“It was at Atchison that Abraham Lincoln, on his first visit to Kansas, spoke to a crowded house on ‘The Issues of the Day,’ December 2, 1859, the date that old John Brown was executed in Virginia. Lincoln spoke in the Methodist church, which then stood on the hill at the corner of Fifth and Parallel streets. The little church was a frame building, dedicated in May, 1859, and overlooked a considerable portion of the city. The house afterwards became quite historic, for during the early part of the Civil war, the patriotic Rev. Milton Mahin, a stanch Union man, from Indiana, in a patriotic speech, soon after the Civil war broke out, had the nerve, and was the first minister of the Gospel in Atchison, to raise the Stars and Stripes over his house of worship.” D. W. Wilder, in his “Annals of Kansas,” one of the most wonderful books of its kind ever published, says that Abraham Lincoln arrived in Elwood, which is just across from St. Joseph, December 1, 1859, and made his speech there that evening. He was met at St. Joseph by M. W. Delahay and D. W. Wilder. The speech that Lincoln delivered at Elwood and at Atchison was the same speech that he subsequently delivered at the Cooper Institute, New York City, and was considered as one of the ablest and clearest ever delivered by an American statesman.
Atchison county was making forward strides at a rapid pace and the future held out every promise of prosperity, but in 1859 “a great famine fell upon the land.” It did more to depopulate Kansas than all the troubles of preceding years. The settlers in the Territory were able to fight border ruffians with more courage than they could endure starvation, and during all of their earlier troubles they confidently looked forward to the time when all of their political difficulties would be settled and prosperity, peace and contentment would be their share in life. During the years of 1855, 1856 and 1857 the citizens of the Territory were unable to take advantage of the then favorable seasons to do more than raise just sufficient for their immediate needs. During the next year immigration to Kansas was large and the new settlers had but little time, in addition to building their homes, to raise barely enough for home consumption, so in 1859 Kansas had only enough grain on hand to last until the following harvest. The drought commenced in June, and from the nineteenth of that month until November, 1860, not a shower of rain fell of any consequence. By fall the ground was parched and the hot winds that blew from the south destroyed vegetation and the wells and springs went dry. There were a few localities on bottom lands along the Missouri river where sufficient crops were raised to supply the immediate population, but over 60,000 people in Kansas faced starvation in the fall of 1860. Thirty thousand settlers left the Territory for their old homes, from which they came, abandoning their claims and all hope of success in Kansas. An endless procession crossed the border from day to day. About 70,000 inhabitants remained, of whom it was estimated 40,000 were able to go through the winter. As soon as the news of this situation reached the East, movements were inaugurated for the relief of the sufferers in Kansas. S. C. Pomeroy was appointed general agent of northern Kansas. He did much to raise liberal contributions in New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, and the contributions were all sent to Atchison, from which place they were distributed to the different counties of the State. The total receipts of provisions for distribution up to March 15, 1861, were 8,090,951 pounds, and the total distribution at Atchison, exclusive of branch depots, was 6,736,424 pounds. In spite of all of this assistance over 30,000 settlers in Kansas that year suffered privation and almost starvation.
It was during this frightful travail that Kansas as a State was born. On January 21, 1861, Jefferson Davis and a number of other southern senators left the United States Senate and on that day the bill for the admission of Kansas under the Wyandotte constitution, which had been laid before the House of Representatives in February, 1860, was called up by W. H. Seward, and passed the Senate by a vote of thirty-six yeas to sixteen nays. One week later the bill came up in the House on motion of Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, who introduced the first bill for the admission of Kansas into the Union, and while the motion was out of the regular order, it was passed by a vote of 119 yeas to forty-two nays. On January 29 the bill was signed by President Buchanan, and free Kansas joined the Union.
The following are the names of the city officials of Atchison March 1, 1916: Dr. C. C. Finney, mayor; Victor L. King, city clerk; Walter E. Brown, city attorney; C. A. Wright, city treasurer; Frank S. Altman, city engineer; D. S. Beatty, police judge; William H. Coleman, chief of police; John Compton, fire marshal; Jerome Van Dyke, street commissioner; Owen P. Grady, meat inspector and license collector; Fred Stutz, sanitary sergeant; Frank J. Roth, building commissioner; John Compton, purchasing agent; Dr. T. E. Horner, city physician. Councilmen: Louis Weinman, president; first ward, Louis Weinman, F. F. Bracke; second ward, Joseph Schott, C. A. Brown; third ward, H. M. Ernst, John R. Schmitt; fourth ward, W. C. Linville, Fred Snyder; fifth ward, Fay Kested, Walter North.
CHAPTER VII.
TOWNS, PAST AND PRESENT.
SUMNER, ITS RISE AND FALL—OCENA—LANCASTER—FORT WILLIAM—ARRINGTON—MUSCOTAH—EFFINGHAM—HURON—OLD MARTINSBURG—BUNKER HILL—LOCUST GROVE—HELENA—CAYUGA—KENNEKUK—KAPIOMA—MASHENAH—ST. NICHOLAS—CONCORD—PARNELL—SHANNON—ELMWOOD—CUMMINGSVILLE—EDEN POSTOFFICE—POTTER—MOUNT PLEASANT—LEWIS’ POINT—FARLEY’S FERRY.
One of the most interesting subjects for the local historian is the rise and fall of town companies and towns, within the confines of Atchison county. Perhaps no county in the State, or for that matter, no county in the United States, has been immune from the visitations of town boomers. It is difficult in this enterprising age, with all the knowledge that we now have at hand, to understand how it was possible for anybody, though he was ever so enthusiastic, to conceive the idea that there was any future for many of the “towns” that were born in Atchison county in the early days. Yet, it is found that there was in the breasts of many promoters a feeling that Atchison county offered unlimited possibilities for the establishment and growth of towns and cities. One need only search the records on file in the office of the register of deeds in this county to discover numerous certified plats of towns which were born to blush unseen and waste their fragrance on the desert air. In some instances the records are quite complete and authentic, and contain much information with reference to the origin, growth and final decay of these nascent municipalities. In other cases nothing has come down to posterity, save the merest fragmentary data, of which the plat, containing the name of the town and of its organizer, its location and the number of blocks, streets and alleys, constitute the major part.
Reference has heretofore been made to the founding and the organization of the city of Atchison, which became and now remains the county seat of Atchison county. The city played such an important part in the early history of the county that its story has been woven into the general fabric of this history, and therefore further reference to the city of Atchison will not be made in this chapter.
SUMNER.
Perhaps the most important, although not the oldest, town established in Atchison county outside of the city of Atchison was Sumner. A peculiar aroma of legendary glory still clings to this old town, which was located three miles below Atchison, on the Missouri river.