Source: http://bransoncook.systemaxonline.com/document/doniphan.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 04:31:36+00:00

Document:
February, 1944 (Vol. 13 No. 1), pages 16 to 35.
KANSAS was a part of the region west of the Mississippi river which in 1830 was set aside by the government for the Indians and solemnly guaranteed to them forever.  All white persons except Indian agents, missionaries and licensed traders were prohibited. Within a few years approximately the eastern one-third of the present state was specifically set aside and occupied by Indian tribes, But before the Indians were little more than well established upon their new reservations, and notwithstanding the sacred promise that the country should forever belong to them, politicians at Washington, incited by a demand for more slave territory, started a movement to displace them. After two years of agitation and debate the Kansas and Nebraska bill was passed by congress and on May 30, 1854, was signed by Pres. Franklin Pierce. This act provided for the organization of the territories of Kansas and Nebraska under the doctrine of popular sovereignty.
In 1807 congress enacted a law prohibiting any person from taking possession of, settling in, marking off or surveying any such lands until authorized by congress. The president was authorized to take measures even to employing "such military force as he may judge necessary" to remove the intruders.  The provisions of this act were extended as far as applicable to the lands ceded by the Miami, Delaware, Iowa and Wea Indians in the treaties of 1854. The treaty of the same year with the Shawnees provided that no white person should be permitted to make a location or settle upon their reservation until the lands had been surveyed and the Indians had made their selections.  If the above agreements had been adhered to they would have precluded any white settlement until the treaty stipulations had been complied with.
The government had been rather unsuccessful in enforcing its laws to keep settlers off the public domain and perhaps less successful in the opening of Kansas than at any other time previously. The settlement of the territory was stimulated not only by the ordinary westward movement but also by political and sectional rivalry. The incorporation of the squatter sovereignty doctrine into the act organizing the territory resulted in outside intervention and both the Northern and Southern states urged their citizens to migrate to Kansas. The organization of societies to promote this emigration greatly intensified the feeling between the two regions.
The majority of these emigrants came from Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, Missouri sending the greatest number. Many home seekers who had had to compete with slave labor in the latter state were in favor of making Kansas a free state.  There were speculators who marked their claims and returned across the border intending to watch and hold their new possessions. Legally all were trespassers, for the land was unsurveyed and the time of Indian occupancy under the treaties had not yet expired. The squatters, therefore, could expect no protection from the general government in their imaginary rights. Furthermore, from the signing of the Kansas and Nebraska bill to the arrival of Gov. Andrew H. Reeder, a period of over four months, the territory was without formal government. To meet these conditions and to protect themselves from "land sharks"and "claim jumpers" the settlers formed claim associations or squatter associations as they were known in Kansas.
These extra-legal organizations were not peculiar to Kansas territory. They were a frontier institution dating back, probably, to the self-governing communities of Wautauga, Cumberland and Transylvania,  and functioning where conditions demanded on each frontier as it moved westward. Squatter associations were no doubt formed in all parts of Kansas wherever settlements were made, but unfortunately information on only a few is extant. Satisfactory manuscript records of but one, the association at Whitehead, has as yet come to light.
tion Abolitionist was almost as distasteful to the early Free-State settlers as to the Proslavery adherents. These constitutions were freely amended at subsequent meetings. Disputes were referred to a committee or court established by the association or were settled in mass meeting. The members bound themselves to abide by these decisions and each pledged himself to "do his duty" in case of trouble.
When the time approached for the completion of the survey and the sale of the land the associations were especially active. Settlers were urged to register their claims and commit themselves to the squatter laws.  Where the land was sold at public auction the squatter, surrounded by his fellows, bid in his claim at the minimum price, and no one dared bid against him.  Squatters on lands subject to the pre-emption laws were protected by the association from having their claims entered by other persons.
The association of the Whitehead district was formed at a large gathering of squatters at Whitehead on June 24, 1854. Col. W. Broadus Thompson  was said to be the leading spirit in its organization. Maj. Daniel Vanderslice,  Indian agent at the Great Nemaha agency, and his son, Thomas J., were among the members. The jurisdiction of the organization, defined in the minutes of the second meeting, embraced the Iowa, Sac and Fox and the northern part of the Kickapoo reservations. The majority of the members were Proslavery in sentiment, as a clause in the constitution refusing protection to Abolitionists and welcoming slaveholders makes clear. Yet at least four of the signers of the document became "red-hot Free-State champions,"  and took an active part in the various Free-State conventions. However, politics seemed to play little part in the association, and the contests arising were for the possession of claims rather than in defense of any peculiar institution.
taken three years after the opening of the territory, revealed that 43.2% of the forty-four signers of the constitution and 41.2% of the one hundred and thirty-six who registered their claims were still living in the district. Allowance must be made for the transfer of claims which was made possible by registration in the claim association. These figures agree quite closely with studies that have been made in the movement of population in Kansas.  The last entry in the record book was the meeting of November 22, 1854. The book was lent to the Kansas Historical Society by the commissioners of Doniphan county for copying. The records here reproduced retain the spelling and punctuation used in the originals.
Col. A. M. Mitchel was called to the Chair, and James R. Whitehead appointed Secretary.
On motion of Col. W. Broadus Thompson, the Chairman explained the object of the meeting, and appointed a committee to present resolutions for their consideration. The committee consisted of Col. W. Broadus Thompson, Capt. John H. Whitehead, Benjamin Wharton, and John R. Carter.
WHEREAS, We, citizens of Kansas Territory, intending to fix our homes upon its fertile soil, have this day met at Whitehead, for the purpose of taking measures to secure safety, certainty and fairness in the location and preservation of claims.
1st. That we are in favor of bona fide SquatterSovereignty, and acknowledge the right of any citizen of the United States to make a claim in Kansas Territory, with the ultimate view of occupying it.
2d. That such claim, when made, should be held inviolate so long as a bona fide intention of occupying it is apparent; and for the purpose of protecting and defending such, we agree to act in concert, if necessary, to expel intruders.
3d. That any person of lawful age, or who may be the head of a family, who shall mark out his claim of 160 acres so that it may be apparent how the same lies, shall be deemed to have made a proper claim.
days thereafter, unless the same shall be on such land as prohibit it by Military or Indian reservation.
5th. That all persons now holding claims shall have thirty days from this day in which to make the improvement contemplated by the foregoing resolution.
6th. That no person shall be protected by the Squatter Association who holds in his own right more than one claim.
7th. That any person building his cabin or tent within less than half a mile of another, shall be deemed an intruder.
8th. That a citizen of the Territory be appointed Register of Claims, who shall keep a book in which he shall note the name and description of all Squatters and their claims, for which he shall be allowed the sum of fifty cents for each claim, to be paid by the claimant.
9th. That a bona fide purchaser of a claim located and registered be recognized as entitled to the same under the laws of this Association, provided his intention be to occupy the same as a citizen of this Territory.
10th. That we will afford protection to no abolitionist as settler of Kansas Territory.
11th. That we recognize the institution of Slavery as already existing in this Territory, and recommend to Slaveholders to introduce their property as early as practicable.
12th. That a Vigilance Committee be appointed by the Chair, consisting of (13) thirteen members of this Association, whose duty it shall be to decide upon all disputes in relation to claims; and to ensure the execution of their judgment in regard to rightful claimants, they shall have power to call together the entire Squatter Association.
13th. That all persons who wish to become members of the Squatter Association, shall subscribe to the foregoing preamble and resolutions.
The foregoing preamble and resolutions, presented and supported by Col. W. Broadus Thompson in a forcible and eloquent speech, were unanimously adopted. By unanimous consent, the Chair appointed as Register of Claims, James R. Whitehead, and as Vigilance Committee, Capt. John H. Whitehead, Samuel P. Blair,Henderson Smallwood, James B. Otool [O'Toole?], Thomas W. Waterson, Cary B. Whitehead, Anderson Cox, John W. Smith, Sen., Samuel Montgomery, Benjamin Harding, John W. Smith, Jr., John [James J.?] Keaton, Joseph Siceliff. On motion it was resolved that the Chairman appoint five delegates to the General Territorial Convention, to be held at Salt Creek, on the 4th day of July, proximo.  Whereupon, Capt. John H. Whitehead, Benjamin Wharton, Albert Heed [or Head?], Samuel P. Blair and John R. Carter were appointed said delegation. It was further resolved that the papers of St. Louis, Independence, Weston, St. Joseph and Savannah be requested to publish these proceedings, for reference, and as notice to all interested.
The meeting then adjourned, to meet again at this place, on this day four weeks.
Thomas W. Waterson was called to the chair, appointed Secretary of the meeting.
1. On motion of A. Lazalere the read and unanimously adopted.
Resolved That any person marking out his claim shall be deemed to have forfeited unless he commences his cabin or pitches his tent within (30) thirty days thereafter, unless the same shall be on such lands as prohibit it by military or Indian reservations. Provided That any Indian agent, officer, or employee, of the Government of the United States who shall have marked out his claim, and has been detered from commencing his cabin or otherwise improving his claim, on the ground that it was a violation of the law, but have in all respects complyed with the 3rd resolution then such claim shall be deemed good.
4. On motion of James M. Te[e?]garden, it was resolved that there be but one register of claims within the limits of this Squatter association.
5. On motion of Samuel Perin Blair, James R. Whitehead was appointed said register.
It was further resolved that all claims registered previous to this meeting by a regular appointed register be considered valid, but such as are registered after this date by any other than the register appointed by this meeting be considered invalid.
7. On motion the meeting adjourned to meet again at the same place on the 19th day of August next.
5th Resolved That any person failing to deposit the amount required by the foregoing resolution with the Committee after he shall have been duly cited to trial judgment shall be rendered against him by default.
On this day the association met according to adjournment. On motion of J. H. Whitehead Maj W. P. Richardson was called to the chair.
On motion of D. Vanderslice the secretary read a communication from T. J. Vanderslice, addressed to the Squatter Association in regard to the conflicting claims of said Vanderslice and Judge A. Lewis. Whereupon Maj. D. Vanderslice introduced various witnesses whose testimony was reduced to wri[t]ing by a member of the association & filed with the records of the secretary, going to show the nature of the claims of T. J. Vanderslice, & D. Vanderslice, as well as the fact that Judge Lewis' claim conflicted with the same-and also going to show that said Lewis refused posatively to submit to and abide by any decision which this association might render in the premises.
Whereupon, Upon motion of A. Larzelere, Resolved That it is the deliberate opinion of this association that D. & T. J. Vanderslice are the rightful owners of the claim occupied by Judge Lewis, and we will sustain them in holding the same.
Resolved, That a copy of the above resolution officially signed by the chairman of this association be furnished to Judge Lewis.
On motion of J. R. Whitehead the association adjourned until its next regular meeting.
On motion of John H. Whitehead-Thomas Wildbahn was called to the chair and Silas Woodson appointed Secretary.
before the vigilance committee of this association for the purpose of contesting the validity of his claim if he had any, and whereas-he failed to appear before said committee and judgment was in consequence thereof rendered against him by default, and the marshal of this association was required to notify said Jameson of said judgment and to require him to leave said claim before the 5th inst. and whereas-he refuses to leave said claim and is still thereon in defiance of the Judgement of the Vigilance Committee and the notice to leave, Therefore resolved by this association that the members of the association this day present, being determined to enforce their rules & Judgements will forthwith proceed to the claim in controversy, and require said Jamison to leave the same and surrender the possession to said Richardson, and if upon such request he refuses to leave said claim we will remove him therefrom peacefully if we can & forcibly if we must, and put said richardson in possession of said claim.
November 22nd 1854 At a special meeting of the Squatter Association held at the house of Milton Bryan this day the following proceedings were had James B. Otool[e?] was unanimously appointed chairman and J. R. Whitehead requested to act as secretary.
One hundred and thirty six claims were recorded in the association between July 1 and December 2, 1854. The time of making the claims varied, the earliest date being that of James R. Whitehead, who claimed the land "by right of actual settlement thereon and peacable possession of the same from the 1st day of November 1851 to the present time." The land had not yet been surveyed and the claims were identified by giving the names of adjoining claimants, by listing bordering roads or streams, and in a few cases by giving descriptions of land in Missouri opposite.
James R. Whitehead's claim is bounded as follows on the north by John Montgomery on the East by the Missouri river on the South by John H. Whitehead and on the west by James Oconnel and Mary Burnets claims. This claim is composed of two fractional Quarter Sections supposed to contain 160 acres and lies on the west bank of the Missouri river opposite the following described Lands in Missouri (To wit) The south west quarter of section (34) thirty four Township (58) fifty eight Range (36) Thirty Six and of the north half of Section (3) three of Township (57) fifty seven of Range (36) Thirty Six.
J. R. Whitehead claims the above described parcel of Land by right of actual settlement thereon and peacable possession of the same from the 1st day of November 1851 to the present time.
person feeling aggrieved at a decision, however, had the right of appeal to the whole committee, which was to meet on the first Monday of each month.
The case of McChesney against Trent & Muir was called, but continued at the instance of the plaintiff for want of evidence.
Adjourned to meet at Thomas W Watersons on Saturday the 12th inst at eleven o'clock A- M.
Thomas W Waterson was appointed chairman pro tem.
making an improvement on another and different claim after appellant settled upon and commenced improving the claim in dispute, thereby recognising the acts of appellant as being legal. It is therefore adjud[g]ed & ordered by the committee that the appellant recover & judgment is hereby awarded in his favor for the claim of 160 acres upon which appellant is living in the walnut grove in Kansas Territory and the Marshal of this association is required to see that this judg'et is enforced. It is further ordered & adjudged that appellant recover of appellee his costs expended in this behalf to be taxed by the Secretary of this association.
The last date in the records is December 2, 1854, for the registration of a claim. After the territorial government was established, and the land was surveyed and pre-empted, the squatter associations gradually disappeared.
1. Laws of the United States of America, From the 4th of March, 1827, to the 3d of March, 1833 . . . (Washington, 1835), v. VIII, pp. 342, 343.
2. Revision of Indian Treaties; A Compilation of All the Treaties Between the United States and the Indian Tribes . . . (Washington, 1873), pp. 341, 404, 426, 427, 512; The Kansas Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, January 13, 1855.
3. Journals of the Continental Congress . . . (Washington, 1933), v. XXVIII, pp. 460-462.
4. Laws of the United States of America, From the 4th of March, 1789, to the 4th of March, 1815 . . . (1816), v. IV, p. 118.
5. Revision of Indian Treaties, p. 797, Art. 5.
6. The Homestead Guide, Describing the Great Homestead Region in Kansas and Nebraska . . . (Waterville, F. G. Adams, 1873), pp. 91-93.
7. The Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America (Boston, 1854), p. 808.
Eight days later Gov. A. H. Reeder gave as his opinion that a man had the right to make a pre-emption on unsurveyed lands in Kansas, and if he complied with all the requirements he could not be prevented from obtaining his title.-Ibid.
9. Harlow, Ralph Volney, The Growth of the United States (New York, Henry Holt & Co., 1932), p. 445.
10. St. Joseph (Mo.) Gazette, March 29, 1854.
11. Henry Thompson operated a Missouri river ferry at St. Joseph, Mo. In 1853 he built a house on the west side of the river and moved his family there.-"Illustrated Doniphan County," supplement to The Weekly Kansas Chief, Troy, 1916, p. 226.
12. St. Joseph Gazette, May 3, 10, 1854. 13. Ibid., May 3.
14. Baltimore (Md.) Sun, June 28, 1854, in "Webb Scrapbooks," v. I, p. 43.
15. Chapman, D. M., in the Boston Evening Transcript, July 6, 1854. Ibid., p. 41.
16. Letter dated June 26, 1854, in The Missouri Republican, St. Louis.-Ibid., p. 46.
17. Andrews, C. C., to John A. Halderman, June 27, 1854.-Halderman Collection, MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
18. Arkansas State Gazette and Democrat, Little Rock, July 7, 1854.
19. Connelley, William E., A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans (Chicago, Lewis Publishing Company, 1918), v. I, p. 337.
20. Benjamin F. Shambaugh, "Frontier Land Clubs or Claim Associations," Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1900, v. I, p. 69.
21. The Kanzas News, Emporia, July 4, 1857.
22. William Phillips, a young lawyer of Leavenworth, suffered this penalty at the hands of the Leavenworth squatters' association when be refused to leave the territory.-Andreas, A. T., and Cutler, W. G., History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), p. 425.
23. Brown, O. C., "Pioneer Life in Kansas," in O. C. Brown Papers, MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
24. Brown, O. C., to Charles Foster, November 28, 1855, in Charles Foster Papers.-Ibid.
25. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, November 29, 1856. One resolution adopted by the citizens of Chase county read: "Fourth, that the citizens of Chase county attend the sales en masse, and forbid any person bidding on any lands that may be declared occupied by the township secretaries, and any person bidding in defiance of such warning shall then and there forfeit his life."-Emporia News, August 11, 1860.
26. Whitehead began as a trading post established in 1852 by J. R. Whitehead, an Indian trader. A correspondent to the Missouri Republican wrote of it in June, 1854: This city is as yet, of course, a prospective one. There are only several houses built, but they are well constructed and permanent. The site is about five miles from St. Joseph, at the termination of the ridge which bounds the plains on the East, and is adapted to the improvements and the construction of a large city. . Thousands have already come in, and thousands are still coming.-Letter dated June 26, 1854, in Missouri Republican, St. Louis, Webb Scrapbooks," v. I, p. 46.
The town was platted in the spring of 1855. Later its name was changed to Bellemont. It is now extinct.-"Illustrated Doniphan County," loc. cit., p. 226.
27. "It is written on a large sheet of heavy, bluish flat paper, such as is used in public record books, is 12% by 18 inches in size, with top and marginal ruling, like flatcap, the blue lines for writing on being almost faded out. The pages are numbered 1 and 2, in printed figures, and it was doubtless the first leaf out of some Missouri record book."-The Weekly Kansas Chief, Troy, August 16, 1883.
28. W. Broadus Thompson was an attorney from St. Joseph, Mo. He was said to have been prominent in early Doniphan county politics. In 1857, he and his brother, M. Jeff Thompson, were associated with Cyrus K. Holliday, of Topeka, and others in the promotion of the St. Joseph and Topeka railroad.-Ibid.; see, also, letters from the Thompsons in the "F. L. Crane Scrapbook," MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
29. Maj. Daniel Vanderslice, a native of Pennsylvania, was agent at the Great Nemaha agency from 1853 to 1861. He had previously lived in Kentucky where he edited a newspaper. At the expiration of his term as Indian agent, he decided to spend the remainder of his life in Doniphan county and settled on his farm near Highland. He was a leader in the political and industrial affairs of the county until his death in February, 1889. Three generations of the Vanderslice family have been prominent in Doniphan county history.-"Illustrated Doniphan County," loc. cit., pp. 369-373.
30. The Weekly Kansas Chief, Troy, August 16, 1883. The names of John Fee,Benjamin Harding, A. Larzelere and Henderson Smallwood appear in the Free-State county and state conventions.-The Kansas Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, September 1, 8, 1855.
31. See Malin, James C., "The Turnover of Farm Population in Kansas," in The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. IV, pp. 339-372.
32. Taken from The Weekly Kansas Chief, Troy, August 15, ]883. This is the only copy containing the signatures. It agrees in text with the rough original draft and also with the copy in House Report No. 200 (Ser. No. 869), 34 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 956.
33. An excerpt from the Platte Argus in The Democratic Platform, Liberty, Mo., of June 22, 1854, reads: "We are authorized to state that the citizens of Kansas territory, will celebrate the approaching Anniversary of American Independence at Salt Creek Valley near the trading post of Mr. Kivaly [Riveley?]. Ample preparations will be made, and a public Dinner will be furnished. The citizens of Missouri, generally, are invited to be present. Charles Grover, Esq., has been requested-and has consented-to deliver the Address.
34. This is the first of the entries copied from the county commissioners' record book.
35. This creek was possibly present Peter creek. It was named for Peter Cadue, a Frenchman, who came to this region about 1840, and became an interpreter for the Kickapoo Indians. -Gray, P. L., Gray's Doniphan County History (Bendena, 1905), p. 25.
36. The area embraced parts of Doniphan and Brown counties, and probably a part of eastern Nemaha county.
37. A number of the claims registered in the Whitehead association had been previously registered in the office of D. M. Johnston in St. Joseph, Mo. Johnston was register of claims in an earlier association. See p. 18.
38. Wa-the-nah, Kickapoo chief, for whom the town of Wathena was named.

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