The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-11-30

v,
Kansas, our advice is let them hold it or die
in the attempt" A late writer has justly
said: ut is self evident that under the
American system of free government, the
most terrible of all offeuses against the State
is the thwarting by fraud or violence of the
will of its people as expressed at the polls.
If fraudulent voting ballot-boX stuffing, or
dishonest counting is allowed to defeat the
will OF the majority, the foundations OF our
institutions is awept away"
The legislature thus fraudulently chosen,
finally assembled at Shawnee Mission, near
the line of Missouri "and passed one act by
which the laws of Missouri generally were
adopted and declared to be laws of Kansas"
In addition to the slave code OF Missouri,
other acts were passed intened to give great
er security to slave holding in Kansas.
Among these were the following:
Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative
Assembly of Kansas, that if any free person, by
speaking or writing, shall assert or maintain
that persons have not the right TO hold slaves IN
this Territory, or shall introduce into this Terri-
tory, print publish, write circulate, or cause to
be introduced into this Territory, or written,
printed, published and circulated in this Terri
| tory any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet or
circular containing any denial OF the right or
persons TO hold slaves in TINS TERRITORY such per-
| son shall be deemed guilty of felony ana pun
ished by Imprisonment at hard labor for term
| of not less than two years.
If any person shall aid or assist in enticins,
| decOying or persuading, or carrying away or
sending out of this Territory any slave beOn ging
! to another with the intent to procure the tree
! dom of such slave, or deprive the owner thereof
of the services of such slave, he shah be adjudged
guilty of grand larceny, and on conviction
| thereof shall suffer death, be imprisoned at
| hard labor for not less than ten years
| If any person shall entice, decoY, or carry
! away ont of any State or Territory of the United
| States any slave belonging to another, with the
/ intent to procure or effect the freedom of such
slave, or deprive the owner thereof of the serv-
| ices of such slave, and shall bring such slave
into this Territory, he shall he Alphabetically of
grand larceny in the same manner if such
| slave nad been entlced, QecOyeQ, or carried
away out of this Territory and in such case the
| larceny NAV be charged to nave been committed
| in any county of this Territory into thought
which such slave shall have been brought by
such person and on conviction thereof the per-
son offending shall suffer DEATH
No person who is cOnscentiously opposed to
| holding slaves, or who does not admit the right
| to hold slaves in this Territory shall sit as
| juror on the trial of any prosecution for any
violation of any section of this act.
BORDER RUFFIANs TO THE RESCUE
Early in the spring and summer of this
year the actual settlers, at their convention,
repudiated this fraudulently chosen Legisla.
ture and refused to obey its enactments.
| Upon this the border papers of Missouri, in
| flaming appeals; urged the ruf1ian horde that
had previously invaded Kansas to arm and
otherwise prepare to march again into the
| Territory when called on, as they soon would
be, to laid in enforcing the laws" War of
some magnitude, at least, now appeared to US
| brothers to be inevitable, and | wrote to
| father. whose home was in North Elba n.
! " asking him to procure and send to us, if
| he could, arms and ammunition, so that we
could oe better prepared to defend ourselves
| and our neighbors. He soon obtained them,
| but instead of sending, came on with them
! himself, accompanied by my brother-in-law,
| Henry Thompson, and my brother Oliver.
! In Iowa he bought a horse and covered wag-
| n (lOOcpalino the n this and
spicuously displaying his surveying imple-
| ments, he crossed into Missouri near Waiver
! ly, and at that place disinterred the body of
| his grandson and brought all safely through
to our settlement, arriving there about the
| 9th of October.
| A few days later William Dow, a Free-State
| settler. near the Santa Fe road, between our
| place and Lawrence, in conseo uence of differ
! ence in politics, was attacked by three armed
men and shot des d, while he was himself
| wholly unarmed.
Resistance by a few Free-State men of Law
| renee to the service of a warrant in the hands
of one Jones, of Westport, Mo-, who held the
| Office of sheriff in Kansas under the fraudu-
| lent Legislature, afforded a pretext for call
| ing on the militia to aid him. The Missouri
border responded and hundreds of armed
men came over, threatening vengeance on
the people of Lwrence. Upon urgent call
the Free-State men of the Territory rallied in
her defense. Father, Owen, Frederick, Sal
mon, Oliver and myself were among the
| number. Henry Thompson ana Jason were
! prevented by sickness from joining us there.
| For days the little town was menaced by
| 1900 armed men from Missouri, who styled
themselves The militia of Kansas" Pru-
| Dental reasons led them to defer an attack
in force, but they would not return
without blood, and poor Barber,
peaceable and worthy citizen, while return
| ing from Lawrence to his home, few
miles west, was met by squad OF those mi
| litia" and shot to death in the road for no
other reason than for being Free-State man,
| and that he had gone to aid in defending
Lawrence. Hundreds OF his friends and
| comrades who were then assembled in that
| beleagured town will not be likely to forget
! the desparing cries of the widow of Thomas
! w. Barber when she saw, in the Eldrdge
| House, the body of her husband Just brought
| in from the prairie on which he had fallen.
| The effect upon the defenders of Lawrence
| was manifest in the settled determination
| that for this and the wrongs heretofore suf-
fered, day of reckoning must come.
kind Of compromise was agreed upon at
| Lawrence, the "militia' Withdrew across the
border and though no one of their number
| had been killed or wounded their thirst for
| blood was not satisfied by the killing of Bar
| Der. They retired uttering curses and threats.
| The Free-State men returned to their cabins
| aud tents, which, in general afforded but
wretched protection. From the 27th day of
! November to the 18th day of December they
had been absent from their homes in defense
| OF Lawrence; they must now provide as best
! they could against the inelemencies of win
ter which proved to be one of almost unpar-
! aleled severity.
| Having no stoves to warm our two small
tents, quite too small to shelter our present
number, our means insufficient to purchase
stoves iii addition to provisions for the win
ter, we left the high prairie whittier we had
moved to escape malaria, and near the timber
we built a she'd open in front, its roof of
| poles covered by long shingles, its three sides
formed by bundles of long prairie grass
placed one above another and pressed close
between upright stakes. In front of this
shed was our fire of logs, which furnished