Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1856-11-07

From the Evening Pos, Nov. l.
To HIS EreeHney, Franklin Pierce. Pre-,

'N'AN' AAA NV EflflAlOD
oia quiet happy home for myself and family,
! found my way to the Territory, and located
my claim at Ossa watomie. 1t was then n
wilderness country, and but four or five white
families were then resident in that section of
the Territory. But soon, from almost every
state IN the Union, that country was peopled.
we had no store, no post Office, no mail route,
no mill or blacksmith shop. At our request
uo,ernment established a weekly mail route
a1u aE,pointed MT. samuel Geer postmaster.
Mr'J'lelton received the contract forcarryipg
the mail-four weekly mails reached us from
Inherent points. Two good stores were
established, and a grocery store. We had a
large steam saw and grist mill, at a cost of
SI@'uuU, IN operation. We had n black.
smith g ana cabinet shop, and dwellings, IN
a nearly fifty in the town.
The people lived together in harmony, they
were enterprising, improving their farms.
painting crops, to the extent. in some in
stances, OF one hundred acres. We had built
a school-house, which was also to serve az
temporary place Of religious worship Pre-
parations were on foot for the erection of two
large churches, various buildings and i'm
IroVements were commenced. We had passed
the hrst rough work Of a pioneer life. We
mao all shaken with ague, we had all groaned
under the burning fever. We had passed
through a winter severe beyond precedent
The bright spring opened upon us. We
were cheered. The sun shone as brightly as
ever, and vernal showers came, and gave
promise of q fruitful season. We began to
plant our crops, but rumOrs OF attack from
the people Of another State alarmed us. But
little could be done, and yet all were %diligent-
~ at work to provide for those whom God
had made dependent upon them. And while
thus our people were busy in their fields, on
the 9th day Of June last, an armed company
OF about one hundred h%orsemen, many of
them known residents Of Missouri, visit our
town, make several Of our people prisoners,
sack and rob all our dwellings, of their valu-
ables, set several buildings on fire, steal
eighteen horses, threaten and assault our
citizens, and retire with a threat that at a
future time they would return and
destroy the town. The people are in terror.
sleeping in the woods, and in constant fear Of
their lives.
The arm of industry is paralyzcd. Our
teams sent for provisions to WestpOrt or
Kansas City are stopped searched and robbed.
None but the ignorant or more courageous
dare leave home. August Is. Mr.. Ackerly,
who drove the stage from Ossawatomie
to Westport, was made prisoner at Westport
and forced to leave the country. Mr.. John
Yelton, the mail contractor, goes to Westport
to learn the fate of his courier, and is detain-
ed a prisoner until the Doth of August, when.
robbed OF his Goa oh, harness, and one horse,
he is sent, late at night, into Ossawatomie,
with between three hundred and four hundred
letters.
August 80, early in the morning, Gen. Reid,
from Missouri with an army variously estim-
ated at $50 to 400 armed men, march upon
the town, having previously murdered, one
mile before reaching the place, Mr.. Frederick
Brown and MIR. Garrison, and left Mr.. Cutler
for dead,
They take Mr.. Williams and a German
called Dutch Charley, prisoners. Mr.. Will
liams is b~rutally murdered in the town. The
German is murdered soon after. They severely
wound Mr.. Updegraft and Mr.. Coils. They
also killed Mr.. Partridge. fleeing for his life,
and MIR. Powers, q sick man, cndoavoring to
escape from the burning houses.
They then sack and burn the town, leav-
ing only twelve buildings. Woman fee from
their bed. in their night-clothes, with chill
dren under their arms. The sick crawl as
best they can into the woods-the murdered
Powers was one Of them.
They then visit my claim, half a mile from
the town, rob and burn my house, including
a piano-forte worth four hundred dollars.
They had burned my Office, cut open my iron
safe and robbed it of all its valuable contents
of plate, money, and r"Porn. Th"y take off
my horse, wagon. and harness. after burning
my three outhouses. They kidnap my eldest
son, and bear him off to Missouri, where they
for many weeks detain him.
Terror-stricken the people fee from the
country. Cut off from sup plies by the Dor
derers sworn to accomplish our destruction ,
we have been compelled to get out Of the
territory where no protection of life or prop
erty is enjoyed, to the protection Of the
States. We are robbed of our all, and more
we are hunted as the roe upon the noun
tain.
We are today thrown upoa the cold chart
ty of the world, ruined. Ours is far from
being a solitary case We personally know
of hundreds who have been similarly out
ragged. Over $50 families have had to flee
from the Ossawatomie section, impoverished
robbed, houses burned. and utterly ruined.
To you, your Exccllency,I look for redress.
| have the best reason to believe that our
town was destroyed under your au-
thority. Gen. Reid came into the Territory
as | AIN compelled to believe, under the call
of Secretary WoOdson, as Kansas militia. If
not why is the burningl Of a town, the
murder of quiet and unofiending citizens, the
Imprisonment OF its mail contractors, the
detention Of the mail over two weeks
and finally the robbery Of the Office of over
400 letters, monies, &c, and the destruction
of the Office, ignored by you'
Agull, bON. btdTN, III HIS ltlltE 70 CcNIt-
tary Marcy, dated Lecompton. October 10th
inst, says For upwards of two weeks no
outrage has been automatically reported. -
Allow me, however to inform your Excellency
that during the weeks mentioned by GOV.
Geary an outrage was committed at Osawa-
tonic in the burning of twelve buildings that
remained of that i'll fated town including the
steam mill, a store just opened, and the Post
Office. Allow me to inform your Excellency
that | have satisfactory evidence to cause me
to believe that Governor Geary was informed
Of the fact, and protection was asked for the
suffering people then-but refused, as it had
ever been before the writer left Kansas, Sept
80 ult. Thus the Governor ignores ths
wrongs done to Free State settlers in Kansas
But lest | weary your Excellency with my
complaining, | will close by asking If there
is to be no protection for the Free State set.
tiers In Kansas Will your EXcel.ency
still see us threatened, robbed driven out, and
murdered, and lend no listening ear
afford no protection Has liberty become
. crime, that her sons must be hunted, pers-
ecuted, burned and murdered in this fair land
Of boosted freedom and equality, and that
under the oognizance of government
am not a politician. The outrages suffered
by myself my friends, force me thus TO
resort to him who is sworn to support the
Constitu tion of these United States. Refer
ing your E1celleney for evidence Of my cred
ibility and moral standing TO Hon j. A
Spencer, Hon. O. B. Matterson. Willard
Crafts. Esq. of Utica; C.'P. Kirkland. Esq
and A. j. Bleecker, Esq. of New York city
Hon. John Wentworth and Judge Wilson
of Chicago, and Vim, Spencer, United State:
Surveyor, Newark, Ohio: / beg leave to sub
scribe myself your Excellency's very obedient
servant, O. c. BROWN,
OF Osawatomie, Kansas Ter ritory
CTlCA, \. Y. Oct. %, 1856.