Osawatomie, Kansas Clippings

08/20/2025

BLEEDING KANSAS
A prelude to the American Civil War
“Bleeding Kansas" was the era of guerilla warfare between proslavery and antislavery settlers in Kansas Territory between passage of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act calling for "popular sovereignty” to decide Kansas's future, and the 1859 adoption of the free state Wyandotte Constitution in Kansas.
Early elections were illegally influenced by

Missouri residents, resulting in the establishment of prostavery legislatures in 1854 and 1855. In response, antistavery Free State settlers established their own government in 1855.

John Brown, center, was a radical abolitionist who led several attacks on proslavery settlements after the first sack of Lawrence in May 1856.

Kansans adopted a free state constitution in 1859, but proslavery forces in the U.S. Senate refused to acknowledge Kansas as a free state, so it was only after the Confederate states seceded that the Wyandotte Constitution was approved. Kansas entered the Union as a free state in January 1861.

A cool display in the new KU Football Stadium highlighting John Brown & anti-slavery history in Kansas!

07/27/2025

⚔️ Osawatomie Members of the 7th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, 1863.🌻

(L-R) Private Curtis P. Casey, Co. H; Private Dwight Chappell (Chappel), Co. F; Edgar Cove; and Sgt. George R. Ferris, Co. H,

🦅 Private, Casey Curtis P., Kansas 7th., cavlary company H., Residence Osawatomie, Enlisted Oct. 12, 1861, Mustered in Oct. 12, 1861. Reenlisted Veteran, Jan. 1, 1864, Mustered in same day. Mustered out with regiment September 29, 1865.

🦅 Private, Chappel Dwight R., Kansas 7th., cavalry company F., Enlisted March 1, 1862, Mustered in March 1, 1862, Mustered out March 1, 1865.

🦅 Private, Cone Edgar W., Kansas 7th., cavalry, company A., Residence Albany, Enlisted Sept. 14, 1861, Mustered in Sept. 14, 1861. Prom.
Corporal; Reduced to ranks January 4, 1862.
Mustered out Sept. 14, 1864.

🦅 Private, Ferris George R., Kansas 7th., cavalry company H., Residence Osawatomie, Enlisted Oct. 12, 1861, Mustered in Oct. 12, 1861. Promoted Sergeant January 21, 1862, Mustered out November 30, 1864, St. Louis, Mo.

🕯️ All four survived and returned home to Osawatomie.

07/15/2025

07/13/2025

🌳 The Battle of Osawatomie ⚔️

The Kansas Weekly Herald
Leavenworth, KS
Sept. 1856

07/13/2025

Main Building Osawatomie, Kansas

07/11/2025

Superman and John Brown in Bleeding Kansas 🌾🤓💥

In the “Superman” comic series “Bleeding Kansas”, writer John Ostrander explores the Kent Family history. Ostander has carefully researched this time period in Kansas and for the most part, is accurate. He often references Osawatomie, John Brown, William Quantrill and of course, Jim Lane whom Lois Lane describes as a distant relative. 🤯

Also, if you’re wandering who John Ostrander is, he is the creator of “The Su***de Squad”, DC comic book series, which went on to become a blockbuster franchise. 🎬💥🏆🍿🎥

07/09/2025

06/17/2025

06/16/2025

The Early Life of Boyd Gilkison and The Denmark State Bank 🐴🚂⛪️💰

01/26/2025

May Williams Ward was a distinguished poet. Born in Missouri in 1882, her family moved to her mother’s hometown of Osawatomie (Miami County) when she was seven. After several moves, the family eventually settled in Wellington (Sumner County). Ward published her first poem in 1921, and within four years she was nationally recognized for her talent. Her poems appeared in periodicals such as “Ladies Home Journal,” “Good Housekeeping” and “Kansas City Star.” By 1926 Ward had published 300 poems in 35 magazines. That same year she became the editor of “The Harp,” a poetry magazine published in Larned (Pawnee County). During her 50-year career, Ward published 2,000 poems and seven books. William Allen White referred to her as “the champion poet of Kansas.” Learn more about this prolific poet at www.washburn.edu/reference/cks/mapping/ward/index.html

01/12/2025

“Only Fifty-Six Hours to St. Louis!”🐴✉️🚂

The Fort Scott Bulletin
1860