The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-07-10
9TH DISTRICT.

For some days prior to the election, compa-
| MES of men were organized in Jackson, Cass,
and Clay counties, Missouri, for the purpose of
| coming to the Territory, and voting in the 9th
| district. The day previous to the election,
some 400 or 500 Missourians, armed with guns,
pistols, and knives, came into the Territory,
and camped, some at Bull Creek, and others at
| Pottawatomie Creek. Their camps were about
| l6 miles apart. On the evening before the
| election, Judge Hamilton, of the Cass County
Court, Missouri, came from the Pottawatomie
Creek camp to Bull Creek, for 60 more Nilsson
rians, as they had not enough there to render
the election certain; and about that number
| went down there with him. On the evening
before the election, DR.. B. c. Westfall was elect
! ed to act as one of the judges of election in
the Bull Creek precinct, In place of one of the
judges appointed by the Governor, who, it was
said, would not be there the next day. DR..
Westfall was at that time citizen of jackson
county, Missouri. On the morning of the cleo
| ton, the polls for Bull Greek precinct were
| opened, and, without swearing the Judges they
proceeded to receive the votes of all who offer
ed to vote. For the sake of appearance, they
would get some one to come to the window and
offer to vote, and when asked to be sworn he
would pretend to grow angry at the judges, and
would go away, and his name would be put
down as having offered to vote, but rejected
refusing to be sworn" This arrangement was
| made previously, and perfectly understood by
the judges. But few of the residents of the
district were present at the election, and only
| l3 voted. The number of votes cast in the
| precinct was 1913.
One Missourian voted for himself, and then
voted for his little son, but 10 or III years old.
Colonel Golfer, Henry Younger and Mr.. Ly-
kins, who were voted for, and elected to the
| Legislature, were residents of Missouri at the
time. Colonel Golfer subsequently married in
the Territory. After the polls were closed, the
returns made, and man, claiming to be
| a magistrate certified on them that he had
| sworn the judges of election before opening
the polls. In the Pottawatomie precinct, the
Missourians attended the election, and after
| threatening Mr.. Chestnut, the only Judge pres.
emit appointed by the Governor, to induce him
to resign, they proceeded to elect two other
judges-one Missourian, and the other a resi-
dent of another precinct of that district. The
polls were then opened, and all the Missouri.
ans we're allowed to vote without being sworn.
After the polls we're closed, and the returns
made out for the signatures of the judges, Mr..
Chestnut refused to sign them, as he did not
consider them correct returns Of legal voters.
, Colonel Golfer, resident of Missouri, but
elected to the Kansas Legislature from that
district at that election, endeavored, with 9TH
ers, to induce Mr.. Chestnut, by threats, to sign
the returns, which he refused to do, and left the
house. On his way home, he was fired at by
some Missourians, though not injured. There
were three illegal to one legal vote given there
that day.
At the Big Sugar precinct, the Judges ap-
pointed by the Governor, met at the time ap-
pointed, and proceeded to open the polls, after
being duly sworn. After a few votes had been
received, party of Missourians came into the
yard of the house where the election was held,
and unloading wagon filled with arms, stacked
their guns in the yard, and came up to the win.
dow and demanded to be admitted to vote
Two of the judges decided to receive their
votes, whereupon the third Judge, j. NJ. Arthur,
| resigned, and another was chosen in his place.
Colonel Young, citizen of Missouri, but a
candidate for, and elected to, the Territorial
Legislative Council, was present, and voted in
the precinct. He claimed that all Missourans
who were present on the day of election were
entitled to vote. But thirty or forty of the cti-
zens of the precinct were present, and many of
them did not vote.
At the Little Sugar precinct, the election
seemed to have been conducted fairly, and
there Free State majority was polled. From
the testimony, the whole district appears to have
been largely Free State; and had none but actual
settlers voted, the Free State candidates would
have been elected by large majority From
a careful examination of the testimony and
the records, we find that from 200 to 225 legal
votes were polled, out of sS5, the total number
given in the precincts of the fifth district Of
the legal votes cast the Free State candidates
received l52.