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 CHARLES ROBINSON 
 
 AND THE 
 
 KANSAS EPOCH 
 

 
 1907 
 
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Charles Robinson and the Kansas Epoch 
 
 There arc no greater heroes in the history of our country than 
 EH Thayer of Massachusetts and Charles Robinson of Kansas. 
 
 William H. Taft. 
 
 lei 
 
 EXT to the Revolutionary Period, the Kansas 
 Epoch furnishes the chapter of importance 
 and absorbing interest in the history of our 
 country. 
 The creation of Kansas Territory was a political ex- 
 pedient, undertaken and exploited at the instance of 
 Southern statesmen for the purpose of restoring, be- 
 tween the Free States and the Slave States, the "equi- 
 librium," or balance, of power, that had been disturbed 
 by the admission of California into the Union as a 
 Free State. 
 
 The maintenance of this equilibrium between the 
 sections had been the special concern of the South 
 from the time of its establishment by the admission 
 into the Union of Louisiana. The loss of it was, to 
 the South, a political catastrophe; and the reinstate- 
 ment of it was in the highest degree necessary to safe- 
 guard the institution of s^av^^ry against legislation in- 
 imical thereto, then becoming i eminent as a result of 
 the growth of anti-slavery sentiment. The heroic 
 measures adopted by the South in its attempt to fur- 
 ther this end precipitated a crisis in public affairs that 
 shook the foundations of the Government and in- 
 volved the existence of the Nation. 
 
 3 
 
The importance of the public services rendered by 
 Charles Robinson in this contention is not exceeded 
 by those of any citizen in the history of our country, 
 and entitles him to a broader fame than has yet been 
 accorded to him. It is true the events which he pro- 
 moted and controlled were localized within the bound- 
 aries of Kansas Territory, but the struggle for su- 
 premacy here was the affair of the Nation. It was 
 between the two great factions of the country, the 
 North and the South, then practically divided in sym- 
 pathy and interest upon the subject of the further ex- 
 tension of slavery. No American was ever charged 
 with greater responsibility; the future of a race and 
 the destiny of this Nation were in his hands. 
 
 The slavery question was not new. It was a dis- 
 turbing factor in the first councils of the Republic, 
 and had evoked the intense solicitude of every sub- 
 sequent generation. The differences that patriotism 
 and statesmanship had failed to adjust during more 
 than sixty years of debate and diplomatic effort had, 
 at that time, been transferred from the forum to the 
 people, from Congress to the field of actual physical 
 conflict. 
 
 Slavery was originally a merciful institution, sug- 
 gested by the earlier promptings of humanity. In- 
 stead of giving up prisoners of war to indiscriminate 
 slaughter, it gradually became the practice of victors 
 to make slaves of them, and there were no exceptions 
 to the rule because of race, color or social conditions. 
 Our Pilgrim Fathers made slaves of Indians. They 
 made a slave of the son of the Indian King Philip, and 
 sold him in the Barbadoes, where he died under the 
 lash of the slave-driver. White men were sold into 
 
slavery in this country for debt. They were called 
 "redemptioners." Lord Altham, of Ireland, was thus 
 sold at Philadelphia in 1728, and during twelve years 
 he was bought and sold by different masters in Lan- 
 caster County of that State. It is only a little more 
 than a hundred years since the corsairs of the Bar- 
 bary States raided the seas, and captured hundreds 
 of American sailors, whom they sold into slavery. 
 
 Negro slavery existed at one time or another in all 
 of the Thirteen Colonies ; but by the year 1804 it had 
 been abolished in the seven Northern States. That 
 portion of our population then, having no further pe- 
 cuniary interest in the matter, moved up onto higher 
 ground and became critical. It began to take cogni- 
 zance of the objectionable features of slavery, and to 
 contemplate with horror that which it had thereto- 
 fore observed with complacency. The inhumanity of 
 the system, the heartless cruelties inflicted upon the 
 helpless slaves, the notorious immorality inseparably 
 connected therewith, the enervating and demoralizing 
 influence it wrought upon society — all these were taken 
 up and enlarged upon until public sentiment revolted 
 at the spectacle, and organizations along political lines 
 were formed to oppose the further extension of this 
 crime against humanity. 
 
 In the South the trend of public sentiment was in 
 the opposite direction. Broadening markets for South- 
 ern products awakened that section into new life and 
 activity. With the invention and use of improved 
 machinery for the culture and care of their great 
 staple, cotton, came a season of unparalleled pros- 
 perity which disclosed before the Southern vision a 
 vista of illimitable possibilities. The demand for 
 
 5 
 
slaves increased beyond precedent; the slave markets 
 presented scenes of wild excitement and speculation, 
 and the breeding of slaves and the traffic in them be- 
 came an established and profitable industry. It was 
 only natural that the South should resent, as both an 
 infringement upon its rights under the Constitution 
 and a menace to its prosperity, any attempt on the 
 part of the North to abridge its sphere of operations 
 or "meddle with its domestic affairs." Thus were the 
 two sections of the Union arrayed against each other 
 upon this question. 
 
 The claims of the two factions to the public domain 
 lying west of the "States" had been satisfactorily ad- 
 justed in 1787, both sections accepting the Ohio River 
 as the line of division between them. But with the 
 acquisition of Louisiana the problem of "dividing the 
 public domain" was revived. Beyond the Mississippi 
 lay the great plains, devoid of any topographical sug- 
 gestion of a line that might demark the sections. The 
 question of partitioning this territory between the 
 free and the slave-holding sections thereof was pre- 
 cipitated upon Congress in 1817 by the presence of 
 Missouri at the portals of the Union, asking for ad- 
 mission into the family of States. The northern 
 boundary of the new State was drawn at nearly forty- 
 one degrees north latitude, suggesting the Platte River 
 as the dividing line from the Missouri River to the 
 Mountains. Slavery had existed in Missouri Territory 
 under the Territorial Government, and the Constitu- 
 tion of the new State provided for its continuance. 
 To receive Missouri thus into the Union was to fix the 
 new line dividing the Trans-Mississippi country much 
 farther north than the anti-slavery sentiment of the 
 
 6 
 
country was willing to concede. It was accepted, how- 
 ever, after exhaustive debate and bitter controversy, 
 with a stipulation forever prohibiting slavery in all of 
 the remaining territory acquired by the Louisiana pur- 
 chase north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north 
 latitude. 
 
 In this contention, the aggressive attitude of the 
 North against slavery was clearly developed; and the 
 South, learning the lesson that only by force of num- 
 bers and representation could the institution of slavery 
 be preserved, gave itself diligently to the work of ex- 
 tending its territory and strengthening its resources. 
 The scheme adopted to accomplish these results was 
 the most comprehensive ever attempted in American 
 politics. It involved upon a grand scale the reforma- 
 tion of the boundaries of our country; providing for 
 territorial expansion on the south and an abridgement 
 of territory on the north. All of which was, in due 
 process of time, successfully executed. 
 
 The United States claimed the "Oregon Country" at 
 that time, up to fifty-four degrees and forty minutes 
 north latitude. We held the Spanish title thereto, and 
 had rights of our own by virtue of discoveries and oc- 
 cupation to offset the claims of England. These pre- 
 tensions were supported by public sentiment in the 
 South, although especially accented in the Northern 
 States. So popular had this sentiment become that 
 the Democratic party, in the presidential campaign 
 of 1844, took advantage of the fact, and appealed 
 with great success to the patriotic spirit and war spirit 
 of the voters with a campaign cry in the catchy alliter- 
 ation "Fifty-four Forty or Fight." It transpired after 
 the election that Mr. Calhoun, Secretary of State, had 
 
 7 
 
already proposed to Her Majesty's Minister, Paken- 
 ham, to settle the boundary dispute by adopting the 
 forty-ninth parallel as the line of division between 
 the two countries, with Vancouver and its strategic 
 advantages thrown in for good measure. The territory 
 thus voluntarily given up to Great Britain would have 
 made three Northern States each as large as Oregon. 
 In the meantime, the Republic of Texas had been an- 
 nexed, and admitted into the Union as a Slave State, 
 with a provision that it might subsequently be di- 
 vided into four States. The Conquest of Mexico, and 
 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo completed the list 
 of these undertakings. 
 
 By this treaty a million square miles — an area from 
 which twenty States of the size of Pennsylvania could 
 be made — were added to "southern" territory, and the 
 problem of maintaining the "parity" for all time was 
 apparently solved. 
 
 Such, however, was not the fact. The immediate 
 results of the war, and of the annexation of Mexican 
 territory, were exactly the reverse of what had been 
 expected. Instead of strengthening the position of the 
 South in the Union, they laid the foundation for the 
 destruction of the Southern oligarchy. The South 
 sowed the seeds ; but the North gathered in the sheaves. 
 The first disaster was the defeat of the Administration 
 in the election of 1848, which made possible the ad- 
 mission of California as a Free State. 
 
 While the war was strictly a Democratic conception 
 and was being promoted expressly to exploit the for- 
 tunes of the Democratic party, there were no generals 
 of that political faith to lead, and win the laurels of 
 victory. Scott and Taylor, both Whigs, by virtue of 
 
 8 
 
their military rank commanded the armies of invasion. 
 These Generals would inevitably win the splendid vic- 
 tories of the war and become popular candidates for 
 the presidency. The danger was anticipated, and the 
 "situation" corrected as far as possible. The increased 
 military establishment, requiring the appointment of 
 three Major-Generals and seven Brigadier-Generals, 
 Democrats without military education or experience 
 were promptly selected for these places, and a bill 
 was introduced in Congress, and passed the House, 
 to create the grade of Lieutenant-General, in order that 
 Thomas H. Benton might be appointed to supersede 
 General Scott. Taylor's army was depleted immedi- 
 ately after Buena Vista, and Scott was relieved of 
 command by General William 0. Butler immediately 
 after the capture of the City of Mexico; but it was 
 too late. The war was over. "Old Rough and Ready" 
 and Scott were the heroes, and Taylor was elected 
 President in a whirl of military enthusiasm. 
 
 The maximum of disaster was to follow. Immedi- 
 ately after the conclusion of the Peace Treaty with 
 Mexico, gold was discovered on the Pacific Coast, and 
 the allurements of fortune invited thereto ambitious 
 and adventurous spirits from every land. The sturdy, 
 rugged men who went there to dig for the precious 
 metal were opposed to slavery on general principles, 
 and had neither time nor inclination to study the phi- 
 losophy of Southern Rights. In 1849 the people of 
 California adopted a constitution, by the terms of 
 which slavery was forever prohibited, and sought to 
 be admitted into the Union. After a memorable strug- 
 gle in Congress, second only to the contention over 
 the admission of Missouri and over the adoption of the 
 
 9 
 
"Wilmot proviso," California was admitted as a Free 
 State. There were compromises and concessions in 
 the premises, one being the passage of the "Fugitive 
 Slave Law," but none that could in any degree com- 
 pensate the South. It had lost a State from the very 
 territory it had secured for its exclusive benefit and 
 use; the "equilibrium" between the sections had been 
 destroyed; the North held the balance of power; and 
 there was no territory south of the "dead line" avail- 
 able for the creation of a compensating Slave State.* 
 
 From a political point of view, the plight of the 
 South was absolutely deplorable. One sole resource 
 remained, namely, to create a Territory and from it 
 make such a State. The only portion of the public do- 
 main that could by any possibility be made available 
 for the purpose was that lying immediately west of 
 Missouri ; but from this, slavery had been expressly 
 excluded by the terms of the Missouri Compromise. 
 And, besides, the lands were occupied under treaties 
 by various tribes of Indians. These were serious 
 complications and might have deterred more conserva- 
 tive statesmen; but, spurred by the direst necessity, 
 the South faced the problem, and, in 1853, with the 
 change of the Administration, undertook the creation 
 of a Slave State upon this territory. 
 
 The political situation at the time was favorable 
 for the accomplishment of the task; the Administra- 
 
 *During the pendency of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mr. 
 Trist, the American Commissioner, said to the Mexican Commis- 
 sioners, who desired to have slavery excluded from the territory to 
 be ceded: "Were this territory increased tenfold in value, and, in 
 addition to that, covered a foot thick with pure gold, on the single 
 condition that slavery should be forever excluded therefrom, I 
 would not entertain the offer for a moment, nor even think of 
 sending it to Washington. No American President would dare to 
 submit such a treaty to the Senate." 
 
 10 
 
tion was Democratic; its ablest leaders were Southern 
 men; and upon a question affecting so vitally the wel- 
 fare of the whole South, the Administration could be 
 depended upon to render such aid and assistance as 
 might be necessary. The danger attending the at- 
 tempt to execute the undertaking lay in the shock to 
 the public conscience that would result from the re- 
 peal of the Missouri Compromise, and the effect that 
 might have upon public affairs. The gravity of the 
 situation was not overlooked nor lightly considered. 
 The crisis had long been anticipated. The ultimate 
 repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the opening 
 of the territory west of Missouri to slavery had been 
 incorporated into the program with the annexation of 
 Texas and the conquest of Mexico. The loss of Cali- 
 fornia forced the issue. It then became an imme- 
 diate political necessity; the redemption from failure 
 of the whole Southern scheme depended upon the suc- 
 cessful execution of this movement. It was to be the 
 last act of that great political drama. With Kansas 
 admitted as a Slave State, the commanding position 
 of the South in the Union would be restored. It could 
 then prevent for all time the admission of other Free 
 States, unless balanced by compensating Slave States; 
 and when the existing territorial limits should become 
 exhausted, another conquest could secure for it the re- 
 mainder of Mexico. The necessary legislation was 
 therefore decided upon, and, without reserve or apol- 
 ogy, Mr. Dixon, who had succeeded to the seat of Henry 
 Clay in the Senate, arose in his place and announced 
 that when the bill to create the Territory of Nebraska 
 should come before that body he would move "that the 
 Missouri Compromise be repealed, and that the citizens 
 
 11 
 
of the several States shall be at liberty to take and 
 hold their slaves in any of the Territories." This per- 
 emptory challenge by the Southern Democracy was 
 ominous of the coming storm. The demand for this 
 concession was in the nature of an ultimatum to the 
 North, or an alternative proposition; namely, if the 
 North would consent to the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
 promise and the restoration of the equilibrium between 
 the sections by the admission of Kansas as a Slave 
 State, the Southern States preferred to, and would, 
 remain in the Union ; otherwise, they would disrupt it 
 and set up a Government for themselves. There was 
 no middle ground for agreement or compromise upon 
 the questions at issue, and none was attempted. 
 
 May 30th, 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska bill became a 
 law, and by its terms the Missouri Compromise was 
 repealed. The result was greeted with wild demonstra- 
 tions of joy throughout the South. In Washington a 
 salute of one hundred guns greeted the passage of the 
 act; in the North bells were tolled, announcing "the 
 death of Freedom." 
 
 Because of the geographical situation, the Southern 
 statesmen expected an easy victory. According to 
 their estimates, they could colonize the Territory from 
 Missouri and the South, elect a Territorial Legisla- 
 ture, frame a State Constitution, and, with the Con- 
 gress and National Administration favorable to their 
 course, be admitted into the Union before any consid- 
 erable immigration could arrive from the North. 
 
 These propositions were all reasonable, and would 
 have been successfully executed but for the prompt 
 and systematic organization of colonization societies 
 in the North, in aid of emigration to Kansas. The 
 
 12 
 
plan originated with Hon, Eli Thayer, a member of the 
 Massachusetts Legislature, who, while the Kansas- 
 Nebraska bill was pending in Congress, obtained a 
 charter for the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society, 
 which, within sixty days after the passage of the act, 
 placed the first band of colonists in the Territory. The 
 affairs of the Company were placed under the direction 
 of Charles Robinson, who located the colony in what 
 is now Douglas County, and founded the town of 
 Lawrence, named by him in honor of Amos A. Law- 
 rence, of Massachusetts. This was the advance guard 
 of the Army of Freedom that was moving up to resist 
 the designs of the Slave Power and prevent the further 
 extension of its dominions. Only the prompt arrival 
 of these colonists upon the scene, and the timely and 
 intelligent intervention in affairs by their wise and 
 courageous leader, secured the success of the move- 
 ment. Delay, which often impedes such efforts, would 
 in this case have proved fatal. If these colonists had 
 not been present in force, there would have been no 
 invasions of the polls by citizens of Missouri, nor any 
 necessity for them, nor any of the disgraceful scenes 
 incident thereto, that aroused the righteous indigna- 
 tion of all Christendom. The Border Ruffians and the 
 Red Legs would have found no place in history, and 
 civilization would have been spared the spectacle of 
 crimes and atrocities being perpetrated upon citizens 
 of the United States by officers of the Federal Govern- 
 ment. Kansas would have quietly and peacefully en- 
 tered the Union as a Slave State; the supremacy of 
 the South would have been reestablished and slavery 
 intrenched for all time. These prospective conditions 
 were all reversed by the Northern invasion. 
 
 13 
 
Robinson was especially equipped by heredity, edu- 
 cation and experience for the difficult role he was to 
 assume in the Kansas struggle. The blood of the 
 French and English kings coursed through his veins* 
 and gave him the commanding poise and mein that 
 make leaders of men and masters of destiny. 
 
 Attracted to California by the public interest the 
 discovery of gold there had awakened, he crossed the 
 plains in 1849, and settled at Sacramento, where public 
 affairs, rather than prospecting for gold, absorbed his 
 attention. A class of settlers called "Squatters" were 
 involved in controversy about the titles to their lands, 
 with speculators who claimed title by virtue of deeds 
 from one Captain Sutter, who held under a grant of 
 land from a former Mexican governor. Recognition 
 of such titles had been provided by the Treaty of 
 Guadalupe Hidalgo. The boundaries of these grants 
 were very indefinitely described, and this one was in- 
 terpreted to cover almost any property that was de- 
 sirable. In the attempt of the speculators to eject the 
 Squatters from their claims, before the validity of their 
 titles had been determined, Robinson espoused the 
 cause of the Squatters and became their counsellor and 
 leader. His position in relation to the controversy was 
 defined in a resolution adopted by the Squatters, to wit : 
 
 "Whereas, The land in California is presumed to be 
 public land ; therefore 
 
 "Resolved, That we will protect any settler in pos- 
 session of land to the extent of one lot in the city and 
 
 *NoTE: — The ancestry of Charles Eobinson runs back through 
 twenty-two generations to Queen Isabelle, mother of Henry IH. and 
 wife of King John of England. Through Isabelle his line of descent 
 runs through the long line of Carlovingian Kings and Emperors 
 back to Charles Martel and Pepin Heristal. 
 
 14 
 
one hundred and sixty acres in the country, until a 
 valid title shall be shown for it." 
 
 A crisis was reached August 13th, 1850, when the 
 Sheriff of Sacramento County ejected a Squatter and 
 seized his property. An armed band of Squatters, led 
 by Robinson and "Captain" Maloney, retook the prop- 
 erty and reinstated the settler. In the fighting several 
 persons were killed, including "Captain" Maloney, on 
 on side, and the Sheriff and the City Auditor of Sac- 
 ramento on the other. Robinson was among those se- 
 verely wounded; a rifle ball had passed through his 
 body two inches below his heart. He was held a pris- 
 oner and placed aboard a prison ship on the Sacra- 
 mento River. The speculators won the victory in the 
 battle, but the Squatters won their contention. In the 
 District Court of Sacramento, the Grand Jury found 
 four true bills against Robinson : one for murder, two 
 for assault with intent to kill, and one for conspiracy. 
 While still a prisoner and resting under these indict- 
 ments, he was elected to the Legislature for the Sac- 
 ramento District. After the election, the cases against 
 him were dismissed for want of prosecution. While a 
 member of the Legislature, he voted for John C. Fre- 
 mont for United States Senator, and against a bill to 
 extend slavery over that portion of the State south of 
 thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude. In 
 1851 he returned to Massachusetts. 
 
 Early in July, 1854, a little more than thirty days 
 after the passage of the Enabling Act, Charles Robin- 
 son arrived in Kansas Territory.* 
 
 *A year after this, attracted by the spectacular struggle then in 
 progress, General Lane arrived in Kansas, and a few months later 
 John Brown came and took up his residence at the home of his 
 son, John Brown, Jr. 
 
 15 
 
The South had not been idle. It, too, had organized 
 colonization societies; and in addition to all such 
 proper methods to promote immigration, it attempted 
 to discourage and obstruct the immigration of Northern 
 men by methods of annoyance, intimidation and vio- 
 lence. In pursuance of this policy, residents of Mis- 
 souri came into the Territory in great numbers and 
 "marked for preemption" the most desirable tracts of 
 land. These Proslavery men, like the "speculators" 
 at Sacramento, claimed everything; and whenever a 
 Free State man attempted to locate a preemption, a 
 Proslavery man could always be found to assert a prior 
 claim. As Robinson expressed it, "It was the Sacra- 
 mento game over again, with Squatters' titles instead 
 of Sutter's deeds." Immediately the Lawrence Town 
 Company had purchased the site for the city of Law- 
 rence, numerous claimants appeared, demanding pos- 
 session, among them John Baldwin. Robinson sug- 
 gested the plan of settlement adopted in California — 
 "That each settler be protected in his occupancy until 
 a legal decision could be had." This was rejected. 
 October 5th eighteen men, armed and mounted, col- 
 lected at Baldwin's tent, and the next day war was de- 
 clared in the following terms : 
 
 "Kansas Territory, October 6th. 
 
 "Dr. Robinson: Yourself and friends are hereby 
 notified that you will have one-half hour to move the 
 tent which you have on my undisputed claim, and from 
 this date desist from surveying on said claim. If the 
 tent is not moved in one-half hour, we shall take the 
 trouble to move the same. 
 
 (Signed) John Baldwin and Friends." 
 
 16 
 
The challenge was promptly accepted, as follows: 
 
 "To John Baldivin and Friends: If you molest our 
 property, you do it at your peril. 
 
 (Signed) C. Robinson and Friends." 
 
 After this exchange of courtesies, some thirty Free 
 State men, well armed, joined the Doctor's party and 
 took a position about ten rods from the tent in dis- 
 pute. The demonstration was sufficient. The incident 
 closed with an indignation meeting, called by the Pro- 
 slavery element, to "adopt measures that will protect 
 us from all moneyed associations and influences; also 
 the tyrannical encroachments made by the Lawrence 
 Association. On which occasion there will be speeches 
 made to vindicate the Squatter's right of preemption 
 and the protection of his claim until entered." Later 
 an attempt was made to cut down Robinson's house 
 on Mount Oread, but it was abandoned upon his ar- 
 rival with a few friends. 
 
 As the time approached for the selection of a Terri- 
 torial Delegate to Congress, it transpired that prepa- 
 rations were being made by the Proslavery men to 
 carry the elections ; and in pursuance of these arrange- 
 ments, large numbers of citizens of Missouri appeared 
 at the polls on election day, November 29th, 1854, 
 and voted. The total vote cast was 2,833, of which 
 1,729 were illegal. The importation of voters was un- 
 necessary, for at that time the Territory was Pro- 
 slavery by a large majority. Robinson, however, pro- 
 tested to the Governor (Reeder) and asked that the 
 entire vote of the districts receiving the votes of citi- 
 zens of Missouri,be not counted. 
 
 The crisis in the whole contention was reached 
 March 30th, 1855, when the election for members of the 
 
 17 
 
Territorial Legislature was carried by the Proslavery 
 party. The Legislature would determine the question 
 of slavery in the Territory and provide the machinery 
 for its admission into the Union as a Slave State. The 
 control of this Legislature was the acme of Southern 
 hope; it was the goal that had been set up a third of 
 a century before by the Southern Propaganda. The 
 scenes enacted in connection with this election were 
 without a parallel in the history of political atrocities. 
 Organized bands of citizens of Missouri invaded the 
 Territory, and in the most brutal and offensive man- 
 ner took possession of the polls and elected a Pro- 
 slavery Legislature. They claimed, in justification of 
 their conduct, that the North had sent citizens of the 
 Northern States into the Territory to vote at the elec- 
 tions, and the South had an equal right to do the same 
 thing. When a judge of the election at one of the polls 
 resigned rather than receive the votes of the non- 
 residents, the leader of them said: "We will appoint 
 a judge to represent Missouri. You have two judges 
 on the board, and it is only fair that we should have 
 one to look after our interests." 
 
 The victory for the South seemed complete and de- 
 cisive. Overwhelmed and brushed aside by the force 
 of numbers, the handful of Free State men stood 
 aghast, mute witnesses of the ruthless invasion of their 
 sacred rights. Never was a cause, apparently, more 
 hopelessly and irretrievably lost. The great contention 
 seemed to have been determined. It was the hour of 
 fate. There was one man there, however, whose 
 dauntless spirit no force nor circumstance could in- 
 timidate. Amid the bluster and the brawling, the 
 shouting and the swearing, and the tumult of the 
 
 18 
 
drunken, swaggering vandals that had invaded the 
 polls, he stood self-contained and undismayed — the 
 man of destiny, whom the fates had ordained for this 
 emergency and thrown into the breach in the hour of 
 victory to wrest from the victors its priceless trophies. 
 That man was Charles Robinson. In silence he con- 
 templated the carnival of political spoliation, but the 
 next day he despatched George W. Deitzler to Boston 
 with an order for one hundred Sharp's rifles, which 
 were received within thirty days and distributed 
 among his followers at Lawrence. And an intelligent 
 policy of resistance was thereupon formulated and put 
 into practical operation. June 25th, 1855, after pub- 
 licly resolving to repudiate the fraudulently elected 
 Legislature, and to disregard the laws by it enacted, 
 the people of Lawrence further "Resolved, That, in 
 reply to the threats of war so frequently made in our 
 neighboring State, our answer is, 'We are ready'." His 
 clear comprehension of the magnitude of his responsi- 
 bility is shown by the closing words of a request writ- 
 ten July 26th, 1855, to Eli Thaj^er, for more rifles with 
 which to arm the company organized by Captain Henry 
 Saunders, of which J. B. Abbott was First Lieutenant : 
 "In haste, Yotirs for Freedom for the World." Thus, 
 under his sole leadership, was inaugurated the revolt 
 against the Southern program that won the great vic- 
 tory for the North, that made Kansas a Free State, 
 and involved in its ultimate results the War of the 
 Rebellion and the extinction of slavery. 
 
 The outrages committed at the election March 30th 
 were formally reported to the Territorial Governor, 
 and another election was ordered for some of the pre- 
 cincts, to be held the following May. Of these elections 
 
 19 
 
the Southerners took no notice; but when the Legis- 
 lature convened at Pawnee, they declared vacant the 
 seats of the members chosen at the May election and 
 seated the Proslavery members elected in March. 
 Then, after changing the capital of the Territory to 
 Shawnee Mission, which was voted over the veto of 
 the Governor, they proceeded to enact a code of laws 
 for the Territory. The sections relating to slavery 
 were unique; in a collection of legislative curios they 
 would have distinctive merit. They were intended to 
 encourage the ownership of slaves, and in every pos- 
 sible way promote sentiment favorable thereto, and to 
 stamp out and repress even a semblance of opposition 
 to it by either word or action. The bare expression of 
 dissenting opinion to it constituted a misdemeanor. 
 The theft of a slave was made a capital crime, pun- 
 ishable by death. 
 
 The Free State men gained substantially by the 
 passage of these harsh proscriptive measures, which 
 were at once a justification of the rebellion and a con- 
 firmation and publication of their grievances to be 
 read of all men; and this, in a contest where the ulti- 
 mate appeal lay to public sentiment, was invaluable. 
 They strengthened their position further by the move- 
 ment to form a constitution, and under it seek admis- 
 sion into the Union. The organization of a State 
 Government, with Charles Robinson as Governor, was 
 effected. It brought into their lines ambitious men 
 from the "quts" of the Democratic party, whose power 
 and influence were valuable. The experiment was 
 dangerous, but the substantial gains to be secured 
 thereby warranted the risk. Their situation, under 
 any circumstances, was extremely critical, and the 
 
 20 
 
most serious complications confronted them. To create 
 a standard of loyalty that would justify avowed re- 
 bellion against the Territorial Government, created 
 and recognized by the Federal Government, required 
 fine discrimination. To oppose the former and nullify 
 its acts without giving offense to the latter was a 
 delicate problem. 
 
 Except in one essential element, the situation and 
 outlook were altogether favorable for the Southerners. 
 "Missouri was nearer than Boston." They were the 
 majority party in the Territory, had the Territorial 
 organization and Legislature, and supporting these 
 were the Federal Administration and its forces. The 
 Northerners had the advantage in leadership. Their 
 colonization bureau could be depended upon, in time, to 
 reverse the relations of the parties as to numbers, 
 while the local organization, directed by its wise leader 
 and supported by able, conservative and courageous 
 men, inspired by a single purpose, the creation of a 
 Free State, was incomparable and invincible. From 
 every assault upon it, the South recoiled in defeat and 
 humiliation. They murdered Dow, and Barber, and 
 Brown, and Stewart, and Jones; they attempted to 
 prosecute and punish the Free State men for treason, 
 and, in pursuance thereof, arrested Charles Robinson, 
 who had been elected Governor under the Free State 
 Constitution, and other prominent citizens, and held 
 them for months as prisoners without bail, guarded by 
 United States troops. July 4th, 1856, with a battalion 
 of United States Cavalry and a section of Artillery, 
 under the command of Colonel E. V. Sumner, United 
 States Army, they dispersed the Free State Legislature. 
 They sought by force to prevent Free State men from 
 
 21 
 
entering the Territory, and closed the Missouri River 
 against such travel; and, with United States troops 
 and a Deputy United States Marshal, arrested immi- 
 grants who attempted to come into the Territory 
 through Iowa and Nebraska. 
 
 Notwithstanding these extreme measures, they made 
 no substantial progress; they won no victories. Pas- 
 sion and prejudice prevailed where calm judgment 
 should have been enthroned, and reason forsook their 
 councils. Outgeneraled and outwitted in their military 
 invasion, the "Wakarusa War," they became the de- 
 rision and jeer of all parties. By prostituting the op- 
 portunities of victory to exploit their vengeance. May 
 21st, 1856, they discredited their cause and largely 
 alienated the support of their Northern allies. In the 
 sack of Lawrence they set the seal of their defeat; the 
 country refused to uphold such vandalism. That tri- 
 umph was their Waterloo. 
 
 One blot upon the Free State men's escutcheon, one 
 awful crime, the most reprehensible and brutal of all 
 the shocking events of that sanguinary struggle, sullies 
 their otherwise irreproachable record. During the 
 night of May 24th, 1856, three Proslavery men, Allen 
 Wilkinson, William Sherman and John P. Doyle, and 
 two boys, sons of the latter, all living on Pottawatomie 
 Creek, were aroused from their beds, taken a few 
 yards from their homes, and hacked to death with 
 swords, their skulls being split open and their bodies 
 otherwise horribly mutilated. The identity of the per- 
 petrators of this tragedy remained concealed for a long 
 time; later it was proved to be the work of John 
 Brown, assisted by three of the younger members of 
 his family and two Free State men. The motive for 
 
 22 
 
committing the crime was to get the horses owned by 
 the victims. With the possession of these horses, 
 Brown began his spectacular career. 
 
 Whittier's famous lines on the affair on the Marais 
 des Cygnes apply with equal force to Brown's work on 
 the Pottawatomie. 
 
 These murders stirred the South into a frenzy, and 
 preparations for reprisals were made upon a scale that 
 augured ill for the Free State men. Colonel Sumner, 
 appearing on the scene with his Cavalry, turned back 
 some of the raiders, and for a time prevented the in- 
 vasion. In September they mobilized their forces and 
 entered the Territory in formidable numbers. What 
 the result of this invasion would have been had their 
 operations been allowed to proceed unchecked to ulti- 
 mate conclusion, none can say. Fortune again smiled 
 upon the Free State cause. This time, the exigencies 
 of the general political situation intervened. ''Bleed- 
 ing Kansas" had become the paramount issue. The 
 country. North and South, was aflame with excitement. 
 The success of the Democratic party in the Presidential 
 campaign then pending was imperilled by the implica- 
 tion of the Administration with the Proslavery atroc- 
 ities, and a halt in the proceedings had been ordered 
 from Washington. The Territorial Governor, Wilson 
 Shannon, was removed, and Colonel John W. Geary, a 
 Pennsylvanian, appointed to succeed him. The ap- 
 pointment of Geary was highly gratifying to Charles 
 Robinson. Each had known the other by reputation 
 during the trying times in California, and when they 
 met in Kansas they became frank and confidential 
 friends. 
 
 The arrival of Geary at Lecompton September 10th, 
 
 23 
 
1856, was opportune. The most distracting conditions 
 imaginable existed throughout the Territory. In addi- 
 tion to the armed bands of both parties that were raid- 
 ing the country, fighting battles and despoiling and 
 terrorizing the inhabitants, war upon a grander scale 
 was imminent. A hostile army, twenty-seven hundred 
 strong, led by David R. Atchison, a United States Sen- 
 ator from Missouri, was marching upon Lawrence. 
 The Governor, upon being apprised of the movement, 
 ordered Colonel Philip St. George Cooke, of the United 
 States Army, with five hundred men, then stationed at 
 Lecompton, to move at once to the protection of Law- 
 rence. He arrived on Mount Oread at midnight, Sep- 
 tember 14th, and placed his command in position to 
 defend the town. Governor Geary arrived the next 
 morning, proceeded to the camp of what now had sud- 
 denly become the insurgents, at the mouth of the 
 Wakarusa, and commanded them to retire and disperse. 
 The order was imperative, and, supplemented by the 
 military demonstration, was reluctantly obeyed. 
 
 From this blow the Proslavery men never rallied. It 
 was their last invasion in force from Missouri. The 
 Democratic party was victorious at the National elec- 
 tion in November; Governor Geary was forced to re- 
 sign, and Hon. Robert J. Walker was appointed to 
 succeed him. But by the time the new Administration 
 was fairly inaugurated, it was plainly evident that the 
 Free State men had occupied the Territory in such 
 overwhelming numbers that they could never be dis- 
 lodged. The South stood beaten. The end was at hand. 
 At the election in 1857, the Free State party secured 
 a majority of both branches of the Territorial Legis- 
 lature. A futile effort to bring the State into the 
 
 24 
 
Union with slavery, under a constitution framed at 
 Lecompton, failed to secure the support of the Demo- 
 cratic majority in the Senate. Even Douglas, the erst- 
 while champion of the Proslavery party, repudiated it. 
 Thus terminated the heroic struggle on the part of the 
 South to regain its supremacy within the Union; and 
 immediately upon the adverse decision of that struggle 
 it proceeded to devise and formulate ways and means 
 to establish an empire outside of the Union, which led 
 to secession and its consequences. 
 
 The record of the work accomplished by Charles 
 Robinson in connection with this political crisis cannot 
 be produced in the space allotted to this article. It is 
 in itself one of the most thrilling chapters in the his- 
 tory of our country. He was Commander-in-Chief as 
 Major-General of the Free State forces in the Waka- 
 rusa War, in which the Proslavery leaders were out- 
 witted and outgeneraled and compelled to disband 
 their "Army of Invasion" and retire in ignominy and 
 derision from the State. By his personal courage and 
 heroic bearing he inspired the Free State men to deeds 
 of noble sacrifice and daring. With artistic skill he in- 
 terested the ambitious in a scheme for Statehood, rich 
 in promise of emoluments and rewards. He was 
 elected Governor, January, 1856, under the "Topeka 
 Constitution," and set up the State Government at 
 Topeka in opposition to the Territorial Legislature, 
 which was dispersed at the point of the sword. With 
 unerring judgment he avoided the pitfalls and snares 
 set for the Free State men to bring them in direct con- 
 flict with the authority of the United States, which 
 would have been fatal to the cause. His life was in 
 constant danger. His home was pillaged and burned 
 
 25 
 
to the ground by the Sheriff of Douglas County. The 
 delicate and dangerous role he assumed led into the 
 shadow of treason. He organized the Free State men 
 as a military force and armed them with the most 
 modern implements of war, which gave them courage 
 to resolve at the Big Springs Convention, September 
 5th, 1855, referring to the laws enacted by the Terri- 
 torial Legislature, "That we will endure and submit 
 to these laws no longer than the best interests of the 
 Territory require, as the less of two evils, and will re- 
 sist them to a bloody issue as soon as we ascertain that 
 peaceable remedies shall fail and forcible resistance 
 shall furnish any reasonable prospect of success." This 
 was treason, pure and simple, but it was justified by 
 the higher tests of exalted citizenship. He was ar- 
 rested and held a prisoner upon the charge; but the 
 General Government dared not bring him to trial be- 
 fore the Nation. He would have been murdered at 
 Leavenworth, while in arrest there, had his captors 
 dared to give him up to death. Throughout the whole 
 of that heroic struggle, his was the master spirit that 
 inspired and the guiding hand that pointed out the 
 ';path to victory. . His .speech delivered at Lawrence 
 July 4th, 1855, is a classic in patriotism and loyalty; 
 it is the utterance of a great man impressed by the 
 responsibility of a great cause. 
 
 The student of history is invited to an investigation 
 of the results of the work accomplished by Charles 
 Robinson in their influence upon the course of National 
 events. He broke the autocratic power of the South 
 that had theretofore dominated the Government, and 
 smashed the slate that would have perpetuated that 
 power forever. To the Nation he gave the dawn of its 
 
 26 
 
new birth of freedom, and to its Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence consistency and dignity. Had he faltered 
 March 30th, 1855, or failed in any subsequent emer- 
 gency in the Kansas Rebellion, the Emancipation 
 Proclamation would not have been written. He cre- 
 ated the conditions from which sprang the immortal 
 paper, and deserves to stand in history upon equal 
 terms with the man who wrote it. Upon the admission 
 of Kansas into the Union, he was elected Governor; 
 but the strength and efficiency of his administration 
 was weakened by the intrigues and machinations of 
 his political enemies, especially those of Senator Lane, 
 who, in the furtherance of his own political fortunes, 
 sought to discredit the Governor at Washington, and 
 appropriate to himself a portion of the Executive's pre- 
 rogative. The action of Mr. Lincoln in the premises is 
 not creditable. He placed reliance in the representa- 
 tions of Senator Lane and grossly wronged and insulted 
 the dignity of the man whom, above all others in this 
 Nation, he should have honored. By a cruel blow* 
 dealt him by the Administration, to the existence of 
 which he had so largely contributed, his political for- 
 tunes were shattered , aiH fibeVexn^nder o^ Msl lf|e 
 emtHt^ftd. After the close of his term of office, he 
 gradually severed his relations with the Republican 
 
 *In September, 18C2, Senator Lane was appointed Brigadier- 
 General, United States Volunteers, and authorized by Secretary of 
 War Staunton to organize three regiments of Volunteers in Kansas, 
 and to appoint the necessary commissioned officers. Governor Rob- 
 inson refused to issue commissions to the persons selected by Lane, 
 whereupon the Secretary of War ordered Robinson to issue them, 
 saying if he refused, the necessary commissions would be issued 
 from Washington; to which Robinson sent the following character- 
 istic reply: "You have the power to override the Constitution and 
 the laws, but you cannot compel the Governor of Kansas to dis- 
 honor his State." 
 
 27 
 
party and ceased to wield a controlling interest in State 
 affairs. The University of Kansas thereafter became 
 the object of his special interest. He promoted its es- 
 tablishment and endowed it with his fortune. In honor 
 of his memory, the Legislature caused a marble bust 
 of the Governor to be placed in the Chapel of that in- 
 stitution. This was unveiled with appropriate cere- 
 mony February 22d, 1898. He died at his home, "Oak- 
 ridge," near Lawrence, August 17th, 1894.* 
 
 *His wife, who was his constant and devoted companion through 
 all these perils in Kansas, still survives him. She was Miss Sara 
 T. D. Lawrence. They were married October 30th, 1851. She is 
 a woman of strong character and great literary ability, and en- 
 joyed to the fullest extent her husband's confidence and love. 
 
 28 
 
GENEALOGY OF CHARLES ROBINSON 
 
 The Carlovlngrlan Ilonse. 
 
 (Fisher's Outlines of History, p. 233.) 
 
 Pepin of Hcristal, d. 714. 
 
 I 
 Charles Martel, d. 741. 
 
 Pepin the Short. (King 752-768.) 
 
 Charlemagne, 768-814. (Emperor 800. ) 
 
 I,ouis the Pious, 814-840. 
 
 l,ouis the German, 843-876. 
 
 Carloman, d. 880. 
 
 Arnulf, King of Germany, 887-899. (Em- 
 I peror896.) 
 
 daughter m. . 
 
 Henry I of Germany, 918-936. 
 
 Robert "the Strong;, " d. 866, a. d. (In- 
 vested with the County of 
 Paris, in 861, by "Charles the 
 Bold," grandson of Charle- 
 magne.) 
 
 Robert, Duke of Normandy. (King 
 I 92-'-92:5.) 
 
 Hugn the Great, d. 956, m. 3. . married Hedwiga. 
 
 Hugh Capet, 987-996. 
 
 Robert I, 996-1031. 
 
 I 
 Henry I, 1031-1060. 
 
 Philip I, 1060-1108, m. Bertha, dau. of Florence I, Count of Holland. 
 
 I/)uis VI, 1108-1187 (styled "Louis le Gros"). 
 
 Peter, Lord of Courtenay (fifth son of Louis VI). 
 
 Alice, m. Agnew Taillefer, Count of Angouleme. 
 
 John, King of England, m. Isabelle 
 
 OF Angouleme, 
 
 1. Henry IIL 
 
 2. Edward I. 
 
 3. Edward II. 
 
 4. Edward III. 
 6. Duke of York. 
 
 6. Earl of Cambridge. 
 
 7. Duke of York. 
 
 8. Edward IV. 
 
 I 
 
 married Count de la Marche. 
 Isabelle, Baroness. 
 Isabel. 
 
 Thomas, Lord Berkeley. 
 Margaret, Lady Bassett. 
 
 Bassett. 
 
 I 
 Bassett. 
 
 I 
 — — Bassett. 
 
 Sir Symond Bassett. 
 
 29 
 
9. Elizabeth, m. Henry VII. Robert Bassett. 
 
 I I 
 
 10. Margaret, m. James IV, King of Gyles Bassett. 
 I Scots. 
 
 11. James V, King of Scots. 
 
 12. Mary, Queen of Scots. 
 
 I 
 
 13. James 1. 
 
 Robert Bassett. 
 
 William Bassett. 
 
 I 
 Edward Bassett. 
 
 "I Jane Dighton. 
 
 14. Elizabeth, ra. Frederick, Elector | 
 
 I of Palatine. Frances Dighton, m. Richard Williams. 
 
 16. Sophia, m. Ernest Augustus, Elec- | | 
 
 I tor of Hanover. Samuel. Thomas. 
 
 I I I 
 
 16. George I. Seth. Jonathan. 
 
 I I I 
 
 17. George II. David, m^ Elizabeth . 
 
 18. Frederick, Prince of Wales. Jonathan Robinson, m. Phebe Williams. 
 
 19. George III. Jonathan Robi nson, m. Hulda Woodward. 
 
 20. Duke of Dent. Charles Robinson. 
 
 I 
 
 21. Victoria. 
 
 1 
 
 22. Edward VII. 
 
 (' (1) King John of England. Son, Henry III. 
 
 I (2) Count de hi Marche of France. Four sons 
 Isabelle of Aligotllcnie, m. -j (one of whom was Wm. de la Valence, 
 
 Earl of Pembroke), and a daughter, 
 Isabelle, "uterine sister" of Henry III. 
 
 Isabelle, m. Maurice de Creoun, a baron of note. 
 
 i 
 Isabelle, m. Maurice de Berkeley, d. April, 1281. 
 
 Thomas, I,ord Berkele3', m. Jane, dau. of Wm. de Ferress, Earl of Derby. 
 
 Margaret Berkeley, m. Sir Anselm Bassett. 
 
 Bassett. 
 
 Sir Henry Furnealx. Walter Rawley [Raleigh] ni. Jane, the 
 I I Ivord Boteler's dau. I 
 
 Bassett. Sir Matthew Furnealx, . . . . m. . . Maud Rawley. 
 
 I I 
 Bassett. Sir John Bytton, m. Avis Furnealx. 
 
 . I I 
 
 Sir Symond Bassett, . . . m. . . Maud Byttou. 
 
 Robert Bassett, in. Margaret Harwell. 
 
 Gyles Bassett, m. Jane Davis. 
 
 Robert Bassett, m. Anne Spj'cer. 
 
 William Bassett, ra. Jane, dau. of John of Ashe, of Yewley. 
 
 Edward Bassett, m. Elizabeth, dau. of Henry Sygon, of Yewley. 
 
 Jane Bassett, m Dr. John Dighton, of Gloucester, England, eminent surgeon, of 
 I St. Nicholas parish. 
 
 Frances Dighton, m. Richard Williams, both of Gloucester, England. 
 
 30 
 
Alden de Cromwell, 1066. 
 
 Hugli. 
 Ralph. 
 Ralph. 
 
 Ralph. , 
 
 I 
 Ralph. 
 
 Ralph. 
 
 Ralph. 
 
 Ralph. 
 
 Ulker. 
 
 Richard. 
 
 John. 
 
 I 
 Robert. Dau. Margaret, m. William Smyth, bro. of Margaret. 
 
 William, m. Margaret Smyth. 
 
 John, m. Joan Smyth, dau. of William Smj'th, above. 
 
 Walter, son Thomas, Vicar General, 153.). 
 
 I 
 Katherine Cromwell, m. Morgan Williams. 
 
 I 
 
 1 . I 
 
 Thomas. Sir Richard Williams.* 
 
 John Williams. Sir Henry Williams, alias Cromwell. 
 
 Richard Williams. Robert Cromwell. 
 
 1 . I • 
 
 JohnWilliams. Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 William Williams, m. Jane Woodward. 
 
 Richard Williams, of Taunton, m. Frances Dightou. 
 
 I 
 
 I I 
 
 Samuel. Thomas. 
 
 1 I 
 
 Seth. Jonathan. 
 
 I I 
 
 David, m. Elizabeth. 
 
 Phebe Williams, m. Jonathan Robinson . 
 
 Jonathan Robinson, m. Hulda Woodward. 
 
 \ 
 Ch.\rles Robinson. 
 
 * Sir Richard Williams changed his name to Cromwell in honor of his uncle, 
 Thomas Cromwell, vicar general under Henrj' VIII, and wrote his name "Wil- 
 liam, alias Cromwell," as did his son Hetirj', grandson Robert, and great-grand- 
 son, Oliver Cromwell, in his youth. (1620.) 
 
 31 
 
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