Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1888-01-25
LE COMPTON'S FALL.
A Kansas Town That Recalls Goldsmitl
sl Story of Sweet Auburn. a,.

4 Kansas Town That Kecnlla Goltismith a
E Story of Sweet Auburn.
About midway between Lawrence
and Topeka is located the old town Of
Leconpton, which was the Territorial
capital of Kansas from 1855 to 1861.
The ,Sante Fe railroad skirts the base
of the hills upon which the village is
built, and as the train nears the place
the attention OF the traveller is arrested
by large structure of yellow sand
stone, which occupies y commanding
position on the rising ground south Of
the Kaw river. This edifice is Lane
University, an institution of learning
established under the auspices of the
United Brethren church, and which
was erected some years ago upon the
foundation of what was to have been
the State house of Kansas. =. 80.
The glory of the once ambitious city
has departed. Not a vestige Of its early
pride remains to tell of the strange
mutations of its history. Indeed, so
quiet is the spot, SO far removed, It
seems. from all the din and strife of
busy life, that the stranger from the
outside world might almost fancy that
the beautiful and touching story Of
''Sweet Auburn. Loveliest Village of
the Plain" had been repeated amid the
rural scenes of this somnolent hamlet.
':rhe plans for the capitol contemplated
an imposing structure" said Judge e.
lott, Of Lawrence. The original ap-
preparation by Congress for the con-.
struction of the bull ling was $4,000,
and an addition of $4,000 was subse-
quently made to this amount. Tho
money was all used in the purchase of
material and the employment of labor.
The building was completed as far as
to the top Of the first story. and then
the enterprise was abandoned. An en-
tire boatload of iron pilasters, window
caps. cornices, ETC., was brought to the
mouth of the Kansas river and hauled
to Lecompton by teams. remember
that for years after the removal of the
capitol to Topeka acres of this material
lay scattered over the ground, exposed
to the weather and covered with rust.
The first State Legislature authorized
the sele of this stuff by auction. The
iron WAS broken up and sold to the
foundries at Lawrence and Leaven-s
worth. Part of the foundation. of the
building was afterward used in the con-
struction of the Lane University, and
the remainder still marks the grave Of
Lecompton's departed hopes.
The triumph of the free-state ele-
ment at the election in 1857 was the
doom of Lecompton. As the seat of
the convention which formulated the
notorious constitution which bears the
name of the town and the provisions
of which gave Kansas to slavery, the
place was intensely unpopular with the
tree-state people, and from 1857 until
the time of the establishment of the
capital at Topeka in 1861, it was the
custom of the Territorial Legislature to
convene at Lecpmpton, in accordance
| with the law, and then to forthwith adj
iourn to Lawrence, where all of the
business of the sessions was transacted.
Lecompton was named for Judge Le-
compile. who now resides in Leaven-
worth. He was Chief Justice of the
first court appointed under the Terri
torial organization in 1854. The town
in its palniest days had a population
of 1000 people.
Lecompton has population to-day
of 300 souls. and no town in the State
has a more slightly location. OF the
old historical landmarks there still
remain the land Office, the Rowena
hotel building, and the residence of
Governor Shannon. The walls of
stone church built by the Southern
Methodists are still standing, though
the cdiice has long since been given
over to ruin and decay. There is not
place of public worship in the town,
outside of the chapel of Lane Univer-
sity. The misanthrops, searching for
q paradise. might find it here. and he
| who would be in the world, but not of
it, may realize all of the conditions of
| such an estate in Lecompton. which, to
the world at large, exists only IN the
annals of the past.-Kansas CITY Star.