Osawatomie - John Brown Country

Located in the southwest Miami County, on the Marais des Cygnes River, this historic Kansas town sits in the midst of numerous trees and rolling hills. The town was established by agents of the Emigrant Aid Society when Kansas was trying to become a state. It was surveyed in February, 1855, and the name was formed formed by combining Osa, of the Osage Indians, with "watomie" of Pottawatomie tribe.

The first building was erected by a man named Samuel Geer, who used it as both a dwelling and boarding house. The Emigrant Aid Company established a sawmill about ½ mile below the town site on the south bank of the Marais des Cygnes River, from which came much of the lumber for more new buildings.

Osawatomie, early 1900s.

These were soon followed by a blacksmith named Mr. Holdridge and a drug store was opened by Dr. Darr, Samuel Geer opened the first store and hotel in 1855 and was appointed the first Postmaster in December when a post office was established in the store.

The first church organized was the Congregational, in April, 1856, by Reverend Samuel L. Adair, John Brown's brother-in-law, but it would be several years before a church was built. A Methodist Church congregation would also be established that year, meeting in private homes.

The settlement, established during the years of the Kansas-Missouri Border War, quickly became a target of the pro-slavery faction. The first attack was made on the town on June 7, 1856, when a party of about 150 Missourians, under command of John W. Whitfield, learning that most of the men of the Free-State forces were occupied elsewhere, converged on the settlement. No resistance was made, and beyond plundering some houses and running off horses, no great damage was done. The village, at this time, consisted of about thirty buildings, actual population about 200. But, this was to be just the first attack.

On the morning of August 30, 1856, Frederick Brown, son of abolitionist John Brown, left Osawatomie before sunrise to travel to Lawrence. On his way, he was killed by men of the pro-slavery faction. Messengers were at once dispatched to notify the people in the village, including Captain John Brown, who quickly made plans for defense of the settlement. John Brown, with 41 men took a position in the timber on the south side of the Marais des Cygnes River. As the Missourians passed by the settlement, the Free-State men fired upon them. Armed with a cannon, the pro-slavery men returned the fire, and Brown’s men were forced to retreat. The Missourians then entered the town and commenced to pillage and burn it. They first fired the blockhouse, in which several men were stationed, and only four houses escaped being destroyed. When the ruffians left they had two wagons filled with their wounded and ten loaded with the plunder taken from the homes of the citizens.

The Free-State men lost about six men killed or captured, and several more were seriously wounded. It is supposed that the Missourians suffered about the same number in dead and wounded, although it was never definitely known.

The Old Stone Church was built by Reverend Samuel L.

Adair in 1861, Kathy Weiser, May, 2004.

Notwithstanding these battles and the general troubles of the times, Osawatomie grew and prospered, and in 1857 had grown to about 800 people. The first school was taught in the winter of 1857-58 by Mr. Squires, in a frame schoolhouse. The Congregational Church also met in the school building. The first newspaper in the community also was established in 1857, called The Southern Kansas Herald.

Having lost his original hotel in the Battle of Osawatomie, Samuel Geer built a larger two story frame hotel in 1858. It was here, that Horace Greeley, Republican Party founder and New York Times editor, made a speech to an assembly of about 5,000 people at the first convention of the Kansas Republican Party in the spring of 1859.

In 1860, the town’s only newspaper, the Southern Kansas Herald, was sold and moved to Paola. It would be several years before another was established in the community, In 1861, the Reverend Samuel L. Adair built a new stone Congregational Church.

In 1863 the first state hospital for the insane was established about a mile northeast of Osawatomie. It would eventually become one of the largest institutions in the state. Though no longer called the "Kansas Insane Asylum," the psychiatric hospital still exists, and since 1901, has been called the "Osawatomie State Hospital."

Railroads arrive in the early 1870’s, at which time the town prospered as a shipping point for the rich agricultural country surrounding it. The town gained another newspaper, called The Osawatomie Times in 1881, but it was only published for a year. That same year, the Methodist Church congregation built the second church in the community. By the early 1880’s, the town had a stone schoolhouse, two general stores, two grocery stores, two hardware stores, a drug store, furniture store, lumber yard, two hotels, three blacksmith shops, a wagon shop, and about 600 inhabitants.

The Kansas Insane Asylum was established in 1863. It is still

in operation today as a psychiatric hospital now called

the Osawatomie State Hospital, photo early 1900s.

By the early 1900s, the town had once again gained newspapers, including the Graphic and Globe, both weeklies. A larger school building was constructed in 1906. By 1910, the town boasted more than 4,000 people.

Over the next century, though Osawatomie moved into the future, it always maintained its small town atmosphere and agricultural economic base, as well as holding tightly to its rich history. Today, this community of about 4,600 people provides a number of historic sites for visitors. Commemorating the Kansas-Missouri Border War and John Brown is the 1877 Soldiers Monument, erected to honor the five men killed in the Battle of Osawatomie, located at 9th & Main Street. At the John Brown Memorial Park and State Historic Site, situated on the land where the Battle of Osawatomie took place, is the old Adair Cabin, which serves as a museum today. The site is located at 10th and Main Street. The Railroad Depot Museum, located at 628 Main Street, commemorates Osawatomie’s history as a railroad center. Several other historic buildings and bridges can be seen throughout the town on a Driving Tour of the city.

More Information:

City of Osawatomie

439 Main Street
Osawatomie, Kansas 66064
913-755-2146

Osawatomie Depot Museum, Kathy Weiser, May, 2004.

This Monument, built in 1872, memorializes those who died in the Battle of Osawatomie, Kathy Weiser, May, 2004.

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