Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1856-01-16

"halt, which order the SherlH party |
obeyed. One of the eight then asked if
Mr.. Branscom was among their number,
to which Branscom himself replied, "yes,
and | am a prisoner-I don't know what
for" "Ride forward them" said the
eight. The Sheriff and his men drew up
their guns as ifto shoot. ''If do" said
B 4, "they will shoot me-" The eight
then cooked and raised their Sharp's ri
hes, and commanded Branscom to "ride
forward" AT this, the Sheriffs party
laid their guns across their saddles and
Branscon got off his mule and joined the
eight. "Gentlemen," sail the Sheriff,
81 want you 10 understand that am no
coward. | tell you what it is, I ana for
fighting this matter out" He and his
men then turned round and rode off
Immediately following this, Gov. Shan
non issued his proclamation, calling on
the Militia of the Territory to aid him in
enforcing the laws. This call was an
swered for the most part, by the residents
of Missouri, numbering, as variously sta
ted, from twelve TO fifteen hundred men.
Ofthese, the respectable class, as they are
styled, enrolled themselves under gene
rails, appointed by Gov. Shonnon, while
another class, the Atchinson men, par
excellence, rallied under leaders of their
own appointment. A trial of Coleman
was had BY the pro-slavery men, at Le-
compton, which resulted in his complete
acquital, and the Aichinson men after
wards made him leader in their camp.
Various and extravagant demands, en-
anating from the pro-slavery camp, were
made upon the citizens of Lawrence,
such as surrender of their arms, sub
mission to the destruction Of the houses of
some of its leading residents, the suppress.
sion of the newspapers published there,
and consent to the service of number
of warrants upon those who had set al
naught the enacIments of the Kansas Leg
iSlalure, so called.
These demands were answered bv the
most vigorous preparations for a bloody
resistance. Messengers were sent to the
| Eraa State man in yor;ou, p,-.. oF ,bo
Territory, calling for help, and this call
was responded 10 by-hundreds, who were
on their way to the seat of war, within
half an hour from the time Of receiving
notice. But little time was spent before
starting in casting bullets, for this work
had in general been done in anticipation
of ga - time coming" These men,
armed to the teeth, and numbering about
eight hundred, when on the ground at
Lawrence, and thoroughly organized,
went TO work both night and day in the
construction of forts, and in an incredible
short space of time, these deiences were
in complete readiness, and bristling with
the weapons Of deadly conflict.
The next act in the drama, was the
murder of Thomas BIrber. His resi-
dence was about ten miles from Law
renee. From the beginning of the out
break, he with his brothers had been for
a number of days al work on the fortii
cations at Lawrence. On the afternoon
of the 9th inst, learning that negotiations
had been entered into with the Governor,
he with two brothers and brother-in-law,
started for home 10 visit their families
While ontheir way, sometime before dark,
they were overtalien by party of horse
men from the enemy's camp, and ordered
to stop. Upon refusal to obey, several
shots were fired at them, one of which
took effect, the ball hitting Thomas in the
side near the hips. He exclaimed 81 am
shot," During the few moments he liv
ed, his brothers rode by his side and sup
ported him in his saddle, the murderers
still in hot pursuit When life had fed,
and no further assistance could be rem
dered, the brothers being hard pressed
sprang from their horses and fed to an
adjoining timber and escaped.
This victim crowned the second assault
Of the enemy, and as is the case of Dow,
the attack was boldly made upon an un-
armed man. Next morning the corpse of
Mr.. Barber was brought into Lawrence,
and placed in a room of the "Free State
Hotel" at that time the garrison of body
of troops whose only clamor was, "lead us
on TO vengeance %
You will naturally ask, why did you
not attack the enemy and attempt at least
to drive them from the Territory The
reason assigned to the soldiers by the
Council" were, that negotiations were
pending with the Governor which would
probably result in his removing the men
under his authority from the Territory,
and thus save further bloodshed, and that
moreover our action should be strictly of
defensire character. This line of poll
cy was a hard one for our men to submit
to, yet on the whole, the 'Council" pre-
vailed. As was anticipated, the negoci-
atoms with Gov. Shannon ended in his
issuing an order for the return of his
men, which was obeyed. The city of
Lawrence, no longer besiege1, our little
army disbanded and each one of US re
turned home, feeling that the cause Of