Lecompton, Kansas - Capitol of Kansas Territory

Lecompton - Capitol of Kansas Territory

<< Previous 1 2 3 Next >>

Located on the Kansas River in northwest Douglas County, about 12 miles from Lawrence, Lecompton has a long and rich history, beginning with its being the pro-slavery capitol of Kansas Territory.

When Kansas Territory was opened for settlement in 1854, some of the first pioneers in the area were A.W. and A.G. Glenn, father and son; G. W. Zinn, David Martin, M.S. Winter and William Shirley. The small settlement that formed was originally called "Bald Eagle," but soon changed to Lecompton in honor of Samuel D. Lecompte, the chief justice of the Territorial Supreme Court.

Early Lecompton, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

The Lecompton Town Company was organized at the Potawatomie Agency in 1855 and consisted of pro-slavery men, Samuel D. Lecompte, John A. Halderman, Daniel Woodson, George W. Clarke, Chauncey B. Donaldson and William R. Simmons. In the spring of 1855, the town company held its first meetings in Westport, Missouri and by May, the town site, consisting of 600 acres, was surveyed and platted. It was designed with the expectation of making Lecompton, not only the capitol of the territory, but also to make it a large city. The first house was built of logs by W.R. Simmons in the fall of 1854.

1855 was a busy year for the new settlement as workers began to construct a new capitol building in the east part of the town on a picturesque site overlooking the Kansas River Valley. Ten acres of land was donated by the town company for the capitol grounds. It was to have been a large stone building, and had it been completed, would have cost half a million of dollars, provided Congress could have been influenced to continue appropriations. The $50,000 initially provided was quickly spent by the time the basement was completed and the walls up nearly to the height of one story. Work upon it was then discontinued, and the structure as it stood was utilized as a fort.

In the meantime, while the new building was under construction, the Territorial Government, desiring to move from the Shawnee Mission to Lecompton, engaged William M. Nace to erect a suitable building in which to hold their sessions. Nace began the structure which stood on the site of where the post office would later stand. Subsequently, the Legislature assembled in a two-story frame building, which stood across Elmore Street east from where the Rowena Hotel would later be built. The first post office was established in September, 1855 and Dr. Aristides Roderigue, the town’s first physician was the postmaster.

Authority to establish a ferry across the Kansas River at Lecompton was granted by the Legislature, also in 1855. The same Legislature also incorporated the Lecompton Bridge Company, though no bridge was ever built. That same year, Lecompton was incorporated and designated as the county seat of Douglas County. The same Legislature also incorporated and permanently established the Kansas Medical College, at Lecompton, and appointed a board of fourteen Trustees. However, the college was never established.

Lecompton Ferry over the Kansas River, Alexander Gardner, 1867.

The first store was opened by John K. Shepherdson in the spring of 1856, but he soon sold out to a man named William Leamer. A second store was established by James G. Bailey about the same time. A large frame hotel called the American Hotel was also built in the spring of 1856, and in the fall, the National Hotel was erected. That same year, the Catholics organized and began building a church and parsonage in the east part of the town. Both were to be of stone, but neither was completed, the partially built walls continuing to stand for the next decade.

In May, 1856, the Lecompton Union newspaper was established by A.W. Jones and C.A. Faris. A strong pro-slavery paper. The following paragraph appears in this newspaper, in reference to the Sacking of Lawrence, May 21, 1856, under the following head lines:

"Lawrence Taken! - Glorious Triumph of the Law-and-Order over Fanaticism in Kansas! - Full Particulars."

"On Tuesday, the 20th, a large force of the Law-and-Order men having gathered in and around Lecompton, the Marshal ordered the different camps to concentrate about two miles this side of Lawrence, so as to be ready for the execution of his immediate demands upon the people of Lawrence. At this order, we left our sanctum and proceeded to the encampment, equipped for the occasion."

By the summer of 1856, the political climate of the territory had shifted and Free-State sympathizers were outnumbering the pro-slavery advocates. A number of skirmishes took place in what has become as Bleeding Kansas.

Continued Next Page

In 1908, the old Constitution Hall had become an

Undertaker's building.

Today, the old Constitution Hall is a Kansas state historic site, Kathy Weiser, March, 2009

<< Previous 1 2 3 Next >>

From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Custom Greeting Cards - Combining our great vintage photographs with words, wisdom and proverbs of the Old West, these photo cards are unique to the Rocky Mountain General Store.