Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1856-07-26
AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT.
MAJORITY REPORT OF THE HOUSE IN
VESTIGATING COMMITTEE.a
PRESENTED JULY I, 1856.

vEsTIcATING CoMNdITTEE
e.v PRESENTED JULY I, 1856. sfog
CONTINUED -
In the district in which Lawrence is situated,
the citizens were not armed ut the time the Mis-
sourians took possession of the polls, but the
night following they kept a guard about the town
in consequence of threats made by the border
rufians. The pro-Slavery men attended the nom
mating Conventions, voted Tor and secured their
own candidates, particularly those most obnox-
ious to the Free State men. According to the
census returns there were 282 citizens, but of
l,034 votes cast, SOP were Illegal. In 1854, the
pro- Slavery candidate, Gen. Whitfield, received
but six votes in this district, showing that the
district was strongly Free State in sentiment.
SECOND DISTRICTS ooxNGroN.
On the morning of election, the Judges APP
pointed by the Governor appeared and opened the
| polls. Their names were Harrison Burson, Ma
thaniel Ramsay and Mr.. Ellison. The Missouri
ans began to come in early on the morning, some
800 or 600 of them, in wagons and carriages, and
on horseback, under the lead OF Samuel j. Jones'
the Post Master of Westport, Missouri, Claiborne
+. jackson, and Mr.. Steeley, of Independence,
Mo. They were armed with double bareled
guns, rifles, bowie-knives and pistols, and had
| flags hoisted. They held sort of informal cleo
ton off at one side, at first for Governor of Kan
sas, and shortly afterwards announced Thomas
johnson, of Shawnee Missions, elected Governor
The polls had been opened but short time when
Mr.. Jones marched with the crowd up to the win
dow and demanded that they should be allowed
| to vote without swearing as to their residence
After some noisy and threatening talk, Claiborne
T.. jackson addressed the crowd, saying they had
come there to VOTE that they had a right to vote
| ii they had been there but five minutes, and he
was not willing to go home without voting which
was received with cheers. jackson then called
upon them to form into little bands Of fifteen or
twenty, which they did, and went to an OK wagon
| filled with guns, which were distributed among
them, and proceeded to load some of them on the
ground. In pursuance of Jackson's request they
| tied white tape or ribbons in their buttonholes,
| so as to distinguish them from the g Abolition
istS.' They again demanded that the Judges
should resign, and upon their refusing to do so.
smashed in the window, sash and all, and pre-
sented their pistols and guns to them, threatening
to shoot them. Some one on the outside cried
out to them not to shoot there were pro- Sla-
very men in the room with the Judges. They
then put a pry under the corner of the house,
which was log house, and lifted it up few
inches and let it fall again., but desisted upon be-
Ing told there were pros slavery men in the house.
During this time the crowd repeatedly demanded
to be allowed to vote without being sworn, and
MIR. Ellison, one OF the Judges, expressed him
thereupon Il body Of men, headed by IS Sheriff
JONES'" rushed into the Judges room with cooked
pistols and drawn bowie knives in their hands,
and approached Bursou and Ramsay. Jones
pulled out his watch and said he would give them
five minutes to resign in, die. When the five
minutes had expired, ant the Judges did not re-
sign, Jones said he would give them another min.
ute and no more. Ellison told his associates that
if they did not resign there would be one hun
drp1 fre1 in tha in, l.,Is fro
minutes; and then .snatching up the ballot box
ran out into the crowd, holding up the baot-box
and hurraing for Missouri. About that time
Burson and Ramsay were called out nv their
friends, and not suffered to return. As Mr.. Bur-
son went out he put the ballot poll books in his
pocket, and took them with him; and us he was
going out Jones snatched some papers away from
him, and shortly afterward came out himself
holding them up, crying, &c Hurrah for Missouri"
After he discovered they were not the poll books,
he took party of mon with him and started off
to take the poll-books from BurSon. MIR. Burson
saw them coming, and he gave the books to Mr..
Umberger and told him to start off in another d.
rectlon, so as to mislead Jones and his party.
Jones and his party caught MIR. Umberger, took
| the pOll-bOoks away from him, and Jones took
him up behind on horse, and carried him back
II prisoner. After Jones and his party had taken
Umberger back, they went 10 the house of MIR.
Ramsay and took Judge John A. Wakefield pris-
oner, and carried hun to the place of election,
and made him get up wagon and make them
speech; after which they put a white ribbon in
his button hole and let him go. Then they chose
two new Judges, and proceeded with the cleo
ton.
They also threatened to kill the Judges if they
did not receive their votes without swearing
them, or else resign. They said no man should
vote who would submit to be sworn--that they
would kill any one who would offer to do 50
-''shoot him, ''cut his CUTS Out,' &c. They
said no man should vote this day unless he voted
an open ticket, and was sail right on the gvose,',
and that if they could not vote by fair means,
they would by foul means. They said they had
as much right tovoe, if they had been in the
territory two minutes, us if they had been there
two years, and they would vote. Some of the
citizens who were about the window, but bad not
voted when the crowd Of Alissourians marched
up there, upon attempting to vote, were driven
back bv the mob, or driven off. One of them,
Mr.. J. NJ. Macy, was asked if he would take the
oath, and upon his replying that he would, if the
Judges required 1T, he was dragged through the
crowd away from the polls, amid cries of skill
the coward niger thief s.Cut his throat,''
''Tear his heart OUT" &c. After they got him to
the outside Of the crowd, they stood around him
with cooked revolvers and drawn bowie-knives,
one man putting a knife to his heart SO that it
touched him, another holding a cooked pistol to
The Missourians said they had right to vote il
they had been in the territory but Eve Minutes.
Some said they had been hired to come there to
vote, and get dollar a-day, and by Cd, they
would vote or die there.
They said the Both day Of March was an i'm
portant day, Kansas would be made Slave
State on that day. They began to leave in the
direction Of Missouri, in the afternoon after
they had voted, leaving some 80 or 40 around the
house where the election was held, to guard the
polls until after the election was over. The citi-
zcns of the territory were not around, except
those who took part in the mob, and large Dor
ton OF them did not vote; 34l votes were polled
there that day, of which some thirty were cit-
zens. A protest against the election was made
to the Governor. The returns of the election
made to the Governor were lost BY the Commit
tee of Elections of the Legislature at Pawnee.-
The duplicate returns left in the ballot-box were
taken by +. E. Laley, one of the Judges elected
by the Mssourians, and were either lost or de-
stroyed in his house, SO that your Committee |
have. been unable to institute comparison be- |
tween the poll lists and the census returns of |
this District. The testimony, however, is uni |
form, that not even 80 Of those who voted there |
that day were entitled to vote, leaving 3ll ille-
gal votes. We are satisfied from the testimony
that had the actual settlers alone voted the Free
State candidate would have been elected by . |
handsome majority.
THIRD DISTRICT -TEcUusEH.
On the 18th of March persons from Clay, |
jackson and Howard Counties, No., began 70 /
come into Tecamseh in wagons, carriages, and I
on horseback, armed with guns, bowie-knives,