WHY THEY CAME TO THE KANSAS TERRITORY

A Speech Read to the Martin, Challiss, Earhart, and Tonsing Families

at the Reunion in
Atchison, Kansas
July 2, 2004

Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D.

Thousand Oaks, California

I. THE FAMILY CONTEMPLATES A MOVE WEST

Sixteen year-old John Alexander Martin is working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

and is writing letters to his sister, Bell, in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. The third of nine
letters from the teenager that survive from this period, dated May 27, 1857,1 mentions
that his father, James Martin, is in the frontier town of Atchison on the Missouri River
across from the state of Missouri in the northeast corner of the territory:

I received a paper (the "Squatter Sovereign") from father, in Atchison,

yesterday, but have as yet received no letter, although he promised to write
to me from St. Louis. I suppose, however, that he has written to you
before this.

Another note about his father's trip is in a letter dated July 19,1857:

Like yourselves, I have not received a letter from father since he last wrote
me, on the 15th of June, more than a month ago, although I have answered
his letter some time since. Nor do I know whether he has ever received
either of mine, as, each time he has written was previous to my answering
his. I intend writing to him also, when I have finished this, and I send him
the "Weekly Journal" regularly.

It tells us nothing of his father's whereabouts, let alone his reasons for being in the
Territory. It does hint as to the difficulty in communication, as transportation had to be
by boat in the often-unpredictable rivers. In still another letter dated August 2, 1857,
again from Pittsburgh, we learn that his father has arrived back in Brownsville a month
early.

I suppose father's arrival took you as much by surprise as it did me, as I

was not expecting him for a month to come, and when he came into my
room in the morning I was perfectly astonished, though none the less glad
to see him.

These nine letters, along with Martin's Civil War correspondence, are in the possession of the author,
Ernst F. Tonsing, Thousand Oaks, California.
Apparently, what his father has seen in the Territory is satisfactory, and the family
prepares to relocate with him west. Martin, however, will remain at his post in
Pittsburgh, making only a short visit with his family before their move:

I suppose you are already anticipating removal to the west, as you speak of
it in your letter, and wish me to come home before that time. I cannot tell
what time I can come, as the work is so uncertain, and compositors are a
little scarce at present, but I think I will be able to spend a week or two
with you before you go, but at what time I can get off I cannot tell with
any certainty. But that I will come home as soon as I can get away, you
may rest assured.

That is also the wishes of his father, who suggests that he wait until the spring of 1858
before joining the family in Atchison:

I had been thinking of going west with you before father came, but he
seems to think I had better remain here until spring, and probably it is best.
But longer than that, unless something unknown transpires, I certainly
shall not remain, as I have grown tired of the endless monotony of
Pittsburgh, and the never-ceasing labor of a daily paper.

The preparations involve the usual necessities, such as acquiring packing boxes for the
family's possessions. A letter from Pittsburgh, dated August 31, is written after Martin
makes a visit to his home:

As soon as I arrived in the city I purchased a trunk for Aunt Mary, and had
it shipped on the same boat I came down on. I suppose you received it, as
I confided it to the charge of Capt. Woodward, who promised to attend to
its delivery. The price of it was $4.00, and the change I would have sent
in this letter, but I have not a one dollar bill on hand. I will enclose it,
however, when next I write...

Martin's sister, Belle, still assumes that Martin will be joining the family for the
expedition. Writing a letter September 13th, Martin says that he will leave for the west in
November. He feels honor-bound to remain at his job with the paper, and, he anticipates
earning more money by staying:

I perceive by your letter, however, that you are expecting me to go to

Kansas with you. I have, however, come to another determination, and
will not leave this place for about two months from the present time. I
have good and sufficient reasons for this conclusion, or I would not adopt
it. Indeed, if no other, honor would bind me to a place, which, when I
wished for something to do, furnished me with employment, and prevent
my leaving at a time of a great press of work and a general scarcity of
compositors. Besides, for some two months, my situation will be the most
 remunerative one connected with the office, and I have therefore
determined to hold it during that time, and then proceed to Kansas.

There is another reason: the lack of rain has dropped the level of the rivers so much that
passage is nearly impossible, and he doubts that his family can even make the journey:

And, in truth, unless we have rain and a rise in the rivers, it will be almost
impossible for any of you to go, as there is now but 3 feet water in the
Ohio, and falling steadily, while the boats, with the exception of a few
small, light draught craft, have ceased making trips. And the few that are
plying between this and down-river ports extort such exorbitant rates for
passage, that, unless the necessity is very pressing, but few travel on them.
So that, if there is no sudden rise in the river, you will all most probably
have to delay your voyage for some time. Under any circumstances,
however, you can depend that I will not leave this place for some two
months, unless I lose my health, which is not very likely, as the situation
agrees with me in every respect.

II. THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE KANSAS TERRITORY

At this time, settlers of all kinds were going to the Kansas Territories, attracted by
descriptions of the fertility and riches of the prairies as advertised in handbills. For
example, A. Havington Shurtleff, an agent for the New York State Kansas Aid Society,
writes in one that:

It is to be remembered that all accounts agree that the region of Kansas is

the most desirable part of America now open to the emigrant. It is
accessible in five days' continuous travel from Boston. Its crops are very
bountiful; its soil being well adapted to the staples of Virginia and
Kentucky, and especially to the growth of hemp. In the eastern section the
woodland and prairie land intermix in proportions very well adapted to the
purpose of the settler. Its mineral resources, especially its coal, in the
central and western parts, are inexhaustible. A steamboat is already plying
on the Kansas river, and the Territory has an uninterrupted steamboat
communication with New Orleans and all the tributaries of the
Mississippi.2

Shurtleff is enthusiastic about the advantages of Kansas: "There is no better

country for capitalists than Kansas. Interest is high, security good, land cheap, and
opportunities to make large fortunes out of town sites."3

2
Prentice, History, p. 46.
3
A. Havington Shurtleff, (Topeka, Kansas: Territorial Kansas Online)(June, 2004).
 III. THE CHALLENGES OF THE KANSAS TERRITORY

But, all was not as it seemed in the handbills. The Kansas Territory in 1857 was
distant, difficult and dangerous. Besides being on the fringe of civilization, it was
primitive, practically lawless, and was in the midst of nearly open warfare. Why they
came to the Kansas Territory is a troublesome and haunting question, and one that does
not have easy answers.

In contrast to the slower growth of institutions in the American east, the

population growth in the Kansas Territory was rapid. By 1853 there were some ten
settlements along with the missions, trading posts and forts. Attempts at recognition by
the United States government were made, with delegations to Washington in 1852 and
1853. But, these were rejected.4 Finally, in May, 1854, with the passage of the
"Nebraska Bill," later known as the "Kansas-Nebraska Bill," Kansas was incorporated as
a Territory.5

However, the bill did great mischief. The long text of thirty-eight sections
repealed the thirty-four year old arrangement of the Missouri Compromise prohibiting
slavery above the 36° 30' line, a trade-off that brought Missouri into the union as a slave
state.6 It left the question of slavery up to the people in the territories themselves. It also
went around the Fugitive Slave Law and the Compromise of 1850. At that time, too, the
Dred Scott case being tried in Missouri courts, concerning whether a slave transported to
a free state or a foreign country could demand freedom. Finally, after an appeal to the
U.S. Supreme Court, it was determined that Scott should remain a slave, and, as a slave,
he was not a citizen of the United States, and, thus, could not bring suit in a federal court.
He was personal property, and thus had never been free.7 The situation seemed critical
for both sides, one camp determined to force slavery upon the territory, the other to keep
it out of the Kansas Territory.8 Prior to the signing of the law by President Franklin
Pierce,9 the United States government had negotiated with the various native American
tribes for purchase of their lands. With its passage, these lands were opened for
settlement. °

IV. THE EMIGRANT AID SOCIETIES

In response to this opportunity, the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society was

organized April 24, 1854,1 and chartered in July, 1854, from the Connecticut
4
Noble L. Prentis, History of Kansas, Revised Edition (Kansas City, Missouri: Noble L. Prentis, 1899), p.
41.
5
Ibid., p. 42.
6
Ibid., pp. 41-2. In 1819, Illinois entered the union as a free state. In 1820, to preserve the balance, Maine
was admitted as a free state at the same time as Missouri was admitted as a slave state. Later, Arkansas
became a slave state and Iowa a free.
7
"Dred Scott Chronology," Washington University Libraries (St. Louis, Missouri: Washington University
Online, June, 2004).
8
Prentice, p. 42.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid., p.45.
11
Ibid., p. 46.
Legislature. It functioned until the next winter when it was chartered by the
Massachusetts legislature.12 The "report" of the society outlined its intentions to ship
sawmills, gristmills and other machinery to the Territory.13 By August of 1855, the
Emigrant Aid Company had brought four steam sawmills to Kansas City, destined for
Manhattan, Osawatomie, and Hampden on the Neosho.14 Printing presses, too, were a
priority:

At the same time, it is desirable that there should be sent out a printing
press, and a newspaper established. This would be the organ of the
company's agents, and be from the start the index of that love of freedom
and good morals, which it is hoped may characterize the State now to be
formed.15

Sponsored by the society, the first party of Free-State settlers left Boston on July
17*. The intents, initially, were peaceful. For example, a "Circular" written by Edward
Daniels and published by "The State Kansas Aid Society of Wisconsin" avowed that "the
members of this train will go as peaceful emigrants, to find homes in Kansas." Later, the
circular directs:

Let no money be spent for arms, but let each take such as he can get in his
own vicinity, or has, viz: good double-barrelled [sic] shot guns, and
common rifles for hunting or defence [sic].16

V. THE ARRANGEMENTS

The aid associations published handbills instructing the emigrants about the
journey. The fares from Philadelphia or Brownsville, Pennsylvania, are not available, but
A. Havington Shurtleff s "Kansas Party" from New York state had the group going to
Saint Louis by way of Chicago by rail, then steamboat to Kansas. They were to have
first-class fare from Buffalo to Leavenworth for "about $25," including "good cars, cabin
passage up the river and 100 pounds of baggage... Children under 12 years half price and
fifty pounds baggage. Under 4 years free."17 From Boston, A. J. Stone of the office of
North East Emigrant Aid Company in Boston listed the fares as $5 from Boston to
Albany, $6 to Buffalo, $14 for Chicago to St. Louis, then $9 from St. Louis to Kansas
City, for a total of $34.18

12
D. W. Wilder, The Annals of Kansas 1541-1885, New Edition (Topeka, Kansas: T. Dwight Thacher,
1886), July, 1854, p. 47.
13
Prentice, History, p. 46.
14
Wilder, Annals, August, 1855, p. 70.
15
Prentice, History, p. 46.
16
Edward Daniels, Agent Kansas Aid Society, "Circular," (Topeka, Kansas: Territorial Kansas
Online)(June, 2004).
17
Ibid.
18
A J. Stone, "Rev. G. W. Higginson," March 12, 1857 (Topeka, Kansas: Territorial Kansas Online)(June,
2004).
 For those who were going by wagon train or buggies, Edward Daniels
recommended "good strong clothing, a blanket for the camp, some good books, and
choice seeds, with the rest in money, will be a sufficient outfit."19 Shurtleff suggested
that one was to pack lightly: "Take nothing but Beds, Bedding, Clothing, Mechanic's
Tools, Money, and Land Warrants, issued before or after 1850." About money, "$200 is
the least a man with a family should start with, and $40 for a single man."20

The advantages of joining with an aid society was that they arranged for cheap
fares, provided guides for the settlers in their trip, and helped them find places to settle.
Furthermore, the brochure said that the Aid Societies also intended "to influence
capitalists to loan money to such as cannot pay for their claims."21 Shurtleff also advised
the emigrants that "March or April is the best time to go," and that from Buffalo, the trip
would take about a week.22

The poet, John Greenleaf Whittier composed a song for the second group
of travelers to sing on their way west, to lift their hopes and courage:

We cross the prairie, as of old

The pilgrims crossed the sea,
To make the West, as they the East,
The homestead of the free.

Chorus: The homestead of the free, my boys,

The homestead of the free.
To make the West, as they the East,
The homestead of the free.

We go to rear a wall of men

On Freedom's Southern line,
And plant beside the cotton tree
The rugged Northern pine!
And plant beside the cotton tree
The rugged Northern pine!
The rugged northern pine, my boys, &c.

No pause, nor rest, save where the streams

That feed the Kanzas run,
Save where our pilgrim gonfalon
Shall flout the setting sun!
Shall flout the setting sun, my boys, &c.

19
Daniels, "Circular."
20
Shurtleff, "Dear Sir.
21
Ibid.
 We'll sweep the prairie, as of old
Our fathers swept the sea,
And make the West, as they the East,
The homestead of the free!
The homestead of the free, my boys, &c.

VI. THE DANGERS FOR THE FREE-STATE SETTLERS

Hearing of the organized emigrations from the East, the Missouri boarder counties
sounded the alarm and people organized "Defensive Associations," "Squatters'
Associations," "Blue Lodges," and others, in order to take control of Kansas and ward off
any Abolitionists who wished to settle there. Hundreds came across the Missouri River
to stake claims, most returning immediately to Missouri.24 Alarmed by the Free-State
settlers' expedition, a meeting in Weston, Missouri, presided over by George Galloway,
President, and B. F. Stringfellow, Secretary, resolved repel "any and all emigrants who
go to Kansas under the auspices of the Northern Emigration Aid Societies."25

The Atchison Town Company was organized in Missouri by Slave-state

proponents, Peter T. Abell, President, John H. Stringfellow, Secretary, and James N.
Burnes, Treasurer, on July 27, 1855, and, on August 30th of 1855, the town of Atchison
was incorporated.26 The town grew rapidly. The fiery pro-slavery paper, the Squatter
Sovereign, was started on February 3, 1855, by Robert S. Kelley and John H.
Stringfellow. Soon thereafter, in early August, it had the first business house opened by
George T. Challiss.27

The town was named after the leader of the group, U. S. Senator David Rice
Atchison, who, a year later, on May 21, 1856, participated in the sacking of Lawrence by
Sheriff Jones. The Missouri militias called the Platte County Rifles, the Kickapoo
Rangers, the Doniphan Tigers and the Palmetto Guards all participated. It was reported
that Senator Atchison:

... drinking and enjoying the day immensely, urged the Rangers on
in the destruction of the Free State Hotel and their pillage of the town: "If
any man or woman stand in your way," he bellowed, "blow them to hell
with a cold chunk of lead!"
23
John Greenleaf Whittier, "The Kanzas Emigrants," Lays of the Emigrants, as sung by the Second Party
for Kanzas, on their Departure from Boston, Tuesday, August 29th, J854 (Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son,
1854, Territorial Kansas Online, June, 2004).
24
Wilder, Annals, Ibid., p. 45.
25
Ibid., July 20, 1854, pp. 47-8.
26
Ibid., August 16, 1855, p. 70.
27
Wilder, Annals, August, 1854, Ibid., p. 48.
8
"John Brown & Bleeding Kansas: Prelude to the Civil War" (Topeka, Kansas: Kansas State Historical
Society, 2000), p. 4. Atchison was appointed to the Senate after the death of the previous tenant. He
served from 1845 to 1855. There is an "urban legend" that he was President of the United States one day,
March 4, 1849, when President James Polk's term ended at noon on Sunday, and the successor, Zachary
On September 20 of the same year, the Senator gave a speech to an Atchison town
gathering in which he said that "people from every quarter should be welcomed into the
territory and treated with civility as long as they showed themselves peaceable men."
But, in response to a question from the audience, he replied: "By , sirs, hang every
abolitionist you find in the territory."29

The ominous situation in the northeast Kansas Territory is made even clearer by
an editorial on August 28, 1855, in the Squatter Sovereign:

We will continue to tar and feather, drown, lynch and hang every white-
livered Abolitionist who dares to pollute our soil.30

The people of Atchison lived up to their word. When an outspoken Rev. Pardee Butler
passed through the town on his way on April 30, 1856, the Squatter Sovereign told the
story in detail:

On Thursday last, one Pardee Butler arrived in town, with a view of

starting for the East, probably for the purpose of getting a fresh supply of
Free-Soilers from the penitentiaries and pest-holes of the Northern States.
Finding it inconvenient to depart before morning, he took lodgings at the
hotel, and proceeded to visit numerous portions of our town, everywhere
avowing himself a Free-Soiler, and preaching the foulest of Abolition
heresies...32

Forced to stay overnight before continuing his journey, Butler left his hotel to make the
rounds of the town, loudly proclaiming to anybody that he encountered his opposition to
slavery. His lack of self-restraint promoted opponents of Abolition to "take care o f this
"troublemaker."

On the ensuing morning our townsmen assembled en masse, and, deeming

the presence of such persons highly detrimental to the safety of our slave
property, appointed a committee of two to wait on Mr. Butler and request
his signature to the resolutions passed at the late Pro-Slavery meeting in
Atchison. After perusing the said resolutions, Mr. B. positively declined
signing them, and was instantly arrested by the committee. After the
various plans for his disposal had been considered, it was finally decided
to place him on a raft composed of two logs firmly lashed together; that

Taylor refused to take the oath on a Sunday. Even though Atchison had been elected President Pro
Tempore of the Senate a couple of days prior to this, his term technically ended at noon, too. Neither did
he take the oath of office. On February 18, 1991, Atchison was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Missouri.
"David Rice Atchison" (Wickipedia, June, 2004).
29
William G. Cutler, History of the State of Kansas, "Atchison County, Part 2 (Chicago, Illinois: A.T.
Andreas, 1888), Kansas Collection Books Online (June, 2004).
30
Ibid., August 28, 1855, Ibid., p. 71.
31
Cutler, History.
32
Wilder, Annals, August 16, 1855, p. 70.
 his baggage and a loaf of bread be given him; and, having attached a flag
to his primitive bark, emblazoned with mottoes indicative our contempt
for such characters, Mr. Butler was set adrift on the great Missouri, with
the letter R. legibly painted on his forehead.

The inscriptions on the flag were written to make clear the sentiments of Atchison's
populace:

"Eastern Emigrant Aid Express."

"The Rev. Mr. Butler, Agent for the Underground Railroad."
"The way they are served in Kansas."
"For Boston."
"Cargo insured—unavoidable danger of the Missourians and the Missouri
River excepted."
"Let future emissaries from the North beware. Our hemp crop is sufficient
to reward all such scoundrels."34

He was escorted to the river, placed in the water, and escorted for some distance. At the
end of the story, the Squatter Sovereign issues a warning:

Such treatment may be expected by all scoundrels visiting our town for the
purpose of interfering with our time-honored institutions, and the same
punishment we will be happy to award all Free-Soilers, Abolitionists, and
their emissaries.35

The Pro-slavery parties were active in establishing laws and courts to their liking as well.
On April 12, 1856, the editor of the Squatter Sovereign writes:

We understand that the grand jurors of Doniphan and Atchison counties

have found true bills of indictment against all the persons acting in the late
disorganizing election in their respective counties. We hope the other
counties will follow suit, and teach the Abolition traitors that the laws are
now in force, and that all attempts to ruin this country will be strictly dealt
with by law.36

VII. THE MOTIVATIONS FOR GOING TO THE KANSAS TERRITORY

Again, we have to ask what motivated the early settlers to move to the Kansas
Territory? Why did they undertake the difficult and dangerous move to an openly hostile
area? There are some suggestions in a two-page appeal for funds by nineteen clergymen
of Massachusetts in 1855. In it, they wrote that citizens should donate to the work of the

33
Ibid.
34
Ibid., August 28, 1855, p. 71.
35
Ibid., August 16, 1855, p. 70.
36
Ibid., April 12, 1856, p. 116.
Emigrant Aid Company and prospective emigrants for "For Religion," since "Divine
service is regularly maintained in the towns where the company has influence...Every
Sabbath School in the territory has been formed with the assistance of the company, or its
officers. Every church organized has been organized with their cooperation."3

One should support the company "For Education," as the company was to sponsor
schools in the towns. Still another reason was "For Temperance."

The traffic in intoxicating liquors scarcely exists in any one of the

towns founded with the company's assistance; and any attempt to
introduce it will be resisted by their citizens.38

A fourth reason was "For Freedom," that is, to support the people in the "Free State"
towns of Lawrence, Topeka, Osawatomie, Boston, Hampden and Wabounse [sic] in the
Territory.39 According to the sheet, "More than ten thousand, from Free States of the
North-West, have been led there," in order to have the Territory enter the Union as a free
state.40

Religion, education and temperance probably did not figure greatly in the
motivations for the Martin family and others to move to the Kansas Territory. The
environment in southwestern Pennsylvania suggests that there was one issue that was
supreme, however, the abolition of slavery.

First, Brownsville and Pittsburgh were located in the southwest section of

Pennsylvania, which, along with western New York and Ohio, was strongly anti-slavery
in the 1850's.41 As early as 1836, the leading spokesperson for abolition, Theodore
Dwight Weld, attended the synodical convention of the Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh,
and, through the force of his oratory, brought it into the abolitionist movement. As the
largest denomination in the area, this support of the anti-slavery cause reinforced the
general sentiment of the population where the Martin family lived.42

A second hint comes from the political realm. The Whig party in Pennsylvania
emphasized the immorality of slavery, and included in the party platforms from 1847 to
1849, resolutions condemning the expansionist policies of the Democrats.43 In 1855
there was a call for the organization of a Republican Party in Pittsburgh, and a convention

"Ibid.
38
Ibid.
39
Lawrence in Douglas, Topeka in Shawnee, Hampden in Coffey, and Wabaunsee in Wabaunsee counties
have been, or are currently, county seat locations. Osawatomie in Miami County was not, and Boston is
not marked on any historical maps. Homer E. Socolofsky and Huber Self, Historical Atlas of Kansas,
Second Edition (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), Map 38.
40
Thomas J. Gaffield, et al, "Circular by various Protestant ministers on behalf of the activities of the New
England Emigrant Aid Company," 1855 (Topeka, Kansas: Territorial Kansas Online)(June, 2004).
41
Michael Fitzgibbon Holt, Forging a Majority: The Foundation of the Republican Party in Pittsburgh,
J'848-J860 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1969), p. 176.
42
Ibid., p. 54.
43
Ibid., pp. 54-55.
met in September, 1855. This assembly named "the slavery question as now presented
the predominant all absorbing issue of the day," and urged opposition to all attempts at its
extension into the new territories.45 In 1855 and 1856 the Republican state and national
platforms called slavery "the withering curse of human bondage," and labeled it a vestige
of barbarity, and contrary to the rights of Blacks to the same guarantees of life, liberty
and property vouched for in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.46 The
Republican Party platform drawn up in Pittsburgh in 1856 attacked the institution of
slavery as a moral wrong.47

As the name, "Republican," was odious to many in 1857, the party ran as the
"Union" party, but echoed the 1856 national Republican platform which maintained the
"duty of Congress to prohibit from the territories the twin relics of barbarism—polygamy
and slavery." 8 The "Union" campaign in Pittsburgh converged upon two issues, that of
opposition to the expansion of slavery and the denial of Free State settler's rights
specifically in the Kansas Territory. When the chairperson of the Republican state
committee, David Wilmot,49 spoke in Pittsburgh in August of 1857, he confined his
campaign speech solely to the issue of the extension of slavery into Kansas.50 He, "even
ignored the prevalent anti-Negro sentiment, criticized the racism of the Democrats, and
said that Negroes were God's children and 'have been endowed with sacred rights we
cannot disregard with impunity.'"51 Martin was present in the city of Pittsburgh during
this campaign, and may have witnessed some of the speeches at the rallies, although he
does not mention them in his letters.

Third, John A. Martin's letters relate that in 1857, he had gone to Pittsburgh to
work on the Commercial Journal. This newspaper advocated the policies of the
Republican Party and opposed those of the Democratic Party. In particular, the paper
contrasted "Free Soil" and abolitionist views over against the Democratic platform that
promoted the extension of slavery into new territories.52 Through his employment,
Martin would have been exposed daily to the heated rhetoric of this major issue of his
day.

Fourth, there is no mention in Martin's letters of his affiliation with the

Republican Party in Pittsburgh or any review of its policies. His communications were
private, and discussed matters of interest between an elder brother to a younger sister.
But, given his energetic activity in organizing the Republican Party in the Kansas
Territory soon after his arrival,53 it seems likely that Martin was at least attentive to the
debates in Pennsylvania, and, early, was attracted to the doctrines of that party.

44
Ibid., p. 160.
45
Ibid, p. 161.
46
Ibid., p. 191.
47
Ibid.
48
Ibid., p. 223.
49
Ibid., p. 180.
50
Ibid., p. 225.
51
Ibid., p. 226.
52
Ibid., pp. 49-50.
53
The Atchison Weekly Champion, Atchison, Kansas, October 3, 1889.
 Fifth, there is a strong hint that the chief motivation of the family, and, especially,
Martin, to move to the Kansas Territory, was to combat the malignancy of slavery.
Martin's father is first to undertake the journey to the Territory, and he selects a town not
in the more secure areas, but Atchison, right on the north east edge of the Territory,
situated in a county that was strongly pro-slavery as well as subject to the incursions of
the Missouri "Border Ruffians." Few but a courageous and determined anti-slavery
person would have brought a family to such a region.

Sixth, it seems clear that Martin shared his father's philosophy. Martin's
editorials immediately upon assuming the ownership of the Squatter Sovereign in
Atchison, dramatically countered the pro-slavery, editorial stance of its first proprietor.54
In the first document from Martin's hand during the hiatus after his letter of August 2nd,
1857, and his editorial of February 20, 1858, he pledges:

The undersigned having purchased the office of the 'Squatter

Sovereign,' will continue its publication under the title of 'FREEDOM'S
CHAMPION.'... With an earnest faith in the principles of Freedom as
opposed to Slavery in Kansas, and an unwavering opposition to the notion
of the men who have attempted, by fraud and violence, to force upon us a
Constitution utterly repugnant to our wishes, and at variance with every
principle of justice, we shall use every exertion to defeat the
accomplishment of that great wrong, and to strengthen the principles for
which we contend. Whatever tends, in our judgment, to hasten the
triumph of those principles, we shall advocate with the lovingest [sic],
ardentest [sic] zeal; and whatever opposes an obstacle to the triumphant
success of that policy, will find us against it, battling with all the energy
we possess, in deference of our chosen principles and our glorious cause. 5

VITI. OPPOSITION TO TYRANNY

To clinch the evidence, there is a remarkable document written by a seventeen

and a half year-old John Alexander Martin in the collections of the Kansas State
Historical Society in Topeka.56 It is a speech that he wrote for the "Franklin Literary
Institute" of his home, Brownsville, Pennsylvania, delivered December 10,1856.

54
D. W. Wilder, The Annals of Kansas 1541-1885 (Topeka, Kansas: T. Dwight Thacher, 1886), pp. 165,
213. Robert McBratney and Frank G. Adams purchased the paper in 1857 and changed its stance to a Free-
State paper. John A. Martin then bought it and changed the name to the Freedom's Champion on February
28, 1858, and, later, on March 22, 1865, to the Daily Champion. It was the oldest, continuous newspaper
office in the state. Wilder, Annals, p. 56. The first paper was the Pro-Slavery paper, the Leavenworth
Harold, founded September 15, 1854, and printed under an elm tree on the levee by the corner of Cherokee
Street. Wilder, Annals, p. 49.
55
Freedom's Champion, Atchison, Kansas Territory, February 20, 1858.
56
John A. Martin, "The Progress of Tyranny." This document has been made available by Mr. Matt
Veatch of the Kansas State Historical Society, "Territorial Kansas Online" (Topeka, Kansas: Kansas State
Historical Society, June, 2004).
 In this speech, Martin is well organized, focused and eloquent, far beyond what
one would expect of a teenager with a limited formal education other than that which he
"picked up" by serving as a compositor on a newspaper and reading. The speech is
entitled, "The Progress of Tyranny," and traces the history of America's opposition to
tyranny, especially that of slavery. After an introduction, he announces his subject and
reviews the history of the struggle in three epochs before turning to the issues in his
contemporary age.

The first stage is that of "Opposition to Tyranny." Here Martin calls upon Jay,
Franklin, Adams, Morris and Hamilton from the northern colonies, and Washington,
Jefferson, Madison, Henry and Pickey from the southern ones, all of whom saw slavery
as an evil which "they deplored in language as strong as any writer of the present day." 7
Thomas Jefferson, especially, was outspoken:

The whole commerce between master and Slave is a perpetual exercise of

the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one
hand, and degrading submissions on the other.58

Martin observes that these founders of our nation merely tolerated the institution for the
sake of the stability of the government, but, "looked forward to the day when it should be
abolished." When writing the Constitution, they refused even to mention the word
"slave."59 He asserted that:

In the North they saw State after State, through [sic] off the shackles of
this Institution, and stand forth in the everlasting beauties of freedom, and
wishing to circumscribe it in the Territories, they united in enclosing them
with an eternal barrier against Slavery.

He cites the Ordinance of 1787 in which Congress accepted the North West Territories
from Virginia. The plan ruled that, "After the year 1800, neither Slavery nor involuntary
servitude should exist in any of said States except for punishment of Crime."61 Every
state in the constitutional convention except one affirmed this principle, and it was signed
into law by George Washington.62 Martin notes: "This was the age of justice, of truth, of
right, where men had an earnest faith in the principles of the Dec. of Ind."63

Now, according to Martin, came the "age of indifference," in which the love of
freedom was diminished. Henry Clay, still motivated by "his generous heart," urged the
people of Kentucky to release their slaves. Some did, most did not. But, ominously, the
South "claimed non-interference with Slavery, and the North acquiessed [sic]," Yet,
57
Ibid., p. 2.
58
Ibid.
59
Ibid.
60
Ibid., pp. 2-3.
61
Ibid., p. 3.
62
Ibid.
63
"Declaration of Independence," Ibid.
during this time, even the slave holders themselves saw slavery neither as something
good and right, nor looked to expand it over the new territories. Thus, if nothing had
occurred to change this direction, slavery would have "wasted itself away and died.6

Martin spends most of his efforts of his speech in interpreting his present "age of
extension," where, for the first time, slavery is being aggressively defended and expanded
into new territories. He personifies "Slavery" as a tyrannical and devious force,
demanding that the Missouri Territory be brought into the nation as a slave state. Some
protested, but they were ineffectual. Pennsylvania, Martin's birth state, complained, but
was ignored. Intimidated by the South's threats of dissolution of the nation, the North
gave way, obtaining only that slavery would be banned from north of the 36° 30'
latitude.6 With this, "Slavery seemed to be satisfied; the fears of the North subsided,
and the tempest seemed to have ceased." In a striking image, Martin asserts that, "the
tiger had tasted blood and was ravenous for more," and there was little protest even when
Texas is added as a slave state.

With the war with Mexico, California's gold was needed to finance it. The
abundance of Northern emigrants kept that state free, but the victory over Mexico
brought new territories, and Slavery worked to insert itself into these areas as well. A
more despotic "Fugitive Slave Law" was also enacted, requiring that any black person,
whether escaped or long having been free, was to be returned to the South and bondage.
Having thought it had appeased the South once more, a lull seemed to have set in the
North. Again, Martin declares, "...the aggressive spirit of Slavery was not yet
Satisfied."**

With the prospect that the Kansas and Nebraska Territories would be admitted
into the Union as free states, lying north of the 36° 30' latitude, the slave holders saw an
opportunity to shift the equal balance of free and slave states in the Congress in their
favor. Martin comments,

But Slavery, undaunted, here took another step, unparalleled for audacity
and boldness, and trampling under foot all justice and plighted faith,
brought a traitor to his soil, and under the miserable guise of "Squatter
Sovereignty," repealed the Mo. [Missouri] Compact, and opened to itself,
those fair and boundless territories, the possession of which will give
Slavery undisputed control of the government67

Martin is referring to the "Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and

Kansas," the so-called "Kansas-Nebraska" Act of 1854, which stipulates in Section 28:

And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the act entitled "An act
respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from, the service of

Ibid., p. 4.
Ibid., pp. 4-5.
Ibid., p. 5.
 their masters," approved February twelfth, seventeen hundred and ninety-
three, and the provisions of the act entitled "An act to amend, and
supplementary to, the aforesaid act," approved September eighteenth,
eighteen hundred and fifty, be, and the same are hereby, declared to
extend to and be in full force within the limits of the said Territory of
Kansas.68

"But its crowning act of villainy is yet to be told," cries Martin. With the repeal
of the Missouri Compromise, the people residing in the territories were to decide their
own institutions, including the question of slavery. The Southern States, ever watchful,
noted that twice as many settlers from the North were pouring into the territories, thus
threatening their dominance.

They blocked up the grand highway to Kansas against the ingress of

freemen, and when the peaceable citizens of Kansas, relying on the
promises of the Administration, that they should settle their own
institutions, held an election, armed villains from Mo. came over, took
possession of the ballot boxes, drove the judges from the polls, and
deliberately shot down anyone who dared maintain his rights. Having thus
carried the election their own way, they are backed by the whole power of
the Federal government, and their acts either approved of, or let pass
unnoticed.59

The violence in the Kansas Territory was even replicated on the floor of Congress.
Martin recalls the recent response to the eloquent and learned speech by Senator Charles
Sumner when he spoke in favor of the free state constitution, and protested these acts by
the slave states. The next day when the Senate was not in session, the North Carolina
Congressman, Preston Brooks, came into the chambers and discovered Sumner at his
desk. Sneaking up from behind while his Southern colleague, Lawrence Keitt stood
guard to prevent anyone from interfering, Congressman Brooks beat the Massachusetts
Senator over the head repeatedly, continuing to strike even after the cane had broken, and
even when the Congressman had slumped to the floor unconscious. If that was not
enough, the Southern states ridiculed "bleeding Kansas," asserting that, according to
Martin,

... no outrages had ever been committed in that Territory, or if they had,
they were committed by Free State men—affirmed that the North was
aggressive and the South always submissive—that the North had all the
territory, and the South none—that if the North did not yield to their
demands they would dissolve the Union...71
68
"The Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas" (1854), "Territorial Kansas Online"
(Topeka, Kansas: Kansas State Historical Society, June, 2004), SEC. 28.
9
Martin, "Tyranny," pp. 5-6.
70
"Bleeding Kansas: A Narrative Guide to the Sources" (http://www.asumption.edu//ahc/Kansas). cf.
William G. Cutler, History of the State of Kansas (1883).
71
Martin, "Tyranny," p. 6. The slave states that ultimately withdrew from the Union were led, first, by
South Carolina on December 20, 1860, then the states along the Gulf of Mexico, with Texas seceding
Martin attributes to the Southern states the reversal of the established policy that "Slavery
is Sectional, Freedom national."72 Now, freedom is to be reserved just for the
northeastern states, and slavery is to be extended everywhere else. Martin maintains:

The immoral principles they proclaimed, are turned into ridicule, and the
foundation of truth of Freedom and Self government, the Declaration of
Independence, is termed by one Northern traitor, "a compendium of high-
winding abstractions and glittering generalities," and by a Southern
disunionist [sic], "a self-evident lie." Liberty, once deemed a more
precious treasure than life, is now scouted at, as the delusion of a fanatical
brain, and spit upon and derided by tyranny. The party who profess to be
the followers of Jefferson, whose hand traced the Dec. and the Ordinance
of 1787, now follow the wild principles of the Caroline nullifer [sic], who
"regarded Slavery as the most safe basis for free institutions in the
world."73

Martin sees that there will be no end of Slavery's grasp. It wants everything—all the
national territories, Cuba, Central America and even Lower California!7 Furthermore,
just two weeks prior to Martin's speech, the Southern senators brought before the
Congress a bill to reopen the slave trade with Africa!75 Martin is bitter:

And why cannot it do all this? It has only to march forward a few steps
further in its present course, and all is done. It has only to try it, and if the
North object, it has only to raise the cry of Disunion, that scare-crow
which has been its only resort for years, and it can find addle-pated fools
enough in the North to get down on their knees, and beg them not to do it,
resign every principle; yield to every demand; pay all their expenses;
give them all the offices; only remain in the Union. 6

Martin reserves his greatest criticism for those of the North who acquiesce to the
Southern state's demands:

The blatant, babling [sic], senseless fools, they have not yet learned that
the South has sense enough to know the hand that gives them their food,

January 1861. The states in the upper south hesitated, but when the southerners fired on Ft. Sumter on
April 12, 1861, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina soon followed. The border slave state of
Maryland had a strong secession movement, and a meeting of delegates in Kentucky declared that state out,
and a group of Missouri legislators met unofficially to declare that state out as well. The Confederacy
recognized the latter two, although the acts in these states were irregular, to complete the "magical" number
of 13. These states at this time were strongly Democratic. In one of those ironies only history can devise,
the states that formed the Confederacy and were strongly pro-slavery are now the core of the Republican
Party, and those states formerly against dissolving the Union and were against slavery are now Democratic.
72
Ibid., p. 7.
73
Ibid.
74
Ibid.
75
Ibid., p. 8.
76
Ibid.
 pays their postage, preserves them from attack from abroad and servile
insurrection at home, and keeps their "first families" from starvation, by
giving them the plunder of public office.77

Earlier in his speech, John A. Martin is pessimistic, dreading what will transpire in the
future:

The soundings show that we are fast approaching the fatal spot, and the
darkness of a troubled night is coming upon us.78

Still, in the end, Martin is optimistic. Perhaps there would be enough enlightened people
who would notice the danger, and who would muster the forces necessary to arrest the
progress of slavery in the nation. We have to recall, again, that this is a very youthful
orator, only seventeen and one-half years old. We have to be astonished at the command
of his subject and his eloquence, especially as he arrives at his last words:

The indications are on every side that there is wisdom in the people to
discern the danger, and virtue to oppose and arrest its progress. And when
that day shall come, when liberty shall once more sit upon her throne, and
virtue shall once more guide our nation, fearful will be the reckoning.
Thousands of patriotic men are coming to the rescue. There is wisdom
and patriotism in the hearts of the American people, and this hour of trial
will prove it as fire tries the gold, and the Austerlity [sic] of the success of
the Slave power will be lost in its Waterloo of defeat while we sound
again the bugles.79

DC. THE FAMILY MOVES TO KANSAS

These opinions most likely were not held by every Northern settler who went to
the Kansas Territory, but, they were profoundly believed by John A. Martin, and, no
doubt, his family as well. Within the year of this speech, Martin will join them in the
frontier town of Atchison, a rude village with mud streets along the Missouri River,
uncertain government, and constant intervention from border ruffians from Missouri who
were intent upon suppressing any anti-slavery sentiment. He will purchase the organ of
the Slave-state settlers, the Squatter Sovereign, changing it to the Freedom's Champion,
will fight in the Civil War, and will see liberty extended to all people, women and men,
black and white, throughout the United States. It was not only daring but dangerous to go
to Kansas. Nevertheless they did, and we have to admire them for their courage, and
thank them for their legacy of freedom.

Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D.

Thousand Oaks, California

77 _
ibid.
78
Ibid., pp. 1-2.
79
Ibid., p. 8.