BLOODY BILL ANDERSON
In Lyon County
Bill Anderson was a product of his era and his experience. He became one of the most notorious bushwhackers of his time, leader of a band of lawless, vicious men who did not dare disobey him. The brief explanation below is given to assist in understanding his chosen profession.
BUSHWHACKERS and JAYHAWKERS
1854–1865, Kansas-Missouri border war
Missouri was a slave state in 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed. This act left it to the residents of those two territories to decide if they would allow slavery or enter the Union as a Free State. Two hundred people died in the resulting border dispute between November 1855 and December 1856 alone.
Lawless guerilla fighters, militant bands of vengeful killers, thieves who looted and burned homes and towns, all were initially labeled as Jayhawkers. Those who were eventually called Bushwhackers were based in the slave-state of Missouri, generally supported pro-slavery and the Confederates, usually attacked anti-slavery targets, and were named for the way they operated—striking hard and fast from cover, then running to evade capture. They often moved at night to avoid detection.
Jayhawkers were their Kansas counterpart, with opposite politics but using the same tactics with the same level of viciousness. One story of the origin of the peculiar name involved an Irish immigrant to Kansas, Pat Devlin. One day in 1856 he was returning home with stolen horses after some private plundering across the Missouri border. When asked what he had been up to, Devlin replied, “You know, in Ireland we have a bird we call the Jayhawk, which makes its living off of other birds. I guess you might say I’ve been Jayhawking!”
By the end of the Civil War in 1865, entire counties, especially in west and northwest Missouri, had been largely de-populated by the violence.
This map from 1886 shows the north end of Lyon County with the Santa Fe Trail as a double dotted line, Withington at Old Allen, and the Elm Creek station. Circles indicate the former Anderson place at Bluff Creek, and at left the approximate location of Baker’s Agnes City on Rock Creek. At the time of the 1862 Anderson-Baker events described below, this county extended two miles further west.
Please note that conflicting stories exist about Bloody Bill’s brief career, including several about the events at Agnes City, because of reliance on hearsay and varied wording as the events were reported and retold. The versions as given here are drawn from several sources, seem plausible, and are focused on events in Lyon County.
YOUNG BILL ANDERSON and A. I. BAKER
Born in Kentucky in 1839, young William T. Anderson moved with his family to Missouri, then to Iowa, back to Missouri, and then to Kansas. The family consisted of parents William C. and Martha, their four sons and three daughters. In 1854 when Kansas Territory was opened to White settlement, Breckinridge County (changed to Lyon Co. in Feb. 1862) first settler Charles Withington had set up his trading post (now known as Old Allen) where the Santa Fe Trail crossed 142-Mile Creek. Arthur I. Baker did the same at the Rock Creek crossing to the west, although that placed him on the Kanza Indian reservation as an illegal squatter. The Andersons settled at the creek crossing between Withington and Baker on Bluff Creek in 1857, where they farmed and sold provisions and whiskey to travelers on the Trail.
- I. Baker’s hope of prosperity was evident when he named his Rock Creek settlement Agnes City, after his mother; it never blossomed into a town, and the “city” consisted of his own spacious two-story limestone house and outbuildings. In 1855 he was named Justice of the Peace for the 8th District, and later that year was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives. In 1857 Baker was elected probate judge, and as his residence, Agnes City became the first county seat (see postscript notes on Agnes City). In 1858 he was elected circuit judge. In 1859 Baker resigned as judge and the following year was named postmaster at Agnes City. He was listed as a lawyer in the 1860 Federal census.
The Andersons were pro-slavery in their politics, in an area where most of the pioneer residents were anti-slavery. The eldest of seven children, 18-year-old Bill took jobs in the area and purchased land next to his father’s property. In the next few years after several trips to Santa Fe working for wagon trains, he became a horse thief with his brother Jim and several cousins including Lee Griffin, stealing ponies and horses over a wide area and selling them in Council Grove and other towns, and to travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. They called it their “pony business.” Bill’s mother Martha died in June of 1860 when she was struck by lightning, a traumatic event for the family.
In late 1861, financial losses and crop failure prompted former judge A. I. Baker to lead a band of area men, including Bill and Jim Anderson, on a jayhawking raid to southeast Kansas. They were successful and pleased to take their stolen loot home. On a second raid a few months later, they ran into an armed squad of home guards. One of the bushwhackers was killed, leader Baker was captured and jailed at Fort Scott, and the rest escaped. With influence from friends, Baker was released and returned to Agnes City in March 1862.
ANDERSON’S FATHER SHOT
Baker’s wife had died, and in April of 1862 he began courting Bill’s sister Mary Ellen, age 15. The Anderson family expected that Baker would soon propose to her (a desirable connection for them), and felt betrayed when they learned Baker was engaged to another local girl, 17-year-young Annis Segur, in early May. Bill, Jim, and their father, William C. Anderson, were incensed, feeling the entire family was dishonored. Sympathetic cousin/fellow horse thief Lee Griffin soon stole a prized pair of horses from the girl’s father, Ira Segur, and took them west on the Santa Fe Trail where they were sold. When leading the horses through Agnes City on the Trail that night, Griffin was recognized by Baker but did not respond when Baker called to him. In the morning Segur reported the theft to Baker, who gathered some local men and rode out in search of Griffin and the horses. The posse found the horses about 90 miles west, and returned with them.
Baker quickly got a warrant at Council Grove for the arrest of Griffin. On May 11 Bill Anderson and his father rode to Baker’s place and angrily threatened to kill him if he did not withdraw the warrant against Griffin. Baker refused, and because other armed men were present, Anderson went home to await a better opportunity. Baker then swore out a warrant for the arrest of Bill Anderson for horse-stealing; Bill was warned and hid out.
The next morning the elder Anderson was drunk when he went to Baker’s house at Agnes City on May 12, 1862, intending to kill Baker. Baker was upstairs and when the raging, drunken Anderson started up the stairs with his double-barreled shotgun, Baker had his own gun and shot Anderson first, killing him. Witnesses verified it was done in self defense, and a trial jury acquitted Baker. A few days after the shooting on May 14, Baker married his young bride, Annis Segur.
Bill and his family attended the burial of their father, after which Bill was brought to trial at 142 Creek. Through the efforts of his lawyer, the warrant was determined to be defective, and Bill was released. After the trial, an elderly man stated that there had been a time in Kansas when there would have been no chance for lawyers to pick flaws in papers, and that such crimes as Anderson’s would have been punished on the spot. Bill was infuriated, grabbed an ax handle and struck the old man, knocking him down. He then leapt on his horse and rode away before he could be charged with the assault.
Bill and Jim Anderson rode east to Missouri, where they connected with other bushwhackers. Three weeks later a wagon was sent to quietly move the three Anderson sisters to the home of friends in Missouri.
July 3, 1862. Bill and Jim Anderson, two cousins and two strangers went to Agnes City after dark. In the words of O. F. O’Dell, “…They went to Baker’s soon after dark and secreted themselves near the grocery. One of the strangers went to the door and asked for a pint of whiskey. Baker and his brother-in-law (George Segur), a boy about thirteen years of age, were the only occupants of the store at that time. Baker (who was wearing his gunbelt) took a light and ran down into the cellar to get the whiskey and when he came up through the trap door the marauders fired on him, and shot both him and the boy, but they told us they did not intend to shoot the boy. Both Baker and the boy fell down the trap door into the cellar. The latter was shot through the thigh and in the abdomen, but managed to crawl through the cellar window, and died on July 4, 1862 (the next day) but, before dying, gave the account nearly as Jim Anderson gave it to me. Baker rallied, and climbing to the top of the stairs, shot Jim Anderson through the fleshy part of the leg, which was bleeding somewhat at my place. The crowd then rushed upon Baker, kicked him down the cellar, rolled a barrel of sugar up to (onto) the door and set fire to the building. The boy (young Segur) said that when Baker found that the store was on fire, he shot himself through the head to keep from the horrible death of being burned alive. He was a large man, so he could not get out where the boy did.”
The Anderson gang set fire to every other building that belonged to Baker at Agnes City. Baker’s young wife and others had fled from the house when they heard the shots at the store. The killers then raced east along the Santa Fe Trail, reaching Allen on 142-Mile Creek at about midnight. They burst into O. F. O’Dell’s store there and looted it while they related details of how they had killed Baker. Fellow Allen merchant Charles Withington and another man were also at O’Dell’s store, and the three men were placed under guard in a log stable while the bushwhackers searched for firearms and set fire to the house. They threw a feather bed on top of the fire and left, but the fire was smothered by the bed and the building saved. They traded their tired mounts for the best of the fresh stage-line horses, released their prisoners, politely said good night, and continued east.
At Elm Creek, they paused to shoot holes in the house door, wanting to kill Henry Jacoby, who as Constable had been involved in the events leading to the shooting of the Anderson’s father. They were scared off by sounds from a wagon train nearby. A few miles further east, they stopped at the stage station kept by Benjamin O’Dell at the Chicken Creek crossing. They told him what they had done to Baker as they exchanged horses, then raced twenty miles to the 110-Mile Creek station in Osage County, arriving about sunrise. They gave the station owner 15 minutes to make breakfast, ate quickly, then again headed east on fresh horses. By stealing fresh mounts from stage stations on the Trail, they made it to Missouri in less than 16 hours. Those who pursued them had to give up the chase.
BILL WAS HERE
In 1906, the State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) placed stone markers at various points along the Santa Fe Trail to indicate where the Trail had been. The photo below shows (from left) Harry, Bent, Laffe and Jake Wheat with the Elm Creek crossing marker that was placed at the Trail 4 and 1/4 miles north of the modern-day highway junction of Hwy 56 and Hwy 99.
In the background is the house that served as Elm Creek Station and post office at the time of Baker’s murder. The house had a fireplace on each end, and one had an entry to a hiding place, where occupants could take refuge if attacked. When the building was moved some years after the Andersons shot at it in 1862, the door with its bullet-holes was replaced and it was given to the Kansas State Historical Society Museum in Topeka, but they no longer have this item in the collection.
Almost a year after the death of A. I. Baker, Bill and Jim Anderson traveled west on the Santa Fe Trail with a band of bushwhackers.
It was a bright moonlit night in early May of 1863 when two local men were traveling east on the Santa Fe Trail, hauling in their wagon a deceased man’s body which was being taken to Topeka for burial. The men had encountered other travelers moving west, armed men and wagons in small groups of two or three. Among these they recognized Bill Anderson, and hurried on to notify authorities. U.S. Marshal McDowell soon set out in pursuit with a posse of about thirty well-armed men, and warnings were dispatched to communities in the area. Local men volunteered to guard their homes and communities, and some joined the pursuit.
The guerillas moved on through Lyon County. When they passed Bluff Creek, they would have seen that every trace of the Anderson home had been destroyed by people who did not want any reminder of the family or their Confederate sympathies. At the Rock Creek crossing, Baker’s Agnes City still lay in ruins, never to be rebuilt. In Morris County, they halted south of Council Grove where they were seen in town in twos and threes, possibly to visit friends and check supplies. Two men were arrested and one was sent under military guard to Ft. Riley, but along the way near the head of Humboldt Creek, the guards shot and killed the prisoner. They reported that he was shot when he tried to escape.
Area communities were on high alert, fearing bushwhacker attacks anywhere at any moment. The real purpose—or Confederate mission—of the guerillas, led by Dick Yeager, was possibly to travel on west where they would try to recruit settlers to take up arms against the Federal government. Such a situation would aid the Confederate cause in the East when (they hoped) Union troops would be pulled from the Civil War conflict and sent to deal with rebellion in the West.
From Council Grove the bushwhackers took the wagons southwest on the Trail. When the posse followed them on the Trail and arrived at Diamond Springs eighteen miles from Council Grove, they found that the storekeeper named Howell had been murdered and robbed, his wife was shot in the arm and seriously wounded, and the buildings were burned. Further pursuit was made, and the posse came upon the wagons, guarded by ten men, where the Trail crossed the Cottonwood River at Cottonwood Holes in Marion County. These men and the wagons were taken into custody, but all of the most vicious bushwhackers, including Dick Yeager, Bill and Jim Anderson, were mounted and escaped on their saddlehorses, headed back to Missouri. The wagons were found to be loaded with weapons, ammunition and provisions. The ten prisoners were turned over to the military and sent under guard to Ft. Riley, where four claimed to be innocent travelers who had no connection to the guerillas, and were soon released.
It was assumed that the guerillas on horseback would flee east down the river, committing crimes all the way to Emporia, where it was feared they would sack and burn the town. Instead, Yeager, Bill Anderson and the others left the river and moved rapidly east and north toward Missouri; they may have used established trails or ridden cross-country. With few fences except around farmsteads, they could travel over the open prairie as fast as their horses would allow. (Accounts agree that they avoided using the Santa Fe Trail; several versions exist of their movements, including travel parallel to the Trail on its north. The route described here was reported in the Emporia newspaper a week after these events.) Riding east to Lyon County, they crossed the Neosho River near Cahola (Cahola Creek joined the Neosho NW of Americus; modern spelling Kahola. Just where they crossed the river is unclear), then passed north of Americus and on across Lyon County, angling up east and a little north until they rode near Waterloo. The Waterloo Inn on the Burlingame Road (an established trail between Emporia and Burlingame, and on to Topeka and Lawrence) was the primary structure of this small community. It was located near where the Burlingame trail crossed 142-Mile Creek a few miles southeast of present-day Admire, and served travelers on the trail between Emporia and Burlingame. This line of travel kept the guerillas several miles south of the Santa Fe Trail as they moved east into Osage County.
The bushwhackers apparently reached the Santa Fe Trail half-way across Osage County at the 110-Mile Creek station, as indicated in The Emporia News article of May 16, 1863: “… crossed Dragoon Creek on the Superior bridge, and went on the Superior road to One Hundred and Ten. They committed many depredations on their way out, along the Santa Fe road. They shot two men, killing one of them (in other reports, they killed a soldier in Union blue uniform) and badly wounding the other, robbed several persons of small amounts, and at Black Jack (a Trail station and small community in SE Douglas Co.) they stopped a Santa Fe mail coach and robbed the passengers of $1,300, and took fourteen horses from the mail company. They sacked and completely stripped the town of Gardner in Johnson County.”
Another news report continues the story of their escape, and comparison of the two news items demonstrates how varied the stories from such sources may be. From The Independent (Oskaloosa, Kansas), May 16, 1863: “…Yeager’s Bushwhackers. Twenty-two of them were at Black Jack at 10 o’clock on Friday night. They robbed the Santa Fe mail and passengers of $4,000, taking $1,750 from one man. Twelve coach horses were taken.
“The guerrillas reached Gardner before day, Saturday. There they took five stage horses, and two from Mr. Cramer. They stole $200 from Mrs. Waugh, $15 from Mr. Rue, and $10 from Mr. Cramer. They left Gardner on Saturday morning and passed two miles south of Olathe. They then had 110 horses besides the stage horses. (This may be a misunderstood detail, as they did have horses taken from the station at 110-Mile Creek. The Junction City paper said, “about 150 horses,” which would be a large herd to move quickly over a long distance.) Capt. Charles G. Keeler, Ben Roberts and two other citizens of Johnson County traced them into Missouri, where they divided their horses and the other property stolen from Kansas.”
Whatever the true details may have been, the reports of killing and theft are believable, being typical of bushwhacker behavior. In this case, the acts may have been committed with extra anger and revenge in response to their botched mission, and a desire to not return home empty-handed.
The Andersons continued as bushwhackers, and their gang rode with Quantrill to take part a few months later in the infamous raid on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863, where Bill gained the distinction of having killed more townspeople that day than any other individual. His three sisters, Mary Ellen, Josephine and Martha, played a part in this, as the Union Army had incarcerated them on the third floor of a warehouse in Kansas City. Along with other women related to notorious guerillas, they were accused of assisting the bushwhackers and held for exchange if their men would turn themselves in. The Army had removed the roof support posts from the large room in which the women were held (the reason is still debated). On August 14, 1863, without the supports to bear the roof weight, the end-walls and roof of the brick warehouse caved in on the prisoners and four women were killed, including Anderson sister Josephine. Her older sister Mary Ellen received a crippling injury to her legs, and young Martha recovered from her minor injuries. Grieving Bill convinced himself that the death and injury of his innocent womenfolk was a deliberate act by the Army. After that, Bill was especially vicious when dealing with soldiers clad in Federal blue uniform. Particularly savage even for a bushwhacker, he became leader of his own gang and earned his nickname “Bloody Bill” before being killed in his mid-twenties by Union troops who ambushed his band near Albany, Missouri on Oct. 26, 1864. His brother and fellow bushwhacker Jim survived the war, but was reported to have been shot to death a few years later in Texas.
The following information and sources are given to further understand the above history, and to aid further research. – Sharon Spade, North Lyon County Historical Society and Museum
WILLIAM C. ANDERSON FAMILY
Notes on the fate of family members compiled by Donald E. Schiesser
1857- Wm. C. Anderson and family moved from Missouri and settled on the west side of Bluff Creek on the south side of the Santa Fe Trail in the northeast part of SE ¼ of NW ¼ of Section 2, Twp 15S, Range 10E Agnes City Twp, Breckenridge (Lyon) Co. Kansas. It was on the Kanza ( Kaw ) Indian reservation.
Wm. C. and Martha Anderson children: William T. “Bill”, Ellis, James “Jim”, Mary Ellen, Susan Josephine, Martha Jane, Charles
Martha G. Anderson killed by lightning in doorway of cabin June 28, 1860, buried in old Allen cemetery.
Charles born 1859, died after 1860 census before the death of father Wm. C., probably buried in old Allen cemetery.
Wm. C. Anderson killed May 12, 1862 by Inghram Baker, buried in old Allen cemetery.
Ellis killed in a gunfight near Council Bluffs Iowa after 1860, according to Sewell.
Susan Josephine was killed in the Kansas City building collapse Aug 13, 1863.
William T. (Bloody Bill) killed in an ambush by federal troops near Albany, MO. Oct. 26, 1864.
James M. killed in Sherman, Texas by Wm. Pool or Geo. Shepherd, ca. 1867.
Mary Ellen was seriously injured in the building collapse in KC.
Martha Jane is reported to have married an official of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
AGNES CITY – BOTH OF THEM
One of the early pioneers whose life experience was closely connected to the Santa Fe Trail was Arthur I. Baker. Related to the missionaries who worked with the Kaw Tribe in Council Grove to the west, he was in this area when Kansas Territory was opened to White settlement in 1854. He then established a residence and trading post near the west county line at the Rock Creek crossing on the Santa Fe Trail. This was an illegal residence inside the east border of the Kanza Indian Reservation, which centered on Council Grove in neighboring Morris County; Baker was an illegal “squatter” there until his death in 1862.
Baker named the site Agnes City in honor of his mother, and hoped that it would become a bustling prairie town, which it never did. He became a prominent citizen of that area, and the township was also named Agnes City. At that time it was in Breckinridge County.
- 1854 – Kansas Territory opened to white settlement.
- Jan. 1861 – Kansas achieved statehood.
- Apr. 1861 – U. S. Civil War started. U.S. Vice-President John C. Breckinridge supported the Confederates.
- Feb. 1862 – Breckinridge County renamed Lyon County.
- July 1862 – Baker, at odds with local thief and bushwhacker Bill Anderson, was shot by Anderson and his gang, after which they looted and set fire to the store. Baker, wounded and unable to escape from the trading post cellar, shot himself to avoid being burned alive. All of the other buildings at Agnes City that belonged to Baker were burned by Bill Anderson’s gang, never to be rebuilt.
- 1863 – Entire west side of Lyon County reduced by two miles, and that land was added to Morris County and Chase County. The Rock Creek crossing became part of Morris County, but the northwest sector of Lyon County retained the name, Agnes City Township.
- 1871 thru 1891 – Taking the township name, Agnes City Post Office served the rural area north of present-day Bushong. Agnes City cemetery was established nearby, and its oldest burials date from the early 1870’s. Also near the post office was Agnes City School, a one-room schoolhouse which served the rural neighborhood as a school and community building.
AND NOW – THE REST OF THE STORY
(concerning why the Andersons were heading west with Confederate supplies)
by Donald E. Schiesser
1863, May, Wm. T. Anderson and Dick Yager, two of Quantrill’s lieutenants and about 23 others left Missouri, came down the Santa Fe Trail headed west in two’s and three’s traveling at night with loaded wagons so as not to raise suspicion. They were probably picked because both had previously been on wagon trains to Santa Fe so knew the way well. Bill had joined Quantrill and was one of his trusted lieutenants. Ten months had elapsed since the killing of Baker, and lest his old Lyon Co. Kansas friends might forget him, Bill concluded to make his old stamping ground another visit. J.P. Johnson and Dr. Hart from the Elm Creek Lyon Co. area were hauling at night the body of Mr. Giles, a local farmer, to Topeka for burial. They met Anderson and Yager on the Santa Fe trail and their timely recognition resulted in the formation of a posse by Marshal McDowell, Editor of the newspaper in Burlingame, to look after Bill and make inquiries as to his business.
Marshal McDowell, with 100 men, stopped at Wilmington, and among others requested to go along for company were Robt. Marrs, Sam Hutchinson, Otho Weaver, Pat Cannon, Mate and Will Hutchinson, Charley Dodds and Matt Thomson who, in September, 1900, so far as we know, penned the first chronicle of the trip.
Yager/Anderson reformed with other groups on 4-Mile Creek south of Council Grove. They killed Augustus Howell and injured his wife at Diamond Springs, west of Council Grove May 4, 1863. The US Marshall trailed them and captured the wagons and five men at Cottonwood Holes, Marion Co. They were guerrillas who had been paroled and had broken their parole. A guard was sent to take them to Ft Riley but the guard shot them all down at the head of Humbolt Creek, and reported they were shot because they tried to escape. The wagons were loaded with weapons, ammunition and provisions. The leaders got away and headed back to Missouri keeping north of the trail. One of Anderson’s group stopped at Allen, bought crackers and cheese which probably made lunch for them.
This group evidently was supposed to meet up with the ill fated group of 20 Confederate officers. Of the twenty, 18 were killed May 15, 1863 by Osage Indians, 18 miles north of the Kansas border on the Verdigris River. The officers left Jasper Co., Missouri ca. the 13th of May heading west thru Osage Indian territory. The officers were going to recruit in Colorado and New Mexico for the confederate cause, and to join the Confederate Army in Texas. The weapons and provisions were for the recruited troops. The whole expedition that was commissioned by CSA Maj Gen. Theophilus H. Holmes was a disaster. (Warner Lewis, Thomson, Swell)
The following are transcripts from area newspapers:
The Emporia News, April 12, 1862
Letter from Judge Baker, Agnes City, Kansas, April 9, 1862.
Mr. Editor: It is with a deep sense of gratitude, and feelings of heartfelt pleasure, that I take an early opportunity to thank you for your friendly forbearance in not allowing the columns of The News to be used for the purpose of calumniating and forestalling public opinion of me, concerning my unfortunate imprisonment at Fort Scott, Kansas, during the past winter. How painful it is to me to look or reflect upon the ghastly, the withering mutability of human friendship! Where were all my friends, during the winter of 1862? Oh, where? Verily, I now understand why the story of the desertion of Christ by the Apostles, when he was arrested by Pilate’s soldiers, was so minutely related by the inspired historian. It was, no doubt, to be an immortal commentary upon the weakness and pitiful littleness of mortality, to stand as a warning to people throughout all time.
Strange and mysterious stories have been told and been published concerning my arrest and incarceration, all of which were deliberate lies from beginning to end. My object in going to Missouri was not to act in antagonism to my Government, but, on the contrary, was advised by those who have the welfare of the Nation and Kansas at heart, for an entirely different purpose. Who ever heard me utter a disloyal sentiment against the United States? Who does not know that I have been in favor, since the beginning, of introducing no peace measures into our war plans, but to carry on an overwhelming, crushing warfare against organized bands in arms against the Government? Who does not know, after the course I have pursued in Kansas, that it is impossible for me to be a secessionist? All my relatives—all I love best on earth, is here. The present Administration, before I left Kansas last Autumn, had allowed my Sac & Fox claims, of several thousand dollars, none of which I had received before I left. Besides, all my property is here.
I met with misfortune in going to Missouri. Had I been an enemy, I have suffered enough; but being a friend, I know that a right which is guaranteed by our Constitution to every citizen of the United States, was in my person violated. I was kept for four months without a trial, although I continually called for one. When I was finally, by the kindness of General Deitzler, who took command at Fort Scott, given a trial, the Government preferred no charges against me. Why? Because they had none!
Before many moons, I will place this little romance of mine before the public, when I will be allowed to use names. Until then –
“Here’s a sigh to those who love me, And a smile to those who hate; And, whatsoever sky’s above me, Here’s a heart for every fate.”
The Emporia News, May 17, 1862
HORRIBLE TRAGEDIES! Two men killed!
For many weeks past, the settlers residing in the north part of the county, along the Santa Fe road, have been in a state of excitement growing out of the theft of several horses, and the belief that an organized gang of thieves had their headquarters in their midst, with resident accomplices.
About two weeks since, Judge Baker, living on Rock Creek, had several horses stolen. After a protracted search, the Judge found his horses about eighty miles west of Council Grove, in the possession of a Mexican, who was following a (wagon) train from which he was discharged near Kansas City. The Judge brought the Mexican back to Rock Creek, and delivered him over to the authorities; and after an examination he was bound over to appear at the District Court. The Mexican was in charge of a constable at Baker’s house at the time of the occurrences which follow.
A man named Anderson and his son, a young man of about 22 years, living on Bluff Creek near Baker’s, were connected, by rumor, with the horse thieves. Baker, among others, had spoken of Anderson in that connection. On Sunday last, Anderson came to Baker’s with a loaded gun and threatened to shoot him for what he had said. The interposition of Anderson’s son prevented the execution of the threat, and Anderson went away. But on Monday about twelve o’clock he came back, making the same threat. He started to go upstairs where Baker was, avowing his intention to kill him. The constable in charge of the Mexican interposed to prevent his going upstairs, but without avail; and as he was about half-way up, Baker appeared at the head of the stairs and shot Anderson through the breast, killing his instantly.
By night of the same day, a crowd of armed men numbering thirty or forty had collected at Baker’s, full of vengeance for all horse thieves. Soon after dark, the Mexican was suddenly seized and taken from the room and the custody of the constable to the woods near by, and hung to the nearest tree until dead.
During the afternoon of Monday, young Anderson came to Baker’s and delivered himself up to the authorities, to save himself from the hands of a mob which he said was being raised on Elm and Forty-two creeks to hang him. Fearing, however, that the authorities would not be able to protect him, he gave bail, mounted a fleet horse, and started for Missouri, and probably succeeded in escaping.
The greatest excitement still exists in that quarter. Nearly all the citizens go armed to the teeth, and strict watch is kept for the thieves who are supposed to be prowling about.
The Emporia News, July 12, 1862
Another Terrible Tragedy on the Santa Fe Road!
A.I. BAKER AND MR. SEGUR MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD!
BURNING HOUSES & STEALING HORSES!
Threats made against Emporia!
It will be remembered that some few weeks ago, we gave the particulars of the killing of an old man named Anderson, by Judge A.I. Baker. Baker had branded Anderson and his two sons, Bill and Jim, as belonging to a band of horse thieves; and for this, and perhaps one or two other reasons which it is not necessary to make public, Anderson sought his life, and was shot by Baker in self-defense. At the same time a Mexican, one of the gang of horse thieves and desperadoes to which the Andersons belonged, was hung by a mob. Bill Anderson was arraigned on the charge preferred by Baker, and bailed out. They swore vengeance on Baker and others, and left the country. It was supposed at the time—and the awful tragedy which we are about to relate proves the supposition to have been true—that they had gone to Missouri to join Quantrell.
On Thursday evening, the 3d of July, at about 8 or 9 o’clock, Bill Anderson, Jim Anderson, Lee Griffin (another of the gang which had left), accompanied by two others, one of them supposed to be Quantrell himself, arrived at the residence of Judge Baker on the Santa Fe road, when one of their company proceeded to his house and reported himself as a lone traveler, and told Baker he wished to procure some whisky. Baker went to his store, a short distance from his residence, to get the whiskey, and when in the act of going into the cellar the other four members of the gang rushed in and discharged several pistols at him, two of them taking effect in his body. Baker reeled upon the steps, drew his revolver, and fired into the crowd, hitting Jim Anderson in the thigh, but not seriously wounding him. Baker fell into the cellar in an expiring condition. A young man named Segur, a brother-in-law of Baker’s, was present, and was shot and thrown into the cellar with him. The cut-throats supposed this latter gentleman to be Elisha Goddard, of Americus, against whom they have a grudge for taking a prominent part in the hanging of their comrade, the Mexican, and against whom they have sworn vengeance. They then closed the (cellar) door and piled boxes and barrels upon it and set them on fire. In this position the two dying men lay until the roof of the building fell in. Baker, who was in the agonies of a horrible death, reached over his hand and bade Segur farewell, saying, “I am going.” Young Segur, although mortally wounded, recollected a back window in the cellar, and through this he mustered strength to escape from a horrible fate of burning to death. He lived about twenty-four hours after his escape. Judge Baker’s head, arms and legs were literally burned to ashes. A portion of the body was saved from burning by some object which had fallen upon it during the conflagration. The devils then set fire to the remainder of his property, consisting of a large stone dwelling, several out-houses, a carriage, etc. They also stole two fine horses.
In company with Mr. Goddard and his brother, Mr. Baker visited Emporia about noon of the day on which the dreadful murder was committed, in the very carriage which was burned, and with the very horses which the Rebels stole. He was in fine spirits, and little dreamed of the terrible fate which awaited him ere he closed his eyes in slumber that night. Little did he think that the slumber which he should take that night was to be the one that knows no waking this side of eternity. It is a little surprising to us that, with his natural shrewdness, he should not have been more guarded. He jumped in the trap laid for him without hesitancy, and that, too, when he knew the Andersons had sworn vengeance, and had even sent him word that they were coming. His friends state, however, that he did not believe these reports, and had said that he did not believe the boys would harm him.
After they had completed their hellish work at this point, the murderers started toward Missouri on the Santa Fe road, committing depredations and stealing horses at every point which they passed. After leaving Baker’s the first settler is a man called Dutch Henry, whom they robbed of clothing and money.
They then went to the residence of C. H. Withington of Allen, and after placing all the men about the premises under arrest, they demolished a saloon, knocking the proprietor down with a pistol and setting fire to his house. Owing to the lumber being green the building did not burn. Jim Anderson seemed determined upon killing our friend Withington, but his life was spared through the intercession of Quantrell and Bill Anderson, the former of whom Mr. W. recognized, having been somewhat acquainted with him a few years ago in Missouri. Here they stole three horses belonging to the Kansas City and Santa Fe Mail Company, and a rifle belonging to Mr. Withington. They stayed at Allen until nearly daylight. When they started they took the prisoners a short distance with them, and on the releasing them Quantrell is reported to have said something in this wise: “Gentlemen, we now have possession of Kansas, and if I had time I would issue a proclamation. But I will only say this much: Let it be remembered that Quantrell disturbs no man who minds his own business.”
At Elm Creek they fired into the house of a Mr. Jacoby, who had taken some part in getting them arrested. It was their intention to have killed this gentleman, but a Santa Fe (wagon) train which was encamped near Jacoby’s residence saved his life. At the next station they stole two more horses, belonging to the Kansas City and Council Grove Stage Company. From this place they proceeded on down the road, avoiding Burlingame, and threatened to a gentleman near that place that if the people of that village disturbed the property of Hollam Rice—who, as those who have traveled the road between here and Lawrence will recollect, kept a kind of stopping-place at Dragoon Creek near Burlingame, and who lately left for Iowa because of his supposed complicity with this band of horse thieves—they would lay that town in ashes. At 110 Creek they compelled Mr. Harris to get breakfast for them in double-quick time—threatening to blow his brains out if he did not do so. They left there a little after daylight, and were probably in Missouri by noon of that day.
This whole affair was one of the boldest, most daring and bloody of achievements of the kind ever put upon record by any band desperadoes. Let us just think for a moment of a dozen dashing into the country from Missouri, a distance of 110 or 120 miles, and murdering, burning, and stealing—and off again before any pursuit can be made! This teaches us a very important lesson, which is that every neighborhood in the country should be prepared for such desperadoes. Had a dozen men been handy, they could have captured this company, and hung them. In conversation with different persons, they made various threats: one was that “That d—d town of Emporia had got to go under!” They even stated that a portion of their band had taken the Emporia road that night, with the intention of burning and sacking this town before daylight.
They swear vengeance against some of our citizens. Had they made us a visit, we doubt not they would have accomplished their ends without hindrance. They could have done it before we got ready to resist. They have sworn to visit this section of the country again to kill E. Goddard and others. Shall they do it? The question is for us to answer. They dare come whenever they please, and if they please they will do it. Every community should prepare for defense. Every gun should be got in readiness, and the able-bodied men ready to mount and pursue at a moment’s warning. Just think, if these devils had taken the notion that night, our town might have been laid in ashes, and half her citizens burnt in the ruins!
The Emporia News, May 9, 1863
EXCITEMENT – GUERILLAS
The people of Emporia and vicinity were aroused, on Monday afternoon last, by receiving a dispatch from U. S. Marshal McDowell, stating that Quantrill and a number of his notorious bushwhacking followers had been going up the Santa Fe road, in the direction of Council Grove. His opinion was that they intended to sack and burn Council Grove, then come down the Neosho, burn Emporia, then follow and take Proctor’s (wagon) train, which had just started for the Cherokee Nation.
The Marshal had with him a posse of thirty armed men, well mounted, and was pursuing them, bound up the Santa Fe road. A small squad left here and joined him at the Grove. They found that quite a number of these men had been seen there, dodging about, two and three together, and that the notorious Bill Anderson (one of the murderers of Judge Baker) had been recognized among them.
On Tuesday evening two suspicious-looking characters were arrested by McDowell, and soon one of them was sent to Fort Riley, under a guard of two men. When within about eight miles of Fort Riley, he attempted to escape, and was shot dead. The names of these men we have not learned.
The general opinion at the Grove was that the band had gone on further west, with the intention of robbing a Santa Fe (wagon) train, and pursuit was made in that direction. At Diamond Springs it was found that a man named Howell had been murdered and robbed, and his wife severely wounded. Further pursuit was made, and they came upon the wagons, guarded by ten men, at the crossing of the Cottonwood River on the Santa Fe road. This part of the gang was taken.
It was then thought that the remainder of this band of desperadoes, finding that they were pursued, had made down the Cottonwood. A dispatch was sent to this place for a company to mount and to go up and endeavor to cut them off. The dispatch was received on Monday afternoon at 4 o’clock and at 6, twenty-seven well mounted and well armed men galloped up the valley of the Cottonwood, in the direction indicated by the dispatch.
Much excitement has prevailed at this place and all through this part of the country, during the week. The citizens of Emporia promptly organized a company, and the town has been strongly guarded every night since the first intelligence reached here. The old six pounder (cannon) was soon found and mounted, and was placed in a position in front of our office, and looked “very like” war.
The Smoky Hill and Republican Union (Junction City, KS), May 09, 1863
PRISONER SHOT (p. 3)
We learn that last Wednesday, as two of Captain Stewart’s company were returning from Council Grove with a prisoner, they were compelled to shoot him for attempting to escape. A short distance this side of Mr. Wingfield’s, on Humboldt, he started to run away, when they put a ball through his head and one through his body. He was charged with being secesh (secessionist, Confederate sympathizer), and supposed by some to have been a spy of Quantrell’s.
The Emporia News, May 16, 1863
THE LATE GUERILLA RAID
Notwithstanding the vigilance of the citizens all along the road, the guerillas seem to have made their escape by the same route on which they came in, the Santa Fe road. After the ten had been taken by Marshal McDowell and he sent a messenger down here informing us that the rest of the crowd were coming down the Cottonwood River, about seventy-five of the citizens from different parts of the county started out in pursuit. They were almost unanimously of the opinion that the guerillas would make for the Walnut and Whitewater country, and thither they went. But the rebs gave them the slip. They undoubtedly got wind that they were pursued, and knew the direction their pursuers were going to take. They seem to have taken the very route that it was least suspected they would choose. They came down from the Cottonwood and passed over the Neosho River near Cahola in this county, about fifteen miles from Emporia, and thence struck across north of Americus and Waterloo.
They then went in the direction of Superior, and we are informed crossed Dragoon Creek on the Superior bridge, and went on the Superior road to One Hundred and Ten. They committed many depredations on their way out, along the Santa Fe road. They shot two men, killing one of them and badly wounding the other, robbed several persons of small amounts, and at Black Jack they stopped a Santa Fe mail coach and robbed the passengers of $1,300, and took fourteen horses from the mail company. They sacked and completely stripped the town of Gardner in Johnson County.
This is the second raid of these cut-throats into the interior in the last year. And both times they have been successful in carrying out their devilish purpose, of robbing, pillaging and murdering. They are the same ones that killed Baker and burned his house last summer. We are glad to know that they did not all get back. It would have been well if every one of them could have been taken and hung along the Santa Fe road, a mile apart, to warn other guerillas of their fate if they dared to invade Kansas. Those who were taken were sent to Fort Riley. We are sorry to learn that they reached there. They ought to have been served in accordance with Blunt’s order—shot or hung.
The Independent (Oskaloosa, Kansas), May 16, 1863
THE GUERILLA RAID
From Hon. W.H.M. Fishback and Capt. Weaver of Johnson County, we learn additional facts in regard to the recent raid of Yeager’s Bushwhackers. Twenty-two of them were at Black Jack at 10 o’clock on Friday night. They robbed the Santa Fe mail and passengers of $4,000, taking $1,750 from one man. Twelve coach horses were taken.
The guerrillas reached Gardner before day, Saturday. There they took five stage horses, and two from Mr. Cramer. They stole $200 from Mrs. Waugh, $15 from Mr. Rue, and $10 from Mr. Cramer. They left Gardner on Saturday morning and passed two miles south of Olathe. They then had 110 horses besides the stage horses.
Capt. Charles G. Keeler, Ben Roberts and two other citizens of Johnson County traced them into Missouri, where they divided their horses and the other property stolen from Kansas. The place was about four miles from Little Santa Fe. – Conservative.
The Smoky Hill and Republican Union (Junction City, KS), May 16, 1863
pg 2 GUERRILLAS AT WORK
The guerrillas that we noticed last week as having killed and robbed a man on the Santa Fe Road, have been actively at work ever since. They are led by the notorious Yeager and Anderson, who killed Baker. On Friday, the 8th inst., they robbed the Santa Fe mail and passengers of $4,000, taking $1,750 from one man, at Black Jack, about eighty miles east of Council Grove. They reached Gardner, in Johnson County, before day Saturday morning, and there took several horses and robbed the citizens of considerable money. They passed two miles south of Olathe and had with them about 150 horses.
We have since heard that on last Tuesday night they sacked the town of Auburn, in Shawnee County, and that three bushwhackers were killed and three citizens. We have not learned the particulars.
pg 3 PRISONERS
A squad of ten prisoners was brought into Fort Riley last Sunday, supposed to belong to the guerrilla bands that have been giving so much trouble of late. They were captured some distance west of Council Grove, by the United States Marshal. They undoubtedly belonged to the party that afterwards robbed the mail and sacked Auburn. We have the story that Yeager and Anderson were in the crowd, but owing to the “strategy” of one of the Marshal’s pickets, were some distance off by daylight. A man rode up, the picket inquired who he was, to which he replied that he was a wagonmaster. In the course of conversation the picket told him who he was, what they were after, and how many they supposed were in the party they were after. An innocent youth! Four of the men arrested claim to be Pike’s Peakers, and that they fell into company with these men accidentally. Upon giving satisfactory evidence to this effect, they were discharged.
Below is an excerpt from the memoirs of T. O. Hill, who came to Lyon County with his parents in 1857 at the age of 17 or 18. Kansas Territory had been opened to White settlement in 1854. They farmed in the Waushara area, near the Santa Fe Trail in the northeast part of the county.
The Northern Lyon County Journal, December 17, 1915
KANSAS HISTORY AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL by T. O. Hill
It was the last of May, 1862, Mrs. Agnes Baker had died and Baker had married a Miss Secor. Mr. Secor’s horses were missing and Bill Anderson and his uncle, Lee Griffen, being missing they were accused of their theft. Jake Vannata, Hank Jacobi, and Otho Weaver went west. G.T Barwick, constable, went to Burlingame. Getting help he went to the Rice place. They found him after he got the drop on them. The Burlingame men were permitted to get away, but Mr. Barwick had to stay to hear some very elegant talk.
The men from Elm creek started home. They met old Mr. Anderson. He was in liquor. He compelled them to go back with him. He said he wanted them to see him kill Baker. When they got there Baker was up in his room. He told Anderson that he must not try to come up. With an oath he started up. The leaden messenger met him at the first step. Vannata and Jacobi caught him and laid him down on the floor and went home. Jacobi was a tenant on the mail station and he and his family were living in the house (at the Elm creek station). He went in to clean his gun. Mr. Weaver was riding a fine Claybank pony. He had dismounted and was standing at the pony’s side. His son, Eli, was back 80 feet further north.
Mr. Weaver called to Jacobi that Anderson was coming. Jacobi commenced to load his gun. As the rider came up Weaver bowed with, “How are you, Bill?” A double-handed blow was aimed at Weaver. The blow was dodged, but the Claybank went to his knees. Recovering his gun Anderson turned it on the boy and fired. The ball dropped at the boy’s feet. Hastily priming and capping his gun as Anderson appeared on the other side of the creek, Jacobi fired, grazing his right cheek. When Anderson got back to Withington’s he learned of his father’s death (at Bakers house). Mr. Withington buried the elder Anderson on land that now belongs to George DeCamp. Anderson gave himself up, giving a bond which was worthless. When he got ready he skipped.
The new Mrs. Baker had two brothers, one in my company in the army, then at Corinth; the other a boy, twelve or fourteen years old, living with the Baker’s. About 9 o’clock on the evening of July 3, 1862, Bill and Jim Anderson, Dick Yeager and Quantrell, came as strangers to the Baker place and wished to get some goods from the store. Baker and the boy went into the building and opened the hatchway that went into the cellar. They were fired upon and each received a wound. The gentlemen at the top knew better than to follow. They set fire to the buildings.
Baker called the boy to him and told him he could get out at one of the windows, but that he (Baker) would have to stay there. He shook hands with the boy, bade him good-by, lifted him up to the window, through which he made his escape. The boy died the next day.
These gentlemen got back to Elm Creek at three o’clock of the morning of July 4, 1862. Jacobi had sent his wife and children away (from the Elm Creek Station) and had hired a man and his wife by the name of Wiggins. These people had a foster girl baby, named Nellie. She was 12 or 14 months old. They fired some forty shots at the building. A shot passed through the door and hit the wall but little above Mrs. Wiggin’s head, as she was trying to shield her baby. An Ox-train came and the rascals “vamoosed.”
A short time before Jacobi’s death he bought a new door and exchanged it for the shot-riddled one that had saved his life. After the trouble of July 4, Jacobi sold out to Mr. Wiggins, and joined the army. I made the acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs. Wiggins and little Nellie in the winter of ’62 and ’63.
. . . . About the first of May, 1864, a man died in Waterloo Township. He was buried in Topeka. J.P. Johnson and Dr. Hart were taking his body there in the night. About half way they met mounted men. The moon was shining bright. They knew the leader. It was Bill Anderson. They hurried on and gave the alarm. The U.S. Marshal commenced to gather his posse. On Sunday evening the carval rode past the mail station on Elm Creek at about 5 o’clock, Bill Anderson and Dick Yeager in the lead. That night everybody hid out.
In the morning I rode to Wilmington. When I got there I found a large force of men lying in blankets. The old man Odell was there contending with the Marshal about horses. The old man was told that the horses had to come. I skipped out. We organized, and for two days and nights guarded all of the crossings from the mail station to the parallel line. Then we concluded to go to the Grove (Council Grove). We got a team and wagon and started after dark. The men were J.P. Johnson, Bealy Layman, Jake Jones, Dr. Hart, L.W. Bush and myself. We got to the Grove about 8 o’clock the next morning. A very few men had been left there. They were glad for our help. In time the Marshal came back. He had gone on to the Cottonwood Holes, where he captured the teams, drivers and wagons belonging to the gang. The leader and fighting men all got away. The wagons were loaded with arms, ammunition, and provisions. They expected with a large force of outlaws and Indians to strike the Union army in the rear, on the Eastern line of Kansas, in the fall. Their plans miscarried.
A. I. BAKER’S WIDOW
Young Annis was married to Ingram Baker for only a brief time before he and Annis’ brother were killed by Bill Anderson, and all of her possessions and hopes of being the wife of a prominent citizen and cherished mother of his children went up in flames that night. Nearly ten years later she remarried, to J. B. Somers, who was listed in the 1870 U.S. census as being a real estate agent whose residence was a Council Grove hotel, age 26. Three days after their wedding, J. B. and Annis were both drowned, as described in the articles below.
Annis Segur Baker Somers, birth 1844 in New York, Death May 14, 1872
The Leavenworth Weekly Times, May 23, 1872
FROM THE NEOSHO
Tidings of a Distressing Calamity – Four Residents of Council Grove Drowned
From the Neosho, just above the town of Council Grove, comes the tidings of a terrible calamity, in which four lives were lost. After the severe rain of Thursday evening, J. B. Somers and wife, Miss Susan Huffaker, daughter of Judge Huffaker, and P. F. Roberts, proprietor of a Council Grove livery stable, attempted to cross the Neosho River and were drowned. It seems that these four persons were residents of Council Grove, and were returning from a point above and upon the opposite side of the stream. What renders the accident more distressing is the fact that Mr. Somers and wife were married only a few days before they found their watery grave. Later accounts represent that two of the bodies have been recovered. All intelligence from that section of the State go to show that the floods of the Neosho during the past week have been tremendous.
White Cloud Kansas Chief, May 23, 1872
Four persons were drowned in the Neosho River at Council Grove, on the night of the 14th. After a terrible rain Mr. J. B. Summers, Mrs. Summers, Miss Susan Huffaker, and Mr. Philip Roberts entered a carriage to drive to Mr. Huffaker’s residence, situated on the east side of the Neosho River, crossing near the old Kaw Mission, when the carriage was swept away by the strong current and all perished, except the horses.
Sources list compiled by Donald E. Schiesser:
O. F. Odell – ALONG THE SANTA FE TRAIL, Mar. 29, 1888 letter to National Tribune, Kansas Historical Society Topeka, KS. Ran store at Old Allen. Parents Benjamin Odell had a stage station and lived 4 ¼ mi east of Allen in Waterloo twp.
Gilbert Sweet “Uncle Gilbert Sweet” – Interview by Laura French, 1939, Emporia Gazette, Emporia, Kansas. Lived 1 ½ mi. SE of Allen in Waterloo twp.
Jacob VanNata – SANTA FE TRAIL EXPERIENCES, EARLY DAYS OF KANSAS-Vol 1, C. R. Green, Olathe, KS., 1913. Lived 2 mi. NE of Allen on Elm creek, Waterloo twp.
Eli Sewell, B.F. Munkers, C.H.Streiby – July 7,1910 interviews with William E. Connelly – Kansas Hist. Society, Topeka KS. Sewell lived on the west side of Rock Creek. Baker and Agnes City were on the east, or other side, of Rock Creek. Both were in Agnes City twp. B. F. Munkers lived NE of Council Grove, KS. near Rock Creek. Streiby was a blacksmith in Council Grove.
T. O. Hill -”Those Stirring Days of Long Ago, Before the War” Northern Lyon Co. Journal, 1916, Allen Kansas. Lived 1 mi. N of mail station in Waterloo twp.
Matt Thomson – “Early History of Wabaunsee Co. Ks” Copyr. 1898, Alma, KS. In 1859- 1862 ran Elm Creek Mail Station, 2 ½ mi. ENE of Allen on the Trail at Elm Creek.
Probate court record #1, Wm. C. Anderson, C.H. Withington administrator, May 30, 1862, Emporia, KS Courthouse, has signature of Wm. C. Anderson on a promissory note. (He had excellent handwriting.)
Vandivort, Russ – “Looking Backward.” [Allen] Northern Lyon County Journal, Mar. 14, 21 & 28, & Apr. 4 & 11, 1923. [10 pp.]
Wm. H. Ryrus, The Second Wm. Penn. Was a stagecoach driver on the Trail. Physical description of William T. Anderson. (Odell, Thomson) Look at Odell’s description-fits picture taken when he was killed. Description of Bill’s horse ”Silver Heels.” (Sweet, O.F. Odell)
Jacob Stotler – History of Lyon County Kansas, Illustrated Historical Atlas of Lyon County Ks, Edwards Brothers, Philadelphia, Pa., 1878. Was Editor of Kansas News in Emporia, KS at the time of these events.
1860 Census, Kansas, Breckenridge Co., Agnes City Twp., 28 June, 1860. Wm. C. Anderson, A. I. Baker.
Emporia and other Kansas newspapers, 1862-1863.
Our Land: A History of Lyon County, Kansas, 1976, publ. Emporia State Press.Allen, Kansas, 1854-1886, 1886-1986 by Donald Scheisser, 1986.
Bloody Bill Anderson by Castel & Goodrich, 1998/2006, Univ. Press of Kansas.
Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol. I, 1912, edited by Frank W. Blackmar, Standard Pub. Co. Chicago (available online, see below).
Donald Scheisser, research including:Personal statements of O.F. O’dell, Matt Thompson, T.O. Hill & Jacob Van Natta, Ks. State Hist. Soc. archives, interviews with Council Grove pioneers in 1910 by William Connolly: John Maloy, Eli Sewell, C. H. Strieby, B. F. Munkers.
ON THE INTERNET, as of 2016:
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Old newspapers of all states, 1836-1922
http://www.kshs.org/p/county-atlases-or-plat-books/13859 KS State Hist. Society, county plat maps
http://www.ksgenweb.com/archives/1912/ Cyclopedia of Kansas, 1912
http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/ 1883 History of Kansas by Andreas/Cutler
http://lyoncounty.mykansaslibrary.org/ (click on “Online Microfilm for North Lyon County News Papers”) former N. Lyon Co. newspapers
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