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Show ) !)8 A. POLITICAL TEXT-BOOK FOH. 1860. hemp in their button-holes and elsewhcrtl nbout the·r to vote w ~tlwut bei_ng s ~vorn-some _of them voUng :11 Persons. 'l'hcy claimed to have a right to vote, from the I many as ctgl~t .or ~me. tunes; changmg t.h ci.r hats and i·act that they were there on the ground, :u !d had, ~r cotLts, and gt vmg 111 dtffercnt names. each. tu;t,e. ~fter intended to make, claims In the Territory, although Lhctr . t,hcy hatl voted, they _returned to 1\hssourt. l ~~~~ ~ rct~f,. unilies were in Missouri. ::!tate rnen gencmlly .<ltd not vote, tho~gh conslttutmg a The judges appointed by the Oon~rnor opened th_c majority in the pa·ectnct. Upon coun t!ng the ballot~ in polls, nnd some persons offered to v ote, ;u11l when thcu· the box and the names o~ the I~OII-hsts, it was _found votes were rejected on the groutHl tlt<tt thcy·were not that th~re were too many ballots, and one of the JUdges residents of the district the crowd threatened to tc:tr the of t!lcctton took out I.Jallots enough to make the two uum. hou e down if the judg~s did not leave. The judges then bers correspond. withdrew taking the poll-books with them The crowd t hen proc'eeded to select other persons to net ns j udge.\ twd the election went on. 'l'ho~e persons votlng who w~re sworn were asked if they considered tJ,ena~eh·es re~illcnts or the district, :tnt! if they said they did, they were allowed to vote. llut few of thc r · ·i,teuts were prcscnt and voted, and the .Free- talc men, as a g~:nem l ~hing, did not vote. After the l\li!l:!OIIrhns g(>t throu)!h voting they r eturned home. A formal return wn!l m:ule by the' j udges of election setting out the facts, but it was noL verified. 'l'he numhcr of legal voters in this district was 96 of whom a majority were Jl'ace-:-it:uc men. Of these...:_ voted. The total nulllher of votes ca~t was 2!)6. W OLF RIVRR PRKCINCT. XIYTII DISTtHCT. It \l'aS generally rumored in thi;:; cl"st.rlrt, fnr some flays lie fore the election, that the ~I issourians we ·e coaning over to vote. Previous to the dcrtion, 111en frlllll Missouri came into the district, a n(l clt'ct ion cered for the Pro-Slavery cantlitlates. t: \.'n ll:~vicl H. At c lti~on and a party controlled the IIOntinatiuns in oue of the primary elections. nunn O.lK Pll~:CI~CT. Several hundred l\lissourian~ fa om J!uchanau, Platte, and Andrew counties, l\Io., inclmling a ~TC:t t na:wy of the prominent cititeus of St. J o.;eph, came into this precinct ~he day before, and on the day of election, in wagons and on h orses, and encamped there. Arrangements were made for them to cross the ferry at St . .I oseph free of expense to themselves. They were armed with bowieknives and pistols, guns and rifles. On tltc morning of the election, the }'ree- Late candidates resignc(l in a body, on account of the presence of the hu·ge numLcr of armecl Missourians, at which tltc crowd cheered anti hurrahed. Gen. B. F. Stringfellow wa!! preoent, and was prominent in promoting the e lection of tho Pro-Slavery tiokct, as wall also the ll on. Wilhtrd P. Hall, ttn(l others of the most prominent citizens of ~t. Joseph, :\lo. But one of Ulcjudgcs of election, appoin ted hy tl ae Uovernor, served on that day, and the crowd c hose t wo others to ~ upply the vacancies. 'l'he l\1~sourians said tlJ c.v c~tn1c there to vote for, ltn(l seeure the election o f, Major Wnt. P. IU ch~nlson. l\lajM Richardson, elected to the Council, had R. farm in ~tissouri, where his wife ancl tl:wghter lived with hi~ sonin- law, Willard P. Hall, he hilusclf generally goiug home to Missouri every Saturday night. Tht: farm was generally known as the Richardson fa rm. lie ha (I a c laim in the Territory, upon which was 11 s: ~w - rnill, and where he ~enerally remained during the week. Some of the Missourians gave as their rea on for volin<> that they land heard that eastern emigrant~ were to be a~ t h;,.t election, though no eastern emigrants were there. Others t1aid they were going to vote for the puq1osc of making Kansas a lave State. Some clalmctl tha.t they had a. right to vote undet· the provisions of the l(u.nsa.s-N ebra.ska bill, from tl\e f:tct that they were present on the ground on the day of election. 'l'he Free-State men generally did not vote and those who did vote, voted generally for .John H. \VIliteh ead, l'ro- lrtvery, for Council, against 1\Iajor Wm. P. ltichardson, and did not vote at all for members of the Lower Hou~e. 'l'he parties were pretty nearly equally d ivided in the district, some being or opinion that the l<'rec-State party had R. small majority, an<l otlwrs that the P ro,' lavery party had a small maj ority. After the election wa..~ over and the polls were closccl, the Missourians ret. urned home. During the day, they hac! provisions and ltquor served out, free of expense, to all. DONIPHAN PRKCJNC'r. :t'he ~vcnlng before th e e lec tion, some 200 or more Mt!ISO~nans. fron~ l'la.tte,. lluehanan, Saline, and Clay cout~tt cs, 1\ltssoun, came tnto this precinct with tents muste, wagons, and provisions, and armed' with guns' nfles,. pi$Lols, and bowie-knives, and encamped about two tntle~ ft·om the place of voting 'l'hey said they came to vote, to make Kansas a lave State, and intended to retnrn to Missouri after they had voted 1 On the ~orning of the election, the Judges appolnted •Y t~c Governor would not serve, and others were appo1uted I.Jy the c rowd. 'l'he Missourlana were allowed 'l'ltc numbet· o f voters in the district by the census WM :J3 l oft hese 1~-.1: voted. 'l'he testimony shows that quite ~~ nunal)er of persons whose legal resi<.lence wa!t in the popu lo u.-; county of lluchanan, Mo., on the oppoaite sirltl of thu river, had chtims in the 'l'e rritory. Some ranged ctlttle, and ot.hcrs marked out their claim and built a cal.iin, IWtl sold this Incipient title where th ey could. They were not residents of the Territory In any just or legal sense. A number of settlers moved into the distric~ in Lite month of !\larch. Your Committee are satlsfied, after a careful analysis of the r ecords a.ntl testimony, that the nutnber of legal votes cast did not exceed ZOOout of 7"1.7. XYTH DISTRICT, 'l'lte election in this district was held in the house of a \lr. Hayes. On the day of election, a crowd of from 400 to ,'\00 men collcctcclat·ound the polls, of which the great IJocly were cit.izens of 1\lissouri. One of the judges of e lection, in his testimony, states that the stmngers commenced crowding around the polls, and that then the re ·idents left. Threats were mn.de before and rl ul"ing the e lection day that there should be no .lt'rec-Stutc cnnfl itlatcs, although there were ne<J,rly or quite as many l•'rce-::!ta te as l'ro- 'lavery men resident in the district. ~lost of the crowd were drinking anti carousing, cursing the Abolitionists an<.l threatening the only l•'ree-Stata j uclgc of election. A majority of those who voted worf he!np in their I.Jutton-holes, and their password was, "all right on the h emp." .1\lany of the Missourians werw known and are named by the witnesses. Sevemi speeches were made by them at the polls, and amon1 those who sp oke were Major Oliver one of your Committee, Cot. llurns, anti Lalan ,~t'illi:.u~s of l'latte County. 1\lajor Oliver urged upon all pre;;ent' to usc no harsll words, and cxprel!scd the hope that nothing would bt said or done to harm the feelings of the mol!t sensitive on the other side. H e gave some grounds base(] on the iHissoul"i Oompronlise, in regartl to the t~ight of voting, and was Ull(ltlrotood to excuse the Mil!s ourians for voting. Your Cotnmittee are satisfied that he ditl uot vote. Col. Burns recommended all to v ote, and he hoped none would go home wi tl10ut voting. Some of the rro-lavet ·y r e!:!idents wer·e much dissatisfied at the Interference with their rights by the l\lis3ourinns, and for that reason-because r ellectiou conviucctl them that it would be better to have Kansas a .Free-State- they "fell over the fence." 'l'he judges requested the voters to t1~ke an o~~th that they were actual reslucnts. 1'hey objcetcd at first, some saying they had a claim, o t· "lam h ere." llut t~te .Free-::ltate judge insisted upon the o:\th, and his a_ socau.t_e~, w!1o at Hrst were disposed to waive i t, coinCided With hun, and the voters all took It after some ~ru1ubling. One saiu he cut him some poles and laid them 111 the shap_e of a square, and that made him a claim; and anoth er sutd that he had cut him a few sticks of wood, and that made him a claim. 'J'he Free-State men did not vote, alt.ltou~;h they believed theii· numbers to be equal to the l'ro-::!lavcry settlus, and some claimed that they had the majority . 'rhey were deterred by threats throughout I.Jy the Missourians before and on the day or election, from putting up candidates and no candidates were run, for this reason- th;tt th~re was a credited rumor previouHly lh:tt the Missourians would control the elec~ion. The J<'ree- 'tate judge was threatened with ex!> Ulston fr~m the polls, and a young rnan thrul!t a pisLol mto the wutdow through which the votes wert: r ecei ved. 'l'he whole nu111ber of votes cast was 417 · of the nnmes on the poll-book, I.Jut 62 are in the censu~ -rolls, and the le_stlmouy shows U.at n small portion, es~ltn!ttcd by one w1tness a.t one-quarter of the legal voters voted. Your Committee estimate the number or Iega't voters at 80. One of the judges referred to cerllfied to the Governor that the clectiou was fairly co'ntluct.ed. It was not con· tes.ted, becau~e no one would tako the responsibility ~r domg It, as 1t was not considered safe and that 1f another election was h eld the residents ~vould fare no better. ' X VlTu DISTRICT. For some time previous to the ele c tion, meetings W'Crl' held and arranl(t!liiCnts made iu Ati.isourl to get up como TIIE K.ANS.AS-NEllRA.SKA. STRUGGLE. p:Lnles to oome over I o the Te rritory and vote, and the any before, and on the d!LY of election, large bodies of Missourians from Platte, Clay, R:1y, Oharlton, Oarrol, Jlinton, and S:Liine counties, Missouri, came Into this JIBtrict and csunped th ere. They we re nrmetl with pistols And bowie-knives, and some with guns and r lfieA, and l<ld badges of hc111p in their but.ton-ltolel! and elsewhere about their per ons. On the morning of the election, there were from 1,0''0 to 1,400 p ~ rsons pre~l'llt on the ground. Previous tn tit • e1ection, I he Missourians endea.vorc<l to p ersuade tlat- two Free-State ju dge~ to resign, by making threats of t><- r :;onal r lolcnce to them, one of whom resigned ou the au orning of election, and the crow~! chose a not hcr to fill his pli\Cl'. Dut one of t.hc judg\.'H1 the l!'rec-Statc j11<1ge, would tstke the Oiltlt prcscribud by the Govcrno,·, the otlaer two decldiug that tlacy had no r ight to ~ we:tr 11ny otac who oiicrecl tv vote, but tllltt all on the grountl wen• caati(led to vok. 'l'he only votes refu~cd wet·e ~ome Ddaware lutl iaus, SOllie 311 \\'yautlot Indians being allowed to vote. . . • • 'l'hc J<'ree·diltC nwn ~encrHlly <lift not vote at that elt·ction; a.nd no newly-arravetl I<:asrern t>migranta we re th ere. 1'hc .1<'1 ~e- 't ate judge of election refused to sign thereturns uutil the words •• hy lawful re~idcnt voters" were stricken out, which was d11ne, and the returna made in that way. 'l'hc elect ion wa contested and a new election onl~red by Uov. ltecd cr, for the 2~ci o f ~f ay. 'l'he: testlan o11y is divided as to the r elative Htt·cngtlt of pArti~ti in this di~trict. 'l 'lae whole nuuaher of voters in the distrlet, _a ccord in!{ to the cet1sus rd urns, was 8 '5; !tnd, accord Ill!( tu :~very e:t re rully pr..:pat·cd II ·t of vo terH, ~rep:m~tl fot· the Pro-Slavery c:wdidate unci other Pro~ lavcr,v naen, a few days pn:vio us to the election, tlacre wcrc 805 \'tllet·:; in the di::;trlc.:t, including those who had !lalms uut clltl n ot live on them. The whole numi.Jer nf fote~ cnst W it~ !Hi-l Of tltose na111cd in the cousu~ 1ll6 rot.~d. Your Oot~~utitiec, upon care ful examination, arc llltJ~.til'd tltat tltt>re Wt>re n ot ovcr 15\.1 IegiLI voteR cast, l!a vmg 814 ill egal vote~. XVIITu DISTRICT. Tltc elect lou In tltis district seems to Ita ve been fairly conclucted, nnd not contested n.t all. In th iJ (llst rlrt. tl1fl P1·o-~lavay party batl the tnujorlty. XVIIITu DISTRICT. Previous to the election, Oen. David R. At chison of Pluttc City, .Mis our!, got np a comp~tny or 1\li l:lsourilln>~, uncl pa11slng through Weston, .MiHsouri, wt-nt over ln tn the 'l'erritory .. . He remained a ll n ight at tl1e houRe of-and then exhtbliCd hls arm!!, of whlcll lae had nn ;dmwlttnce: He proceeded. to tlte Nt·mnhn (XVI lith) <listr l1.t. On hts w;ty, he and hls party llltenclcd a Noua inat i o~;CollvcntioJa lu. the Xl Vth 1)1 tr1ct, und propo~cd lLIId CIJusrcl to be nommated a Act of candidates in oppo8ition to tho wishes of tho Pro-Slavery r es!dcuts of the di!<tri<:t. At that Convf.:ntioH, he said llmt there were 1 100 men cotning o ver from l'latt.e Oouuty, and If tl 1 ;~t waAn't e nough , they could send 15,0110 more-tl1:\t th(·y enme t v olt , and would vote or k ill every G--el d-d Aboltti o ni:~L In the'l'e rr itory. On the day of election, the 1\[ lssourit~ns, uncl er Atclti~ on, who we re enca111p•d there, came up to the poll:-~ In tht XV 11 J tit District, t a k ing tho oatil that they were reshlt'nt::~ of the d !strict. The Misl!out·ian~ were all n.rant!d with pistols or IJowie-knive!l, and salt! there were GO in llat-ar company. llut 11 vo te~ given on that day were g iven by n:~idents of the districL. 'l'lte whole nulliiJer of v ote:~ WltA G2. ll. L. Kirk, one or the canditlntes, came Into tlte dlr<trlct front 1\lissonri ttbout :~ week before the election and hon,a ded t.ltere. He left after the c lectio ra, nnd wa~ t;t>L at tlte lime a legal re itlcnt of t he cJh;tri ct. in which lte was elected. No protest wa.M sent to tlae Governor 011 !Lecount of threats made against any who 111tould dare to co nt.<' ~ the ~ te c tion. 'l'lte following tnbles embody the t·csult of the ex n.ntiuntlon of y our C(nnmitlee In r egard to tltl~ clcclion. ln some of the districts, it was intpo 'Hi hie to ascea t:du u, •. pt·cci e number of the legn.l votes cast, and e:spcciully lo the XIVth, XVth, and XV1th Disir icts. In such ca~o<~, the number of lcga.l and Illegal votes cast Is stated aft<'r a careful reexamination of ull the testimony and r~cord6 concerning the election ; ABSTRACT OF CENSUS, AND RETURNS OF ELECTION OF MATICH 30, 1855, llY ELECTION DISTRICTS. 1 2 8 4 PLAC&S OF VOTING. Lawrence... • • • • • • • ... ..• Hloornington . . ... ..•... • • . Stinson's, or Tecumseh .•... Dr. ChtLptnn.n's •.•••• •• ... 6 P?tawatamle ............. . { Bull Creek ••••••.••••. . ••. Bag Sugllr Oreek. .•••••.•• 6 l~ittle SugarCreek ..... . .. . .l< ort Scott 8 1 Clsan.c Il. Tlt~~·:::::. ·:.::::: 9 p ouncil Gro ve .......... .. 1 1 awnee .................. . 10 !ig Blue .. .............. .. ltock Creek 11 :\l a rvsv ille .... · .. .... · · .. 12 J ~I . ~l :tr ·~ .. · .. ·" .. · .... • I I ::litver t.~k~ · ...... · · · .. · 18 llickory P ui·u·t·.::::::: ·:::: J.l 1W olf Urcel· ))~)ni ph .on .. . . ... . . . ...... . Bun·-Oul< 'ti ~;J·,;c··~ · · · · · · · · 1.') lH ' 17 1,; lin .Y e~ ...'. .....". .............. .· ·. LJ'iLVCtlWill'tlt Ouna i:'priugs.'.'.'.'.'.'.'::::::: 1\Ioorestuwu ... ..• . . ....... -----'rota) • •• ••• •••••••• • 0 .... 0 <11 0 ~ Oensus. ~ :c, ..'C.."l,.) 1:1 0 .e.n. Cl) p.. 0 z .... 0 0 z Oouucil. l If oul'c. ..:; () E cn .0... 0 0 z .... 0 0 % () ,..,.. .0... 0 0 % .,...;.. .0 E: Cl) ::a ..... 0 0 z -------- --- -- --- --- --- -- -- -- -- 1 l 818 8G6 78 877 i99 74 8-l 816 211 17 23 27 2 82 4 12 233 31!3 51 2:.o 412 8H9 43 4 253 12 4 2 9 65 11 70 815 28 17 {l2 42 21 7 19 G 3U 15 2 GO 1() 11 2 1 8 2 8 G 48 5 14 1 - 1034 341 872 80 8'G 264 98 1U4 35tJ 234 31 15 69 2:3 82 11 sa 2>!9 3-16 7 8(16 417 9G4 ~!) G2 232 80 32 15 18 115 82 104 100 26 87 75 4 28 T 11 33 12 200 so l5tt 59 17 802 816 838 G5 880 191 {)!) 250 2t9 21 321 230 I 9()2 619 252 177 1407 810 118 a (j 1:.>1 36 141 284 - 1 - I 1167 837 1-l 45 878 1 :e.-; WI 99 3G9 ]!)!) 101 41 21 7'i !)(j 834 208 8b.'5 (l0 28 ------ --- --- --- -- -- M~7 791 92 6~)2tl 1310 -496 501 ' 2 ' !J2 1 2 3 1 4 5 8 ~ (j ltl 2 1 1 2 1 1 !I - 10 - 1 - 10 - 7 - 7 1 8 I - 1 ~ I ~ 2 :3 4 I 7 G fi 5 6 8 8 9 !) !) 10 11 11 l'l 1 ;J H 1 - - 1 1 - R 2 1 ] 4 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 ~ 8 -=-118-=- ·~ By the election n.g 1 . 1 th p fl~tt ed in ever 11• • cont uctec • e t'o-Slavery candl-,them, in both the Council and the If t)u~c, uid not •• r e15ide ~rlct recelvetl t strl~t ~ul the Vlllth rcpt·esentativc di:-~- in" :.ud were not ' 1 inhahit11nts of" the district fOt ' n mnJortty of the vote::s; and several or which tl~t:y were t:ltJcted, ns requlwd by the orguuic taw |