The National tribune., 1883-03-22
JOHN BROWN OF OLD,
And the Last of His Work in Bleed
ing Kansas.
To the Editor NATIONAL TRIBUNE:

| To the Editor NATIONAL TRIBUNE:
/ The articles relating to John Brown and his
war with pro-slavery border ruffians in Kansas
that are now going the rounds of the press.
call to the writer's mind many of the heroic
events of the time when Kansas was battling
for freedom, and citizens were cruelty assassi-
mated for standing by their principles and
opposing the great slave power that was then
crowding itself into Kansas. 1twas here that the
great civil war, which ended with the down
fall of slavery, really began.
What l am about to write is simply recital
OF the facts that came under my own observa-
tIon quarter OF a century ago, with frequent
quotations from my diary of that time.
left Mantua, Portage county, Ohio, in April,
1856, bound for Bleeding Kansas" We took
with US a steam sawmill, which was purchased
in st. Louis, Mo-, shipped by river to Kansas
City, and then hauled overland about eighty
five miles south of west from Kansas City, to a
point on the Usage River, in Bourbon county,
and about ten miles north from Fort Scott the
then hOt-bed OF the pro-Slavery party, where
our company stuck their stakes and purchased
! some TIMBER claims on the Usage bottoms that
had already been taken up by pro-siayery par
ties who wanted to go back to the
They said 1t was getting too hot for them.
:. Captain Montgomery and his company of
Jay -hawkerS We're then scouting all through
that part of the Territory looking to the in
| teraSt OF the free-State men and carrying ter
ror into the ranks of the border ruifians. We
put up our mill, surveyed and laid out town
site and named it Lebanon, and we all went
to work in good earnest, intending to mind our
own business and not take part in the bitter
quarrel going on between what we then
thought to be the -hot-heads or the extremists
| OF the two parties
But we soon saw that it was not few ig-
norant rufiians from the South and few law
less men from the North that were creating all
this trouble and biO0dshed, but great power
| at Washington, with the vast machinery of the
| Government at its back, intent on making
| Kansas slave State The anti-slavery eie-
ment of the North had declared that slavery
| should never have foot-hoid in Kansas, but
should be confined to the States where it aetu-
ally existed, and as at this time the pro-slavery
men, under the protection of the flag, the
President and the party in power, were pour
ing their forces into the Territory; came
4 the hard-headed men of anti-siavery sentiment
/ down from the North to occupy the land, aud
/ hold it, too, even if fighting had to be done.
| There was no neutral ground. 1t was pro-
slavery or anti-slavery;" free Kansas or
/ slave Kansas"
Southern Kansas was now to suffer as North
4 ern Kansas did in 90 and SO when Governor
! Geary had to leave the Territory 10 save his
! life. At this time, however. the Free-State ele-
ment had grown iii pluck and outnumbered
/ their opponents III that part OF the Territory,
many of whom had gone back to the States,
/ while others had come TO Southern Kansas.
| THE OPENING OF HosTILIrIEs.
| The first resort to force occurred on the nj ght
/ OF December 10th, 1857, when the house of
/ Free-State man. by the name of Rice, who
/ came from Missouri and was kind of Method
! lst exhorter-an inofensive sort of man-who
/ had son with Captain Montgomery's scouts,
was surrounded by the pro-savery men, and
| he was told that he must leave. Some shots
! were fired, and old Rice received
slight wound. On hearing of the affair, the
! Free-State men rallied and declared that if
1 Rice was not permitted to live in peace aud ex-
press his sentiments-which was all they
/ asked-they would have to resort to little
biood-lettlng. The incident opened the eyes
| OF our little settlement of Free-State men. We
| supposed that we had the same rights in Kan
/ sas that we had IN Ohio, and we determined to
stand by old man Rice. l quote from my
diary:
Missouri border ruiiians and Captain Montgomerys
scouts had fight last night the State line,
! the Usage; seven men reported killed
Dee. l7th--Two hundred and fifty United States
/ troops from Fort Scott the Usage looking
Tor captain 4tontgonlery's scouts As they passed
! through Lebanon sergeant sang out:
/ seen anything OF Captain Montgomery and his
/ No the answer. What do you want
with theme''
Want to chaw 'em up'n
why don't you chaw up those border rufiians
| who shot and tried to drive old man Rice from his
home and out OF the Territory just because he was
/ an anti-slayery man?n
| the reply. What we are after, just now, is old
| Montgomery and his jay -hawkers.''
No one had seen them, although they had passed
| through town not more than half an hour before
The reader will see presently that it was not
! such an easy matter after all for the United
| States troops to "chaw up" Captain Mont
gonery and his scouts. The question occurred
TO US at the time, why was it that the Govern
| ment at Washington was using its strong arm
| to hunt down and drive out of Kansas the anti
slavery party, and at the same time protect
AID assist the pro-slavery party?
Ii my memory serves me right, Jefferson
/ Davis was then Secretary of War, and it was
he who ordered the United States troops to
/ hunt down and disperse Captain Montgomery
and his scouts, let it cost what it might in
treasure and blood. / wish TO say right here
that the Government was very careful TO send
none but Southern troops TO Kansas; that is,
| men OF pro-Slavery principles, or troops that
were recruited in the Southern States. 1t was
| then reported that there was not single
Northern-born soldier stationed at Fort Scott.
| The balance OF the winter passed away with
out any further lighting. The soldiers went
| into their winter quarters at Fort Scott, and
the border ruiiians settled back in Missouri to
their hog and hominy," probably not very
well satisfied, for they had lost few of their
| men and accomplished nothing. Here is an
other extract from my diary:
March 9th 1S5S.-First election ever held in Leh-
anon; elected township officers; made arrange
nentS Tor a summer term of school, free and open
TO all; hired q teacher. rented unoecupied log
house, put in some benches and desks.
| 1t made rather cozy-looking room and a
very comfortable place in which to teach the
young idea how to shoot. A genuine Connecti-
cut Yankee, by the name of Jackson, was the
| teacher, and if there ever was Yankee that
could make wooden nutmegs and bass-wood
| hams" l think it must have been Jackson.
MORE TROUBLE BREWING.
The weather had now become warm, and we
began to hear of trouble brewing down near
the State line. quote from my diary:
April 1st.-Two men killed few miles down the
Usage from here this time it the pro-slaveyy
men that went down. Rumors had it that Captain
Montgomery's scouts were at il again-paying off
some old scores
April 3d.-Great excitement all along the Usage;
about hundred of the ant-slavery settlers came
went North to settlement on Elk Creek Mis-
sourians, two hundred and fifty strong reported in
camp near the State line well armed and full of
tight, and threatening to make clean sweep of the
free-State men on the Usage River.
We hastily organized a rifle company, elected
officers fortified the town as best we could
| corraled the wagons of the settlers that came
into town for better defence, run bullets,
sent out scouting parties, and made arrange
ments for regular siege. That night / went
on guard. The password was Washington"
We vera determined to have a natr;otic aod