one of the thirty-three original counties—the city of atchison located—town company—sale of lots—incorporation of town—early business enterprises—organization of county—commercial growth—freighting—first officers—free state and pro-slavery clashes—horace greeley visits atchison—abraham lincoln makes a speech here—great drought of 1860—city officials.
atchison was one of the thirty-three original counties created by the first territorial legislature, which convened at pawnee, july 2, 1855, and subsequently adjourned to shawnee mission, july 6, 1855, and was named for senator david r. atchison, united states senator from missouri, concerning whom much has been said in previous chapters. the county was surveyed in 1855 and divided into three townships, grasshopper township comprising all that section lying west of the old pottawatomie road; mount pleasant township, all east of the old pottawatomie road, and south of walnut creek, from its confluence with the missouri river to the source of the creek and a parallel line west to the old pottawatomie road, and shannon township, all that section of the county north of mount pleasant township. subsequently, this sub-division was further divided into eight townships, now comprising the county, to-wit: grasshopper, mount pleasant, shannon, lancaster, kapioma, center, walnut and benton. the county is located in the extreme northeastern part of kansas, save one, doniphan county, by which it is bounded on the north, together with brown county, and on the west by jackson county, and on the south by jefferson and leavenworth counties. it has an area of 409 square miles, or 271,360 acres.
the site of the city of atchison, the first town in the county, was selected 65because of its conspicuous geographical location on the river. senator atchison and his associates attached great importance to the fact that the river bent boldly inland at this point. they felt that it would be of great commercial advantage to a town to be thus located, so july 4, 1854, after a careful consideration of the matter, in all of its phases, senator atchison and his platte county, missouri, friends dedicated the new town. they felt that they had located the natural gateway through which all the overland traffic to utah, oregon and california would pass. after they had settled with george million, the first known white settler of the territory, and attended to other unimportant preliminaries dr. j. h. stringfellow made a claim just north of the million claim, and with ira norris, james t. darnell, leonidas oldham, james b. martin, george million and samuel dickson, agreed to form a town company, and they received into their organization david r. atchison, elijah green, e. h. norton, peter t. abell, b. f. stringfellow, lewis burnes, daniel d. burnes, james n. burnes, calvin f. burnes and stephen johnson. a week later these men gathered under a large cottonwood tree, near atchison street, on the river, and organized by electing peter t. abell, president; dr. j. h. stringfellow, secretary, and col. james n. burnes, treasurer. peter t. abell, president of the town company, was an able lawyer, and a southern man, with pronounced views on the question of slavery. but he was a man of judgment, and a natural boomer. he was a very large man, being over six feet tall and weighed almost 300 pounds. when he became president of the town company he was a resident of weston, mo., and lived there until a year after atchison had been surveyed. subsequently, senator atchison assigned his interests in the town company to his nephew, james headley, who afterwards became one of the leading lawyers of the town. jesse morris also became a member.
the town company, having been regularly organized, the townsite was divided into 100 shares. each of its members retained five shares; the balance of thirty being held for general distribution. abell, b. f. stringfellow and all of the burnes brothers were received as two parties. henry kuhn, a surveyor, surveyed 480 acres, which comprised the original townsite. mr. kuhn and his son returned to atchison forty-five years later, and for a short time ran the atchison champion. on september 21, the first sale of town lots was held, amidst great excitement and general interest. it was a gathering which had both political and business significance. senator atchison, from missouri, with a large number of his constituents, was there, and atchison made a speech, in which one reporter quotes him as having said:
66“people of every quarter should be welcome to the territory, and treated with civility as long as they showed themselves peaceable men.”
a view in commercial street. looking east, atchison, kansas
someone in the crowd called out, “what shall we do with those who run off with our negroes?” “hang ’em,” cried a voice in the crowd. to this mr. atchison replied, “no, i would not hang them, but i would get them out of the territory, get rid of them.” one version of the speech was to the effect that senator atchison answered his questioners by saying, “by g—d, sir, hang every abolitionist you find in the territory.” but the best account of the meeting was printed in a parkville, mo., newspaper, and was reported by an eye witness, who said:
“we arrived at atchison in the forenoon. among the company was our distinguished senator, in honor of whom the new city was named. there was a large assemblage on the ground, with plenty of tables set for dinner, where the crowd could be accommodated with bacon and bread, and a drink at the branch, at fifty cents a head. the survey of the town had just been completed the evening before. stockholders held a meeting, to arrange particulars of sale, and afterwards, as had been previously announced, general atchison mounted an old wagon and made a speech. he commenced by mentioning the bountiful country that was beginning to be settled; to some of the circumstances under which a territorial government was organized, and in the 67course of his remarks, mentioned how douglass came to introduce the nebraska bill, with a repeal clause in it. he told of how judge douglass requested twenty-four hours in which to consider the question of introducing a bill for nebraska, like the one he had promised to vote for, and said that if, at the expiration of that time, he could not introduce such a bill, which would not at the same time accord with his own sense of right and justice to the south, he would resign as chairman of the territorial committee, and democratic caucus, and exert his influence to get atchison appointed. at the expiration of the given time, judge douglass signified his intention to report such a bill.
“general atchison next spoke of those who had supported and those who had opposed the bill in the senate, and ended by saying that the american people loved honesty and could appreciate the acts of a man who openly and above-board voted according to the will of his constituents, without political regard or favor. he expressed his profound contempt for abolitionists, and said if he had his way he would hang everyone of them that dared to show his face, but he knew that northern men settling in the territory were sensible and honest, and that the right feeling men among them would be as far from stealing a negro as a southern man would.
“when senator atchison concluded his remarks, the sale of town lots began, and thirty-four were sold that afternoon, at an average of $63.00 each. most of those that were sold were some distance back from the river, and speculators were not present, so far as it could be determined, and lots that were sold were bought mostly by owners of the town. prices ranged from $35.00 to $200.00.”
at this meeting the projects of building a hotel and establishing a newspaper were discussed, and as a result, each of the original 100 shares was assessed $25.00, and in the following spring the national hotel, corner of second and atchison streets, was built. dr. j. h. stringfellow and robert s. kelley received a donation of $400.00 from the town company, to buy a printing office and in february, 1855, the squatter sovereign, which subsequently did so much for the pro-slavery cause, was born.
the town company required each settler to build a house at least sixteen feet square upon his lot, so that when the survey was made in 1855 many found themselves upon school lands. among those who put up homes in 1854 and 1855 were james t. darnell, archibald elliott, thomas j. c. duncan, andrew w. pebler, r. s. kelley, f. b. wilson, henry kline and william hassett. the titles to the lands owned by these residents remained unsettled until 1857, when titles to all lands within the townsite and open to settlement 68were acquired from the federal government, and subsequently the title to school lands was secured by patents from the territory, and in this way the town company secured a clear title to all lands which they had heretofore conveyed, and re-conveyed the same to the settlers and purchasers. dr. j. h. stringfellow, proprietor of north atchison, an addition to the city of atchison, employed j. j. pratt to survey that addition in october, 1857. it consisted of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 36, township 5, range 20. samuel dickson, who was the proprietor of south atchison, had that addition platted in may, 1858, and john roberts, who was the proprietor of west atchison, had his addition surveyed in february, 1858, a few months before samuel dickson surveyed south atchison. c. l. challiss’ addition was surveyed about the same time. other additions to the corporate limits of atchison have been made, and are as follows: branchton, bird’s addition, brandner’s addition, bakewell heights, batiste addition, florence park, forest park, goodhue place, garfield park, highland park, home place, howard heights, lagrande addition, lincoln park, llewellyn heights, lutheran church addition, mapleton place, merkles addition, parker’s addition, park place, price villa addition, river view addition, spring garden, style’s addition, bellvue heights, and talbott & company’s addition.
atchison was incorporated as a town by act of the territorial legislature, august 30, 1855, but it was not incorporated as a city until february 12, 1858, after which the charter was approved by the people by special election, march 2, 1858. in the fall of 1856, atchison had obtained a great many advantages over other towns along the river, by a judicious system of advertising. the squatter sovereign printed a circular november 22, 1856, which was scattered broadcast. the circular was as follows:
“to the public, generally, but particularly to those persons living north of the kansas river, in kansas territory:
“it is well known to many, and should be to all interested, that the town of atchison is nearer to most persons living north of the kansas river, than any other point on the missouri river. the country, too, south of the kansas river above lecompton, is also as near atchison as any other missouri river town. the roads to atchison in every direction are very fine, and always in good repair for wagon and other modes of travel. the country opposite atchison is not excelled by any section of missouri, it being portions of buchanan and platte counties, in a high state of cultivation, and at a considerable distance from any important town in missouri, making grain, fruit, provisions and all kinds of marketing easily procured at fair prices; a matter of no small consideration to settlers in a new country.
69“the great fresh water lake, from which the fish markets of st. joseph and weston are supplied, is also within three miles of atchison.
“atchison is now well supplied with all kinds of goods: groceries, flour, corn, meal, provisions and marketing of all kinds are abundant, and at fair prices. to show the compatibility of atchison to supply the demands of the country, we here enumerate some of the business houses, viz: six large dry goods and grocery stores, wholesale and retail; six family grocery and provision stores, wholesale and retail; one large clothing store; one extensive furniture store, with mattresses and bedding of all sorts; one stove, sheet iron and tinware establishment, where articles in that line are sold at st. louis prices; several large warehouses sufficient to store all the goods of emigrants and traders across the plains, and to kansas territory; one weekly newspaper—the squatter sovereign—having the largest circulation of any newspaper in kansas, with press, type and materials to execute all kinds of job work; two commodious hotels, and several boarding houses; one bakery and confectionery; three blacksmith shops; two wagon makers, and several carpenter shops; one cabinet maker; two boot and shoe maker shops, and saddle and harness maker shops; one extensive butcher and meat market; a first rate ferry, on which is kept a magnificent new steam ferry boat and excellent horse boat, propelled by horses; a good flat boat, and several skiffs; saw mills, two propelled by steam and one by horse-power; two brick yards, and two lime kilns.
“a fine supply of professional gentlemen of all branches constantly on hand equal to the demand.
“a good grist mill is much needed, and would make money for the owner.”
the first business house in atchison was established by george t. challiss, at the corner of the levee and commercial streets, in august, 1854. the national hotel was not built at that time, so mr. challiss established a temporary camp, and his workmen were accommodated under an elm tree near the river. the challiss store building was torn down in 1872. george t. challiss and his brother, luther c. challiss, were clerking in a dry goods store at booneville, mo., in the spring of 1854. george t. challiss returned to his old home in new jersey on a visit, and upon his return, in august, he came direct to atchison. he came by boat to weston, mo., where he met p. t. abell, president of the town company, and abell prevailed upon him to come to atchison in a buggy, crossing the river here on george million’s ferry. mr. abell donated mr. challiss the lot upon which he built his store, and he went to rushville and bought enough cottonwood lumber to build it. when he arrived in atchison, he had $4.50 in money, but later on borrowed $150.00 70from his brother, luther c. challiss, at boonville. he enjoyed a good business from the beginning, and carried a large stock of both dry goods and groceries.
the town of atchison was the one big outstanding factor in atchison county when the territory was organized, but at the same time that abell and stringfellow and others “were shaping up the town,” others were busy organizing the county. as the city was named for general atchison, so likewise was the county at the time of its creation by the first territorial legislature that assembled at pawnee. the first board of county commissioners was selected and appointed by the territorial legislature, august 31, 1855, and was composed of william j. young, james m. givens and james a. headley. the first meeting of the board was held september 17, 1855, at the home of o. b. dickerson, in the city of atchison. at this meeting ira norris was appointed clerk and recorder; samuel dickson, treasurer; samuel walters, assessor. william mcvay had received an appointment as sheriff of the county prior to the meeting of the board, direct from the governor, to fill the office temporarily until his successor was subsequently appointed and qualified. on the 18th of september, 1855, being the second day of the session of the first board of county commissioners, eli c. mason was appointed as sheriff to succeed mcvay, and dudley mcvay was appointed coroner. voting precincts were established in three townships preparatory to an election of a delegate to congress, which was to take place the first monday in october, 1855. at the october meeting of the board of county commissioners, block 10, in what is now known as old atchison, was accepted by the board as a location upon which to erect a court house. this property was offered to the county by the atchison town company for the purpose of influencing the board to make atchison the county seat. the conditions of the gift were that the court house was to be built of brick and to be at least forty feet square. in the following spring the town company donated fifty town lots, and the proceeds of these lots were to be used in the construction of the court house. in june, 1857, the court house was ordered built and it was to be two stories high, the first story to be of rock and the second story of wood. it was 24×18 feet square: however, the plans were subsequently changed, and, because of the gift of an additional fourteen lots by the town company, of a value of $6,000.00, a more pretentious building was erected in 1859, with a county jail adjoining it. prior to the erection of the court house, there was a spirited contest between mt. pleasant, monrovia, lancaster and sumner over the question of the 71county seat. in an election to determine the location, atchison received a majority of 252 votes over all competitors for the county seat. the estimated total population of the county at the time was 2,745.
in the next few years atchison grew rapidly and the dreams of senator atchison and his associates bade fair to be realized on a large scale. the population of the town was about 500, and yet there were eight hardware stores, twelve dry goods stores, eight wholesale grocery stores, nineteen retail grocery stores, and twenty-six law firms. the banking business was controlled by the contracting firms of a. majors & company and smoot, russell & company. the atchison branch of the kansas valley bank was the first in the state to be formed under the legislative act, authorized february 19, 1857, with a capital stock of $300,000.00. in the act, john h. stringfellow, joseph plean and samuel dickson were named to open subscription books. an organization was effected in the spring of 1858, and the capital stock of the local organization was $52,000.00. the board of directors was composed of samuel c. pomeroy, president; w. h. russell, l. r. smoot, w. b. waddell, f. g. adams, samuel dickson and w. e. gaylord. there was considerable rivalry between sumner and doniphan at the time, and shortly after the organization of the bank, a rumor, which was supposed to have started in sumner, to the effect that the bank was about to suspend, caused the directors to publish a statement of its condition, showing that its assets were $36,638.00 and its liabilities $20,118.00. s. c. pomeroy resigned as president before the year was out and was succeeded by william h. russell. the bank subsequently had its name changed by the legislature to the bank of the state of kansas. mr. russell, the second president of the bank, made his home in leavenworth and was an active pro-slavery man, being treasurer of the executive committee in 1856 to raise funds to make kansas a slave state. this bank continued until 1866, when it went into voluntary liquidation and its stockholders wound up its affairs.
one of the most important institutions in atchison in the early days was the massasoit house, opened for business september 1, 1858, in charge of tom murphy, a genial proprietor, who conducted it for many years. at the same time there were three other hotels in operation in the city. reference has heretofore been made to the national hotel, which was elected in 1855 by popular subscription. it was a plain log structure on the north side of atchison street, just east of second, overlooking the river. the tremont house was a two-story frame structure at the southeast corner of second and main, and the planters’ house was at the southwest corner of commercial and sixth 72streets on the site now occupied by the exchange national bank, but the massasoit house was the leading hotel of this section and it was a substantial, somewhat imposing frame building erected at the northwest corner of second and main streets on the site now occupied by the wherrett-mize wholesale drug house. it was three stories high with a basement and was handsomely furnished. it did a large business and was the headquarters for the overland staging crowds. all the lines, which ran in every direction, out of atchison at that time departed from the massasoit house. it was a favorite place for political gatherings, and from its balconies many speeches were made by leaders of the political parties of that day. it at one time was the hiding place for a number of slaves who had been secreted in the hotel by their master. horace greeley, the famous editor of the new york tribune, ate his first dinner in kansas at this hotel, and abraham lincoln was a guest on the day that john brown was executed at harper’s ferry.
some idea of the magnitude of the merchandising that was carried on in atchison in 1858 may be gathered from the fact that during the summer of that year twenty-four trains comprising 775 wagons, 1,114 men, 7,963 oxen, 142 horses, 1,286 mules conveyed 3,730,905 pounds of merchandise across the rocky mountains and california. one single train that was sent out that year consisted of 105 wagons, 225 men, 1,000 oxen, 200 mules, fifty horses and 465,500 pounds of merchandise. during the latter part of 1859 and the early months of 1860, forty-one regular traders and freighters did business out of atchison. during nine months of one of those years, the trains outfitted from atchison were drawn by mules and cattle and comprised 1,328 wagons, 1,549 men, 401 mules and 15,263 oxen. the pike’s peak gold mines, which were discovered in 1858, and the prospecting in that region were the causes of the larger part of this enormous business. denver at that time had a population of about 2,500, and was the center of the mining region around pike’s peak. in the period just mentioned, thirty-three of the trains that left atchison were destined for denver. one of these trains was composed of 125 wagons, carrying 750,000 pounds of merchandise. it extended from the levee on the river far beyond the western outskirts of the city. the outfit was managed by fifty-two men, twenty-two mules and 1,542 oxen. several of the trains for denver had from twenty to fifty wagons. one, sent out by jones & cartwright, had fifty-eight wagons and carried over 3,000 pounds of merchandise. among the trains that left atchison during the latter part of 1859 were, one for santa fe, n. m., another for colorado city, colo., two for green river, wyo., and four for salt lake city. the biggest 73overland outfit was owned by irwin, jackson & company, who were government freighters. during one season this firm sent out 520 wagons, 650 men, 75 mules and 6,240 oxen. this firm had a good contract for supplying the military posts on the plains, including forts kearney, laramie, bridger, douglas, and camp floyd, a short distance from salt lake city. in addition to these larger overland staging concerns there were a number of lesser outfits sent out by private parties in atchison, with one, two or three wagons each. most of the freight conveyed across the plains in wagons was brought to atchison in steamboats, which unloaded at the levee extending along two or three blocks, beginning at about atchison street and running south. very frequently loaded ox trains nearly a mile in length were seen on commercial street, and some of the prairie schooners would be loaded with hardware or some other dead weight, drawn by six to eight yoke of cattle; and more wagon trains were loaded and departed from atchison than from any other point on the missouri river.
the act of the territorial legislature of kansas incorporating the city of atchison was approved february 12, 1858, and it provided for the election of a mayor and councilmen. the charter was voted upon and accepted by the people at a special election held march 2, 1858, and the first mayor and council were elected at a special election march 13, 1858. the charter provided for an annual city election at that time to be held on the first monday in september, and consequently the first mayor and councilmen of the city, elected in march, held their offices only until the following september. samuel c. pomeroy was the first mayor of the city, holding his office from march, 1858, until may, 1859. pomeroy was one of the prominent free state settlers and was one of its most popular citizens. his election as mayor was the result of the toss of a coin. a temporary truce having been effected between the southerners and the free state men, it was agreed that a compromise in local affairs would be beneficial to the community. by the toss of a coin the free state men won the mayor and three councilmen, and the pro-slavery men had four councilmen. pomeroy was named by the free state men mayor. pomeroy subsequently became actively identified with the massachusetts emigrant aid association, in the distribution of aid to the stricken people of kansas following the great drought of 1860, and it was largely because of his identification with this organization that he was enabled to place aid where it would do the most good, and he subsequently became one of the first united states senators from kansas. when he was a resident of atchison he lived at the corner of north terrace and santa fe streets, but later he moved to a 74tract of land near muscotah, and during the twelve years he was senator he claimed the latter place as his home. it was when he asked for a third term as united states senator that he was exposed on the floor of the state senate by senator york, who arose in his place and, advancing to the secretary’s desk, placed $7,000.00 in cash thereon, which he alleged pomeroy had given him to influence his vote. many have always believed that senator pomeroy was greatly wronged by this act of york. ex-governor george w. glick, himself a democrat and a leading citizen of atchison in the early days, was a very warm friend of pomeroy and always expressed indignation when he heard pomeroy abused, not only about his conduct in connection with the emigrant aid association, but also in connection with his downfall politically. it was the contention of governor glick that pomeroy’s fall was the result of a conspiracy and not because of general bribery. however, pomeroy never rose to political prominence after this incident and ended his days in washington, d. c., where he lived for a number of years prior to his death.
associated with pomeroy as the first mayor of atchison, were the following citizens: john f. stein, jr. register; e. b. grimes, treasurer; milton r. benton, marshal; a. e. mayhew, city attorney; w. o. gould, city engineer; m. r. benton, by virtue of his office as marshal, was also street commissioner; h. l. davis, assessor; dr. j. w. hereford, city physician. the board of appraisers was composed of messrs. petfish, roswell and gaylord. the first councilmen were william p. childs, o. f. short, luther c. challiss, cornelius e. logan, s. f. walters, james a. headley, charles holbert. john f. stein, who was register, resigned his office in august, and r. l. pease was appointed to succeed him. in the following august the city was divided into three wards, the first ward being entitled to four councilmen, the second ward to two, and the third ward to three. at the first meeting of the council, which was held march 15, 1858, an ordinance was adopted providing for a special election for the purpose of submitting a proposition to take $100,000.00 of stock in a proposed railroad from st. joseph, mo., to some point opposite atchison on the missouri river. the election was held and the stock was subscribed for. mayor pomeroy was appointed agent of the proposed road, which was to be known as the atchison & st. joseph railroad company. a further account of the development of railroad building from atchison will occur in a subsequent chapter. the council at this session also fixed the salary of the mayor, and in spite of the freedom of those days, saloons were ordered to be closed on sunday, and other stringent regulations were passed in connection with the liquor traffic. the first financial statement of the city, of date september 5, 1859, is as follows:
75
general city tax, 1858 $ 5,927.70
fines imposed by mayor’s court 186.50
dray and wagon licenses 192.00
dram shop licenses 1,787.76
beer house licenses 101.33
shows 130.00
billiard tables 225.00
registry of dogs 50.00
assessment on c street from river to fourth 3,381.00
total $12,008.29
amount of scrip and orders issued on general fund to december 15, 1858 $ 6,317.17
amount of scrip and orders issued on general fund to september 5, 1859 3,140.53
scrip issued toward building jail 1,675.00
scrip issued for grading streets, curbing, etc. 10,105.39
total $21,238.09
general deficit $ 9,229.79
the fact that mayor pomeroy had strongly urged in his inaugural address the importance of grading and improving the streets of the city “especially atchison, second and fourth streets, and the levee,” possibly accounts for the indebtedness of the city at so early a date. there was a general inclination among the citizens of atchison to build a modern city in accordance with the standards of the times, and therefore they were anxious to follow the mayor’s advice to put their streets and alleys in order.
one of the most interesting and at the same time one of the most difficult tasks in tracing the settlement of a community, is to correctly catalogue the establishment of the first settler, the first house, the first business institution, and the first of everything, and it could with safety be said that this is not only an interesting and difficult task but it is well nigh an impossible one. this is not to be wondered at when we take into account the rush and confusion which always attend the settlement of a new community. however, it has now become an established fact that george m. million was the 76first white settler in the territory, with samuel dickson a close second. there was some dispute about who built the first house in the town of atchison, but we have resolved all doubt in favor of dickson, just as we have decided that george t. challiss established the first business house. the challiss brothers, george, luther and william all played an important part in the very early history of the county. they were in business and in the professions, and they were all land owners, selecting the choicest tracts “close in” and holding onto them, none too wisely or too well, for their tenacity in this respect later resulted in their undoing. the leading lawyers in the county during those days were m. j. ireland, a. g. otis, isaac hascall, james a. headley, a. e. mayhew, j. t. hereford, p. h. larey, joseph p. carr and b. f. stringfellow. horton, foster, ingalls, and general bela m. hughes came later. hascall carried a card in the squatter sovereign, advertising his legal headquarters as the border ruffian law office.
in addition to the names of merchants and professional men heretofore given, “andreas’ history of kansas” gives the following list: grafton thomassen, the slave owner, ran a sawmill. thomassen’s name appears in the records of atchison county in connection with land transfers as grafton thomason; luther c. challiss, who occupied a store on the levee, 45 by 100 feet which he filled with dry goods and groceries, and advertised “such an assortment as was never before offered for sale in the upper country”; samuel dickson, a merchant and politician and also an auctioneer, on the north side of c street; lewis burnes, m. p. rively and stephen johnson carried stocks of assorted merchandise; a. j. g. westbrook, a grocer, and patrick laughlin, who fled from doniphan on account of the murder of collins, the free state man, was a tinner; william c. null and albert g. schmitt operated a warehouse and carried a general stock of merchandise at the corner of second and c streets; charles e. woolfolk and robert h. cavell had a large store and warehouse at the steamboat landing; george m. million operated the pioneer saloon; john robertson conducted a saddlery and harness business; messrs. jackson & ireland were a contracting firm with a shop over samuel dickson’s store; uncle sam clothing store, at the corner of c and third streets, was conducted by jacob saqui & company; giles b. buck sold stoves on c street; o. b. dickson was proprietor of the atchison house; drs. j. h. stringfellow and d. m. mcvay were the leading physicians; and it is interesting to note that washburn’s great american colossal circus, which was the first in kansas, gave two exhibitions in atchison, july 31, 1856. this aggregation carried three clowns, a full brass and string band and an immense pavilion, and many other novel and attractive features.
77fully fifty new buildings were erected during the spring and summer of 1856.
during this period in the history of the county, free state people began to come into their own. they grew bolder, following the compromise with the pro-slavery citizens, over the question of the distribution of city officers and because of other concessions that were made by the pro-slavery citizens for the general good of the community. it was not strange, therefore, that some of the less tactful and politic free state leaders should over-reach themselves at such a time. while the “reign of terrorism” under the stringfellow regime was on, the free state men in atchison county considered discretion the better part of valor. they were very quiet, with few exceptions, of whom pardee butler was a conspicuous example, but they were nevertheless quite numerous in the county, and particularly was this the case in and around monrovia, eden and ocena; in fact, there was an organization of free state men in the county as early as 1857, and several quiet meetings were held that year; and at monrovia a society was formed, of which franklin g. adams was the chief officer and spokesman.
early in may, 1857, senator pomeroy and the free state men bought the squatter sovereign from dr. stringfellow, and mr. adams and robert mcbratney became its editors. mr. adams was just as ardent a free state man as dr. stringfellow was the other way, so the policy of the paper was completely reversed. judge adams was a lawyer and partner of john j. ingalls for a while. he represented atchison county in the constitutional convention that met in mineola march 23, 1858 and which subsequently adjourned to leavenworth. caleb may, g. m. fuller, c. a. woodworth and h. e. baker were the other delegates from atchison county. judge adams was later one of the useful men of kansas, and at the time of his death he was secretary of the state historical society, which position he filled with credit and honor for many years. on august 22, 1858, following the local compromise with the pro-slavery leaders, judge adams concluded the time was ripe to invite james h. lane, the great free state leader, to atchison, to make a speech. he consequently served notice in his paper that lane would be in atchison october 19. as soon as it was generally known that lane had been invited to speak in atchison a number of the more rabid pro-slavery men concluded that the speaking would not take place. on the other hand, judge adams was just as determined that lane would have a public meeting in atchison. for the purpose of insuring order on that occasion adams invited a number of strong and reliable free state friends from leavenworth 78to come up to atchison and see that fair play was done. the invitation to the leavenworth free soilers was accepted with alacrity and they arrived on the morning of the day lane was billed to make his speech and brought with them their side arms as a matter of precaution. they made the office of adams, swift & company their headquarters while here. shortly after the arrival of the leavenworth contingent and while sitting in his office judge adams noticed a crowd gathering on commercial street, near fifth. suspecting that the crowd had gathered for no good purpose, judge adams and six of his friends started for the scene of what appeared to him to be a disturbance. on their way they met caleb a. woodworth, sr., hatless and apparently in trouble. as judge adams stopped to make inquiries of mr. woodworth regarding his trouble somebody from the rear assaulted him with a heavy blow on the cheek. instead of following the biblical injunction he did not turn his other cheek, but swung quickly in his tracks and levelled a pistol at his assailant, who was accompanied by a crowd of his friends, all armed and with blood in their eyes. as judge adams was about to pull the trigger of his gun a friend of judge adams shouted, “don’t shoot yet!” following which admonition all of the crowd displayed cocked revolvers and aimed them in the direction of judge adams and his crowd. observing that the free soilers meant business, the pro-slavery men discreetly withdrew without further trouble, and the free soil men returned to the office of judge adams. it was then determined that the meeting should be an out-of-door one, and as they passed out into the street, again the pro-slavery advocates mixed freely with the free soilers. a. j. w. westbrook, of the “home guards,” mounted on a prancing horse, rode among the crowd, flourishing a cocked gun, apparently seeking to kill judge adams at the first favorable opportunity. it has been doubted that westbrook meant business, but his conduct had the effect of stirring up his followers who avowed that jim lane should not speak in atchison that night. his threatening attitude apparently had the desired effect, for the free soil men decided that it was not necessary for the existence of their cause that jim lane should speak and therefore postponed the speaking. judge adams was not altogether pleased but he was finally prevailed upon to return home without attempting further trouble. later in the day a party of free soil men met general lane on the outskirts of the city, returning from doniphan where he had been speaking, and prevailed upon him not to come to atchison. this was not the first attempt of lane to visit atchison county. he was entertained at dinner in 1855 at the home of dr. j. h. stringfellow, whose house occupied the site 79where the home of ex-governor w. j. bailey now stands. the fact that lane was a guest of dr. stringfellow will appear strange to those who knew nothing of the stringfellow family. while they were belligerent pro-slavery advocates, they were always high class men with decent instincts and therefore it would not be unusual for them to open their home to so violent an opponent of theirs as lane was. the eastern papers, in giving an account of lane’s entertainment at the stringfellow home, stated that the dinner was a very elaborate one, including oysters, plum pudding, terrapin and champagne. mrs. stringfellow told e. w. howe in 1894 that lane came to the house about 11 o’clock in the morning attended by a body-guard of four men and inquired for dr. stringfellow. the doctor was away at the time, but was expected about noon. the men said that they would wait, whereupon mrs. stringfellow knew that she would probably have them for dinner. her girl was just getting ready to go somewhere on an errand and was asked to remain at the house. dr. stringfellow came in about noon and when the two men met in the yard stringfellow asked lane if he was not afraid to call at his house. “i am not afraid,” lane replied, “to call on a gentleman anywhere.” this gallantry captured mrs. stringfellow’s admiration and she invited lane and his body-guard to dinner, which, contrary to the report in the eastern papers, was a very simple one. mrs. stringfellow, in her interview with mr. howe, said that it was as follows: coffee, hot biscuits and butter, cold pie, preserves and milk; no terrapin, no oysters, no champagne, no plum pudding. lane called at the house on a matter of business and mrs. stringfellow said that lane and his body-guard were very kindly genteel men. two or three weeks later, when mrs. stringfellow was alone in the house, she saw a wagon pass in the road with three or four men lying down in it. presently another wagon, similarly loaded, attracted her attention. then came four men and a woman on horseback and several men on foot. the people came from down town, or from southwest of town. the circumstances were peculiar, and mrs. stringfellow climbed on top of a table and watched the men through the upper sash of a window. they stopped in a little glade northeast of the house, when the woman dismounted from the horse, took off the skirt and turned out to be jim lane. he stood beside the horse and talked possibly half an hour. mrs. stringfellow is certain the speaker was lane, because she had seen him only a few weeks before, and he rode the white horse he had ridden when he stopped at her house, and the same four men composed the body-guard. lane had threatened to make a speech in the town but had been warned not to, as he had been 80warned two years earlier. he made his speech in spite of the warning, but his audience was composed of his friends only. a half hour after lane disappeared over the hill toward the farm then owned by john taylor, some distance south of the orphans’ home, forty mounted southerners appeared looking for him. mrs. stringfellow knew john scott, the leader, and told him of the incident. the men laughed and then gave three rousing cheers for jim lane, who had outwitted them.
forest park, atchison, kansas
while there was a tremendous traffic across the plains from atchison in 1857, 1858 and 1859, and for a number of years later the “town was alive with business,” it is only fair to record that the town itself was not a thing of beauty and a joy forever, in spite of the efforts of mayor pomeroy and the city fathers who put the city in debt to the extent of $9,000, september 5, 1859, for public improvements.
frank a. root in his admirable book, “the overland stage to california,” published in 1901, has this to say in part upon his arrival here in november, 1858:
“it was in november, 1858, that i first set foot on the levee in atchison. i stepped from the steamer, ‘omaha,’ which boat was discharging its cargo of freight at the foot of commercial street. at that time the place was a 81very small town. i took up my residence in atchison the following spring, having this time come up the river on a steamboat from weston where i had been employed as a compositor in the office of the platte argus. on landing at atchison i had a solitary dime in my pocket, and, after using that to pay for my lunch, i started out in search of a job. a sign over the office which read: ‘freedom’s champion, john a. martin, editor and publisher,’ attracted my attention. it hung above the door of the only newspaper office in the city at that time, but preparations were then being made by gideon o. chase, of waverly, n. y., to start the atchison union, which was to be a democratic paper. i secured a place in the champion office, beginning work the following morning. as i walked about the town i remember of having seen but four brick buildings on commercial street. a part of the second story of one of them, about half a square west of the river, was occupied by the champion. the massasoit house was the leading hotel. the planters, a two-story frame house, was a good hotel in those early days, but it was too far out to be convenient, located as it was, on the corner of commercial and sixth streets. west of sixth there were but few scattering dwellings and perhaps a dozen business houses and shops. the road along commercial street, west of sixth, was crooked, for it had not been graded and the streets were full of stumps and remnants of a thick growth of underbrush that had previously been cut. a narrow, rickety bridge was spanning white clay creek where that stream crosses commercial street at seventh street. between sixth and seventh streets, north of commercial street there was a frog pond occupying most of the block, where the boys pulled dog-grass in highwater, and where both boys and girls skated in winter. the exchange hotel on atchison street, between second and the levee, built of logs—subsequently changed to the national—was the principal hotel of atchison, and for more than a quarter of a century stood as an old familiar landmark, built in early territorial days.
“atchison was the first kansas town visited by horace greeley. it was sunday morning, may 15, 1859, a few days before beginning his overland journey across the continent by stage. he came through missouri by the hannibal & st. joseph railroad, thence down the missouri river from st. joseph on the ‘platte valley,’ a steamer then running to kansas city in connection with trains on the hannibal & st. joseph railroad. it was in the old massasoit house that greeley wrote on kansas soil, his first letter to the tribune. during the latter part of the afternoon he was driven over the 82city in a carriage, john a. martin being one of the party. the city was a favorite place of albert d. richardson, the noted correspondent of five eastern newspapers.
“it was at atchison that abraham lincoln, on his first visit to kansas, spoke to a crowded house on ‘the issues of the day,’ december 2, 1859, the date that old john brown was executed in virginia. lincoln spoke in the methodist church, which then stood on the hill at the corner of fifth and parallel streets. the little church was a frame building, dedicated in may, 1859, and overlooked a considerable portion of the city. the house afterwards became quite historic, for during the early part of the civil war, the patriotic rev. milton mahin, a stanch union man, from indiana, in a patriotic speech, soon after the civil war broke out, had the nerve, and was the first minister of the gospel in atchison, to raise the stars and stripes over his house of worship.” d. w. wilder, in his “annals of kansas,” one of the most wonderful books of its kind ever published, says that abraham lincoln arrived in elwood, which is just across from st. joseph, december 1, 1859, and made his speech there that evening. he was met at st. joseph by m. w. delahay and d. w. wilder. the speech that lincoln delivered at elwood and at atchison was the same speech that he subsequently delivered at the cooper institute, new york city, and was considered as one of the ablest and clearest ever delivered by an american statesman.
atchison county was making forward strides at a rapid pace and the future held out every promise of prosperity, but in 1859 “a great famine fell upon the land.” it did more to depopulate kansas than all the troubles of preceding years. the settlers in the territory were able to fight border ruffians with more courage than they could endure starvation, and during all of their earlier troubles they confidently looked forward to the time when all of their political difficulties would be settled and prosperity, peace and contentment would be their share in life. during the years of 1855, 1856 and 1857 the citizens of the territory were unable to take advantage of the then favorable seasons to do more than raise just sufficient for their immediate needs. during the next year immigration to kansas was large and the new settlers had but little time, in addition to building their homes, to raise barely enough for home consumption, so in 1859 kansas had only enough grain on hand to last until the following harvest. the drought commenced in june, and from the nineteenth of that month until november, 1860, not a shower of rain fell of any consequence. by fall the ground was parched and the hot winds that blew from the south destroyed vegetation and the wells and springs went 83dry. there were a few localities on bottom lands along the missouri river where sufficient crops were raised to supply the immediate population, but over 60,000 people in kansas faced starvation in the fall of 1860. thirty thousand settlers left the territory for their old homes, from which they came, abandoning their claims and all hope of success in kansas. an endless procession crossed the border from day to day. about 70,000 inhabitants remained, of whom it was estimated 40,000 were able to go through the winter. as soon as the news of this situation reached the east, movements were inaugurated for the relief of the sufferers in kansas. s. c. pomeroy was appointed general agent of northern kansas. he did much to raise liberal contributions in new york, wisconsin, indiana, illinois and ohio, and the contributions were all sent to atchison, from which place they were distributed to the different counties of the state. the total receipts of provisions for distribution up to march 15, 1861, were 8,090,951 pounds, and the total distribution at atchison, exclusive of branch depots, was 6,736,424 pounds. in spite of all of this assistance over 30,000 settlers in kansas that year suffered privation and almost starvation.
it was during this frightful travail that kansas as a state was born. on january 21, 1861, jefferson davis and a number of other southern senators left the united states senate and on that day the bill for the admission of kansas under the wyandotte constitution, which had been laid before the house of representatives in february, 1860, was called up by w. h. seward, and passed the senate by a vote of thirty-six yeas to sixteen nays. one week later the bill came up in the house on motion of galusha a. grow, of pennsylvania, who introduced the first bill for the admission of kansas into the union, and while the motion was out of the regular order, it was passed by a vote of 119 yeas to forty-two nays. on january 29 the bill was signed by president buchanan, and free kansas joined the union.
the following are the names of the city officials of atchison march 1, 1916: dr. c. c. finney, mayor; victor l. king, city clerk; walter e. brown, city attorney; c. a. wright, city treasurer; frank s. altman, city engineer; d. s. beatty, police judge; william h. coleman, chief of police; john compton, fire marshal; jerome van dyke, street commissioner; owen p. grady, meat inspector and license collector; fred stutz, sanitary sergeant; frank j. roth, building commissioner; john compton, purchasing agent; dr. t. e. horner, city physician. councilmen: louis weinman, president; first ward, louis weinman, f. f. bracke; second ward, joseph schott, c. a. brown; third ward, h. m. ernst, john r. schmitt; fourth ward, w. c. linville, fred snyder; fifth ward, fay kested, walter north.
