The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-06-05


the prisoner in the country, and come on board,
l suppose, to notify the body of Southerners still
on board, of the rendezvous, which / learned
from them was Franklin a few miles from Law
renee. They were to rally there on the next
evening, tuesday, and the following day,
Wednesday, one of them declared was to be
the crisis. And so it turned out; on that day
the town was invaded the printing presses de-
stroyed, and the houses sacked"
The statement of facts we have given will be
confirmed by Mr.. Fogg, Chief Clerk of the
Commission of Inquiry, who left Leavenworth
few days after the sacking of Lawrence, was
in Washington few days since, and would
have prepared full account of the outrages,
had he not been prevented by severe indisposL
ton.
The statement we now proceed to print from
the correspondent of the St. Louis Democrat
of the 9th, presents the facts substantially as
Mr.. Fogg narrated them to US.
From the Missouri Democrat of May 81.
little before sunrise on Wednesday morn
ing, May 2lst, a body of men, armed with Uni
ted States muskets and cannon, appeared upon
the hill about three fourths of mile southeast
from the town of Lawrence. Additional forces
direction of Lecompton, and also from Franklin.
Between eight and nine o'clock, part of the
troops moved down to the north, by Gov. Robin
sons house, to hill Immediately overlooking
the town. About eleven o'clock, United States
Deputy Marshal w. p. Fain, three weeks from
Georgia. with posse of eight men, came into
Lawrence. They were respectfully received at
the Eldridge Honse.
The Marshal first summoned several promi-
nent citizens to aid his posse, and then proceed
ed to arrest Judge Smith and Col. Deitzler on
charge of high treason. Judge Smith was
sitting in the reading room of the hotel, and
when informed that the Marshal wished to see
him he cheerfully went into his room and sub
mit;ed himself to the arrest
During these proceedings, there no stir
or excitement In the town, and not more than
twenty or thirty men were about the streets.
The Marshal and his posse took dinner at the
hotel, after which Col. Eldridge went with his
hack and conveyed the prisoners and part of
the posse to the camp.
The Marshal now dismissed his entire posse,
and Sheriff Jones Immediately summoned them
all and then commenced the scenes disgrace
full to humanity, destructive to Kansas, and the
end of which God only knows.
About one o'clock P. M. Jones rode into town
with a posse of twenty-five mounted men, arm
ed with muskets and bayonets. They pro-
ceeded to the hotel, and Jones called for Gen.
| Pomeroy. He came to the door. Jones stated
he had several times been resisted in that
place; attempts had been made to assassinate
| him and he now declared that he was " deter
mined to execute the law, if he lost his life."
| And now, said he, l demand of you, as the most
| prominent man in the place, the surrender of
| all the cannon and Shapes rifles that you have,
| and give you five minutes to decide whether
you will give them up, taking out his watch,
| and noting the time.
| The General went up to the committee-room
and returned in q few minutes, and replied that
the cannon would be given up !; but that there
were no Sharpe's rifles in the place, except
such rs were private property, and that those
| could not be surrendered. Jones seemed to be
| of opinion that they had rifles which were not
| private property, and requested him to stack
all they had in the street, and said that such as
could be proved to be private property would
| be returned BY this time the whole posse,
variously estimated at from five to eight hun
dred men, were marching down the hill, and
| coming into town on the south side.
The cannon flour pieces were produced and
| carried through the street. One was a brass
six-pounder; the others little pop-guns, which
a man could comfortably carry on his shoulders.
NO rifles were delivered up.
Jones now told Col. Edridge, who occupied
the hotel and owned the furniture, that the
| hotel must be destroyed that he was acting
strictly under orders. The grand jury at Lee
| LAWRENCE a nuisance, ana 'oruereu -,uc.
stroy them. He would give Col. Eldridge an
| opportunity to remove his furniture, and for
| that purpose he might have until five O'clock
| lit was then fifteen minutes past three.) Col.
| Eldridge replied that the furniture could not
| be removed in less time than half day. and
| desired longer time. Jones refused. Then,
said Eldridge, give me time to remove my fam-
| ly; that is all l ask. A part of the furniture
was afterwards removed by the posse as plumber,
but most of it was burnt with the house. By
this time, the +" law and order" mob was pour
| ing into the streets, and the residents-men
| women, and chldren-sought shelter In the adj
| joining woods.
| The first property destroyed was the press of
the Kansas Free State, which was thrown in.
to the river, and everything pertaining to the
| office, with exchanges, paper, and a large
| quantity of miscellaneous books, were thrown
into the street, mutilated, and DESTROYED. The
| flag of the Lone Star {" South Carolina and
| Southern Rights y was hoisted first upon the
house of g. W. Brown, of the Herald of Free
dom, and afterwards upon the hotel Browns
press and everything in the office shared the
same fate as the other, and wagon load of
| books and papers was trampled in the streets.
Jones promised In the commencement that
no private property should be destroyed but
houses were broken open and rifed of whatever
suited the fancy of the mob Locks, bolts, or
bars, were no security. Windows and doors
were broken and destroyed, and money and
| valuabes to a large amount missing.
About five o'clock, three cannon were placed
in the street, twelve fifteen rods east of the
hotel and some thirty shots were fired, shatter-
ing the wall considerably, but proving altogether
too slow method of destruction for these " law
| and order " men. They then set fire to the
building in different places, and put several kegs
| of powder under it. The flames and smoke
| soon burst out at the windows, and the whole
building was in blaze. The walls trembled
| and fell, and the shouts and yells of the mob
| proclaimed the triumph cflaw and order in Law
| renee.
While the hotel was burning, the house of
G. w. Brown was twice set on fire. The floor
was burnt through. The fire was finally extin-
mob threatened to shoot them, but they were
not deferred. If thig house had burnt, several
| others must certainly have been destroyed, and
there would have been danger of burning nearly
half the town.
Many of the mob were bent on DESTROYING
every house in the place, and speeches were
made, urging the destruction of the whole town.
Atchison, it is said, advised moderation. Col.
jackson, of Georgia, with many others, were
opposed to the burning of the hotel A tender
hearted man from Missouri, who had come out
to exterminate the id Abolitionists shed
tears at the sight OF the destruction OF the prop
| erty of innocent, unoffending men, as he found