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★ 7 ★ Chapter One Bleeding Kansas, Border Ruffians, and Jayhawkers James Williams and his brother Sam arrived at Leavenworth, Kansas in 1856. They found the town growing at an explosive rate, with opportunity , excitement and conflict everywhere. Leavenworth had all the trappings of a western boomtown, and then some. The Kansas-Nebraska act, signed by President Pierce two years earlier in 1854, opened huge expanses of the western prairie to settlers. Pierce’s signature prompted a major land rush and several years of bloody conflict. Prior to the act’s implementation date, much of what would become Kansas was Indian land—off limits to white men.1 When the Kansas-Nebraska Act became law, there were fewer than 800 whites in Kansas. When the first territorial census was completed the following year, Kansas population numbered 8,000 whites and 192 slaves.2 The political heat of popular sovereignty and the conflict over slavery drew the Williams brothers into the maelstrom like moths to a flame. They became part of the volatile mix of immigrants with competing agendas crowding by thousands into Kansas at Leavenworth. There were abolitionist activists, proslavery advocates, and ordinary folks all capitalizing on opportunities for new land. The sheer number of such individuals was sure to create a flashpoint.3 Most of the first people who swarmed across the border into northeast Kansas were from Missouri. They were friends of Missouri Senator David 8 ★ James M. Williams Atchison, an outspoken pro-slavery advocate. Atchison, though a legislator from Missouri, felt no compunction about jumping into Kansas politics to ensure a pro-slavery outcome on the planned elections. He forewarned about 200 of his pals of the coming passage of the bill and had them ready to move. At the prime moment, he telegraphed them: “go over and take possession of the good land, it is yours.”4 Atchison’s cronies, especially the more fervent supporters of slavery, established two small communities in the northeast corner of Kansas. They named one town Atchison, for obvious reasons, and the other Kickapoo, after the Indians who had been there first. More moderate supporters of the proslavery cause laid out the nearby community of Leavenworth. The next wave, which included both Williams brothers, consisted primarily of abolitionists and Free-State immigrants from the East and upper Midwest. Some piled off fleets of steamboats coming up the Missouri River to Leavenworth landing. Others traveled by covered wagons coming cross-country.5 Many of the new Kansans stormed into the territory in groups sponsored by abolitionist or pro-slavery organizations in their respective states, especially Massachusetts and South Carolina. Not all the migrants, however, came from those two political hotbeds. Strong feelings prevailed in other states as well, including Wisconsin. Several sponsored emigrant groups left Wisconsin in 1856, destined for Kansas. Among the sponsors were the Wisconsin Emigrant Aid Society and the Wisconsin Kansas Aid Society. The latter organization was reputed to be sending heavily armed men ready to fight. Other groups were more intent upon sending legitimate settlers of the abolitionist persuasion. James and Sam Williams likely were part of one of these groups, enthused by a series of fiery speeches by Jim Lane of Kansas throughout Wisconsin.6 As they settled into Leavenworth, James and his brother opened a business together—a book and stationery shop on Delaware Street, variably known as J.M. Williams, Book Seller, or as Williams & Bro. The store sold books, stationery, sheet music, wallpaper, and schoolbooks. James chose not to practice law. Sam, already an attorney, ultimately took up the practice. He became a justice of the peace and a land agent, establishing his office near his brother’s store.7 Figure 1 Leavenworth, Kansas 1856 The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 led to the creation of instant communities in the new Territory of Kansas. Prospects of land, livelihood and adventure drew thousands from around the country. By 1856, Leavenworth’s population reached three thousand. Library of Congress image. Figure 2 Advertisement for J.M. Williams, Bookseller This advertisement for James and Sam Williams’ business appeared in the Leavenworth City Directory of 1858. City directories of the time equated to the telephone books of today—white and yellow pages. Bleeding Kansas, Border Ruffians, and Jayhawkers ★ 11 Williams arrived in Leavenworth in a period of escalating conflict between the two sides of the slavery issue. Arguments frequently led to gunplay and even death. Mobs from either side of the argument captured and tarred and feathered members of the opposition...

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