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electia has been controlled, not by the actual settlers, | Chapman's, over 40 miles from the Missouri State line. but by citizens of Missouri; and, as a consequence, every It was a thinly-settled region, containing but 47 voteri officer in the Territory, from constables to legislators, ex-in February, 1855, when the census was taken. On the cept those appointed by the President, owe their positions to non-resident voters. None have been elected by the settlers; and your Committee have been unable to find that any political power whatever, however unimportant, has been exercised by the people of the Territory.

day before the election, from 100 to 150 citizens of Cass and Jackson Counties, Mo., came into this district, declaring their purpose to vote, and that they were bound to make Kansas a Slave State, if they did it at the point of the sword. Persons of the party on the way drove each a stake in the ground and called it a claimand in one case several names were put on one stake. The party of strangers camped all night near where the election was to be held, and in the morning were at the election-polls and voted. One of their party got drunk, and, to get rid of Dr. Chapman, a judge of the election, they sent for him to come and see a sick man, and in his absence filled his place with another judge, who was not sworn. They did not deny nor conceal that they were residents of Missouri, and many of them were recognized as such by others. They declared that they were bound to make Kansas a Slave State. They insisted upon their right to vote in the Territory if they were in it one hour. After the election, they again returned to their homes in Missouri, camping over night on the way.

We find upon the poll-books 161 names; of these not over 80 resided in the Territory; 181 were non-residents. But few settlers attended the election in the Vth Dis

In October, A. D. 1854, Governor A. H. Reeder and the other officers appointed by the President arrived in the Territory. Settlers from all parts of the country were moving in in great numbers, making their claims and building their cabins. About the same time, and before any election was or could be held in the Territory, a secret political society was formed in the State of Missouri. It was known by different names, such as Social Band," | "Friends' Society," "Blue Lodge," "The Sons of the South." Its members were bound together by secret oaths, and they had passwords, signs, and grips, by which they were known to each other. Penalties were imposed for violating the rules and secrets of the Order. Written minutes were kept of the proceedings of the Lodges, and the different Lodges were connected together by an effective organization. It embraced great numbers of the citizens of Missouri, and was extended into other Slave States and into the Territory. Its avowed purpose was not only to extend Slavery into Kansas, but also into other terri-trict, the district being large and the settlement scattered. tory of the United States; and to form a union of all the friends of that institution. Its plan of operating was to organize and send men to vote at the elections in the Territory, to collect money to pay their expenses, and, if necessary, to protect them in voting. It also proposed to induce Pro-Slavery men to emigrate into the Territory, to aid and sustain them while there, and to elect none to office but those friendly to their views. This dangerous society was controlled by men who avowed their purpose to extend Slavery into the Territory at all hazards, and was altogether the most effective instrument in organizing the subsequent armed invasions and forays. In its Lodges in Missouri, the affairs of Kansas were discussed, the force necessary to control the election was divided into bands, and leaders selected; means were collected, and signs and badges were agreed upon. While the great body of the actual settlers of the Territory were relying upon the rights secured to them by the organic law, and had formed no organization or combination whatever, this conspiracy against their rights was gathering strength in Missouri, and would have been sufficient at their first election to have overpowered them, if they had been united to a man.

Your Committee had great difficulty in eliciting the proof of the details in regard to this secret society. One witness, member of the legislative council, refused to answer questions in reference to it. Another declined to answer fully, because to do so would result to his injury. Others could or would only answer as to the general purposes of the Society, but sufficient is disclosed in the testimony to show the influence it had in controlling the elections in the Territory.

The first election was for a Delegate to Congress. It was appointed for the 29th of November, 1854. The Governor divided the Territory into seventeen Election-Districts; appointed Judges and prescribed proper rules for the election. In the Ist, IIId, VIIIth, IXth, Xth, XIIth, XIIIth, and XVIIth Districts there appears to have been but little if any fraudulent voting.

The election in the IId District was held at the village of Douglas, nearly fifty miles from the Missouri line. On the day before the election, large companies of men came into the district in wagons and on horseback, and declared that they were from the State of Missouri, and were going to Douglas to vote. On the morning of the election, they gathered around the house where the election was to be held. Two of the judges appointed by the Governor did not appear, and other judges were elected by the crowd. All then voted. In order to make a pretense of right to vote, some persons of the company kept a pretended register of squatter claims, on which any one could enter his name and then assert he had a claim in the Territory. A citizen of the district who was himself a candidate for Delegate to Congress, was told by one of the strangers, that he would be abused and probably killed if he challenged a vote. He was seized by the collar, called a d-d Abolitionist, and was compelled to seek protection in the room with the judges. About the time the polls were closed, these strangers mounted their horses and got into their wagons and cried out :

"All aboard for Westport and Kansas City." A number were recognized as residents of Missouri, and among them was Samuel H. Woodson, a leading lawyer of Independence. Of those whose names are on the pollbooks, 85 were resident settlers and 226 were not. The election in the IVth District was held at Dr.

82 votes were cast; of these between 20 and 30 were settlers, and the residue were citizens of Missouri. They passed into the Territory by way of the Santa Fe road and by the residence of Dr. Westfall, who then lived on the western line of Missouri. Some little excitement arose at the polls as to the legality of their voting, but they did vote for General Whitfield, and said they intended to make Kansas a Slave State, and that they had claims in the Territory. Judge Teazle, judge of the court in Jackson County, Missouri, was present, but did not vote. He said he did not intend to vote, but came to see that others voted. After the election, the Missourians returned the way they came.

The election in the VIth District was held at Fort Scott, in the southeast part of the Territory, and near the Missouri line. A party of about one hundred men, from Cass and the counties in Missouri south of it, went into the Territory, traveling about 45 miles, most of them with their wagons and tents, and camping out. They appeared at the place of election. Some attempts were made to swear them, but two of the judges were prevailed upon not to do so, and none were sworn, and as many as chose voted. There were but few resident voters at the polls. The settlement was sparse-about 25 actual settlers voted out of 105 votes cast, leaving 80 illegal votes. After the voting was over, the Missourians went to their wagons and commenced leaving for home.

The most shameless fraud practiced upon the rights of the settlers at this election was in the VIIth District. It is a remote settlement, about 75 miles from the Missouri line, and contained in February, A.D. 1855, three months afterward, when the census was taken, but 53 voters, and yet the poll-books show that 604 votes were cast. The election was held at the house of Frey McGee, at a place called "110." But few of the actual settlers were present at the polls. A witness who formerly resided in Jackson County, Missouri, and was well acquainted with the citizens of that county, says that he saw a great many wagons and tents at the place of election, and many individuals he knew from Jackson County. He was in their tents, and conversed with some of them, and they told him they had come with the intention of voting. He went to the polls intending to vote for Flenniken, and his ticket being of a different color from the rest, his vote was challenged by Frey McGee, who had been appointed one of the judges, but did not serve. Lemuel Ralstone, a citizen of Missouri, was acting in his place. The witness then challenged the vote of a young man by the name of Nolan, whom he knew to reside in Jackson County. Finally, the thing was hushed up, as the witness had a good many friends there from that county, and it might lead to a fight if he challenged any more votes. Both voted, and he then went down to their camp. He there saw many of his old acquaintances, whom he knew had voted at the election in August previous in Missouri, and who still resided in that State. By a careful comparison of the poll-lists with the census-rolls, we find but 12 names on the poll-book who were voters when the census was taken three months afterward, and we are satisfied that not more than 20 legal votes could have been polled at that election. The only residents who are known to have voted are named by the witness, and are 18 in number-thus leaving 584 illegal votes cast in a remote district, where the settlers within many miles were acquainted with each other.

The total number of white inhabitants in the XIth District, in the month of February, A.D. 1855, including

men, women and children, was 36, of whom 24 were voters yet the poll-lists in this District show that 245 votes were cast at this election. For reasons stated hereafter in regard to the election on the 80th of March, your Committee were unable to procure the attendance of witnesses from this District. From the records, it clearly appears that the votes cast could not have been by lawful resident voters. The best test, in the absence of direct proof, by which to ascertain the number of legal votes cast, is by a comparison of the census-roll with the poll-book-by which it appears that but 7 resident settlers voted, and 288 votes were illegally and fraudulently cast.

The election in the XIVth District was held at the house of Benjamin Harding, a few miles from the town of St. Joseph, Missouri. Before the polls were opened, a large number of citizens of Buchanan County, Missouri, and among them many of the leading citizens of St. Joseph, were at the place of voting, and made a majority of the company present. At the time appointed by the Governor for opening the polls, two of the Judges were not there, and it became the duty of the legal voters present to select other judges. The judge who was present suggested the name of Mr. Waterson as one of the Judges -but the crowd voted down the proposition. Some discussion then arose as to the right of non-residents to vote for judges, during which Mr. Bryant was nominated and elected by the crowd. Some one nominated Col. John Scott as the other judge, who was then and is now a resident of St. Joseph. At that time, he was the City Attorney at that place, and so continued until this spring, but he claimed that the night before he had come to the house of Mr. Bryant, and had engaged boarding for a month, and considered himself a resident of Kansas on that ground. The judges appointed by the Governor refused to put the nomination of Col. Scott to vote, because he was not a resident. After some discussion, Judge Leonard, a citizen of Missouri, stepped forward and put the vote himself; and Mr. Scott was declared by him as elected by the crowd, and served as a judge of election that day. After the election was over, he returned to St. Joseph, and never since has resided in the Territory. It is manifest that this election of a non-resident lawyer as a judge was imposed upon the settlers by the citizens of the State. When the board of judges was thus completed, the voting proceeded; but the effect of the rule adopted by the judges allowed many, if not a majority of the nonresidents, to vote. They claimed that their presence on the ground, especially when they had a claim in the Territory, gave them a right to vote-under that construction of the law, they readily, when required, swore they were "residents," and then voted. By this evasion, as nearly as your Committee can ascertain from the testimony, as many as 50 illegal votes were cast in this District out of 158, the whole number polled.

The election in the XVth District was held at Penseman's, on Stranger Creek, a few miles from Weston,

Missouri. On the day of the election, a large number of citizens of Platte County, but chiefly from Weston and Platte City, came in small parties, in wagons and on horseback, to the polls. Among them were several leading citizens of that town, and the names of many of them are given by the witnesses. They generally insisted upon their right to vote, on the ground that every man having a claim in the Territory could vote, no matter where he lived. All voted who chose. No man was challenged or sworn. Some of the residents did not vote. The purpose of the strangers in voting was declared to be to make Kansas a Slave State. We find by the poll-books that 306 votes were cast-of these we find but 57 are on the census-rolls as legal voters in February following. Your Committee is satisfied from the testimony that not over 100 of those who voted had any right so to do, leav ing at least 206 illegal votes cast.

The election in the XVIth District was held at Leavenworth. It was then a small village of three or four houses, located on the Delaware Reservation. There were but comparatively few settlers then in the district, but the number rapidly increased afterward. On the day before and on the day of the election, a great many citizens of Platte, Clay and Ray counties crossed the river-most of them camping in tents and wagons about the town, "like a camp-meeting." They were in companies or messes of ten to fifteen in each, and numbered in all several hundred. The ybrought their own provision and cooked it themselves, and were generally armed. Many of them were known by the witnesses, and their names given, and their names are found upon the pollbooks. Among them were several persons of influence where they resided in Missouri, who held, or had held, high official positions in that State. They claimed to be residents of the Territory, from the fact that they were then present, and insisted upon the right to vote, and did vote. Their avowed purpose in doing so was to make Kansas a Slave State. These strangers crowded around the polls, and it was with great difficulty that the settlers could get to the polls. One resident attempted to get to the polls in the afternoon, but was crowded and pulled back. He then went outside of the crowd and hurrahed for Gen. Whitfield, and some of those who did not know him said, "that's a good Pro-Slavery man," and lifted him over their heads so that he crawled on their heads and put in his vote. A person who saw from the color of his ticket that it was not for Gen. Whitfield, cried out, "He is a damned Abolitionist-let him down ;" and they dropped him. Others were passed to the polls in the same way, and others crowded up in the best way they could. After this mockery of an election was over, the non-residents returned to their homes in Missouri. Of the 812 votes cast, not over 150 were by legal voters.

The following abstract exhibits the whole number of votes at this election, for each candidate; the number of legal and illegal votes cast in each district; and the num. ber of legal votes in each district in February following?

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Thus your Committee find that in this, the first election | in the Territory, a very large majority of the votes were cast by citizens of the State of Missouri, in violation of the organic law of the Territory. Of the legal votes cast, Gen. Whitfield received a plurality. The settlers took but little interest in the election, not one-half of them voting. This may be accounted for, from the fact that the settlements were scattered over a great extent-that the term of the Delegate to be elected was short-and that the question of Free and Slave institutions was not generally regarded by them as distinctly at issue. Under these circumstances, a systematic invasion from an adjoining State, by which large numbers of illegal votes were cast in remote and sparse settlements for the avowed purpose of extending Slavery into the Territory, even though it did not change the result of the election, was a crime of great magnitude. Its immediate effect was to further excite the people of the Northern Statesinduce acts of retaliation, and exasperate the actual settlers against their neighbors in Missouri.

In January and February, A.D. 1855, the Governor caused an enumeration to be taken of the inhabitants and qualified voters in the Territory, an abstract of which is here given:

Total population...
Total voters

Natives of the United States..
Of foreign birth..
Slaves....

Free negroes

... .........

.......

..........

8501

2905 7161 409 242 151

On the same day the census was completed, the Governor issued his proclamation for an election to be held on the 30th of March, A.D. 1855, for members of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory. It prescribed the boundaries of districts, the places for polls, the names of judges, the appointment of members, and recited the qualification of voters. If It had been observed, a just and fair election would have reflected the will of the people of the Territory. Before the election, false and inflammatory rumors were busily circulated among the people of Western Missouri. The number and character of the emigration then passing into the Territory were grossly exaggerated and misrepresented. Through the active exertions of many of its leading citizens, aided by the secret societies before referred to, the passions and prejudices of the people of that State were greatly excited. Several residents there have testified to the character of the reports circulated among and credited by the people. These efforts were successful. By an organized movement, which extended from Andrew County in the north to Jasper County in the south, and as far eastward as Boone and Cole counties, companies of men were arranged In regular parties and sent into every council district in the Territory, and into every representative district but one. The numbers were so distributed as to control the election in each district. They went to vote, and with the avowed design to make Kansas a Slave State. They were generally armed and equipped, carried with them their own provisions and tents, and so marched into the Territory. The details of this invasion from the mass of the testimony taken by your committee are so voluminous that we can here state but the leading facts elicited.

IST DISTRICT-MARCH 30, 1955.-LAWRENCE. The company of persons who marched into this district collected in Ray, Howard, Carroll, Boone, La Fayette, Randolph, Saline, and Cass counties, in the State of Missouri. Their expenses were paid-those who could not come contributing provisions, wagons, etc. Provisions were deposited for those who were expected to come to Lawrence, in the house of William Lykins, and were distributed among the Missourians after they arrived there. The evening before and the morning of the day of election, about 1000 men from the above counties arrived at Lawrence, and encamped in a ravine a short distance from town, near the place of voting. They came in wagons-of which there were over one hundred-and on horseback, under the command of Colonel Samuel Young, of Boone County, Missouri, and Claiborne F. Jackson, of Missouri. They were armed with guns, rifles, pistols, and bowie-knives, and had tents, music, and flags with them. They brought with them two pieces of artillery, loaded with musket-balls. On their way to Lawrence, some of them met Mr. N. B. Blanton, who had been appointed one of the judges of election by Governor Reeder; and, after learning from him that he considered it his duty to demand an oath from them as to their place of residence, first attempted to bribe, and then threatened him with hanging, in order to induce him to dispense with that oath. In consequence of these threats, he did not appear at the polls the next morning to act as judge.

The evening before the election, while in camp, the Missourians were called together at the tent of Captain Claiborne F. Jackson, and speeches were made to them

by Colonel Young and others, calling for volunteers to go to other districts where there were not Missourians enough to control the election, as there were more at Lawrence than were needed there. Many volunteered to go, and the morning of the election several companies, from 150 to 200 men each, went off to Tecumseh, Hickory Point, Bloomington, and other places. On the morning of the election, the Missourians came over to the place of voting from their camp, in bodies of one hundred at a time. Mr. Blanton not appearing, another judge was appointed in his place-Colonel Young claiming that, as the people of the Territory had two judges, it was nothing more than right that the Missourians should have the other one, to look after their interests; and Robert E. Cummins was elected in Blanton's stead, because he considered that every man had a right to vote if he had been in the Territory but an hour. The Missourians brought their tickets with them; but, not having enough, they had three hundred more printed in Lawrence on the evening before and the day of election. They had white ribbons in their button-holes to distinguish themselves from the settlers.

When the voting commenced, the question of the legality of the vote of a Mr. Page was raised. Before it was decided, Colonel Samuel Young stepped up to the window where the votes were received, and said he would settle the matter. The vote of Mr. Page was withdrawn, and Colonel Young offered to vote. He refused to take the oath prescribed by the Governor, but swore he was a resi dent of the Territory, upon which his vote was received. He told Mr. Abbott, one of the judges, when asked if he intended to make Kansas his future home, that it was none of his business; that if he were a resident then he should ask no more. After his vote was received, Colonel Young got up in the window-sill and announced to the crowd that he had been permitted to vote, and they could all come up and vote. He told the judges that there was no use in swearing the others, as they would all swear as he had done. After the other judges concluded to receive Colonel Young's vote, Mr. Abbott resigned as judge of election, and Mr. Benjamin was elected in his place.

The polls were so much crowded until late in the evening, that, for a time, when the men had voted, they were obliged to get out by being hoisted up on the roof of the building where the election was being held, and pass out over the house. Afterward, a passage-way through the crowd was made, by two lines of men being formed, through which the voters could get up to the polls. Colonel Young asked that the old men be allowed to go up first and vote, as they were tired with the traveling, and wanted to get back to camp.

The Missourians sometimes came up to the polls in procession, two by two, and voted.

During the day, the Missourians drove off the ground some of the citizens, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Bond, and Mr. Willis. They threatened to shoot Mr. Bond, and a crowd rushed after him, threatening him; and, as he ran from them, some shots were fired at him as he jumped off the bank of the river and made his escape. The citizens of the town went over in a body, late in the afternoon, when the polls had become comparatively clear, and voted.

The whole number of names appearing upon the polllists is 1,034. After full examination, we are satisfied that not over 232 of these were legal voters, and 802 This District is were non-resident and illegal voters. strongly in favor of making Kansas a Free State, and there is no doubt that the Free-State candidates for the legislature would have been elected by large majorities, if none but the actual settlers had voted. At the preceding election in November, 1854, where none but legal voters were polled, General Whitfield, who received the full strength of the Pro-Slavery party, got but 46 votes.

IID DISTRICT-BLOOMINGTON.

On the morning of election, the judges appointed by the Governor appeared and opened the polls. Their names were Harrison Burson, Nathaniel Ramsay, and Mr. Ellison. The Missourians began to come in early in the morning, some 500 or 600 of them, in wagons and carriages, and on horseback, under the lead of Samuel J. Jones, then Postmaster of Westport, Missouri, Claiborne F. Jackson, and Mr. Steely, of Independence, Missouri. They were armed with double-barreled guns, rifles, bowie-knives, and pistols, and had flags hoisted. They held a sort of informal election, off at one side, at first for Governor of Kansas, and shortly afterward announced Thomas Johnson, of Shawnee Mission, elected Governor. The polls had been opened but a short time, when Mr. Jones marched with the crowd up to the window, and demanded that they should be allowed to vote without swearing as to their residence. After some noisy and threatening talk, Claiborne F. Jackson addressed the crowd, saying they had come there to vote, that they had a right to vote if they had been there but five minutes,

and he was not willing to go home without voting; this was received with cheers. Jackson then called upon them to form into little bands of fifteen or twenty, which they did, and went to an ox-wagon filled with guns, which were distributed among them, and proceeded to load some of them on the ground. In pursuance of Jackson's request, they tied white tape or ribbons in their buttonholes, so as to distinguish them from the "Abolition.sts." They again demanded that the Judges should resign, and upon their refusing to do so, smashed in the window, sash and all, and presented their pistols and guns to them, threatening to shoot them. Some one on the outside c.ied out to them not to shoot, as there were Pro Slavery men in the room with the judges. They then put a pry under the corner of the house, which was a log house, and lifted it up a few inches and let it fall again, but desisted upon being told there were PiSlavery men in the house. During this time, the crowd repeatedly demanded to be allowed to vote without being sworn, and Mr. Ellison, one of the judges, expressed himself willing, but the other two judges refused; thereupon a body of men, headed by "Sheriff Jones," rushed into the judges' room with cocked pistols and drawn bowieknives in their hands, and approached Burson and Ramsay. Jones pulled out his watch, and said he would give them five minutes to resign in, or die. When the five minutes had expired and the judges did not resign, Jones said he would give them another minute, and no more. Ellison told his associates that if they did not resign, there would be one hundred shots fired in the room in less than fifteen minutes; and then, snatching up the ballot-box, ran out into the crowd, holding up the ballot-box and hurrahing for Missouri. About that time Burson, and Ramsay were called out by their friends, and not suffered to return. As Mr. Burson went out, he put the ballot poll-books in his pocket, and took them with him; and as he was going out, Jones snatched some papers away from him, and shortly afterward came out himself holding them up, crying" Hurrah for Missouri!" After he discovered they were not the poll-books, he took a party of men with him and started off to take the poll-books from Burson. Mr. Burson saw them coming, and he gave the books to Mr. Umberger, and told him to start off in another direction, so as to mislead Jones and his party. Jones and his party caught Mr. Umberger, took the pollbooks away from him. and Jones took him up behind him on a horse, and carried him back a prisoner. After Jones and his party had taken Umberger back, they went to the house of Mr. Ramsay and took Judge John A. Wakefield prisoner, and carried him to the place of election, and made him get up on a wagon and make them a speech; after which they put a white ribbon in his button-hole and let him go. They then chose two new judges, and proceeded with the election.

They also threatened to kill the judges if they did not receive their votes without swearing them, or else resign. They said no man should vote who would submit to be sworn-that they would kill any one that would offer to do so-"shoot him," "cut his guts out," etc. They said no man should vote this day unless he voted an open ticket, and was "all right on the goose," and that if they could not vote by fair means, they would by foul means. They said they had as much right to vote, if they had been in the Territory two minutes, as if they had been there for two years, and they would vote. Some of the citizens who were about the window, but had not voted when the crowd of Missourians marched up there, upon attempting to vote, were driven back by the mob, or driven off. One of them, Mr. J. M. Macey, was asked if he would take the oath, and upon his replying that he would if the judges required it, he was dragged through the crowd away from the polls, amid cries of "Kill the d-d nigger-thief," "Cut his throat," "Tear his heart out," etc. After they had got him to the outside of the crowd, they stood around him with cocked revolvers and drawn bowie-knives, one man putting a knife to his heart so that it touched him, another holding a cocked pistol to his ear, while another struck at him with a club. The Missourians said they had a right to vote if they had been in the Territory but five minutes. Some said they had been hired to come there and vote, and get a dollar a day, and, by G-d, they would vote or die there.

They said the 30th day of March was an important day, as Kansas would be made a Slave State on that day. They began to leave in the direction of Missouri in the afternoon, after they had voted, leaving some thirty or forty around the house where the election was held, to ⚫ guard the polls until after the election was over. The citizens of the Territory were not around, except those who took part in the mob, and a large portion of them did not vote: 841 votes were polled there that day, of which but some thirty were citizens. A protest against the election was made to the Governor. The

returns of the election made to the Governor were lost by the Committee of Elections of the Legislature at Pawnee. The duplicate returns left in the ballot-box were taken by F. E, Laley, one of the judges elected by the Missourians, and were either lost or destroyed in his house, so that your Committee have been unable to institute a comparison between the poll-lists and census returns of this district. The testimony, however, is uniform, that not even thirty of those who voted there that day were entitled to vote, leaving 811 illegal votes. We are satisfied from the testimony that, had the actual setlers alone voted, the Free-State candidates would have been elected by a handsome majority.

IIID DISTRICT-TECUMS H.

For some days prior to the election, companies of men were organized in Jackson, Cass, and Clay counties, Mo., for the purpose of coming to the Territory and voting in this Vth district. The day previous to the election, some 400 or 500 Missourians, armed with guns, pistols, and knives, came into the Territory and camped, some at Bull Creek, and others at Potawatamie Creek, Their camps were about sixteen miles apart. On the evening before the election, Judge Hamilton of the Cass County Court, Mo., came from the Potawatamie Creek camp to Bull Creek for sixty more Missourians, as they had not enough there to render the election certain, and about that number went down there with him. On the evening before the election, Dr. B. C. Westfall was elected to act as one of the Judges of Election in the Bull Creek precinct, in place of one of the judges appointed by the Governor, who, it was said, would not be there the next day. Dr. Westfall was at that time a citizen of Jackson County, Mo. On the morning of the election, the polls for Bull Creek precinct were opened, and, with out swearing the judges, they proceeded to receive the votes of all who offered to vote. For the sake of appearance, they would get some one to come to the window and offer to vote, and when asked to be sworn he would pretend to grow angry at the judges and would go away, and his name would be put down as having offered to vote, but "rejected, refusing to be sworn." This arrangement was made previously and perfectly understood by the judges. But few of the residents of the district were present at the election, and only thirteen voted. The number of votes cast in the precinct was 393

One Missourian voted for himself and then voted for his little son, but 10 or 11 years old. Col. Coffer, Henry Younger and Mr. Lykins, who were voted for and elected to the Legislature, were residents of Missouri at the time. Col. Coffer subsequently married in the Territory. After the polls were closed, the returns were made, and a man, claiming to be a magistrate, certified on them that he had sworn the judges of election before opening the polls. In the Potawatamie precinct, the Missourians attended the election, and after threatening Mr. Chesnut, the only judge present appointed by the Governor, to induce him to resign, they proceeded to elect two other judges-one a Missourian and the other a resident of another precinct of that district. The polls were then opened, and all the Missourians were allowed to vote without being sworn.

After the polls were closed, and the returns made out for the signature of the judges, Mr. Chesnut refused to sign them, as he did not consider them correct returns of legal voters.

Col. Coffer, a resident of Missouri, but elected to the Kansas Legislature from that district at that election, endeavored with others to induce Mr. Chesnut by threats to sign the returns, which he refused to do, and left the house. On his way home, he was fired at by some Missourians, though not injured. There were three illegal to one legal vote given there that day. At the Big Layer precinct, the judges appointed by the Governor met at the time appointed, and proceeded to open the polls, after being duly swo.n. After a few votes had been received, a party of Msssourians came into the yard of the house where the election was held, and, unloading a wagon filled with arms, stacked their guns in the yard, and came up to the window and demanded to be admit ted to vote. Two of the judges decided to receive their votes, whereupon the third judge, Mr. J. M. Arthur, resigned, and another was chosen in his place. Young, a citizen of Missouri, but a candidate for, and elected to, the Territorial Legislative Council, was present and voted in the precinct. He claimed that all Missourians who were present on the day of election were entitled to vote. But thirty or forty of the citizens of the precinct were present, and many of them did not vote. At the Little Sugar precinct, the election seemed to have been conducted fairly, and there a Free-State majority was polled. From the testimony, the whole district appears to have been largely Free-State, and,

Col.

had none but actual settlers voted, the Free-State candi- | the Council and a Representative, and its vote was condates would have been elected by a large majority. trolled by the illegal vote cast there. The census shows From a careful examination of the testimony and the 39 votes in it-37 votes were cast, of whom a majority records, we find that from 200 to 225 legal votes were voted the Free-State ticket. polled out of 885, the total number given in the precincts of the Vth District. Of the legal votes cast, the FreeState candidates received 152.

VITH DISTRICT-FORT SCOTT.

IXTH DISTRICT.

Fort Riley and Pawnee are in this District. The iatter place was selected by the Governor as the temporary capital, and he designed there to expend the sums A company of citizens from Missouri, mostly from appropriated by Congress in the construction of suitable Bates County, came into this District the day before the houses for the Legislature. A good deal of building was election, some camping and others putting up at the then being done at the fort near by. For these reasons, public-house. They numbered from 100 to 200, and came a number of mechanics, mostly from Pennsylvania, came in wagons and on horseback, carrying their provisions into this district in March, 1855, to seek employment. and tents with them, and were generally armed with pis-Some of these voted at the election. The construction They declared their purpose to vote, and claimed of the capital was first pos, oned, then abandoned, and the right to do so. They went to the polls generally in finally the site of the town was declared by the Secresmall bodies, with tickets in their hands, and many, if tary of War to be within the military reservation of not all, voted. In some cases, they declared that they Fort Riley. Some of the inhabitants returned to the had voted, and gave their reasons for so doing. Mr. States, and some went to other parts of the Territory. Anderson, a Pro-Slavery candidate for the Legislature, Your Committee find that they came as settlers, intendendeavored to dissuade the non-residents from voting, ing to remain as such, and were entitled to vote.

tols

because he did not wish the election contested. This person, however, insisted upon voting, and upon his right to vote, and did so. No one was challenged or sworn, and all voted who desired to Out of 350 votes cast, not over 100 were legal, and but 6 of these named in the census taken one month before by Mr. Barber, the candidate for Council, voted. Many of the Free-State men did not vote, but your Committee is satisfied that, of the legal votes cast, the Pro-Slavery candidates received a majority. Mr. Anderson, one of these candidates, was an unmarried man, who came into the District fom Missouri a few days before the election, and boarded at the public-house until the day after the election. He then took with him the poll-lists, and did not return to Fort Scott until the occasion of a barbacue the week before the election of October 1, 1855. He voted at that election, and after it left, and has not since been in the District. S. A. Williams, the other, ProSlavery candidate, at the time of the election had a claim in the Territory, but his legal residence was not there until after the election.

VIITH DISTRICT.

XTH DISTRICT.

In this district, ten persons belonging to the Wyandot tribe of Indians voted. They were of that class who under the law were entitled to vote; but their residence was in Wyandot Village, at the mouth of Kansas River, and they had no right to vote in this district. They voted the Pro-Slavery ticket. Eleven men recently from Pennsylvania voted the Free-State Ticket. From the testimony, they had not, at the time of the election, so established their residence as to have entitled them to vote. In both these classes of cases, the judges examined the voters under oath and allowed them to vote. and in all respects the election seems to have been con. ducted fairly. The rejection of both would not have changed the result. This and the VIIIth Election D'strict formed one representative district, and was the only one to which the invasion from Missouri did not extend. XITH DISTRICT.

The IXth, Xth, XIth and XIIth Election Districts, being all sparsely settled, were attached together as a Council District, and the XIth and XIIth as a Repreofsentative District. This Election District is 60 miles north when the census was taken, but 36 inhabitants, of whom from Pawnee, and 150 miles from Kansas City. It is the northwest settlement in the Territory, and contained, 24 were voters. There was on the day of election no white settlement about Marysville, the place of voting, for 40 miles, except that Marshall and Bishop kept a store and ferry at the crossing of the Big Blue and the Californía r. ad. Your Committee were unable to procure witnesses from this district. Persons who were present at the election were duly summoned by an officer, and among them was F. J. Marshall, the member of the arrested and detained, and persons bearing the names House from that district. On his return, the officer was of some of the witnesses summoned were stopped near Lecompton, and did not appear before the Commit.ee. The returns show that, in defiance of the Governor's proclamation, the voting was viva voce, instead of by and by comparing these names with those on the census ballot. 828 names appear upon the poll-books as voting, rolls, we find that but seven of the latter voted. The person voted for as Representative, F. J. Marshall, was chief owner of the store at Marysville, and was there John Don aldson, the candidate voted for the Council, then lived They sup-in Jackson County, Missouri.

From two to three hundred men, from the State tion ground at Switzer's Creek, in the VIIth District, and Missouri, came in wagons or on horseback, to the elecencamped near the polls, on the day preceding the election. They were armed with pistols and other weapons, and declared their purpose to vote, in order to secure the election of Pro-Slavery members. They said they were disappointed in not finding more Yankees there, and that they had brought more men than were necessary to counterbalance their vote. A number of them wore badges of blue ribbon, with a motto, and the company were under the direction of leaders. They declared their intention to conduct themselves peacefully, unless the residents of the Territory attempted to stop them from voting. Two of the judges of election appointed by Governor Reeder refused to serve, whereupon two others were appointed in their stead by the crowd of Missourians who surrounded the polls. The newly-appointed judges refused to take the oath prescribed by Governor Reeder, but made one to suit themselves. Andrew Johnson requested each voter to swear if he had a claim in the Territory, and if he had voted in another district. The judges did not take the oath pre-sometimes, but his family lived in Weston. scribed, but were sworn to receive all legal votes. The Missourians voted without being sworn. ported H. J. Stickler for Council, and M. W. McGee for Representative. They left the evening of the election. Some of them started on horseback for Lawrence, as they said they could be there before night, and all went the way they came. The census-list shows 53 legal voters in the District. 253' votes were cast; of these 25 were residents, 17 of whom were in the District when the census was taken. Some of the residents present at the polls did not vote, declaring it useless. Candidates delined to run on the Free-State ticket because they were unwilling to run the risk of so unequal a contest-it be ing known that a great many were coming up from Missouri to vote. Nearly all the settlers were Free-State men, and 23 of the 25 legal votes given were cast for the only Free-State candidate running. Mobiller McGee. who was declared elected Representative, had a claim-a saw-mill and a house in the Territory-and he was there part of the time. But his legal residence is now, and was then, near Westport, in Missouri, where he owns and Conducts a valuable farm, and where his family resides.

VIIITH DISTRICT.

This was attached to the VIIth District for member of

30 men from Weston, Mo., was on the way from MarysOn the day after the election, Mr. Marshall, with 25 or had formerly resided at Weston, that they were up at ville to the State. Some of the party told a witness who Marysville and carried the day for Missouri, and that they had voted about 150 votes. Mr. Marshall paid the bill at that point for the party.

into that district in March, 1855, after the census was There does not appear to have been any emigration taken, and, judging from the best test in the power of your Committee, there were but seven legal votes cast in the district, and 821 illegal.

XIITH DISTRICT.

complaint was made that illegal votes were cast.
The election in this district was conducted fairly. No

XIIITH DISTRICT.

Previous to the day of election, several hundreds of Missourians from Platte, Clay, Boone, Clinton, and Howard counties, came into the district in wagons and on horseback, and camped there. They were armed with guns, revolvers, and bowie-knives and had badges of

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