Of the surviving members, many have attained the highest distinction of
the State, and all, I believe, are useful and honored citizens. At the
first election under the Constitution, Samuel A. Kingman was chosen as
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; in 1866 he was elected Chief
Justice, and reëlected in 1872. Benj. F. Simpson was elected the first
Attorney-General of the State, but resigned the position to enter the
army, in which he served throughout the war. He has since been Speaker
of the House of Representatives, several times a State Senator, and is
now serving his second term as U. S. Marshal. Solon O. Thacher was
chosen District Judge at the first election under the Constitution, has
since occupied many positions of honor and responsibility, and is a
member of the present State Senate. J. C. Burnett, S. D. Houston and
Sam’l E. Hoffman were members of the first State Senate, and Geo. H.
Lillie was a member of the first House of Representatives. E. G. Ross
was appointed United States Senator in 1866, and elected in 1867,
serving until 1871. John J. Ingalls was chosen a State Senator in 1861;
was elected United States Senator in 1873, and reëlected in 1879, and is
still occupying that distinguished place. John T. Burris was
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Tenth Kansas, and subsequently District Judge.
Wm. P. Dutton, James Blood, L. R. Palmer, John P. Greer and John Ritchie
have filled many positions of local trust and prominence, with credit
and usefulness. R. C. Foster and John W. Forman are residing in Texas;
William Hutchinson lives in Washington; Ed. Stokes in Arkansas, and C.
B. McClellan, E. Moore and E. M. Hubbard are still prominent and honored
citizens of the counties they represented. My old friend, Col. Caleb
May, sole surviving member of the three Free-State Constitutional
Conventions, lives in Montgomery county. If Dean Swift was right in
saying that “whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of
grass, to grow on a spot of ground where one grew before, would deserve
better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than
the whole race of politicians,” what honor is due this sturdy Kansas
farmer, who, during a residence of twenty-eight years in the State, has
never—not even in the disastrous seasons of 1860 and 1874—failed to
raise a good crop. Even the heroic service he rendered the cause of
Freedom during the darkest days of the struggle in Kansas, was less
valuable to the State than this practical and triumphant vindication of
its soil and climate.
“LOST TO SIGHT.”
Stalwart, quiet Wm. McCullough I have not heard of for many years. John
A. Middleton, of Marshall county, was a soldier in the Seventh Kansas,
removed to Montana in 1864, and I have learned nothing of him since. R.
L. Williams, of Douglas; A. D. McCune, of Leavenworth; J. H. Signor, of
Allen, and J. T. Barton, of Johnson, have all disappeared and left no
sign. I know not whether they are living or dead.