The Kansas herald of freedom., 1859-12-17

on the banks of the Hudson, twenty-five
miles from the city of New York, whert
he Chicago Times
From he State Record.
Aaron D. Stephens, alias, whipple.
We find the following biographical
sketch of A. D. Stephens, in the Beloitl
(Wis.) Journal. 1t is from the pen Of q
former resident ef- Topeka. The sketcis
will revive many pleasant, as well as
thrilling, recollections in the minds of the
settlers of '56.
EDITOR BELoIT JOURNAL A few
days since l noticed in the Chicago Press
q. Tribune communication, copied from
one of the Eastern papers, giving some
incidents in the history of A. D. Stephens,
one of the "Harper's Ferry Rioters" in
which it was mentioned, among other
things, that che was elected to the COM
mand of the Topeka Boys in '56, under
the assumed name of Whipple" the men,
ton of which fact introduced to me an
old friend and comrade, concerning whose
history permit me to give you some facts
narrated to me by Stephens himself. The
following is the communication referred
to above:
FILLIBUsTER STEPHENS.
The Norwich (Ct) Bulletin says that
Aaron Dwight Stephens, the companion
Of Capt. Brown at Harper's Ferry, and
who is now suffering from wounds that
may prove mortal, is son of Capt. Aaron
Stephens, of Norwich. Mr.. II. L. Reed
communicates to the Bulletin some Incl
dents of his life, which that paper con-
denses as follows:
stephens was born in Lisbon, CT,
somewhere near the year 1880. He was
bold, fearless boy, rather restive under
parental discipline, but always known as
kind-hearted fellow, and one who would
always take sides with the weaker party.
He lived in this vicinity, part of the
time with his parents, till his fifteenth
year, 1845, and then left for Boston, where
he joined company of volunteers for the
war then beginning in Mexico. Proceed
ing to the scene of conflict, he happened
to be in nearly all the engagements that
occurred during the struggle. No situa-
ton of unusual peril, and which involved
unusual hardship, but what Dwight Ste
phens was the man for the place. He en-
joyed the confidence of his superior off
GERS, and was sometimes entrusted with
the execution of enterprises, that but for
his fearlessness, would have been COM
mitted to men far above him in rank.
After the conclusion of the Mexican war,
he spent sometime in this vicinity, bu. at
length found himself in Kansas about the
commencement of hostilities there. His
Mexican campaign had given him SOL
dierly air, besides imparting to his phys
ical system a power of endurance and
strength Of muscle almost without par
allel. Espousing the cause of the Free
State men with all the ardor of his i'm
petuous nature, he was soon elected, un-
der the assumed name of Whipple, the
commander of the Topeka Boys"
After the cessation of hostilities in
Mexico, Stephens and the command to
which he was attached, commenced their
march across the plains to Leavenworth.
Soon after the march commenced, a SOL
dier disobeyed some order, and was in
humanity punished therefor by the order
of the Major in command. Maddened by
the outrage, Stephens, who was bugler,
fell upon the Major, and after beating his
bugle to atoms over his head, chastised
him within an inch of his life, as he richly
deserved. For this performance he was
marched across the plains, with ball and
chain attached to his ankle, to Fort Leav-
enworth, where he was court-martialed
and sentenced to be shot. On application
of some of the officers at the Fort to the
President, his sentence was commuted to
three years labor on the guard house, or
in the shop, with the ball and chain to his
ancle. He served the government in this
way till about the first of January, 1856,
when he deserted, and concealed himself
among the Delaware Indians on the Kaw
River. He remained with them till about
the first of March following, when he made
his appearance in Topeka. His military
knowledge made him conspicuous among
the military companies then organizing
there, and he was soon chosen Colonel of
the End Regiment of Kansas Free State
Militia This position he held with credit
to himself and great discomfort to the
Bordor Rufian forces with whom his COM
mand came in conflict, till Geary, by the
aid of the o. g. troops, drove all promi-
nent Free State fighting men" from the
Territory. He then went through Ne
braska and Iowa with Lane, and returned
to "the States" 1 saw him again at To-
peka in the summer of '57, and since that
time I have lost track of him, till the
startling intelligence from Harper's Ferry
reveals him in the light of misguided
fanatic, for which character the scenes
through which he passed in Kansas, aid
ed, no doubt, by the arguments of the
monomaniac under whom he served, had
prepared him.
Stephens was man of strong preju-
dices, perhaps more liable to be led into
some mad enterprise of this kind than
most men. But state, from an intimate
acquaintance with him, that no braver
man than he ever walked the green earth;
and no heart ever beat truer to its convic-
tions, than that which will soon cease to
its throbbings forever, on a public gibbet
at Harper's Ferry. S.
Too Quick.