When Sheriff Jones saw that the control of this business was being taken
out of the hands of himself and his fellow-conspirators he wrote the
following letter to Gov. Shannon:
CAMP AT WAKARUSA, Dec. 6, 1855.
To His EXCELLENCY, GOV. SHANNON:
_Sir_: In reply to yours of yesterday I have to inform you
that the volunteer forces now at this place and Lecompton
are getting weary of inaction. They will not, I presume,
remain but a short time longer, unless a demand for the
prisoner is made. I think I shall have sufficient force to
protect me by to-morrow morning. The force at Lawrence is
not half so strong as reported. If I am to wait for
Government troops, more than two-thirds of the men that
are here will _go away very much dissatisfied._ They are
leaving hourly as it is.
It is reported that the people of Lawrence have run off
those offenders from town, and, indeed, it is said they
are now all out of the way. I have writs for sixteen
persons who were with the party that rescued my prisoner.
S. N. Wood, P. R. Brooks and Samuel Tappan are of
Lawrence, the balance from the country around. Warrants
will be put into my hands to-day for the arrest of G. W.
Brown, and probably others in Lecompton. They say that
they are willing to obey the laws, but no confidence can
be placed in any statements they may make. Most
respectfully yours,
SAMUEL J. JONES,
Sheriff of Douglas County.
From the above, three facts are apparent:
1. Sheriff Jones is not willing that the militia shall go home, and Col.
Sumner and the United States troops take their places.
2. He has writs against the sixteen rescuers of Branson. But of these he
has ascertained that thirteen live in the country, and he does not need
to go to Lawrence to find them. The three that belong in Lawrence are
gone to parts unknown, and he does not need to go to Lawrence to find
them. _At this writing Sheriff Jones has not a single writ against any
person in Lawrence._
3. If he has such a warrant the Lawrence people profess themselves
willing that he should serve it, but he does not believe them. "No
confidence can be placed in any statements that they may make."
So far as Sheriff Jones is concerned, it is now manifest that this was a
devilish conspiracy against the people of Lawrence, to cut their throats
and burn up the town. How far the men that were with him were conscious
partners in his guilt, or how far they were ignorant dupes of a man that
had murder in his heart, does not appear.
The people of Lawrence now thought it was time for them to open
communication with Gov. Shannon, and Messrs. G. P. Lowery and C. W.
Babcock, after running the gauntlet of the patrols, robbers and
guerillas that infested the road to Shawnee Mission, succeeded in
putting in the hands of the Governor the following letter:
To His EXCELLENCY, WILSON SHANNON, GOVERNOR KANSAS TERRITORY:
_Sir_: As citizens of Kansas Territory, we desire to call
your attention to the fact that a large force of armed men
from a foreign State have assembled in the vicinity of
Lawrence, are now committing depredations upon our
citizens, stopping them, opening and appropriating their
loadings, arresting, detaining and threatening travelers
upon the public road, and that they claim to do this by
your authority. We desire to know if they do appear by
your authority, and if you will secure the peace and quiet
of the community by ordering their instant removal, or
compel us to resort to some other means or a higher
authority.
SIGNED BY COMMITTEE.
The Governor began to think it was time for him to go to the camp of
Sheriff Jones' army on the Wakarusa; and when he came he was frightened
at his own work, and became just as eager to get out of the scrape as he
had been forward to get into it. He wrote to Col. Sumner, frantically
begging him to come to the rescue; but he had got no orders, and would
not move without orders. Sheriff Jones and the rank and file of his camp
were furious that they were held back from pitching into the Lawrence
people; but the officers had become cognizant of the bloody job they
would have on hands, and were willing to be let off. And so the Governor
patched up a peace, and sent his militia home again, with their curses
diverted from the Lawrence Abolitionists to Gov. Shannon. Cowardly,
weak-minded and infirm in purpose as this unhappy man was, he was not
wholly a fool; and we may justly believe that he had in his heart a
foreboding of that awful day of reckoning that would surely come, when
inquisition would be made for the blood of these citizens, and the
Governor himself would be called to answer, "Why were these men slain?"
And now that peace--angelic peace--sat brooding over Lawrence with her
dove-like pinions, they made a love-feast and invited the Governor to
partake of it; and what with the ravishing music, and the blandishment
of flattering tongues, and the intoxication of fair women's eyes and
sweet voices, the Governor was made to forget, for the time being, that
he was the property, body, soul, and spirit, of the "Law and Order" party;
and his soft and plastic nature was beguiled into signing a document
constituting the army of defense of Lawrence a part of the Territorial
Militia, and giving them authority, under his own hand and seal, to
fight with teeth and toe-nails against the outside barbarians that he
himself had invoked to cut their throats. When, however, he had come to
himself, and had to front the frowns and ungrammatical curses of the
"Border Ruffians," he was fain to lay the blame on the sparkling wine of
the feast, and the more sparkling eyes and sparkling wit of beautiful
women.
These felicitations of the people of Lawrence with Governor Shannon did,
however, have a somber and awful background. While this had been going
on a boy had been murdered in the vicinity of Lawrence. Some young men
rode out to see about it, and one of them was shot and killed. But a
still more ghastly crime threw its baleful shadow over the people. It
was perpetrated two days before the Governor concluded his treaty of
peace.
Thomas W. Barber and Robert F. Barber were farmers, living about seven
miles from Lawrence; and on December 6th started with a Mr. Pierson to
go home to their families. These were two brothers and a brother-in-law.
They were intercepted on their way by J. N. Burns, of Weston, Mo., and
Major George W. Clarke, United States Agent for the Pottawatomie
Indians. These two men shot Thomas W. Barber. It is hard to find an
explanation of their act, unless it were that they came to Lawrence to
shoot down Abolitionists as they would have shot wolves on the prairie.
They had no provocation. They rode apart from their companions to
intercept the Barbers, and called on them to halt. Thomas W. Barber was
unarmed, and gave mild and truthful answers to their questions. After
the shooting the brothers started to ride away, when the murdered man
said, "That fellow hit me;" began to sway in his saddle, was supported
for a little time by his brother, then fell to the ground dead. His
horse also had been shot, and died the same night. Familiar as Kansas
had become with cruel and devilish deeds, there were circumstances
connected with this act that made it exceptionally a blood-curdling
horror. Thomas W. Barber was a somewhat notable farmer, and had married
a young wife, that loved her husband with a love so passionate that she
was sometimes rallied about it by her sister-in-law. It had been with
misgivings and forebodings she had consented for Barber to go to
Lawrence. The news of her husband's death had been kept from her; they
dared not tell her. A young man was sent to bring her into the city,
whither her husband's body had been already carried, and he blurted out,
"Thomas Barber is killed!" and she shrieked, "O, my husband! my
husband! Have they killed my husband?" It has been said that so frantic
were her struggles, that it was with main force they had to hold her in
the carriage which conveyed her into the city. Much has been written of
the pathetic and voiceless woe of this wretched and sorrow-stricken
woman, but we will spare the reader the recital.
This question, however, we did often ask ourselves: "What had we done
that we should be made to suffer thus?"
But now there was peace, and Sheriff Jones, breathing out curses against
the Governor who had balked him of his anticipated revenge, disbanded
his army and went back to his post-office at Westport. It was past the
middle of December, but some lingered on their way, robbing and
stealing. The cold grew intense. A driving snow came down from the
North. It was one of the coldest winters Kansas had ever known, and
there fell one of the deepest snows. And now, winding through the deep
snow, benumbed with cold, and all unprovided with clothing suitable for
such inclement weather, the rear guard of the ring-streaked, speckled
and spotted regiment of Kansas and Missouri Militia passed out of the
Territory.
Thirteen leaders of the "Law and Order" party had met with Lane and
Robinson, acting on behalf of the people of Lawrence, and had agreed to
the terms of the treaty. But Sheriff Jones is reported to have said:
"Had not Shannon been a fool I would have wiped out Lawrence." It is
reported that Stringfellow said that "Shannon had sold himself and
disgraced himself and the whole Pro-slavery party." Atchison accepted
the terms, saying to his followers: "Boys, we can not fight now. The
position that Lawrence has taken is such that it would not do to make an
attack on them. But boys, we will fight some time!"
The peace was to be broken at the earliest opportunity.