The Topeka state journal., 1913-08-16

DO 1 remember that house," said
! Mrs. D. L. Lakin today. well, you
| just ask me if 1 remember the date
of my wedding-the question is just
mansion that stood as an ideal of
residence beauty in Topeka. We lived
there shortly after we were married"
Listen to another expression:
J. B. Billiard: 'I was young man
in those days and we'll do recall the
am bition 1 had to some day discover
myself able and with enogh wealth
to build house like the. old Chase
residence at Sixth and Jackson streets.
1t was the one real massive dwellings
of the early sixties
Governor Crawford Married There.
of Topeka homesteads but at one time
it was transferred into royal palace
of the plains. Samuel j. Crawford
was governor of Kansas from 1865
until 1869. In November 1866 the
governors marriage to Isabel Chase
was solemnized and idealized and
eulogized at the Sixth and Jackson cor
ner. The Chase family lived there at
the time. The wedding was the big
social event of Kansas and the Chase
residence stood out in the spotlight as
the home of the bride. That one event
should require Ed Kellam to present
one of the torn out tim bers to the State
Historical society, if the veetrans of
those days are to be reconciled to the
ruins.
From that time until the house was
remodeled as a store building, Kansas
history has been woven around It's
walls.
For instance, in October. 1866, the
cornerstone of the state capitol was
laid and the politicians from Leaven-
worth and surrounding counties came
in hordes to Topeka for the event. The
old hotel across the street from the
Sixth and Jackson corner was full and
f1r.xx-i ir7tr md fa Ixr lyy-
tended welcome to many of the
celebrities of the time. The National
Union state convention was held in
Topeka in September and the perma-
nent organization was perfected with
scores of executive sessions held be-
hind the closed blinds of the old Chase
house.
Then came the grasshoppers. The
trees and shrubbery around the house
were nearly stripped of their verdure
by the pests that filled the air like
snowflakes in a winter storm. Right
in the midst of this scare the thor
oughbreds of state rights rushed from
Topeka to Lawrence and dedicated the
state university.
There was no end of the excite
ment that made these times famous
in the annals of Kansas. Always did
the Chase house figure in sheltering
the good old settlers who bled for the
sunflower state.
The state Republican convention
met and recommended impartial suf-
frage to the. vote of the people of the
state. General Lee visited Topeka.
Railroads to all parts of the state
were planned.
Jim Lanes Headquarters Established.
General Lane, the king of the Kan
sas politicians at that time laid many
a plot within the stone walls of the
old landmark. He came to Kansas in
1855 and until his death, in July, |
1856, he was the uppermost figure in
the Kansas political field.
Then add to this feature the excite |
ment caused in the hotbed of politics /
by the Indian raids in the western |
part of the state the building of the |
Pacific railroad from Topeka to Sill /
yer Lake, the construction of the |
original pontoon bridge across the !
Kaw river, the yearly meetings of the |
legislature. the organization of the |
State Editorial association (January |
II, 1860, treaties with the Indians, |
the day of fasting and prayer follow |
ing the assinatfon of President
the war with its agonies, /
worries, widows and orphans. the de-
feat and retreat of Price, the de- /
mands of the state colored men that
white be stricken from the consti-