Morphy soon had a victim singled out and fired at him
five times; but the pony jumped up and down in such a manner that not one
of the shots took effect. Soon getting tired of running, the animal turned and
charged on the pony. He tried this several times, until the matter becoming
(371)
372 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
somewhat monotonous to the recipient of its attentions, he charged on the
buffalo. They collided, and the pony, buffalo and Morphy were scattered all
over the ground. All three regained their footing at the same time, and each
commenced business: the buffalo to butting the pony, and Morphy to kicking
the buffalo. While busily engaged in this pleasing entertainment the animal,
turning quickly, made for Mr. M. The latter seized him around the neck in
a loving embrace and they went to the earth together, the man uppermost. Just
at this stage of affairs Mr. Allen arrived and while the bison was down thrust his
knife into its vitals, thus ending one of the most novel struggles ever heard of
outside of a ten cent novel.
EVEN EX-GOVERNORS WERE NOT SAFE IN DODGE CITY
From the Dodge City Times, March 24, 1877.
Last Thursday morning our political magnates were agreeably surprised by
the intelligence that the once famous political boss of the State, ex-Gov. Thos.
Carney, of Leavenworth, had arrived on the 6 o'clock train. It was at first
whispered among the knowing ones that the Gov. was about to open up a
canvass for his election to J. J. Ingalls' place to the U. S. Senate a year from
next winter, and this theory was strengthened by the fact that he was observed
in close communion with R. W. Evans. Gov. Carney, however, soon dispelled
this illusion by informing some of our business men that his operations in
Dodge City were to be of an exclusively commercial nature; in fact, that he was
buying hides and bones for a St. Louis firm. It seems from later developments
that the Governor's real business in Dodge City was to entice our unsophis-
ticated denizens into the national game of draw poker, and fleece them of their
loose cash, as Schenck used to do the beef eaters over in England, the talk he
made about the hide and bone business being merely a blind to cover up his
real design.
The Governor's reputation and dignified bearing soon enabled him to decoy
three of our business men into a social game of poker, 'just to kill time, you
know.' Gov. Carney's intended victims were Col. Norton, wholesale dealer
and general financial operator; Hon. Robert Gilmore, and Chas. Ronan, Esquire.
The game proceeded merrily and festively for a time, until, under the bracing
influence of exhilerating refreshments, the stakes were increased, and the players
soon became excitedly interested.
At last the Governor held what he supposed to be an invincible hand. It
consisted of four kings and the cuter, or 'imperial trump,' which the Governor
very reasonably supposed to be the ace of spades. The old man tried to repress
his delight and appear unconcerned when Col. Norton tossed a $100 bill into
the pot; but he saw the bet and went a hundred better. Norton didn't weaken,
as the Governor feared he would, but nonchalantly raised the old gent with what
he supposed was a fabulous bluff. Governor Carney's eyes glistened with joy
as he saw the pile of treasure which would soon be all his own, loom up before
his vision, and he hastened to see the Colonel and add the remainder of his
funds, his elegant gold watch and chain. Norton was still with the game, and
the Governor finally stripped himself of all remaining valuables, when it became
necessary for him to 'show up' his hand.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 373
A breathless silence pervaded the room as Gov. Camey spread his four kings
on the table with his left hand, and affectionately encircled the glittering heap
of gold, silver, greenbacks and precious stones, with his right arm, preparatory
to raking in the spoils. But at that moment a sight met the old Governor's
gaze which caused his eyes to dilate with terror, a fearful tremor to seize his
frame, and his vitals to almost freeze with horror. Right in front of Col. Norton
were spread four genuine and perfectly formed aces, and the hideous reality
that four aces laid over four kings and a 'cuter' gradually forced itself upon the
mind of our illustrious hide and bone merchant. Slowly and reluctantly he
uncoiled his arm from around the sparkling treasure; the bright, joyous look
faded from his eyes, leaving them gloomy and cadaverous; with a weary, almost
painful effort he arose from the table, and, dragging his feet over the floor like
balls of lead, he left the room, sadly, tearfully and tremulously muttering, 1
forgot about the cuter.'
The next eastward bound freight train carried an old man, without shirt
studs or other ornament, apparently bowed down by overwhelming grief, and
the conductor hadn't the heart to throw him overboard. Gov. Carney is not
buying bones and hides in this city any more.
WHEN THE SPLIT SKIRT WAS INTRODUCED TO OTTAWA
From the Ottawa Daily Republic, September 5, 1908.
'Isn't it awful!"
That is what more than one woman in the big audience at the Rohrbaugh
theater exclaimed last night when Miss Carrie Lowe, leading woman of the
Morey Stock company, appeared on the stage in a directoire gown.
The wearing of the sheath gowns had been generally and persistently ad-
vertised and there is no doubt that many of the people went to the theater
last night to see them. That they got their money's worth goes without saying.
In the titular role of Anna Karenina, the Tolstoi play, Miss Lowe made her
appearance in the first act gowned in red. It was a costume moulded to her
graceful figure and if not "loud" was at least a trifle emphatic.
The skirt was split up the side to the knee and when Miss Lowe moved
around it parted and displayed a trim leg and a black velvet garter with a
diamond buckle.
In justice to Miss Lowe, who in private life is Mrs. Murphy and a very
charming little woman, it should be stated that she declined to wear the red
gown, which was brand new, until after she had sent for Manager Marc
Robbins and obtained his opinion on it.
"Don't you think it is a little broad?" she asked.
'It's all right," replied Mr. Robbins. "We have advertised it and the
people want to see it. That is what they are coming for. Of course, you
couldn't wear that gown on the street, but there's nothing really objectionable
about it."
And so it came about that the new gown of red silk gauze made its debut
in Ottawa.
In the second act Miss Lowe wore another sheath gown. This one was of
hand-made lace trimmed in black velvet ribbon and diamond buckles.
374 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Miss Lowe's third directoire gown was of black gauze spangled in gold
and made over black.
Neither black gown was as noticeable as the red one. With each of the
three costumes Miss Lowe wore a directoire hat to match the gown.
After the curtain dropped on the first act a buzz went around the house.
The "sensation" had been produced. Some men talked about the directoire
costume but it was the women who discussed it in detail.
The toning down of the effect by the appearance of Miss Lowe in the suc-
ceeding acts in sheath gowns which were more modest, if that is the word,
was a clever move of the actress, and a majority of the people left the theater
with the idea that the new gown wasn't so bad, after all.
The Tolstoi play was given an excellent presentation last night. Tonight's
bill, concluding the engagement of the Morey Stock company in Ottawa, will
be "On the Frontier," a melodrama of western life introducing cowboys and
Indians. It is filled with thrilling climaxes and hearty comedy and will please
the admirers of the Morey company.
Gormly's orchestra will play at the Rohrbaugh tonight.
Kansas History as Published in the Press
Historical articles of interest to Kansans appearing in the Kansas
City ( Mo. ) Star in recent months included: "Cornhusking on a Kan-
sas Farm Lasted All Winter in Earlier Era/' by Jennie Small Owen,
November 28, 1957; "Tim Hersey Built Abilene's First Home, and
Wife Named Town," by Vivian Aten Long, March 8, 1958; "Story
of a Building at Emporia Explains Carnegie Library Gifts," by Clay
Bailey, May 6; and "Traces of the Old West Lure Tourists in Kan-
sas," by Beverly Baumer, August 3. Among articles in the Kansas
City (Mo.) Times were: a history of the Garfield Congregational
church, January 14; "To Statehood the Hard Way," by Lelia Munsell,
January 29; "First College of Kansas [Highland] Is 100," by John
DeMott, February 7; "Funston's Double Trouble in Philippines,"
based on an article by William F. Zornow, February 26; "Walking
Through Border Wars of 1858," a story of William P. Tomlinson,
newspaper reporter who covered the border on foot, by Jonathan
M. Dow, March 25; "New Weapons Blast Old Kansas Enemy
[Grasshoppers]," by Roderick Turnbull, July 1; "A Strange Concrete
'Eden* in [Lucas] Kansas," by Joseph B. Muecke, July 11; "Lincoln-
Douglas Debates Spotlighted Kansas and Missouri a Century Ago,"
by Jonathan M. Dow, October 15.
Otto Stunz, Hiawatha, violin maker and motorcycle rider, is the
subject of a biographical sketch by Velma E. Lowry in the Wichita
Eagle Magazine, February 23, 1958. Now 79 years of age, Stunz
has been making violins since 1906.
Publication of the letters of William Hamilton in the Journal of
the Presbyterian Historical Society, Lancaster, Pa., continued in the
March, 1958, number. For mention of the first installment of the
letters, see "Kansas History as Published in the Press," in the Winter,
1957, issue of the Quarterly. Hamilton was a missionary to the
Iowa, Sac, and Fox Indians from 1837 to 1853. The mission was
located near present Highland.
"Heartland of Kansas: a Profile," is the title of a series of articles
on some of the towns and communities of the Wichita trade area,
by Ralph Hinman, Jr., which began appearing in the Wichita
Beacon, March 2, 1958.
Historical articles published in the Independence Daily Reporter
during recent months included: "Famous Kansas Trees Had Part
(375)
376 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in States History ," by Mary Bassett, March 16, 1958; "Elk Falls:
Shadows of Frontier Days Linger On/' by Lily B. Rozar, April 6;
and "Indians Influenced Town Names/' by Velma Lowry, April 20.
Included in the April, 1958, number of The Swedish Pioneer
Historical Quarterly, Rock Island, 111., was Emory Lindquist's "A
Proposed Scandinavian Colony in Kansas Prior to the Civil War."
Dr. C. H. Gran developed a plan for establishing a Scandinavian
colony in Kansas in 1858. However, only a few settlers accompanied
him to Kansas and the project failed.
The Elkhart Tri-State News published a history of the Richfield
Methodist church, April 4, 1958. The church building was com-
pleted in 1888, a Presbyterian project. Later the two organizations
shared the building.
W. A. Rawson related experiences of his first winter in western
Kansas, 1885-1886, in the Hoxie Sentinel, April 24, 1958. He was
13 years old at the time.
The Irving Presbyterian church, founded in 1862, the oldest of the
denomination in the Blue valley, will soon succumb to Turtle creek
dam. A history of the church was printed in the Marysville Advo-
cate, April 24, 1958, and the Blue Rapids Times, May 29. On May
29, the Advocate printed a history of the community of Reedsville
in Marshall county. With the recent abandonment of the school,
the village, settled in the late 1860's and 1870's, has disappeared.
Numerous historical articles have appeared in the Baxter Springs
Citizen in recent months. Among them were the following: a bio-
graphical sketch of Gov. Samuel J. Crawford, April 24, 1958; a his-
tory of the Baxter Springs Presbyterian church, May 1; a story on
the Polster Bros, store, May 8; a history of the John R. Hughes home,
June 5; and a biographical sketch of Charles Opperman, June 30.
Historical sketches by Claude H. Nichols on the Baxter Springs
area appeared in the following issues of the Citizen: April 24,
May 1, May 29, June 5, 12, and 19.
"What My Grandfather-Grandmother Told Me" is the title of a
series in The Clark County Clipper, Ashland, beginning April 24,
1958. The stories were written by members of an Ashland High
School English class, based on early-day experiences of their grand-
parents.
An article on St. John's First Methodist church appeared in the
St. John News, April 24, 1958. The church dates back to 1883.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 377
The Trinity Lutheran church of Greenleaf was organized in 1882
by the Rev. J. Schauer, according to a history published in the
Greenleaf Sentinel, April 24, 1958. The church building was erected
in 1883.
Orville W. Mosher, president of the Lyon County Historical So-
ciety and curator of the society's museum in Emporia, is author of
a series of articles in the Emporia Gazette under the title "Museum
Notes. . . ." Articles in this series published in recent months
included: Terry Edwards Survived a Serious Civil War Wound,"
April 26, 1958; "French Settlers Came to Lyon County in 1850V
May 2; "French Settlers Had an Important Place in the Early His-
tory of Lyon County," May 7; "Emporia Has Memorialized Its
Heroes of Past Wars," May 30; "Cattle Drives Reached Lyon County
Before the Railroad/' June 7; "Much Evidence Remains of [Milton]
Wilhite's Work for Town [Emporia]," June 26; and "Emporians
Went All Out to Celebrate [July] Fourth in '98," July 4. Also run-
ning in the Gazette recently was a series by Conrad Vandervelde on
the College of Emporia entitled "A 75-Year History of C. of E."
The first installment appeared May 17, 1958.
Recent articles by Lily Rozar in the Independence Reporter in-
cluded: "No Ghostly Pallor in Moline's 79-Year History," April 27,
1958; and "Longton Was Second City Founded Along the Elk
River," May 25. On July 6 the Reporter published a history of Byler
school district, near Independence, by Louise Clubine.
Historical notes on the Pond Creek stage station, Wallace county,
appeared in the Gove County Republican Gazette, Gove, May 1,
1958. The stage coach depot is still in existence, though it has been
moved from the original site on the Smoky Hill trail to the Madigan
ranch north of Wallace.
A biographical sketch of Ezra Dow, by Lil Johnson, and a portion
of a letter describing his life in Kansas, written by Dow in 1870,
appeared in the Salina Journal, May 4, 1958. Dow came to Kansas
in 1869, settling near Salina.
Ray Myers is the author of a history of the Salem Methodist
church, in western Jewell county, published in the Smith County
Pioneer, Smith Center, May 8, 1958, and in the Lebanon Times,
June 5. The charter of the church is dated May 9, 1883.
Fort Leavenworth's 131-year history was reviewed in an article
in the Leavenworth Times, May 8, 1958, and in the Junction City
Union, May 13. The fort had its beginning when the site was se-
lected by Col. Henry Leavenworth in 1827.
378 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Ruby Basye is the author of the following articles which have ap-
peared in the Hutchinson News during the past several months:
"Early Day Dodge City Bullfight Enraged Only the Spectators,"
May 11, 1958; "Kiowa Citizens Moved Town to Present Site/' June
5; "Rockefeller Ranch [in Kiowa County] Gay Kansas Spot in the
1890s," July 20; "Kiowa Rancher's [Herbert Parkin] Home Has Long
Tradition," July 28; and "Hays Pioneer [Justus Bissing] Spends
Years Creating Cathedral Clock," August 24.
"Elk Falls: Shadows of Frontier Days Linger," an article by Lily
B. Rozar, was printed in the Longton News, May 15, 1958. The first
settlers were the R. H. Nickols family who arrived in 1870.
In the autumn of 1887 the Herndon Mission Covenant church was
organized. Members worshiped in homes until a sod church build-
ing was erected in 1889. A history was printed in the Atwood Citi-
zen-Patriot, May 22, 1958.
A short history of Fort Larned by Mary Gamble was printed in the
Dodge City Daily Globe, May 22, 1958. The fort, an important
military post on the Santa Fe trail, 1859-1878, is now open to the
public as a historic site.
Indians raided the work crew on the new railroad west of Fossil
Creek station, now Russell, in 1868. A story of the raid told in the
Russell Daily News, June 5, 1958, quoted an account by Adolph
Roenigk, one of the crewmen. A brief history of the town of Bunker
Hill, by J. C. Ruppenthal, appeared in the News, June 26.
Seventy-three years of church history were reviewed in an article
on the Kiowa Congregational church printed in the Kiowa News,
June 5, 1958. A Sunday School was organized in 1885 and the
church the following year.
A biographical sketch of the late Mrs. Bessie Vaught Arnall ap-
peared in the editorial columns of the El Dorado Times, June 7,
1958. Mrs. Arnall was born in 1865 and lived 93 years in Kansas.
The Great Bend Tribune printed a history of Pawnee Rock by
Dorothy Bowman in the issue of June 8, 1958. Used by the Indians
for a lookout and an ambush from which to attack travelers on the
Santa Fe trail, the rock is now part of a state park.
Karen Becker is the author of the following articles in the Arkan-
sas City Daily Traveler, which resulted from recent interviews with
pioneers of the Arkansas City area: "Arkansas City Woman [Mrs.
Flora Ann Rambo] Recalls Grasshopper Plague of 1874," June 12,
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 379
1958; "91-Year-Old Writer [Frederick H. Schuler] Still Going
Strong With Prose and Poetry," June 17; "Arkansas] C[ity] Woman
[Mrs. Jessie Harvey] Recalls Seeing Indians Near Her Wagon
Train," August 14; and "Pioneer Arkansas City Woman [Mrs. Caro-
line Burnett] Still Looks on Bright Side in 93rd Year," August 21.
The Traveler published a history of the Arkansas City Public Li-
brary July 7, also by Karen Becker.
On June 12, 1958, the Holton Recorder printed a brief history of
School District No. 1, Jackson county, by B. F. Hafer. The school
was started in 1858 in a log building. The article appeared in the
Jackson County Clipper, Holton, June 19.
Three articles on social life in Coffeyville during the 1890's and
early 1900's, by Jo Jaminet, were printed in the Coffeyville Daily
Journal, June 18, 25, and 27, 1958. The stories were based on clip-
pings in a memory book kept by Mrs. J. W. Cubine. On July 2 the
Journal published an article by Joe W. Allen on the 87-year-old
house at Neodesha which was the home of the late Dr. and Mrs.
Allen McCartney.
Eaton school, District 47, Cowley county, was the subject of an
article by Mrs. Ben Banks in the Winfield Daily Courier, June 20,
1958. The first building was erected in 1876 and was called Sheri-
dan school.
On April 21, 1870, the first issue of the Guilford Citizen, now the
Fredonia Citizen, was published by John S. Gilmore, according to a
history of the newspaper by Jo Rodgers in the Wichita Eagle Maga-
zine, June 22, 1958. The Citizen is still published by the Gilmore
family.
An article by Harold O. Taylor on the history of Limestone creek,
in the Pittsburg area, and the Baxter Springs-to-Osage Mission trail
appeared in the Pittsburg Headlight, June 23, 1958. It was en-
titled "Scars From Pioneer Trail Remain."
As a souvenir for visitors to the city, the Dodge City Daily Globe
issued a "Traveler's Special Section," July 1, 1958. Included are ar-
ticles from early issues of the Globe and a directory of present-day
Dodge City businesses.
The Wichita Beacon in recent months has published a number
of historical articles, including: a discussion of the 1857 map of
Kansas, by Ralph Hinman, Jr., July 9, 1958; "Wind Wagon Aston-
ished Early Kansans," by Bula Lemert, July 20; "Old Dutch Mill
380 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
[at Wamego] Makes Top Tourist Attraction in Northeastern Kan-
sas," by Peggy Haley, July 27; "Brothers [John and Alonzo Dexter]
From Gold Fields Began Town of Clay Center/' August 3; and
"Homesteaders Built a Western Empire," by Ed Andreopoulos,
August 17.
Boyd's Crossing, where the "dry" route of the Santa Fe trail
crossed Pawnee creek, was the subject of a historical article in the
Stafford Courier, July 10, 1958. The site of the crossing is on the
grounds of the Lamed State Hospital.
Early Fort Leavenworth history was included in an article in the
Pittsburg Headlight, July 26, 1958. The fort, established in 1827, is
receiving the attention of officials of the Civil War Centennial Com-
mission as they plan a commemoration of the war.
Indian depredations in the Solomon valley in 1868 were reviewed
in the Beloit Call, August 12, 1958. Several pioneers were killed,
two children abducted, and a large amount of property destroyed.
A 40-page special edition was published by the Kinsley Mercury,
August 14, 1958, in commemoration of the 85th anniversary of Kins-
ley's founding.
The Eureka Herald published a 48-page centennial edition August
21, 1958. Articles included a history of the Eureka area and bio-
graphical information on many of its pioneers.
Many historic spots in Kansas were described in an article by Ed-
ward Collier in the Abilene Reflector^Chronicle, August 24, 1958.
"John Calhoun: the Villain of Territorial Kansas?" by Robert W.
Johannsen, comprised the September, 1958, issue of The Trail Guide,
Kansas City, Mo., publication of the Kansas City Posse of the West-
erners. Calhoun was president of the Lecompton Constitutional
Convention and a Proslavery leader in Kansas territory.
Kansas Historical Notes
Five Kansans have been named to the advisory council of the
Civil War Centennial Commission. They are: Alan W. Farley,
Kansas City, attorney and 1957-1958 president of the Kansas State
Historical Society; Nyle H. Miller, Topeka, secretary of the Kansas
State Historical Society; W. Stitt Robinson, Lawrence, associate
professor of history at the University of Kansas; Charles A. Walsh,
Concordia attorney; and Fred W. Brinkerhoff, Pittsburg publisher.
The commission, headed by President Eisenhower, was set up by
congress to plan and co-ordinate a commemoration from 1961
through 1965.
On May 3, 1958, the Crawford County Historical Society spon-
sored ceremonies in Girard at which a portrait of Crawford, re-
cently found in the executive mansion, Topeka, by Mrs. George
Docking, was presented to Crawford county. The speaker for the
occasion, Fred W. Brinkerhoff, reviewed Crawford's Me. Others
participating included: T. E. Davis, president of the society; Dr.
Leonard H. Axe and Dr. R. C. Welty, of Kansas State Teachers Col-
lege, Pittsburg; and Joe Saia, chairman of the Crawford county
board of commissioners. An election of officers was held at a meet-
ing of the Crawford county society in Pittsburg, September 24.
T. E. Davis was re-elected president; Belle Provorse was chosen
vice-president; Vivian Walker, secretary; and Mrs. Joe Black, treas-
urer. Directors elected were: Mrs. A. C. Washburn, Guy Coon-
rod, and Mrs. C. A. Burnett. The speaker for the meeting was
Henry Carey of Kansas City, Kan.
The Hill City Oil Museum was formally opened May 3 and 4,
1958, with more than 1,000 visitors during the two days. Construc-
tion was sponsored by the Hill City Chamber of Commerce. Ex-
hibits have been contributed by oil companies and related indus-
tries.
Northwest Kansas pioneers were honored May 4, 1958, at a
Pioneer Day celebration held at Rexford. Officers for the coming
year include: Louise Peterson, president; Alex Barnett, vice-presi-
dent; Cecil Geisenhener, secretary; and Mattie Pointer, treasurer.
Kathleen Claar was the retiring president.
An account of the settlement of northwest Ottawa county, known
as the Bohemian settlement, was given by Henry Blaha at the May
(381)
382 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
17, 1958, meeting of the Ottawa County Historical Society in Minne-
apolis. At the meeting June 14, Mrs. Raymond Brown told of her
family. Her father was Thomas F. Hally, a Delphos shoemaker.
The meeting of July 12 included the reading of a letter from C. E.
Hollingsworth, Denver, which included items of early Ottawa
county history. Many "firsts" of the county were given. "Extracts
From the Personal Memoirs of A. D. Taliaferro," written in 1931,
was read by Ray Halberstadt. The society met again August 9 in
Minneapolis. Feature of the program was a report on the history
of the Stanton township area by Henry Kunc.
L. W. Hubbell was re-elected president of the Hodgeman County
Historical Society at a meeting in Jetmore, June 14, 1958. Other
officers: W. F. Stueckemann, vice-president; Nina Lupfer, secre-
tary; and Murriel Eichman, treasurer. Trustees chosen for three-
year terms were: Mrs. C. W. Teed, Miss Lupfer, and Stueckemann.
Mrs. Margaret Raser was reappointed program chairman.
Incorporation of the Scott County Historical Society has been
completed. Dr. H. Preston Palmer was elected president at a meet-
ing in Scott City, June 27, 1958. Other officers are: W. A. Dobson
and J. H. Kirk, vice-presidents; Mrs. Clarence Dickhut, secretary;
Mrs. Ernestine Deragowski, treasurer; and Bill Boyer, James W.
Wallace, Mrs. Dickhut, John Boyer, and Dr. Palmer, trustees. The
society has launched an ambitious program including the improve-
ment and maintenance of Battle Canyon, scene of the last major In-
dian battle in Kansas, as a historic site; and restoration of the El
Quartelejo pueblo in the Scott County State Park.
Baxter Springs celebrated its centennial June 30 through July 5,
1958. Featured was "The Baxter Springs Story," a pageant based
on the town's history.
R. A. Clymer, El Dorado, was master of ceremonies for the un-
veiling of a historical marker at the Matfield Green service area on
the Kansas turnpike August 12, 1958. The marker was dedicated to
the bluestem pastures of Kansas' flint hills. Speakers at the dedica-
tion were: Wayne Rogler, Matfield Green; Walter A. Johnson, Em-
poria; Lawrence J. Blythe, White City, chairman of the Kansas
Turnpike Authority; and Gale Moss, turnpike manager. The un-
veiling was by Ginger Countryman, El Dorado, Kansas' rodeo
queen.
Dr. John Ise, former University of Kansas educator, addressed the
Butler county Old Settlers Day gathering in El Dorado, August 24,
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 383
1958, on "Pioneers and Pioneer Life." The event was sponsored by
the Butler County Historical Society.
Uniontown, Bourbon county, observed its centennial September 2,
1958, with a parade, speeches, a display of old-time clothing, and
other festivities.
O. O. Vieux, Greensburg, was appointed president of the Kiowa
county museum committee at a meeting of the executive committee
of the Kiowa County Historical Society September 4, 1958. The
museum committee is responsible for raising money and generating
interest for a museum in Kiowa county.
Charles O. Gaines was elected president of the Chase County
Historical Society at a meeting in Cottonwood Falls, September 6,
1958. Paul B. Wood was chosen vice-president; Clint Baldwin, sec-
retary; George Dawson, treasurer; and Mrs. Ruth Connor, historian.
The executive committee consists of the above officers and Mrs. Ida
Vinson, Mrs. Helen Austin, Mrs. Bea Hays, and R. Z. Blackburn.
Wood was the retiring president. Guest speaker at the meeting was
Zula Bennington Greene (Peggy of the Flint Hills) who spoke on
early newspapers of Chase county.
The Kansas Tuberculosis and Health Association recently pub-
lished an appeal for bricks bearing the slogan "Don't Spit on Side-
walk." The bricks, manufactured a half century ago, carried the
slogan as part of Dr. S. J. Crumbine's campaign to prevent the
spread of communicable diseases. Renewed interest in the bricks
is occasioned by the approach of the 50th anniversary of the Christ-
mas seal program.
A history of the Immanuel Lutheran church, Norton, was recently
published in a 15-page pamphlet in observance of the church's 50th
anniversary. The congregation was formally organized April 21,
1908.
The League of Women Voters of Topeka recently published a
40-page pamphlet entitled Know Your City — Topeka.
Atchison's disastrous storms of July 11 and 30, 1958, were recorded
by word and picture in a 32-page pamphlet edited by Charles
Spencer and lithographed by the Sutherland Printing Co. of Atchi-
son.
384 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
On May 26, 1958, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madi-
son, announced publication of In Support of Clio, Essays in Memory
of Herbert A. Kellar, edited by William B. Hesseltine and Donald
R. McNeil. Among the essays is "Mechanical Aids in Historical
Research," by George L. Anderson, head of the history department
of the University of Kansas, Lawrence.
A new edition of Dr. C. M. Clark's A Trip to Pike's Peak . . .,
edited by Robert Greenwood, was published in 1958 by the Talis-
man Press, San Jose, Cal. The work is an account of the Pike's Peak
gold rush, 1859-1861, in which Clark participated.
Army Life on the Western Frontier, a 187-page book containing
selections from the official reports made between 1826 and 1845 by
Col. George Groghan, edited by Francis Paul Prucha, was recently
published by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Groghan
was inspector general of the army and visited the frontier garrisons
frequently over the 20-year period.
Dr. Clifford P. Westermeier is author of a 272-page volume en-
titled Who Rush to Glory, on the First, Second, and Third United
States volunteer cavalry regiments during the Spanish-American
War, published recently by the Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Idaho.
Called the Cowboy Volunteers of 1898, the regiments were com-
manded by Cols. Theodore Roosevelt, Jay L. Torrey, and Melvin
Grigsby. Recruits came largely from the states and territories of
the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains.
n
THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Winter 1958
Published by
Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka
NYLE H. MILLER KIRKE MECHEM JAMES C. MALIN
Managing Editor Editor Associate Editor
CONTENTS
THE HORSE-CAR INTERURBAN FROM COTTONWOOD FALLS TO STRONG CITY,
Allison Chandler, 385
With photographs of cars in downtown Cottonwood Falls, and sketch of
the route of the Consolidated Street Railway, frontispiece.
IMMIGRANTS OR INVADERS — A DOCUMENT P. J. Staudenraus, 394
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY IN INDIAN COUNTRY,
1859-1861— Concluded Edited by Louise Barry, 399
With sketches of Forts Washita and Arbuckle, facing p. 400, and por-
traits of William H. Emory and Samuel D. Sturgis, facing p. 401.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, SWENDENBORGIAN PUBLICIST, EDITOR OF THE
WICHITA BEACON, 1875-1887, AND PHILOSOPHER EXTRAORDINARY: Part
One James C. Malin, 426
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY, 1857-1862 — Concluded: Part Four,
June 20-September 14, 1862 Edited by Edgar Langsdorf
and R. W. Richmond, 458
With map showing portions of Tennessee and Mississippi where Colonel
Anthony was stationed, facing p. 464, and portraits of Charles R. Jenni-
son, and James H. Lane, facing p. 465.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 476
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 477
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 479
ERRATA AND ADDENDA, VOLUME XXIV 482
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV . . 483
The Kansas Historical Quarterly is published four times a year by the Kansas
State Historical Society, 120 W. Tenth, Topeka, Kan., and is distributed free to
members. Correspondence concerning contributions may be sent to the manag-
ing editor at the Historical Society. The Society assumes no responsibility for
statements made by contributors.
Second-class postage has been paid at Topeka, Kan.
THE COVER
Rolling and walking stock of the Consolidated Street Railway
of Cottonwood Falls and Strong City, with crews and friends.
They are posed on the old and new bridges over the Cottonwood
river at Cottonwood Falls, December, 1914. Apparently both
nags were camera shy. One hid his head behind a telephone
pole, the other turned at precisely the right moment. Photo Riggs
Studio, Cottonwood Falls.
A winter view of a Consolidated Street Railway car in downtown Cotton-
wood Fails during the pre-auto days. Notice the heavily bundled driver
and the unprotected horse.
Looking north along Broadway street in Cottonwood Falls from the second
story of the Chase county courthouse. This photo, probably taken in the
late 1890's, shows a horse car at its southern terminal. The long shadows
of the summer afternoon prove that the horse is still there, as he is about
to begin the two-mile trip to the Catholic church in Strong City.
©
fit
THE KANSAS
HISTORICAL aUARTERLY
Volume XXIV Winter, 1958 Number 4
The Horse-car Interurban From Cottonwood Falls
to Strong City
ALLISON CHANDLER
ONE of the strangest stories in Kansas interurban annals con-
cerns the Consolidated Street Railway of Cottonwood Falls
and Strong City. This line rightfully laid claim to being one of
Kansas' first inter-town street railways. It was never an electric
railway system; it was established as a horse-car line and survived
more than three decades without substantial change. Then it
proudly converted to a modern car line and collapsed within 18
months! Consolidated was Kansas' shortest interurban — two miles
long,1 but it was steeped in Kansas history.
In July, 1870, the Atchison & Topeka railroad reached Emporia
20 miles to the east, in its push westward.2 Immediately there
was speculation as to which side of the Cottonwood river the new
rail line would extend. The company was having difficulty in
financing the westward extension,3 and time was running short
in which to reach the western line of Kansas, to earn the grant
of lands across the state. It was important that the line be extended
to the Arkansas river as quickly as possible to get full benefit of the
cattle business which was going northward to Abilene and the
Kansas Pacific.
For these reasons, the new rails were laid north of the river, and
Cottonwood Falls, just south of the stream, lost out. Cottonwood
Station was established in 1872,4 just one and one-half miles north
of Cottonwood Falls. The town which immediately began grow-
ALLISON CHANDLER, who is employed in the advertising department of the Salina
Journal, has prepared a book-length manuscript entitled "Trolley Through the Countryside."
The portion reproduced here is part of that manuscript.
1. Poor's Manual of the Railroads, 1910.
2. John Bright, ed., Kansas — The First Century (New York, 1956), v. 1, p. 243.
3. Letter from W. C. Burk, special representative, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
Railway Co., Topeka, dated March 23, 1954.
4. History of Kansas Newspapers (Topeka, 1916), p. 154.
(385)
386 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ing up around the station was in 1881 5 named Strong, after a presi-
dent of the Santa Fe, and became popularly known as Strong City.6
By late 1887 the Chicago, Kansas and Western line, which had
been taken over by the Santa Fe, had completed its 150-mile
northwest branch from Strong through Concordia, and on to
Superior, Neb., with a subbranch running from Abilene to Salina.7
Strong City accordingly became an important junction for pas-
sengers, mail, and freight on the line. The need for transportation
from the Strong City Santa Fe depot into downtown Cottonwood
Falls grew as the railroad prospered. Citizens of the twin cities
organized late in 1886,8 and obtained a charter for the operation of
a horse-car interurban rail line to be known as the Consolidated
Street Railway Company. The first board of directors included
J. W. McWilliams, W. H. Holsinger, J. M. Tuttle, and W. P. Martin,
all of Cottonwood Falls; together with C. J. Lantry, E. A. Hilde-
brand, and Wit Adair, all of Strong City. The road was capitalized
at $10,000, divided into $10 shares. It was announced that actual
work on the line would commence as soon as the stock was sub-
scribed. Chase county commissioners gave permission to the
company to secure a right of way, as well as to use the steel
bridge over the Cottonwood.
On February 19, 1887,9 a meeting of the stockholders was called
to adopt bylaws. By that time nearly all of the stock had been
subscribed and a preliminary survey of the right-of-way completed.
On April 7 10 it was announced that 4,500 Arkansas white oak ties
had been ordered, the ties measuring four and one-half feet long
by six inches wide and four high, and costing $27.00 per hundred.
By mid-April n grading was under way, and by June 2 workmen
were laying ties. On July 28 12 the newspaper announced that
mules for the railway had been purchased and the drivers engaged.
Finally, on August 20, the street cars arrived and on Monday,
August 22, 1887, the road was in business.13
A large car-and-horse barn was built along the route just north
of the river. The three-foot six-inch narrow gauge, lightweight
36-pound rails 14 ran down the center of Cottonwood's main street,
5. Ibid.
6. Letter from W. C. Burk, dated March 23, 1954.
7. Chase County Leader, Cottonwood Falls, November 3, 1887, January 5, 1888.
8. Ibid, December 16, 1886.
9. Ibid, February 17, 1887.
10. Ibid, April 7, 1887.
11. Ibid, April 14, 1887.
12. Ibid, July 28, 1887.
13. Ibid, August 25, 1887.
14. Poor's Manual of the Railroads, 1910.
THE HORSE-CAR INTERURBAN 387
called "Broadway." Its route was from the courthouse square in
Cottonwood Falls, three blocks north to the bridge, then diagonally
two blocks before straightening out to head due north into Strong
City on that town's main street, called "Cottonwood Avenue." At
first the line stopped at the Santa Fe tracks. But by December 8,
1887,15 it had been continued north the remaining two blocks of
the Strong City business district and up the next two blocks to
the Catholic church. The total distance from courthouse to church
measured two miles.16
The railway used horse power in the literal sense of the word.
At first a single mule and later a single horse, wearing bridle, collar
and abbreviated harness, was attached to a singletree by means
of a pair of one-inch rope traces. The singletree in turn was
hooked onto the front of the interurban car at two points. Leather
lines were hitched from bridle to the edge of an overhead canopy
at the front of the car. At the end of the two-mile run the mule
or horse was unhitched from one end of the vehicle and rehitched
at the opposite end. There was no turntable, no "Y," no "V." Only
the horse turned around! 17
The cozy-looking interurbans themselves, of which the company
kept two in operation constantly, were of the all-metal street car
variety with simple open platforms at each end, protected from the
elements only by a canopy and a three-foot-high buckboard. A
single stirrup-like steel step assisted the passengers at each of the
four corners. The driver remained outside of the car proper, on
the platform, either standing or sitting propped up on a high stool.
This meant heavy clothing in the winter months, with overcoat,
mittens and earmuffs as standard uniform. The horse was left to
endure the elements as best he could. The five square windows on
either side of the car gave vision to 12 passengers inside, all facing
the middle of the car. However, standing room often permitted
the car to double that capacity. In addition to "vision windows"
there were ventilators in the roof. Also, two short vents in the
roof were outlets for monkey-stove pipes used in the colder months.
The 14-foot-long cars were mounted on four iron spoke wheels,
and at each end of the car on the platform was a brake crank. This
had a gear on the lower end which worked the steel brake shoes.
The driver's chief duty was not so much that of urging on the
horse as of constantly loosening and tightening the brake to prevent
15. Chase County Leader, December 8, 1887.
16. Poor's Manual of the Railroads, 1910.
17. Interview January 16, 1954, with Clint A. Baldwin, secretary of Chase County
Historical Society, Cottonwood Falls.
388 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the car from rolling wild on a grade and injuring both horse and
passengers.18 While most of the line was relatively flat, the two
northernmost blocks were up a steep hill and the brake proved
a valuable piece of equipment at that point. While these were
midget cars compared with the regular electric interurbans of
probably 50,000 pounds in weight, the horse cars did weigh several
tons and represented surprisingly heavy vehicles to be pulled by
single horses. The equipment was copied from that of steam rail-
roads and consisted of well-oiled journals rolling on bearings at
each of the four wheels.19 When it is considered that a man with
a crowbar can move a standard railroad freight car, it is under-
standable that a 1,000-pound horse could pull several tons of steel
on the modest grades of the Consolidated line. Even so, the
practice of pulling loaded cars with horses was considered inhu-
mane by many and undoubtedly the lives of the Consolidated
horses were shorter than the average.20
Signs on the car neatly proclaimed: "Consolidated Street Rail-
way Co/' One later car bore the banner: "Main Street and Union
Depot," signifying that one of the chief values of the line was to
transport steam train passengers to and from the Santa Fe station
in Strong City.21 While the distance from the courthouse to the
station was one and one-half miles and to the Catholic church two
miles, a standard fare of five cents prevailed for men, women, and
children, regardless of age and regardless of distance traveled.22
There were no tickets, no tokens, just nickel-collecting by the driver
as the passengers entered the car.
The daily schedule began about seven o'clock each morning,
seven days a week.23 A half-hour schedule was maintained until
dark by use of two cars. The car starting from the courthouse at
noon would make its two-mile run to the Catholic church with
frequent stops and would be ready to start the return trip at 12:30.
The other car would leave the church at noon and would be back
at the courthouse ready for its next northerly run at 12:30, the
cars passing midway on a passing track. This half-hour daylight
schedule was maintained almost without interruption for three
decades. The horses and mules were required to pull the inter-
urbans between five and six miles an hour to preserve this schedule
18. Ibid.
19. Interview March, 1954, with Douglas Coates, Santa Fe railway, Salina, a boyhood
resident of Cottonwood Falls during horse-ear days.
20. Ibid.
21. Postcard borrowed from Clint Baldwin, November 23, 1953.
22. Interview with Fred G. Siler, Cottonwood Falls, real estate broker, January 16, 1954.
23. Interview with Clint Baldwin, January 16, 1954.
THE HORSE-CAR INTERURBAN 389
and it proved a satisfactory arrangement over the years, until the
dawn of the auto age, when more speed was demanded. There
were, of course, no reports of "hot boxes" suffered by the Consoli-
dated in all its 30 years.
While passenger revenue was almost the sole source of income,
the line did have a contract with the United States government to
haul mail from Strong City to the Cottonwood Falls post office.24
The mail pouches were carried inside the car whenever possible,
but oftentimes were of necessity piled on the rear platform for the
trip. Only personal baggage of passengers could be squeezed into
the car, for which there was no charge.25
The Consolidated did not attempt to haul express or freight
between the towns. Baggage drays, horse driven, could be hired.26
One of these vehicles was the old Union Hotel hack with which was
associated one of the illustrious names in Santa Fe railroad history,
James E. Hurley. Hurley, who later became an outstanding gen-
eral manager of the Santa Fe, came to Cottonwood Falls as a boy
and at one time drove the hotel hack.27
In its horse-car days the Consolidated employed a maximum of
ten men, possibly fewer.28 And as late as 1910 the company owned
four cars and eight horses.29 There were always two drivers on
duty during daylight hours, as well as attendants and helpers for
the spare horses quartered in the car barn. One Cottonwood Falls
man likes to recount the occasion decades ago when a local young-
ster told him: "Mister, when I grow up I want to be a horse taker!"
To which he replied: "Son, they'll string you up in Texas for
taking horses." The boy was undaunted, and explained: "But,
Mister, you don't understand. I mean taking a horse from the
horse car into the barn and taking another horse out of the barn
to the car." 30
Among the drivers remembered by residents of the towns were
John Mailen, Billy Reifsnyder, Ed Gauvey, and Charley Fish.31
Although the company attempted to keep a strict schedule, there
was one unidentified driver who was reluctant to leave the court-
house or the church at the appointed half hour unless he had a
passenger or two. He was the friendly type and would pile a few
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Santa Fe Employes' Magazine, Chicago, September, 1910, p. 41.
28. Interview with Clint Baldwin, January 16, 1954.
29. Poor's Manual of the Railroads, 1910.
30. Recalled by Mrs. Arabella Moore, Chase County Leader-News, January 16, 1954.
31. Interview with Clint Baldwin, January 16r 1954.
390 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
youngsters into his car for a free ride if there were no paying pas-
sengers. Citizens who remember say, "He got lonesome on that
long drive by himself."32
Many adults have humorous recollections of the little railroad.
The wheels of the Consolidated were set rather close to the center
of the car, making it somewhat precarious for passengers to con-
gregate at one end. Some of the more mischievous boys of the
towns would often clamber aboard, pay their fares, and when the
car was in motion, suddenly move to the rear seats. This would tilt
the little vehicle backward enough to make the front wheels leave
the rails. The driver would protest and threaten, to little avail, and
the citizenry were frequently treated to the spectacle of the Con-
solidated being pulled along on two wheels by a surprised nag
in front of an oath-hurling driver.33
Train connections and matters of business gave the railway its
chief lifeblood in nickels. But there were other occasions as well.
Many families of Catholic faith lived in Cottonwood Falls, two
miles or more from the church on the hill in Strong City.34 Not
only on Sunday but at various time in the week were church goers
transported to services in the old stone edifice. As the towns de-
veloped, Strong City became a center for road shows, plays, and
other public entertainment, first in the old opera house, then, from
1900 on, in the city auditorium, still standing two blocks south of
the Catholic church. On these occasions, both Consolidated cars
would pull in from Cottonwood Falls, loaded to the platforms with
entertainment seekers. There were no headlights on the cars, but
the drivers arranged kerosene lanterns on the sides to assist pas-
sengers and to aid the horses in picking their way down the dark-
ened street.35
Sundays sometimes provided another opportunity for service.
In that era, before even the days of Sunday movies, young blades
from Strong City would ride the horse cars over to Cottonwood
Falls for dates. Then they would take their girls into the old stone
courthouse where it was warm and cozy. That inevitably meant a
climb to the lofty cupola for a breath-taking view of the town and
countryside. However, woe be it if Cottonwood Falls swains
caught up with them pursuing such social activities on foreign soil!
32. Ibid.
33. Interview with Douglas Coates, March, 1954.
34. Interview with Clint Baldwin, January 16, 1954.
35. Ibid.
THE HORSE-CAR INTERURBAN 391
At times, it is said, they could net wait for the leisurely-moving
interurban to take them home.88
There are records of at least four major Cottonwood river floods
during the horse-car days. The mammoth flood of 1903 covered
the old steel bridge and the lowlands sufficiently to cut Cotton-
wood Falls off from Strong City for days. In 1904, 1906, and 1908
high water again interrupted service. In 1914 a new Marsh arch-
type concrete bridge was built at a cost of $13,700.37
There are no recorded major wrecks, nor collisions of the cars
with hacks, drays, or early-day autos. Notable was the fact that
there was never a collision with a speeding Santa Fe passenger,
baggage, or freight train at the Strong City crossing. Considering
that the Santa Fe eventually stepped up its eight trains a day to
well over 20 fast passenger trains through the crossing every 24
hours, it is remarkable that some miscalculating horse-car driver
didn't get one of the old interurbans in their path. The cars had
to cross five separate tracks, two of which were high-speed tracks
of the main line, possibly 20 times a day. One safety factor was
the Santa Fe's installation of crossing bars after the passenger
schedule had been increased past the 20-trains-per-day mark; they
swung down and blocked the horse cars and other vehicles when-
ever a main line train was approaching.38
After the advent of motion pictures in the early 1910's, the horse
cars became moving advertisements of the current or next cinema
billing at local theaters in Strong City and Cottonwood Falls. Cars
posing on the two Cottonwood river bridges in December, 1914
[see cover picture this issue], contained banners indicating that
patrons were admitted for a flat charge of five cents per head.39
One banner proclaimed: "Matinee Saturday, Gem Theatre, 2 reels,
doors open 2:30, 5c." Another announced: "The Trey O' Hearts,
Wednesdays, 2 shows, Doors open 7:15.'' A third said: "The
Master Key, Saturdays, Gem Theatre." Another 1914 horse-car
photo in downtown Strong City revealed a car-length banner di-
recting would-be interurban riders to the "Bank Hotel" in Strong
City.40
It was in late 1916 and early 1917 that progress could be no longer
stayed and agitation grew for more modern transportation. The
36. Interview with Douglas Coates, March, 1954.
37. Chase County Leader, August 13. December 24, 1914.
38. Photo in Chase County Leader, May 28, 1914.
39. Photo taken December, 1914, by Riggs Studio, Cottonwood Falls.
40. Photo in Chase County Leader, May 28, 1914.
392 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Model T Ford was making its appearance in increasing numbers
and speed was becoming more important in public transit. On
November 23, 1917, the Chase County Leader proudly announced:
The cars of the Consolidated Street Railway . . . probably the last
horse cars in the entire country have been taken off by the company who will
now replace them with a motor car and more up-to-date equipment. For
. . . thirty years . . . the horse car line has made regular trips every
half hour. . . . The track is now being widened and repaired. . . .
In November, 1917, John Mailen made the last run as driver of
a horse car and the twin-town horse interurban became history.41
Although citizens of both towns had learned to love the old horse
cars, the majority were jubilant. It meant no more manure on the
streets, no more inhuman treatment of horses by exposure to the
bitter winter weather, no more passengers jumping out of the car to
push it up the Strong City hill, no more slow speed transportation
between towns. To the company it meant no more buying and
feeding oats and hay, no more watching over sick horses and pay-
ing veterinarian's bills, no more overstraining of their nags by over-
loads of passengers.
Prior to the start of motor service the company issued the follow-
ing instruction through the local press:
THE STREET CAR COMPANY GIVES NOTICE TO PATRONS
Patrons . . . must always be on the right side of the car, and on
crossing, and where there is a double crossing going either to the north or
south, must always be on the first crossing as there will be only one stop made
on a double crossing. When packages are received by the car man, they
must be paid for, as the motorman won't have time to get off and hunt the
money, and the party who receives the package must either meet the car
or state on package where to leave it. This may be a little unhandy to start
with, but we must have some system or we won't make any time.42
January 22, 1918, was a great day in the two towns when the new
motor car arrived on the street, started its gasoline motor, and began
its first run.43 The single motor interurban continued to maintain
the original one-half hour schedule of the old horse cars. But it
ran twice as fast, so the company needed only one piece of equip-
ment. Mr. Davis of Wichita became the first motorman of the new
interurban, with John Mailen and Sylvester Miller as helpers.44 On
January 24, 1918, the Consolidated had its regular annual meeting
41. Interview with Clint Baldwin, January 16, 1954.
42. Chase County Leader, January 8, 1918.
43. Ibid., January 25, 29, 1918.
44. Interview with Clint Baldwin, January 16, 1954.
THE HORSE-CAR INTERURBAN 393
of the now motorized company in Strong City. Directors chosen
for the year were W. C. Harvey, George W. Crum, and Walter
Hassan, all of Strong City; George McNee and W. W. Austin of
Cottonwood Falls, and H. L. Baker of LaCrosse.45
The year 1918 soon revealed that motorized progress had played
the stockholders a cruel trick. The car's gasoline engine was ex-
tremely noisy and there were numerous complaints from citizens
in both towns. The company inaugurated a parcel-delivery service
in an effort to drum up more revenue.
The complaints were only annoying; the real appalling fact,
realized after it was too late, was that the light 36-pound rails
suitable for the slow-moving horse cars, would not stand the
speeded-up schedule of the motor car. With disgusting regularity
the new interurban jumped the track.46
There were other troubles, and rumors that the company wanted
to quit. On February 11, 1919, C. K. Cummins of Hutchinson vis-
ited Cottonwood Falls to confer about improving the railway; that
is, by refitting the entire two-mile line with new and much heavier
rails that could withstand the speeded-up car operations.47 Then
on June 30, 1919, the Chase County Leader reported:
The stockholders of the Consolidated have made application to the Public
Utilities commission to discontinue business . . . because of its [the line's]
inability to longer be operated at a profit, and it is likely that the equipment
will be disposed of and the two miles of track taken up. What was very likely
the last car to make a trip occurred at 5:30 last Friday evening, June 27.
On July 21 the Leader reported that permission had been granted
to junk the line, and the Consolidated, which had already stopped
operating, died an official death after 32 years of service, 30/2 as
a horse-car interurban and a year and a half as a motorized car line.
Walter Hassan, one of the directors, was granted permission to
start a bus line between the two towns and by July 23 had a large
new yellow-painted Reo bus in operation 48 at a fare of 10 cents,
the same price that had been charged by the motor car on the
street railway. But that, too, died within a few years and today
one must provide his own transportation between the cities.
45. Chase County Leader, January 29, 1918.
46. Interview with Clint Baldwin, January 16, 1954.
47. Chase County Leader, February 14, 1919.
48. Ibid., July 23, 1919.
Immigrants or Invaders? A Document
P. J. STAUDENBAUS
I. INTRODUCTION
TN SEPTEMBER, 1856, scores of Northern men converged at
J. Mount Pleasant, Iowa, then the Western terminus of the Bur-
lington railroad. Youthful Free-State partisans were launching
an expedition to "Bleeding Kansas/' In all, 200 men and 20 wagons
started for the territory, and they expected additional groups to
join en route. During the last weeks of September and early Octo-
ber the wagon train crept across Iowa and Nebraska. On October
10, 1856, it entered Kansas. United States dragoons patrolling the
territorial boundaries near Plymouth, Kansas territory, promptly
halted, searched, and arrested the entire party on the grounds that
it came to the restless territory as a military unit for warlike pur-
poses. Only a month before, the territorial governor, John W.
Geary, had outlawed armed bands of men as a step toward sup-
pressing strife and turbulence in Kansas.1
Leaders of the Free-State company, Shalor W. Eldridge, Samuel
C. Pomeroy, John A. Perry, Robert Morrow, Richard Realf, and
Edward Daniels, angrily protested the arrest. They argued that
Governor Geary had specifically approved the entrance of bona
fide immigrant parties, and they asserted that they were legitimate
settlers seeking homes in the territory. The arresting army of-
ficers disbelieved their statement, for they noted the absence of the
usual complement of agricultural implements, household furniture,
farm supplies, women, and children. A search of the wagons,
despite the objections of the Free-State men, revealed a sizable
cache of weapons and war supplies. Concealed in the wagons were
36 Colt revolvers, ten Sharps rifles, 145 breech-loading muskets, 85
percussion muskets, 115 bayonets, 63 sabres, 61 dragoon saddles,
plus cartridges, powder, and one drum. Members of the wagon
train conceded that they were organized as a military unit — for
purposes, they said, of self-defence. They explained that this pre-
caution resulted from reports of lawlessness in Kansas. At a hear-
ing before Governor Geary near Topeka, Eldridge and his com-
panions maintained that their party was a peaceful one. Geary
P. J. STAUDENRAXJS is assistant professor of history at the University of Kansas City,
Kansas City, Mo.
1. Executive minutes of Gov. John W. Geary, September 11, 1856. — Kansas Hfc-
torical Collections, v. 4, p. 526.
(394)
IMMIGRANTS OR INVADERS 395
confiscated the munitions but released the men with a warning to
disband at once.2 The Free-State men proceeded to Lawrence,
entered the village in a dress parade carrying arms and flags not
detected in the search, drew their wagons in a circle at the head
of Massachusetts street on the banks of the Kaw river, and lit their
camp fires for the last time. Next day, they dispersed.8
The arrest and brief detention of the Free-State men occurred
on the eve of the presidential election of 1856. In the following
weeks the incident played a part in the Republican campaign to
discredit the Democratic administration. Republican newspapers
such as the Chicago Tribune and the New York Tribune promptly
dramatized the arrest as an "outrage," "atrocity " "gigantic crime,"
and "high-handed invasion of the constitutional rights of American
citizens." They pictured the Free-State men as peaceful settlers
harrassed by rapacious army officers and double-dealing Demo-
cratic politicians. Horace Greeley described the Free-State men
as earnest, weary immigrants "robbed of all their property, except
the clothes they stood in." "Republican reader!" Greeley exclaimed,
"Your money is paying for all this blood-thirsty wretchedness."4
Only in later years did leading participants such as Shalor W.
Eldridge and Robert Morrow admit that the wagon train was in-
deed a military unit intentionally prepared for war-making in
Kansas.5
A letter written as the wagon train trekked across Iowa frankly
states the military nature of the expedition. The author, Edward
Daniels of Ripon, Wis., was one of the leaders of the ill-starred
venture. The 28-year-old Daniels was formerly state geologist of
Wisconsin and a loyal Republican. Born in Boston, Daniels grew
up in western New York, attended Oberlin College, and as a young
man found employment in Wisconsin as schoolteacher and mining
engineer. His close friend, Horace White of Beloit, was an agent
of the National Kansas Committee with offices in Chicago. In let-
ters and conferences White warmed Daniels' interest in marching
to Kansas with expeditions organized and outfitted by the National
Kansas Committee. Another close friend, Oscar Hugh LaGrange,
2. For official reports by Governor Geary and the officers participating in the arrest,
see ibid., pp. 583-586, 607-612.
3. New York Daily Tribune, October 25, 1856.
4. Ibid., October 21-25, 28, 29, 31, 1856.
5. Robert Morrow, "Emigration to Kansas in 1856," Kansas Historical Collections.
v. 8, pp. 305, 306; Shalor Winchell Eldridge, "Recollections of Early Days in Kansas,'*
Publications of Kansas State Historical Society, v. 2, pp. 110, 111; cf. William E. Connelley,
History of Kansas, State and People . . . (Chicago, 1928), v. 1, p. 552. Connelley
insisted that the authorities were deliberately abusing "peaceable and fawabiding citizens,
coming to seek homes."
396 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
A Ripon schoolteacher, accompanied Daniels on the trip to Kansas.6
In his hastily scrawled account Daniels gave no hint that his
company was an agricultural unit. He spoke of military matters:
sentries, messes, officers, stacks of arms, and even a cannon which
the company buried in a well-concealed grave near the Kansas-
Nebraska border. Hurriedly but not without elements of literary
grace he described the vicissitudes of military life. The mood and
tone of the letter suggests a soldier writing to his worried family.
As such, the letter could stand as a prototype for thousands of war-
time letters written a few years later.
II. THE LETTER
OscEOLA,7 [IOWA,] Sep 26th 1856
DEAR MOTHER AND SISTER
I write from my tent 10 o'clock at night. We are in the midst of
Iowa pushing rapidly towards Kansas. Our journey has been ex-
ceedingly pleasant thus far. The weather very fine, roads good, and
every condition of travel pleasant.
I sent back word to you by Mr. Bovay8 who went with us to
Mount Pleasant. We have 200 in our Company many of the very
best of men. We are divided into messes of 6 each. One mess
in a tent. Hugh LaGrange is in my mess with 4 other fine fellows.
We march about 25 miles per day and will be in Kansas if we have
good success in about 12 days. We have good news from there of
peace and quiet. We are very much disposed to rejoice at this
for although prepared to fight we do not at all crave the opportunity.
We have three artillery and 2 rifle companies and will be joined by
other parties till our number reaches 500.
We have just completed our military organization. Col. Eldridge
is General, Gen. Pomeroy of Massachusetts and myself Adjutant
Generals, Col. Perry of Rhode Island Colonel.
For three days I have had the entire control of this great train
of 20 wagons and 200 men. It is an immense burden and yesterday
when Gens. Eldridge and Pomeroy arrived I was very glad to lay
aside the responsibility and care of my position for a time.
6. Manuscript sketches, "Edward Daniels" and "Oscar Hugh LaGrange" in "Dictionary
of Wisconsin Biography" project, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison; Horace
[White] to Edward Daniels, Beloit, Wis., May 31, 1856. — "Edward Daniels Papers," State
Historical Society of Wisconsin.
7. The letter is in the "Edward Daniels Papers," ibid. Osceola was a station on the
"Lane Trail," according to William E. Connelley, "The Lane Trail," Kansas Historical Col-
lections, v. 13, pp. 268, 269. On September 17, 1856, the Chicago Tribune noted that
Kansas-bound emigrants from Wisconsin were passing through Chicago and intended to
travel "the Iowa route, via Burlington."
8. Alvan Earle Bovay (1818-1903), a leading citizen of Ripon, Wis., and an energetic
Republican party organizer. — See Samuel M. Pedrick, The Life of Alvan E. Bovay, Founder
of the Republican Party in Ripon, Wis., March 20, 1854 (Ripon, Wis. [1957]), pp. 2-17.
IMMIGRANTS OR INVADERS 397
The people are very kind here; as we pass they bring us many
little luxuries and bid us Godspeed. We get melons, squashes,
pumpkins and occasionally a few peaches and sweet potatoes. I
have never enjoyed my meals better. We have several very good
cooks. We have had 3 oxen given us since we started and numer-
able [?] chickens so we fare well for meat.
To-day as I stood addressing the men from the top of a cannon
wheel I had mounted as a rostrum a man came up and addressed
me whom I used to know at Oberlin. A very strange meeting [I]
tho't. The boys are all asleep and no sound is heard save the
stamping [of] the horses and the measured tread of the guards as
they pass by my tent. I am sitting upon the ground writing upon
a cartridge box and leaning against a stack of guns. We have had
a fine meeting this evening in the open air which is warm and
balmy. We have delightful music both vocal and other and our
toilsome march is relieved by many happy hours. Still we think
often of the luxuries & pleasant scenes of home. We get plenty of
wild grapes. They make us many feasts and good sauce.
The wind blows my light. I must go and see to my guards and
go to sleep next.
Write me to Lawrence, Kansas, where I hope to be next week.
Very truly yours
EDWARD DANIELS
III. EPILOGUE
Daniels does not indicate whether he and LaGrange ever in-
tended to settle in Kansas, but soon after their inglorious arrest at
Plymouth, both men returned to Wisconsin and subsequently joined
in the escapades of Sherman M. Booth, antislavery editor of the
Milwaukee Free Democrat. Booth's defiance of the Fugitive-Slave
Act involved him in numerous lawsuits with federal authorities and
temporarily made him a Republican martyr. In August, 1860,
Daniels and LaGrange forced their way into the jury room of the
Milwaukee Customs House where Booth was imprisoned and
carried him to Ripon. With their assistance Booth eluded capture
long enough to campaign for the Republican ticket in the Ripon
area.
After Lincoln's inauguration, Daniels was a member of Jim
Lane's curious "Frontier Guard" which stationed itself at the
executive mansion in April, 1861. Later, Daniels and LaGrange
organized the First Wisconsin cavalry regiment. Colonel LaGrange
participated in the capture of Jefferson Davis and later served as
superintendent of the mint at San Francisco. Daniels resigned his
398 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
commission during the war, purchased an estate in Virginia, and
published the Richmond State Journal. He died in 1916, in his
88th year.9
Many years after the Eldridge wagon train disbanded at Law-
rence, Daniels chose the rhetoric of the battlefield to praise the
Free-State partisans. In a speech in the 1880's, he portrayed them
not as immigrants but as inspired warriors who sought to thwart a
slave-ridden Democracy. Generously mixing his metaphors, he
lauded his Northern companions, armed and aided by such groups
as the National Kansas Committee, as "that Spartan band" who
fought and won the "Thermopylae of freedom." 10
9. Manuscript sketches, "Edward Daniels" and "Oscar Hugh LaGrange" in "Dictionary
of Wisconsin Biography" project, State Historical Society of Wisconsin; "The Soldiers of
Kansas, the Frontier Guard at the White House, Washington, 1861," Kansas Historical Col-
lections, v. 10, pp. 419-421; Edgar Langsdorf, "Jim Lane and the Frontier Guard," Kan-
sas Historical Quarterly, v. 9, pp. 13-25; Henry Harnden, "The First Wisconsin Cavalry
at the Capture of Jefferson Davis," Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin,
Madison, v. 14, pp. 516-532.
10. Manuscript speech, about 1885, commemorating Gen. James D. Webster's services
to National Kansas Committee. — "Edward Daniels Papers," State Historical Society of
Wisconsin.
With the First U. S. Cavalry in Indian Country,
1859-1861— Concluded
LETTERS TO The Daily Times, LEAVENWORTH
Edited by LOUISE BARRY
III. THE LETTERS, MAY 3, 1860-ApRiL 28, 1861
CAMP ON LEAPER'S CREEK,45 NEAR FORT COBB, C. N.,
Thursday, May 3d, A. D., 1860.
EDITOR OF TIMES: The second squadron of 1st Cavalry left Fort
Washita, C. N., on the 9th of April last, to proceed to Camp
Cooper, in Texas, to join the command of Major [George H.]
Thomas, 2nd. Cavalry, then under orders to scout the country
northwest of Camp Cooper and along Red river, to chastise all
hostile Indians, and to show them no mercy whatever. Our route
lay in a southwestern course, over a beautiful, rich and picturesque
prairie, in the Indian Territory, to Red river, which we crossed on
the following day. The salutation we received upon Texan soil
was a drenching shower of cold rain, lasting for about half an hour,
when the clouds suddenly broke away, and the sun poured forth
its burning rays, almost suffocating us.
The majority of the farmers in this part of Texas have already
done all their oat sowing, corn and potato planting; corn is already
two inches in height.
Immediately after crossing the boundary line between Texas and
the Indian Territory, brought within our view two settlements only,
and, composing each, only one family, and at a distance of thirty
miles apart, while in Texas we passed settlements every two or three
miles. The soil in Texas is superior to any that I have heretofore
seen. In picturesque scenery Texas almost surpasses the world.
APRIL 11. — Today we struck the [Butterfield] Overland Mail
route to California. The roads were in very poor condition before
this, but since we are on this great thoroughfare we have splendid
roads. Large herds of horses, ponies and cattle cover the treeless
LOUISE BARRY is a member of the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society.
45. Leeper's creek — named for Indian Agent Mathew Leeper, who in 1860, after the
death of Samuel A. Elaine, succeeded him as head of the agency for the Indians from
Texas, near Fort Cobb. — M. H. Wright, "A History of Fort Cobb," Chronicles of Okla-
homa, v. 34, p. 55. See, also, Footnote 52.
(399)
400 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
portions of the country. This evening we pitch camp on Gaine's
creek, now nearly dry; only a few holes of stagnant water are left
to show that there is a creek in the vicinity. The following morning
we struck the tents, and were in the saddle at an early hour ready
for the march. We passed through Gainesville, a village containing
upwards of 500 inhabitants.46 The town bears marks of having
been founded a long time ago. About one half of the houses it
contains have been erected since the Overland mail route has been
in operation; the other half have the appearance of being cen-
tenarians. From Gainsville we crossed over a very desolate looking
prairie. Not a solitary tree was to be seen the whole day. Deer,
grouse and turkey are in abundance all along the route. Settlements
are becoming scarce; the only houses we meet with are mail stations.
On the 13th we marched through timbered country a distance of
twenty-seven miles, and pitched camp on Barnsly creek, close to
a mail station. — Here I was informed that most of the depredations
committed in these parts was done by the Reserve Indians, recently
removed from this State to Fort Cobb. They come in parties of
five and six, and steal any thing they can get hold of. Not long
since a blacksmith, employed by the Overland Mail Company to
shoe their horses between Sherman and Fort Belknap, was found
murdered in the road, about eight miles from the latter place; he
had left Belknap on a tour to shoe the horses between that place
and Sherman.
On the night of the 14th, a severe storm passed over camp,
blowing down nearly all of our tents, and drenching the inmates
to the skin. Several coaches have passed us on the road; they are
invariably loaded with passengers. Milk and Butter are very scarce
in this section of the country, notwithstanding farmers have large
herds of cattle, but keep only a few for domestic use — the re-
mainder run at large over the prairies.
On the 16th we had a heavy shower of hail. The hail stone [s]
were of uncommon large size; some were as large as a walnut with
the hull on. We passed through Jacksborough, a neat little vil-
lage.47 On the 18th we received orders to abandon the Camp
Cooper expedition and to proceed to Fort Cobb, there to join the
command of S. D. Sturgis, Capt. 1st Cavalry. We lay over one
46. Gainesville, Tex., was a ten-year-old town in 1860, settled by persons who had
started west on the California trail. It is near the center of, and the seat of Cooke county,
Texas.— W. P. Webb, ed., The Handbook of Texas (Austin, Tex., 1952), v. 1, p. 660.
47. The settlement of this town began in 1855. When it became the seat of Jack
county, Texas, in 1859, it was named Jacksborough. In 1899 the name was changed to
Jacksboro.— Ibid., p. 900.
I
Blj
t » "°
O 0) ON C
iia-
^ U r- ._
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 401
day in camp six miles east of [Fort] Belknap,48 to rest our horses. —
Accordingly, on the 20th, we set out on our way to Fort Cobb.
Every thing went on smoothly until we arrived on the banks of the
Little Witchita river, where we were compelled to unload our
wagons and ferry ourselves across on a raft. Our horses we turned
loose on the bank, and they swam across, while the saddles were
put across on the raft. A few days later we came into the Buffalo
range. A more desolate looking country I never saw. Grass was
eat off so close to the ground that our horses had to do without
while we were in the buffalo country. The prairie was perfectly
black with them. When in camp near the Witchita mountains, a
herd of buffaloes stampeded our mules, and run off five of them
for good. Passed through Gamp Radzeminski, where Major C.
Van Dorn had established his head quarters while on the war trail
of the Comanches in 1858-9. We finally arrived at Fort Cobb on the
29th of April.
There has been but little done towards the erection of Fort Cobb.
All that has been done towards its erection is the laying of the
foundation of a saw mill, but I am informed that as soon as the
necessary appropriations are made by Congress, the work will be
pushed vigorously forward. The troops stationed here, are, four
companies of infantry, and two of cavalry.49 Their quarters at
present consist of tents put on pickets. A few log houses have been
built for officers' quarters.
The expedition ordered out under command of Capt. S. D. Stur-
gis, consists of six companies of the 1st cavalry, (B, A, C, D, E and
I). There are no positive orders when we are to set out on the
march. In the first place, we have to await the arrival of provisions
from San Antonio, Texas, and the arrival of companies A and B,
who set out on the march for Camp Cooper from Fort Arbuckle.
An express was out after them, but could not cross Red river.
Yours anon,
Rover.
48. Fort Belknap, Tex. (mentioned in the introduction to these letters), had been
established in 1851, the same year as Fort Arbuckle, C. N. Both were located by Capt.
R. B. Marcy. Fort Belknap's site is about a mile south of present Newcastle, Tex — Ibid '
p. 620; W. S. Nye, Carbine and Lance . . . (Norman, Okla., 1937), p! 21. At the
point "six miles east of Belknap," the cavalrymen were about 40 miles from Camp Cooper
Here they turned and traveled almost due north to reach Fort Cobb, approximately 150
miles distant.
49. Maj. William H. Emory and the same command who had established the post the
previous autumn were still at Fort Cobb in April, 1860. The troops were Companies D
and E, First U. S. cavalry (formerly at Fort Arbuckle), and Companies BCD and F
First U. S. infantry (formerly stationed in Texas). Only the infantry troops were left at
Fort Cobb after the expedition under Sturgis set out on June 9, 1860.
26—6550
402 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
CAMP ON PAWN [POND] CREEK,50
NEAR FT. COBB, C. N., June 3, '60.
EDITOR OF TIMES: We are still in the vicinity of Fort Cobb,
awaiting orders to proceed against the Kiowa and Comanche In-
dians. A sufficient quantity of provision has arrived, but as yet
no positive orders have been issued to take up the line of march.
— Orders are almost daily issued, but only to be countermanded
before the time arrives to put them into execution.
Preparations towards the erection of Fort Cobb are progressing
slowly; the sawmill, which I spoke of in my last, is going towards
completion at a snail pace.
On the 10th ult., a party of Delaware and Tonkowa Indians
made another foray amongst the Kiowa Indians, and succeeded
in taking seven scalps. They came upon a party of fifteen Kiowas
about seventeen miles from the Fort, killed seven of their number,
returned to their camp the following day, and celebrated the event
with the war dance, carousing throughout the whole night, and
each succeeding night for two weeks. It is of common occurrence
for the Kiowa Indians to make descents upon the Indians here,
and drive off their horses, ponies, mules and cattle, to the number
of ten and twenty at a time.
On the 18th ult., we were joined by Companies A and B;51 the
command now consists of four companies, under command of
Capt. W[illiam N. R.] Beale. Companies B and A marched all
the way to Camp Cooper before they received the order to con-
centrate at Fort Cobb; they returned to Fort Arbuckle, remained
there ten days, then set out for this place.
On the 22d ult., three Kiowa Indians made themselves sufficiently
bold to drive off eighteen head of cattle belonging to Col. Leaper,52
the beef contractor for Fort Cobb; the herder, a Mexican, in at-
tempting to rescue his master's property, was severely wounded
in the right arm with an arrow.
On the 23rd ult., a detachment of fifty recruits arrived from San
Antonio, Texas, for the Infantry Companies at Forts Cobb and
Arbuckle. A more intelligent set of men are not to be picked up
every day by Uncle Sam.
There are rumors afloat that as soon as we leave here, 3,000
Texan volunteers contemplate making an attack upon the reserve
50. Pond (not Pawn) creek — later known as Cobb creek.
51. Apparently Companies A and B, First cavalry (previously stationed at Fort Smith)
had been garrisoned at Fort Arbuckle (along with Company E, First infantry) during the
winter of 1859-1860 (to replace Companies D and E sent to establish Fort Cobb).
52. Mathew Leeper (see Footnote 45) later in the year became head of the Indian
agency at this place.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 403
Indians, for depredations supposed to be committed by them on
citizens in the border counties of Texas. It is my opinion that the
depredations committed on the frontier of Texas, are the work
of white men, disguised as Indians.
JUNE 4-TH. — Orders were issued to-day for us to hold ourselves
in readiness to march for the scene of Indian hostilities on the 7th
inst., with ninety days' provisions.
The southern column of the Kiowa and Comanche expedition 5S
consists of six companies of 1st Cavalry; the northern of four com-
panies of 1st Cavalry and two of 2d Dragoons, and the western of
five companies of Mounted Rifles and one of 1st Dragoons — making
altogether eighteen companies of mounted troops in the field
against the cowardly red skins of the Plains. Should these
eighteen companies of cavaliers fall in with these red devils, they
will teach them how to murder peaceful emigrants in a manner they
will not easily forget.
I hope this Summer's expedition against the Indians will prove
more successful than that of last summer.
Rumor says that the Indians number upwards of 3,000, and are
in camp one hundred miles north of here on the Washita river.
JUNE STH. — Capt. S. D. Sturgis, commanding the southern col-
umn of Kiowa and Comanche forces, joined us from Fort Cobb
today, with companies C and D, of 1st Cavalry.
The weather here for the last two weeks has been exceedingly
hot, with a prospect before us of still hotter weather.
Lieut. [Albert V.] Colburn, with seventy-three recruits for the
1st Cavalry, is daily expected to arrive here; he will probably join
us before we take up the line of march.
More when time permits.
ROVER.
53. The Kiowa-Comanche expedition of 1860 was undertaken to punish these Indians
for a series of murders and depredations on the Santa Fe trail in the fall and early winter
of 1859. The outbreak stemmed from the killing of Kiowa chief Big Pawnee by Lt. George
D. Bayard near Allison's ranch (at Walnut creek crossing), on September 21 1859
S. J. Bayard, The Life of George Dashiell Bayard (New York, 1874), pp. 154-158. At the
time there were large camps of Kiowas and Comanches on Walnut creek seeking a peace
treaty with the U. S. The killing of Big Pawnee sent them on the warpath. Within six
weeks some 20 persons traveling the Santa Fe trail in Kansas had been massacred by these
Indians. — The Daily Times, Leavenworth, November 5, 1859; Weekly Leavenworth Herald
October 29, 1859.
For an account of the movements of the expedition's northern column (commanded by
Maj. John Sedgwick), see Lt. J. E. B. Stuart's diary of 1860 (edited by W. S. Robinson) in
The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 23, pp. 382-400.
404 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
CAMP ON ARKANSAS RIVER, FIVE MILES SOUTHWEST
OF CAMP ALERT,54 K. T., July 22, 1860.
EDITOR OF TIMES — DEAR Sra: As I stated in my last, we took up
the line of march on the 9th of June. Early in the morning of the
same day, a batch of seventy-three recruits arrived in camp; they
were immediately assigned to the different companies. At eleven
o'clock the "general" (signal to strike tents) sounded; after every
thing was stowed away in wagons, we took the road for the Kiowa
and Comanche country. The first three days we made short marches
up the Washita Valley, in order to give the mail rider time to
overtake us. After the arrival of the mail, we took up the march
in good earnest. The Washita river has some curious freaks about
it. Upon several occasions, when we camped on its banks, not a
single drop of water was to be seen. Towards evening, all at once,
the water rises sufficiently high to swim horses.
The seventh day out, while in camp on the Washita river, some
of our Indians reported that there was a party of Kiowas in camp,
not far from us. Company B was immediately dispatched to the
supposed Kiowa camp, but returned in the evening and reported
that the Indians seen were a party of the Keetcie tribe, from the
reserve at Fort Cobb. Leaving the Washita river to our rear,
we struck for the Canadian river. Between these two rivers we
passed over the most barren country the globe affords. With the
exception of a narrow strip of bearing soil along water courses, the
country is a complete bed of sand and rock.
On the 17th of June, after a march of thirty miles, we came to
the Canadian, and to our utter disappointment, found not a solitary
drop of water in it. We marched about five miles from the north
side, where we came to a small lake. Here hundreds of dead fish
were floating upon the surface of the water. For want of a better
place, we camped here. Along the bottoms of creeks wild game,
such as turkeys, grouse, deer, antelope, rabbits and buffalo are very
plenty, especially the latter, which are scattered over the prairies
in herds by thousands. The bad water we used for the past week
has told severely upon the health of the troops — all, or nearly all,
having a severe attack of diarrhoea.
The second day after crossing the Canadian, we crossed the North
Fork of the same river — a beautiful, clear running stream of water
54. Although Camp Alert (established as a camp on Pawnee Fork in October, 1859)
had been officially renamed Fort Lamed nearly two months before this date, the old name
still clung. Fort Larned was soon to become an important military post on the Santa Fe
trail. The site is on the south side of the Pawnee Fork, west of present Lamed.— The Kan-
sas Historical Quarterly, v. 1, p. 204; v. 23, p. 162.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 405
— marched two miles beyond it, and camped by the side of a
beautiful little stream of water, composed entirely of springs, the
waters of which are far superior to the famous springs of Europe.
Up to the 20th of June, we saw neither sign, trail or trace of hostile
Indians. We continued up the North Fork of the Canadian for
several days. One day we passed by what appeared to have been
a large camp of soldiers, only a few days old. From the time we
passed the above place, orders were issued that no firing of arms,
nor blowing of bugles, be allowed on the march or in or about
camp, until further orders.
After sunset, on the 21st of June, while in camp on the north
branch of the north fork of the Canadian, and while a party of men
were bathing in an adjoining lake, John G. Telle, of Company I,
was accidentally drowned. His body was under water for nearly
an hour. When it was brought on shore, the surgeon did all in
his power to restore life, but all to no avail. His body was con-
signed to the grave early next morning. After which we took up
the line of march, and traveled over a grassless, traceless and
waterless prairie a distance of twenty-four miles, and were finally
compelled to pitch camp at a small lake of stagnant water. A hot,
scorching wind blew across the prairie all day long, nearly burning
all the skin off our face and hands. On the 23d of June, we
marched over a beautiful spot of land, between the north branch
of North Fork and Rabbit Ear branch of the Canadian river.
Soon after the tents were pitched, on the banks of the Rabitear
branch of Canadian, our guides came into camp and reported they
had discovered a trail of a party of Indians going North; orders
were immediately issued to prepare for a six days' scout. Early in
the morning of the following day, we took leave of the train, taking
with us only one wagon to each company. We marched over a
very hilly country, until we reached Kiowa Creek, near the Cim-
aron river, where we found the camp of the Indians, of the night
previous; at this point, a messenger arrived from the wagons and
reported that one of them had broken down; upon hearing this,
the commanding officer concluded to camp.
The broken wagon reached camp some time after dark. This
being our first night without tents, [omission?] and as a consequence
all hands received a severe ducking. The following morning we
resumed the march early, crossed White's Creek and Cimaron
river — passed over a fine country studded with thousands of plum
bushes; the fruit upon them, is as yet unripe. This day we camp at
a water hole in the center of a large prairie. We kept on marching
406 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
for several days, when an express was started to the train for it to
follow us. — At the expiration of the six days we had seen no Indians,
nor were likely to do so. The train arrived in camp at noon on
the 29th of June; preparations were immediately made for a twenty
days' scout with pack mules. — At 9 o'clock on the morning of the
30th, everything was in marching order, arid we proceeded forward;
before proceeding on the march we were mustered.
We marched from 8 o'clock until after sunset, when we came
to the Arkansas river, leaving the train about 55 miles to our rear.
The country we passed over was a vast level stretch of prairie,
without hill, dale, tree, shrub, or even a spear of grass. Our camp
is situated nine miles below old Fort Mackay, and opposite to the
train of Maj. Sedgwick's command,55 on their way to join the com-
mand, which is represented to be in a state bordering on starvation.
— On the 1st day of July we crossed the Arkansas river and marched
up it for three days. — On the evening of the third day some of the
officers of Major S.'s column 56 were at our camp. On the 4th we
marched down the river two miles and laid over the remainder of
the day. The following morning we took up the march and con-
tinued down the river until we arrived at our crossing; here we
awaited the arrival of our train. The day we crossed the large
prairie, the command was scattered about ten miles along the
trail. A number of the mules gave out for want of water. — When
the rear guard arrived in camp it was past midnight; I happened
to be one of the unlucky ones forming the rear guard. Several
times when the moon was hidden behind a cloud, we lost the trail;
had it not been for two Mexicans who were in rear of all, overtaking
us at this point, we probably would have perished. The whole
party scattered out in search of the trail and finally it was found,
and the Mexicans placed in front, who guided us safely into camp.
After the arrival of the train at the Arkansas river we prepared for
a fifteen days' scout; at this time we took with us two wagons to
a company.
On the 9th of July we took up the march for the head waters of
Walnut Creek, having been informed that the Kiowas were in that
55. The supply train of Sedgwick's command was camped on the north bank of the
Arkansas, on the Santa Fe trail, a few miles below the junction of the "wet" and "dry"
routes where Fort Dodge was to be established five years later (1865). Sturgis and his
troops were south of the river. "Fort Mackay" was another name by which short-lived
(1851-1854) Fort Atkinson was known. The exact location of Fort Atkinson (called Camp
Mackay when Sumner's troops were camped there in 1850-1851), long a matter of con-
troversy, has been established as in the S. W. %, Sec. 29, T. 26 S., R. 25 W., about two
miles west of present Dodge City. — The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 23, p. 131.
56. Maj. John Sedgwick's troops (Companies F, G, H, and K of the First cavalry, and
two companies of Second dragoons) formed the northern column (see p. 403) of the
Kiowa-Comanche expedition of 1860. His First cavalry troops were headquartered at Fort
Riley and some of them had patrolled the Santa Fe trail in the Fort Atkinson area for the
past three summers.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 407
direction. Marched 28 miles and camped on Coon Creek. The
following day we marched over very heavy prairie a distance of 20
miles and camped on Pawnee Fork; when within about five miles
of camp, we saw a large herd of elk, the first I have seen this year.
The following day we came to Walnut Creek, crossed over, and
continued down the stream until we arrived at the mouth; 5T passed
a large number of old camping places of the Kiowa tribe. By the
appearance of the evacuated camp, I should judge that they num-
bered upwards of 700.
While laying in camp at the mouth of Walnut Creek, Co. "A" was
sent to scout in the vicinity of Cow Creek. The following day one
express arrived from Capt. Beale, stating that he had came on to
a large trail of Indians. The same evening, (the 15th,) the re-
mainder of the command took up the march for Cow Creek; march
twenty-two miles in the night, and pitch a temporary camp for
about two hours, to rest men and horses. At day-light we were in
the saddle, ready for the march, leaving camp without a bite to
eat; arrive at Cow Creek, after marching about twenty miles. Here
we took something to eat, the first in twenty hours. At this place
we saw numerous Indian camps of recent evacuation. The following
day we marched down the creek, to within about five miles of its
mouth,58 where we found about three hundred Kaw Indians in
camp, laying in their winter stock of Buffalo meat. During the
night's march, one of "C" Company's men got detached from the
command, lost his horse, and was left a way wanderer upon the
prairie. After arriving at Cow Creek, a corporal and two privates,
with a guide, set out in search of him, and found him about twelve
miles from camp, in a deplorable condition, having been without
food for thirty-six hours. They arrived in camp just as we were
on the point of starting for the mouth of Cow Creek.
From Cow Creek to Pawnee Fork, (our present camp,) we made
in four days, being a distance of 88 miles.
During our absence from Walnut Creek, one of the houses upon
its banks was broken into, the contents stolen therefrom, and then
burnt to the ground. It is supposed that the deed was done
by a party of outlaws which infest the country along the Santa Fe
road. Such men ought to be burnt at the stake.
Forty-four days have passed away since we left Fort Cobb, out of
which we marched forty-one and laid over three. We marched a
57. At the mouth of Walnut creek was a log cabin known as Allison's (or Peacock's)
ranch; there was also a U. S. mail station at this crossing of the Santa Fe trail.— O. Allen,
ie*oY o e °ok •••*<> the Gold Fields of Kansas ir Nebraska (Washington
»^, p. y.
58. At, or near, present Hutchinson, Kan.
408 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
distance of seven hundred and forty-three miles, the longest day's
march being fifty miles, and the shortest two, making an average
of eighteen miles per day. Our horses are in a poor condition. It
is the calculation of the commanding officer, at present, to lay over
five days, and then to either take up the march for Smoky Hill
Fork of the Kaw River or for home. There are rumors afloat that
the Kiowas are at the first mentioned place. All search for them
thus far has been in vain.
Our command is daily decreasing, by the expiring of the term
enlisted for. But few have re-enlisted.
ROVER.
CAMP ON PLATTE RIVER, TWO MILES WEST
OF FT. KEARNEY, Aug. 10, '60.
DEAR TIMES: — On the 28th ult., we left our camp on the Arkansas
river 89 for Smoky Hill Fork, taking with us all serviceable horses,
and a train of thirty wagons, to carry provisions for the men, and
forage for horses for a fifteen days' scout; the remainder of the
train with a guard of twenty men, was left in camp to await our
return. Marched more than a day over a broken prairie in a
Northern direction, a distance of twenty-four miles, and camped
on Walnut Creek.
JULY 29. — Left camp at 6 o'clock, marched over a high, dry and
barren prairie for twenty miles and camped on Smoky Hill Fork.
No traces of the Indians were found here.
JULY 30. — A heavy storm passed over camp last night, giving us
a thorough wetting. Left camp at 7 o'clock, marched over a dry,
hilly prairie a distance of twenty-eight miles and camped on Big
Saline Fork. The country we passed over to-day has a wild, beauti-
ful, picturesque appearance, and is better adapted to the haunts
of Indians than any other we have passed this summer. Passed by
several places showing signs where Indians recently were.
JULY 31. — Several Indian relics were bro't into camp, indicating
the presence of Indians hereabouts. We moved camp down the
stream about two miles to rest men and horses, as well as to give our
trailers time to hunt up the trail. A heavy tornado passed over
camp, blowing down tents, upsetting wagons, and committing great
havoc in general. At 9 o'clock our trailers arrived and reported that
they had discovered a trail leading up the stream, about seven
days old.
AUGUST 1. — We followed the trail up the stream about ten miles,
59. Five miles southwest of Fort Lamed (Camp Alert).
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 409
and camped for the third time on Big Saline Fork. The river
bottom is a very rich soil, abundantly studded with wild plums.
About fifteen miles from camp we came to an Indian camp, having
the appearance of having been evacuated about six days. About
two hours after encamping, our Indians set up a cry of Kiowa!
Kiowa! and the sentinel giving signs of approaching Indians, di-
recting the trailers to come in, and exhibited three scalps yet drip-
ping with fresh blood. The tents were immediately struck, and
horses saddled, after which we left camp at a rapid pace. When
about ten miles on the way, another unfortunate Kiowa lost his
scalp. By this time it was beginning to get dark; we charged upon
a party of fifty Kiowas, but darkness prevented us from overtaking
them; we marched twelve miles and camped on the open prairie
without wood or water. The Little Saline was three miles off, and
a large party went to get water to drink.
AUG. 2 — [and 3?] Passed over a rough, hilly country for eighteen
miles, and camped on Solomon's Fork;60 here we came to an Indian
camp only evacuated last night. The trail for three miles was liter-
ally strewn with dried meat, lodge poles, buffalo robes, moccasins
and all sorts of cooking utensils; hides were yet pinned to the ground
in their camp, but all were damaged; they must have left in great
haste. After sunset,61 we resumed the march, following up the
trail which passes along what is known as the great Pawnee trail;
about five miles from camp we came to a place where a large quan-
tity of goods had been dropped and guarded by a dog; five miles
further we added a small pony to our command, which evidently
could not keep up with the rapid pace of the Indians. Marched
fifteen miles and camped on a tributary to Solomon's Fork. — Our
camp was in the midst of an Indian camp but one day old; here
were a number of saddles and various other equipments left behind.
AUG. 3. — [AUG. 4?] Marched over a rough, hilly country a distance
of ten miles and camped on Wolf Creek. Six Indian trailers left
camp to hunt up the trail, and when about six miles from camp
fell into ambush 62 of the Kiowas, killing two, wounding three; the
60. Captain Sturgis' account stated ". . . we succeeded in arriving so close upon
the rear of the enemy, at Solomon's fork, on the morning of the 3d, as to get possession of
their camp, which they had abandoned during the previous night. Here we found large
quantities of buffalo meat and hides, and a considerable number of lodge poles. . . ." —
Report of Capt. S. D. Sturgis, dated "Fort Kearney, N. T., August 12, 1860," in Secretary
of War's Report, 1860, pp. 19-22.
61. Sturgis' account: "As we had marched fifty miles within the last twenty-four
hours ... we remained in camp during the day, and marched again in a violent
storm as soon as it was dark, striking directly for the north, by the compass." — Ibid. Rover
makes no mention of the storm!
62. As Sturgis described this: "During the next day [the 4th], five of our Indian
scouts fell in with a large party of the enemy, and two of them were killed and the others
wounded, one fatally, and has since died: three of the enemy were killed, and several
wounded." — Ibid.
410 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
others escaped and brought the news to camp. Two companies
were immediately dispatched to pursue the Indians. About four
miles from camp we found the three wounded Tonkoways. Two
miles further we found two dead but not scalped. An express was
sent for the rest of the command. Several bloody blankets and
one dead Kiowa were seen on the trail as we advanced. Marched
twenty miles when the command hove in sight; we halted to await
its arrival, after which we camped again on Wolf Creek.
AUG. 5. — Soon after leaving camp we came to the main trail; on
Prairie Dog Creek we found a large encampment evacuated this
morning. After following trail for 49 miles, we encamped on
Supper [Sappa] Creek. A short time before camping, the trailers
with ten men left to take the general direction of the trail. They
soon returned and reported they had discovered a place where
the Indians had left in great haste, leaving a great quantity of dried
meat behind them. We crossed the old route from Leavenworth
to Pike's Peak.
AUG. 6. — Left camp at sunrise. About two miles from camp, over
a gentle rise, we came upon a party of thirty Indians. A detachment
of thirty men, and the advance guard, immediately charged upon
them. They ran them so close that they were compelled to drop
lances, rifles, pistols, bows and arrows, and other Indian trinkets,
as well as their saddles. The Indians soon gained level ground,
and far outstripped us. We followed the trail for fifteen miles.
While halting to rest our horses, a party of about fifty made their
appearance about two miles in advance of us, and seemed very
warlike. One Company of troops, and one hundred of our Indians,
went towards them. The fifty, at first seen, soon numbered over
five hundred. Our Indians were first in battle; two of their number
were killed, and two wounded. The Kiowas left three dead on the
field. There is no accurate idea to be formed of how many were
killed of their number, as they are nearly all strapped to their sad-
dles. When the main body of troops advanced towards them, they
retreated at a rapid pace. The charge was sounded, the 1st and 3d
squadrons took up the charge, while the second 63 was kept back
as a reserve. The third came upon them just in time to pour
63. Since Rover's squadron was held in reserve he probably did not have a good view
of the actual battle. Sturgis' account, though brief, is vivid: "In our front lay a level
plain — say a mile in width — intersected by numerous ravines, and contained between a low
ridge of hills on the north and a heavily-wooded stream on the south. As we advanced,
the enemy poured in from every conceivable hiding place, until the plain and hill sides
contained probably from 600 to 800 warriors, apparently determined to make a bold
stand. . . ." But when a cavalry charge was ordered the Indians began to give way
and "The whole scene now became one of flight and pursuit for fifteen miles, when they
scattered on the north side of the Republican fork, rendering further pursuit impossible.
."—Ibid.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 411
several volleys into them. — While crossing a deep ravine, I saw
several drop off their ponies, and a large number reeling in their
saddles. When we arrived at the spot, not an Indian was to be
seen — both dead and living had disappeared amongst the timbers
of the Republican. As we gained the last rise between us and the
river, we could just see them emerging from the timber on the
opposite side of the river. We followed after them for about eight
miles north of the Republican, and found that we were loseing
ground, when we returned to where the fight first commenced.
After a ride of fifty miles, we camped on a branch of Supper
[Sappa] creek. While we were following the main body of Indians,
another party attacked the train, but were sorely disappointed.
They lost four killed and five wounded; in return for which they
got eight ponies belonging to our guides. One man, returning
from the main body of troops with a broken down horse, was
attacked by a party of eight Kiowas. He killed two, and wounded
another. He broke three of their lances with his sabre. While
engaged with the third Indian, aid arrived and dispersed the re-
mainder. His horse was run through with a lance; the man himself
received a slight wound in his legs. The prairie over which the
Indians ran was literally covered with saddles, blankets, and various
other Indian equipments. One of our Indians killed has twenty
one arrows sticking in his body. While returning from the Re-
publican to camp, several of the Kiowas kept galloping backwards
and forwards upon the crest of a high hill, about three miles dis-
tant, probably to take observations of our camp for an attack to-
night. Our camp is situated on the side of a gently rising hill, half
a mile from the creek. Thus ended the skirmish with the Kiowas
on Supper [Sappa] creek.64
AUG. 7. — An alarm was raised last night which, however, proved
false. It was caused by the discharge of a pistol in the hands of a
drunken man; he was immediately put under the charge of the
64. Sturgis' report said 29 Indians had been killed, and probably many others wounded,
in the several engagements between August 3 and 6. The running fight on the sixth, he
said, took place "near the Republican fork" soon after the expedition left camp on Whelan's
(Beaver) creek. He made no mention of Sappa creek. (Rover makes no mention of
Beaver creek! ) The casualties in Sturgis* command on August 6 were: two friendly In-
dians killed, three soldiers wounded ( 1st Sgt. John O'Connell, Co. B, slightly; Pvt. Michael
Wheelan, Co. B., severely; Pvt. Gerard M. Beech, Co. B, severely), and one soldier missing
(Pvt. Matthew Green, Co. D).
The location of the 15-mile running battle of August 6 cannot be determined accurately,
particularly since Sturgis and "Rover" were at variance on whether their camp on August
5 was on Beaver creek or Sappa creek. However, the locale was evidently in southern
Nebraska, probably in Furnas county, but perhaps extending into Harlan county, also.
(Furnas county borders on Norton county, Kansas, and Harlan county borders on Phillips
county, Kansas.) John S. Kirwan, a cavalryman with the northern column of the Kiowa-
Comanche expedition of 1860, later stated that ". . . Sturges caught up with their
main body on the Republican River above where Concordia, Kansas, now stands. . . ." —
The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 21, p. 586. But he was wrong by at least 100 miles in
his location of the fight.
412 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
guard. A man of Company D turned up missing last night at roll
call; it is thought he was taken by the Kiowas. We left camp at
eight o'clock, marched twelve miles and camped on the Republican
Fork. Here we found the horse belonging to the missing man,
but no traces of the man could be found. The horse was still sad-
dled and bridled, and quietly grazing in the bottom. — As we passed
over the battle field we halted and buried the fallen Indians (two
in number) belonging to our ranks. The Kiowas had covered over
all their dead. On the top of the hill, near the river, we saw what
appeared to be a large body of Kiowas, but after a close exami-
nation with telescopes, proved to be buffalo. Eight Kiowas were
found dead upon the banks of the Republican, having been shot
with poisoned arrows; they were swelled to twice their natural
size. Their scalps were immediately torn off their heads.
AUG. 8. — Leave camp early, cross the Republican, and head
towards Fort Kearney, for a supply of provisions. Marched over
beautiful but waterless prairie a distance of thirty-five miles, and
camped at water holes, which are of a stagnant nature. The
prairie was literally covered with buffalo on their return to the
south. The hills to the west of camp were so thickly covered with
them that not a solitary spot of grass was visible. We pass over
prairie which has been the scene of great havoc amongst the buffalo.
All, apparently, were in great haste — rifles, bows and arrows, were
fired in abundance. Buffalos, half skinned, and half cut up, were
scattered over the prairie for miles.
AUG. 9. — Left camp at about half past six o'clock; marched over
hilly country for ten miles, and came to Platte River about fourteen
miles above Fort Kearney;65 follow down the stream until within
ten miles of the Fort, and pitch camp on the Platte River. The
weather was tolerably cool. While crossing the last ridge of hills,
several wagons, going leisurely along the road, as soon as they saw
us took up a fast gallop, evidently taking us for Indians.
AUG. 10. — It is reported here that a body of 1,500 Indians crossed
the Platte River about fourteen hours in advance of us. They
must evidently have been the Kiowas. They had with them 1,000
head of extra ponies. — While waiting I heard several shots fired;
after enquiring the cause, I found that a drunken man had fired
two shots at a corporal, with the intention to kill. The corporal
returned the fire, and killed him with the first shot.
ROVER.
65. Rover indicates the expedition traveled 45 miles from the site on the Republican
river (where the August 6 battle ended) to the point where they struck the Platte river.
This would indicate that the fight (whether on the Sappa, or on Beaver creek) probably
took place in Furnas county, Nebraska.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 413
FORT WASHTTA, C. N., Oct. 22, 1860.
EDITOR TIMES— DEAR SIR: Since my last, changes have taken
place, preventing me from presenting my usual quota of news to
the many readers of the Times. I will, however, endeavor to make
up for past negligence. My last, I believe, was dated at Fort
Kearney, where we arrived after the engagement with the Kiowas.
After remaining here four days, we took up the march for Fort
Riley. During our march over the prairie between Fort Kearney
and the Republican Fork, we suffered greatly for the want of water.
A few holes containing water were now and then met with, but it
was very filthy.
Millions of buffalo cover the prairie hereabouts. One day, after
encamping, we were compelled to turn out, en masse, to protect
our horses from being run down by them. — The following morn-
ing, the surrounding hills and ravines were covered with the dead
and wounded buffaloes, unable to go farther. These, however, were
the last buffaloes we saw, for this season.
The next day we came to the road leading from Fort Kearney
to Fort Riley. By the way, this is the best road I have seen in my
western travels; streams and bad ravines are all furnished with
bridges.66 After a twelve days march over the finest land the
Territory of Kansas affords, we arrived at Fort Riley.
The Republican Valley is becoming to be the scene of great im-
provement. Settlements are found all along the river at intervals
of from three to five miles, a distance of 12 miles west of Riley.
The heavy drouth that prevailed in Kansas the past summer, has
caused a great many to abandon their homes on the frontier for
homes farther east, where they could gain a livelihood during the
coming winter. In a great many cases everything too cumbersome
to carry away, was left behind; evidently, with the intention of
returning in the spring, to try it again. A large number, however,
yet remain, determined to stay through the winter. I was informed
by them, that they were compelled to dispose of some of their stock,
not having sufficient forage to keep them during the winter. As
we advanced towards Riley, the crops became better, but were as
yet insufficient to pay for the labor bestowed upon them. The
streams we crossed were nearly all dry. The Republican was the
only stream that afforded us camping places.
66. The military road between Forts Riley and Kearny was surveyed in the summer of
1856 under the direction of Lt. Francis T. Bryan. In 1857 some work was done to im-
prove the road, and in 1858 the streams were bridged and die road put into excellent
condition. The distance between the two posts by this route was 193 miles. — W. T. Jack-
son. "The Army Engineers as Road Surveyors and Builders in Kansas and Nebraska 1854-
185V in The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 17, pp. 44-51.
414 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
After laying up at [Fort] Riley six days, we took up the march for
Cottonwood Creek, where our commissary train had been ordered
to await our arrival. The farmers along the route, between Riley
and Cottonwood, were all complaining of the drouth, as having been
more severe in that vicinity than in any other locality of the Terri-
tory. They are nearly all disposing of their stock, to enable them
to winter it through.
While encamped on Clarke's Creek, a heavy thunder storm
passed over camp, the lightning striking in all directions. At evening
stable call, while Sergeant Perry was returning from the creek with
his horse, the lightning struck the horse, killing him instantly, and
knocking down Sergeant Perry, Priv't. Green, and six others, all of
company "I"; doing, however, no serious injuries to any except
Green, who was stunned so severely that he has not yet become
entirely well. We arrived at Cottonwood in due time, where we
soon erected our camp city, for the first time in thirty-five days.
The following morning, we took up the march for Fort Cobb; and
after having proceeded on our way as far as Eldorado, we received
orders to proceed at once to Fort Smith, Ark. From Cottonwood
to Eldorado, the country is well settled, and farmers have been
more successful with their crops than those farther north, but still
have raised scarcely sufficient to keep them during the winter.
All the rivers and creeks we crossed, thus far, were dry, with the
exception of a hole of water here and there.67
On the morning of the 7th of September, we left our camp on
Walnut Creek,68 twelve miles south of Eldorado, to proceed to Fort
Smith, Ark. Before leaving, a detachment of forty men, having in
charge all the Indians, left for Fort Cobb, under the command of
Lieut. R. H. Riddick. We marched about 150 miles over beautiful
country, without seeing a house. I was surprised that such land
as this was lying idle, but soon found out the cause — it being the
Osage Indian Reserve.
When near the Southern boundary of Kansas, we met a large
party of the Osage tribe on their return from the buffalo hunt,
having laid in a large quantity of their favorite meat. Leaving the
67. The route followed from Fort Biley must have been almost due south to the camp
on Clarke's creek in present Geary county, then through Morris county (crossing the Santa
Fe trail probably a little west of Diamond Springs) and Chase county (crossing the Cot-
tonwood river in the west central part of the county), to El Dorado in Butler county.
El Dorado had been founded in early June, 1857, by former Lawrence residents (and
others) who had high hopes for its success as a town because it was on a highway variously
referred to, in 1857, as the great Arkansas and California road, or the Southern" California
road from Austin, Tex. The Cherokee trail also passed through this place. But in 1860,
apparently only one small frame building stood on the townsite. — Lawrence Republican,
June 25 and July 30, 1857; A. T. Andreas and W. G. Cutler, History of the State of Kan-
sas (Chicago, 1883), p. 1433.
68. The camp on the Walnut river must have been a little south of present Augusta.
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 415
Osage country, we came into the Cherokee Nation, where settle-
ments are quite numerous. The crops (especially com) look re-
markably well, and are the best we have seen this summer. The
drouth don't appear to have been so severe here as in Kansas. —
We did not see a running stream of water after leaving Fort Riley,
until we arrived at the Grand, or Neosho river, and this was very
low, not having over twelve inches of water in its channel. Even
the Verdigris was as dry as a bone. From Grand river to Fort
Smith, we marched through one continual stretch of timber. When
evening approached, we turned off the road and encamped by the
side of some little mountain stream, tying our horses to trees, and
giving them their four quarts of corn per day, on which they had
to travel from twenty-five to thirty miles a day. We passed through
Tallaquah [Tahlequah],69 the Capitol of the Cherokee Nation, a
beautiful little village of about three hundred inhabitants, and
completely surrounded by woods. I have noticed that all villages
built by Indians, whether civilized or not, are invariably located
in some secluded, but generally romantic spot.
We arrived at Fort Smith on the 19th day of September, where
we were disposed of as follows: Companies E and D, 3d Squadron,
under command of Capt. Sturgis, to remain at Fort Smith, to assist
the Cherokee Indian Agent in removing unlawful settlers upon the
lands of the Cherokees, out of the Nation, should it require force
to expel them therefrom. The remainder, companies B and A, 1st
Squadron, under command of Capt. W. N. R. Beale, to proceed
to Fort Arbuckle, where they were stationed last winter; and
Companies C and I, 2nd Squadron, under command of Capt. E. A.
Carr, to proceed to Fort Washita, where they were stationed last
winter.
The Arkansas river is very low at present — only fourteen inches
of water in the channel. Navigation to Fort Smith has been sus-
pended since last May. Steamboats can now run up only as far as
Little Rock, where all the government stores, to supply Forts Smith,
Washita, Arbuckle and Cobb, are unloaded, and from thence trans-
ported, by government trains, to Fort Smith, to be again transported
from there to the different forts above mentioned, as necessity
requires them.
The 1st Squadron remained at Fort Smith eight days, and then
proceeded homewards, where I learn they arrived after a journey
of twelve days.
69. Compare with "Know Nothing's" comment on '(and spelling of) Tahlequah in his
letter of January 7, 1859 — an indication that "Know Nothing and "Rover" were two dif-
ferent persons?
416 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The 2nd Squadron remained fifteen days, to give the horses time
to recruit up, they having been nearly used up in marching through
the timbered country north of the Arkansas river. On the 3d of
October, the 2nd Squadron took up the line of march for this place,
where it arrived on the llth inst., having been on the plains six
months and two days, during which time we traveled 126 days,
and laid over 47 days; traveling 2419 miles, making an average of
19 3/4 miles for each marching day, or 13 1/5 miles for each day
on the plains. This is the longest trip the First Regiment of
Cavalry has made since it organization in 1855.70
The weather here is very pleasant, and the troops in good health.
ROVER.
FORT WASHTTA, C. N., Nov. 23, 1860.
EDITOR TIMES: — Within the last two weeks there have been
brought before Gen. Douglas H. Cooper, Choctaw and Chickasaw
Indian Agent, five persons, charged with murder, theft and perjury,
and were all committed to the jail at Van Buren, Ark., to await
further action of the courts of justice. Two were charged with
perjury, one with murder, arson, burglary and kidnapping and
the other two have to answer the charge of stealing a wagon and
two yoke of oxen. This latter crime was committed in the Chicka-
saw Nation, opposite Preston, Texas.71 Immediately upon missing
his property, the owner, accompanied by a constable, started in
pursuit, and succeeded in overtaking the rascals forty miles north
of Perryville, C. N.72
A general Court Martial was convened at Fort Arbuckle, C. N.,
last week, for the trial of all offenders that might be brought before
it.
At a recent sale of five condemned horses, the highest bid for a
horse was $96; the lowest, $40; total proceeds, $321 — an average of
$64 1/2 per head — a good price for unserviceable horses, but it is
in fair proportion with everything else. Corn sells at $2.21 per
bushel; oats $1.80; sweet potatoes, $2; and apples at twenty-five
cents per dozen; butter brings from 25 to 50 cents per pound,
according to quality; eggs, 40 cents per dozen.
70. In 1858 Companies F and K, First cavalry, were part of an escort for supply trains
from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Bridget. They marched over 2,000 miles before reaching
Fort Leavenworth again in October of that year. — The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 1,
pp. 196-198.
71. This would have been about 15 miles south of Fort Washita, close to the Red
river.
72. Perryville was a trading post and stage station on the Texas road in the Choctaw
Nation, about six miles south and west of present McAlester, Okla. — Oklahoma a Guide
. . ., op. cit., p. 340.
Wrra THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 417
About ten days since, orders were received from Department
Head Quarters, to cut off the allowance for the horses one half;
ever since then our horses have been on the decline, and are rapidly
going, going, like South Carolina, to destruction. To-day orders
were received to suspend all grain contracts. This looks rather
billious. The Buchanan Administration has commenced curtailing
its expenses at rather too late a period.
A light snow covered the ground hereabouts early this morning,
but had to give way to the influence of a hot Southern sun, towards
twelve o'clock.
The post office, at Tishomingo City, capital of the Chickasaw Na-
tion, has suspended, or, in other words, fizzled out, for want of
sufficient patronage.
The election of Lincoln is hailed here with much joy. The most
ignorant suppose that it will lead to a disbanding of the army, and
thus they be set at liberty.
More anon.
ROVER.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., Dec. 11 [I860].
EDITOR TIMES: — Here are a few items that may be of some in-
terest to the readers of the Times.
A few days since, a full-blooded Chickasaw Indian passed through
Boggy Depot, with a wagon load of groceries, and by his singular
behavior excited suspicion amongst the Light Horse (police) Fra-
ternity. Two of the police followed him, and overtook him at
Nail's bridge, where he had just finished unloading part of his load.
They did not molest him there, but followed him back to Boggy De-
pot. Arriving at that place, they compelled him to halt, and searched
his wagon; they found two ten gallon kegs of whiskey, nicely done
up in square boxes, and marked "Green Corn." The police drew
the bungs, and after satisfying themselves that it was whiskey, took
an axe and broke in the head of each keg, and spilled the contents
upon the ground. There were also two letters found, corresponding
with the address upon the boxes. These were also taken charge of
by the police. The whole affair will be properly inquired into by
the courts of justice, and the offenders punished according to law.
The laws in regard to smuggling whiskey into the Nation are very
severe, the penalty for the third offence being death.
Lieut. Alfred Iverson,73 accompanied by his family, returned to
this place on the 8th inst.
73. Iverson was first lieutenant of Company C. (See, also, letter of March 31, 1861.)
27—6550
418 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
A Masonic Hall is being erected at Nail's Bridge, C. N.
Lieut. Edward Ingraham left here this morning, on leave of
absence for sixty days.74
In addition to the guard house, at this place, six cells have been
erected for the further punishment of military offenders, and a
string of orders as long as the Mississippi river has been issued.
ROVER.
FORT WASHTTA, C. N., Jan. 1, 1861.
EDITOR TIMES: — I will open the New Year by presenting to the
readers of the Times a portion of my diary for the past week.
DEC. 25th. — A shooting affray took place yesterday, at Tisho-
mingo, between a white man and Indian. The result was, however,
without bloodshed. Several shots were exchanged, but without
effect. But for the timely interference of the Light Horse, an awful
scene would have been the consequence. After the first shots,
the natives began flocking to the assistance of the Indian, and would
probably have suspended the white man to the nearest tree, had
not the Light Horse came up at that moment.
DEC. 26th. — The Second Cavalry recruits departed this morning
for Camp Cooper, Texas.
DEC. 28th. — Lieut. Burtwell75 and detachment arrived here to-
day, having in charge one prisoner, charged with stealing negroes.
DEC. 30rH. — Gen. D. H. Cooper, Chickasaw and Choctaw Indian
agent, is at present paying to the Chickasaws their annuities, at
Tishomingo City. The woods in the vicinity of the Capital affords
a good camping place for those living at a distance. The town
contains about 12 or 15 houses, and is not capable of furnishing
quarters for the whole tribe.
JAN. IST. — The arrival of the Overland Mail was eagerly looked
for this morning. It was supposed to contain the decision of the
South Carolina Convention.76 After its contents were made known,
three cheers for a Southern Confederacy were given, and strong
hopes expressed that all Southern States should follow the example
set by the Palmetto State.
ROVER.
74. From April 9-October 11, 1860, Ingraham and some 30 to 40 troops had garri-
soned Fort Washita while most of the Second squadron was taking part in the Kiowa-
Comanche expedition. (See letter of April 5, 1860.)
75. Second Lt. John R. B. Burtwell, First U. S. cavalry.
76. The South Carolina Convention adopted an ordinance of secession on December 20,
I860.— The War of the Rebellion . . . (Washington, 1880), Ser. I, v. 1, p. 1.
WITH THE FIBST U. S. CAVAURY 419
FORT WASHTTA, C. N., Jan. 22, '61.
We learn, from a reliable source, that the troops stationed at
Fort Arbuckle, C. N., have received information from the Pay
Master, that he had at present no money, and did not know when
he would receive sufficient funds from the United States Govern-
ment to pay them. This intelligence created quite a panic among
those immediately concerned.
JAN. 16TH. — An express arrived here at 10 o'clock, from Boggy
Depot, for a detachment of troops to assist in capturing one Fred.
McCully, a half breed, and an escaped murderer from the Van
Buren, Ark., penitentiary; also, to take into custody one Wilson
Adair, a white man, charged with disorderly conduct on Christmas
day. The detachment, consisting of one non-commissioned officer
and eight privates, left here at half-past 11 o'clock, P. M., and ar-
rived at Boggy Depot at 5 o'clock, A. M., and at once proceeded in
search of McCully, who, after a few unsuccessful visits at different
houses in the vicinity of Boggy Depot, was found hidden under a
bed in the house of his brother-in-law, two miles North of the
village. Adair had escaped from his place of confinement, but was
found at the residence of his employer. He was again arrested.
Both prisoners were conducted to this place, and are now confined
in the guard house. Adair will probably have his "permit" rescinded,
and be ordered out of the Nation. No white man can reside in an
Indian Nation without permission from the Governor or Indian
agent. McCully will remain here until an opportunity affords to
send him to Van Buren.
JAN. 17TH. — Adair was this morning examined, by Capt. Carr,
and found guilty of the charge, and sentenced to forfeit his "permit,"
and to leave the Nation without delay.
Within the last ten days, two murders have been committed in
this Nation, but as yet I have been unable to ascertain full par-
ticulars.
Our supply of provisions is getting low. If Uncle Sam does not
soon reimburse us, we will have sufficient cause to secede.
More anon.
ROVER.
FORT WASHTTA, C. N., Feb. 19th, 1861
EDITOR TIMES: On the 28th ult., a detachment of eight U. S.
soldiers, having in charge three prisoners, Fred McCully, J. Connelly
and E. Adair, left this place for Van Buren, Arkansas, to turn said
420 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
prisoners over to the civil authorities. White men are never tried
by the authorities of the Indian Territory, neither are Indians
committing crimes upon white settlers; but are taken to Van Buren,
and there tried by men of their own color.
In my last I mentioned that Adair had been escorted out of the
Nation. He, however, again returned to Boggy Depot, where he
was re-arrested and brought to this place, just in time for a free
ride to Van Buren jail, where he was released upon paying a small
fine, after which he departed for Missouri.
If rumor can be credited, Forts Cobb, Arbuckle and Washita, are
at present in danger of being attacked by a Texan mob, to get
possession of the arms, horses, mules and stores, belonging to Uncle
Sam. Should such be the case, the Texans will find it rather hot
work to carry their threats into execution. There are sufficient
troops at each of the forts above mentioned, to protect all Govern-
ment property.
Last Saturday, Deputy Marshal Whiteside passed through here,
en route for Fort Arbuckle, where he will take into custody Bill
Hall, and take him to Van Buren jail.
J. Hort Smith,77 formerly editor of the Bonham (Texas) Era, is
about to establish a new paper at Boggy Depot, C. N., to be called
the National Register.78
Last week a train of five wagons arrived at this post with provi-
sions for the troops. — Trains loaded with similar articles, are on
their way for Forts Cobb and Arbuckle.
ROVER.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., March 31, 1861.
EDITOR TIMES: Since my last, I have not had an opportunity to
inform you of the doings here, until to-day.
Deputy Marshal Whiteside, and an escort of six U. S. troops from
Fort Arbuckle, arrived here after an absence of six days, having in
charge of Bill Hall, the murderer, and departed the following day
with an escort of five men from this place for Van Buren, Arkansas.
The troops from Arbuckle returned to that place. The escort from
this place accompanied the Marshall to Johnson's Station,79 on the
California Overland Route, and then returned.
Two weeks ago the overland coaches made the trip from Fort
77. Perhaps the Texas editor referred to in Rover's letter of March 6, 1860.
78. The National Register was probably short-lived. (See next letter.) No reference
is made to it in the Union List of Newspapers; nor is the Bonham (Tex.) Era listed therein.
79. "Johnson's" (as shown on some later maps of the territory), was about half way
between Forts Washita and Smith. (See map facing p. 272.)
WITH THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 421
Smith, Arkansas, to Nail's Bridge, C. N., a distance of one hundred
and seventy miles in twenty hours.
First Lieut. Alfred Iverson, of the 1st Cavalry, and son of Ex-
Senator Iverson, of Georgia, has tendered his resignation to the
President, having received the appointment of 3d Captain in the
Georgia army.
Dixon Ouchaubby, a Chickasaw Indian, convicted of murder,
was executed at Tishomingo City,80 on the 20th inst. Levi Colbert,
another Chickasaw, confined in the jail at Tishomingo City, awaits
the same fate, for murdering an Indian on Blue river, sometime
since. A few days since a Choctaw Indian was brought to this
place and confined in the Guard House, being charged with murder-
ing two white men, near Red river. — The prisoner acknowledges
killing one man, but denies killing the second. There is, however,
sufficient proof that he committed both crimes.
Grass is growing finely. It will soon be sufficiently large to
afford good grazing. — Peach trees have been in blossom for nearly
a month, but late heavy frosts have destroyed this fruit for this
season. The trees of the forest are putting on their summer costume.
The first number of the National Register made its appearance
on the 16th inst. In politics it is an uncompromising secession sheet,
beneath the contempt of honorable men.
The object of the Choctaw and Chickasaw National Convention,
which met at Boggy Depot, C. N., was the sectionalizing and in-
dividualizing of their country. Resolutions to that effect, after a
discussion of several days, were adopted by a vote of fifteen yeas
to eight nays, and are to be submitted to the people, on the 6th
of August, 1861, for ratification or rejection.
The General Council of the Choctaw Nation, in general as-
sembly, passed, among a number of resolutions, expressing their
feelings and sentiments in reference to the political disagreement
existing between the Northern and Southern States of the Union,
the following resolution:
["] Resolved, further, That in the event a permanent dissolution
of the American Union takes place, our many relations with the
General Government must cease, and we shall be left to follow the
natural affections, the educations, institutions and interests of our
property [people?], which indissolubly bind us in every way to
the destiny of our neighbors and brethren of the Southern States,
80. In describing Tishomingo in his letter of May 2, 1859, "Cato" noted that the
Chickasaw capital had "a calaboose, with a gallows, in front, to remind the offender of his
doom."
422 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
upon whom we are confident we can rely for the preservation of
our rights, of life, liberty and property, and the continuance of
many acts of friendship, generous counsel and fraternal [material?]
support^] 81
The garrison of this post was yesterday reinforced by the arrival
of Company E, ( Capt. Prince's, ) 1st Infantry, from Fort Arbuckle,82
which has been ordered to take post here. — Capt. [William E.]
Prince assumes the command of this fort.
The fort has not yet been taken by the Secessionists, as the
Eastern papers have it. Some even go as far as to give an account
of the surrender of the government property to the traitors by Capt.
Carr. These and similar paragraphs going the rounds in the
Eastern papers concerning this fort, are infamously false, and do
great injustice to the brave and gallant commanding officer.
A few sympathizers with the Southern rabble, have deserted,
taking with them horses, pistols, carbines, and everything they could
lay hands upon; but as this was only following the example set by
Floyd, Cobb and others, it will have no effect upon the morality of
the community at large in the Rhett-ched Confederacy.
ROVER.
FORT WASHITA, C. N., April 28,83 '61.
EDITOR OF TIMES: Since my last, affairs have assumed quite a
different aspect. About a week since, Lieut. Col. Emory and staff
arrived here, with the purpose of establishing the Head Quarters
of the 1st Cavalry at this post.84 Fort Smith has since been evacu-
ated, and the troops are on the road for this place. Companies A
and B arrived here from Fort Arbuckle yesterday. Company A
returned to Arbuckle this morning. Everything at this post is being
packed up to leave as soon as Capt. Sturgis and command arrive,85
81. This was the third in a series of six resolutions passed on February 7, 1861, by the
General Council of the Choctaw Nation. As published in The War of the Rebellion, Ser, I,
v. 1, p. 682, the words "people" and "material" (as bracketed in above) were used in-
stead of "property" and "fraternal."
82. "Rumors of a contemplated attack from Texas" on Fort Arbuckle caused an order
to be issued on March 19, 1861, to move the infantry company to Fort Washita. — Ibid., pp.
656, 660. Captain Prince outranked Captain Carr by seniority. Companies A and B, First
cavalry, remained as Fort Arbuckle's garrison.
83. By the time this last letter of Rover's appeared in the Times (May 28), Rover and
his comrades-in-arms were within three days march of Leavenworth.
84. Lt. Col. William H. Emory (last referred to in these letters as "Major" Emory,
commanding at Fort Cobb in April, 1860 — see Footnote 49), while in Washington, D. C.,
in March, 1861, had received the order to make Fort Washita his regimental headquarters,
and to concentrate the Fort Arbuckle and Fort Cobb troops there, or near by, at his dis-
cretion. But while Emory was on his way to Fort Washita a countermanding order was
issued on April 17. He was instructed, instead, to abandon the posts in Indian territory
and march all the troops to Fort Leavenworth. — Ibid., pp. 656, 667.
85. Capt. S. D. Sturgis and his men (Companies A and B, First cavalry) evacuated
Fort Smith, Ark., on the night of April 23, and with some 20 wagons and teams arrived at
Fort Washita, after a 160-mile journey, on April 30.-- Ibid., pp. 650, 651.
Wrra THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY
if not driven out of here before that time. The orders from the
War Department are, I believe, not to fire on the rebels unless they
follow us. Our horses have, for the last four nights been tied to
a picket rope fastened around the quarters. There is great re-
luctance on the part of the troops, that they are to abandon the
Fort without making the traitors smell powder. Ox wagons, and
teams of all lands, have been employed to carry provisions,
ordnance, Quartermaster's property, and stores of all kinds. The
families of the soldiers were all sent off yesterday. They are to
proceed to Fort Arbuckle, and there await our coming.
I can't see into the policy of the Administration. The evacuation
of the forts will certainly give the traitors more territory, as well as
increase the numbers of adherents to Davis* creed. If the Govern-
ment does not put a stop to these rebellious scoundrels, they will
soon have the upper hand.
Yours in haste,
ROVER.
IV. EPILOGUE
Fort Washita was abandoned on April 30 or May 1, 1861, and
occupied one day later by Captain Mayberry's Dead Shot Rangers,
from Jefferson, Tex. John A. Peel of this ranger company reported
they had captured 14 wagons left behind by the federal troops, and
that Emory "finding the Texans in close pursuit of him, threw
away guns, ammunition and Government stories, into the Ouachita,
first destroying the guns by breaking the locks and taking them to
pieces." Also abandoned, he said, were "a large quantity of cloth-
ing, some provisions and one field-piece." 86
Lieutenant Colonel Emory stated that nothing had been left
behind but what would have been left in time of peace. On evacu-
ating the post Emory led his command up the Washita where, he
wrote, "the troops at Arbuckle and two companies from Cobb joined
me five miles from Arbuckle, on the east bank of the Washita River,
May 3. I then marched to relieve Cobb, taking the road which
lies on the open prairie to the north of the Washita River, so as to
render the cavalry available. ... On the 9th, I found the
command from Cobb (two companies of foot) thirty-five miles
northeast of that post, and on the same day I took the most direct
86. The Daily Times, Leavenworth, June 21, 1861 (reprinted from the New Orleans
Crescent of June 14[?], 1861).
424 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
course to Leavenworth that the nature of the ground would permit.
» 87
Ten days later Emory reported "I am now in Kansas, on the north
side of the Arkansas River,88 with the whole command — eleven
companies, 750 fighting men, 150 women, children, teamsters, and
other non-combatants."
The journey from the Arkansas to Fort Leavenworth required 12
more days. This was the scene at Leavenworth on May 31 as
described in the next day's issue of the Times:
About one o'clock yesterday afternoon, the troops from Forts Smith, Ar-
buckle, Cobb and Washita passed up Fifth Street, on their way to Fort Leaven-
worth. Several ambulances, containing officers' wives, and about eighty wagons
containing army stores, with about six hundred horses and mules attached,
followed the soldiers, the whole making quite an interesting spectacle. The men
looked weary and jaded after their long and tedious march, but many of them
seemed to be full of vigor and animation. As they moved along, they were
greeted, at various points, by the cheers of the people who had assembled to
witness the demonstration. The train was nearly a mile in length.
According to the Times, the six companies of cavalry and
five companies of infantry totaled 820 men, and there were,
in addition, "about 200 teamsters and other army attaches" The
companies and their commanders were: First U. S. cavalry:
Co. A, Lt. Eugene W. Crittenden (82 men); Co. B, Lt. Oliver
H. Fish (82 men); Co. C, Capt. David S. Stanley (80 men);
Co. D, 2d Lt. Charles S. Bowman (80 men); Co. E, Capt.
Samuel D. Sturgis (82 men); Co. I, Capt. Eugene A. Carr
(75 men); First U. S. infantry: Co. B, Capt. Charles C. Gilbert
(66 men); Co. C, Capt. Joseph B. Plummer (67 men); Co. D, Capt.
Daniel Huston, Jr. (70 men); Co. E, Capt. William E. Prince
(62 men); Co. F, Capt. Seth M. Barton (64 men).
Lieutenant Colonel Emory said that his command arrived "in
good condition; not a man, an animal, an arm, or wagon . . .
lost except two deserters." 89 Lieutenants Fish and Barton resigned
and joined the Confederate army. The other officers and most of
their men remained loyal to the North. One writer has said: "The
troops thus saved from capture were of great importance beyond
the consideration of numbers, as their timely arrival restored the
87. The War of the Rebellion, Ser. I, v. 1, pp. 648, 649. The "most direct course to
Leavenworth" referred to above was charted by Emory's Delaware Indian guides (Black
Beaver and Possum). According to Muriel H. Wright in her "A History of Fort Cobb"
the troops evacuating Fort Cobb met Emory's command, on May 9, near the present town
of Minco, Okla. Here they turned north and the route they followed up into Kansas later
became a part of the Chisholm trail. — Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. 34, pp. 58, 59.
88. The Arkansas river crossing was probably at, or near, present Wichita.
89. The War of the Rebellion, Ser. I, v. 1, p. 649.
Wrra THE FIRST U. S. CAVALRY 425
confidence of the friends of the government in that section, formed
the nucleus of General Lyon's army, and probably prevented the
secessionists from forcing Missouri into rebellion."90
Of the First cavalry, Companies B, C and D soon saw action in
the engagements at Forsyth, Mo. (July 27), and Dug Springs, Mo.
( August 2 ) . Companies D and I took part in the famous battle of
Wilson creek on August 10, 1861. On August 3, 1861, the First
cavalry was officially redesignated the Fourth U. S. cavalry. But
"Rover's" fate will never be known unless his identity can be learned.
90. Charles F. Carey in his biographical sketch of William H. Emory in the Dictum-
cry of American Biography (New York, 1931), v. 6, p. 153.
William Sutton White, Swedenborgian Publicist
JAMES C. MALE*
PART ONE — EDITOR OF THE WICHITA BEACON, 1875-1887,
AND PHILOSOPHER EXTRAORDINARY
I. THE FUNERAL
ON April 1, 1887, the Wichita Beacon changed hands after almost
exactly 11 years under the editorship of William Sutton White.
On the following May 27, Captain White was dead — just past the
52d anniversary of his birth. The cause of his passing was de-
scribed as "inflammation of the bowels," or "gastric fever," preceded,
but unknown to most of his friends, by three years of "stomach
trouble/' Although White's relinquishment of editorship and his
death occurred close together, they must be considered separately.
The first was an act of personal choice, the latter was not. But in
other respects, the two events must necessarily emphasize that they
represented not "continuous" but "discrete degrees" of difference.
Political and social differences are often difficult enough to bridge,
but cultural conventions being what they are, the rites associated
with the death of a religious "heretic" place a community under
peculiar strain. And Captain White was so highly regarded in the
city and county that no one could have considered any alternative
to some accommodation of the religious conventions to what was
appropriate to the particular case. The funeral arrangements speci-
fied that in case of inclement weather at 4 P. M. Sunday afternoon,
May 29, the services would be held in Crawford's Opera House,
otherwise in the grove adjoining his, White's, residence on North
Market street.
The funeral services were conducted by the Rev. Charles J.
Adams, rector of St. John's, according to the ritual of the Protestant
Episcopal church. The Episcopal quartet sang the "Gloriat." The
Bible reading was the 15th chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the
Corinthians. The rector explained his position. The wording which
is quoted is selected from the summary notes of the Beacon and
Eagle reporters:
I come not this afternoon to speak as a minister, but as a friend. I see
a lesson has been taught the community. I left the robe behind me at the
DH. JAMES C. MALIN, associate editor of The Kansas Historical Quarterly, is professor
of history at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and is author of several books relating
to Kansas and the West.
(426)
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 427
church. I feel like coming out under the trees and talk[ing] as one man
would talk to another. [Eagle.] We may have and most likely have differed
on many things but under the wings of death we forget our differences.
DeathI What does it mean? I remember once my departed friend said to
me, "there is no such thing as death," and went on to explain to me how he
considered it but transition from one life to another. [Beacon.] . . . the
deceased said when near death, "Now on earth, but soon in eternity. Time
is only a section of eternity/' [Eagle.]
I see around me many who knew Captain White longer than I did but I
knew him intimately during the past year and I knew more of his internal man
than you did. He may have passed with many of you as an unbeliever, but
I tell you that on God's green earth there lives no more of a believer than
our departed friend. The Trinity was as mighty to him as any of you. Captain
White once said to me: "I believe that when I was endowed with the power
of thought and action and when I acted with all sincerity God is obliged to
respect my individuality." Intellectually he was one of the profoundest minds.
He had a tremendus individuality and showed it on one occasion during the
war when, in spite of the objections of his superior officer, he charged with
his men and took a battery and so saved the army. He was brave to the core
both physically and intellectually.
You may say that the dead man was not orthodox. In the name of the
Almighty Father what is orthodoxy? Every individual member of a church
has a right to his own opinions [sic] and God is bound to respect it if it be
sincere. You nor I have the right to get up and say such and such is the only
right belief. We may make mistakes and do make them, but there is always
ready the mighty arm of God, outstretched in love, to bring us back into the
right way and make us grander men and women. [Beacon.]
Remember what Captain White said of St. Paul. He said: "I consider St.
Paul an honest man under all circumstances. Just as honest persecuting
Christians as when a Christian himself." He said there were two great things
in the universe to be considered, truth and good. If a man loves you no matter
how many mistakes, there shall be a righting in eternity. Our departed
friend always said and did what he thought he ought to do. . . . [Eagle.]
He may at times have shown a disposition to combat, but I ask you, what
is the good of a man who never feels his manliness to urge him to enter the
lists for truth? He may have been wrong in some of his arguments but I tell
you he was at any rate always honest and no one was more ready to admit
himself in the wrong if he was so convinced. [Beacon.]
Now, to glance at the spiritual. There is a mighty seen universe all
around us, that is the material, but there is also a mighty unseen or spiritual
universe. There are great heights and profundities and breadths of the
unseen. I can picture this unseen world very vividly in my imagination and
this proves the internal greater than the external man.1 Our departed friend
was ... a staunch believer in God the Father, His son Jesus Christ and
God the Holy Ghost. Shortly before his death he said to me, "We have re-
1. The Daily Journal version of Adams' remarks varied in detail, and was shorter than
the others. One paragraph was so different, however, as to require notice, if for no other
reason, because, according to the reporter, Adams presented the thought as White's, but
not necessarily as his own:
"There is a seen and an unseen universe. The outride man is nothing in comparison
with the inside man; the eternal man is greater than the whole eternal universe. The
natural universe is but the garment, the embodiment of the spiritual. When I say this,
I have but given [the] idea of our departed friend."— Daily Journal, May 30, 1887.
428 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
versed things in this world. We think first of material things, corner lots and
buildings, then when we get sick we send for the priest. We should seek
spiritual things at first."
It seems to me very appropriate that these services should be held out
here under the trees, where we can hear the song of birds and the chirps of
insects; because of all the men I have known — and I have known many — I
have never known one so completely a child of nature as our departed friend.
Captain White, though he was sometimes sarcastic on the subject, believed
thoroughly in organizations for the building up of and improving of humanity.
Now, when we say earth to earth, dust to dust and ashes to ashes, we must
remember we are only saying it over the cast off garment of our friend. His
spirit still lives and has moved [not to that new home he has built on River-
side, but] to that home prepared for him in the beginning by God the Father.
I say emphatically that in the mighty ranks of the redeemed our friend will
not take a second place because he did not believe exactly as you and I do.
He believed in the gospel of love. God is everywhere, and wherever God
is He is representative of infinite love. . . . You ask how you are to be
saved. I say to you as our friend was saved, by righteousness. Our friend
is gone, and we are now going out to the cemetery to lay away his form, but
he lives in spirit. During many years he had devoted the greater part of his
time to the building up of our city. Work for its upbuilding and you
will be raising a mighty monument to the memory of him who lived grandly
and died nobly. [Beacon.]
The service closed with the singing by the quartet of "Nearer My
God to Thee/' The reporters agreed that this was the largest
funeral to date in Wichita and by count, friends in 167 carriages
proceeded to the completion of the last rites at the cemetery.2
II. CHARLES J. ADAMS, RECTOR OF ST. JOHN'S
A circumstance that made this funeral and Rector Adams' dis-
course more dramatic than it could have been otherwise was a fact
well known to everyone in the audience. The speaker himself was
in difficulties about his own unorthodoxy.
On April 15 he began a series of three Sunday evening lectures on
the general Easter theme: "Are We Immortal?" Three answers were
to be given on three successive Sundays: that of reason, of modern
Spiritualism, and of Christianity. The series grew, however, a
fourth answer being that of materialism, and then followed three
on the theme of Heaven and Hell, or a total of seven lectures. The
sixth, or second on Heaven and Hell, May 22, had stirred up sharp
controversy. The unexpected crisis of White's funeral came the
afternoon of May 29. The time scheduled left little margin between
2. Wichita Daily Beacon, May 30, 1887; Daily Eagle, May 31, 1887. The reports of
Adams' remarks being written by separate hands, the wording differed. On most points
probably the Beacon reporter's version was the more adequate as he was more familiar with
White's philosophy upon which the rector was commenting.
Details about the funeral arrangements and resolutions of sympathy are to be found
in the Daily Beacon, May 28, 29, 1887; Daily Eagle, May 29, 31, 1887.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 429
those rites, being at 4 P. M., and 7:45 P. M., when Adams must
face a crowded church from his own pulpit, largely the same people
he had talked to the preceding Sunday and that same afternoon.
For all concerned it was an evening of acute emotional tension
and expectancy.
Following still the format set up by White, the new owners of
the Beacon gave reports on important sermons a front-page position
on Monday evenings. And besides, these controversial subjects
were now given conspicuous headlines. Thus the report on the
lecture of May 15: "What Are Heaven and Hell?" was headlined:
"Have We a Heretic?"
[The lecture] created something of a sensation in theological circles.
. . . In the course of his remarks he stated distinctly, in almost so many
words, that the love of God is so infinite that every soul, no matter how de-
based in this world, would have a chance for salvation in the future . . .
that punishment was not eternal, and that the sentence to eternal torment
was not irrevocable.
. . . He stated his belief to be that "Heaven" and "Hell" express no
idea of location; they represent conditions, not localities . . . amplifi-
cations of Happiness and Misery in this [world].
Either the reporter himself, or his editorial chief, or both, were
not sure that the rector had been correctly understood, and hesitated
to print this summary without confirmation. The reporter sought
out Adams and questioned him. As the lecture had not been re-
duced to writing, Adams could only restate the meaning he had
intended to convey; in other words, he confirmed the substance
of the report. To the question whether or not he believed that
there was a chance for man hereafter, Adams replied: "I had
rather say that I hope so. But wait, I conclud my sermon by saying
that the way to win heaven and escape hell is by being righteous —
by being a man. That is more important than any theories I, or you,
or anybody, may have about the future."
The report of the lecture of May 22: "Heaven and Hell; the
Orthodox and Heterodox Views," followed conspicuously a tech-
nique often emphasized in journalism; that of telling the story three
times; first in sensational headlines; next, in a short summary of the
main points thought to be especially newsworthy, stated in striking
language; and finally, the narrative of events in proper sequence as
straight reporting. Some readers go no further than the headlines;
others go on through the summary; but only the persistent continue
the story to the end, often finding that in proper context the ma-
terial was not as sensational as the first two versions appeared to
430 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
represent it. In this case the headlines were: "Lucifer Knocked
Out"; "Rev. Adams Demolishes the Hell Fire Theory"; "He De-
clares There Is No Hell But Conscience"; "A Sensational Sermon
a la Bob Ingersoll"; "The Old Testament God Ridiculed and Re-
viled."
The fact that Adams was expected to present radical ideas had
brought out an audience that filled the church to capacity, but the
reporter insisted that they were not prepared for the fervor and
violence of expression employed by the rector: "the Rev. Adams
surprised his hearers and quite shocked some of the more orthodox
and strictly ritualistic members of his flock. . . ." The report
said that Adams "even denied the divine inspiration and sacred au-
thenticity of the Scriptures themselves by declaring that the ancient
Hebrews made a god of their own liking. That God was not up
to the requirements of this civilized age and he cried 'if there was
such a cruel god I for one would say away with him! ' ' What
Adams had done was to approach the question historically pointing
out that the basis of the social organization of Israel was paternal-
istic and that the father was the head of the family, and that law,
justice, and punishment were administered by the father. The
concept of justice was objective, cold, and rigid. Thus the God of
Israel was represented in the Old Testament as this type of God
the Father. Next, Adams emphasized that the modern concept
of family had come to emphasize the position of the mother as of
an importance equal to the father, and the mother principle was
love and sympathy which tempered justice.
Next the rector had emphasized three views of Christianity;
orthodoxy ( right faith ) , heterodoxy ( other's faith ) , and rationalism.
He endorsed the rational view. He accused the modern orthodox
Christian view of distorting the Hebrew concept of a just God into
a false representation, a cruel and vainglorious God. It was this
concept of God which he denounced and said "away with him."
Instead: "God is love." Calvin provided for the election of only
few to be saved; Universalism went to the opposite extreme, pro-
viding for the election of all; Umtarianism insisted man was essen-
tially good. Although he insisted that there was a great truth un-
derlying each of these views, he could not accept any one of them.
Universalism and Unitarianism had eliminated hell, which was nec-
essary. Heaven and Hell were not locations or places, but con-
ditions: "His hell was the hell of a guilty man's conscience, both
here and hereafter." Also, he continued: "... A merciful God
WILLIAM SUTTON WIHTE, PUBLICIST 431
could forgive at any time. . . ." — he would continue to forgive
"throughout eternity," in other words, "Judgment" was not final.
At one point in this context the rector was reported as saying:
'The protestants lost a great truth when we lost the doctrine of
an intermediate state taught us by our Roman Catholic brethern."
It was when such sentiments were being stated that the censor at
the reporter's elbow whispered: "our liberal friend will have the
bishop after him. . . ."
According to Adams' rational view: "True orthodoxy conceived
of man as coming into existence a free moral agent, A man could
and must choose his own course and that choice even the Omnipo-
tence cannot override." In the conclusion the reporter attributed
to the rector the emphasis, however, that: "Unrighteousness means
hell. Righteousness is happiness, not only for eternity, but tem-
porarily. . . . God is love."
The Eagle reporter varied the concluding remarks: "When the
day of judgment is past is there hope for the lost then? I hope so,
and sometimes the hope amounts to belief. I do not say so. To
you I would say repent now; delay not. Yet anyone can repent in
the future. God must accept the one returning. God is love."
But the rector interposed an emphasis that might be interpreted as
being intended to rectify an apparent inconsistency; that belief
alone is not enough; "They must be like him."
The reporters of these lectures did not make any attempt to label
the rector's theology. Neither did they raise any question about
the sources of any of the theological ideas expressed. Nevertheless,
the identity of some of the ideas, even to the wording is inescapable.
Whether derived from his friend, Editor White, during their year
of friendship, or acquired prior to his coming to Wichita, Rector
Adams had adopted into his own thinking a substantial body of
the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg.3
After the week's budget of argument and gossip about the lecture
of May 22 and what might happen to the rector in consequence
of it, the White funeral under the trees and outside any church, and
Adams' discourse brought the whole theoretical discussion down
3. Adams' predecessor, the Rev. Mr. E. H. Edson, had conducted his farewell service
March 7, 1886, explaining candidly the reasons for his leaving: interference with his free-
dom of expression. He had refused to submit or to resign. His funds were cut off; he pro-
posed to collect by judicial process, but friends in Rochester, N. Y., persuaded him to de-
sist and resign. Adams was then at St. Mark's church in Denver; was invited to Wichita
April 4, and again May 23, and was appointed rector of St. John's as of June 20, 1886.
The Beacon reports on church services explicitly indicate that White attended services at
St. John's, August 22. The friendship between the two men ripened, apparently during
the ensuing winter. Not until the series at Eastertime services, however, did the reports
indicate clearly the Swedenborgian flavor in Adams' discourses. — Dailii Beacon March 8
April 3, May 22, 24, June 19, 21, August 23, 1886.
432 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to earth in terms of a concrete case. Many who had attended the
late afternoon funeral and had completed the final tribute to White
at the graveside, were now at St. John's — almost as though partici-
pating in the last act of a three-act drama. The rector had made
his choice and had made it in freedom. On that premise, would
the fate formula of Greek tragedy complete its relentless course?
How would or could Adams release the tensions and resolve the
conflict? By defiance which might have explosive consequences,
or by a retreat that would leave his hearers with a sense of betrayal,
or by a convincing reconciliation of opposing positions?
The report of this critical lecture of May 29 was given a front-
page position in Monday evening's Beacon with the sensational
headline "Whipped into Line"; "Rev. Adams Preaches a Strictly
Orthodox Sermon"; "Varied With More Heaven and Hell Theories";
"He Still Says the Unitarians May Be Saved,"— the subject: "Pen-
tacostal Tongues; Understood and Misunderstood." Prepared of
course prior to the events of the afternoon, Adams called attention
to the church calendar and the fact that it was Whitsunday. He
described the preaching of the apostles on the day of Pentacost,
the day of the birth of the church, and suggested that it was an
appropriate occasion to consider the work that had been accom-
plished by the church. He traced the birth of the church direct to
the apostles and while not claiming it as the only true church did
insist that it should and would be some day, when the offshoots
returned. Many, he insisted, were anxious to do so; an awakening
was taking place in England and in the United States too. He took
a high-church position:
He thought the time would come when all the world would return to Cathol-
icism. The preacher said that the duty of preaching this second great
reformation devolved upon the ministers of the Episcopal and ritualistic
churches. He even declared that with this church rested the safety and sal-
vation of the Republic, its rescue from atheism and infidelity, although he did
not go so far as to propose union of church and state.
Here the reporter revealed his personal position by the remark:
"This part of the sermon was very fine. . . ." But the reporter
insisted at two points in his story that there was a dichotomy in the
lecture and that Adams had yielded to pressure: ". . . the im-
pression prevailed among Dr. Adams's somewhat mixed audience,
mixed as to creeds and religions that is to say, that the pastor had
been called to account and perhaps regretted some of the rather
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 433
broad . . . expressions to which he had given utterance on the
previous Sunday/'
Later the reporter returned to this conviction insisting, with the
aid of typographical emphasis, that the strictly orthodox, high-
church exposition
gave the impression that Rev. Adams, despite his pronounced liberalistic views
on the existence of an orthodox heaven and hell, had been spoken with and
easily
WHIPPED INTO LINE
But before the close of the sermon, the preacher's natural impulsiveness,
noticeable in spite of his almost painful deliberation of expression, forced him
into the old line of argument. He could not refrain from alluding to the subject
so near his heart and the sensation caused by his previous utterances, though
wholly foreign to the present subject. He prefaced his remarks by saying that
it was easy for a man to be misunderstood. He did not care so far [as] he
was concerned whether his auditor was a Calvinist, an Arminian or even a
Unitarian. All might be saved and most of them would yet return to the holy
church apostolic. The preacher did not believe in a selfish heaven which
was made for a few alone. . . . The audience smiled when the preacher
declared with ingenious candor that hell was a dangerous subject to undertake
the discussion of.
He did discuss it: "The honest man, the righteous man has
heaven within him and is in heaven/'
The speaker reiterated his former statement that all men might be saved
regardless of creed. He believed that the Calvinist might be saved, that
Armenians might be saved; yes, even the Unitarians — here the preacher hesi-
tated for a moment — and then declared that they too might go to heaven.
If what he was saying was correct, along with what he had said
during the afternoon, what was the role of the church? Was the
church necessary? The closing paragraph of the Beacons story
was short but whether or not a fully adequate report of what was
said is not subject to verification:
The church was the instrument left on earth by Christ for the salvation
of men and the uplifting of humanity. Men must go to church. We must
have the external as well as the internal peace of religion.4
Two weeks later, at the evening service at St. John's, Adams spoke
about "Individuality, Here and Hereafter." As reported, he per-
sisted in stating views that would have been approved by his de-
parted friend, Mr. White:
Mr. Adams is a thorough believer in individuality. He thinks the individuals
have been the movers in the world. He distinguished between individuality
and personality — saying that the personality is the mask through which in-
dividuality looks. Hereafter it is the individual who is to live, as it is the
4. Ibid., April 16, 18, May 2, 16, 23, 30, 1887; Daily Eagle, May 24, 1887.
28—6550
434 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
individual who lives here. It is the I, the me that wants immortality, this
is immortal.8
III. APPRAISALS OF WHITE
Born January 2, 1835, at Johnstown, Pa., William Sutton White
was just past 52 years of age when he died, May 27, 1887. His
father, James P. White, a canal and railroad contractor, died in
1840 when William was a child of five, leaving Caroline White to
raise her three boys, the other two being Norman P., and Oscar.
William learned the printer's trade at Gallipolis, Ohio, and moved
about as journeyman printer. In 1853-1854 he attended the Swe-
denborg College at Urbana, Ohio, and became a thoroughgoing
convert to the New Church, or Church of the New Jerusalem.
While engaged in typesetting in Cincinnati, in 1854, he became,
for a short time, the private tutor to the children of Nicholas Long-
worth. Soon, however, he moved to Covington, Ky., where he re-
mained until 1861. Declining a commission in the Confederate
army, he returned to Ohio, where he enlisted in the Guthrie Greys,
and later in the Fourth regiment of Ohio cavalry, which partici-
pated in operations under John A. Logan, in Tennessee and Georgia,
and under Kilpatrick, at Atlanta. During the winter of 1863-1864,
Lieutenant White was prisoner of war, and after release from prison
was discharged from the army, on account of health, with rank of
captain. After a business venture with his brother Norman, and
George Warren, as army sutlers in Texas, he returned to Cincinnati,
thence to the lead mines of Missouri, and in 1869 arrived in Kansas.
With his brother Oscar, he worked at grading the roadbed of the
Santa Fe railroad. Apparently he made Topeka his home, his
mother joining him there in 1870. In 1871, he moved to Sedgwick
county, pre-empting a claim on the Ninnescah, in Viola township,
which he still owned at the time of his death. During his first two
winters in Kansas apparently he taught school, but in Sedgwick
county he supplemented his farm operations by working at the
printer's trade in Wichita, as employment was available on the
Beacon and the Eagle.
In 1872 the Beacon had been established in Wichita by D. G.
Millison, and Fred A. Sowers. It was said that White worked off
his subscription setting type, and he worked occasionally during the
winter of 1872-1873, but in 1874, the grasshopper year, he moved
to Wichita and worked at the printer's trade during the winter of
1874-1875. During these early years the Beacon had been var-
5. Daily Beacon, June 13, 1887.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 435
iously owned and edited, but July 7, 1875, came into the hands of
Frank Fisher and Frank B. Smith. In November, 1875, White ac-
cepted the editorship. Although a printer of proven competence,
he had no editorial experience, and in that sense was launching
upon a new profession at the age of 40. In March, 1876, White
bought an interest in the paper, Fisher dropping out, and White
assumed editorial control — this arrangement continuing until the
Beacon was sold, April 1, 1887, less than two months prior to White's
death.
Some facts about White's private as differentiated from his public
life are necessary to this story. His mother had joined him at
Topeka in 1870, and the little house that was built on his "planta-
tion" on the Ninnescah was designed for the two of them. What-
ever the private reasons that may have been involved, White did not
marry. About 1877 Mrs. White's health failed and for the next ten
years she was nearly helpless. In 1878 Susan (or Susana) Sebastian
joined the White household as companion to Mrs. White. During the
early months of 1887 a new home was being built on Riverside and
upon its completion in midsummer, Captain White and Susan were
to have been married. The crisis in White's illness intervened and
his will was made to leave the North Market home to his mother,
with financial provision for her comfort — she was 80 years of age.
Also, Susan was to receive $2,000 per year for life. But doubts de-
veloped about the certainties of this arrangement, and within an
hour of his death, Captain White and Miss Sebastian were married,
aged respectively 52 and 47 years.6
The Beacon obituary of White was unsigned, but probably was
written by his former partner, Frank Smith, or under his super-
vision. Corroborative evidence indicates that the eulogy contained
in it was more than merely conventional:
As an editor Captain White proved himself one of the ablest writers in the
6. Ibid., May 27, 30, 1887; Daily Eagle, May 28. 31, 1887; Wichita Daily Call, May
27, 30, 1887; Wichita Daily Journal, May 27, 30, 1887; New Republic, Wichita, May 28,
Tune 4, 1887: Union Labor Press, Wichita, June 4. 1887; Sunday Growler, Wichita, May
29, June 5, 1887; Herold (German language), Wichita, June 1, 1887.
The Journal obituary, and papers which followed the Journal account, differed in some
particulars from the Beacon and the Eagle, but the latter are accepted as correct.
United States census, 1880, Wichita, Sedgwick county, Kansas, Fourth ward: W. S.
White, 54 [45]; Caroline White, 73; Susanna Sebastian, 42, born in Illinois;
Kansas state census, 1885, Wichita, Sedgwick county, Kansas, Fourth Ward, p. 13:
ages respectively, 50, 78, 45.
Susan Sebastian's sister Emily, wife of J. Whitfield Bell, died March 24, 1885, residents
of Sedgwick county since 1871, from Edwardsville, 111. Upon that occasion, White wrote
the obituary and funeral notices from the Swedenborgian point of view: "Happily relieved
from bodily pain she enters upon the real spiritual life." Also: "She had no fear of the
death of the body. She knew that she would not die — that what seemed like death and
annihilation this side was the birth and resurrection on the other side, and that, too, not
as a soul without a body, but a soul in the real body — the spiritual. She knew she was
passing from the shadow into the sunshine, from the phenomenal into the real, from the
transitory into the permanent and substantial life. She is more alive in essential substance,
and in essential form than ever before. She is not buried, for the human is not a subject
for interment. . . ." — Daihj Beacon, March 25, 26, 1885.
436 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
state. He proved himself amply competent to cope with all questions of
interest and his articles were at all times those of a man who had delved
deeply . . . and had pondered much over his reading and drawn his
own conclusions.
Though never a boomer in the accepted sense of the word, the Beacon
. . . always took a leading part in advocating that which he considered
to the best interests of Wichita. Captain White it was who first advocated
an east and west railroad . . . , and the result of his agitation and hard
work was the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad.
During the Ohio flood of 1883, White suggested sending a car or
two of corn to the sufferers — the result was a special train load
of com.
His life was without reproach, his friends say of him that they never knew
a more honest man, and while to many he may have seemed harsh and unjust
in his criticisms of what he deemed hypocricy or pride of authority, he was
yet gentle and tender hearted as a woman, and in all his criticisms of errors
he always classed himself among the erring ones.
The late Captain White devoted his life to his aged and infirm mother
and she in turn was wrapped up in him. The shock of his death has com-
pletely prostrated the old lady and a few short days will probably find them
joined in death as they were in life.
As the new editor of the Beacon had not known White more than
a few weeks, the leading editorial was likewise by another hand, but
had a similar emphasis:
Captain White is dead, and in his death the people of Wichita have sustained
an irreparable loss. Broad-minded, liberal, far-seeing, yet so conservative as to
be able to adjust a careful balance between right and wrong; gifted with a
keen-sightedness which pointed out to him the dangers which lurked behind
apparently plausible exteriors, he was a man eminently fitted for the work
which he undertook with modest willingness, of aiding in the building up of
this great city. . . .
As an editor and as a citizen Captain White closely approached the
ideal. . . .
In private life Captain White was one of the most companionable of men,
not opinionated, not egotistic, a good listener and a good talker when occasion
required, he naturally had friends without number and of enemies as few as
could be expected for a man of his sturdy character and outspoken views.
Again and again the reference recurred to White's contribution to
the greatness of Wichita. He was "sturdy as an oak, modestly self-
reliant, . . . with an unselfish ambition to see the city of his home
prosper . . . even to his own personal detriment. .
And the editorial closed with what may be recognized as the
writer's, not White's, unfulfilled prophecy: "and so thoroughly is
this appreciated that evermore will the memory of Captain White
be kept green in the minds and hearts of the people of Wichita and
Sedgwick county."
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 437
White's major journalistic rival, Marshall Marcellus Murdock
(1837-1908), was one of the pallbearers at his funeral and wrote a
moving editorial "In Memoriam." As a Republican in politics, Mur-
dock had disagreed with White on most public questions of a
political character, but death is a private matter, and men of their
caliber did not carry political differences into private relations:
So frequently are we called upon to make a record of things, which, it
seems, ought never to have occurred, that at times we are ready to be
persuaded that this world has to offer only disappointment, disaster and death.
Our entire city was startled yesterday morning by the sad news of the death of
Capt. W. S. White. . . .
Of Captain White's life in this county since the early settlement . . .
no words are called for. No encomiums which we could offer would add to
the value of that record. . . .
Murdock gave extended attention to Susan Sebastian, widow
within an hour of marriage, she who "had been a daughter in the
truest sense to the aged mother" for nine years. When the subject
of marriage had been referred to in conversation with Murdock,
he quoted White as saying "that the frosts of his head, mayhap,
were too numerous for such a happy consummation. And now
. . . before that home itself could be made ready . . ." for
mother and wife —
"And now, like God's great pity, the same blue sky still hangs over
us this morning, but of our number, one is missing. . . ."
White was not a joiner, the reasons for which must be dealt with
elsewhere, so other than press resolutions upon the passing of Cap-
tain White, no organizations, not even a church had been a par-
ticipant in the final tributes.7 The Hypatia club and the Piano club
prepared elaborate floral tributes, but the former went somewhat
further. Nevertheless, the action of the Hypatia club, a woman's
literary organization, is really no exception to this generalization.
It had been organized in January, 1886, under the presidency of
Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Lease. Early in 1887 she had relinquished
office on account of ill-health. The club was named in honor of
Hypatia, a woman mathematician and philosopher, leader of the
Neoplatonic school of Alexandria, Egypt. She, a pagan, had been
murdered by a fanatical Christian mob. Charles Kingsley had
made Hypatia the heroine of a novel (1853) of that name. Two
implications were obvious in the choice of the name for a woman's
club in 1886: a plea for woman's rights, and a protest against in-
7. Captain White did not join the Wichita Garfield Post of the G. A. R. The proposal
that the post conduct the funeral was dropped, yet informally many members attended On
Memorial day, G. A. R. services were conducted at White's grave. — Wichita Arrow, June
4, 1887.
438 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tolerance.8 The Beacon, although not in sympathy with the woman's
rights movement in all its features, had been unusually generous in
giving publicity to the club's activities. The Hypatia club had good
reason therefore to meet in special session, and to adopt resolutions
honoring Captain White, Mrs. Lease being a member of the resolu-
tions committee. Furthermore, Mrs. Lease, a frequent contributor
of poetry to the Eagle, wrote:
IN MEMORIAM — CAPT. W. S. WHITE
We mourn no blighted hope, nor broken plan;
The burden of his life-work was well done.
He stood among his fellowmen a man,
The ripened grain beneath a mellow sun.
Oh! bells toll not a funeral chime
For one whose life was rounded well,
In Sun and shade of manhood's prime,
With deeds of worth that all men tell.
From solemn hush of silent tomb
He ne'er again shall walk among us here,
But in a land of deathless bloom
Our steps shall greet his quickened ear.
And here where he hath labored long;
Low mingling with the funeral tread,
Ring out glad bursts of triumph song
And tell the good deeds of the dead.
A faith sublime, a stainless Me,
Shall guide us o'er life's stormy sea,
And 'mid the calm, and 'mid the strife,
Our hearts repeat, 'Tis well with thee.9
Irrespective of Mrs. Lease's merits as a poet, one aspect of her
rationalization is of some significance. White was just past 52 years
of age at the time of his passing, and she expressed the verdict that
"The burden of his life's work was well done," and likened it to
"The ripened grain beneath a mellow sun." For perspective it may
be pointed out that the death of John A. Martin, two years later, at
8. Whether or not known to any, part, or all of the participating parties, Hypatia
meant much more than these more obvious interpretations. Swedenborg had incorporated
into his science and Christian theology much of Neoplatonic philosophy. White knew his
way around in philosophy and theology sufficiently to realize, probably, the implications of
that fact in the history of thought. Mrs. Lease, a prime mover in the Hypatia club, prob-
ably did not. She was still, outwardly at least, a Roman Catholic in the strictest Irish
tradition, and her children (1885) were being educated in the Catholic parochial school
of Wichita. — Wichita Daily Eagle, June 18, 1885. How and when she broke with her
religious inheritance has not yet been determined.
Early in 1886, when the Hypatia club was being organized, the Eagle had referred to
it as the "Sorosis Club."— Ibid., March 30, 31, 1886.
9. Ibid., May 31, 1887. The Wichita piano club also prepared a special floral tribute.
— Sunday Growler, Wichita, June 5, 1887.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 439
the age of 50, was similarly rationalized by his friends. Although,
in that era, many lived out their span of three score and ten, yet the
50's were widely accepted as affording a reasonable life expectancy,
especially for those whose accomplishments by that age were sub-
stantial. According to Murdock, however, White must have looked
forward to a retirement from the grind of getting out a daily paper
as an opportunity to devote himself to study and possibly to writing
on his favorite fields of philosophy.10 But Murdock's reference to
future plans were vague.
Although there was a certain sameness to the eulogies of White,
Leo L. Redding, editor of the Daily Journal, May 27, varied the
emphasis, after admitting to no more than a "passing acquaintance":
It has been said that to know a man "you must see him in his home," and
it was in his home that Captain White was to be seen as he really was. On the
streets or in his office he was a gruff and out-spoken man. . . . But at
his home he was a dutiful son, striving in every way to make the declining
years of his mother the happiest of her life. . . .
J. S. Jennings, editor of the New Republic, Wichita, May 28,
wrote:
Yet Captain White was not only "our friend," but he was the friend of
Wichita and humanity. . . . May his spirit realize the destiny which his
great mind pictured, in progress, in worlds unknown to us; for great minds
never die, and his was great in his belief, and we can not condemn that
belief when we know he was honest in it. He was a Swedenborgian, and a
great admirer of his writings.
Although other commentators had made clear the fact that White
was not orthodox, for some reason they were reticent about identify-
ing his religious beliefs. The Union Labor Press, June 4, followed
the pattern, "more than an ordinary writer," "a deep thinker," "con-
siderably in advance of his time/' "always fearless in expressing" his
views which "may not have agreed with popular demands and
customs; yet, withal, they contained the elements of some great
truth which the future will develop. As a friend of the people
against despotism and wrong, he was always ready to defend the
weak against the strong. . . ."
The writer of "In Memoriam" in the Sunday Growler, May 29,
probably the editor R. E. Ryan, who had been a Beacon reporter
under White, agreed:
Capt. White was a strong man in every particular. A warm, devoted,
earnest friend, not what might be called a popular man, yet one who, when
he made a friend held him to the last. Honest, straightforward, outspoken
in his likes and dislikes, sturdy as an old oak. He was a man who had the
10. Ibid., May 29, and the DatZy Journal, May 27, 1887, likewise referred to White's
plans for study and writing.
440 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
regard and esteem of all who knew him, no matter how one might differ with
him on any subject. To him was awarded by one and all, the palm of
honesty and integrity in his beliefs and notions.
Referring to his reportorial days under White, the writer men-
tioned especially the generous treatment received: "In such close
personal and social relations many little incidents occurred clearly
showing the innate nobility of the deceased."
An unidentified writer of the "Old Settlers" column (Wichita was
less than the legal age of 18, therefore still a female minor at law)
in the Sunday Growler, June 5, admitted having collected some
notes about White, at the time of his retirement from the Beacon,
but had procrastinated in writing them for publication and now it
was too late. But assuming the reader's knowledge of White's re-
ligious views, that in the spiritual world thoughts might be com-
municated from person to person without the medium of words, the
"Old Settler" consoled himself:
It may be, as he believed, that after putting off the earthly tabernacle, he
can know what was in my thoughts, and if so, he can feel that great measure
of respect he enjoyed, perhaps unawares, from one whom he thought, while
living, misjudged him. It was given to but few to know the interior man, to
know his filial devotion, his strong friendships, the innate nobleness of his
character. But of this, enough. Living, he was not to be flattered, though he
loved appreciative praise for well-doing. Dead, merited to his praise nor
flattery cannot add one jot of happiness. . . .
IV. THE SALE OF THE BEACON
The eulogies of White may appear to some readers to be too
much in the nature of a routine compliance with the conventions
and too emotional to be taken seriously. The sale of the Beacon
had occurred two months earlier and the commentary upon that
event as historical evidence would be less subject to such adverse
criticism. In "A Last Word" White reviewed the history of the
Beacon, and the Smith and White tenure of nearly 12 years: "The
history of this section cannot be written and the Beacon ignored."
It had its ups and downs as did everybody else: "In 1875 it looked
as if its light were to go out forever. When Fisher & Smith took
hold of it, it was a dying ember instead of a blazing torch and a
flamboyant beacon light. The paper then began a career which
has not been excelled by any journal in Kansas." It had been
continuously prosperous financially also, and never missed a Satur-
day night payroll.
White admitted his inexperience at the start as an editor, and that
in nearly 12 years: "The Beacon may not have always been right.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 441
It may never have been exactly right, but if we know ourselves, it
never has been wilfully and maliciously wrong or dishonest. It has
never been the tool or instrument of any man, clique or party" — not
even of the owners or their personal interests. The paper was
always for Wichita. At the moment the Beacon had four rival daily
papers in the city, but only one counted — Murdock's Eagle, nesting
in its eyrie on East Douglas:
It is especially gratifying to us, at this time, that while we have had many hot
set-tos with our able contemporary, the Eagle, we have never carried any
bitterness or venom out of the office, and our personal relations with our
friend — the enemy — on Douglas avenue, have always been of a most friendly
and fraternal character.
It is impossible for us to be much of a partisan. By nature we are anti-
partisan.
That insistence about the impossibility of being partisan was not a
vain boast. And in business and in social relations party had no
place.
Under stress of deep feeling, rather generally, Americans are
noted for their reticence in verbal expression. The measure of the
depth of feeling is often to be found in what is not said, or in exag-
gerated pretense intended to appear as merely facetious: In re-
ferring to the transfer of ownership of the Beacon, Murdock wrote:
In welcoming these strangers to our midst, and we do so most cordially, it
is not so pleasant to part company with our old friend and standing critic, Capt.
White, whom we have in all these years simply astonished and astounded a
thousand times over and over until at times, in very despair, he has laid down
his faber and resorted to the borders of profanity as close as he dare and not
violate his religious convictions. And still he has loved us, loved us on and
still cussed on. And, now our old self abnegator steps down, forever, and out,
without so much as "by your leave" to a contemporary who has a thousand
times held up his hands to his back [in private] only to sit down on him to
the public. In these years proprietors of the Beacon have come and gone,
and newspapers have come and gone, mighty nigh on to a score of them; come
in with a flourish, gone out variously, some with a curse, others with a silence
that smacked of the sneak, but none leaving the void, and the kind of void
left by our sturdy old critic and friend who said good bye last night. . . .n
That was about as near as Marsh Murdock could come to being
sentimental in public. Indeed, newspapers had come and gone,
even daily papers; the Herald, the Republican, and the Times, but
what of it! In Wichita there had always been the Eagle and the
Beacon. And for most of that time that meant Marsh Murdock,
Republican, and Captain White, Democrat — that is, when the latter
11. Weekly Eagle, April 8, 1887; the Daily Eagle for April 2 is missing from the Kansas
State Historical Society's file.
442 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
succeeded in coercing himself into a more or less orthodox partisan-
ship just a few weeks prior to election days. But after their own
individualistic fashion, neither was orthodox in party politics or in
anything else. They appeared to disagree on most everything, but
underneath, they agreed upon fundamentals. Systems of popular
government are usually assumed to function best when operating
under conditions where two parties of about equal strength oppose
each other. Similarly, in the newspaper business, a good journal-
istic adversary is a precious possession, and no one knew that better
than Murdock. For his own good he needed "the old self abne-
gator." But this was merely Murdock's way of chronicling the sale
of a worthy rival's paper to an unknown quantity. Captain White
was still to be a citizen of Wichita, and his neighbor whom he
could no doubt meet and argue with most every day.
Murdock's facetious reference to the old abnegator and his trials
in attempting to reform or to educate the Beacon editor, recall an
earlier episode when the Daily Eagle, April 1, 1885, a morning
paper, featured a news item:
SURPRISE — CONGRATULATORY
Probably our society people will never be treated to a more genuine sur-
prise, and yet one which will call forth numerous pleasant comments and
unnumbered congratulations, is the announcement of the marriage this morning,
at his own home, at 6 o'clock, of Capt. W. S. White, the worthy and erudite
editor of our evening contemporary. The charming young lady, Miss A.
Prilist, who arrived from the east last night at midnight, is represented as a
child of youth and beauty, a warm worshipper of buds and birds, spring-time
flowers and April showers, who, as she clasps our old incorrigible friend to
her bosom, promises with her sunshiny nature to thaw him out in a way that
will make him forget the long cold nights of the past winter when he curled
up in his bed alone to freeze his toes off while in broken slumbers he dreamed
of what this day was to bring him. The thought of the then and the now gets
away with us, and we have no doubt it will get away with our friend. But,
dear Captain, while we can only be with you in imagination, there is nothing
envious about us, and with our entire people, including a thousand disap-
pointed fair ones who but dared hope, we unite in not only well wishes, but
the sentiment,
"If it were now to die,
Twere now to be most happy; for I fear
My soul hath her content so absolutely
That not another comfort like to this
Succeeds in unknown fate."
The same evening Captain White replied:
The Eagle's announcement this morning was premature. The prospective
bride arrived in time, coming not by rail nor palace car. She came in a vision
of the night, in the heart of a hope long deferred, an answer to a silent prayer
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 443
that never troubled lip. We welcomed her as May, and not as December. In
the golden vision, we stood beside the river whose water is the elixer of life.
Youth was not returned, but recreated, spring had not come again, but had
followed the winter of our discontent. Age and decreptitude were only the
nightmare that fled with the coming of the beautiful dawn. With outstretched
arms we bade her welcome, and urged her to hasten her quick-gliding footsteps,
all too tardy for our eager desire. Ardent and impatient we sprang to meet —
her? No! the stolid present! We awoke! It was a dream — that may find its
fruition in the Isles of the Blest.
Murdock closed out the fun the following morning:
Of course our many readers in this city enjoyed their laughs and made no
end of comments over the Eagle's April fool of yesterday morning. The com-
ments would no doubt fill a volume which would interest our innocent victim's
descendants to the third generation. His own ears must have tingled. Some
did not "catch on" till they got down town. Captain White not only very
gracefully replies in his last evening's issue, but utters sentiment which may
be but a faintly disguised disclosure of a bygone dream of his happy youth,
and which may not have been all a dream, but which in truth shall find its
ideal and full fruition in an exalted life whose pure atmosphere no earthly
passions can ever reach or mar. Begging the Captain's pardon for the innocent
fun had at his expense we quote his reply.
An understanding of such an episode requires the recognition of
the widely accepted but unwritten code of the day which differ-
entiated things public from things private. To be sure, the bride
hoax dealt with things private, and in a public manner, but it was
not malicious, and after all was really impersonal. This April fool
pleasantly was perpetrated as the bitter city election canvass was
reaching its climax. Both Murdock and White were engaged in
campaign abuse which reached, if it did not exceed, the broad limits
usually considered permissible for the political journalism of that
generation. On one page of the paper was this friendly spoofing,
while in the political editorial column was outrageous vilification
which certainly both men knew was untrue. Yet the two types of
exchanges were carried on simultaneously, without becoming con-
fused. The editors as political "enemies" were figuratively different
men from the friends who enjoyed the private joke regardless of
which was the victim. Wichita had four dailies, and a flock of
weekly newspapers at this time, but no comparable relationship
existed between any two of them. The generalization is probably
safe that nothing similar existed anywhere else in the Kansas area.
But only two days after the bride evaporated in April fool sun-
shine, White took the public into his confidence about a truly serious
personal loss:
It is with much regret and a dull pencil that we announce the loss of that
historical pocket-knife again — the one with ivory handle and ventilated jaws.
444 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
It is not a very pretty knife, nor is it very valuable, but by long association
it has crawled into our affections, and we'd rejoice to have it nestling once
more in the tobacco crumbs at our right flank.
Except for the Daily Journal, the other papers in Wichita, whose
files have survived, scarcely mentioned the sale of the Beacon. The
Journal editor, Silas Robinson, was most offensive, April 1, boasting
that he "must be an artist in the 'change* business," other paper
changing hands when competing with his. "People want to read
a paper published for men of the Nineteenth Century. Fossils
don't do in these days of go ahead/' Robinson referred to the
attempts to bring a soap factory to Wichita: "if ever there was a
gentleman who had all the qualifications to make a president of a
soap factory, it is the ex-editor of the Beacon. . . .*
In the next issue Robinson addressed
THE EX-BEACON, or rather the ex-editors and proprietors of the Beacon, the
JOURNAL addresses you. It did not see your issue last evening, but it hears
you had a nice article. Be that as it may the JOURNAL recognized the fact
that Capt. White, as editor of the Beacon, has held a prominent position in
the city. The courtesy which ought to have existed between all papers of a
town, whose duty ought to be to pull together for the interests of the town,
have not been very prominent between the Beacon and the Resident- JOURNAL.
We suppose we have been equally at fault in the matter hence shall drop this
subject and let the Beacon editor be in the past tense. Cap. White, since you
have lain down the pencil, after years of its association, and resumed a private
life, the JOURNAL forgets all it may have had cause to say or think and it
wishes you that success, as a civilian, crowned with health and happiness,
due to every man who has worked for or been identified with the advancement
of Wichita. Frank Smith, you are in this too.
The "change" business caught up with the Journal, however,
Robinson leaving the paper May 16, 1887. The surviving partner,
Leo Redding, felt relief, apparently at the departure of his asso-
ciate, and observed the courtesies of profession. Upon the occasion
of White's death, besides writing the "passing acquaintance" edi-
torial already noticed, made amends by emphasizing that: "There
is not one in Wichita who will today speak of the dead, except
with profound respect."
The sale of the Beacon, followed so closely by the death of its
veteran editor, calls attention to an important fact of Kansas jour-
nalism— its localism. No newspaper edited in Kansas (including
the Kansas City metropolitan press) covered effectively the area
news. Neither the sale of the Beacon nor the death of White caused
more than a faint ripple on the surface. No paper has been found
outside Wichita that undertook in any substantial manner to eval-
uate White, the man and editor. Even the local tributes fell short
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 445
on the evaluation of White as a thinker, on indicating the major
sources and features of his thought, and on the controlling prin-
ciple which had guided his 12-year journalistic career. At the time
of the Beacon sale the Topeka Commonwealth, 1887, recognized
Smith, but only because he had learned the printing business in the
editor's office. Only the Commonwealth, May 29, 1887, paid White
even a modest tribute:
Captain White was one of the most vigorous and voluminous writers on the
press of Kansas. His theory of government was in advance of the times.
They might answer when the millineum arrives, if it ever does. He wanted but
little law, but desired that the people in the main should be a law unto
themselves. He believed in the utmost personal liberty for every individual.
While being in principle and practice a temperance man, his concern for
personal liberty made him a strenuous opponent of the prohibition policy.
He was as erratic in his religious as in his political views. Captain White was
an honest, conscientious man. . . ,12
The Lawrence Journal had nothing to say about White's death,
and upon the occasion of the sale of the Beacon was bluntly ma-
terialistic. The sale price was rumored to have been $50,000. The
Journal estimated that the Eagle could not be bought for less than
$75,000: "Is there another instance of so marvelous a growth in all
the country?" — in 15 years.18 Admitting for the sake of interpre-
tation the values assigned, how had it happened? Remarkable as
had been the rise of Wichita, what gave the Eagle and the Beacon
value; Wichita, or Murdock and White? How long would the
Beacon's value survive without White?
V. WHITE'S EARLY YEARS IN WICHITA
At the age of 40, White had entered upon a profession of jour-
nalism. The traditional explanation of how that came about was
a convenient rationalization after the event, but not exactly correct
factually or an adequate explanation. The allegation was that he
had contributed some articles over the pen name "Sartoris" that
"caused a stir," and in consequence Fisher and Smith induced him
to assume the editorship of the Beacon in November, 1875.14 But
for some time prior to that, however, White had been setting type
for the Beacon and was well acquainted with the proprietors.
White had first made an impression upon Sedgwick county in
his writing on agricultural questions over the pen name "Agricola,"
the identification for the historian being made in the Weekly Bea-
12. This editorial was copied into the Fort Scott Dotty Monitor, May 31, 1887, but
credited erroneously to the Capital, and was correctly credited and printed in the Beacon,
May 30, 1887.
13. Lawrence Daily Journal, April 5, 1887.
14. Wichita Dotty Beacon, May 27, 1887.
446 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
con, September 8, 1875. Contemporaries already knew the identity
of "Agricola." The first "Agricola" letter was printed October 14,
1874, and argued vigorously against the Texas cattle trade; not only
was it a dead loss to Kansas, but it prevented the development of
a home livestock industry.15 Next "Agricola" condemned the relief
measures proposed by the state and county; humiliating, impov-
erishing, costly, and did not reach the many who were in need. He
advocated state loans through the counties so that intermediaries
could not absorb the funds on the way — cheap money was the
only method:
To come down to the hard pan of true legislative function, the state has no
right to go into the benevolent business at all, no right to build anything but
a penitentiary: I mean in the charitable or educational line. But since the
State is in this kind of business let it be done in some manner that will preserve
the manly independence of its citizens, and not in the way that has a great
tendency to make chronic beggers of us.
The following week "Agricola" proposed an enlarged plan, county-
state-federal; loans not to exceed $200, secured by real estate or
chattel mortgages, for one to two years, at four percent interest.
One class could not be reached by this plan; those who could offer
no security. For these city or county public works programs were
suggested. The following week additional provisions were pro-
posed that would cover — in the Osage lands settlers — time exten-
sions etc., on lands.16
Upon the approach of another Texas cattle season the regulation
of the trade was again raised. "Agricola" agreed to the new dead
line proposed in western Sedgwick county, defiantly defending
himself for this particular year on the ground of expediency in the
face of the agricultural disaster of the preceding year.17
Possibly the most significant "Agricola" explosion was that of May
26, 1875, on the same day that, in another letter, he protested the
useless office of city attorney.18 In "France vs. the United States"
"Agricola" focused on the general theme of waste: The Frenchman's
prosperity depended upon what he saved rather than what he made,
but the citizen of the United States wasted almost everything he
touched — natural resources in a broad sense being emphasized first
— springs drying up, and with them the streams, climate changing
for the worse, soil being impoverished, criminal waste of forests —
15. A reply was printed October 21, and "Agricola" rebutted November 4, 1874.
16. Wichita Weekly Beacon, January 27, February 3, 10, 1875.
17. Ibid., February 10, 17, 1875.
18. Still another "Agricola" letter which dealt with the unwise "economy" of the
county in not providing adequate court accommodations and its relation to an adequate ad-
ministration of justice, was printed in the Eagle, August 19, 1875. This was the only
"Agricola" letter found in the Eagle.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 447
and then turning to finance he pointed to the failure to reduce
public debt, the seeming impossibility of constructing railroads or
opening mines without first mortgage bonds, protective tariff to
breed monopolies and paralyze business, rings, frauds, and special
legislation to favor special groups and localities. With all this the
people, he insisted, were discontented.
Beginning January 27, 1875, the Beacon printed an article of
more than one column: "Time and its importance: A Philosophical
Essay," which was labeled "Written for the Beacon" and was signed
"Omega." No identification has been discovered, but in the per-
spective of other articles that are identified, this one was probably
White's first venture, at Wichita, into philosophy.
It has been the study of great philosophers and of wise men in every age
to give an adequate definition of Time; but so far, all have failed to accomplish
this object. Time is a gift of God, that particular period of duration given to
man to prepare himself, for that high and noble end of his creation — the enjoy-
ment of an endless eternity, when time shall be no more. Time had its begin-
ning with the creation of the world, and will likewise have its end with the
destruction of same. It is the most cunning and yet the most insatiable of
depredators, apparently taking nothing, but in reality taking all; for it is not
satisfied with stealing from us all that we possess, or all that the world
can afford, but continues in its course until finally it steals us from the
world.
The next philosophical contribution was headed "Sartor Resartus,"
and is the first of a series of nine extending over a period from
February 10, 1875, to May 1, 1878. In addition, an unidentified
editorial article of December 29, 1875, was entitled "Idol Worship"
which appeared about one month after White had become editor
of the Beacon. Almost certainly this was his also. The name of the
articles, "Sartor Resartus," was borrowed from Thomas Carlyle's
book of that name — literally the "tailor patched"; metaphorically,
the philosophy of clothes.
Carlyle's Sartor Resartus was one of the great books of the middle
of the 19th century. Although first printed in England serially,
1833-1834, and in an American book edition in 1836, it gained popu-
larity slowly. In the mid-19th century, a victim, along with much
19th century literature, it is all but forgotten in the United States,
under the relativist-presentist educational theory that what was
relevant to the 19th century is irrelevant to the 20th century.19
In Carlyle's philosophy of clothes:
Time is but the clothing of the Eternal and what is Man himself . . . but
19. Sartor Resartus has not been reprinted in any paperback series, which are leftist in
their slant, and is available in only one low-priced edition, the English Everyman's Library,
No. 278, printed originally in 1908, last reprinted in 1956, and available in the United
States through the American representative of the English publisher.
448 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
an Emblem; a Clothing or visible Garment for that divine ME of his, cast
hither, like a light-particle, down from Heaven. . . .
. . . Whatsoever sensibly exists, whatsoever represents Spirit to Spirit,
is properly a Clothing, a suit of Raiment, put on for a season, and to be laid
off. Thus in this one pregnant subject of CLOTHES, rightly understood, is
included all that men have thought, dreamed, done, and been: the whole
Eternal Universe and what it holds is but Clothing; and the essence of all
Science lies in the PHILOSOPHY OF CLOTHES.20
The issues involved are peculiarly private, although they possess
a public aspect in the aggregate, and are persistent. Most every
individual becomes concerned sometime about the mystery of life
and death, and their meaning — probably no one escapes. Each
must sometime experience a period of doubt about the validity of
prevailing conceptions. Regardless of the personal outcome the
ordeal is more serious for some than for others. Preceding Carlyle,
the age of excesses committed in the name of science and ration-
alism, and often miscalled the 18th-century enlightenment, had
emphasized the "Everlasting No" of materialism. For many living
under that influence, the personal ordeal of philosophical and re-
ligious orientation was peculiarly painful and often personally dis-
astrous. For Carlyle, the experience led through a period of
despair to an eventual illumination in which both the original ortho-
doxy and the negation were left behind, and a new spiritual certainty
emerged. Against the "Everlasting No," he wrote in the name of
his hero, "my whole ME stood up, in native-God-created majesty,
and with emphasis recorded a Protest. ... I directly there-
upon began to be a Man." The "Everlasting NO" gave way to the
"Everlasting Yea." 21
Although Carlyle cultivated the impression that he had not read
Swedenborg prior to the writing of Sartor Resartus, the present
writer is convinced that he had; but, if not, the resemblance between
Swedenborg's and Carlyle's thought is one of the truly remarkable
coincidences of literary history.22 This Swedenborg interpretation
of Sartor Resartus was reinforced by a later comment White made
about a popular lecturer on science and theology, who had visited
Wichita in 1881 for the third time: "Wendling is a Sartor Resartus,
a mender of old clothes. We doubt if he has a Sunday-go-to-
meeting suit in his intellectual wardrobe." But that was not all.
White proceeded to compare him with Carlyle, and thereby trans-
ferred the focus of judgment to Carlyle and his book Sartor Re-
20. Sartor Resartus (Everyman's Edition), pp. 54, 55.
21. Ibid., p. 127.
22. This question has been examined in some detail in another essay, as yet, not pub-
lished.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 449
sartus: "He [Wendling] has the Carlyle idiosyncrasy of presenting
an old truth, or a truth well known among reading and observing
people, as a fresh discovery of his own." First, this reflects back on
White's Beacon column as having been intended primarily as com-
mentary on subjects of current interest that would apply the ideas
of Swedenborg. Clearly, he was making no pretense of originality.
On the contrary, however, as related to the question of Carlyle's
indebtedness to Swedenborg for the philosophy of clothes, White
was quite explicitly implying his own conviction that Carlyle had
done nothing more in his Sartor Resartus than to rehash Sweden-
borg's philosophy but had presented it as though it were his own
invention.
But should White's and the present writer's view be in error, and
should Carlyle not have consciously borrowed from Swedenborg
without credit, then the remarkable philosophical and literary coin-
cidence of resemblance still demonstrated that, in his literary mas-
terpiece, Carlyle was but a mender of old clothes whose owner-
identity had become lost to most people, and was patching them
together nearly a century after the original garments had been
tailored by the Great Swede. In either case, therefore, Carlyle's
Sartor Resartus was in the Swedenborgian tradition. In recog-
nizing this fact, Editor White, in the pioneer town of Wichita, was
more discerning than any of the leading critics operating for more
than a century in the recognized literary and academic centers.
After this diversion for the purpose of clarifying antecedents, the
story is returned to Wichita, and to the Beacon of February 10, 1875,
containing the first installment of White's Sartor Resartus column —
two short items:
A hypocrite is a first, second and third class liar. He lies to his God, to
his neighbor and to himself.
We love our neighbor, not for what he has done, but for what he is
going to do for us.
The second installment of a week later contained six paragraphs,
three of moderate length; on doubt, waste of resources, and the
crucifixion:
"Doubt" is the pregnant mother of discovery in science, reform in politics,
and truth in religion; without it there is scarcely a basis for the regeneration
of the world. The "doubters" are the hope and inspiration of the future.
Taking into consideration our immense resources, developed and unde-
veloped, extent of territory, fertility of soil, varieties of climate, etc., we are
the poorest of the civilized nations. Born the heir to all the centuries, yet we
are like children in a toy shop, we scatter with the lavish hand of waste and
build not.
29—6550
450 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The awful agony of the cross was spiritual, not physical. It is barely
possible that Christ was conscious of the slightest bodily pang. Thousands of
persons have suffered physical pain beyond all comparison greater. It is a
well-known psychological fact that the soul, when in an ecstacy of joy or sorrow,
fear or pain, is utterly unconscious of the sympathy of the body. The physical
view of this great event is the lowest possible conception of it.
The third in the "Sartorian Series" contained nine independent
paragraphs: six of them being pertinent to this story: dreams, truth
telling, reform, action versus thought, the true church, and doubt
versus revivals:
Dreams, frequently, in flashes, reveal to a man his true character. Analyze
them, they are intuitions of truth, sometimes.
If we were sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, we would find it difficult to keep up an ordinary conversation.
Reform in high places must be the consequent [sic] of reform in low places.
We cannot expect integrity in Congress unless it has its well-spring in the
cabin. The mountain side is apt to be the unhealthiest of places if there is
a mephitic pool at its base.
The men of action are like the storm, the tornado, the raging fire, the
earthquake, the pestilence; the men of thought are like the silent forces of
nature, whose universality and power no man is fully conscious of. The actor
is essentially a man of faith; the thinker is essentially a doubter.
You must not look for the true church of God in visible organizations, nor
creeds, nor sects. It is not catholic, it is not protestant. It is the marriage
of good and truth in the soul, which is the temple of the living God. Unless
the church is in the man by no physical or spiritual possibility can man be
in the church. It is this invisible church that is the bride of God; and it is
as universal as humanity.
The formula of the day is, "I don't believe." The most hopeful sign of
the present is the general scepticism diffused through all ranks and conditions
of life; and nowhere does it exist to a greater extent than in the churches.
The frequency of the so-called revivals of religion furnishes an incontrovertible
proof that the leaven of doubt is causing a fermentation in the whole mass,
and they are but vain protests against the inevitable. There must be fer-
mentation before we can have the pure wine of truth.
The fourth of the "Sartor Resartus Series" was in six paragraphs,
in the first of which White indulged in puns, which was rare for
him in a generation hopelessly addicted to the habit: "Never say
'can't'. Avoid cant. Carefully read Kant." Three of the para-
graphs were long and are essential to this mirror of White's mind
as of 1875; life in outer space, mental slavery, and the Devil:
According to the accepted theory of modern astronomy, the earth is perhaps
the only planet of our system that is inhabited, those within the earth's o[r]bit
having too high a temperature, while those outside have too low a tempera-
ture to admit of animal life. Might it not be that distance has no appreciable
effect upon the temperature of the planet, that being regulated entirely by the
extent of the radiating surf ace [?1 What is there of absorbing or refracting
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 451
power in space that would cause a ray of heat to lose anything of its
potency? If there is nothing, Jupiter and Saturn may be of as high a tempera-
ture as Mercury, and Mercury may be of as low a temperature as earth.
The slavery of body is fast disappearing from the face of the earth, but
that of the mind broods with sable wings over the intellect of the age. With
what abjectness, what unquestioning servitude, do we bow before our creeds,
our dogmas, and our spiritual tyrants. Freedom is the very life of the soul,
and thought its most beautiful form. Liberty and rationality are the man;
destroy them and you annihilate him. No truth of God can be received and
become a part of the spiritual man if it is not received by the free will through
the calm, deliberate judgment of the intellectual faculties. To call a man a
free thinker, is not to reproach him, but to crown him with the laurel and
the amaranthe. For without the utmost freedom of thought there cannot
be the fullest moral or intellectual growth.
Who the devil is the "Devil?" is a pertinent inquiry, and one that is
increasing in frequency of repetition. It is of the utmost importance that it
should be definitely settled. . . . If we gift him with personality, . . .
[the orthodox view], we must concede him almost divine powers, relieve the
human family from nearly all moral responsibility, and must look upon man
as a mere foot-ball between God and the devil. We must deny personal
existence, or else admit that the devil is equal to God, or that God is the
author of evil. There is such an entity as good, and its form is truth. There
is no such thing as a spiritual entity called evil. Evil is simply a perversion
of good — that and nothing more. There is no good that cannot be perverted,
even the highest. . . . Good is objectively and subjectively alive, and its
form, in the concrete, is God. Evil is not objectively or subjectively alive, and
has no form, because it is not an entity and has no substantial existence. The
transmutation of good into evil by perversion or misuse, takes place in the will
through the understandings, or as otherwise expressed, through man's freedom
and rationality, consequently there can be no use for an objective, personal
devil. From the above postulates, it may be seen that every man is his
own devil.
In the Beacon, July 7, 1875, came the announcement that Fisher
and Smith had taken possession of the paper, and in this issue was
printed White's fifth in the "Sartorian Series." After quoting from
Draper's Conflict Between Science and Religion to the effect that
in relation to the magnitude of the universe, man is only a tiny
particle: "Of what consequence is man, his pleasures or his pains?"
White replied that the difference lay in the value or worth of one
object over another, quality not quantity, and that this is an abso-
lute truth —
though but one man in a million is ever heard of, or leaves a visible trace, yet
the meanest of his kind leaves an indelible impress on the world. And those
whose names are indelibly impressed on the memory of the ages, were but
the exponents of the spirit of their age and molded by it. We, to-day, are
the sum of the efforts of the past.
This is the last of the "Sartor Resartus Series" until February 28,
452 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
1877, a full year after White had become part owner and con-
trolling editor of the Beacon. There would not appear to be any-
thing in these philosophical paragraphs to recommend him as editor
of the paper as of November, 1875. The basis of that choice must
be found elsewhere, tradition to the contrary notwithstanding. The
"Agricola" letters were much more to the point of what concerned
Sedgwick county. The things discussed there were the Texas cattle
business as against the local agricultural interests, drouth relief,
city and county government, and most important of all, the com-
prehensive political program of May 26. In fact, some might look
upon this particular letter as a politician's "trial balloon."
White's candidacy for the Republican nomination to the state
legislature appeared in the Beacon and the Eagle for September
1 and 2 respectively. The following week both papers contained
"An Open Letter to the People/' dated Ninnescah township, Sep-
tember 6, 1875 — one of the most remarkable documents in Kansas
political history:
I am told frequently, that if I desire the nomination as representative, I
must work for it; yes, work like the devil. What more could I say to any
man than to tell him that I am a candidate, and probably say, in addition, that
I have been living in this county for the last four years, the most on my farm,
on the Ninnescah. I can as effectively say the same through the papers.
White pointed out that worthy citizens condemned the customary
methods of canvass, promising, trading, etc., which went far toward
giving politics its bad name. And then, he put his finger on the
theme that, as it turned out, he was to repeat again, again, and
again; the fundamental character of the individual citizen in his
own locality — the state or the nation was no better than the lo-
calities of which it was composed:
If the people desire honest reform they must commence the work at home.
. . . The primary meeting is the very bed-rock of our political system.
. . . It should be a question alone of integrity and capacity. . . .
If a candidate is not willing to leave the people to their cool, sober, un-
trammelled judgment, but feels that he must labor with them as the exhorter
does with the sinner at the mourner's bench, he surely must think that they
are not capable of making a proper choice, and need his instruction.
In conclusion, I beg leave to say that I cannot visit a township or devote a
day to the working up of influence or securing delegates pledged to my
support. I have strongly condemned such procedure when not expecting an
office, and now ... I see no reason to change my views. I shall leave
the matter to the good and honest judgment of the people. . . .
In the Beacon, September 8, a letter to the editor from a "Nin-
nescah Republican" was printed, expressing pleasure at the an-
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 453
nouncement of White's candidacy, commenting that he was gen-
erally known about the county because of his many ably written
articles under the pen name "Agricola":
Indeed we doubt if there is a man in Sedgwick county who possesses the
same acquirements, is so practical withal, and who would come as near filling
the position with honor to himself and credit to the community as would
Mr. White. He is a good Republican, is modest and unassuming, and will
not stoop to huckstering, log-rolling or button-holing for an office.
So far as White's candidacy is concerned it is not necessary to
complete the record of the campaign — the outcome is self-evident.
Other considerations were involved, however, which require a brief
explanation in terms of campaign facts. In the county Republican
primary convention, October 5, Kelley won the nomination on the
second ballot from a field of four. Dissatisfaction, even prior to
the primary convention, led to a call, dated August 28, for an inde-
pendent or opposition ticket, which materialized with Judge B. H.
Fisher as candidate for the legislature. In the vote of November,
John Kelley received 1,056 Republican votes, Fisher 520 inde-
pendent votes, and Jay Kempinsky 69 Democratic votes, although
the Democrats had no party organization in the county.23
Party-wise, this campaign of 1875 was critical for Sedgwick
county. It was doubly an off year in Kansas with its annual elec-
tions, but 1876 was portentous in possibilities — national, state, and
county. Many thought that the political party disorganization and
realignment consequent upon the American Civil War had about
run its course — new issues, new men, and new orientations, freed
from the captivity to the old war-and-slavery issues, seemed to some
about to crystallize.
When Fisher and Smith employed W. S. White as editor of the
Beacon in November, 1875 — after the election excitement was over
— they were not hiring an unknown man. Conversely, White was
not unaware of the views of Fisher and Smith when he accepted
the position. His inexperience in the newspaper business extended
only to the editorial function. Certainly, no one, not even "Nin-
nescah Republican," could have been really surprised when the
Beacon, December 8, 1875, with White as editor, announced that
henceforth it was a Democratic paper. On January 19, 1876, the
Beacon carried the banner: "Leading Democratic Journal of the
Southwest." To be sure there was some occasion to wonder how
the writer of the "Open Letter" of September 6, declining to canvass
23. Beacon, September 1, October 6, 13, November 10, 1875; Eagle, November 4, 11,
1875. Different reports of numbers disagree slightly.
454 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
for the office for which he was a candidate, would perform as a
partisan political editor. In that capacity he was expected to pro-
mote the Democratic party according to the prevailing code of
political party warfare.24 Certainly, White himself was aware of
the fact that he was incapable of being partisan in that literal sense.
When he said as much 11 years later, upon the occasion of the sale
of the Beacon, no reader of that paper would have disagreed. He
must have tried the patience of the Sedgwick county Democratic
committee, but on the other hand, in the task of building a Demo-
cratic party out of virtually nothing, there was something to be said
in favor of the White type of journalism.
The reception by contemporaries given the Beacons political
confession of faith was cordial. The Winfield Courier said: "There
is not a square-toed Democratic paper in Southwest Kansas. One
is needed. . . . Success to the Beacon. . . ." The Demo-
cratic Kansas City (Mo.) Times welcomed the Beacon repeating
apparently from the missing number of the Beacon that: "The
delay in the avowal, they declare, was entirely owing to" the lack
of a Democratic county organization. Murdock's Eagle was partly
facetious — the Beacon "becomes a Democratic headlight, not only
for Wichita but Southwestern Kansas, we judge. ... If the
Beacon but maintains its present literary excellence and local en-
terprise it will not only hold the same relation to the Democratic
party in Southwestern Kansas that the EAGLE has held to the Re-
publican party." The Eagle emphasized the prospects and the
logic of Democratic ambitions in justification of the announcement:
"One half of Congress — the popular half — over one half of the
State Governors is of that stamp, and the impending great National
fight will be maintained on the one side by that party." 23
The letter of "An Anxious Democrat" urged Democratic organi-
zation pointing to the next presidential campaign, the need of re-
form, the Republican devices for smothering it, and the Democratic
obligation and opportunity. Incidentally, the author revealed an
important aspect of his positive program — money and banking —
repeal of the national banking law and the substitute therefor of a
national paper currency issued by the United States treasury, and
interchangeable for registered United States bonds bearing 3.65%
24. The critical number of the Beacon in which the announcement was made, v. 4, No.
1, December 8, 1875, is missing from the file, so the full story of the announcement is not
available. Contemporaries, in their commentary on the "new departure," supply the dating
and some of the content. — Eagle, December 9, 1875; Beacon, December 22, 1875.
25. Ibid., December 22, 1875; Wichita Weekly Eagle, December 9, 1875.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 455
interest: "it is worth something to be conscious of working in a good
cause, though the chances of defeat obstruct the progress/' 26
In the same issue the Beacon seconded the plea to organize the
Democratic party in Sedgwick county. Without a party, what had
Democrats been doing — some had "fallen into the ranks of the Re-
publican party"; and others had not participated in politics at all
and did not vote. "Democrats or men of whatever political faith
or creed that discern the portentous storm gathering in the political
sky, should at once consent to a day, and fall in line," to organize
the Democratic party. The call was issued for February 22, 1876,
and was supported by a long editorial in the name of reform and
good government, challenging centralization tendencies in contrast
with "the simple republic of a Jeffersonian administration. . . ,27
But two weeks later the Beacon comment is a reminder about the
meaning of terms. Replying to the Cincinnati (Ohio) Gazette's
diagnosis that the Democratic party in the West was in a rather bad
way, the Beacon observed that: "It is rather in the way of a Radical
party, but we don't look upon that as being particularly bad."
Illumination on the meaning of the term "radical" may well await
White's own exposition of editorial policy. Early in February, 1876,
his trial period as editor, if it was indeed to have been intended as
such, was over, and he bought Fisher's interest in the paper, be-
coming editor in control of the Beacons policies, Smith serving as
business manager.28
During his first year as editor and his first political campaign
White followed a course that was conventional for the most part.
Corruption in politics was attributed, not to a debased moral tone
of the people, but to "the almost universal neglect on the part of
the so-called best citizens to perform faithfully their civil duties."
Private business was put first, he insisted, to the neglect of public
duties of good citizens, and more extensively in cities than in smaller
towns.29 To end corruption and other objectives, the Beacon urged
Kansas Democrats to fuse with the Greenback party, but with the
substitution of C. W. Blair, or E. G. Ross, Democrats, to head the
ticket instead of J. K. Hudson, the Greenback candidate.30 In the
final appeal before going to the polls, White spoke for the principles
26. Wichita Weekly Beacon, December 22, 1875.
27. Ibid., January 12, 1876. The issue of January 5, 1876, is missing from the file.
It might have contained the call, but at any rate it was printed in the issue of January 12.
28. The Beacon file is incomplete for this period, v. 4, numbers 11-17 inclusive, Febru-
ary 16 to March 30, 1876, are also missing.
29. Wichita Weekly Beacon, April 26, 1876.
30. Ibid., August 16, 1876.
456 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
of "constitutional liberty," purity of administration, and civil serv-
ice reform — Samuel J. Tilden for president, and John Martin for
governor.31 When the disputed Hayes-Tilden election was finally
decided late in February, 1877, White answered his own question:
'"What Will the Democracy Do?" by declaring:
Just what it did when by a coalition that outraged public decency, Gen.
Jackson was defeated in the electoral college [1824] that disregarded the
admonition of the popular vote — . . . . The Democratic party is the only
party that has existed in this country not held together "by the cohesive
power of public plunder/' 82
The record of 1876 as partisan Democratic editor was anything
but distinguished, — as dull as dishwater — and might have been du-
plicated by most any other "reform" paper. The factors that were
to make White a distinguished Kansas journalist, or more com-
prehensively, publicist, were of quite a different order of magnitude.
Already the reader has been introduced to White's major source of
inspiration, Emanuel Swedenborg. To a lesser degree he was in-
debted to Herbert Spencer, a materialist. White's originality lay
in effecting a substantial syntheses of the philosophical-theological
system of the Great Swede, with an admixture from the secular
philosophy of Spencer.
In 1882 Kansas elected its first Democratic state governor, George
W. Click. When a call was issued for a convention of Democratic
editors to meet in Topeka at the time of the inauguration, some
Republican editors took occasion to ridicule the Democratic press.
This procedure angered Col. D. R. Anthony, editor of the Leaven-
worth Times, whose Republicanism no one could doubt. Anthony
reminded his Republican colleagues that there were about 40 Demo-
cratic newspapers in the state, that some of them were edited with
conspicuous ability, and the Wichita Beacon "has few equals any-
where for clear-cut vigorous expression." 33
At the convention of the Democratic editors, January 8,
1883, White's stubborn individualism received conspicuous notice.
Flushed with victory, of course, these editors proposed to create
a permanent organization. White refused to be organized and
opposed organization of any kind: "He would not ^belong' to any-
thing. The word ^belong' was one for a dog or a slave. He with-
drew."34 White's Democratic party colleagues could not under-
stand or control such stubborn individualism. But whether right
31. Ibid., November 1, 1876.
32. Ibid., February 28, 1877.
33. Leavenworth Daily Times, December 21, 1882.
34. Topeka Daily Capital, January 9, 1883.
WILLIAM SUTTON WHITE, PUBLICIST 457
or wrong, his 11 years editorship of the Beacon was grounded in
a well articulated and remarkably consistent philosophy; an in-
tellectual commodity that was conspicuously absent from the party
councils and the party press of either political organization. An edi-
tor who lived his philosophy and religion without fear or favor, and
applied his singular system of thought with rigorous consistency,
was a rare phenomenon, was indeed an uncomfortable colleague
and a dangerous opponent. Evidently, Anthony read White's
"clear-cut vigorous expression" with a certain apprehension.
(This Article Witt Be Continued in a Later Issue of the Quarterly.)
Letters of Daniel R. Anthony, 1857-1862—
Concluded
Edited by EDGAR LANGSDORF and R. W. RICHMOND
PART FOUR, JUNE 20-SEPTEMBER 14, 1862
INTRODUCTION
T ITTLE more than three months after the Seventh Kansas arrived
•" in the South D. R. Anthony's connection with it came to an end.
He was strongly opposed to the official policy which limited the
objective of the war to the preservation of the Union. This policy
was interpreted by men like Anthony as in effect protecting slave
property. He was further embittered at being passed over for pro-
motion to the colonelcy of the regiment and for these reasons sub-
mitted his resignation from the military service.
Anthony's tempestuous personality is nowhere better displayed
than in the incident of his brigade general order number 26. Is-
sued on June 18, 1862, while he was commanding in the temporary
absence of Brig. Gen. Robert B. Mitchell, the order read as follows:
HEAD QRS ADVANCE COLUMN, IST BRIGADE
IST DIVISION CENTRAL ARMY OF THE Miss
CAMP ETHERTOGE, TENN., June 18th, 1862
GENERAL ORDERS
No. 26
I. The impudence and impertinence of the open and avowed Rebels,
Traitors, Secessionists and Southern Rights men of this section of the State of
Tennessee in arrogantly demanding the right to search our camp for their
fugitive slaves has become a nuisance and will no longer be tolerated. Officers
will see that this class of men who visit our camp for this purpose are excluded
from our lines.
II. Should any such parties be found within the lines, they will be arrested
and sent to Hd. Qrs.
III. Any officer or soldier of this command who shall arrest and deliver to
his master a fugitive slave shall be summarily and severely punished according
to the laws relative to such crimes.
IV. The strong Union sentiment in this section is most gratifying and all
officers and soldiers in their intercourse with the loyal and those favorably dis-
EDGAR LANGSDORF is assistant secretary and ROBERT W. RICHMOND is the state ar-
chivist of the Kansas State Historical Society.
(458)
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 459
posed are requested to act in their usual kind and courteous manner and protect
them to the fullest extent.
By Order of
LT. COL. D. R. ANTHONY 7th K. V.i
Command'g
W. W. H. LAWRENCE
Capt. & A. A. G.
This was in direct violation of General Orders No. 16, issued on
the same date by Brig. Gen. I. F. Quinby, commanding the District
of the Mississippi, and was also interpreted as being in violation of
an earlier order of Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, General Orders No.
3, Headquarters, Department of the Missouri, St. Louis, November
20, 1861. Anthony presumably was aware of Quinby's order at the
time he released his own, and certainly was familiar with Halleck's.
The pertinent section of the latter was the first paragraph:
It has been represented that important information respecting the numbers
and condition of our forces is conveyed to the enemy by means of fugitive
slaves who are admitted within our lines. In order to remedy this evil, it is
directed that no such persons be hereafter permitted to enter the lines of any
camp or of any forces on the march, and that any now within such lines be
immediately excluded therefrom.2
Quinby's directive prohibited the admission of
any colored person within the lines of any post or encampment of this District
who are not free — or who by the acts or consent of their masters have not
become clearly contraband. ... All commandants of Brigades Regiments,
detachments & companies are called upon to see that this order is rigidly en-
forced, and all persons who permit or countenance a violation of it shall if a
commissioned officer be reported for mustering out of the service and if an
enlisted man be tried and punished by a court martial.3
According to subsequent accounts, when he returned to duty and
learned of Anthony's attempt to protect fugitive slaves General
Mitchell became angry and excited. However, knowing that public
sentiment supported Anthony, he did not want to countermand the
order himself. Instead he directed Anthony to do so. The follow-
ing conversation was then said to have taken place:
Anthony: As a subordinate officer it is my duty to obey your orders, but you
will remember, General, that "Order No. 26" is a brigade order;
and I am not now in command of the brigade. Of course you are
aware the lieutenant-colonel of a regiment cannot countermand a
brigade order?
Mitchell: Oh, that need not stand in the way, Colonel Anthony. I can put
you in command long enough for that.
1. From a manuscript in Anthony's hand, dated Humboldt, Tenn., June 30, 1862, in-
cluded among the Anthony papers in the State Historical Society. It was printed in full in
the Rochester (N. Y.) Evening Express, July 11, 1862.
2. War of the Rebellion, Ser. I, v. 8 (Washington, 1883), p. 370.
3. Anthony Mss., loc. cit.
460 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Anthony: Do you put me in command of the brigade?
Mitchell: Yes, sir.
Anthony: You say, General Mitchell, I am now the commanding officer of this
brigade?
Mitchell: Yes, sir; you are in command.
Anthony: Then, sir, as commanding officer of the brigade I am not subject to
your orders; and as to your request that "Order No. 26" be counter-
manded, I respectfully decline to grant it. "Brigade order No. 26"
shall not be countermanded while I remain in command! 4
Shortly thereafter Mitchell placed Anthony under arrest and pre-
ferred charges against him. The first charge, disobedience of orders,
contained five specifications; the second, conduct unbecoming an
officer and a gentleman, contained four. No court martial was ever
held, however, and Anthony was soon returned to duty. From that
time on, both because of this incident and the fact that Major Lee
was promoted over him, he lost interest in the regiment, and as the
letters indicate submitted his resignation. He was released from
service September 3, 1862, and returned to Leavenworth to resume
his civilian pursuits.
THE LETTERS
HEAD QUARTERS 7th Regt Kan Vol
CAMP "ETHERIDGE"
WAKLY Co NEAR DRESDEN
June 20th 1862
DEAR SISTER
Here we are in the Land of Dixie with the most God forsaken
community I ever saw —
For two days I was in command of the Brigade consisting of the
7th Kan Vol Cavalry 8th Kansas Vol Infantry, 2ond Kan Battery
8th Wisconsin Battery — 6 guns each — and I took occasion to issue
an order prohibiting Rebels from hunting our camp for Slaves.
Genl Quinby is in command of this district and had just ordered
us to return to Mr Sims 8 negroes or rather to turn the negroes out
[of] our lines — the same thing — 5 I also issued an order prohibiting
any officer or soldier from arresting and delivering a Fugitive Slave
to his master This in the Army of Genl Halleck seems strange to
4. The United States Biographical Dictionary, Kansas Volume (Chicago, 1879), p. 57.
5. Brig. Gen. I. F. Quinby, commanding the District of the Mississippi, issued this
order in the form of a letter dated June 13 and addressed to Brig. Gen. R. B. Mitchell,
commanding the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Central Army of the Mississippi. It read as
follows: "General Mr A. G. Sims who lives near Clinton Hickman Co Ky reported to me
that there are now within your lines eight of his colored servants who were taken from him
by some portion of your command in passing his house — These persons must be placed
without your lines and the parties that brought them in or allowed them to pass in pun-
ished. This disregard of positive orders from the HdQs of the Dept of the Miss and from
the HdQs of this Dist cannot be permitted — If there is within this district a Regiment
or Detachment in which the sentiment is such that these orders and instructions cannot be
enforced without riot and mutiny, such regiment or detachment will be reported for muster-
ing out of the service." — Anthony Mss., loc. cit.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 461
Officers & soldiers and many are waiting for orders from ranking
officers countermanding mine —
I doubt whether any such action will take place —
Most of our B. G.s & M. Gs are of the old conservative school —
but the Regimental, Company & other officers are true and will
stand by me —
It was most fortunate that this opportunity occured — And you
will see the importance and strength of the order when I say to
you that the order was made by my order by W W H Lawrence
Capt & Asst Adft Genl—
When the order was read our boys yelled — Both Batteries and
the 8th Kansas did also —
Genl Quinby has ordered us to be reported for mustering out —
our boys all say if we are to catch Negroes — muster us out —
I have to take the lead— but I have the 2ond Kan & 8th Wis Bat-
tery the 1st 7th & 8th Kan the 2ond Illinois and the 12th 13th
& 15th Wisconsin volunteers to back me — The Col of the 13th
excepted — so you see I have little or nothing to fear in fighting
Brigaders —
Merritt is at Trenton 20 miles south with 3 cos our regiment &
6 cos 111 Cavalry —
We expect to go south on the 23rd
The people here are largely Union
Have had no papers since the 13th 7 days without news —
The ladies here all "dip" that is they broom up the end of a
small stick 2 inches long and % inch in diameter by chewing one
end in their mouth — and then take it out and rub it in a box of Snuff
and the broom end filled with snuff in their mouth to suck and pass
the Snuff to the next one — the same box goes round —
The best of them they say do this secretly —
D R ANTHONY
TISHOMINGO" HOTEL
CORINTH Miss July 8 1862
DEAR FATHER
I arrived here on Sunday the 6th from Columbus Ky. 145 miles
by the Mobile & Ohio Rail Road with orders to report to Genl Hal-
leek in arrest. What they w?L make out of the "niggers" I dont
know. I think the matter will be kept under advisement for a time,
and then I will be discharged I have demanded an immediate
trial as all the witnesses against me are now here. The most that
can be done will be a court martial — and cashiered — in that case I
462 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
shall go to Washington for redress and will get it too — They well
know their weakness They know the whole country would side
with me and do not care to bring the issue before the country to
prominently —
I shall let the matter rest a week or so and then if nothing is done
I shall bring the whole matter to the attention of our Senators Prest
Lincoln & Secy Stanton for redress —
The Regiment will be here to day they come by marches with
all the transportation The Infantry coming by Rail — Have not
seen or heard from Merritt since the 1st at Humboldt Term — He
was then well and continues to enjoy the life of a soldier — And
the company likes him also —
The main points at issue with Genls Halleck — Quinby & Mitchell
and myself are —
1st I issued Brigade Genl orders No 26 which they interpret in
direct contradiction to Genl Hallecks order No 3 and Quinby's
order No 16 —
2ond In Quinby's General orders No 16 it say [s] if "any one permits
or countenances a violation of it they shall if a commissioned
officer be reported for mustering out of the service" — I re-
ported to Genl Mitchell that "I had countenanced a violation
of said order" — Now the question comes — Have they the
power and if they have dare they muster me out for that
cause — I reported myself for the purpose of being mustered
out of the service, as with the present policy I do not care to
remain in —
To me it seems that the presence [of] our army here is doing
more to strengthen the rebel cause than to suppress it — No matter
how outrageous and damning may have been the course of the
rebels here — if they only take the oath they are indemnified for
past & present losses of Hay oats corn and even rent for lands
and Houses occupied by our troops — In one case Genl Mitchell
paid a rebel $35.00 for 70 horses & mules grazing on one acre of
clover — at first he said he'd be damned if he'd take the oath —
but the $35.00 was to great a temptation — Another old rebel was
paid $470. Our men are employed in watching rebel's onions,
Green Peas & Potatoes And if a poor soldier chances to allow his
appetite to wander from the Hard Bread & Side Meat so far as to
appropriate a rebel onion to his Stomach — woe unto him —
The Union people stand by the road side and with pails of water
quench the thirst of the weary soldier as he marches through the
suffocating dust under a burning sun — and if they have an onion
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 463
it is offered gratis — but to them our soldiers insist on paying— A
soldier is the most generous man in the world — he dont care for
money — He hates meanness — It is not necessary to guard the
Union mans house or property — No Soldier will harm him a
dime — he will go hungry first — But the soldiers think that where
the Government might take from Secesh onions Beans Peas Po-
tatoes Beets &c and give them saving 25 per cent of their lives —
and they cannot see why they should suffer and die while guarding
the property of their enemies — The soldiers are right —
Any amount of provisions are given to the families here in want
whose sons brothers & fathers are in the Secesh army — why is
this indifference as to the health and comfort of our own men and
such sensitiveness about our enemies who are shooting our men
while on picket duty guarding rebel property A case of the last
land occured only a few days ago— so I was informed by Col Mor-
ton 84th Ohio—
Under all these circumstances I think the army is better of off
without me than with me — and I shall have no heart to work
until the policy of this department changes. Four fifths of the army
are of the same opinion —
Am expecting the Regmt every moment will write again —
The weather is hot, the whole country filled with transportation
waggons — causing the air to be filled with dust — and the air
very impure from the immense amount of filth accumulated by
such immense massing of people— and using [im?]proper police
regulations —
Truly D R ANTHONY
PRIVATE
TISHOMINGO HOTEL
CORINTH Miss July 9th 1862
DEAR FATHER
I wish you would see the Democrat and Express and request them
to publish letters in the New York Tribune from their regular
Corinth correspondence or any other articles from Conservative St
Louis Democrat Chicago Tribune or other papers which may con-
tain favorable notices of the cause of my arrest —
Of course they will not want to publish more than the public
may wish to know — But from the fact that Rochester was my
home and is your home I desire to have the matter as fully ventilated
in that vicinity as is consistent. I would like to pay them for setting
the type — and would like two hundred copies of each paper con-
taining anything as to the case —
464 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
From present appearances the case may go to Washington —
They are very sensitive here in regard to the arrest and a general
desire not to meddle much with it.
Two aids of General Mitchell ( of Kansas ) R. B ) called on me to
day we had a splendid time chatting on various subjects — No
mention was made of the arrest — (The two aids are the principal
witnesses against me) And the interview [ended] by their inviting
me to partake of Sparkling Catawba at their rooms with their "ear-
nest" & "sincere" assurences of friendship for me —
Well every [one] evades the order here more or less — the obey-
ing of Order No 3 is in form only — but the army is opposed to it —
and wont stand it long —
Direct letters or papers to me Lt Col D R Anthony 7th Regmt
Kan Vol Mitchells Kansas Brigade in the field via Cairo 111 —
I wrote Lane and Pomeroy to day and ended by "Hopeing the
time would soon come when a rebel onion would not be considered
more sacred than the life of a Union Soldier" —
Everything seems to work well — Maj Lee has reed orders from
the War department to take command of the regiment as Col —
which I suppose settles that matter — I never had so many friends
in the regiment as now —
Truly
D R ANTHONY
CAMP SHERIDEN
JACINTO TISHOMINGO Co Miss
July 22 - 1862
DEAR AARON
I send you two extracts from Conservative & Champion I would
like to have them copied in the Express or Democrat and have a
few copies sent me — Direct to
Leut Col D R Anthony
7th Kansas Cavalry
in the field
Granger's Brigade
via Corinth
We are now the advance regiment — No enemy stationed nearer
than Bay Springs 18 miles S. E. Scouting parties come much
nearer — I go tomorrow with a large force to reconnoitre in that
vicinity — 50 mile[s] south there are 60,000 of the enemy — My
health has been poor is now better — Have offered my resigna-
Portion of a military map of 1865. Several towns in Tennessee and
Mississippi, mentioned by Colonel Anthony, are marked by arrows.
Charles R. Jennison
(1834-1884)
From a photograph taken
about 1861.
James H. Lane
(1814-1866)
As he appeared about 1855.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 465
tion in consequence of Lee appointment as Col over me — It was
refused — I hope for an appointment as Col soon — and if I had
a good friend of the Gov of 111 Ind or N. Y. who would secure it,
I would like it — or who would give me a letter of authority to
raise a regmt —
Truly
D R ANTHONY
No letters from you during the past month
CAMP 2 MILES SOUTH WEST OF
RIENZA Miss July 27, 1862 6
DEAR FATHER
Yours of the 17th inst reed — but no papers — I wish you would
cut out all notices and send me the slips in a letter — they will
come safer —
In consequence of my release from arrest so unexpectedly The
history of my matters will not require so much ink — However I
desire such a number of any papers containing notices affecting me
favorably as you may deem best — of any thing important send
100 — Keep an account of the expense and I will pay it if not over
$200 or $300.—
Would the papers like to have letters from here occasionally if
so— send me word and I will write or get some one to write — 9
companies of our regiment leave this afternoon for Ripley 30 miles
west to catch a few Secesh who are recruiting in that town — I do
not go — Merritt is going —
I have lost much of the interest I had in the regiment — To see a
Col over me is too much — particularly when he knows so little
and has not got the confidence of the men. I never was so popular
with them as now — on my return to camp after my release from
arrest the Band Seranaded me and nearly this whole regiment came
out and gave 3 cheers for me 3 for Jennison & 3 for Lane & Pom-
eroy — Lee is ignorant of the tactics & the men have not confidence
in his capacity to lead —
Well I have been at work all the day and until now 11 Am did
not know it was Sunday —
If I can resign honorably or get promoted to a colonelcy in an-
other regmt all OK — but I do detest serving under a man who has
6. Rienzi, Miss., at this time was the extreme outpost of the Army of the Mississippi.
The Seventh arrived there on July 23 and was assigned to the First Cavalry brigade com-
manded by Col. Philip H. Sheridan. It remained at this post until its evacuation on Sep-
tember 30. — Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kansas, 1861-1865, Military
History of Kansas Regiments . . . (Topeka, 1896), p. 93.
30—6550
468 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
is so much disatisfaction in the regiment — the men are clamorous
for me to remain they dont have confidence in Lee —
Genl Rosecrans has written to the Gazette over his own signature
denying that he authorized the article — but I dont care for that I
have other reasons for getting into a better place —
Merritt continues well — and my health is better — The
weather hot sultry — No air stirring — hot until Midnight —
and by morning you have to have a woolen blanket over you to
keep warm —
I shall know by the close of the month whether my resignation
is accepted —
If Father you can get away I trust you will go Leavenworth for
a few months say until Jany —
Write often
D R ANTHONY
RIENZA Miss Aug 19th 1862
DEAR MOTHER
Your short note was recieved a few days ago —
Aaron writes me you are again troubled with the asthma, but
thinks it is caused principally by your attention to the Peaches — I
dont think you need work so very hard, now that all danger of your
having to go to the Poor House is passed — If there is any real
danger of such a catastrophe happening I pledge myself to furnish
a few dimes to save you from such a sad fate —
I just come from Merritt's tent, found him sound asleep along
side of his 1st Lieutenant A. M. Pitts — their bed is made by driv-
ing stakes in the ground and placing poles across it and on that is
a Husk Mattrass stolen or I would rather say Jayhawked from a
Secesh — All in a tent about 8 feet square — They with their
company — the finest Co in the command were out yesterday and
last night on Picket duty on the main road leading south and to-
wards the enemy — they make their Picket about four miles out
and then send out squads of ten and twenty men from five to ten
miles around to feel of the enemy — if enemy there be within feeling
distance — they saw none last night —
Have heard nothing from my resignation yet — Trouble seems
to be brewing in Kansas or on the Missouri borders — I want to
be there —
Efforts have again been made but without success to get the Post
Office away from me —
I am in favor more and more every day of arming the negroes —
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 469
creating Slave insurrections — taking all Secesh property and of
paying Bounty money to Soldiers —
For the past two nights the weather has been so cold as to require
a blanket over us — to day is cool and slight rain which is quite
welcome — from 1 to 6 P. M. it is terribly hot —
My man Griff is with me — cant do without him —
Our camp here is in a very pretty grove — water scarce —
With love to you and all I am as Ever Your Son
DR ANTHONY
RIENZA Miss Aug 31, 1862
DEAR FATHER
Your letter of the 18th and Aarons of the 21st came yesterday I
get the Express very regularly — I never get a Democrat — Have
them enclosed in a separate wrapper and directed Lt Col D R
Anthony — 7th Kansas via Cairo & Corinth — and they will come
straight —
No news from my resignation yet — have doubts of its ac-
ceptance—
We were alarmed on the 26th at 2 P. M. by the cry of "the Secesh
are right on us. — I was in command of the camp at the time — I
at once ordered to Chief Bugler to sound the call 'To Arms" and
went myself to the north side of our camp and saw some 30 Secesh
driving in our picket right past our camp and firing at them — they
returned the shots — It did not seem possible that they had ap-
proached our camp so closely without giving us more notice — but
the Secesh evidently were closer upon our camp than they intended
for they suddenly halted drew up in line facing our camp. I sent
out a few men to learn who they were and report forthwith — they
did so — Killing one man & taking one a prisoner with his horse —
by this time they begun a quick retreat — "To Horse" was
sounded — Soon my scouts returned saying 400 or 500 were
drawn up in line of battle just over the hill one fourth mile from
Camp — In less than three minutes our boys had saddled and we
were after them — but they broke and ran — Our boys — the 2ond
Iowa & 2ond Mich — Cavalry chased them some 15 miles to the
Hatchie river and swamp — Capturing many guns — some pris-
oners & other traps —
Of course when I saw our pickets driven upon our camp without
notice I had reason to think our camp was attacked by them in
force — It seems however they made a blunder —
They heard we had deserted the town and only left out a picket
for deception and to cover our retreat —
470 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
As it was they made a losfs] You may rest assured it wa[s a]
surprise to be fired into at midfday] when all was quiet —
To day Merritt is out in com[mand] with his Company on the
main So[uth] road as picket with orders to move south some ten
miles — Merritt has done well so far — and [has] had command of
the advance of the advance guard twice —
It is the impression here that both the armies now here are mere
shells of outposts — At any rate our army is — we have merely
a chain of out posts — with no troops to back them — most of our
army has gone to Chattanooga to help Buell —
This is mere surmise on my part —
We have 13,500 men in the front and very few at Corinth —
Our position is the extreme right and front and makes a
point — a kind of feeler — We like to hear often —
As Ever
D R ANTHONY
I have been afflicted with any number of bites — and breaking out
of the heat — so has nearly our whole camp —
RIENZA Miss Aug 31, 1862
MOTHER
Would you like a description of my house — Well say you see
a square tent (Wall tent with fly over it) 8 feet square — 4 feet
high at the low edge — ridge 8 ft high — the stumps cut smooth
with the ground — a fine nice crumb cloth for a carpet —
On the right as you enter the tent from the west is my saddle,
Bridle & blanket placed on a pole resting on two crotched sticks
drove in the ground — Next my trunk placed on 4 sticks drove in
the ground 12 inches high to keep it dry — Next in corner is a hole
in the ground 18 inches square & deep which I use for cellar to keep
my fruit vegetables Wine &c in — it is very cool and neat —
across the east end & back end of my tent is my Cot which keeps
about 15 inches from the ground — with Mattrass 2 double dark
blue blankets two sheets and my overcoat with large cape for a
pillow — Next on the north in middle is a fine table made by
driving two poles in the ground and nailing a box on the top with
my Rubber water proof blanket for a table spread — in the north west
corner is a small stand 18 inches high with a water pail & Basin on
it and a crash towel Hung on a pin stuck in the side of the tent
close by — My mirror, a small round hung up in a similar manner
close by —
During this weather the front of the tent is always open and the
sides raised or looped up so that air has free access in and through
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 471
the tent — I seldom let the tent sides down unless in a gale of
wind or storm — Sleep with it up nights — I keep two servants
who sleep in a tent close by and a mess chest under the shade of
some trees near by — Maj Herrick & myself mess together My
dinner to day was Ham mashed potatoes — good light cold bread
— dried apple sauce — Butter Salt Pepper and Coffee with Sugar
We some times have Beef Mutton Pork fresh & Salt Beef &
Pork — and then we have tea — Peach stews & dumplings and
sundry other dishes got up in good style — Yesterday we had
Claret wine for dinner — I keep whisky and we often have good
whiskey punches Lemons costing about ten cents apiece Whisky
only 50 ct gallon — The whisky we have it is said will kill a "reg-
ular" in three years — On an average it kills many more than the
leaden bullets — and from my observation I am inclined to think
our army is in more danger from it — Next to idleness and con-
sequent ennui and tedium it is the most fatal —
"Biles" are getting better. Take Salts Epsom three times a
day — They say its good for the itch and I surely have it and so
has the whole army for that matter — they call it "heat" —
Merritt went yesterday with Maj Herrick and three companies
to Kossuth 12 or 15 [miles] north west — where our boys had the
fight on the 27th and lost 5 men Killed and 7 wounded — Heard
from them this noon they will be back in the night some time —
Merritt makes a dashing officer in a fight — the boys have confi-
dence in him — It is funny to see old men put their trust in young
but they do — And they ah1 admire boldness and prefer such a
leader —
My horses I keep just south 5 rods from the tent under a bower
of oak and Sassafrass limbs I have a good fine appearing black
Stallion — heavy built — one of the best in our 600 horses — I want
to keep him and take him to Kansas again —
Last night we had a fine shower which cooled the earth — the
dust was perfectly awful before — filling the whole heavens — Simi-
lar to Sophia Street during the State Fair years ago —
To day the weather is cool and vigorous —
My tent opens on a cleared field to the South west 1500 yards to
a heavy wooded low land swamp through [which] a stream ought
to run but which is now filled with pools of Tadpole Water which
is not over healthy for our horses The manage to do a little better
but not much —
With love I am as Ever
D R ANTHONY
472 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
7 P. M.
Well just as I had finished writing the foregoing at 4 o clock
P. M. in comes one of our pickets on the Boonville road south say-
ing 400 mounted rebels had made their appearance within half a
mile of them — "Boots and Saddles" was sounded at once by our
Chief Bugler. Soon our command was in line every man with his
arms and his right hand holding the reins of his horse — 2 com-
panies of infantry were sent on each road in that direction and 2
squadrons of Cavalry to strengthen the pickets and we waiting
orders in our camp — Soon down came a strong force of Cavalry
from the north upon us they come charging upon us at a Gallop-
It proved to be our Squadrons sent out to Kossuth yesterday under
Maj Herrick (Merritt was with him) they heard at the northern
picket that we were going out and come galloping in to join
us — we remained saddled for two or three hours and then news
came that the Secesh gone off again they only came up to look
at us — and off again — So you see we are now quiet again — Mer-
ritt was out 30 hours during which time their horses were not un-
saddled they saw only a picket of 6 men of the enemy — To night
is dark and cloudy — looks like rain again — the day has been a
magnificent one —
The little black boys are now singing and dancing in camp for
amusement to our boys — during the alarm and while we were
waiting orders any number of remarks and smart jokes were
made — one saying there sits Brandy on a white horse — another
says you begin to look natural again — Another says pull of[f]
that No 7 — or you will be taken for a Jayhawker"
Some ones says to Dan Williams the Blacksmith who appears
mounted on his mule are you going out — "You bet I am" A
few have cramps — belly ache and Biles among the latter my-
self— but I had my horse saddled so as to get away. Changes do
occur — Susan write this day and says she begins to think we may
come back alive — well I havent thought of coming back unless
I was.
At any rate Maj Herrick Merritt & myself suppered together on
same as our dinner except tea for coffee and all ate heartily —
D R A
HEAD QUARTERS 7TH KANSAS
RIENZA Miss Sept 2ond 1862
DEAR SISTER
Your letter of the 21st from Easton came yesterday, which we
may call a day of alarms. Although your letter was not looked
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 473
upon in that light as no one read it but Merritt and I — Our
pickets were troubled very much and as late as 10 P. M. last night
in come one of them at top of his speed saying our pickets were
skirmishing — "To horse" was sounded and in less than five minutes
every man including lame halt and blind were drawn in line of
battle awaiting orders from the General or the attack — but instead
thereof came a picket informing us it was a false alarm — It seems
an old horse was prowling along towards our lines. And when
halted by our vidette refused to halt, but moved right upon our
vidette — Of course he (our man not the horse) did not know
whether the horse was friendly or not — So the horse paid the
penalty for his daring and thus ended the 2ond Alarm —
Hannah might name the female child as you or she suggest
providing it is a fool — if the child is bright just await orders and
111 find a name for it within six months —
I dont hear anything further from my resignation — It has been
approved by all here and has now gone to Washington three weeks
since for Hallecks name I do not desire to serve in a regiment
where every thing I do will glory the name of Col Lee — A man
who lied himself into the colonelcy by the warmest professions of
friendship toward me — He has a place that belongs by right
to me — I earned it — The men want me — he knows it — and
I hate him — I look upon him as a liar a dishorable man — a
coward & poltroon and so told him to his face — but he intends to
intrigue himself through —
Of course there is nothing pleasant or agreeable in remaining
when the relations are so unpleasant — He does nothing offensive
towards me openly — he dare not do it — but he has the power
to do many things which are disagreeable to me — and with which
I can have no tangible hold on him — So I am bound to get out —
I will go into the service again in any other state than Kansas in
almost any capacity — but if in Kansas I must be a Colonel or
nothing —
My men know and appreciate my position and respect me for
taking the stand — The other day when the regmt was ordered
out to Ripley I stood in front of the line in my shirt sleeves unarmed
as they formed They asked me if I was going — I said no —
They all said we want you along — and as the Column Counter-
marched by me they all swung their hats and hurrahed for Col
Anthony— this was mortifying to Lee— He knows full well the
sentiment among the men now —
Reports reached us yesterday that Genl Armstrong — Genl
474 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Price's Chief of Cavalry had a fight near Bolivar and was killed
to day we hear again that he captured two of our regiments so
goes the war — 7
Our boys are having plenty of work scouting — very hard for
our horses — but our comd'g officers make no bold moves, they
ought to imitate the enemy a bold dashing and prudent [?] move
will win — In military movements a prudent move must neces-
sarially be bold & dashing — If you wish to win — Our men go
out this morning to fire off their Revolvers and Sharps Carbins so
we will soon have noise enough —
This is a delightfull morning. Now 8/2 Oclock A. M. in my tent —
at the table — in my shirt sleeves — with the sides of tent looped
up — so that the tent is only a shade — a cool breeze — but by
noon and from that time till 5 or 6 tis hot Sometimes the heat here
is great until midnight —
We remained in line last night about one hour — The men were
dismounted lying down on the grass or standing & holding their
horses — ready to move at a moments warning — The guns are
popping and I will go and discharge my Revolver Write often
Truly
D R ANTHONY
ABOVE ALTON
MISSISSIPPI STEAMER
"HENRY VON PASEL"
Sunday Sept 14th 1862
DEAR AARON
On the llth inst I reed acceptance of my resignation by Genl
Halleck — and on the 12th I left camp at Rienza —
Merritt and Capt Malone come with me to Corinth —
At 9 A M on 13th I took cars at Corinth — arrived at Columbus
at 6 Oclock P. M. and then took Steamer "David Latum" arriving
at Cairo same day at 10 o clock P. M.
This morning at 7 A. M. came on board this Steamer and expect
sand bars permitting to be in St Louis to morrow the 15th at noon —
thence to Leavenworth — I have with me my servant Griff and
the Blk Stallion—
I dont think I could travel without Griff — he introduces me
every where — to every body making inquiries — telling them
wondrous feats & exploits performed by the Colonel — I have
7. Brig. Gen. Frank Armstrong, C. S. A., was in command of Gen. Sterling Price's
cavalry during the summer and fall of 1862 and was the leader of several successful forays
against Union troops. He was not killed in action.
LETTERS OF DANIEL R. ANTHONY 475
always found he never when on this subject fails to tell the truth —
and generally adds very largely to the truth —
He has had several down to see "Bully Boy" (my horse) showing
them his wondrous qualities In fact "Bully Boy" is a very fair
Canadian horse —
I hated to leave the regiment and yet I could not be hired to
return for a Brigadiers pay Although a Colonels or Brigadier
Generals rank would be a great inducement — in fact I should
then be glad to go —
Our Boys assembled impromtu I made a few parting words
Three times three went up for Col Anthony — the band played
and Col Anthony — Capt Malone & Leiut Anthony galloped off —
with an occasional "God Bless you" from the boys —
I think the boys hated to have me go — and yet all my friends
who thought how I was situated appreciated my spunk in re-
signing— and they hate Lee the more — the men have less con-
fidence in him now than heretofore — He was on spree the night
before I left — and goes in for Style more than tactics discipline
and inspiring his men —
Decatur Tuscumbia & luka are being evacuated ( on the R R east
of Corinth) — Jacinto — Rienza & Danville on the south 15
miles will or are now evacuated — They are having a big scare on
in Corinth — a senseless one I think — Our Generals are afraid
to make war — they wait for the attack — The morale of the
Army of the Miss is somewhat injured by our late reverses and
want of confidence in our Generals —
I go direct to Leavenworth — may and may not go east this Fall —
By the Bye I brought two more contrabands through — had to
tell all the Provost Marshals at Corinth — Columbus & Cairo they
were free — I told them so — Although I knew they had been
claimed — one in Tenn and one in Miss —
Write me at Leavenworth soon
As Ever yours
D R ANTHONY
Bypaths of Kansas History
STYLES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CHANGING
From the Quindaro (Wyandotte county) Chindowan, February
20, 1858.
THE RED PETTICOAT IN KANZAS. — We noticed recently the advent of this
new-fangled style of dress in our vicinity. A lady of the Delaware nation of
Indians rode into town the other day having on the veritable article which is
creating quite a sensation in the fashionable world at the present time. Long
let it wave.
WHICH Do You CHOOSE?
From the Kansas News, Emporia, January 22, 1859.
MATRIMONY. — Hot buckwheat cakes; warm bed; comfortable slippers; smok-
ing coffee; round arms, &c; shirts exulting in buttons; redeemed stockings, boot-
jacks; happiness, &c. Single-Blessedness. — Sheet-iron quilts; blue noses; frosty
rooms; ice in the pitcher; unregenerated linen; heel-less socks; coffee sweetened
with icicles; gutta percha biscuits; flabby beef steaks; dull razors; corns, coughs,
and colics; rhubarb, aloes, misery, &c.
SUCH SHOOTING, SHADES OF DAVY CROCKETT!
From the Kansas National Democrat, Lecompton, April 14, 1859.
GOOD NEWS FOR THE EMIGRANTS. — A letter received by a gentleman in this
place, from Beach Valley, K. T. [west of present Lyons], dated April 1st, 1859,
says that, "There are plenty of Buffalo here, and we shall be most happy to
have you make us a visit and will promise you all the Buffalo meat you wish.
There has been some good shooting done here — one man killed two Antelope
at one shot, and another killed four wild Geese at one shot. Game is plenty."
This is good news for emigrants to Pike's Peak who may be short of pro-
vision.—
Beach Valley is at the crossing of the Arkansas River, some two hundred
miles west of this, in a rich and beautiful country, on the Santa Fe mail route.
A Post Office has been recently established there. O. M. Beach appointed
Post Master.
(476)
Kansas History as Published in the Press
Heinle Schmidt's historical column in the High Plains Journal,
Dodge City, July 24 through September 18, 1958, included the
story of the old Mudge ranch of Hodgeman county, by Mrs. Mar-
garet Evans Caldwell. Among other articles in the column recently
were: "Kansas Pioneers Settling the Early West Came With Varied
Experiences," October 2; "Garden City Man [Ralph T. Kersey]
Writes Book on Buffalo Jones/' October 9; "Last of Great Peace
Officers [Bill Tilghman] Died With His Boots on, Hand on His
Gun," October 23; "George Morehouse Traces the Old Santa Fe
Trail," October 30; "Because of Frontier Hardships, Few Pioneers
Stayed on," November 13; "Many Pioneers Bettered the Records
of Their Fathers," November 20; "Some Early Kansas Settlers Were
Well Educated," November 27; and "Pioneers Remained Undaunted
in Face of Hardships," December 4.
Historical articles appearing in the Hays Daily News in recent
months included: "P. T. Barnum Becomes Sucker [at Poker], Too,
on Visit to Lure Wild Bill Hickok From Hays City," August 24,
1958; "Carry Nation Beat Creation, Caused Lot of Consternation,"
September 28; "Greatest Known Prairie Fire in Kansas Started
Near Hays," October 5; and a summary of James Reedy's story on
Victoria's Cathedral of the Plains which appeared in the November
issue of Catholic Home Journal, Pittsburgh, Pa., November 7.
A history of Uniontown, Bourbon county, by Mrs. Arch Ramsey
and Mrs. Grace Griffith, was published in the Fort Scott Tribune,
September 1, 1958. The Tribune printed a review of Samuel
Tucker's Price Raid Through Linn County, Kansas, October 24, 25,
1864, by Vic Lindsey, September 4.
"Hero of the Indians," by Jim Watts, a biographical sketch of
Maj. Gordon W. "Pawnee Bill" Lillie, was published in the Wichita
Eagle Magazine, September 7, 1958. On November 16 the Eagle
Magazine printed "Luke Short — Undertaker's Friend," by Lily B.
Rozar, and on November 23 "Black Flag [of Quantrill] Terrorized
Kansans," by George W. Viele.
A history of the Hiawatha Daily World appeared in the Sep-
tember 23, 1958, issue of the World in observance of its 50th anni-
versary. The first issue of the daily newspaper was published
September 12, 1908, by Ewing Herbert, Sr.
(477)
478 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Kansas historic sites and other features as observed by Edward
Collier were reviewed in the Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, and
reprinted in the Junction City Weekly Union, September 25, 1958.
The story was titled "Wonders of 'Sunflower State* Many and
Varied."
Edwin C. Manning was the grantee in the original deed to the
townsite of Winfield. Manning's story of the early settlement of
this land appeared in the Winfield Daily Courier, October 17, 1958.
The deed, dated May 1, 1872, is now in the Cowley County His-
torical Museum.
Miltonvale, founded by Milton Tootle, was platted November
21, 1881, according to a history of the town in the Miltonvale
Recorder, October 23, 1958, the Clay Center Dispatch, October
24, and the Clay Center Times, October 30.
The history of the Wakarusa-Auburn-Dover area is featured in
the December, 1958, Bulletin of the Shawnee County Historical
Society. The issue was prepared by Lena Baxter Schenck. Among
the articles were: "Auburn," by Lilian Stone Johnson; "Stahl's
Picnic," by Margaret Whittemore; "Lewis Lindsey Dyche," by
Paul Lovewell; "Bishop William Alfred Quayle," by Zula Benning-
ton Greene; "Davis-Dickey-Brobst Families," by Mary Davis Sander;
"History of Dover," by Mrs. Schenck; "The Tomsons of Dover and
Wakarusa," by Lois Johnson Cone; "Saga of the Old Stone Wall
[Near Dover]," by Audrey McMillan Chaney; "Hattie Eugenia
Bassett-Aldrich, M. D."; "On the Wakarusa," by Lois Johnson Cone;
"The Battle of the Big Blue," by Nancy Veale Galloway; a bio-
graphical sketch of Rebecca Heberling Foltz; "Newspapers of
Auburn and Dover," by Earl Ives; and "Industries of Auburn,
Dover, and Wakarusa," by Grace Gaines Menninger.
Kansas Historical Notes
C. F. Kuhlmann was in charge of the program at the September
13, 1958, meeting of the Ottawa County Historical Society in Min-
neapolis. The history of the Bennington area was featured. An
election of officers was held at the October 11 meeting. The officers
are: Mrs. Louis Ballou, president; Ray Halberstadt, vice-president;
Mrs. Ray Halberstadt, secretary; Mrs. Ethel Jagger, treasurer;
Mrs. Zella Heald, reporter; and Louis Ballou, Glenn Adee, and
Rolla Geisen, directors. A. R. Miller was the retiring president.
The history of the Pipe Creek-Grover community, presented by
Mrs. Edith Stilwell, was the topic at the society's November 8
meeting.
Lee Rich, Junction City, was re-elected president of the Fort
Riley Historical Society at the annual meeting September 18, 1958,
at the Fort Riley museum. Robert J. Fegan was elected vice-
president; Robert K. Weary, secretary; and Warrant Officer Lester
J. Whitman, treasurer. Elected to the board of directors were:
Rich, Fegan, Weary, Carl H. Deppish, Mrs. J. V. Humphrey, Jr.,
Edna Rizer, the Rev. Harris Collingwood, George Clark, Mrs. J. W.
Wofford, Col. Frank Sackton, and Maj. Thomas Constant. Maj.
Raymond Harvey was chosen executive secretary.
An election of officers was held at the September 22, 1958, meet-
ing of the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society in Mission.
Mrs. G. W. McAbee was chosen president; Mrs. Robert F. Withers,
first vice-president; Mrs. Eugene Kotterman, second vice-president;
Mrs. John L. Smith, recording secretary; Mrs. J. Lester Brown, cor-
responding secretary; Mrs. Edwin G. Provost, treasurer; Mrs. Tom
Davis, historian; and Mrs. Joseph E. Lieberman, curator. The
officers were installed on October 27.
Dedication of the Decatur County Historical Society's museum
and sod house was one of the featured events of a two-day celebra-
tion in Oberlin, September 26 and 27, 1958. Elwood Brooks, Den-
ver bank official, gave the dedicatory address.
Ralph E. Graber was elected president of the Douglas County
Old Settlers' Association at the 59th annual meeting September
27, 1958, in Lawrence. Other new officers are: Mary Clarke, vice-
president; Mrs. Ralph Colman, secretary; Helen Clarke, necrologist;
and Mrs. Nellie Bigsby, treasurer. Mrs. Lena Owen was the retir-
(479)
480 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ing president. Dr. Solon G. Ayers, superintendent of Haskell Insti-
tute, addressed the group on "Fallacies About Indians/'
Walter Herndon was chosen president of the Lane County His-
torical Society at a meeting in Dighton October 13, 1958. Other
officers are: William Pike, vice-president; Mrs. Arle Boltz, secre-
tary; Mrs. Fred Hyames, treasurer; and F. W. Prose, Dale Jewett,
and Mrs. J. E. Mowery, board members. Henry Hall, Garden
City, was guest speaker at the gathering.
The Dickinson County Historical Society held its annual meet-
ing at the Alida Evangelical United Brethren church near Chap-
man, October 16, 1958. During the business session Mrs. Ray
Livingston, Abilene, was re-elected second vice-president, and Mrs.
Walter Wilkins, Chapman, treasurer. Other officers are: B. H.
Oesterreich, Woodbine, president; Mrs. Viola Ehrsam, Enterprise,
first vice-president; Mrs. Ellen Peterson, Enterprise, secretary; and
Marion Seelye, Abilene, historian.
Mrs. Sam Cravens was elected president and Roy S. Shupe vice-
president of the Clark County Historical Society at the society's
annual meeting and pioneer mixer, October 18, 1958, in Ashland.
Mrs. John Vallentine is first honorary vice-president, and Sidney
Dorsey second honorary vice-president. Mrs. Vallentine was the
retiring president.
Members of the new board of directors of the Coffeyville His-
torical Museum elected at a stockholders meeting October 28,
1958, are: Jack Brooks, Charles Clough, Joe Cramer, William
Kistler, J. B. Kloehr, Dale Misch, R. M. Seaton, Lawrence Smith,
and Roy Swanson. At a meeting of the board, November 3, Clough
was elected president, replacing Seaton who has served since the
start of the museum.
Pawnee county's pioneers held their llth annual reunion in
Larned, November 1, 1958, and with members of the Pawnee
County Historical Society, dedicated a historical room in the Cum-
mins Memorial Library building in Larned. Displays of historical
documents, relics, and pictures will be featured in the room.
Rolla Clymer, El Dorado publisher, spoke at a meeting of the
Lyon County Historical Society November 17, 1958, in Emporia.
After reviewing the history of the state, Clymer outlined plans for
Kansas' centennial observance.
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 481
The Comanche County Historical Society celebrated its annual
Pioneer Day in Coldwater November 8, 1958. Benjamin O.
Weaver, Mullinville, the principal speaker, reviewed early Co-
manche county history. Officers re-elected at the business ses-
sion include: Mrs. Donald Booth, president; Mrs. George Deewall,
vice-president; Mrs. D. E. Crowe, recording secretary; and Fay
Moberley, treasurer.
Organization of the Smith County Historical Society was com-
pleted November 22, 1958, in Smith Center with the election of
officers. Emmet Womer is the president; W. E. Lee, vice-president;
Mrs. Perry Nelson, secretary; and Mrs. Claude Diehl, treasurer.
The group plans to collect and organize information on the early
history of the county.
The Barber County Historical Society was organized at a meet-
ing in Medicine Lodge, December 14, 1958, with an initial group of
23 charter members. Mrs. Alice MacGregor, Medicine Lodge, was
elected president. Other officers are: Mrs. Bertie Parker, Kiowa,
Mrs. Mart Roessler, Isabel, and W. Luke Chapin, Medicine Lodge,
vice-presidents; I. N. "Jioo" Hewitt, co-ordinator; Mrs. Tonkajo
McElyea, secretary; Harry Nixon, treasurer; Mrs. Elizabeth Simp-
son, corresponding secretary; Art Carruth, III, publicity director;
and Mrs. Tom Stranathan, historian. The county commissioners
were designated honorary vice-presidents. The society is spon-
sored by the Medicine Lodge and Kiowa Lions clubs.
Faith of Our Fathers — A Centennial History of the First Con-
gregational Church of Sabetha, Kansas, 1858-1958, is a 118-page
booklet recently printed in observance of the church's centennial.
The congregation was organized September 25 and 26, 1858, under
the leadership of the Rev. R. D. Parker and the Rev. J. H. Byrd.
It was first located at Albany but moved to Sabetha with the rest
of Albany in 1870.
Price Raid Through Linn County, Kansas, October 24, 25, 1864,
is the title of a recently published 17-page pamphlet by Samuel
Tucker. Tucker's family settled in Linn county in 1876 giving him
an opportunity to hear the story of Price's raid from those who
lived through it.
31—6550
Errata and Addenda, Volume XXIV
Page 8, line 26, Anna E. Osborn should be Anna E. Osborne.
Page 58, line 26, Maj. C. T. Robbins should be Maj. C. P. Robbins.
Page 84, lines 4 and 5, George Jelenik should be George Jelinek.
Page 87, second and third lines from bottom, Mrs. C. H. Strieby should
be Mrs. A. H. Strieby.
Page 190, line 6, O. A. Millington should be D. A. Millington.
Page 253, paragraph 3, line 4, H. C. Cleaver should be C. H. Cleaver.
Page 381, paragraph 2, line 2, "a portrait of Crawford" should read "a
portrait of Gov. Samuel J. Crawford."
Page 384, paragraph 3, lines 3 and 4, Col. George Groghan should be Col.
George Croghan.
(482)
Index to Volume XXIV
Abels, Ed, Lawrence: donor 88
Abilene: naming of, noted 375
Abilene Public Library: donor 88
Abilene Reflector-Chronicle: 1957 special
edition, note on 122
Abrams, Lt. Col. John M.: at Fort Riley, 72
Achenbach : article on, noted 252
Achilles, C. P. : in Kansas, 1857 13, 15
Adair, Wilson: arrested, 1861 419, 420
Adair, Wit, Strong City 386
Adams, Rev. Charles J., Wichita 426
— remarks at services for
Wm. S. White 426- 428
— unorthodoxy of, discussed 428- 433
Adams, Henry J. : mayor of Leavenworth, 10
Adee, Glenn, Ottawa co 479
Adriance, George C., Sabetha 109
Ainsworth, Maj. Gen. F. C.: adjutant
general 58
Aitchison, R. T., Wichita 118
Aldrioh, Dr. Hattie Eugenia Bassett-:
article on, noted 478
Allen, H. C., Hays 371, 372
Allen, Henry Justin: R. A. Clymer's
remarks on 102
Allen, Joe W.: article by, noted 379
Allen County Historical Society: 1957
meeting, note on 125
Allison, R. C., Lawrence: murdered, 1863, 150
Allison's ranch : note on 407n
Althof, Mr. and Mrs. Harry, Topeka:
donors 88
American Home Missionary Society:
repprts of Rev. G. C. Morse to, noted. . 123
American Homestead, The: note on 157
American Literature, Durham, N. C.:
article on Ed Howe in, noted 125
American Medical Association: note on
1918 meeting of 60
American Red Cross: nurses of, at Fort
Riley 64
American Unitarian Association, Boston:
gift to Fort Scott Institute, noted 188
American Young Folks, Topeka 151
— an Arthur Capper contribution to,
illustration facing 160
Americus: centennial booklet, noted 84
Amos, Ed, Manhattan 126
Amy, Lane co.: article on, noted 252
— note on 252
Anderson, BUI: in Price raid 131
Anderson, Cornelius, Garnett 122
Anderson, George L., Lawrence 118
—essay by, noted 384
Anderson, Oscar, Crawford co 253
Anderson, Portia, Topeka: donor 88
Anderson, W. G., Winfield 106
Andreopoulos, Ed: article by, noted 380
Antelope Hills, I. T.: First cavalry scout
to, 1859 268- 275
— note on 269n
Anthony, Anna E. Osborne (Mrs. Daniel
Read, I) 8, 217n
Anthony, Daniel, of New York 6
— letters of D. R. Anthony to. . .8-13, 21- 30
198-203, 219-221, 224, 225, 354- 357
365-367, 461-467, 469, 470
— photograph facing 16
Anthony, Daniel Read, I, Leavenworth. . . 106
— biographical sketch 6- 8
—Civil War service of 351-370, 458- 475
— comment on Wichita Beacon by 456
— experiences in the Civil War 353- 370
458- 475
—letters, 1857-1862, edited by Edgar
Langsdorf and R. W. Richmond 6- 30
198-226, 351-370, 458- 475
— letters of, given to Historical Society. . . 85
— note on 85
— photograph facing 16
— postmaster, note on 361, 362
Anthony, Daniel Read, II, Leavenworth . . 8
Anthony, Daniel Read, III,
Leavenworth 118, 125
— donor 6, 85
Anthony, Guelma 6
Anthony, Hannah 213n
Anthony, Jacob Merritt 6, 11, 12
14-18, 21-24, 201-203, 206
208, 210, 217, 223, 224
—at Leavenworth, 1862 363
—in Missouri, 1861 354- 356
—letter by D. R. Anthony to 353
— lieutenant in Seventh Kansas
cavalry. . . .364-370, 461, 465-468, 470- 474
— note on lln
— S. M. Fox's comment on 365n
Anthony, Lucy Read (Mrs. Daniel) 6
— letters by D. R. Anthony to 217, 360
361, 364, 468- 472
Anthony, Mary 6, 11, 13, 15-17, 26
Anthony, Mary A. Luther (Mrs.
Jacob M.) 210, 224
Anthony, Maude 8
Anthony, Scott J 9-12, 15
— note on 9n
Anthony, Susan Brownell 6, 13, 26, 29
—activities, 1850's, noted 221n
—lecture at Fort Scott, note on 187, 188
—letters of D. R. Anthony to 14-17, 23
24, 221
Anthony, McLean & Co., Battenville,
N. Y 6
Apache Indians: in Wichita
mountains 262, 266
Appleton, Robert, Co., New York: donor, 88
Arcadia: G. W. Corporon's history of,
noted 123, 124
Arkansas and California road 414n
Arkansas City: public library, article on,
noted 379
Arkansas City Daily Traveler: articles in,
noted 378, 379
Arkansas City Weekly Republican Traveler:
microfilmed 87
Arkansas river 406
—comment on, 1860 415
Armel, Nat, Humboldt 125
Arms, Leonard: attempted arrest of Mont-
gomery 224, 225
Armstrong, Frank: Confederate
general 473, 474n
Armstrong, S. T., Fort Scott 170
Army life. See under Civil War; Fort
Washita, I. T.
Arnall, Mrs. Bessie Vaught: article on,
noted 378
Asleson, Lt. Col. Eleanor R. : at Fort Riley, 73
(483)
484
GENERAL INDEX
Atchison: note on. 1857 19
— storms. 1958, booklet on. noted 383
Atchison & Topeka railroad: to Emporia,
1870 385
Atchison Daily Globe: articles in, noted. . 122
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad:
donor 88
— in Chase co., notes on 385, 386
Atherton, John G., Lyon co 253
Atwood Citizen-Patriot: article in, noted, 378
Auburn: article on newspapers of, noted.. 478
— historical articles on area of, noted 478
Austin, Mrs. Helen, Chase co 383
Austin, W. W.f Cottonwood Falls 393
Austin, William C 109
Avery, Charles, Topeka: donor 88
Axe, Dr. Leonard H., Pittsburg 381
Ayers, Dr. Solon G., of Haskell Institute, 480
Bachman, Col. John Presly: at Fort Riley, 71
Baier, William, Ellis co.: article by, noted, 251
Bailey, Clay: article by, noted 375
Bailey, Roy F., Salina 106, 116, 118
Baird, Mrs. Amelia (Ware): children of,
donors 85, 88
Baird, Gene, Hays 127
Baker, , and son Willie: entertainers,
1860's 32
Baker, F. P., Topeka 180
Baker, H. L., La Crosse 393
Baker, Mrs. Jessie Jenner, Topeka: donor, 86
Baldwin, Clint, Chase co 383
Ball, Frank, Topeka 156
Ballou, Don D., Kansas City: pamphlet
by, noted 256
Ballou, Louis, Ottawa co 479
Ballou, Mrs. Louis, Ottawa co 479
Bambace, Col. Felix Shelley: at Fort Riley, 71
Bancroft, : theaterman 38, 41
Bancroft and Fessenden: Fort Scott the-
atermen 33
Banks, Mrs. Ben: article by, noted 379
Banks, Col. Charles E.: at Fort Riley. . . 64
Barber County Historical Society: organ-
ization, note on 481
Barber County Index, The, Medicine Lodge:
Indian Peace Treaty special edition,
1957, note on 121
Barkley, Mrs. John 126
Barnes, Mrs. Lela 92
— treasurer, Historical Society 92, 94
Barnett, Alex 381
Barnett, William T.: diary, 1899-1900,
filmed 86
Barnsly creek, Texas 400
Barnum, Phineas T. : in Kansas, noted. . . 477
Barr, Frank, Wichita 117
Barr, O. H. : actor 34, 35, 37, 38, 41, 47
Barry, Louise: "With the First U. S. Cav-
alry in Indian Country, 1859-1861,"
(letters), edited by 257-284, 399, 425
Barton, , Rochester, N. Y.: Civil
War officer 367, 369
Barton, Capt. Seth M 424
Bassett, Mary: article by, noted 376
Bassett-Aldrich, Dr. Hattie Eugenia:
article on, noted 478
Basye, Ruby: articles by, noted 123, 252, 378
Bates, Mrs. Norma Comer: donor 91
Battle Canyon, Scott co.: note on 382
Baugher, Charles A., Ellis 118
Baughman, Robert W., Liberal 116, 118
Baumer, Beverly: article by, noted 375
Baxter Springs: C. H. Nichols' articles on,
noted 252
— centennial celebration, 1958, noted 382
— H. O. Taylor's article on, noted 252
— Polster Bros, store, article on, noted . . . 376
— Presbyterian church, article on, noted. . 376
Baxter Springs area: C. H. Nichols* arti-
cles on, noted 376
Baxter Springs Citizen: articles in,
noted 252, 376
Baxter Springs-Osage Mission trail: arti-
cle on, noted 379
Bay, W. J.: donor 91
Bayard, Lt. George D 282
— Big Pawnee killed by 403n
Bays, W. M.: hanged, 1857 20n
Beach, George: actor 49
Beach, O. M.: postmaster at Beach Valley, 476
Beach Valley: note on, 1859 476
Beale, Lt. Edward F.: survey by, 1858,
noted 272n
Beale, Capt. William N. R 407
— on Kiowa-Comanche expedition 402
—to Fort Arbuckle, 1860 415
Beatty, Rev. A., Fort Scott 175
Beatty, Mrs. Marion, Topeka 128
Beaver creek: Sturgis' fight with Kiowas
on, 1860 410, 411
Beck, Will T., Holton 79, 94, 95, 108, 116- 118
Becker, Karen: articles by, noted 378, 379
Beckman, Father Peter 308, 309
— donor 84
Beech, Pvt. Gerard M.: wounded, I860.. 41 In
Beech, Mrs. Olive Ann, Wichita 128
Beezley, George F., Girard 116, 118
Behney, Col. Jacob E. : at Fort Riley 68
Bell, Emily (Mrs. J. Whitfield) 435n
Bell, J. Whitfield, Sedgwick co 435n
Bell, Lt. Leonard P.: at Fort Riley 57
Bellamy, Rebecca Updegraff, Topeka:
donor 88
Belle Plaine News: article in, noted 252
Bellemont, Doniphan co. : notes on 1
— photograph (1859) of emigrant wagons
at facing iv
Bellemont Town Company In
Beloit Call: article in, noted 380
Beloit Chamber of Commerce: donor 88
Beloit Gazette: article in, noted 128
Belvue: historical marker near, noted. ... 81
Benedict, W. H.: donor 88
Benke, Hermann C., and Bertha, Barton
co. : papers of, filmed 86
Bennett, F. C., Cincinnati, Ohio: insur-
ance man 207
Bennett, J. B., Cincinnati, Ohio: insur-
ance man 198, 207, 210
Bennington: mill at. 1860's, noted 308
Benson, George J., El Dorado 255
Benson, J. Leland, Topeka: donor 88
Bentley, A. R., Lane co 125
Bentley, Roderick, Shields: donor 88
Beougher, Edward M., Grinnell, 116, 118 255
— donor 86
Berglund, Mr. and Mrs. V. E 92
Berryman, Rev. Jerome C. : missionary. 91
Berryman, Jerome C., Ashland 117
Bethea, Maj. Gen. James Albertus: at
Fort Riley 68
Bierstadt, Albert: list of Western photo-
graphs by 4, 5
— rare (1859) photography of, J. W. Snell's
article on 1- 5
— three rare photographs by facing iv
frontispiece, and facing 1
Big Blue river, Kan.: first bridge at
Marysville, article on, noted 252
Big Blue river, Mo.: battle of, 1864 137
article on, noted 478
S. J. Reader's paintings of . . . .facing 128
frontispiece, and facing 129
—field works on, 1864, noted 134, 136, 137
Big Pawnee (Kiowa chief) : note on killing
of 403n
Biggart, Rev. W. A.: at Horton, 1887. . . 123
Bigno. Louie: employee of H. S. Mudge.. 297
Bigsby, Mrs. Nellie, Douglas co 479
Bill, Edward E., Finney co 128, 253
Bird City Times: article in, noted 124
Bishoff, Dr. M. L., Topeka: donor 88
Bishop, Maude, Topeka 127
GENERAL INDEX
485
Bispham, Col. William N.: at
Fort Riley 59, 60
—note on 59, 60
— photograph facing 65
Biasing, Justus, Hays: clockmaker, article
on, noted 378
Black, Mrs. Joe, Crawford co 381
Black Beaver (Delaware chief) 424n
—in I. T., note on 270n
Blackburn, Forrest R 92
Blackburn, R. Z., Chase co 383
Blackburn, William E 108
Blackmar, Mrs. Howard B., Norwood,
Mass.: donor 88
Blaha, Henry, Ottawa co 381
Blair, Charles W., Fort Scott: Civil War
career, notes on 134, 367, 368
Blake, Henry S., Topeka 107
— president, Capper Publications 165, 166
Blake, Mrs. Henry S., Topeka: donor 88
Blande, Edith: actress 34-37,40,41, 45
Blankenship, Ted: articles by, noted. . . . 123
Blau, Bernhardt, Salina 310
Blim, Lillian: donor 91
Bloss, H. C 219
Bloss, W. W 219
Blue Rapids Times: article in, noted 376
Bluestem pasture region: historical marker
for, noted 81
Blum, Lt. Col. C. J.: at Fort Riley 75
Blunt, , Hodgeman co 288n
Blunt, Maj. Gen. James G.: commander
in Price raid 133-136, 138- 141
—mention of 365n, 369
Blythe, Lawrence J., White City 382
Boggy Depot, I. T 261n, 417, 419, 421
— note on 281
Boies, Frank S., Battle Creek, Mich.:
donor 89
Bolton, J. W.: recollections of Twin
Mound school by, noted 123
Boltz, Mrs. Arle, Lane co 125, 480
Bonham (Tex.) Era 420
Booth, Mrs. Donald, Comanche co.. . .126, 481
Booth, Sherman M., Milwaukee, Wis.:
note on 397
Boutwell, Daniel: scout, 1864 137
Bovay, Alvan Earle, Ripon, Wis. : note on, 396
Bowers, Mrs. Eugene L.: donor 84
Bowlus, Thomas H., lola 116, 118
— donor 86
Bowman, C. C.: donor 91
Bowman, Lt. Charles S 424
Bowman, Dorothy: article by, noted. . . . 378
Boxmeyer, Mrs. Roy E 126
Boyd, Frank, Phillipsburg 109
Boyd, Mrs. McDill, Phillipsburg 128
Boyd, Mamie (Mrs. Frank), PhilKpsburg, 107
Boyd, Nellie: actress 45, 52
Boyd's crossing (of Pawnee Fork) : article
on, noted 380
Boyer, Bill, Scott co 382
Boyer, John, Scott co 382
Brace, C. B., Leavenworth: insurance
man 208, 213, 222
Bradley, Lt. Col. Robert James: at Fort
Riley 75
— note on 75
Bradley, Mr. and Mrs. William A., Cun-
ningham : donors 87
Bradshaw, George, Hodgeman co 287
Bradshaw, Granville, Hodgeman co 297
Bradshaw, John, Hodgeman co 287, 297n
Brady, John Leef ord, Lawrence 106
Branham, John M., of Missouri 160
Breese, Lt. Minnie L.: at Fort Riley. ... 68
Brigham, Mrs. Lalla M., Pratt 117
— donor 91
Bright, John D.: Kansas history edited
by, noted 84
Brighton, Harry E., Longton 109
Brinkerhoff, Fred W., Pittsburg, 94, 116, 118
— R. A. Clymer's comment on .
127, 256, 381
. 106
Bristow, Joseph Little, Salina: newspaper-
man 106
Britton, Wiley, Fort Scott 190, 193
— quoted on Fort Scott Institute 185
Brock, Fay, Decatur co 255
Brock, R. F.f Goodland 86, 117
Brodrick, Lynn R., Marysville 116, 118
Broker, Mrs. Emily, lola: donor 88
Brooks, Elwood, Denver 479
Brooks, Jack, Coffeyville 480
Brown, Carl, Atchison: newspaperman.. 106
Brown, H. M. C., St. Louis: surveyor
1859 273
Brown, Capt. Henry L.: at Fort Riley. . 57
Brown, Mrs. J. Lester 479
Brown, John, Jr.: captain, Seventh Kansas
cavalry 352
— D. R. Anthony's comment on 360
—letter, 1862, quoted .t 352
Brown, Maj. L. G.: 89th division surgeon, 64
Brown, Leo, Clark co 127
Brown, Louise: donor 91
Brown, R. G., Finney co 128
Brown, Mrs. Raymond, Ottawa co 382
Brown county: justice of the peace records
of, given to Historical Society 82
Brownback, J. L.: custodian at Pawnee
Capitol 90 92
—donor 88
Browne, Charles Herbert, Horton 109
Brush, Mrs. Augustine: marriage, 1859
noted 278
Bryan, Charles W., Lincoln, Neb 157
Bryan, Lt. Francis T 413n
Bryant, Mrs. Dora Renn, Junction City:
donor 88
Buchanan, Maj. Gen. David H.: at Fort
Riley 76
Buchanan, Tom, Bucklin: donor 89
Buck, Myrtle, Lyon co 254
Buckle, Henry T.: English historian 169
Buckner, Rev. M. A., Fort Scott 179
Buffalo: W. N. Morphy's fight with a, 371, 372
Buffalo creek, I. T 260
Buffalo Hump (Comanche chief): Van
Dora's fight with, 1859 268n
Buffalo hunting: 1859, noted 476
— west of Junction City, 1860, note on. . 119
Bulkley, Roy L., Topeka 127
Bullock, Mrs. Corah M., Butler co 255
Bunker Hill: article on, noted 378
Burgard, Ruth, Leavenworth co 125
Burgess, Mrs. H. W., Topeka: donor 89
Burke, Rev. : army chaplain, Fort
Washita 278
Burlington: centennial celebration, 1957,
note on 125
Burnett, Mrs. C. A., Crawford co 381
Burnett, Mrs. Caroline, Arkansas City:
article on, noted 379
Burnside, Lt. Frederick R.: at Fort Riley, 58
Burnside, John R., Finney co 128, 253
Burton, Capt. Augustus W.: papers of,
given Historical Society 85
Burtwell, Lt. John R. B 418
Bushton News: O. Swartz's stories in,
noted 121
Butcher, Austin V., Altoona 109
Butcher, Dr. Thomas P 253
Butler, George: Cherokee agent 260n
Butler county: Old Settlers Day, 1958,
note on 382
Butler County Historical Society 383
— 1958 meeting, note on 255
Butler County News, El Dorado: historical
articles in, noted 122, 251
Butterfield Overland Mail: notes on sta-
tions of 261, 279, 281, 400, 420
Butts, : Mudge ranch contractor. .. 287
Byers, Capt. A. G.: at Fort Riley 61
"Bypaths of Kansas History" 119, 250
371-374, 476
486
GENERAL INDEX
Byram'a Ford, on Big Blue river,
Mo 137, 138
— engagement at, 1864 138
Byrd, Rev. J. H 481
Cabell, Capt. William L 266, 277
Caddo Indians 269, 276
Caldwell, Mrs. Margaret Evans 477
—"The Mudge Ranch," article by. . .285- 304
— note on 285
Caldwell, W. C., Humboldt 125
Calhoun, John: surveyor general for Kan.
and Neb 30n
California overland route: notes on, 1859-
'60 279, 399
Callabresis family, Saline co 312
Camp Alert: note on 404
Camp Cooper, Texas 284, 399-402, 418
— note on 283
Camp Forsyth : note on 69
Camp Funston: end of, 1919, noted 65
—flooded, 1951 72
— rebuilt, 1940 69
Camp Hunter, Humboldt 360- 364
Camp Johnson, Morristown, Mo 357- 359
Camp Rad/;iminski, I. T.. .257, 262, 268n 401
Camp Root: on Pawnee Flats, noted. . . 66
Camp Union, Kansas City, Mo 354
Camp Whitside: cantonment hospital,
1 953, photograph between 64 65
—hospital built at, 1941-'42 69 70
— on Pawnee Flats, note on 66
Campbell, Lt. Col. Donald: at Fort Riley, 73
— note on 73
Campbell, Frank: deputy U. S. marshal. .218n
Canadian river, I. T 272, 273, 404
—North fork of 404, 405
— Rabbit Ear branch 405
Cane Hill, Ark 142
Capioma. See Kapioma City.
Capital Publishing Company: note on. . . 154
Capper, Arthur: biographical sketch, and
account of business career of 151- 167
— death, noted 164
— estate : donor 84, 90
— papers of, given Historical Society 85
— photograph facing 161
— R. A. Clymer's remarks on 103
Capper, Benjamin Herbert 151n
Capper, Florence Crawford
(Mrs. Arthur) 153, 154
Capper, Herbert: family of, listed 15 In
— note on 150
Capper, Isabella McGrew (Mrs. Herbert), 150
Capper, Mary May 151n, 154n, 163
Capper Foundation for Crippled
Children 164, 166
Capper-Harman-Slocum, Inc 161
Capper Printing Company, Inc 163
Capper Publications: H. E. Socolofsky's
article on 151- 167
Capper Publications, Inc 162- 166
Capper's Farmer, Topeka: notes on 157- 159
164, 167
Capper's Magazine: note on 162
Capper's Weekly: notes on 157, 159, 162, 167
Carey, Charles F.: quoted 424, 425
Carey, Henry, Kansas City 381
Carey, James, Manhattan 126
Carey Salt Company: G. W. Simpson's
thesis on, noted 83
Carlson, Alfred A., Prairie Village: donor, 88
Carlson, Anna, Lindsborg 107
Carman, J. Neale: "Foreigners of 1857-
1865 at Schippel's Ferry, Saline County."
article by 305- 313
— note on 305n
Carney, Thomas: account of his poker
game at Dodge City 372, 373
— actions in Price raid alarm. . . . 132-135, 139
—as a political leader, 1864, notes on, 129- 136
passim, 142, 143
Carney, Thomas, & Co., Leaven worth 369
Carpenter, Mrs. Mary Ruth, lola 125
Carr, Capt. Eugene A 284, 424
—at Fort Washita, I. T 264, 265, 280
415, 419, 422
— photograph facing 272
Carr, Mrs. W. A 126
Carruth, Arthur J., II, Topeka 107, 127
Carruth, Arthur J., Ill, Barber co 481
Case, Estella, Wichita: donor 88
Case, John F., St. Louis: editor 157
Casper, Maj. Joseph: at Fort Riley 66
Castel, Albert: note on 129n
— "War and Politics: The Price Raid of
1864," article by 129- 143
Catholic Home Journal, Pittsburgh, Pa.:
article in, noted 477
Catholics, German. See German Catholics.
"Cato" : pen name of a First cavalryman, 258
Cattle, longhorn: Mrs. Cora Wood's arti-
cle on, noted 121
Cattle brands : records of, microfilmed ... 83
Cattle ranch. See under Mudge, Henry S.
Cavaness, Herbert and Wilfrid, Chanute, 106
Cedar Vale: Methodist church history,
noted 122
Cedar Vale Messenger: article in, noted. . 122
Centennial commission, Kansas. See Kan-
sas (state) Centennial Commission.
Chaff ee, Mrs. Harry, Topeka 128
Chamberlain, Lt. William R.: at Fort
Riley 67
Chambers, Lloyd, Clearwater 117, 118
Chandler, Allison: "The Horse-car Inter-
urban From Cottonwood Falls to Strong
City," article by 385- 393
— note on 385n
Chandler, C. J., Wichita 118
Chaney, Audrey McMillan: article by,
noted 478
Chapin, W. Luke, Medicine Lodge 481
Chapman, Berlin B., Stillwater, Okla 89
— donor 86
Chapman, E. B., Topeka 107
Chapman, J. B., Fort Scott: editor 316
318n, 339, 343, 344
Charles, Mrs. W. A., Lane co 125
Charlson, Sam C., Manhattan 117, 126
Chase, Lt. Col. E. D.: at Fort Riley 75
Chase, G. S., and E., Topeka 180
Chase, Harold Taylor, Topeka 154
— R. A. Clymer's remarks on 105
Chase County Historical Society: 1958
meeting, note on 383
Cherokee county: Globe school history,
noted 251
Cherokee Indians: note on, 1858 260
— seminaries, notes on 260
Cherokee Nation 261
— in 1860, notes on 415
Cherokee trail 414n
Chicago, Kansas and Western railroad:
note on 386
Chicago Times-Herald: notes on, 1860-'61, 317
Chickasaw and Choctaw Herald, Tisho-
mingo: note on 266
Chickasaw Indians: notes on,
1860-'61 418, 421
— paid annuities, 1859 277
Chickasaw Manual Labor Academy: note
on 266n
Chickasaw Nation 261, 266, 268, 416
—Fort Washita in, noted 260
Childears, Mrs. Arthur, Lyon co 254
Chisholm trail : forerunner of, noted 424n
Choctaw and Chickasaw National Conven-
tion: 1861, notes on 421, 422
Choctaw Nation 261, 270
— resolutions passed by council of,
1861 421, 422
Cholera epidemic: of 1800's, article on,
noted 123
Chrisman, Harry E., Liberal: donor 86
GENERAL INDEX
487
Christmas: a dinner in 1861, D. A.
Anthony's note on 357
— in 1884, in Ford co., article on, noted ... 122
Church, Lt. John R 284
Cinmrron river 405
Citizen-Patriot, The, Atwood: article in,
noted 123
Civil War: D. R. Anthony's letters of
experiences in, 1861-'62. .351-370, 458- 475
—events of April-May, 1861, in I. T.,
notes on 422- 424
— map, 1865, showing western Tenn. and
northern Miss facing 464
— see, also, Price raid, 1864.
Civil War Centennial Commission 380
— Kansans on advisory council of, listed, 381
Claar, Kathleen 381
Claar, Ward, Decatur co 255
Clark, Dr. C. M.: new edition of his A
Trip to Pike's Peak, noted 384
Clark, George, Geary co 479
Clark county: articles on early days in,
noted 376
Clark County Clipper, The, Ashland: arti-
cles in, noted 376
Clark County Historical Society: 1957
meeting, notes on 126, 127
— 1958 meeting, note on 480
Clarke, George W.: Proslaveryman 30
Clarke, Helen, Douglas co 479
Clarke, Mary, Douglas co 479
Clarke's creek: Sturgis and troops camped
on, 1860 414
Clarkson, J. J.: Proslaveryman 30
Clary, Maj. L. A.: at Fort Riley 63, 65
Clay Center: history, article on, noted ... 380
Clay Center Dispatch: article in, noted. .. 478
Clay Center Times: article in, noted 478
Clay Center Weekly Times: microfilmed.. 87
Cleaver, C. H., Finney co 128, 253
Clements, Mrs. Edith T., Kearny co. 127, 254
Clinch, Columban: paper by, noted 254
Clothing: D. R. Anthony's notes on his
wardrobe, 1859 217
Clough, Charles, Coffeyville 480
Clough, Phineas, Fort Scott 179
Clubine, Louise: article by, noted 377
Clymer, Rolla A., El Dorado 118, 382
— "A Golden Era of Kansas Journalism,"
address by 97- 111
— president, Historical Society 79, 81, 92
96, 117
—talk by. noted 480
Cochran, Elizabeth, Pittsburg 118
Coder, Robert O., Kearny co 254
Coffeyville: social life in 1890's and 1900's,
articles on. noted 379
Coffeyville Daily Journal: articles in,
noted 379
Coffeyville Historical Museum: 1958
stockholders meeting, note on 480
Coffin, Capt. Jacob M.: at Fort Riley. . . 58
Colbert, Benjamin F. (Chickasaw Indian), 279n
Colbert, Levi: murderer 421
Colbert's Ferry, I. T.: note on 279
Colburn, Lt. Albert V 403
Coldren, E. W., Decatur co 255
Coleman, Sid, Wichita 107
Collard. E. Bert, Sr., Leavenworth 125
College of Emporia: C. Vandervelde's
history of, noted 377
Collier, Edward: articles by, noted. . .380, 478
Collier Flats area, Comancbe co.: C. H.
Tade's stories on, noted 251
Collingsworth, R. N.: revivalist 180
Collingwood, Rev. Harris 479
Collingwood, Mrs. Mary Newman: foun-
der of Pretty Prairie 123
Collinson, Mrs. W. B., Topeka: donor, 86, 88
Colman, Mrs. Ralph, Douglas co 479
Colonial Dames 91
Coman, : in Kansas, 1857 15
Comanche county: C. H. Tade's stories of
Collier Flats area in, noted 251
Comanche County Historical Society: 1957
meeting, note on 126
—Pioneer Day, 1958, note on 481
Comanche Indians: notes on, 1858-'60. . 257
262-264, 266, 274, 276
—Van Dorn's battle with, 1858,
notes on 257, 262
1859, notes on 268
— see, also, Kiowa-Comanche expedition,
1860.
Cone, Lois Johnson (Mrs. Harold), Topeka, 127
— articles by, noted 478
Confederate soldiers, massacre of, 1863, in
Montgomery co.: article on, noted. ... 123
Congressional Medal of Honor: to Maj.
Gen. Leonard Wood, noted 63
Conkling, Clark, Lyons 109
Conn, Lt. H. I.: at Fort Riley 61
Connelly, J., of I. T.: arrested, 1861 419
Connor, Mrs. Ruth, Chase co 383
Consolidated Street Railway Company, of
Cottonwood Falls and Strong City:
Allison Chandler's article on 385- 393
— map showing route of facing 385
— photographs showing cars and
views of facing 384
and frontispiece (Winter issue).
Constable, Marshall, Ottawa co 126
Constant, Maj. Thomas, Fort Riley 479
Converse, Asa F., Wellsville 109
Conway, Alan: note on 144n
— "The Sacking of Lawrence,"
article by 144- 150
Coon creek 407
Coonrod, Guy, Crawford co 381
Cooper, A. G.: violinist 32
Cooper, Mrs. Calvin, Crawford co 253
Cooper, Douglas H.: Indian agent. . .268, 277
280, 284, 416, 418
—note on 268n
Copple, Oscar, Wilsey: donor 88, 91
Cornhusking : J. S. Owen's story on, noted, 375
Cornwell, Herbert J., St. John 109
Corporon, G. W.: history of Arcadia by,
noted 123
Correll, Charles M., Manhattan. . .79, 92, 94
95, 116, 117
Correll, Mrs. Charles M., Manhattan 126
Cost of living: at Fort Washita, I. T.,
1859-'60 278, 416
— in Leavenworth, 1858, notes on 214
Cotton, Corlett J., Lawrence 118
Cotton. Julia, estate, Topeka: donor. ... 88
Cottonwood Falls-Strong City interurban:
Allison Chandler's article on 385- 393
— map showing route of facing 385
— photographs showing cars and
views of facing 384
and frontispiece (Winter issue).
Cottonwood river 414
—floods, note on 391
Cottonwood Station, Chase co.: note on, 385
Council Grove Republican: note on 91
Countryman, Ginger, El Dorado 382
Courtright, Alfaretta: article by, noted. . 123
Cow creek: First cavalry troops camped
on, 1860 407
Cow&er, Pauline, Salina: donor 86
Cowley county: Eaton school, article on.
noted 379
Cox, Mr. and Mrs. Carl, Scottsville 128
Cozier, Mrs. Amelia: donor 84
Crabtree, Maj. George H.: at Fort Riley, 58
Grader, Christina, Paxico: donor 88
Craft, Col. SethOverbaugh: at Fort Riley, 66
— note on 66
Cramer, Joe, Coffeyville 480
Crane, F. L., Topeka 180
Crane, George W., Topeka 180
Cravens, Mrs. Sam, Clark co 480
Crawford, Florence: marriage, noted. ... 153
Crawford, George A., Fort Scott. . .44, 47, 53
Crawford, George H 154n
Crawford, Mrs. George M 163
488
GENERAL INDEX
Crawford, Samuel J. : article on, noted . . . 376
—in Price raid 138
— portrait of, given Crawford co 381
Crawford County Historical Society: 1958
meetings, notes on 253, 381
Creek Nation 261
Crittenden, Lt. Eugene W 424
Croghan [not Grognanl, Col. George: re-
ports, 1826-'45, published, note on 384
Cron, F. H., El Dorado 116, 118, 255
Cronk, A. D., Kinsley: receiver for Mudge
ranch 302
Cross, Mrs. R. R.: donor 91
Crowe, Mrs. D. E., Comanche co 126, 481
Crowther, M. L., Guthrie, Okla 157
Crum. George W., Strong City 393
Crumb, Mrs. Esther Gray, Pittsburg:
donor 88
Crumbine, Dr. S. J 383
Cubine, Mrs. J. W., Coffeyville 379
Cummins, C. K.f Hutchinson 393
Cunningham, Lt. George A 281
Curry, Jim, Hays: desperado, story of,
noted 251
Curtis, Maj. Gen. Samuel R.: comment
on 132
— in Price raid 132-143 passim
DaLee, A. G., Lawrence: ambrotype by,
noted 2
Daley, Lt. Dorthea M.: at Fort Riley . . . 68
Daniels, Edward, Ripon, Wis.: leader of
immigrant party, 1856 394
—letter, 1856 396, 397
— notes on 395- 398
Darnell, Charles, Wamego: donor 86, 88
Darr, George, Fort Scott 44
Darr, Joseph, Jr.: at Leavenworth, 1867, 44
—Fort Scott enterprises of 38, 42, 46- 49
51- 53
—letter, 1872 54
—notes on 43, 44
Darwin, Charles: books by, comment on, 321
noted 169, 195
Daughters of American Colonists 91
Daughters of 1812 92
Daughters of the American Revolution. . . 91
— 1956 meeting, Kansas dept., noted 91
Davies, Gomer T., Concordia: R. A.
Clymer's remarks on 108
Davis, , Wichita: motqrman on
Cottonwood Falls-Strong City inter-
urban 392
Davis, Capt. Addison D.: at Fort Riley, 58
Davis, Lt. Carl: at Fort Riley 61
Davis, Mrs. E. E., Kiowa co 125
Davis, Mrs. Edwin W., Topeka: donor.. 88
Davis, John H., Jr., Belvue: donor 88
Davis, Thomas E., Crawford co 253, 381
Davis, Mrs. Tom 479
Davis, W. W., Lawrence 117
Davis-Dickey-Brobst families: article on,
noted 478
Dawson, George, Chase co 383
Dawson, John S 79, 94, 116, 118
Day, Lt. Frank R.: at Fort Riley 67
Deal, Carl W 82
Deane, Col. Don L.: at Fort Riley 73
DeBerger, Leon: ballad singer 32
Decatur County Historical Society: mu-
seum and sod house dedication, noted . . 479
— organization, note on 255
Decker, Eugene D 82
Deewall, Mrs. George, Comanche co., 126, 481
DeGroat, C. P., Fort Scott: stage manager
and actor 33, 34, 36, 37, 39
Deitzler, George W.: colonel 365n
—militia head, 1864. . .134, 136, 138, 139, 142
Delaware Indians : and Tonkawas, raid on
Kiowas, noted 402
—in I. T., 1850's, note on 270
— trust lands sales, D. R. Anthony's notes
on 11, 13, 15, 16
Delaware springs, I. T 270
Delphos, articles on, noted 252
— Manford Eaton's letter on history of,
noted 252
— Opera House, article on, noted 252
Delphos Republican: articles in, noted . . . 252
Democratic party: in Sedgwick co., 1870's,
notes on 454- 456
DeMott, John: article by, noted 375
Denious, Jess C.: estate of, donor 88
— R. A. Clymer's remarks on 105
Denious, Jess C., Jr., Dodge City 106, 117
Dennett, Bertha, Wellington: donor 88
Deppish, Carl H 479
Deragisch, Maj. William J 74
Deragowski, Mrs. Ernestine, Scott co 382
DeSoto: centennial booklet on, noted 84
Dexter, Alonzo: co-founder of Clay Center, 380
Dexter, Mrs. Byron, South Woodstock,
Vt... 2n
Dexter, John: co-founder of Clay Center, 380
Dibble, Mrs. Joan, Topeka: donor 88
Dickhut, Mrs. C. W., Scott co 255, 382
Dickinson county: historical room in
courthouse, note on 253
Dickinson County Historical Society:
1957 meeting, note on 126
— 1958 meeting, note on 480
Diehl, Mrs. Claude, Smith co 481
Dihle, Robert H., Salina: note on 309
Dillon, Mrs. Hattie M., Scranton: donor, 88
Dobson, W. A., Scott co 382
Docking, George, Lawrence 116, 118
— and wife, at Historical Society luncheon, 96
Docking, Mrs. George 381
Dodge City: bullfight, article on, noted, 378
— Galland hotel 296n
— Long Branch saloon 296n
— Thomas Carney's game of poker in, ac-
count of 372, 373
Dodge City Daily Globe: article in, noted, 378
— traveler's souvenir edition, 1958, noted, 379
Dodge City-Ogallala trail: article on,
noted 121
"Dofa rock," I. T 266
Dogs (hunting) : on Mudge ranch, note on, 300
Doniphan, Doniphan co.: note on, 1857, 19
Doniphan county: historical items on,
noted 121
Donmyers family, Saline co 312
Dooling, Brig. Gen. Henry Cheesman: at
Fort Riley 68
Doolittle, Farmer, Wichita 107
Dorrance: telephone office, 1909, photo-
graph facing 256
Dorsey, Sidney, Clark co 127, 480
Douglas County Old Settlers' Association:
1958 meeting, note on 479, 480
Douglass, Frederick H 208, 359, 360
Dover: newspapers, article on, noted. . . . 478
Dover area : historical articles on, noted . . . 478
Dow, Ezra, Saline co. : article on, noted . . 377
Dow, Jonathan M.: articles by, noted. . . 375
Doy rescue party: ambrotype of , noted .. 2
Doze, J. Burt, Wichita 107
Drake, , Leavenworth: telegraph
agent 211
Drake, Lewis, Humboldt 125
Dress: of 1858, described 211
Drinkaus, Lt. Col. Harold L: at Fort
Riley 75
Driscol, Alexander: killed, 1862 363n
Driseoll, Charles B.: newspaperman 107
Drouth: 1860, comment on 413, 414
Drum, Tom, Hays: article on, noted. ... 251
Dudley, Lyal, Topeka: donor 83
Dug Springs, Mo.: engagement at, 1861,
noted 425
DuMars, Mrs. John, Topeka: donor 88
Dumortier, Father Louis 308, 309
Duncan, George: trading post of, noted. .294n
Duncan's Crossing (on Fort Hays-Fort
Dodge trail) : note on 294
Dunn, Mrs. Chester, Oxford 128
GENERAL INDEX
489
Dunn. Dale, Hays 127
DuPriest, Col. Robert W.: at Fort Riley, 72
— death, noted 73
Durrett, Lt. Sallie P.: at Fort Riley 68
Duryea, Col. Lyman Chandler: at Fort
Riley 73, 75
— note on 73
Duvan, Col. Douglas F. : at Fort Riloy, 61, 63
— note on 61
Dyche, Lewis Lindsey: article on, noted, 478
Eastman, Maj. William R 58
Eaton, Ed. L., Gardner 109
Eaton, Manford: letter by, noted 252
Eberly, : one of Mudge ranch
builders 287
Ebright, Homer K.. Baldwin 116, 118
Eckdall, Mrs. F. A., Emporia: donor. ... 91
Eckdall, Frank F., Emporia 118
Edson, Rev. E. H., Wichita: note on 431n
Edwards, Maj. John N.: quoted on bush-
whackers 140
Edwards, Mabel, Lyon co 254
Edwards, Perry, Lyon co.: article on,
noted 377
Edwards, Philip S.: article by, noted 121
Ehrsam, Mrs. Viola, Enterprise 126, 480
Eighth Kansas infantry: in 1862, notes
on 460, 461
Eighth Wisconsin battery. . .367, 368, 460, 461
Eishman, Murriel, Hodgeman co 382
El Dorado: in 1860, note on 414
— Trinity Episcopal church history, noted, 251
El Dorado Times: article in, noted 378
Eldridge, Shalor W.: leader of immigrant
party, 1856 394- 396
Eldridge-Pomeroy immigrant parties. See
Immigrants, Free-State (Eldridge-Pom-
eroy parties).
Election, state: 1864, notes on. .129, 130, 132
133, 142, 143
Elk City: First Methodist church history,
noted 123, 251
Elk City Sun: article in, noted 251
Elk Falls: L. B. Rozar's article on,
noted 376, 378
Elkhart Tri-State News: article in, noted, 376
Ellet, Marion, Concordia 107
Ellis, Chester, Wichita 82
— and wife, donors 86
Ellis, Lt. Col. Pearl Tyler: at Fort Riley, 69
Ellis county: agricultural problems in
early days, noted 251
— historical articles on, noted 251
Ellis County Farmer, Hays: articles in,
noted 251
Ellison, Capt. F. E.: at Fort Riley 61
Ellsworth: early day disasters, article on,
noted 123
— G. Jelinek's history of, noted 84
Ellsworth county: G. Jelinek's history of,
noted 84
El Quartelejo: restoration plans,
noted 255, 382
Elwood, Doniphan co. : notes on,
1857-'58 19, 216
Ely, Mrs. Mernie, Kiowa co 125
Emigrant wagon(s): photograph (1859),
at Bellemont facing iv
at St. Joseph, Mo frontispiece
(Spring issue).
Emory, Frederick : Proslaveryman 30
Emory, Lt. Col. William H.: at Fort Ar-
buckle 262, 264
—at Fort Washita, 1861 422
— Fort Cobb site selected by 277n
—letter, 1859 263, 264
— on scout to Antelope Hills 272
— photograph facing 401
—reports, 1861, quoted 423, 424
— Union troops in I. T. led to Fort Leaven-
worth by 422- 424
Emporia: Carnegie libraries, story on,
noted 375
— centennial booklet, noted 84
— First Christian church, article on, noted, 123
— First Congregational church, articles on,
noted...;.. 123
— First Presbyterian church, article on,
noted 123
— Fourth of July, 1898, article on, noted, 377
— war memorials, article on, noted 377
Emporia Gazette: articles in, noted. . .123, 377
— O. W. Mosher's column in, noted 121
Emporia Weekly Gazette: articles in, noted, 123
Engert, Mrs. John L., Manhattan: donor, 88
English Lutherans: in Saline co., note on, 309
Ensworth, Capt. Glenn: at Fort Riley. . . 69
Entriken, Mrs. Frank: article by, noted. . 122
Erickson, , Rochester, N. Y.: Civil
War officer 367, 369
Ernest, Dr. Elvenor, Topeka: donor 88
Ernst, Mrs. Paul, Olathe: donor 88
Eskelund, Foster, Kearny co 127, 254
Eureka, Jackson co.: note on 18
Eureka Herald: centennial edition, 1958,
noted 380
Eustace, Ann Marie (Mrs. Alan), Wake-
field 64
Eustace, Dr. E. W., Lebanon: donor 88
Eustice, Mrs. Edith (Capper) 151n, 164
Euwer, Elmer E., Goodland 118
Evans, Austin, Hays 127
Evans, R. W.: at Dodge City 372
Everest: Christian church history, noted, 121
Everest Enterprise: article in, noted 121
Ewing, Brig. Gen. Thomas, Jr.: in Pilot
Knob battle, notes on 131
Eyestone, L. H., Crawford co 253
Fagan, Gen. James 130
Fairburn, William Armstrong: work by,
noted 84
Fairburn Educational Foundation, Inc.:
donor 84
Fairchild, Mrs. Ellen Campbell, Hays:
story of early life of, noted 251
Farley, Alan W., Kansas City. . .118, 253, 381
— donor 86
—president, Historical Society 95, 117
Farmer Publishing Company 157
Farmers Mail and Breeze, Topeka: notes
on 155, 158
Farnsworth, John, Fort Scott 190
Farrell, F. D., Manhattan 116, 118
Fashions: the split skirt, 1908 373, 374
— see, also, Clothing; Dress.
Fegan, Robert J 479
Feldman, Capt. Max: at Camp Funston, 70
Fence posts, stone: note on 294
Fenton, White & Co., St. Joseph, Mo.:
photograph (1859) showing office of
frontispiece (Spring issue).
Ferrello, Seguar: entertainer, 1860 31
Ferry: Bellemont-St. Joseph, Mo., note
on In
Fessenden, George : artist 35
Fickertt, Earl, Peabody 109
Field and Farm, Denver, Colo. :
note on 159, 160
Fields, Maj. Albert: at Fort Riley 67
Fifth U. S. cavalry: history, 1858-'61.
See Second U. S. cavaby.
Fifty-fourth Illinois infantry 367
Fike, Mr. and Mrs. L. D.: donors 91
Filson, S. W., Scott co 255
Finch, Charles S., Lawrence 106
Findlay (or Finley) City: note on 124
Fink, J. Clyde, Topeka 127
Finnegan, Col. John E.: at Fort Riley. . . 75
— note on 75
Finney County Historical Society: 1958
meetings, notes on 128, 253
490
GENERAL INDEX
First Choctaw and Chickasaw regiment. .268n
First Independent Society of
Fort Scott 174, 178
First infantry division: to Fort Riley,
1955 74
First Kansas cavalry: activities. 1861-'62,
notes on 353-364 passim
First U. S. cavalry: fight with Kiowas,
1860 408- 412
— in Indian country, 1859-1861, (letters),
edited by Louise Barry, 257-284, 399- 425
map . facing 272
— journey from Fort Washita to Fort
Leavenworth, 1861, notes on 422- 424
— note on 282
— redesignated Fourth cavalry 425
—troops, at Fort Washita. .257-268, 277- 284
416- 423
—2400-mile journey by, 1860. noted 416
— with Kiowa-Comanche expedition,
1860 403- 412
First U. 8. infantry: at Fort Cobb, 1859, 277
—at Fort Arbuckle 262
— journey from Fort Washita to Fort
Leavenworth, 1861, notes on 423, 424
First U. S. volunteer cavalry: book on,
noted 384
First Wisconsin cavalry: note on 397
Fischer. Ben H., Lincoln, Neb.: donor. . . 88
Fish, Charley, Chase co 389
Fish, Lt. Oliver H 424
Fishback, Brig. Gen. William H.: arrested,
1864 135
Fisher, B. H., Sedgwick co.: legislative
candidate, 1875 453
Fisher, Charley, Leavenworth : kidnapped,
1859 218, 224
Fisher, Frank, Wichita: newspaperman, 435
440, 445, 451, 453
Fitch, E. P., Lawrence: killed, 1863 150
Fleming, A. M., Finney co 128, 253
Flint hills: bluestem pastures marker,
Matfield Green, note on 382
Flood, 1951: at Fort Riley, notes on 72
Flynn, Floyd: donor 91
Foard, W. F., Leavenworth 222
Foltz, Rebecca Heberling: article on,
noted 478
Food: D. R. Anthony's accounts of meals
in 1850's 17-19, 203, 211- 213
Forbes, Marjorie V.: article by, noted. . . 251
Ford, Evelyn, Topeka 128
Ford, Maj. Joseph H.: at Fort Riley. ... 57
— note on 57
Ford county: Van Dorn's battle with
Comanches in, notes on 268
Forrest, Edwin: actor 55
Forrest City: article on, noted 121
Forsyth, Mo.: engagement at, 1861,
noted 425
Fort Arbuckle, I. T.: abandoned to Con-
federates, 1861 422, 423
—notes on, 1858-1861 257, 262-266, 270
277, 402, 415, 416, 419, 420, 422, 423
—sketch (1861) of facing 400
Fort Arbuckle (old), I. T.: notes on. .270n, 271
Fort Atkinson: note on 406
Fort Belknap, Texas 257
— note on 401
Fort Cobb, I. T 400, 414, 420, 422, 423
—establishment of 277
—notes on, 1860 401, 402
Fort Hays. See Old Fort Hays Historical
Assn., Inc.
Fort Hays-Fort Dodge trail: note on
Duncan's Crossing on 294
Fort Kearny, Neb.: Kiowa-Comanche
expedition camped near, 1860 412, 413
Fort Kearny, South Pass and Honey Lake
road: note on 13
Fort Larned: Mary Gamble's article on,
noted 378
—note on, 1860 404
— W. E. Unrau's thesis on, noted 83
Fort Leavenworth: articles (historical) on,
noted 377, 380
—First cavalry troops at, 1858, noted, 257, 259
— historical marker for, noted 81
Fort Leavenworth-Fort Laramie military
road 18, 30
Fort Mackay: note on 406
Fort Riley: American Red Cross bldg.,
noted 61
— army intelligence school at, noted 71
— Evacuation nospital No. 1, note on. ... 60
—hospitals, history, 1904-1957, Maj.
G. E. Omer, Jr.'s article on 57- 78
(1918, 1926, 1953),
photographs between 64, 65
— Irwin Army Hospital, description of.. . . 74
note on 66
photograph between 64, 65
staff, 1957 74- 76
— medical officers' training camp,
1917-'19, notes on 59- 61
photograph facing 64
— notes on country in area of, 1860. .413, 414
— nurses' barracks, World War I, photo-
graph facing 64
— O'Donnell Heights, note on 64
— Pawnee Flats area, note on 66
— post strength, 1909, noted 57
—Seventh cavalry at, 1862 365, 366
— Sturgis and troops at, 1860 413
— veterinary corps, notes on 63
Fort Riley-Fort Kearny military road:
note on, 1860 413
Fort Riley Historical Society: 1958 meet-
ing, notes on 479
— note on 76
Fort Scott: as a philosophical center,
1871 168-197 passim
— campaign to preserve old fort at, noted, 121
— Davidson Opera House 33, 55
— Delmonico billiard hall 44
— entertainment in, 1870 42, 43
—Gulf House opened, 1870 43
—Joel Moody lecturer at 183, 184
—McDonald Hall 32-34, 41, 42, 46, 55
174, 184
— Methodist church, notes on,
1870-71 170-177 passim
—Opera House, 1870, notes on 42, 43
— reputation, 1870, note on 45
— Rubicam & Dilworth's show at 34
—theater at, 1862-1875, J. C. Malin's
article on 31- 56
—Wilder House, notes on 43, 44, 52
—Williams' hall 31
Fort Scott Institute: notes on 185- 190
Fort Scott Monitor 168-170, 173, 174
176-180, 184, 185, 187- 189
Fort Scott Tribune: articles in, noted 477
Fort Scott Weekly Tribune: articles in,
noted 123
Fort Smith, Ark 415, 420, 421
— abandoned to Confederates 422
— First cavalry troops at, noted 271
415, 422n
—troops from, to Fort Cobb 277
Fort Wallace: record of soldiers buried at,
filmed 86
Fort Washita, I. T.: abandoned to Con-
federates 422, 423
—letters (1859-1861) of a First cavalry-
man at 259-268, 275-284, 413- 423
— notes on 260n, 261n, 415, 416
—sketch, 1861 of facing 400
Fossil Creek station: Indian raid near,
noted 378
Foster, Maj. Robert J.: at Fort Riley 65
Fourth of July: at Emporia, 1898, article
on, noted 377
Fourth U. S. cavalry 425
—history, 1858-1861. See First U. S.
cavalry.
Fox, Mary A. Vrankin (Mrs. Matthew S.),
Fort Scott: account of 339- 342
GENERAL INDEX
491
Fox. Matthew S., Fort Scott 340- 342
Fox, Simeon M.: note on 351n
Frahm, Herman C., Topeka: donor 88
Franklin, , and wife: entertainers,
1860's 32
Franklin and Baker's Amphitheatre 32
Franz, Ida, Lyon co 254
Fredonia: First Baptist church, article on,
noted 124
Fredonia Citizen: note on 379
Free Love society of 1858. noted 119
Free-State immigrants (Eldridge-Pomeroy
parties) : P. J. Staudenraus'
article on 394- 398
Freed, Mr. and Mrs. J. R., Topeka:
donors 88
Freinmuth, Hans, Leavenworth 125
Fremont, Mai. Gen. John C.: note on,
1861 354
French, Laura M., Emporia: R. A. Cly-
mer's comment on 107
French, Col. Sanford Williams: at Fort
Riley 68, 69
— note on 68
French settlers: in Lyon co., article on,
noted 377
Friel, Hugh A., Crawford co 253
Friends: Haviland founders, article on,
noted 252
"Frontier Guard": Edward Daniels a
member of 397
Frost, Frank P., Eskridge 109
Frye, : actor 38
Fugit, Charles: killer of Hoppe 10, lln
—trial of, noted 10, 11
Fugitive slaves: D. R. Anthony's services
to 458-461, 475
Funston, Aldo, Parsons: donor 91
Funston, Frederick: Angelo Scott's ad-
dress on, noted 125
— in the Philippines, article on, noted 375
Funston Home : water well, note on 79
Furnas county, Neb.: Sturgia' fight with
Kiowas in, 1860, noted 411n, 412n
Fussell, James E., Leavenworth 125
Gabel, Mrs. Lawrence, Topeka 128
Gaines, Maj. Augustus W.: death, noted, 282
Gaines, Charles O., Chase co 383
Gainesville, Texas: note on 400
Gale, Thomas M.: paper by, noted 254
Galloway, Nancy Veale: article by, noted, 478
Gamble, Mary: article by, noted 378
Card, Spencer, lola 125
Gard, Mrs. Spencer A., lola: donor 88
Card, Wayne: book on Steel Dust by,
noted 256
Gardner: articles on, noted 124
Gardner News: articles in, noted 124
Garfield: Congregational church, article
on, noted 375
Garlinghouse, Mrs. O. L., Topeka: donor, 88
Garner, Pvt. Martin: death, noted 276
Garnett: First Christian church, note on, 122
Garnett Journal: Arthur Capper em-
ployed by 150
Garnett Review: article in, noted 122
Garvey, W. C., Strong City 393
Gaston, : actor 36
Gaston and Frye: theatrical entertainers, 35
Gauert, Henry, Wyandotte co 127
Gauvey, Ed, Chase co 389
Geary, John W. : territorial governor, 394, 395
Geary City, Doniphan co 19
Geise, Lt. Col. Gerald E.: at Fort Riley. . 75
Geisen, Rolla, Ottawa co 479
Geisenhener, Cecil 381
George, Lt. A. L.: chief nurse at Fort
Riley 65
George, Maj. Anal W.: at Fort Riley. ... 60
George, B. J., Kansas City, Mo.: donor. . 88
Gerding, Lt. Lulu M.: chief nurse at Fort
Riley 66
German Catholicu: in Saline co.,
notes on 308- 310
German Lutherans: in Saline co., notes
on 308, 309
German settlement: at Schippel's ferry,
Saline co., notes on 305- 313
Gibler, Paul, Claflin 86
Gibson, Mrs. Jeannette Burney, Ottawa:
donor 86
Giersch, Amanda (Mrs. Stephen) 307
Giersch, Anne (dau. of Peter, Sr.) 309
Giersch, Cecelia (Mrs. Peter, Sr.) 306
Giersch, Emily Serault (Mrs. John) 305n
310, 312
Giersch, John, Saline co.: notes on, 305n, 311
Giersch, John (son of Stephen) 309, 312
Giersch, John Peter (son of Peter, Sr.), 306, 313
Giersch, Josephine Poelma (Mrs. Stephen), 307
Giersch, Mary (Mrs. Peter, Sr.) 306
Giersch, Mary C. (Mrs. Nicholas) 310
Giersch, Michael (son of Peter, Sr.) . .306, 313
Giersch, Nicholas, Saline co 306, 309, 310
Giersch, Peter, Sr., Saline co.:
notes on 306- 310
Giersch, Peter, Jr. ("Big Pete"), Saline co., 306
Giersch, Sister Ferdinand, Saline co 305n
Giersch, Stephen (son of Peter, Sr.) : notes
on 306, 307
Gilbert, Capt. Charles C 424
Gille, Mrs. James L., Wyandotte co 127
Gillespie, Amy, Finney co 253
Gilmore, John S.: newspaperman 379
Gilmore, Robert, Dodge City 372
Gilpin, Mrs. Edna Piazzek, Valley Falls:
donor 86, 88
Gilson, Mrs. F. L., Emporia 254
Ginn, Lt. Col. William: at Fort Riley. ... 75
— note on 75
Girard, Maj. Pauline Henriette: at Fort
Girard: Gulf railroad completed to 41
Givens, Hank, Wichita 107
Gladden [or Gladding?], , Leaven-
worth: wounded, 1859 222
Glandon, Mrs. Clyde E.: report by, noted, 117
Glaspie, John, Ford(?) co 295n
Gleason, , Hodgeman co.. . .289, 292, 298
Gleason, Dan, Hodgeman co 294
Gleason, Mike, Hodgeman co 294
Gleason, Mrs. Robert, Topeka: donor. . . 88
Globe Clothing Co., lola: donor 88
Gloyne, Mrs. L. B., Kansas City 128
Gobleman. Delia, Finney co 128, 253
Godsey, Mrs. Flora R., Emporia 117
Godwin, , Atchison(?) co 18
"Golden Era of Kansas Journalism, A":
address by R. A. Clymer 97- 111
Qove County Republican Gazette, Gove:
article in, noted 377
Graber, Ralph E., Douglas co 479
Graham, Frank, Florence: donor 88
Graham, Robert H.: colonel 366
—death, noted 366n
Gran, Dr. C. H.: colonization plan, noted, 376
Grand (or Neosho) river, I. T 260, 415
Grant, Gen. Ulysses S 142, 143
Grasshopper creek 12-14, 18, 19
Grasshopper Falls 13, 15, 18
Grasshopper plague: of 1874, articles on,
noted 251. 378
Grasshoppers: story on extermination
methods, noted 375
Graves. W. W., St. Paul 109
Gray, Alice: actress 50, 51, 55
Gray, John, Atchison(?) co
Gray county: article on, noted 252
Greason, William D., Paola 109
Great Bend Tribune: article in, noted . . . 378
Great Western Minstrels: at Fort Scott,
1861 31
Greeley, Horace: quoted, 1856 395
Greeley : centennial booklet, noted 84
492
GENERAL INDEX
Green, : at Leavenworth, 1858 200
Green, Pvt. , of Co. I, First cavalry, 414
Green, Mrs. Cyril L.: article by, noted.. . 122
Green, Pvt. Matthew: killed, 1860 41 In
Greenback party 455
Greene, Mrs. Zula Bennington,
Topeka 107, 383
—article by, noted 478
Greenleaf: Trinity Lutheran church,
article on, noted 377
Greenleaf Sentinel: article in, noted 377
Greensburg: old settlers' reunion, 1957,
note on 125
Greenwood, Robert: editor of work on
Pike's Peak gold rush 384
Grier, Ralph, Andover 255
Griffin, Harry, Topeka: donor 88
Griffith, Mrs. Grace, Bourbon co 477
Griffiths, Mrs. Betty, Hartford: donor. . . 88
Grissinger, Col. Jay W.: at Fort Riley, 66
— note on 66
Griswold, Dr. J. F., Lawrence: killed,
1863 150
Gross, Rhea, Clark co 127
Guilford Citizen: note on 379
Gunnels, Pvt. Andrew J.: marriage, 1859,
noted 278
Guthrie (Okla.) Daily Leader: 1957 his-
torical edition, given Historical Society, 89
Guyer, Capt. Adolph: at Fort Riley 69
Haecker, Lt. Col. Ross R.: at Fort Riley, 75
Hafer, B. F.: article by, noted 379
Hahn, Charles Christian, Saline co.: note
on 313
Hahn, Gordon S.: articles by, noted 252
Hajda, Joseph, Manhattan: paper by,
noted 254
Halbe, L. W.: photograph by,
note on facing 257
Halberstadt, Ray, Ottawa co 126, 382, 479
— article by, noted 252
Halberstadt, Mrs. Ray, Ottawa co 479
Haley, Peggy: article by, noted 380
Hall, Bill: arrested, 1861, at Fort Ar-
buckle 420
Hall, Col. Fayette G.: at Fort Riley 73
Hall, Fred, Topeka 116, 118
Hall, Henry, Garden City 480
Hall, Richard L., Minneola: biographical
sketch of, noted 121
Hall, Standish, Wichita 117
Hallaver, Harold: donor 91
Hallo ver, Arnold, Burlingame: donor. ... 88
Hally, Thomas F., Delphos 382
Hamilton, R. L., Beloit 116, 118
Hamilton, William (missionary) : letters
of, note on 375
Hamlin, , Leavenworth 208, 211, 217
Hamlin, Mrs. , Leavenworth: notes
on 211, 213, 217
Hankins, Mary, lola 125
Hann, Mrs. : given land by H. S.
Mudge 303
Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad 19
Hannon, Ann Marie: Red Cross nurse ... 64
Hanson, Harry, Wyandotte co 127
Hanston, Hodgeman co.: note on 303
Harding, Lt. Col. Elizabeth: at Fort
Riley 62
— letter on her Fort Riley experiences 62
Hardy, Mr. and Mrs. Harry A 92
Harger, Charles Moreau: R. A. Clymer's
remarks on 103
Harman, George, Valley Falls 109
Harney, Maj. Gen. William S 10
— note on lOn
Harper, Dr. L. A., and family, Butler co.:
article on, noted 122
Harper, Mrs. Melville C., Clark co 127
Harris, Carl, McPherson: paper by, noted, 254
Harris, Lt. Col. Frank F.: at Fort Riley, 71
Harris, John P. ("Jack"), Hutchraaon:
R. A. Clymer's comment on 106
Harris, Stanley, Moran 125
Harris creek, I. T 269
Harrison, Frank, Leavenworth: kid-
napper 218n
Harrison, Jack R., Beloit: R. A. Clymer's
remarks on 105
Harrop, Mrs. G. B., Manhattan 126
Hart, Dea, Grenola: donor 88
Hartford: centennial booklet, noted 84
Harvey, Mrs. A. M., Topeka 116, 118
Harvey, Mrs. Albertine, Long Beach,
Calif: donor 88, 89
Harvey, Mrs. Jessie, Arkansas City: rec-
ollections, noted 379
Harvey, Maj Raymond, Fort Riley 479
Harwood, N. D., Manhattan 126
Haekell, John Gideon: architect 55
Hassan, Walter, Strong City 393
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove 79, 94
116, 118
Haucke, Mrs. Frank, Council Grove:
donor 88, 91
Haviland: article on, noted 252
Hawley, Maj. Gen. Paul Ramsey: at Fort
Riley 66
Haworth, B. Smith: donor 84
Haynes, Lacy, Kansas City, Mo 107
Hays, Mrs. Bea, Chase co 383
Hays: articles on, noted 251
— Baptist church, article on, noted 251
— "boys council" government, article on,
noted 251
Hays Chamber of Commerce 127
Hays Daily News: articles in, noted, 251, 477
Hazelton, Ada McComas (Mrs. Grant). . .316n
Heald, Mrs. C. G., Ottawa co 126, 479
Hedrick, Mrs. George, Lawrence: donor, 86
Hegel, G. W. F.: German philosopher. . . 194
Hegler, Ben F., Wichita 117
Heilmann, Charles E., Butler co 255
Henderson, John D. ("Jack") : note on. . . 203
Hennessey, Lt. R. A.: at Fort Riley 61
Herald of Freedom, Lawrence 97
Herbert, Ewing, Hiawatha 109, 477
Herndon, Walter, Lane co 125, 480
Herndon: Mission Covenant church,
article on. noted 378
Herrick, Thomas P.: officer, Seventh
Kansas cavalry 368, 370, 471, 472
Hersey, Timothy F.: V. A. Long's story
on, noted 375
Herzog: historical marker for, noted 81
Hesston: Evangelical U. B. church, article
on, noted 252
Hesston Record: article in, noted 252
Hewitt, Alba Ashby: book by, noted 256
Hewitt, L N. ("Jibo") 481
Hewitt, Maj. John: at Fort Riley 58
Hiawatha: centennial booklet, noted. ... 84
Hiawatha Daily World: article on, noted, 477
— 50th anniversary, noted 477
Hicks, Mrs. Virginia, Kearny co 127, 254
Hiebert, Dr. and Mrs. H. L., Topeka:
donors 88
High Plains Journal, Dodge City: his-
torical articles in. noted 121, 222, 477
Highland College: articles on, noted, 122, 375
—centennial, 1958, noted 253
— items on, noted 121
— note on 253
Highland Presbyterian Mission: items on,
noted 121
Highland Vidette: historical notes in,
noted.. 121
Hildebrand, Strong City 386
Hill, Alfred G., Swarthmore, Pa.: donor, 86
Hill, Brig. Gen. Robert Burns: at Fort
Riley 67
Hill, William F., Westmoreland 109
GENERAL INDEX
493
Hill City Chamber of Commerce 381
Hill City Oil Museum: opening, noted. . . 381
Hillman, Maj. Charles C.: at Fort Riley, 66
Hillsboro: Jantzen creamery co. records,
filmed 86
Hinds, Virgil Vesper: thesis by, noted. . . 84
Hi in nan, Ralph, Jr.: articles by,
noted 375, 379
Hinton, Richard J.: note on Civil War
service of 357, 358
Historic sites: R. H. Mattison's address on
National Park Service criteria for eval-
uating Ill- 116
— and buildings: photographs of, noted. . 90
Historic Sites and Structures in Kansas, A
Survey of: note on 80
Historic spots in Kansas: E. Collier's
article on, noted 380
Historical marker: near Matfield Green,
note on 382
Histories, Kansas: published in 1957,
noted 84
History teachers. See Kansas Assn. of
Teachers of History and Related Fields.
Hitchcock, Dr. Edward, of Amherst Col-
lege: book by, noted 173
Hobart, Dr. Wilson: donor 86
Hobbs, Victor O., Trenton, Mo 156
Hoch, Homer, Marion 109
Hodgeman county: Mudge ranch, Mrs.
M. E. Caldwell's article on, edited by
Mrs. R. II. Millbrook 285- 304
Hodgeman County Historical Society:
1958 meeting, note on 382
Hodges, Frank, Olathe 116, 118
Hodson, Zacariah F. : biographical sketch
of, noted 122
Hoehn, Peter, Hodgeman co 293
Holderby, Ariana P., of West Virginia. . . 316
Holderby, James, of West Virginia. . .316, 318
Holderness, Maj. Arthur W.: at Fort
Riley 65
Holderness, Arthur W., Jr. : note on 65
Holland community, Dickinson co. : article
on, noted 122
Holley, Lena: article by, noted 121
Hollingsworth, C. E., Denver 382
Holman, Charles E., Topeka 127
Holsinger, W. H., Cottonwood Falls 386
Holt, Lynne: article by, noted 121
Holton: centennial booklet, noted 84
Holton Recorder: article in, noted 379
Holyrood: article on, noted 252
Homesteaders: article on, noted 380
Hood, George J., Lawrence: donor 86
Hope, Clifford R., Sr.: papers of, given
Historical Society 85
Hope, Clifford R., Jr 128, 253
Hope, Mary, Finney co 128, 253
Hope Dispatch: article in, noted 122
Hopkins, Margaret 126
Hoppe, , Leavenworth: murdered, 10, 11
Hopson, Mrs. Don, Phillipsburg: donor. . 88
Horn, Lew, Hodgeman co 285n
"Horse-car Interurban From Cottonwood
Falls to Strong City, The": article by
Allison Chandler 385- 393
Horse-racing: sport at Forts Washita and
Arbuckle, I. T 263, 267, 270
Horses: at H. S. Mudge ranch,
notes on 291- 293
— Wayne Card's book on Steel Dust,
noted 256
Horton: First Baptist church, note on. . . 123
Horton Headlight: article in, noted 123
Hospitals. See under Fort Riley.
House, Jay E., Topeka 107
Household, Topeka: notes on 155, 159
164, 167
Hovey, Mrs. Stuart F., Kansas City, Mo.:
donor 85, 89
Howard, : artillery captain, 1861 ... 357
Howard, Richard C., Arkansas City 106
Howe, Edgar Watson: J. B. Stronka'
article on, noted 124
— R. A. Clymer's remarks on 100
Howe, Gene (son of E. W.) 106
Howe, Nina Catherine, Kansas City:
donor 88
Howie, Lt. Col. Donald Lavern: at Fort
Riley 73
Hoxie Sentinel: article in, noted 376
Hoyt, George H.: in First Kansas cavalry, 357
Hoyt, Mrs. Hobart, Lyons 127
Hubbell, L. W., Jetmore 302n, 304, 382
Hubert, Abe, Finney co 253
Hudson, John, Topeka: donor 88
Hudson, Joseph K.: publisher 152
Hudson, Lt. Col. Kenneth Eugene: at
Fort Riley 73
Huebner, Adolphus, Salina 310
Huebner, Minnie 310
Hughbanks, Dr. James G., Independence:
donor 88
Hughes, John R., Baxter Springs: article
on home of, noted 376
Hugoton: Arthur Capper's visit to, noted, 152
Hull, Jedediah, and family, Butler co.:
article on, noted 122
Humbarger, Anne Giersch (Mrs. Daniel), 309
Humbarger, Daniel, Saline co.: note on, 309
Humboldt: raided, 1861, note on 360
Humphrey, Mrs. J. V., Jr 479
Hunt, Mrs. Gorman, Leavenworth 125
Hunter, Maj. Gen. David: feud with Lane,
noted 363n
— note on 360
Hunting, Rev. S. S., of American Unitar-
ian Assn 179
Huntoon, Dr. Andrew Jackson: note on, 85
— papers of, given Historical Society 85
Hurlbut, W. E., Sedalia, Mo 156
Hurley, James E.: Cottonwood Falls
resident, noted 389
Hurst, Col. , of Third Missouri regi-
ment: killed, 1861 356
Hurst, Margaret O., Kearny co 127, 254
Huston, Capt. Daniel, Jr 424
Hutchinson: site, 1860, note on 407n
Hutchinson News: articles in, noted 123
252, 378
Hutchison, R. C.: slave owner 218n
Huxley, Thomas H.: note on
works by 169, 170
Hyames, Mrs. Fred, Lane co 480
Hyatt, John K., St. Louis 86
Hyatt, Thaddeus: letter books of, filmed 86
I
Iden, Jay B., Topeka 107
Immigrants, Free-State (Eldridge-Pome-
roy parties) : P. J. Staudenraus' article
on 394- 398
Independence: public library, article on,
noted 123
Independence, Mo.: skirmish at,
1864 137, 138
Independence creek, Doniphan co 19
Independence Daily Reporter: articles in,
noted 123, 375- 377
Indian lands: in eastern Kansas, 1857,
map of facing 17
Indian peace treaty, 1867 (Medicine
Lodge) : articles on, noted 121
— celebration, 1957, commemorating,
noted 121
Indian raid(s) : article on, noted 251
— in Solomon Valley, 1868, articles on,
noted 378
— Russell co., article on, noted 378
Indian Territory (Oklahoma): abandon-
ment of Union forts in, 1861,
notes on 422- 424
— First cavalry troops in, 1859-1861, notes
on 257-284, 415- 423
travels of, map facing 272
494
GENERAL INDEX
Ingalls, John: in militia, 1864 134
Ingraham, Lt. Edward 284, 418
Insley, Merritt H.: note on, 1861 353
Intel-urban (Cottonwood Falls-Strong
City) : Allison Chandler's
article on 385- 393
— map showing route of facing 385
— photographs showing cars and
views of facing 384
and frontispiece (Winter issue).
lola Register: article in, noted 123
Ionia: history by L. Stites, noted 84
Iowa Point: original plat of, given His-
torical Society 90
Iowa Point Weekly Enquirer: 1858 issue of,
given Historical Society 89
Irvin, Rev. Samuel 253
Irving: Presbyterian church: article on,
noted 376
Irwin Army Hospital, Fort Riley: de-
scription of 74
—note on 66
— photograph between 64, 65
—staff of, 1957 74- 76
Isbell, Clarence, Hays 127
Ise, Dr. John, Lawrence 382
Isely, Bliss, Wichita 107
Itzen, John, Saline co.: notes on 308, 312
Iverson, Lt. Alfred 284, 417, 421
Ives, Earl: article by, noted 478
Jacksboro, Tex.: note on 400
Jackson, Maj. Arthur D.: at Fort Riley.. 65
Jackson, Mrs. Ruth: Wallace co. history
by, noted 122
Jackson county: School Dist. No. 1, article
on, noted 379
Jackson County Clipper. Holton: article in,
noted 379
Jacobs, Mrs. John: donor 91
Jagger, Mrs. Fred, Ottawa co 126, 479
James, Arthur D., Topeka: donor 88
Jameson, Henry, Abilene 106
Jaminet, Jo: articles by, noted 379
Jamison, Annie: actress 47
Janauschek, 55
Jantzen Hillsboro Creamery: records,
filmed 86
Jarrell, J. Frank, Topeka 107
"Jay hawkers" : applied to Seventh Kansas
cavalry, note on 352
Jelinek, George: donor 84
Jenifer, Lt. Walter H.: at Fort Arbuckle, 268
Jennings, J. C., Wichita: eulogy for W. S.
White, quoted 439
Jennison, Charles R.: as First and Sev-
enth Kansas cavalry leader, notes on. . 351
354, 356, 358, 359, 362, 363, 365- 370
— D. R. Anthony's comment on 362
— difficulties, 1863, discussed 365n
— duel with D. R. Anthony, noted 8
—in Price raid 134
— photograph facing 465
Jennison, Robert, Healy 125
Jewett, Dale, Lane co 480
Jewett, Mrs. Dale, Lane co 125
Johannsen, Robert W.: article on John
Calhoun by, noted 380
Johnson, Axel: donor . . 91
Johnson, Lt. Col. Clarence B.: at Fort
Riley 73
Johnson, Lil: article by, noted 377
Johnson, Lilian Stone: article by, noted, 478
Johnson, Mary M. McKendrie (Mrs. Geo.
W.), Charles Town, W. Va 316n, 318n
Johnson, Mrs. Virginia: Gardner history
by, noted 124
Johnson, Walter A., Emporia 382
Johnson, Walter A., Topeka: newspaper-
man 107
Johnson's Station (on California Overland
route) 420
Johnston, Col. Albert Sidney: Camp
Cooper, Tex., established by 283n
Johnston, Col. Joseph E 282n
Jones, Alfred W.: member Lecompton
const, conv 82
Jones, Catherine H., Lyon co 254
Jones, Mrs. Charles, Topeka: donor 88
Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Elwood 92
Jones, Horace, Lyons 117
Jones, Mrs. Jesse M., Leavenworth 125
Jones, Lucina, Lyon co 254
Jones, Paul A., Lyons: R. A. Clymer's
remarks on 104, 105
Jones, Samuel J. (Prosla very man) : note
on, 1857 10
Jordan, Maj. Mary C.: at Fort Riley 75
Jorn, Chris G., Decatur co 255
Journal of Agriculture: note on 160
Journal of the Presbyterian Historical
Society, Lancaster, Pa.: Wm. Hamilton
letters in, noted 375
"Journalism, Kansas. A Golden Era of":
address by R. A. Clymer 97- 111
Judd, Maj. Florence E.: at Fort Riley. . . 76
Juengel family, Saline co 312
Junction City: description, 1860 250
Junction City Union: article in, noted. . . 377
— Irwin Army Hosp. section featured in
issue of 252
Junction City Weekly Union: article in,
noted 478
Juneau, Hercules: biographical sketch of,
noted 122
Junkin, J. E., Sterling 109
Kalloch, Rev. Isaac 200
Kambach, Mrs. Frank J., Topeka 117
Kampschroeder, Mrs. Jean Norris, Garden
City 117
Kansas (state) : auditor, donor 86
— Centennial commission, beginnings of . . 81
— Industrial Development Commission,
donor 90
— Memorial building, repairs and improve-
ments, notes on 79, 80
resolution to remodel G.A.R. hall in, 95
—Militia, called out, 1864 133- 136
— in Price raid, account of 136- 141
— Second regiment, S. J. Reader's paint-
ings of, frontispiece (Summer issue) , and
facing 129
— Records Board, note on 82
— records center, note on 82
— Teachers College, Emporia, biographical
sketches of presidents of, noted 121
Kansas: article on, noted 478
— four-volume history (edited by J. D.
Bright), noted 84
— W. F. Zornow's history of, noted 84
Kansas Assn. of Teachers of History and
Related Fields: 1958 meeting, notes on, 254
Kansas City: First Pilgrim Congregational
church, D. D. Ballou's history of, noted, 256
— KCKN radio station, notes on 162, 167
Kansas City, Mo.: theater in, 1870-72,
notes on 55
Kansas City Kansan: notes on. . 161, 162, 167
Kansas City (Mo.) Star: articles in, noted, 375
Kansas City (Mo.) Times: articles in,
noted 375
Kansas Council for the Social Studies:
1958 meeting, note on 255
Kansas Farmer: notes on 158-160, 167
Kansas Farmer and Mail and Breeze: note
on 158
"Kansas Historical Notes", 125-128, 253- 256
381-384, 479- 481
"Kansas History as Published in the
Press", 121-124, 251, 252, 375-380, 477, 478
Kansas Indians: on hunt, 1860, note on. . 407
Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame: com-
ment on 108
GENERAL INDEX
495
Kansas State Historical Society: Anna/a
of Kansas, note on 80, 81
— annual meeting, 1957, proceedings. .79- 118
— archives division report, 1956-1957. .81, 82
— executive committee report, 1957 94
—First Capitol report, 1956-1957 90
— Funston Home report. 1956-1957. . .90, 91
— Kansas Historical Quarterly, The, note
on, 1957 80
— Kaw Mission report, 1956-1957 91
—library, additions to 1956-1957,
listed 227- 249
report, 1956-1957 82- 84
— manuscript division report,
1956-1957 85, 86
— microfilm division report, 1956-1957. . . 87
— Mirror, note on, 1957 80
— museum report, 1956-1957 87- 89
— newspaper and census divisions report,
1956-1957 89
— nominating committee report, 1956-
1957 95
— photographs and maps report, 1956-
1957... 89, 90
—presidential address, 1957 97- 111
— publications and special projects report
1956-1957 80, 81
—research subjects, 1956-1957 90
— resolution on G.A.R. Hall remodeling . . 95
— secretary's report, 1956-1957 79- 92
— Shawnee Mission report, 1956-1957, 91, 92
— treasurer's report, 1956-1957 92- 94
Kansas textbooks: C. Walbridge's thesis
on, noted 84
Kansas Tuberculosis and Health Assn. . . . 383
Kansas Weekly Capital, Topeka:
notes on 154, 157
Kapioma City, Atchison co.: note on 18
Kaul, Robert H., Wamego 117
Kearny County Historical Society: or-
ganization meeting, note on 127
— first annual meeting, note on 254
Keetchie Indians 404
Keith, Wilson, Topeka: business records
of, given Historical Society 86
Keller, Mrs. Erwin, Topeka: donor 88
Keller, Mrs. Jessie, Kiowa co 125
Kelley, E. E., Garden City 108
Kelley, Mrs. Emma, White Cloud: donor, 87
Kelley, John, Sedgwick co.: state rep.,
1875, note on 453
Kelley, Lowell, White Cloud: donor 87
Kellogg, Lyman B 121
Kelly, J. V., Leavenworth 125, 255
Kempinsky, Jay. Sedgwick co 453
Kendall, Lt. Col. William P.: at Fort
Riley 57
— biographical note 57
Kersey, Ralph T.: book on "Buffalo"
Jones by, noted 477
Keys, Bill. Hodgeman co 294
Kickapoo Indians: lands sales 17, 30
Kimmel, Lester F., Wichita 107
Kinard, Maj. K. W.: at Fort Riley 61
King, Rev. A. L.: at Hays, note on 251
King, Clarence, Butler co 255
Kingman, Robert H., Topeka 127
Kingman, W. A., Springfield, Mo.: donor, 88
Kinnaird, Mrs. Joe, Kiro: donor 88
Kinsley: note on, 1881 287n
— saloons, note on 301n
— sod house in, noted 128
Kinsley Booster Club 128
Kinsley Chamber of Commerce 128
Kinsley Graphic: microfilmed 87
Kinsley Mercury: microfilmed 87
—special edition, 1958, noted 380
Kiowa: article on, noted 378
— Congregational church, article on, noted, 378
—Lions club 481
Kiowa-Comanche expedition, 1860: ac-
count of southern column's move-
ments... 401-413
Kiowa county: old settlers' reunion, 1957,
note on 125
Kiowa County Historical Society: 1958
meeting, note on 383
Kiowa creek 405
Kiowa Indians: Delaware-Tonka wa raid
on, noted 402
— in Solomon river area, 1860 409
— raids on small tribes in I. T., noted 402
— Walnut creek camps of, noted 407
Kiowa News: article in, noted 378
Kirk, J. H.. Scott co 382
Kirkbride, P. J.: donor 91
Kirkbride, Mr. and Mrs. W. D., Hering-
ton: donors 88
Kirwan, John 8.: quoted 41 In
Kistler, William, Coffeyville 480
Kloehr, J. B., Coffeyville 480
Knapp, Dallas W., Coffeyville 118
Kneass, Olive: actress 37
Knight, , and wife, Leavenworth:
residents, 1858 211, 217, 218
Knight, N. S., Leavenworth 217
Knighten, William: jailed for J. Stevens
murder 20n
Knowles, Mr. and Mrs. Frank, Valley
Falls: donors 88
Knox, Mrs. C. B., Manhattan 126
Knox, J. S., Topeka 302
Koch, William E., Manhattan 126
—and wife 96, 111
— paper by, noted 254
Kotterman, Mrs. Eugene 126, 479
Kracht, Lt. Col. Arthur N.: at Fort Riley, 72
Kramer, Lt. Floyd: at Fort Riley 58
Kubin, Col. Milford Timothy: at Fort
Riley 75
Kuhlmann, C. F., Ottawa co 479
Kunc, Henry, Ottawa co 382
Lacock, Col. Walter B.: at Fort Riley. . 75
"Lady of Lyons" (play): presentations,
1870, noted 37, 39, 41
LaFlore, Basil (Choctaw chief): note on, 281
LaFrage, Maj, Susan W.: at Fort Riley. . 72
LaGrange, Oscar Hugh, Ripon, Wis.:
notes on 395- 397
Laidig, Ira, Decatur co 255
Laing, W. T., Omaha, Neb 156
LaLouette, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest, Florence:
donors 88
Lander, Col. Frederick West: expedition,
1859, notes on 3
Landes, Henry, Marysville: story about,
noted 252
Lane, James H 362
— as a political leader, 1864,
notes on 129-136 passim
—Civil War activities, noted 353
— D. R. Anthony's comment on 19
— feud with General Hunter, noted 363n
— home destroyed in Quantrill raid 149
— photograph facing 465
— victory in 1864 election, notes on. .142, 143
Lane County Historical Society: 1957
meeting, note on 125
— 1958 meetings, notes on 255, 480
Lane-Robinson feud: noted 370
Lang, Roy, Jetmore: employed on Mudge
ranch 287-290, 292, 297n
Langedorf, Edgar 6n, 92, 198n, 351n, 458n
—and R. W. Richmond, "Letters of Daniel
R. Anthony, 1857-1862" edited by 6-30
198-226, 351-370, 458- 475
Lanham, Ceora B., Topeka: donor 88
Lantry, C. J., Strong City 386
Larned: Henry S. Mudge a resident of . . . 286
— library, historical room in, noted 480
Larrabee, Lee : records lent by, noted .... 83
Larsen, Lucile 117, 126
Lawrence, James, Groton, Conn.: sheep
raiser.., 289
496
GENERAL INDEX
Lawrence, W. W. H.: captain in Seventh
Kansas cavalry 459, 461
Lawrence: D. R. Anthony's comment on
people of 25, 27
"Lawrence, The Sacking of " (1863): Alan
Conway's article on 144- 150
Lawrence Historical Society: 1958 meet-
ing, note on 255, 256
Lawrence Publishing Company: note on, 160
League of Women Voters of Topeka 383
Leahy, David D., Wichita 107
Lease, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth: Hypatia
club organizer 437, 438
— poem "In Memoriam — Capt. W. S.
White" by 438
Leayenworth: arrival of First cavalry and
First infantry troops at, 1861, described, 424
— city election, 1858, note on 208
— comment on Proslavery element in,
1857 23, 24
— D. R. Anthony business bldg. of 1858 in,
note on 198
— fire, 1858, notes on 205 206
—flour mill, 1858, noted 204, 215
— in 1857, D. R. Anthony's comments on, 10
— in 1858, D. R. Anthony's comments on, 198
199, 204, 207, 215
— planing mill fire, 1859(?), noted 222
— Planters' House 9, 11, 203
— postmaster, 1856-'57, comment on 22
—telegraph in, 1859 198
Leavenworth Bulletin: note on 7
Leavenworth Conservative: acquired by
D. W. Wilder 356
— note on 7
Leavenworth County Historical Society:
1957 meeting, note on 125
— 1958 meeting, note on 255
Leavenworth Debating Club 371
Leavenworth Herald 97
Leavenworth Times: article in, noted .... 377
— note on 7
Leavenworth Weekly Times: microfilmed, 87
Lebanon Times: article in, noted 377
Lecompte, Samuel D.: D. R. Anthony's
comment on 11
Lecompton constitution: engrossed copy
of, given Historical Society 82
Lee, Albert I-., Doniphan co.: Civil War
career, notes on 130, 363, 367, 369
370, 460, 464- 467
— D. R. Anthony's comments on. . . .465- 467
473, 475
Lee, Lt. Fitzhugh: wounded, 1859 268
Lee, W. E., Smith co 481
Leeper, Mathew 402
Leeper (or Leeper's) creek, I. T. . . . 276n, 399n
Lees, Raymond, Wyandotte co 127
Leininger, Col. Daniel B.: at Fort Riley, 63
— note on 64
— photograph facing 65
Lemert, Bula : article by, noted 379
Lemon, Mrs. Harry, Topeka: donor 88
Levand, John R., Wichita 106
Levand, Louis, Wichita 106
Levand, Max M., Wichita 106
Leverett, Sgt. W. P.: killed, 1859 268n
Levin, Beatrice: article by, noted 121
Lewellen, Emerson C.: scrapbook of,
filmed, 86
Lewis, Rev. A. E.: at Fredonia, 1882 124
Lewis, Mrs. Cora G., Kinsley 107
Lexington, Mo.: skirmish at, 1864, noted, 136
Lieberman, Mrs. Joseph E 479
Light Horse Troop, I. T 281, 417, 418
Ligon, Al, Crawford co 253
Lillard, Mrs. Clyde, Great Bend 128
Lillard, T. M., Topeka. . .79, 94, 116, 117, 127
— donor 86
Lilleston, W. F., Wichita 118
Lillie, Gordon W. ("Pawnee Bill") : article
on, noted 477
limestone creek, Crawford co.: article on,
noted.. .. 379
Linck, Mrs. Catherine, Saline co 307, 308
Linck, Elizabeth (dau. of Catherine) 307
Linck, Jacob (son of Catherine) 307
Linck, Mary (dau. of Catherine) 307, 308
Linck family, Saline co.: notes on 307, 308
Lincoln, Abraham: election as president,
comment on 417
Lincoln-Douglas debates: J. M. Dow's
article on, noted 375
Lindquist, Emory K., Wichita 117
— article on "A Proposed Scandinavian
Colony in Kansas . . ." by, noted, 376
Lmdsey, Vic, Bourbon co 477
Lines, Edward C. D.: lieutenant, 1862. . . 369
Lingenfelser, Angelus, Atchison 116, 118
Lingham, M. V.. Fort Scott: actor. . .48- 52
Linn county: courthouse, 1869,
notes on 183, 186
— Price's raiders in, note on 139 140
Little, Helen D., LaCrosse: donor 88
Little, Olcott W., Alma: R. A. Clymer's
comment on 108
Little Blue river, Mo.: battle of, 1861. .. 352
D. R. Anthony's comment on 355
—^engagement at, 1864, notes on 136, 137
Little Santa Fe, Mo.: Union forces at,
1864 139
Livingston, Mrs. Ray. Abilene 126, 480
Logan, J. Glenn, Topeka 127
Logan, Olive: entertainer 42
Lomax. Lt. Lunsford L. : at Fort Arbuckle, 267
Long, Richard M., Wichita 107, 116, 118
— vice-president Historical Society. . . .95, 117
Long, Vivian Aten: article by, noted. . . . 375
Longendyke, Gross 291n, 302n
Longton : article on, noted 377
Longton News: article in, noted 378
Loomis, Mrs. R. C., Butler co 255
Lord, Mai. J. P.: at Fort Riley 60
Lord Dramatic Company: at Fort Scott, 56
Lose, Harry F., Topeka 118
Loucks, Charles A., Kearny co 254
Louisville, Mo 259
Lovewell, Paul : article by, noted 478
Lowe, Carrie: actress 373, 374
Lower, Alfred, Topeka: donor 86
Lowry, Velma E. : articles by, noted, 375, 376
Lucas: story of concrete "Eden" in, noted, 375
Lupfer, Nina, Hodgeman co 382
Lusk [or Susk?], , Elwood 203
Luther, Mary A.: marriage, 1858, noted, 210
Lutherans, German. See German Luther-
ans.
Lutherans, Swedish. See Swedish Luther-
ans.
Lyda, Dr. A. Louis, Salina: donor 88
Lyon county: cattle drives to, article on,
noted 377
— French settlers, article on, noted 377
Lyon County Historical Society: museum,
note on 377
—1958 meetings, notes on 253, 480
M
McAbee, Mrs. G. W 126, 479
McAfee, Capt. Larry B.: at Fort Riley. . 58
— note on 58
McArthur, Mrs. Vernon E.,
Hutchinson 116, 118
— donor 88
McCain, James A., Manhattan 116. 118
McCampbell, Dr. C. W., Manhattan 126
McCartney, Dr. and Mrs. Allen, Neo-
desha: article on home of, noted 379
McCluggage, R. E., Juneau, Alaska:
donor 89
McColm, T. H., Lyon co 254
McComas, Ada (dau. of H. C.) 315, 316?i
McComas, Alice (dau. of E. W.) 316
McComas, Ariana P. Holderby
(Mrs. E. W.) : note on 316
McComas, Benjamin J. (son of Wm.) 315
GENERAL INDEX
497
McComas, Charles (son of H. C.): victim
of Apaches 315
McComas, David (son of H. C.) 315
McComas, David, of West Virginia 318
McComas, Elisha Wesley: biographical
data 315-318, 339- 344
—books by. discussed 321- 339
— J. C. Matin's article on
philosophy of 314- 350
— tributes to 343- 347
McComas, Ella (dau. of E. W.Jk 316
McComas, Gordon (son of E. W.) 316
McComas, Hamilton Calhoun
(son of Wm.): biographical data 315
—killed by Apaches 315
McComas, Henry (son of E. W.) 316
McComas, Irene (dau. of Wm.): note on, 316n
McComas, Juniatta Maria (Mrs. H. C.):
killed by Apaches 315
— note on 315
McComas, Mary (dau. of H. C.) 315, 316n
McComas, Rufus (son of Wm.) 315, 318
McComas, Walter (son of E. W.) 316
McComas, William (son of H. C.) 315
McComas, William, of Virginia: note on, 315
McComas, William W. (son of Wm.) 315
McComas & McKeighan, Fort Scott: law
firm 315
McCormick, Lt. Col. Arthur Benedict:
at Fort Riley 68
McCormick, Cyrus H.: candidate for
congress, 1864 318
— owner Chicago Times-Herald 317
McCoy, Alvin S., Kansas City, Mo 107
McCoy, Isaac: R. O. Yeager's thesis on,
noted 84
McCoy, Lester, Finney co 128, 253
McCully, Fred, of I. T.: arrested 419
McCune, Mrs. Vincent, Chanute 128
McDaniel, Rev. Sam: at Garnett, 1857. . 122
McDonald, Alexander: one-time Fort
Scott resident 33
McDowell, Earl. Cherokee, Okla 86
McDowell, Orville, Amsa, and Earl,
Cherokee, Okla.: donors 88
McElyea, Mrs. Tonkajo 481
McEnery, Maj. Douglas Miltz: at Fort
Riley 65
— note on 65
McFarland, Helen M., Topeka. .116, 118, 127
McFarlon, Lt. Walter D.: at Fort Riley. . 67
McGinnis, Myron, Bucklin: donor 89
MacGregor, Mrs. Alice, Medicine Lodge, 481
McGrew, Mrs. William E.,
Kansas City 116, 118
Mclnerney, Dr. William M., Abilene:
donor 88
Mclnnes, Ray, Lyon co 254
Mclntosh, Cosette: article by, noted 128
Mack, , Hodgeman co 289
Mack, John, Newton 106
Mack, Quincy, Hodgeman co 294, 298
Mackay, Rev. Henry, Fort Scott: tribute
to E. W. McComas 344- 346
McKeighan, J. E.: lawyer 315
McKelvie, Samuel R., of Nebraska 161
McKendrie, Mary M., Charles Town,
W. Va 316n
McKinney, Mrs. James, Lyon co 254
McKinnon, Col. John Alexander: at Fort
Riley 67
McLanathan, , Leavenworth: mer-
chant 212
McLaughlin. Drew, Paola 109
McLaughlin's creek, I. T 269
McLean, Aaron 6, 10, 12, 18, 29, 198, 201
202, 204, 208, 214, 220, 468
— D. R. Anthony's letters to. .17-21, 205. 206
209, 210, 212, 213, 215, 216, 356, 358
361-363, 367-369, 464-467, 474, 475
McLean, Guelma Anthony (Mrs. Aaron), 6
MacLennan, Frank P., Topeka 106
McMaster, Lt. Col. H. G.: at Fort Riley, 75
McMillin, Mrs. Eugene, Lawrence 128
32—6550
McNeal, Don, Council Grove 01
McNeal, Thomas Allen 107
— co-owner of Puth 165
— newspaper sold by 153
McNee, George, Cottonwood Fall* 393
McNeil's brigade: in Price raid 141
McNulty, Lt. K. ("Red"): at Fort Riley, 69
McWilliams, J. W., Cottonwood Falls. ... 386
Macy, C. W., Hanston 299n
Maddox, Wendel, Garden City: donor. . . 88
Madison: centennial booklet, noted 84
Magee, Capt. James C 68
Mahaffey, Ethel, Lyon co . . 264
Mahaska: C. W. Miller's book on, noted, 84
Mail and Breeze, Topeka: notes on. . 153- 155
Mail Printing House: note on .' 154
Mailen, John, Chase co 389, 392
Major, Daniel G.: astronomer 273n
Malin, James C.. 31n, 118, 168n, 255, 314, 426n
— " 'Creative Evolution': The Philosophy
of Elisha Wesley McComas, Fort Scott/'
article by 314- 350
— donor 88
— "Early Theatre at Fort Scott," article
by 31- 66
— "Kansas Philosophers. 1871— T. B.
Taylor, Joel Moody, and Edward
Schiller," article by 168-197
— paper by, noted 254
— "William Sutton White, Swedenborgian
Publicist," article by 426- 457
Malle, Mrs. Edward V., Crawford co 253
Malone, Francis M.: capt., Seventh Kan-
sas cavalry 474, 475
Malone, James, Gem 92, 94, 116, 118
Manhattan: street scene photograph,
1860, noted 2
Manhattan Mercury: article in, noted . . . 124
Mann, H. D 200
Manning, Edwin C.: story by, noted. . . . 478
Map: 1865, showing western Term, and
northern Miss facing 464
—of Kansas, 1857, article on, noted 379
Marais des Cygnes massacre: note on
observance of centennial of 256
Maranville, Lea, Ness City 117, 125
Marble, George W., Fort Scott: R. A.
Clymer's remarks on 104
Marble, Watson, Fort Scott 106
Marckhoff, Fred R., Elgin, 111.: donor. . . 86
Marcy, Capt. Randolph B 401n
Marena, Hodgeman co. : note on 297
Markham, William Colfax, Baldwin 109
Markley, Israel: biographical sketch, 307, 308
Markley, Mary (Mrs. Israel) 307, 308
Marks, Minnie Lee: donor 91
Marling, Mark, Topeka: donor 88
Marmaduke, Gen. John: in Price raid. . . 130
137, 138
— captured, 1864 140
Marquart Music Co., Topeka: donor. ... 88
Marsh, : at Wyandotte, 1858 200
Marshall. Francis J., Marysville: ferry
operator 3
Marshall, George S., Leavenworth 125
Marshall county: blizzard, 1915, article
on, noted 262
Martin, Harris (son of John A.) 91
Martin, Mrs. Helen, Brookville: donor... 88
Martin, Maj. John A.: at Fort Riley 63
Martin, John Alexander: head of Eighth
Kansas infantry 357
— governor 91
— note on 357n
Martin, W. P., Cottonwood Falls 386
Marysville: first Big Blue river bridge,
article on, noted 252
Marysville Advocate: articles in,
noted 252, 370
Mason, Walt: R. A. Clymer's comment on, 107
Massey, George and Fred, Iowa Point:
donors 89, 90
498
GENERAL INDEX
Matfield Green: historical marker near,
noted 81, 382
Mathews, , Doniphan co.: Proslavery-
man 19
Mattison, Ray H., Omaha, Neb 96, 111
— "The Criteria by Which the National
Park Service Evaluates Historic Sites,"
address by Ill- 116
Maxwell, , of Texas: boss herder on
Mudge ranch 294
Maxwell, Don, Topeka: donor 86, 88
Maxwell, Robert, estate, Topeka:
donor 88, 89
Mayberry, , Jefferson, Tex.: captain
of "Dead Shot Rangers" 423
Mayhew, Mrs. Patricia Solander, Topeka, 118
Means, Hugh, Lawrence 117
Mechem, Kirke, Lindsborg 116, 118
Medical officers' training camp, Fort Riley :
notes on 59- 61
— photograph facing 64
Medicine Lodge: Indian peace treaty
pageant (1957), notes on 121, 125
— Lions club 481
Meeker, Rev. Jotham 97
Mefford, Mrs. Belle: article by, noted.. . . 123
Mellaney, , Hodgeman co 286
Memorial building. See Kansas (state)
Memorial building.
Menninger, Grace Gaines: article by,
noted 478
Menninger, Dr. Karl A 118
— donor 86
Mennonites: article on, noted 252
Merillat, L. D., Topeka: donor 88. 89
Michigan Farmer: note on 160, 167
Mickel, Ben L., Soldier 109
Mickey, J. M., Leavenworth: R. A. Cly-
mer s remarks on 105
Middle Branch, Hodgeman co.: note on. . 300
Midian community, Butler co. : article on,
noted 122
Militia. See Kansas (state) militia.
Mill, Dutch, at Wamego: article on,
noted 379, 380
Millbrook, Mrs. Raymond H.: editor of
Mrs. M. E. Caldwell's article "The
Mudge Ranch" 285- 304
Miller, A. Q,, Belleville 109
Miller, A. R., Ottawa co 479
Miller, Ben, Decatur co 255
Miller, Bob, Leavenworth 222
Miller, Clyde W.: donor 84
Miller, Col. Edgar William: at Fort Riley, 67
— note on 67
Miller, Fred, Ottawa co 126
Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Henry, Delavan:
donors 87
MUler, Howard S., Morrill: donor 86
Miller, Jack, Lyndon: donor 89
Miller, Mrs. John O., Topeka: donor 88
Miller, Karl, Dodge City 118
Miller, Nyle H.: secretary. Historical
Society 92, 95, 117, 255, 381
Miller, Mrs. Percy M 126
Miller, S. F.: reminiscences, in Hutchinson
News, noted 123
Miller, Sylvester, Chase co 392
Millington, D. A., Fort Scott 187, 190
Millison, D. G., Wichita 434
Miltonvale: article on, noted 478
Milton vale Recorder: article in, noted 478
Mine creek: engagement at, 1864 140
Minneapolis: mill, 1863, noted 308
Misch, Dale, Coffeyville 480
Mississippi: D. R. Anthony's experiences
in...T. ...... ...461- 475
— Seventh Kansas cavalry in, 1862.. .461- 475
Missouri: lead mines, note on 259, 260
— raids by Seventh Kansas cavalry in,
1861, notes on 352, 354- 357
Missouri Agricultural Publishing Com-
pany: note on 160
Missouri river: Bellemont-St. Joseph, Mo.
ferry on, noted ln
Missouri Ruralist: notes on 156, 157
159, 160, 167
Missouri Valley Farmer: notes on 154
155, 157
Mitchell, Johnny: jig-dancer 32
Mitchell, Robert B.: brigadier general. . . 366
369, 370, 458, 462
— conversation" with D. R. Anthony,
1862, quoted 459, 460
Moberley, Fay H., Comanche co 126, 481
Modern Light, The, Columbus: article in,
noted 251
Moline: article on, noted 377
Moncrief, : rancher in I. T., 1859. . . 263
Monrovia, Atchison co 18
— schoolhouse, article on, noted 122
Montgomery, Dr. , Manhattan:
Riley co. health officer. 1917 64
Montgomery, Lt. Anna A.: chief nurse at
Fort Riley 67
Montgomery, James: L. Arms' attempt to
arrest, noted 224, 225
Montgomery county: Byler school dist.,
article on, noted 377
Moody, Elizabeth (Mrs. Joel) 181. 182
Moody, Joel: biographical sketch 181, 182
—his The Science of Evil discussed by J. C.
Malin 190- 193
— J. C. Malin's article on 181- 193
—lecturer at Fort Scott 183-185, 187, 189
Mooney families, Ness co 297n
Moonlight, Thomas: in Price raid 134
137, 139
Moore, Jackson T., Pittsburg 106
Moore, Russell, Wichita 118
Moore, William T., Clark co 127
Moorman, Dorthadean, Topeka: donor. . 88
Morey Stock Company: at Ottawa,
noted 373, 374
Morgan, Capt. E. H.: at Fort Riley 61
Morgan, William Yoast: R. A. Clymer's
remarks on 104
Morley, J. R., Fort Scott 190
Morphy, W. N.: fight with a buffalo, ac-
count of 371, 372
Morris, Warren, Lyon co 254
Morrison, Mrs. Howard E., Jr., Topeka:
donor 88
Morrison, Will, LaHarpe: donor 88
Morrow, Marco, Topeka 156
Morrow, Robert: leader of immigrant
party, 1856 394, 395
Morse, Rev. Grosvenor C.: reports, 1857-
'58, noted 123
Morse, L. F., Benedict: donor 88
Mosher, Eugene 213n, 215- 217
— D. R. Anthony's letter to 213- 214
Mosher, Hannah Anthony (Mrs. Eugene), 213n
Mosher, Orville Watson, Emporia 253
—articles by, noted 121, 377
Moss, Gale 382
Motz, Frank, Hays 106, 118
Mound City: First Kansas cavalry at,
1862....: :.... 359
—Free Meeting House, notes on 183, 186
— Free Religious Society, notes on. . . 182, 183
— Ladies Enterprise Society, note on 183
—notes on 182, 183
Mount Pleasant, Iowa: Free-State men at,
1856 394, 395
Mt. Pleasant community, Dickinson co.:
article on church history of, noted 122
Mowery, Mrs. J. E., Lane co 480
Mudge, Enoch Redington, of Massachu-
setts: notes on 285, 295n
Mudge, Henry S.: cattle brand of, photo-
graph facing 289
— notes on life and activities of, 285-304 passim
— ranch house of, notes on 295, 296, 304n
photograph facing 288
plan of facing 289
GENERAL INDEX
499
"Mudge Ranch, The": Mrs. M. E. Cald-
welfs article on (edited by Mrs. R. H.
Millbrook) 285- 304
Muecke, Joseph B. : article by, noted .... 375
Mueller, Maj. Charles Robert: at Fort
Riley 67
Mueller, Harrie S., Wichita 116, 118
— and wife, scholarship given by, noted . . 84
— donor 84
Mulroy, H. C., Topeka: donor 88
Mulroy, Margaret Jetmore, Topeka:
donor 88
Mulvane, David W., Topeka: co-owner of
newspaper 154
Mulvane, John R., Topeka: co-owner of
newspaper 154
Muns, D. W., lola: donor 88
Munsell, Lelia: article by, noted 375
Murdock, Marshall Marcellus 100, 106
— note on 437
— quoted 441- 443
Murdock, Victor: R. A. Clymer's remarks
on 100, 101
Murphy, Franklin D., Lawrence 116, 118
Murray, Lt. Col. Alexander: at Fort
Riley 65
— biographical note 65
Murray, Elizabeth M.: at Fort Riley 68
Muscotah : centennial booklet, noted .... 84
Myers, Mrs. Bessie (Capper) 151n
Myers, Ray, Jewell co.: article by, noted, 377
N
Nail, Joel H. (Choctaw Indian) 279n
Nail's Bridge, I. T 279, 284, 417, 418, 421
Names, geographical. See Town names.
Nation, Mrs. Carry: articles on,
noted 121, 477
National Democrats: comment by D. R.
Anthony on 20- 22
National Guard: camp on Pawnee Flats,
noted 66
National Kansas Committee 395, 398
National Park Service: donor 90
— R. H. Mattison's address on historic
sites evaluation criteria of Ill- 116
National Register, Boggy Depot,
C. N 420, 421
National Theatrical Company: at Fort
Scott, 1870 32-42, 45
Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas:
1958 meeting, note on 127, 128
Nautilus Club of Council Grove: donor. . 91
Navo, , and wife Kate : entertainers,
1860's 32
Nebraska Farm Journal: notes on 156
159, 161
Nebraska Farmer: note on 161
Neff, Mrs. Ethel H., Wichita: donor 88
Nelson, Mrs. Perry, Smith co 481
Nemaha county: Land in, bought by D. R.
Anthony, 1859 222
Neodesha: McCartney home, article on,
noted 379
Neosho Falls: article on, noted 123
Neosho (or Grand) river, Okla 260, 415
Neosho Valley Register, Burlington: photo-
graph, 1859, of office, noted 2
New Brunswick Historical Club, New
Brunswick. N. J.: donor 82
New Cambria, Saline co.: English Lu-
theran church, noted 308
—notes on 311- 313
News Chronicle, Scott City: articles in,
noted 124, 252
Newspapermen of Kansas: R. A. Clymer's
address on 97- 111
Newspaperwomen of Kansas: R. A. Cly-
mer's comments on 107
Newton Kansan: article in, noted 124
Newtonia, Ark., battle of, 1864 141
Nichols, Claude H.: articles by,
noted 252, 376
Nichols, Mrs. H. D., Osage City: donor. . 88
Nicholson, Pvt. John: death, 1859, noted, 277
Nicholson, Mrs. Malcolm B., Long Beach,
Calif.: donor 88
Nickols, R. H., Elk Falls 378
Nielsen, Col. Willard LaGrand: at Fort
Riley 73
Niemann, Alex D., Leaven worth: note on, 353n
Ninth armored division: at Fort Riley. . . 69
Nitsch, Milton. Dccatur co 255
Nixon, Harry, Barber co 481
North Topeka Mail: bought by Arthur
Capper 153
Northrup, Dr. : Geary co. health
officer, 1917 64
Norton, : captain, 12th Wisconsin
regiment 368, 369
Norton, "Col." , Dodge City. . . .372, 373
Norton: Immanuel Lutheran church,
history of, noted 383
Oberlin: museum and sod house dedica-
tion, noted 479
O'Connell, Sgt. John: wounded, 1860 41 In
Odlin, Capt. J. H 467
O'Donnell, Dr. Fred W., Junction City:
at Fort Riley 64
— notes on 64, 71
Oesterreich, B. H., Woodbine 126. 480
Ohio Farmer: note on 160, 167
Oil museum, at Hill City: opening of,
noted 381
Oklahoma. See Indian Territory.
Oklahoma Farm Journal: note on 157
Oklahoma Farmer: notes on 157,159, 161
Oklahoma Farmer-Stockman: note on 161
Oklahoma State Farmer: note on 157
Olathe: centennial booklet, noted 84
Old Fort Hays Historical Association, Inc.:
notes on 127
O'Loughlin, John: trading post of, noted, 294n
Olympic Theatre: account of 46- 53
Omer, George E., Jr. : "An Army Hospital:
From Horses to Helicopters — Fort
Riley, 1904-1957," article by 57- 78
notes on 252, 256
—at Fort Riley 75
— notes on 56n, 75, 76
Opperman, Charles, Baxter Springs: arti-
cle on, noted 376
Order No. 11 : note on 129
Oregon trail: photograph (1859) of Wolf
river (Kan.) ford on facing 1
Orton's circus: at Fort Scott, 1870 42
Osage Indians: buffalo hunt, 1860, noted, 414
— massacre of Confederates, 1863, article
on, noted 123
Osage Mission: baptismal, marriage and
burial records, 1820-'85, filmed 86
Osborne, Anna Eliza 8, 217
Osceola, Iowa: on Lane trail, 1856 396
Ottawa: Rohrbaugh theater 373, 374
— United Presbyterian church, history of,
noted 122
Ottawa County Historical Society: 1957-
1958 meetings, notes on. . .126, 254, 382, 479
Ottawa Daily Republic: microfilmed 87
Ottawa Daily Republican: microfilmed ... 87
Ottawa Herald: article in, noted 122
Ottawa University: history by B. S. Ha-
worth, noted 84
Ottawa Weekly Herald: microfilmed 87
Otten, Ella Shriver: biographical sketch
of, noted 122
Ouchaubby, Dixon (Chickasaw Indian):
executed 421
Owen, Dr. A. R., Topeka: donor 88
Owen, Arthur K., Topeka 117
Owen, Mrs. E. M., Lawrence 117
Owen, Maj. James B.: at Fort Riley 67
Owen, Jennie Small: article by, noted. ... 375
Owen, Mrs. Lena, Douglas co 479
500
GENERAL INDEX
Owens, Frank, Hodgeman co 289
Oxford, Johnson co.: election fraud, 1857,
noted 27
Ozawkie : Delaware land sales at,
1857 13-15, 18
Paddock, Jay, Decatur co 255
Paden, Lt. Col. Paul A.: at Fort Riley. . . 69
Paine, Albert Bigelow: "He Sleeps" (poem
in tribute to E. W. McComas) 346, 347
Palermo, Doniphan co 19
Palmer, D. W., and son, Lawrence: killed,
1863 150
Palmer, Frank, Leavenworth: resident,
1858-'59 211, 212, 217
Palmer, Dr. H. Preston, Scott co 255, 382
Pancoast, John L 152
Pantle, Alberta: librarian, Historical Soci-
ety 92, 227
Paola: Wea land sales at, 1857 13
Paradise Valley, Sumner co.: Church of
Christ, article on, noted 252
Parker, Mrs. Bertie, Kiowa 481
Parker, Maj. H. C.: at Fort Riley 61
Parker, Rev. R. D 481
Parkin, Herbert, Kiowa co.: article on,
noted 378
Parrott, Marcus J. : at Leavenworth, 1858, 203
— elected delegate to congress 22, 24
—in militia, 1864 134
—not elected U. S. senator, 1861 225
— note on 369
Parsons, Capt. H. C.: at Fort Riley 61
Parsons, Harvey G., Topeka 107
Passionist Monastery, St. Paul 86
Patrick, Mrs. Mae C., Satanta: death,
noted 79
Patterson, Lt. Col. John W.: at Fort Riley, 73
Patterson, Lt. Col. Lucius K.: at Fort
Riley 70
Patton, Lt. George S.: at Fort Riley, 1913, 58
Paulson, Rev. J. : Methodist minister... 177
''Pawnee Bill." See Lillie, Gordon W.
Pawnee county: pioneers meeting, 1958,
noted 480
Pawnee County Historical Society: note
on.
Pawnee Flats, on Fort Riley reserve : note
on 66
Pawnee Fork 404n, 407
Pawnee Rock: D. Bowman's article on,
noted 378
Pawnee trail: note on 409
Payne, Mrs. L. F., Manhattan 117
Payton, W. E., Colony 109
Peabody, : banjo player, 1860 31
Peel, John A., of Texas: in 1861 ranger co., 423
Peery, Rev. John Thompson: missionary, 91
Pemberton, Brock 107
Pence, Capt. James Harvey : at Fort Riley, 67
Pennsylvania Farmer: note on 160, 167
Penwell, Charles M., El Dorado: article
by, noted 251
People's Herald, The, Lyndon: 1916-1918
file of, given Historical Society 89
Perry, Sgt. , of Co. I, First U. S.
cavalry 414
Perry, Mrs. Emma, Hodgeman co 289n
290, 302n
Perry, John A.: leader of 1856 immigrant
party 394, 396
Perry, O. H., Fort Scott: musician 33
Perryville, I. T.: note on 416
Peter, W. P., Larned 293n, 302
Peterson, Mrs. Carl, Enterprise 126, 480
Peterson, Mrs. Edna, Chanute 128
Peterson, Elmer T., Wichita 107
Peterson, Louise 381
Phelan, John: death at Tishomingo, C. N.,
noted 282
Philip, Jennie A., estate, Hays: donor. . . 88
Phillips, W. A., Saline co 304
Phillips, Wendell 221, 223
Phillis, Francis, Topeka: donor 88
Philosophers of Kansas: J. C. Malin's
series of articles on 168- 197
314-350, 426- 457
Photographs: of early-day Kansas, com-
ment on 2
Pierce, Robert H., Chicago: Civil War
service of 357
Pierceville: article on, noted 252
Pike, William, Lane co 480
Pike's Peak emigrants: at Leavenworth,
1859, noted 219
— in Indian Territory, noted 267
—photograph (1859), at St. Joseph, Mo.,
(Spring issue) frontispiece.
Pillsbury, Maj. Henry C.: at Fort Riley. . 60
Pioneer Day: celebration at Rexford, 1958,
note on 381
Pipes, Lt. Col. H. F.: at Fort Riley 60
Pitts, A. M.: lieutenant in Seventh Kansas
cavalry 468
Pittsburg Headlight: articles in, noted 124
252, 379, 380
Planters' House, Leavenworth 9, 11, 203
Platte river: Sturgis and troops camped
on, I860 .-... 412
Pleasant View, [Jackson? co.] 18
Pleasonton, Maj. Gen. Alfred: in Price
raid 131, 137- 142
Plummer, Capt. Joseph B 424
Poelma, Josephine 307
Pointer, Mattie 381
Politics: and the Price raid, Albert Castel's
article on 129- 143
Polo field: at Mudge ranch, noted 292
Pomeroy, Samuel C. : leader of immigrant
party, 1856 394, 396
— letter to D. R. Anthony, 1862, quoted, 362n
Pond creek, I. T 402
Pond Creek stage station, Wallace co.:
items on, noted 377
Pontifex, Mrs. : actress 35
Pony Express: article on, noted 121
Possum (Delaware Indian) 424n
Post, Rev. J. C., Fort Scott 187
Poultry Association, Kansas State 156
Poultry Culture, Topeka: note on 156
Powell, Hugh J., CoffeyvUle: R. A. Cly-
mer's comment on 105
Powell, Lt. James E.: at Fort
Arbuckle 263, 264
Prairie Dog creek: Kiowas camped on,
1860 410
Prairie fire (s): Kansas' greatest, noted ... 477
— stories of, in Hodgeman co 300, 301
Pratt, Caleb S.: lieutenant, 1862 369
Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadel-
phia 86
Presbyterian mission. See Wapanucka Fe-
male Institute, C. N.
Presbyterian missionaries: letters,
1833-'84, on film in Historical Society. . 86
Preston, George, Paxico: donor 88
Preston, Mary (May): actress 34- 37
39-41, 45
Pretty Prairie: articles on, noted. . . .123, 252
Price, Gen. Sterling 130, 352
Price raid, 1864: Albert Castel's article
on 129- 143
— in Linn co., S. Tucker's booklet on,
noted 477, 481
Priddy, Mrs. Dora, Ozawkie: donor 87
Prince, Capt. William E. : in Indian terri-
tory 257, 422, 424
Prose, F. W.. Lane co 480
Prouty. S. S.: editor, Kansas Cowboy 29 In
296n-298n
Provorse, Belle, Crawford co 253, 381
Provost, Mrs. Edwin G 479
Prucha, Francis Paul: army reports edited
by 384
Public Affairs, Topeka: note on 162
Puderbaugh, Carl, Ozawkie: donor 88
GENERAL INDEX
501
Purdum, B. W., Topeka: donor 88
PuaA, Topeka: note on 155
Putnam, James W., Lyon co 254
QuantriU, William C 129, 131
— article on, noted 477
Quantrill raid : on Lawrence, 1863, Samuel
Reynolds' letter describing 147- 150
Quarles, John C.: hanged, 1857 20n
Quayle, Bishop William Alfred: article on,
noted 478
Quinby, Brig. Gen. I. F 367, 369
— directive, 1862, quoted 459
—orders, 1862, notes on 460- 462
Rabbit Ear river, I. T 405
Radio stations: WIBW and KCKN, notes
on 162, 167
Rambo, Mrs. Flora Ann: reminiscences,
noted 378
Ramsey, Mrs. Arch, Bourbon co 477
Ramsey, John, Garnett: Christian church
organized by 122
Randall, Wayne T., Osage City 128
Rankin, Charles C., Lawrence 118
Rardon, Mrs. Helen, Kearny co 127
Raser, Mrs. Margaret, Hodgeman co 382
Rawlins county: article by A. Courtright
on, noted 123
Rawliston (or Rawlston?), Lord, of Eng-
land: visitor at Mudge ranch 29 In
Rawson, Laura: article by, noted 251
Rawson, W. A.: reminiscences, noted 376
Ray, Earl, Manhattan 126
Raymond, Col. Henry I.: at Fort Riley, 58
Raynesford, H. C., Ellis 118
Reader, Samuel J.: paintings (Civil War
scenes) by facing 128
frontispiece (Summer issue), and. .facing 129
Realf , Richard : leader of immigrant party,
1856 394
Rebecca Lodge, lola: donor 88
Rector, Elias: superintendent of Indians, 276n
Red Rock creek, I. T 276
Redding, Leo L., Wichita 444
—eulogy for W. 8. White, quoted 439
Redmond, John, Burlington 106
Reed, Alice McComas (Mrs. W. R.) 316
Reed, Clyde M., Sr.: R. A. Clymer's re-
marks on 103, 104
Reed, Clyde M., Jr., Parsons 106, 118
— donor 86
Reed, Mrs. W. W., Topeka: donor. . . .86, 88
Reeder, Frank, Jr., Easton, Pa.: donor. . 88
Reeder, J. W., of First U. S. cavalry 258
—letter, 1859, by 261, 262
Reedsville community, Marshall co. : story
on, noted 376
Reedy, James : article by, noted 477
Rees, Mrs. A. O.: donor 91
Reid, Albert T.: cartoonist 154
— co-owner of Push 155
Reid, James W., New York 152
Reid, Whitelaw, New York 152
Reifsnyder, Billy, Chase co 389
Religious instruction in Kansas public
schools: V. V. Hinds' thesis on, noted. . 84
Remaley, Charles, Topeka: donor 88
Remond, Charles L.: Negro leader, note
on 208
Renan. Joseph Ernest: notes on his life of
Jesus 169, 194
Renfrew Troupe: at Fort Scott 56
Renick, Will, Finney co 128, 253
Republican river: Sturgis' fight with Kio-
was near, 1860 410- 412
—valley of, in 1860, note on 413
Reser, Mrs. C. H., Hamilton: donor 88
Rexford: Pioneer Day celebration, 1958,
note on 381
Reynolds, Milton W.: remarks on D. R.
Anthony 8
Reynolds, Samuel, Douglas co. :
notes on 145, 146
Reynolds, Thomas, Douglas co.: note on, 146
Rich, Lee, Junction City 479
Richards, Walter M., Emporia 117
—donor 88
Richart, Mrs. F. Homer, Denver, Colo.:
donor 86
Richfield: Methodist church, article on,
noted 376
Richmond, Robert W., Topeka. . .6n, 92, 198n
351n, 458n
— donor 88
Riddick, Lt. R. H 414
Riegle, Wilford 94, 116, 117, 254
Riley County Historical Society: 1957
meeting, note on 126
Rindom, Mrs. Ora, Lyon co 254
Ripple, George, Hodgeman co 292
Rizer, Edna 479
Robbins, Maj. Chandler P.: at
Fort Riley 58, 63
Robbins, Marc 373
Robbins, Richard W., Pratt 117
Roberts, Frank Henry, Oskaloosa: R. A.
Clymer's comment on 109
Roberts, Humphrey, and Sarah, of Ohio:
letter, quoted 145
Roberts, Rev. Samuel, of Wales:
notes on 145, 146
Robey, W. B., Topeka 154
Robinson, Charles: in militia, 1864 134
—letter, 1864, quoted 135
Robinson, Col. G. L., Jacksonville, Fla.:
donor 88
Robinson, Silas, Wichita 444
Robinson, W. Stitt, Lawrence 381
— paper by, noted 254
Rock Mary, I. T 273
Rockefeller ranch, Kiowa co.: article on,
noted 378
Rodkey, Clyde K.f Manhattan 118
Roenigk, Adolph 378
Roessler, Mrs. Mart, Isabel 481
Rogler, Wayne, Matfield Green.. 116, 118, 382
Ronan, Charles, Dodge City 372
Rorschach, Harold E., Tulsa, Okla.:
donor 86
Rosebrough, Mrs. J. E., Topeka: donor. . 88
Rosecrans, Maj. Gen. William S 130- 133
141- 143
Ross, Edmund G. : cane-whipped by D. R.
Anthony 8
Rotary Club, Council Grove: work of,
noted 91
Roughton, C. E., Jetmore 286n
Rouse, William A.: actor 46
"Rover" : pen name of a First cavalryman,
note on 258
Rozar, Lily B.: articles by, noted 123
376-378, 477
Rubere, Franklin: visitor at Mudge
ranch 291n, 302n
Ruffner, Col. Ernest L.: at Fort Riley. . . 67
— note on 67
Rugg, Dell, Lamed. 286, 287n, 289
Running Antelope (Sioux chief) 120
Rupp, Charley, Hodgeman co 292
Rupp, Mrs. Jane C., Lincolnville 117
Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell 116, 118
— article by, noted 378
— donor 86
Ruppenthal, Mrs. J. C., Russell: donor. . 84
Ruralist, The, Sedalia, Mo.: note on 156
Rush, Lt. Col. Jack T.: at Fort Riley. ... 75
Rush Springs, Okla 257
Russell, D. K.: actor 37, 49, 50
Russell, Frank A.: donor 84
Russell, Mrs. Hal, Cheyenne co.: school
teaching recollections, noted 124
Russell, Willard P 91
502
GENERAL INDEX
Russell: historical marker at, noted 81
— Indian raid near, noted 378
Russell Daily News: article in, noted 378
Rust, Mrs. Lucile, Manhattan 128
Rutgers University library : donor 82
Rutherford, Homer V., Topeka: paper by,
noted 254
Ryan, R. E., Wichita: newspaperman 439
S
Sabetha: First Congregational Church,
booklet on, noted 481
Sacket, Capt. Delos B 271, 272
Sackton, Col. Frank, Fort Riley 479
Safirite, Phyllis and Patricia, lola: donors, 88
Saia, Joe, Crawford co 381
Sailing ships: W. A. Fairburn's work on,
noted 84
St. Benedict's Abbey: history by Peter
Beckman. O.S.B., noted 84
St. John: First Methodist church, article
on, noted 376
St. John News: article in, noted 376
St. Joseph, Mo.: note on, 1857 19
— photograph (1859) o! emigrants
at frontispiece (Spring issue).
St. Joseph and Fort Riley road 30
St. Joseph and Kennekuk road 18, 19
Salem: Methodist church, article on,
noted 377
Salina Journal: article in, noted 377
Saline county: first settler, note on 305
— Schippel's ferry settlement, J. N. Car-
man's article on 305- 313
Saline river: First cavalry camped on,
1860 408, 409
— government bridge on, 1857, noted 306
— Schippel's ferry and settlement on, J. N.
Carman's article 305- 313
Salmans, Frank, Hodgeman co.: buyer of
Mudge ranch 304n
Salmans, Mrs. Frank, Hodgeman co 302n
Sanborn's brigade: in Price raid 140, 141
Sander, Mary Davis: article by, noted. . . 478
Santa Fe trail: Boyd's crossing (of Pawnee
Fork), article on, noted 380
— Indian depredations on, 1859, noted . . . 403n
— Kiowa-Comanche expedition, 1860,
on 406- 408
— modern-day photographs of, noted 90
—P. S. Edwards' article on, noted 121
Sappa creek: Sturgis* fight with Kiowas
on, 1860 410, 411
Satterlee, R. C.: killed by D. R. Anthony. 8
Satterthwaite, Joseph M., Douglass: note
on 109
Savage, Mr. and Mrs. Ellwood H., Topeka:
donors 88
Saxe, Rev. Jacob B., Fort Scott 168, 175
Scarcewater creek, I. T 271
Schauer, Rev. J., Greenleaf 377
Schenck, Leland H., Topeka 127
Schenck, Mrs. Lena Baxter 478
— article by, noted 478
Schiller, Edward, Fort Scott: biographical
notes 193, 195, 196
—book by, discussed by J. C. Malin, 193- 195
noted 168, 169, 193
— J. C. Malin's article on 193- 197
Schippel, Clara Wary (Mrs. Gotthart):
notes on 310, 311
Schippel, Gotthart, Saline co.: notes on. . 305
306, 308, 310- 312
Schippel, John (son of Gotthart) : notes on, 305
306, 311
Schippel, Rose Wessling
(Mrs. John) 305n, 311
"Schippel's Ferry, Saline County, For-
eigners of 1857-1865 at": J. N. Car-
man's article on 305- 313
Schlanser, Col. Adam E.: at Fort Riley. . 69
—note on 69
Schmidt, Heinie, Dodge City: column by,
noted 121, 122, 477
Schreiner, Col. Edward R.: at Fort
Riley 61, 63
— note on 61, 62
— photograph facing 65
Schroeder, Byron, Leavenworth 125
Schuler, Frederick H., Arkansas City:
article on, noted 379
Schwarz, Catherine (dau. of Peter). . .311, 312
Schwarz, Peter, Saline co 311
Scott, Angelo C., lola 106, 117, 125
— address on Fred. Funston by, noted 125
Scott, Charles Frederick, lola: R. A.
Clymer's remarks on 101, 102
Scott, George, Hodgeman co 297
Scott, John: death, noted 90
Scott, Lyman : note on 199
Scott, Will, Topeka: Capital employee. . . 151
Scott City: article on, noted 124
Scott county: Squaw's Den, park for,
noted 255
Scott County Historical Society: incor-
poration, noted 382
— 1958 meetings, notes on 255, 382
— reorganization, note on 255
Scottsville: museum in, note on 128
Seacat, Mrs. Kathryn B., Clark co 127
Searcy, Anne, Leavenworth 107
Searl, "Professor" : entertainer,
1860 31
Seaton, Fay N., Manhattan 106
Seaton, R. M., Coffeyville 480
Sebastian, Emily: note on 435n
Sebastian, Susan(a): notes on 435, 437
Second cavalry division: at Fort Riley ... 69
Second Iowa cavalry: in Mississippi, 1862, 469
Second Kansas battery: in 1862,
notes on 460, 461
Second Kansas regiment 367
Second Kansas state militia. See Kansas
(state) militia.
Second Michigan cavalry: in Mississippi,
1862 ... 469
Second U. S. cavalry: in Indian
Territory 257, 262
— note on 282
Second U. S. volunteer cavalry: book on,
noted 384
Sedgwick, Maj. John: on Santa Fe trail,
I860 406
Sedgwick county: election of state rep.,
1875, notes on 452, 453
— photographs of, noted 90
Seelye, Marion, Abilene 126, 480
Sennrich, Mrs. Alice G., Valley Falls:
donor 87
Serault, Charles (son of John) 312
Serault, Emily (dau. of Charles) 312
Serault, Emma (Mrs. Charles) 312
Serault, John, Saline co 312
Serault, Victoria (Mrs. John) 312
Serault families, Saline co.: note on 312
Sessions, Charles H., Topeka 107
Seventh Kansas cavalry: D. R. Anthony's
service in 351- 370
—in Term, and Miss., 1862, D. R. An-
thony's letters on 460- 475
—notes on, 1861-'62 351- 370
Seventh U. S. cavalry: at Fort Riley,
1909, noted 58
—to Philippines, 1911, noted 58
Seward, William H., of New York: for
Kansas' admission as a state 223
Sexson, Lt. Col. J. C.: at Fort Riley 75
Shackley, Harry: cook for H. S. Mudge. . 297
Shanghai, Mo 141
Shank family, Saline co 312
Shannon, Wilson: D. R. Anthony's com-
ment on 20
Shattuck, Willis A., Clark co 127
Shaw, Joseph C., Topeka 118
Shawnee County Historical Society: 1957
meeting, notes on 127
GENERAL INDEX
503
Shavmee County Historical Society, Bulletin
of the: articles in Dec. 1058 issue, noted, 478
Shawnee Indiana: with Brown survey
party, 1869 273
Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society, 02
—officers, 1957-'58, listed 126
1058-'50, listed 470
Shawneetown: state militia concentrated
at, 1864 134, 136
Sheep ranch (of H. 8. Mudge) :
notes on 280, 290
Shelby, Gen. Jo: in Price raid... 130, 131, 136
138, 140, 141
Sheldon, Rev. Charles M.: newspaper ex-
periment, noted 154
Sheppard, Maj. Paul Richard Eddins: at
Fort Riley 66
Sheridan, Bernard J.f Paola 109
Sheridan county: sociological study by
L. R. Toothaker, noted 83
Shewbrooks, Maj. Daniel M.: at Fort
Riley 60
Shickedantz, Aug., Leavenworth 200
Shoemaker, Mai. John H.: at Fort Riley, 72
Shore, Bertha, Augusta 107
Short, Luke: article on, noted 477
Shrewder, Mrs. Dorothy B., Clark co 127
Shuart, John W., Topeka: donor 86
Shultz, A. L. ("Dutch"), Topeka 107
Shupe, Roy S., Clark co 480
Siebert, Mrs. Rosemary, Beloit 128
Sigel, Franz: Civil War activities of 361
Simons, Dolph, Lawrence 116, 118
— R. A. Clymer's comment on 106
Simons, W. C., Lawrence 106
Simons Comedy Troupe : at Fort Scott. . . 56
Simpson, Mrs. Elizabeth, Barber co 481
Simpson, George W.: thesis by, noted 83
Sims, A. G., of Kentucky: slaves of,
freed 460
Sixth U. S. field artillery: at Fort Riley,
1909, noted 57
Skillon, Lt. Laura: at Fort Riley 68
Slagg, Mrs. C. M., Manhattan. .116, 118, 126
— report by, noted 117
Slaves: freeing of, 1861-'62, by Seventh
Kansas cavalry, notes on 352, 356, 359
— see, also, Fugitive slaves.
Sloan, E. R., Topeka 117
—vice-president, Historical Society. .. .95, 117
Smelser, Mary M., Lawrence 117
Smith, Maj. A. J 131
Smith, Capt. Edmund Kirby: wounded,
1859 268
Smith, Frank B., Wichita: newspaperman, 435
440, 444, 445, 451, 453, 455
Smith, Horace J., Los Angeles, Calif 86
Smith, J. Hort: newspaperman in Texas
and I. T 420
Smith, Mrs. J. Raymond, Parsons 128
Smith, Mrs. John L 126, 479
Smith, Lawrence, Coffeyville 480
Smith, Mary G., Kearny co 254
Smith, Robert, Fort Smith, Ark.: death,
1850, noted 271
Smith, W. R., Topeka: newspaperman... 107
Smith, Mrs. W. R., Topeka: donor 87
Smith, Maj. William W.: at Fort
Riley 60, 72
Smith, Mrs. Yolande M 126
Smith County Historical Society: organi-
zation, note on 481
Smith County Pioneer, Smith Center:
article in, noted 377
Smock, Col. Irwin Bradfield: at Fort
Riley 70, 71
—note on 70, 71
Smock, Lt. Richard: killed, 1051 71
Smoky Hill river: First cavalry troops
camped on, 1860 408
Smoky Hill trail: in Ellis co., article on,
noted 251
Snell, Jessie Kennedy: papers of, given
Historical Society 85
Snell, Joseph W 86
— "Some Rare Western Photographs by
Albert Bierstadt Now in the Historical
Society Collections," article by 1- 5
Snell, Omer A., Colby: donor 85
Snoddy, Lt. Col. James D.: arrested, 1864, 135
Snoddy, John T.: adjutant, Seventh Kan-
sas cavalry 461
Snuff: use of, 1862, noted 461
Snyder, Rev. , Lawrence: killed,
1863 148
Social Studies, Kansas Council for the:
1058 meeting, note on 255
Socolofsky, Homer E., Manhattan 126
— "The Evolution of a Home Grown
Product, Capper Publications," article
by 151- 167
— note on 151n
— report by, noted 254
Sohl, Stanley D 92
— donor 88
Solomon river: First cavalry camped on,
1860 409
Solomon valley: Indian depredations,
article on, noted 380
Somers, John G., Newton 118
Sondergaard, Lt. Col. N. E. : at Fort Riley, 75
Souders, Floyd R., Cheney 00, 128
Soule, C. L.: reminiscences of Cherokee
Strip opening, noted 123
Southern California road: in Kansas,
noted 414n
Sowers, Fred A., Wichita 434
Spanish-American War: thesis by A. J.
Stewart on, noted 83
Sparks, Mrs. Nellie, Whitewater: donor, 88
Spencer, Charles, Atchison: article by,
noted 122
—booklet edited by, noted 383
Spencer, Herbert: note on his Social Stat-
ics 169
Stade, Edwin H., Belvue: donor 88
Staehlin, Maj. Helen L.: at Fort Riley. . . 73
Stafford Courier: article in, noted 380
Stahl, Francis M.: story of picnics of,
noted 478
Stanley, Capt. David S 263, 264, 424
Stanley, Mrs. W. E., Wichita: donor 88
Stapleton, Norman, Hodgeman co 207
Staudenraus, P. J., Kansas City, Mo.:
"Immigrants or Invaders? A Docu-
ment," article by 304- 398
— note on 394n
Stauffer, Oscar S 106, 166
—Topeka State Journal bought by 163
Stauffer Publications: Capper Publications
purchased by 151
— stock of Capper Publications acquired
by.
166
Stayer, Col. Morrison Clay: at Fort Riley, 68
— note on 68
Steamboat: D. A. January 210, 211
— F . X. Aubrey 8
— New Lucy 29
— Sam Gaty 367
Stearns, Gary, Topeka: donor 88
Steele, Maj. Gen. Frederick 130, 131, 143
Steen, Capt. Enoch 261n
Stephenson, Edith Updegraff, Wichita:
donor 88
Steps, W. E., Topeka: donor 88
Steinberg, Surg. Gen. George Miller:
army nurse corps established by 62
Stevens, James: murdered, 1857 20n
Stevens, L. C., Topeka: donor 88
Stevens, Thomas C., Leavenworth 369
Stevens, Mr. and Mrs. William C., Law-
rence: donors 89
Stevenson, Charles S., Kansas City, Mo.:
donor 89
Stewart, Alan J.: thesis by, noted 83
Stewart, Donald, Independence 118
Stewart, Mrs. James G., Topeka 117
Stewart, Col. Ralph, Leavenworth 125
504
GENERAL INDEX
Still waugh, Cydnee Sue and Jeanne Lue,
lola : donors 89
Stinson, C. A., Carlyle: donor 89
Stites, Lester: donor 84
Stoltz, Lt. Ruth M.: at Fort Riley 68
Stone, Clifford W., Butler co 255
Stone, Lt. Col. Frank P.: at Fort Riley. . 66
Stone, Robert, Topeka: death, noted 79
Stone fence posts: note on 294
Storey, Wilbur F., Chicago: Chicago
Times-Herald owner 317
Stotts, Benjamin L.: biographical sketch
of, noted 122
Stowe, Emma: actress 34, 40, 45
Stranathan, Mrs. Tom, Barber co 481
Stratford, Jessie P., El Dorado 107
Stratton, Clif, Topeka 107
Strauss, David Friederich: German theo-
logian 169, 194
Street railway (Cottonwood Falls-Strong
City) : Allison Chandler's article
on 385- 393
— map showing route of facing 385
— photographs showing cars and
views of facing 384
and frontispiece (Winter issue).
Strickler, Mrs. Jacob F., Topeka: donor.. 89
Strieby, Mrs. A. H., Council Grove:
donor 87, 91
Strong, : major, 12th Wisconsin regi-
ment 368, 369
Strong. Myron 200
Strong City, Chase co.: notes on 386
390, 391
Strong City-Cotton wood Falls interurban:
Allison Chandler's article on 385- 393
— map showing route of facing 385
— photographs showing cars and
views of facing 384
and frontispiece (Winter issue).
Stronks. James B. : article on Ed Howe by,
noted 124
Strouts, Mrs. Linnie: donor 91
Studebaker, Mrs. William E., Topeka:
donor 89
Stueckemann, W. F., Hodgeman co 382
Stunz, Otto, Hiawatha: V. E. Lowry's
article on, noted 375
Sturgis, Capt. Samuel D 366, 400, 424
—at Fort Washita 422
— head of 1860 Kiowa-Comanche expedi-
tion from Fort Cobb 400. 401, 403
409- 411
—notes on 353n, 354n
—photograph facing 401
—report, 1860, quoted 409n-411n
Stutzman, Mrs. Claude, Kansas City. . . . 128
Sumner, Charles: for Kansas' admission
as a state • 223
Sumner : wagon shoo fire, noted 222
Sumner county: Paradise Valley, article
on Church of Christ in. noted 252
Sunderlin, V. W., Fort Scott 190
Susk [or Lusk?], , Elwood 203
Swanson, Roy, Coffeyville t. . . . 480
Swartz, Orvoe, Oklahoma City: stories by,
noted 121
Swayze, Oscar K., Topeka 107
Swedenborg, Emanuel 456
Swedish Lutherans: in Saline co., notes on, 309
Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, The:
article by Emory K. Lindquist in, noted, 376
Switzer, Rev. , Hodgeman co. . . 286, 289
Sykes, Maj. Gen. George 133
Sylvester, Louise: actress 56
Taber, Lt. Col. John: at Fort Riley 71
Tabor, Milt, Topeka ;•••;•• 107
Tade, C. H.: stories of Collier Flats by,
noted 251
Tahlequah, C. N.: notes on 260, 415
Taliaferro, A. D., Ottawa co 382
Tate, Lenora B., Kearny co 254
Taylor, Harold O.: articles by, noted. ... 124
252, 379
Taylor, James E., Sharon Springs 117
Taylor, Rev. T. B.: books by, noted. . 168- 170
— his book on theology discussed. . . . 170- 173
— J. C. Malin's article on 170- 181
Taylor, Gen. Zaohary: Fort Washita site
selected by 260n
Teed, Mrs. C. W., Hodgeman co 382
Telegraph: in Leavenworth, 1859 198
Telephone office, Dorrance: photograph
(1909) facing 256
Television station: WIBW-TV,
notes on 165, 167
Telle, Pvt. John G.: drowned, 1860 405
Templar, George, Arkansas City 116, 118
Tenth infantry division : reactivated, 1948, 71
— to Germany, 1955 74
Tenth U. S. cavalry: at Fort Riley, 1909,
noted 57
Terry, Miss E. E., Olathe: donor 89
Texans: threat to forts in I. T., 1861 . . . 420
Textbooks, Kansas: C. Walbridge's thesis
on, noted 84
Thacher, Solon O., Lawrence 130
—in militia, 1864 134
Theater: at Fort Scott, 1862-1875, J. C.
Malin's article on 31- 56
Theilmann, Dr. Giles, Topeka : 127
Third U. S. volunteer cavalry: book on,
noted 384
Thirteenth Wisconsin regiment 367
Thomas, E. A., Topeka 118
Thomas, Maj. George H.: at Camp
Cooper, Tex 283, 399
Thomas, R. L., Topeka 154
Thomas, Vivian P., Kearny co 127, 254
Thomas county: material on, given His-
torical Society 85
Thompson, J. D., Leavenworth: actor,
1870's 38, 40
Thompson, Mrs. Myrtle, Ottawa co 126
Thompson, R. L., Moran 125
Thompson, Thomas E., Howard 108
Thomsen, Dr. A. J., Decatur co 255
Thorne, Dr. Joshua, Kansas City, Mo.:
note on 355
Throckmorton, Mrs. J. R., Hays: donor, 86
Tiffany, Annie: actress 49- 52
Tilghman, Bill: article on, noted 477
Tillotson, Mrs. J. C., Norton 128
Tillotson, Mr. and Mrs. Luther, Topeka:
donors 89
Timpson, Mrs. Rita S., Elizabeth, N. J.:
donor 89
Tinius, G. R.: article by, noted 252
Tipton, Dorothy Grace: at Fort Riley ... 68
Tishomingo, C. N.: notes on. . . .266, 267, 269
281, 417, 418, 421
Tomlinson, William P.: J. M. Dow's arti-
cle on, noted 375
Tomson family, of Dover and Wakarusa:
article on, noted 478
Tonkawa Indians 276
— and Delawares, raid on Kiowas, noted, 402
Tonsing, Rev. Ernest, Topeka 96
Toothaker, Mrs. C. E., Hoxie: donor. ... 86
Toothaker, Lillian Ruby: thesis by, noted, 83
Tootle, Milton: Miltonvale founder 478
Topeka : booklet on, noted 383
—Capper building, erected 155, 156
photograph facing 161
— WIBW radio station, notes on 162, 167
—WIBW-TV, notes on 165, 167
Topeka Daily Capital: notes on 151- 154
Topeka State Journal: article in, noted . . . 124
— as a Stauffer paper, note on 163
Town names: of Indian origin, story on,
noted 376
GENERAL INDEX
505
Townsley, Will, Great Bend 106, 116, 118
Trading Post, Linn co.: observance of
Marais des Cygnes massacre centennial,
note on 256
Trail Guide, The, Kansas City, Mo.:
article on J. Calhoun in, noted 380
Trapp, Charles H.t Topeka 107
Trask, Josiah, Lawrence: killed, 1863 150
Trees: famed in Kansas history, article on,
noted 375, 376
Tressin, Charles F., Saline co. (son of
Chas. W.) 305n, 310
Tressin, Charles W.,Salina: notes on, 309, 310
Tressin, Ernestine, Saline co 305n
Tressin, Minnie Huebner (Mrs. Chas. W.), 310
Tressin, Pauline, Saline co 305n
Trigg, Fred, Kansas City, Mo 107
Triplett, Roger, Lyon co 254
Troup, F. C., Logan: donor 89
Troutt, Maj. James M.: at Fort Riley. . . 67
Trowbridge, Harry M., Wyandotte co.. . . 127
Trowbridge, Mrs. Harry M., Wyandotte
co 127
Tucker, Maj. Helen L.: at Fort Riley. ... 72
Tucker, Capt. Herbert: at Fort Riley 72
Tucker, Lawrence, Boston, Mass.: bio-
graphical note 298n
—Friend of H. S. Mudge 298, 302n, 303n
Tucker, Samuel: pamphlet on Price raid
by, noted 256, 477, 481
Turkey creek, Mo 259
— lead mines, note on 259
Turnbull, Roderick: article by, noted... 375
Turner, Rev. Dale Emerson, Lawrence. . . 128
Tuttle, J. M., Cottonwood Falls 386
Twelfth Kansas infantry: records of, given
Historical Society 85
Twelfth U. S. infantry: soldier's diary of
1899-1900 Philippines service in, filmed, 86
Twelfth Wisconsin regiment 367- 370
U
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" (play): at Fort
Scott 46
Union party: and the 1864 election, notes
on 129, 130
Uniontown, Bourbon co.: centennial,
1958, noted 383
— historical article on, noted 477
Unrau, William Errol: thesis by, noted, 83
Upjohn, Ella McComas (Mrs. E.) 316
Valentine, Lew F., Clay Center 109
Vallentine, Mrs. John, Clark co 127, 480
Van Camp, Lt. Cornelius: notes on 262
263, 274
Van De Mark, M. V. B., Concordia 117
Vandervelde, Conrad, Lyon co 254
— history of College of Emporia by, noted, 377
Van Dora, Bvt. Maj. Earl: activities,
1858-'59, notes on 257, 262, 268, 401
Van Winkle, J. W., Lamed: lawyer 287«
Vaughan, Champion, Leavenworth: Times
editor 212
Verdigris river 415
Veterinary corps, Fort Riley: notes on, 63, 64
Victoria: Cathedral of the Plains, article
on, noted 477
— historical marker at, noted 81
Viele, George W.: article by, noted 477
Vieux, Louis: ford, on Oregon trail,
marked 81
Vieux, O. O., Greensburg 383
Villa, Francisco ("Pancho"): expedition
after, noted 57, 58
Vincent, St. Boniface church 50th anni-
versary, article on, noted 251
Vinson, Mrs. Ida, Chase co 383
Vin Zant, Mrs. Larry, Wichita 128
von der Heiden, Mrs. W. H., Newton 118
Vycital, Frank, Lane co 125
33—6550
Waco Indians 276
Wakarusa area: historical article* on,
noted 478
Walbridge, Caroline: donor 84
Walker, Mm. Florence, Clark co 127
Walker, G. G., Leavenworth 466
Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton 118
Walker, Robert J.: D. R. Anthony'a com-
ments on 17, 20-22, 27
Walker, Vivian, Crawford co 253, 381
Wallace, James W., Scott City 382
— donor 85
Wallace, Leslie E.JLarned 108
Wallace, Richard W., Topeka: donor 85
Wallace county: Mrs. Ruth Jackson's
history of, noted 122
Walmer, Mrs. E. H 126
Walnut creek: First cavalry camped on,
1860 407, 408, 414
Walsh, Charles A., Concordia 381
Wamego: Dutch mill, article on, noted. . . 380
Wapanucka Female Institute, C. N.:
notes on 266, 269
Ward, Annie: actress 47, 49, 52
Ward, Bill, Hodgeman co 289
Ward, Fenn, Highland: donor 89
Ward, John, Decatur co 255
Ward, Paul, Hays 127
Ware, Eugene, and Justis N.: donors 84
Ware, Eugene F., Fort Scott: editor, 47, 53
—law clerk 315
— letters of, given Historical Society 85
Ware, H. B., Fort Scott 315
Ware, Juniatta (Junie) Maria 315
Wark, George H., Caney 117
Warner, Rev. P. F., Fort Scott: lectures
of, noted 319, 320
Wary, Catherine (Mrs. Nicholas) 310
Wary, Clara (dau. of Nicholas) 310
Wary, Eugene (son of Nicholas) 310
Wary, Leon (son of Nicholas) 310
Wary, Nicholas. Saline co 310
Washburn, Mrs. A. C., Crawford co 381
Washington Republican: 1872-1874 file of,
acquired by Historical Society 89
Washita river, I. T 260, 261, 264
270, 274- 276
— fishing in, note on 284
— note on 404
Watts, Jim: article by, noted 477
Wea Indians: trust lands sales, noted, 11- 14
Weary, Robert K 479
Weaver, Benjamin O., Mullinville 481
Weaver, Mrs. Benjamin O., Mullinville.. . 125
—donor 86, 88
Webb, Nellie, Atchison 107
Webb scrapbooks: note on 83
Wedin, Mrs. Paul, Wichita 128
Weepannaugh creek, I. T 273
Weld, , New York: at Leavenworth,
1858 212
Wellman, Paul I., Wichita 107
Wells, Seth G., Erie 109
Welty, Dr. R. C., Pittsburg 381
Wertz, Mrs. William J., Topeka: donor. . 89
Wessling, Catherine Schwarz
(Mrs. Michael) 311, 312
Wessling, Michael, Saline co 311
Wessling, Rose (dau. of Michael): note on, 311
West, The: rare (1859) photographs by A.
Bierstadt, J. W. Snell's article on 1- 5
West Central Kansas Stockgrower's
Assn 293n, 302n
Westermeier, Dr. Clifford P.: note on his
Who Rush to Glory 384
Western, Lucille: actress 55
Western Times, The, Sharon Springs: Wal-
lace co. history in, noted 122
Westerners, Kansas City Posse of the 380
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Topeka:
donor 89
Westport, Mo., battle of: notes on. .137, 138
506
GENERAL INDEX
Wheeler, Ben: entertainer 31
Whelan [not Wheelan?], Pvt. Michael:
wounded, 1860 411n
Whelan's creek 411n
Whipple, Lt. Amiel W.: survey by,
1853-'54, noted 272n
White, C. H.: donor 91
White, Caroline (Mrs. James P.) 434, 435
White, Horace, Beloit, Wis 395
White, James P., Johnstown, Pa 434
White, Lt. Col. John B.: at Fort Riley.. . 74
— note on 74
White, Norman P. (son of James P.) 434
White, Oscar (son of James P.) 434
White, W. L., Emporia 254
White, William Allen: R. A. Clymer's
remarks on 99, 100
White, William Button: biographical
data 434, 435
— funeral services, notes on 426- 428
— J. C. Malin's article on (part one), 426- 457
Whitehead, James R., Doniphan co In
Whitehead, John H., Doniphan co In
Whitehead, Doniphan co.: note on In
White's creek 405
Whiteside, : deputy U. S. marshal,
1861 420
Whitman, Lester J 479
Whitside, Col. Warren Webster: camp
named for 66
Whittaker, Gordon 91
Whittaker, Gretchen 91
Whittemore, Margaret: article by, noted, 478
Whittier, Col. Raymond W.: at Fort
Riley 69
Wichita: city records microfilmed 82
— Hypatia club: notes on 437, 438
—Piano club 437, 438n
Wichita area: towns and communities,
articles on, noted 375
Wichita Beacon: a Democratic paper, 453- 456
—articles in, noted 375, 379
— notes on early owners of 426, 434, 435
440- 445
— Wm. S. White's editorship of, notes 426
440-445, 454- 457
Wichita Eagle: articles in, noted 121
Wichita Eagle Magazine: articles in, noted, 375
379, 477
Wichita Indians 276, 277
—notes on, 1858-'60 257, 263, 264
Wichita mountains, I. T., 262, 265, 267, 401
Wilcox, J. Howard, Anthony: donor 89
Wild Horse creek, I. T 262n
Wilder, Abel Carter. .9, 10, 12-15, 17, 19, 29
130, 199, 211
— note on 9n
Wilder, Daniel Webster 13, 15, 216
— comment on Joel Moody's book by .... 181
— editor, Fort Scott Monitor 47, 52
Leavenworth Conservative 7
—editorial, 1871, quoted 168
— in militia, 1864 134
— note on 13n
— owner, Leavenworth Conservative 7
— quoted on Edward Schiller's book. . 194, 195
Wiley, Col. Norman Hyde: at Fort
Riley 72, 73
— note on 72
Wiley, Mrs. Ralph, Butler co 255
Wilhite, Milton: article on, noted 377
Wilkins, Mrs. Walter, Chapman 126, 480
Williams, (son of Maj. John) : wagon
master, 1858 300
Williams, Rev. Benjamin, of South Wales, 144
Williams, Charles A., Bentley 117
Williams, John R., Lyon co 254
Williams, Mary, Lyon co 254
Williams, Peter (son of Rev. Benj.) . . . 144, 146
Williamson, Maj. Charles S.: at Fort
Riley 60
Williamson, Lt. Col. Llewellyn P. : at Fort
Riley 65
Willis, Oscar: humorist 31
Wilmeth, Roscoe 87
Wilson, .Washington: probate judge, 120
Wilson, C. E., Hodgeman co 293n
Wilson, Rev. Charles H.: missionary 266n
Wilson, Josh, Wichita 107
Wilson, Ronald, Topeka: donor 89
Wilson, Lt. Col. Theresa Anne: chief nurse
at Fort Riley 68
Wilson, Thomas Bayne, Williamstown:
donor 86, 89
Wilson County Citizen, Fredonia: article
in, noted 124
Wilson creek, battle of, 1861: note on 425
Wind wagon: article on, noted 379
Winfield: history, note on 478
Winfield Daily Courier: articles in,
noted 379, 478
Winn, Brig. Gen. Dean F.: at Fort Riley, 66
Winslow, Mrs. J. P., Padonia: donor. ... 82
Withers, Mrs. Robert F 126, 479
Wofford, Mrs. J. W 479
Wolf, Mrs. Max, Manhattan 126
Wolf creek 409, 410
Wolf river: Oregon trail ford on, noted. . 1
photograph (1859) facing 1
Wolfe, Wallace T., Decatur co 255
Wolff, Edwin, Tooele, Utah: donor 89
Woman's club: at Mound City, 1864,
noted 183
Woman's Kansas Day Club: 1958 meet-
ing, note on 128
Women's Federated Clubs, Council Grove :
donors 91
Womer, Emmet, Smith co 481
Wood, Mrs. Cora: article by, noted 121
Wood, Maj. Gen. Leonard: note on 63
— photograph facing 65
— U. S. army chief of staff 58, 63
Wood, Paul B., Chase co 383
Wood, Samuel N 152
Wood, Capt. Thomas J.: at Fort Washita, 258
268, 270, 280
— photograph facing 272
Woodring, Harry H., Topeka 116, 118
Woods, Bill: jailed for J. Stevens murder, 20n
Woods, Harry L., Wellington 106
Woodward, B. W., and Co., Lawrence:
pharmacy records of, given Historical
Society 86
Woodward, Mrs. Chester, Topeka: donor, 89
Woodward, Webb, Topeka: donor 86
Wristen, Cecil, Finney co 128, 253
Wyandotte County Historical Society:
1958 meetings, notes on 127
Wyandotte Herald: microfilmed 87
Yates, Nolen: founder of Amy 252
Yates, Lt. Col. Virgil T.: at Fort Riley. . 76
— note on 76
Yeager, Randolph Orville: thesis by, noted, 84
Yesogee, Gus: friend of Henry
Mudge 286, 298
Yesogee, Tom 301
Yingling, Dean, Topeka 128
Young, Mr. and Mrs. Merle, Pretty Prairie:
museum of, noted 123
Zach, Phil 166
Zane, Mrs. Ben, Comanche co 126
Zeller, Mrs. Hazel, Wyandotte co 127
Zimmerman, Chester L., Clark co 127
Zimmerman, Don, Decatur co 255
Zornow, William Frank 375
— history of Kansas by, noted 84
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