The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-01-25
Che aaia Daily EAGLE adnesdau gornmo gauarY IS 1893

and in connection with an associate he
built the first house on the present town
site of Olathe, Johnson county. In 1893
he brought his family to the new terri
tory, and from that time forward his life
was interviewer with the important even1s
that made it possible to defeat the designs
Of the slave power, and TO add Kansas TO
the number of free American common
wealths. Olathe was the center OF pro-
slavery settlement from SouthCarolina, and
fearing for the safety OF his family. he
moved In the same year TO Allen county
and settled on a claim at Carlyle, wnsre
he continuously resided for sixteen years.
IN the fall of 1859 he was elected TO the
territorial legislature-the first free state
legislature-which met at Lecompton, but
soon after adjourned to Lawrence. He was
reelected in 1850 and chosen speaker Of
the house. It was during the session Of
the legislature of 1859 that first became
acquainted with DR.. Scott. On January
%, 1861, Kansas was admitted into the
Union as a state. and he was elected a
member Of the first state legislature, 10
ill vacancy created by the resignation
Of DR.. Stone. The legislature assembled
in March to elect United States senators
and TO set the government in motion. Dr..
photograph of Miami county was elected
speaker of the house and DR.. Scott was
made speaker pro TEN. He was called
upon TO preside during most of the session,
which lasted three months, as Speaker Up
degraph was frequently absent from the
state. He performed the duties of the
chair with conspicuous ability. In hose
days of political conflict and of personal
and party r~erests, DR.. Scott was always
ca, m, fair and judicial in all his decisions
as a presiding officer, and he was equally
so as member upon the floor.
Those We're days that were historic in
Kansas and the nation. The mighty
forces of two dissimilar civilizations were
contendiug for the mastery. The turning
point between freedom and slavery had
been reached. There was no compromise
possible, no turning backward among the
Free State men of Kansas. There was a
common sympathy and common purpose
among those who followed the standard
of the Free State party that knew no such
word as fail. / had soetimes differed with
DR.. Scott about men and measures connect
ed with the affairs of the new state.
was young, iulpulsive and partisan, and,
as l now see, was frequently wrong. He
was calm, judicial in his temperament, and
almost always right. Looking out upon
the national arena his great humanity led
him to shrink instinctively from the hor-
rors of the impending conflict. but when
the first gun was fired upon Fort Sumter
he at faI in tta
vice and was elected surgeon in the regi-
ment commanded by Colonel William
Wier. He served in eastern Kansas and
western Missouri and was instrumental
in establishing a general hospital a Fort
Scott. which remained until the close OF
the war. When the Third and Fourth Kan
sas regiments were consolidated as the
Tenth Kansas volunteers he became sur
geon of that regiment and served until
May, 1883, in the Indian Territory, Arkan-
sas and southwestern Missouri. The SER
vices of no surgeon in the Union army
were more highly priced, and when he re-
signed on account of the serious illness
of his wife, his resignation was universally
regretted in the army of the frontier But
he was soon back in the army. His wife's
health being restored he re-entered the
service in the fall of the same year, and
after four years Of faithful work he came
back to his farm to repair the waste places,
and to assume in the restored union he had
helped to preserve, the responsibilities of
good citizenship and the obligations i'm
posed upon him by the state he loved so
well.
at was not long before the people again
he was elected to the state senate In
1868 ne was elected to preside over that
body on account of Lieutenant Governor
Green acting as governor in place of Gov
ernor Crawford, who had resigned his Of
fee to raise a regiment to defend the
state against the incursion of the Chey-
enne and Arapahoe Indians. In 1869 he
entered heartily upon the work of secur-
ing the construction of the Leavenworth.
Lawrence and Galveston railroad. now the
Southern Kansas, was one of the directors
of the company, and was one of the per-
manent factors IN pushing the enterprise
to final success. For a number of years
he was a member of the state board OF
agriculture, and from 1873 to 1879 ne was
one of the regents of the University Of
Kansas, taking q great interest in that
great institution, and always watchful OF
all its affairs. In 1888 he was appointed
by the president agent for the Ponca, Paw
nee and Otoe Indians in Oklahoma. While
he held that office he disbursed several
hundred thousand dollars with a fidelity
that won for him the confidence Of the
department Of the interior. and the appro-
baton of all who had observed the scru-
pulous honesty of all his actions In 1891
he was asked 70 take the office Of inspector
of animal industry. which he accepted.
holding the position until 1893. when he
rendered his resignation.
I'm the meantime Oklahoma was opened
20 settlement, and three of his sons cast
their fortunes in the new land and he
came permanently identified with the mar