QUINDARO and WESTERN UNIVERSITY

The area in question was originally part of the Wyandott Purchase, the land that the Wyandot Indians bought from the Delaware in 1843 following their removal from Ohio to Kansas, In 1850, the Wyandots began to press the government on the questions of citizenship and the individual ownership of tribal lands. Following passage of the KansasNebraska Act in 1854, which opened the territory to white settlement, the Wyandots redoubled their efforts, Finally, on January 31, 1855, the Wyandot Tribal Council signed a treaty dissolving their tribal status, allowing all competent Wyandots who wished to become U.S. citizens, and providing for the division of the lands of the Wyandott Purchase among the individual members of the tribe, Ownership of the area in question under the subsequent Wyandot allotments was divided among 13 individuals and heads-of-family, including Esquire Greyeyes, Ebenezer 0, Zane, Matthew Brown, and Abelard and Nancy Brown Guthrie.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act had repealed the Missouri Compromise which had limited the spread of slavery, instead allowing the question of slavery in the new territories to be settled by "popular sovereignty," This immediately made control of Kansas Territory the goal of competing pro- and anti-slavery forces. Given the proximity of Missouri, that control was initially in the hands of pro-slavery forces following several largely fraudulent elections for territorial officials, which in turn led to the establishment of an alternate territorial government by the free-state advocates, This culminated in 1856 in the armed violence of "Bleeding Kansas."

In the fall of that year (the exact date is uncertain), the Quindaro Town Company was formed by an alliance of Wyandots and several individuals from the free-state town of Lawrence with ties to the New England Emigrant Aid Company. The intent was to develop a profitable and safe port of entry into Kansas for free-state settlers, as the established river ports such as Atchison and Leavenworth were largely in pro-slavery hands. On November 21, 1856, Dr, Charles Robinson wrote to investor Joseph Lyman from Lawrence, "we have secured 693 acres of land in the Wyandotte Reserve bordering the Missouri River for our new town.,,,"

The new town was named in honor of Nancy Brown Guthrie, whose Wyandot name was Seh Quindaro. Her name, which the Quindaro Chin-dowan claimed (mistakenly) was popular and common among Wyandot women, actually meant "Bundle of Sticks," but the town's backers interpreted it to mean "Strength through Union" -- not really a great leap, as most Wyandot names were referential rather than literal.

Nancy Brown Guthrie's husband, Abelard Guthrie, was a white man who had been appointed registrar of the U.S. Land Office in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, at the time of the Wyandots' removal to Kansas in 1843. He had followed Nancy to Kansas, married her over her father's strong objections, and subsequently been adopted into the Wyandot tribe. Highly intelligent (the Wyandots called him Tah-keh-yoh-shrah-tseh, the Man With Two Brains) but often contentious and argumentative, Guthrie was vice-president of the new town company and its principal promoter.

The treasurer of the town company was Dr. Charles Robinson, the founder of Lawrence. He had come to Kansas in June of 1854 as the leader of the first party of settlers sponsored by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, and was considered to be the leader of the free-state party in the territory, He would later become the first governor of the State of Kansas, It was Robinson's connections in the East that provided the initial financial backing for the Quindaro venture.

Samuel N. Simpson, also of Lawrence, was named company secretary. Like Robinson he had been part of the first group of Company-sponsored emigrants, and had helped lay out the town that was to become the center of free-state activity in the territory. In later years he would become involved in a variety of real estate endeavors in Kansas City, Kansas, including development of the Riverview subdivision in 1879 and the Central Avenue corridor in the mid 1880s.

The president of the town company was a Wyandot, Joel Walker. Like other members of his prominent family, he was considered to be pro-slavery in his sympathies (and was in fact a slave owner -- his estate at the time of his death listed two, a man named Squire and a woman named Miney), but Wyandot unity was considered to be an important factor in the town's hoped-for success. Apparently such business alliances between the two otherwise bitterly opposed factions were not uncommon in territorial Kansas. This was particularly the case once the free-state forces began to gain the upper hand in 1857 and '58, but the Quindaro partnership may be one of the earliest examples. Walker was also one of seven partners in the Wyandott City Company, formed in December, 1856, to plat and develop the neighboring town of Wyandott (the present Kansas City, Kansas), He was thus intimately involved in the efforts of two rival enterprises.

The plat of the proposed townsite was surveyed in December, 1856, by Owen A. Bassett, and covered an area from A Street (the present 42nd Street) east to Y (17th) Street and from 10th Street (Parkview Avenue) north to the Missouri River. The plat included Quindaro Park, making it the first park in what is now Wyandotte County and one of the oldest in the state. The Missouri River was then somewhat to the west of its present position, exposing a long rock ledge which formed a natural levee for steamboat landings (where the Missouri Pacific Railroad right-of-way is today), and this was apparently a major factor in choosing the town's location. It may in fact have been the only physical advantage of the location, as the remainder of the original townsite was steep, rocky and heavily wooded.

Despite the roughness of the terrain, the town was laid out by Bassett on a grid, with the longer dimension of the blocks running north and south, The principal north-south street in the town was Kanzas Avenue (the present 27th Street), while as noted the other .-north-south streets were lettered from west to east, A through Y, with Kanzas taking the place of the letter Beginning at the river, the east-west streets were numbered, from lst to 10th. Two additional streets, Levee and Main, ran diagonally across the top of the plat from the northwest to the southeast, adjacent to and paralleling the river.

The plat was thus a trapezoid in shape, with the east-west streets gradually increasing in length as one moved south: lst Street in the northwest corner of the plat was the shortest, 5th Street extended no further east than its intersection with Kanzas Avenue a short block south of Main, and only 7th Street, 8th Street (the present Sewell Avenue), 9th Street (Sloan Avenue), and 10th Street (Parkview Avenue) continued through the full width of the plat (on paper, at least) from A Street on the west to Y Street on the east.

On January 1, 1857, ground was broken for the first building in Quindaro, an 8 x 10 structure to be used as a temporary office for the town company. This was soon followed by construction of Colby and Parker's Quindaro House hotel at 1-3-5 Kanzas Avenue (Feature No. 1).(1) Later accounts claimed that it was of stone, but the Chin-do-wan described it as a 40 x 70, five-story, wood-frame structure with accommodations for up to 250 guests, and the archaeological evidence would seem to bear this out, As with most hotels of the period, the first floor was occupied by commercial enterprises such as Johnson and Veale, Merchants, The hotel opened for business on April 1, 1857.

Behind the Quindaro House to the west, facing 5th Street, was a small brick structure that may have been the office of the town company (Feature No, 76), Across the street to the east at 2 Kanzas Avenue was the more-modest Wyandott House hotel, originally owned and operated by Ebenezer 0. Zane (Feature No. 6). The 32-year-old Zane was a member of a large and prominent Wyandot Indian family (and a second cousin of famed Western writer Zane Grey). He was one of the original owners of the townsite, and subsequently served as an alderman on Quindaro's first town council.

Abutting the Wyandott House on the south, at 4 Kanzas Avenue, was one of the largest commercial buildings in town, erected by Jacob Henry (Feature No. 3N), The structure was three stories in height, with -stone side walls, a brick and cast iron front, and a metal roof. T e footings indicate that there was a row of interior columns as well, which may also have been of iron. The first floor was a mercantile store, and offices occupied the second, while a public meeting hall was on the third, A smaller, adjoining store building at 6 Kanzas Avenue was built by Otis Webb, proprietor of the steam ferry that ran between Quindaro and Parkville (Feature No. 3S). It may have housed a grocery. South of the Quindaro House, across Fifth Street at 7 Kanzas Avenue, was the J, B, Upson Building (Feature No. 62). This housed the office of the Quindaro Chin-do-wan, the weekly newspaper edited by J, M, Walden, The first issue was published on May 13, 1857, For the first three months of the paper's existence a woman, Mrs. Clarina I. H. Nichols, served as associate editor and reporter before resigning over editorial differences, An abolitionist and pioneering feminist, Mrs. Nichols would later gain fame for her role in the drafting of the Kansas state constitution in 1859, and subsequently left a written account of her days in Quindaro. The Ranzohoff Building, perhaps the largest mercantile store in the town, adjoined the Chin-do-wan office on the south, at 9-11 Kanzas (Feature No, 7).

Additional development lay further south on Kanzas Avenue, halfway up the hill, On the west side of the street, at 21 Kanzas, was a frame building erected by Hiram Hill which apparently contained a boarding house (Feature No. 11). Another large residential structure (which may also have housed a business) stood at 39 Kanzas (Feature No. 9). Across the street was a substantial row of commercial buildings at 34, 36, 38 and 40 Kanzas Avenue (Feature Nos. 8, 532 542 63). A drugstore operated by H. P, Downs occupied 34, while 38 housed a variety store and the office of Dr. J. B. Welborn, yet another prominent figure in the early history of Wyandotte County. At 17 R Street, on the crest of the hill to the east of the row of commercial buildings on Kanzas, there was a sizeable residence (Feature No. 5). The house was subsequently rebuilt and expanded in the late 1870s or early 1880s, and was photographed at about that time, perched above a cultivated hillside. It remained standing and occupied as recently as 40 years ago.

Given its somewhat isolated location, construction of roads out of Quindaro began almost immediately. Beginning at the south end of Kanzas Avenue, one led southeast to Wyandott and eventually became the present Quindaro Boulevard, A second led west and north to Leavenworth (the present Leavenworth Road), while a third led, naturally enough, to Lawrence, and was completed by mid-May, 1857. "Robinson, Walker and Co,'s Daily Passenger and Express Line" charged $3,00 for the dusty, six hour trip between the two towns. (In this instance, the Robinson in question was Alfred Robinson, who would become a long-time resident of the Quindaro area.)

A fourth road led south from Quindaro to cross the Kansas River near the present 38th Street and Kaw Drive, and served to link the town to the roads crossing the Shawnee Reserve, including the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. Initially, Quindaro entered into negotiations with the Wyandott City Company for the establishment of a joint ferry across the river. After the negotiations failed, Quindaro established its own ferry on March 30, 1857. The Wyandott City Company then graded the Southern Road to link Wyandott to Shawneetown, and established its own free ferry a mile and one-half downstream from Quindaro's. Wyandott's ferry was replaced by the Southern Bridge in 1858 (the first bridge -across the Kansas River), and within six months of the bridge's completion, Quindarols competing ferry was out of business.

W. J. McCown opened the first store in Quindaro on March 4, 1857. A large capacity, steam powered saw and lathe mill, initially owned by Otis Webb and A. J, Rowell and located near where the present 18th Street ends at the Missouri River, began operation in April, 1857. With five saws and one lathe, the Quindaro Steam Saw Mill Co. was the largest mill in the territory, and with lumber no longer having to be brought in from Missouri, construction in Quindaro began to accelerate, A Quindaro post office opened on June 12, 1857, with Charles S. Parker as postmaster.

Otis Webb also owned a steam ferry that connected Quindaro to Parkville, Missouri. The OTIS WEBB, a 100' sidewheeler of 100 tons burden and 26" draft, had been built in Wellsville, Ohio for Webb, Dr. Charles Robinson, Fielding Johnson and George W, Veale in the summer of 1857, It went into service in February, 1858, once the ice on the Missouri River had broken, and supplemented its ferry runs with occasional trips downstream to Wyandott or up the Missouri River to Leavenworth.

An even better known steamboat which ran out of Quindaro was The LIGHTFOOT of Quindaro, Built in Kansas by Thaddeus Hyatt of New York, the LIGHTFOOT was a 100' sternwheeler of 75 tons burden and only 18" draft, and was intended to run up the Kansas River. It made its first (and most sources say only) trip up the Kaw from Wyandott to Lawrence on April 14, 1857, before being put into less difficult service on the Missouri. (During periods of high water, the Kansas River was navigable as far up stream as Manhattan, and occasionally Salina, but the railroads subsequently persuaded the state legislature to declare it an unnavigable stream so that they could bridge the river at lower cost.)

Aside from lumber, the most common building material in Quindaro was native limestone, quarried from several different locations on the bluffs above the business district. One such quarry was operated by Frederick Klaus, who maintained a stoneyard at his residence at 13 0 Street, A brick kiln was established by Jacob Henry on three acres of land on the riverfront east of Y (17th) Street in November of 1857, lessening the need for shipping brick in. (The first brick house had already been built by Henry Steiner & Co. on P Street in August.) Several carpenters also advertised their services in the Chin-do-wan, including John S. McCorkle, S. H. Marchant, and C. H. Carpenter. The latter was later listed with a partner, S. F. Otis, as "Architects and Builders."

Quindaro initially had two church buildings. The Rev. Sylvester Dana Storrs' stone Congregational Church was completed on the southwest corner of Kanzas and 8th (27th and Sewell) in September, 1857, and dedicated on January 27, 1858, Construction of the brick Methodist Episcopal Church was completed in October, 1857, on the east side of 0 Street between 8th and 9th, It was dedicated on April 25, 1858, with the Rev,, Ephraim Nute of Lawrence as pastor. As the dates would indicate, both buildings were in use for some time prior to their official dedications. Beginning in the fall of 1857, the Quindaro Temperance Society held regular meetings at the Congregational church, while the Methodist church conducted services through an interpreter for Wyandots on alternate Sundays.

The congregation of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church was organized by the Rev. Octavius Perinchief in August, 1857, but never had a building of its own, instead holding services in the Congregational church, and the congregation apparently disbanded after a year. The town's better-known Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Eben Blachly, had arrived in Quindaro with his wife Jane in April of 1857. He subsequently began holding services in the neighboring town of Wyandott, a mission that eventually led to the founding of the First Presbyterian Church in that city. Social activities in Quindaro extended beyond politics, religion and temperance meetings. For example, on January 28, 1858, a "German Ball" was held in Otis Webb's hall at 6 Kanzas Avenue. There was also a Quindaro Literary Association. By December, 1857, the association had already accumulated a library of 200 volumes and had begun to sponsor a regular lecture series, meeting at "Uncle Tom's Cabin" at 62 P Street. The association also published a Iiterary journal , The Cradle of Progress, edited by Mrs, Nichols.

Quindaro initially had two saloons, but they were closed by the town's Vigilance Committee on June 17th, 1857. Abolition, women's rights, and temperance were all "progressive" issues in the midNineteenth Century, so it is not surprising to find them joined in Quindaro. At this time the temperance movement apparently concerned itself only with hard liquor, however, not beer, and consequently Quindaro boasted a small brewery. Built and operated by Henry Steiner and Jacob Zehntner, the Quindaro Brewery was located at 45 N Street in the valley near the west side of Quindaro Creek (Feature No. 34). The brewery operation was apparently in several out-buildings, while the stone and brick main building had living quarters on the second floor and a tap room below, with a vaulted beer cellar dug back into the -hillside behind. The tap room may have been the site of one of the Vigilance Committee's raids, where the whiskey and brandy casks were duly smashed but the beer barrels left unharmed.

The first school in Quindaro (for white children only) was organized at a public meeting chaired by Dr. Charles Robinson on April 14, 1857, and supported by public subscription, although its pre-Civil War location has not been determined. When it came to self government, however, Quindaro was a bit shaky (although not from lack of trying). After a week's study by a special committee, an initial attempt to organize a town government was rejected at a town meeting held on July 7, 1857, on the grounds that it was premature, and in any case the Vigilance Committee was deemed sufficient for the time being if a Registrar of Deeds and a Wharfinger to manage the levee could be elected.

Some six months later, on January 21, 1858, the voters of Quindaro adopted a City Charter and submitted it to the territorial legislature in hope of incorporation, This was followed by the organization of an unincorporated town government, with Alfred Gray elected as Quindaro's first Mayor, On February 9, 1858, the Kansas Territorial Legislature, with free-state men now in the majority, approved Quindaro's incorporation. A second municipal election was then held, with Alfred Gray and the free-state slate again the winners.

On February 20, the text of Mayor Gray's inaugural address was published in the Chin-do-wan, In it he urged the Common Council in their capacity as school commissioners to establish a school for black children, indicating that there were already sufficient numbers present for that to be a matter of concern. He also asked the council to take measures for the construction of a city hall and to encourage the organization of a fire company, but expressed his opposition to the expenditure of public funds for street improvements.

A month and a half later, the Common Council's Committee on Finance issued a report on the Quindaro school fund after one year. The school for white children had been built at a cost of $2000, with a teacher employed at $700, while in apparent response to Mayor Gray's proposal, a school for black children had been established at a cost of $500, with a teacher at $300. The disparities may have been as much a reflection of the actual numbers of children served as of the racial prejudices of Quindaro's citizens, but such prejudices were common even among those who believed that slavery was morally indefensible. On May 13, 1858, the voters in Quindaro approved Negro suffrage in municipal elections, but at the same time voted to continue to operate separate school systems.

At the time that the City Charter was first approved, the Chin-dowan published a report on the town's growth after one year, The population was 800 (and may have reached 1200 before decline set in), with nearly 100 private houses built. Businesses included the two hotels, a hardware store (Shepherd & Henry at 179 Main Street), three dry goods stores, four groceries, one clothing store (N. Ranzohoff & Co.), two drug stores, two meat markets, two blacksmiths, one wagon shop, six boot and shoe shops, and one livery stable, There were also four doctors, three lawyers, two surveyors, and the several carpenters and builders noted earlier. Town lots were selling for $150 to $1500. On September 8, 1857, Joel Walker suddenly died at the age of 44, leaving his estate in the hands of his wife Mary Ann and his nephew Isaiah Walker. Abelard Guthrie subsequently replaced Walker as president of the Quindaro Town Company, and would continue in that position until the company's demise. On June 1, 1858, Guthrie, Dr. Charles Robinson, Otis Webb, and Joseph Lyman optimistically filed the plat of the First Addition to Quindaro with the Leavenworth County Register of Deeds. This added two rows of twenty blocks each to the original plat south of 10th Street (Parkview Avenue), extending the platted area down to 12th Street (Brown Avenue), which also corresponded to the location of the road which ran west to Leavenworth. This extension of the town southward to the Leavenworth Road unknowingly presaged an eventual shift in the center of the community.

For almost two years the town boomed, attracting national attention, There is absolutely no evidence, however, that Abraham Lincoln visited Quindaro on his 1859 trip to Kansas. It has also generally been held that John Brown was never in the town, but Mary Killiam, who with her husband George acquired the Quindaro House in March, 1859, would later claim that he had been among their guests prior to his final return to the East and martyrdom.

As the only free-state river port, from its very beginning Quindaro was also rumored to be involved in Underground Railroad operations in Kansas. Slaves escaping from Missouri were reportedly brought across the river in small boats and by secret runs of the Parkville-Quindaro ferry. The escapees hid during the day outside the developed portion of the town, in shallow caves in the wooded bluffs or in the barns of farmers like Elisha Sortor, and were then conducted by night on a route leading to Nebraska by way of Lawrence, Oskaloosa, and Holton.

Such activities were of course denied by the editor of the Quindaro Chin-do-wan, (2) --aiding an escaped slave violated the federal Fugitive Slave Law, and under the rabidly pro-slavery Kansas Territorial Statutes was a hanging offense until the repeal of the so called "bogus laws" in 1859 -- but at one point the paper stated that if slaves really were running away from Parkville to Quindaro, it was not because they were being enticed to do so. Rather it was the fault of the people of Parkville themselves, by their repeatedly proclaiming that Quindaro was a haven for the fugitives. Slave catchers from Missouri roamed the area, and even camped in Quindaro Park, in one documented instance kidnapping a young woman from a public road on the edge of town and taking her back to Missouri.

The full truth of the matter is only gradually coming to light. On January 24, 1858 -- barely a year into Quindaro's existence --Samuel Tappan of Lawrence wrote a surprisingly unguarded letter to the Rev. Thomas Wentworth Higginson (3) in Massachusetts concerning the state of Underground Railroad operations in Kansas:

"I am happy to inform you that a certain Rail Road has been and is in full blast, Several persons have taken full advantage of it to visit their friends, Our funds in these hard times have nearly run out, and we need some help, for the present is attended with considerable expense. If you know of any one desirous in helping the cause, just mention our case to him, and ask him to communicate with Walter Oakley at Topeka, James Blood or myself at Lawrence, or Sam C. Smith at Quindaro."

Mrs, Nichols later recounted that "Uncle Tom's Cabin," the house on P Street where the literary association met, was also a center of Underground Railroad activities -- or "emancipation without proclamation" as she half jokingly referred to it, In the same account she described an instance in which she personally helped Fielding Johnson with a slave's escape, by hiding the woman from slave catchers in her dry cistern, Benjamin F, Mudge wrote to his brother of sheltering a family of escapees and discouraging their pursuers with a shotgun borrowed from Rev. Storrs, but this incident occurred after the start of the Civil War and may not have been part of organized Underground Railroad activities. With Kansas' admission to the Union as a free state and the coming of the war, escape attempts naturally increased, leading angry Missourians to retaliate by sinking the steam ferry in September of 1861.

On January 29, 1859, the territorial legislature created Wyandott County out of portions of Leavenworth and Johnson Counties -- it was the smallest county in Kansas Territory, and remains the smallest county in the state -- and incorporated the towns of Wyandott and Quindaro as cities of the third class, (Quindaro's previous incorporation had apparently been held to be invalid due to a faulty legal description.) In the elections subsequently held on February 22, Alfred Gray was again elected mayor (and was to be the only mayor Quindaro ever had).

The newly incorporated area of Quindaro included not only the area of the town's two original plats, but was extended as far south as the present Parallel Parkway, taking in the two acre allotment of the Wyandot Indians' Methodist Episcopal Church at the northeast corner of the present 38th and Parallel. The church itself had been burned by a drunken mob in April, 1856, leaving a small cemetery that had since -become Quindaro's municipal cemetery. The reason for such expansive city limits isn't known, but it is worth noting that Alfred Gray and Abelard Guthrie both had homes in this unplatted portion of Quindaro.

Despite reincorporation, Quindaro was beginning a decline almost as rapid as its growth. The rough topography was proving to be a major barrier to continued development, a nation-wide business depression dried up investment capital, a two-year drought that began in June, 1859, caused great hardship for many, and the triumph of free-state forces in Kansas ended much of Quindaro's basic reason for existence. As if to confirm Quindaro's decline, on November 1, 1859, Wyandott County voters chose Wyandott over Quindaro as the new county seat.

Quindaro's position by 1860, four years after its founding, was reflected in the Eighth U.S. Census. The census showed that Kansas Territory already had a population of 107,206, of which 625 were listed as "Free Colored" and just two (both women) were slaves. The population of Quindaro Township, including the city of Quindaro, had declined to 689 of which 30 were Free Colored, while the population of the adjacent Wyandott Township, including the city of Wyandott, had grown to 1,920 with 18 Free Colored. (Wyandot Indians of the Citizen Class in.both communities were included in the "White" category, with the majority residing in or near Wyandott.) Across the line in Missouri, the population of the City of Kansas (Kansas City) was 4,418, including 25 Free Colored and 166 slaves still appreciably smaller than either St. Joseph or Leavenworth while the population of Westport had declined from a high of nearly 2,000 to 1,195, including four Free Colored and 134 slaves.

Compounding Quindaro's difficulties, Guthrie and Robinson had quarreled, each accusing the other of shoddy business practices. In -1858, Guthrie filed suit against his partners in the Quindaro venture, claiming that the town company's funds had been mishandled. The situation grew even worse when Samuel N. Simpson was horsewhipped by Guthrie for reportedly "seducing and ruining" Guthrie's "deaf, dumb and feeble-minded" sister-in-law, Margaret Brown. Yet another blow came on December 3, 1860, when the Quindaro sawmill burned. Several thousand board feet of lumber were destroyed, along with all the tools and machinery, and the loss to the owners was uninsured.

Guthrie's suit against Robinson and Simpson was finally resolved by a three-judge panel in the defendants' favor on January 1, 1861, with Judge 0. B. Gunn protesting Guthrie's uncooperative attitude. Having invested everything in the Quindaro venture, Abelard Guthrie reportedly went bankrupt. He and his family continued to live in Quindaro, however, in their house near the present 30th and Kimball surrounded by a sizeable farm, He began pursuing his wife's claim to his mother-in-law's 200 acre Shawnee Allotment in the hope of recouping his fortunes, often to the point of obsession, and reportedly even attempted to switch his tribal membership from Wyandot to Shawnee. This and other dealings led to his estrangement from many in the tribe, particularly those Wyandots who had elected to become citizens under the Treaty of 1855.

Once the Civil War began in April, 1861, much of Quindaro's remaining population began to disappear. Before the month was out, Quindaro businessman George W. Veale had received a colonel's commission in the Kansas State Militia from Governor Robinson and raised a company of volunteers. Eventually, much of the town's male population enlisted in the Union army, and moved their families to the greater safety of Wyandott or else returned them to the East. The Kansas Tribune, successor to the Chin-do-wan, ceased publication in June of 1861 and was moved by its owners to Olathe, Kansas, where it was renamed the Olathe Mirror. Even the town's pride and joy, an eight pounder cannon nicknamed "Lazarus" (4) that had been used to announce arrivals at the levee, was given up to the war effort when it was donated to Col. William Weer of the 10th Kansas Infantry on July 20.

With the main part of the town largely deserted, on January 20, 1862, the 9th Kansas Volunteer Infantry under Col. Alton C. Davis was ordered stationed in Quindaro to protect the town from bushwhackers and border raiders. Initially the troops were welcomed in the shrunken community, and many attended services at the Congregational Church. But as time passed, the largely idle troops reportedly quartered their horses in vacant buildings, pulled down houses for firewood, and generally devastated the community, This brought expressions of outrage from the people of Wyandott and those like Benjamin F. Mudge who still lived in the Quindaro area. (Mudge suspected Col. Davis of being pro-slavery in his sympathies; the good colonel eventually fled Kansas for Missouri with a "Committee of Safety" from Wyandott hot on his heels,) The troops were finally removed from the town on March 12, but only after the state legislature had repealed Quindaro's incorporation on March 6, 1862.

Even with the outbreak of the war, the Wyandot Indians' involvement with the Quindaro area had not yet ended. Among the Wyandots, the Treaty of 1855 had led to a split between the heavily assimilated majority who became U.S. citizens and a sizeable minority who still -wished to adhere to traditional ways and retain their tribal identity. In the latter 1850s, a number of the traditionalists had moved to Indian Territory, settling on the Seneca Reserve there. Most of these "Emigrating Party" or "Indian Party" Wyandots were nevertheless pro-Union in their sympathies, and were forced by Confederate threats to return to Wyandott County following the outbreak of the war.

On December 22, 1862, a group of the traditionalist refugees met at Abelard Guthrie's house in Quindaro and organized their own Wyandot tribal council, with the highly respected Tauromee as Principal Chief. Guthrie was voted power-of-attorney, and for the next eight years the Commissioner of Indian Affairs was bombarded with a constant stream of letters from Quindaro, some on behalf of the Indian Party council, some pursuing Guthrie's own political and financial interests, but most mixing the two together.

Throughout the war years, and immediately following the war, the Quindaro area's black population grew as escaped slaves and freedmen, many from Platte County, Missouri, settled the partially abandoned townsite, particularly in the valley of Quindaro Creek. These families farmed their own land, or else worked for white farmers still in the Quindaro area such as the Sortors, Among the original settlers who remained behind in Quindaro was the Rev. Eben Blachly. As early as 1862, he and his wife Jane began offering schooling to the children of escaped slaves. On February 23, 1865, Rev. Blachly's school was formally organized as Freedman's University, papers of incorporation filed, and a board of trustees named, including Rev. Blachly, W. M. Bottom, R. M. Gray, Fielding Johnson, Byron Judd, R. Morgan, R. W. Oliver, John G. Reaser and William A, Sterritt. The school was placed under the governance of the Kansas Synod of the Presbyterian Church in January, 1867. The following month, the state legislature relinquished to Freedman's University all the state's interest in taxes on the lots of the Quindaro townsite.

According to oral tradition, the school may have originally been located in Steiner and Zehntner's Quindaro Brewery building, although by 1870 it apparently occupied at least part of the former commercial property at 34-36-38-40 Kanzas Avenue. In addition to the state's support, Rev. Blachly and other property owners in the area donated a substantial amount of land to the school and purchased additional tracts at tax sales beginning in the late 1860s, until the property encompassed much of the heart of the original town.

Contrary to some reports, the transition from the white frontier town to the black refugee settlement was gradual rather than discontinuous or abrupt, and was never total, While the former business section of Quindaro near the riverfront was largely abandoned, many individuals and institutions associated with Quindaro remained, as the center of activity in the diminished town shifted south to the area of Kanzas Avenue's intersection with the Leavenworth Road.

In addition to Rev, Blachly and his wife, those who remained in the area; included the Guthries, Alfred Gray and his brother, R. M. Gray, Alfred Robinson, Elisha Sortor, Dr. J. B. Welborn, and Charles Morasch. Another resident, and a chronicler in her journal of this period of transition, was a young school teacher from Heath, Massachusetts, named Elizabeth May Dickinson, A cousin of poet Emily Dickinson, "Libbie" May Dickinson arrived in Quindaro with her mother, three younger sisters, and older brother William in April, 1859. For the next several years she taught school in both Quindaro and Wyandott, and watched as the town slowly declined.

In April, 1862, Miss Dickinson was teaching 24 pupils in a school held in the Quindaro Congregational Church, and that Fourth of July attended a Quindaro area picnic with about 500 persons present. In March, 1863, she began another school term in Quindaro. (There is nothing in her journal to indicate that her students may have been black rather than white.) In the fall of 1864, she took a job teaching school in Atchison, but her home and family remained in Quindaro. (5)

Benjamin Franklin Mudge -- attorney, scientist and educator -came to Quindaro two years after Elizabeth May Dickinson, in the summer of 1861, also intending to teach school. He resided there throughout the war, only to move to Manhattan, Kansas, in December, 1865, where he took up an appointment as professor of natural history at the new Kansas State Agricultural College, as well as state geologist. Even during the war years, the population of the area remained high enough that a year after the picnic that Elizabeth May Dickinson recorded, another Fourth of July celebration held in Quindaro Park in 1863 was duly reported in a Wyandott newspaper.

On July 31, 1866, the Quindaro and Parkville Ferry Company was chartered by Alfred Gray, Alfred Robinson, David Pearson, Francis A. Kessler Sr., and Francis A. Kessler Jr. to reestablish the ferry service between the two towns, although it is not known how long it remained in operation. The Quindaro Post Office never closed, but was moved to the corner of Kanzas and 12th (27th and Brown), where it continued to serve the area for many years. Following the establishment of a state-wide system of public schools in 1867, both of the Quindaro schools received new stone buildings in 1868. The school for white children, District 4, was erected at the northeast corner of P and 11th (28th and Farrow) on six lots purchased the previous October from Alfred and Julia Robinson. The site still serves as part of the property of the present Quindaro Elementary School. The school for black children, District 17, was built next to the Quindaro Congregational Church at Kanzas and 8th (27th and Sewell), and operated with an all-black school board.

The first pastor of the Congregational Church, the Rev. Sylvester Dana Storrs, left Quindaro with his wife in June, 1862, but the church continued with an active congregation (and presumably a new pastor). The church moved to a new location on Leavenworth Road in 1869, and the old building was eventually acquired by Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church. The Quindaro Methodist Episcopal Church also remained active and in the area, by 1900 being located at 27th and Russell, less than four blocks south of its first location.

It should be noted that Heisler and McGee's 1870 map of Wyandotte County (as it was now spelled) included a Quindaro business directory along with those of White Church, Pomeroy, and other small towns. Several of the businesses listed, including those of Alfred Gray, E. D. Brown and Thomas McIntyre, were agricultural in nature, but others were more substantial, W, J, Heaffaker had a dry goods and variety store, Cyrus Taylor was a wagon maker, and D. R. Emmons & Co. operated a dry goods and grocery store. (Dallas Emmons was an in-law of the Zane family and an adopted Wyandot.) The map also indicated a chair factory near the northwest corner of M and 8th Streets, together with the District 4 schoolhouse, the Methodist and Congregational churches, and Freedman's University in its Kanzas Avenue location.

Abelard Guthrie's long involvement with Quindaro finally came to an end in the early 1870s. In 1867 the government had concluded a treaty (witnessed and partly drafted by Guthrie) which officially reestablished the Wyandot Tribe in Indian Territory, and recognized the Indian Party council as the only legal Wyandot tribal council. The traditionalist chief, Tauromee, died in Wyandotte in January, 1870. His youthful successor, John Kayrahoo, was widely regarded as Guthrie's puppet, while Guthrie himself was suspected of being part of a "ring" of Indian agents and railroad men enriching themselves at the Indians' expense, In 1871, a petition denouncing Guthrie and Kayrahoo was signed by a large number of both Citizen Class and Indian Party Wyandots in both Kansas and Indian Territory, but by 1872 the Kayrahoo council had moved from Quindaro to the new Wyandot Reserve in Indian Territory. Abelard Guthrie died in Washington, D.C., on January 13, 1873, at the age of 58, while still vainly pursuing his wife's claim to a Shawnee Allotment.

On January 6, 1872, a school for teachers called the Colored Normal School of Quindaro was established by the Kansas State Legislature to function as part of Freedman's University, and $2000 was appropriated for its operation. At the time, the university had an enrollment of eighty-three and Charles Langston was president of the school, assisted by two teachers, Eben and Jane Blachly. Freedman's Board of Trustees now consisted of Rev. Blachly, President, Jesse Cooper, Fielding Johnson, Dr. Charles Robinson,, Byron Judd, and E. F. Hiesler, Secretary.

The following year, in addition to the death of Guthrie, two major blows were struck against the townsite's revitalization. In the spring an initial appropriation of $1100 was made to pay the school's debts, but in the fall state funding was abruptly withdrawn due to widespread agricultural losses brought on by drought, a three-year plague of grasshoppers, and a devastating financial panic in the national economy, At the same time, the Wyandotte County Commissioners vacated much of Quindaro's original plat with the exceptions of Quindaro Park and a handful of streets. With the death of Rev. Blachly on July 21, 1877, Freedman's University was in danger of closing.

In 1879, the school's trustees took out a mortgage on part of the property in an attempt to keep it open. That same year, the Kansas Fever Exodus brought a large influx of African-American families into Wyandotte County and renewed interest in Freedman's University, but by 1880 the trustees were considering selling the school's assets to Park College in Parkville, Missouri, Finally, largely through the efforts

of Corrvine Patterson (6), in 1881 the school was taken over by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, chartered as a vocational/college preparatory institute, and renamed Western University.

In 1891, the existing university building was replaced by a new structure named Ward Hall near the northeast corner of 0 and 8th (29th and Sewell), where the former Primrose Villa now stands, but enrollments remained painfully low, In 1895, the Kansas A.M.E. Conference had raised only $460,53 for the school, and with only a dozen students, tuition did not add appreciably to this small operating budget. The following year a young A.M.E. minister named William Tecumseh Vernon took over the presidency of the still-struggling school. Vernon was born in Lebanon, Missouri, on July 11, 1875.' He had attended two historic African-American schools, Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City and Wilberforce College in Ohio, and was just 21 years of age when he was sent to Western.

Despite his youth, Reverend Vernon proved to be an adroit politician. He worked hard for the election of Republican Governor William E. Stanley in 1898, and with the assistance of state representative William Bailey of Kansas City, Kansas, succeeded in getting state funding restored the following year. Formation of a State Industrial Department at Western was authorized by the legislature and a total of $10,000 was appropriated, $5,000 for a new building and $5,000 for operating expenses. Property at the northwest corner of Kanzas and 8th (27th and Sewell) was conveyed to the state, and Stanley Hall constructed to house the newly-formed department.

Western University and the State Industrial Department each had its own board of trustees, the former appointed by the church and the latter by the state. The president of Western was also superintendent of the department, responsible to both boards. While it may have initially made sense, this dual system was to be a source of increasing friction in later years.

In 1901 an annex was built to the north of Stanley Hall, and in the following year two stock barns were constructed. A power plant and reservoir were added in 1904, and in 1905 work was begun on the girls' trades building. Within another two years, a boys' trades building was constructed; and by the close of the decade a four story girls' dormitory named after Bishop Abraham Grant had also been built at the north end of Kanzas Avenue. There was also a major addition to the east side of Ward Hall called Park Hall, which more than doubled the size of original school building. During this period enrollments at the school grew by a commensurate amount -- from twelve in 1895 to over 200 in 1906.

The curriculum at Western University reflected Reverend Vernon's educational philosophy of training the "head, heart, and hand for the home." Although the State Industrial Department was an important feature in the development of the school during this period, the course offerings were diversified and included a strong emphasis on theology, the classics, and music, Western provided teacher training and college preparatory classes in addition to basic instruction in such vocations as printing, drafting, carpentry, tailoring, and business. Agriculture was also stressed, and a portion of the food consumed by faculty and students was raised on campus.

National recruiting efforts were the 1ife blood of the school Western University attracted students from throughout the United States, and a majority of those who attended were boarders. One of Western's strongest promotional assets was its music department. The department was begun in 1902 by R, G. Jackson, who was a recent graduate of the music department at the University of Kansas. In 1907, Professor Jackson founded the Jackson Jubilee Singers -- a musical troupe similar to the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. Such noteworthy musicians as Etta Moten and Eva Jessye at one time performed with the Jackson group. The group traveled across the country, giving concerts and publicizing Western University.

Reverend (later Bishop) Vernon, the guiding force behind Western's growth and consolidation, gained a national reputation for his accomplishments at the school. He traveled extensively, lecturing and conferring with other black educators. In 1906, President Roosevelt appointed him Registrar of the U. S. Treasury, which at that time was the highest position in government to be attained by an African American. Upon receipt of the appointment, Reverend Vernon took a leave of absence from Western. In 1910, he was reappointed to the Treasury post by President Taft, at which time he stepped down from the presidency of Western and was replaced by Dr. H. T. Kealing.

The famous statue of John Brown was erected on the campus of Western University in 1911. The statue was the first monument in the United States to be raised to the controversial figure. In view of the political climate of the time, it was a project that was both courageous and defiant; "Jim Crow" laws were being passed in many states, violence against African-Americans was on the rise, following a racial incident Sumner High School had been established in Kansas City, Kansas in 1905 as the only segregated black high school in the state, and in 1910 the people of Kansas City, Kansas had elected an avowed segregationist, James E. "Cap" Porter, as mayor.

The-effort to build the monument had begun in 1909. The major sponsor of the drive was Bishop Abraham Grant of the A,M.E. Church, who was assisted by Dr, S, H, Thompson and attorney I. F. Bradley, both prominent figures in the African-American community in Kansas City, Kansas. A sum of $2,000 was raised in what was labeled "the washer- woman's contribution," but the money also came from packinghouse workers, teachers, and businessmen, Over the next two years, people of all races and from many different parts of the country donated money toward the establishment of the memorial.

When the funding goal had been reached, an Italian sculptor was commissioned to carve the life-sized marble replica. The artist rendered the bearded figure of John Brown erect on a tall granite base, clothed in a great coat with a facsimile of the Emancipation Proclamation rolled up in his right hand. The inscription on the base of the monument reads, "Erected to the memory of John Brown by a grateful people."

The statue was placed in front of Ward Hall and unveiled at commencement exercises for the class of 1911 on June 8 of that year. Bishop Grant was not present to view the completion of this project, as he had died the previous winter. The master of ceremonies was Jefferson P. King, a teacher at the new Sumner High School (later to be principal of Northeast Junior High School and president of Western University), Three thousand people gathered on the grounds in front of the statue, A significant proportion of those in the crowd were white, and the dedication ceremony was regarded as a strong gesture of unity.

Among the dignitaries present was the aging John P. St. John, who had been governor of Kansas at the time of the Exodus. He had become nationally known for his efforts to find practical and just solutions for the problems of the Exodusters and, in his time, was nearly as controversial as John Brown had been.

As Western grew and prospered in the early years of the 20th century, the areas south of 8th Street and east of Kanzas Avenue that adjoined the campus began to take on the character of established, urban residential neighborhoods. Replatting of the area had begun as early as November, 1904, with the small Booker Subdivision (possibly named in honor of Booker T, Washington) just north of Quindaro Park, platted by W. A. and Cora M. Morse, This was followed by Mayer Park in -1906, in the area between 9th (Sloan) and llth (Farrow) west of Kanzas Avenue, including the Quindaro School property. This area had formerly been part of Abelard Guthrie's property, and was now owned by a Kansas City, Missouri businessman named John Mayer.

Closer to Western University, the land adjoining the south side of 8th Street just west of the District 17 school was never platted, and may in fact have at one time been part of Western's property, It was eventually developed with four or five houses tied to the university, including the rather modest home of Bishop Vernon and the much more substantial residence of Dr. Kealing. The property south of this tract down to 9th (Sloan) was platted as Western University Heights, although the date of that plat is now lost.

The remainder of the property between 8th and 9th Streets west of Western University Heights, along L, M, N, and 0 Streets, was platted into three subdivisions beginning with Vernon Place in 1910, followed by Endicott Place in 1911 and Simms Place in 1923. What was noteworthy about these particular plats was that in all particulars, from lot arrangement to street names, they conformed to the long-vacated plat of Quindaro, The latter two plats, Endicott Place and Simms Place, were Statutory Plats, filed by the County Clerk in order to legally record the division and ownership of already subdivided properties. The presumption would seem to be that the owners had continued to buy and sell property in the area according to the original Quindaro plat, even though it was no longer legally in force. (Another example of this would seem be several out-parcels within the larger Western University property, which also corresponded to lots in the Quindaro plat.) Among the owners of property within the Endicott Place plat was "Aunt" Mahala Endicott, who had played a vital role in saving Freedman's University from dissolution following Rev. Blachly's death, while Simms Place included the property of the newest Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church.

A strong indication of Western University's prominence by the early 1920s was the involvement of several leading local real estate firms in the development of the area. The most notable of these was Merriam, Ellis and Benton, for nearly 100 years a leader in real estate, investment and insurance in Kansas City, Kansas. The Merriam, Ellis and Benton Investment Co. platted the new subdivision of College Hill in June, 1922, consisting of four blocks on the east side of North 27th Street south of Sewell Avenue, and one on the west side of North 27th just south of Western University Heights. (It was at about this time, as the Kansas City, Kansas city limits neared the area, that the street names were gradually changed to their modern equivalents. 8th Street in particular went through several changes, from 8th Street to South Avenue to Grant Avenue, before becoming the present Sewell Avenue.)

The most impressive new subdivision plat in the area lay east of North 27th Street, north of Sewell Avenue and College Hill, and south of the large tract east of 27th owned by Western University. This was the 40 acre subdivision of Riverside Park, It was laid out in a manner similar to the contemporary, upper-class Kansas City, Kansas subdivisions of Parkwood and Westheight Manor, with streets angled to conform to the topography and several small parklets where streets intersected. Unfortunately, no copies of the original plat can now be found, so that both the date (almost certainly the late 'teens or early 'twenties) and the name of the developer are presently unknown. Very little of this ambitious layout was ever actually developed, with the houses for the most part being confined to the southern and western -portions of the plat, and some of these, such as the Brown-Blachly house and the farm house at what had been 17 R Street, were in place long before Riverside Park. It seems probable that such a development was overly optimistic, given the economic realities and racist attitudes of the period.

Adjoining Riverside Park on the east and extending east as far as North 18th Street was the Riverside Cemetery. It is not known what relationship the proposed cemetery may have had to the proposed subdivision and its unknown developer, and if the two were concurrent or if the cemetery came after it became obvious that there would be no later phases to Riverside Park. Presumably this remained a cemetery on paper only, with no actual burials ever carried out. Certainly there was no mention of an existing cemetery when the area was graded out for the construction of I-635 highway in the 1960s.

Western University continued to prosper through the 1920s, but like many small schools it was severely hurt by the Great Depression.

Jefferson P. King had become president of Western and superintendent of the State Industrial Department in 1927, He was considered to be a political appointee, and some felt that his administration was marked by graft and corruption. With the onset of the Depression, there began to be sentiment in the state legislature for closing the department and merging it with the Kansas Vocational School in Topeka. Following the sudden death of Dr. King in an automobile accident in January, 1931, an audit had to be carried out by the state prior to turning the State Industrial -Department over to a new superintendent. The audit confirmed much about the mismanagement of the school's accounts, and gave further impetus to those who wished to end the state's support.

Western's problems were compounded when the A.M.E. Church withdrew -its support for the school in 1933 following a dispute with the state over the naming of a new superintendent for the State Industrial Department. Hoping to strengthen the department's operation, the state board of trustees with the backing of the reform-minded new Governor, Alfred M. Landon, insisted on appointing former Bishop Vernon to the post, The A.M,E, Church, which had previously defrocked the Bishop on questionable charges of theft in what was basically a political dispute, was equally insistent that the superintendency and the presidency of Western University should continue to be held by a single individual named by the church.

Vernon, with the state's backing, appointed a strong faculty and succeeded in getting the school's academic accreditation restored before stepping down again in 1936. But without the church's active support, enrollments and contributions declined, and the establishment of the draft, followed by World War II, was the final blow. The high school class of 1943 had only six graduates (all women), and on June 30, the State Industrial Department was formally closed and the property conveyed back to the A.M.E. Church. In 1944, after almost 80 years of service to the African-American community, the school founded by the Rev. Eben Blachly was forced to close its doors for good. (William Tecumseh Vernon died July 25, 1944, at the age of 69, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Woodlawn Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas,) Legal dissolution of Western University came in 1948, once it was apparent that no post-war revival was at hand. Fifty years later, Western University Association, a holding entity of the A.M.E. Church, still retains title to much of Rev. Blachly's property.

Following Western's demise, the segregated Douglass Hospital occupied the remodeled Grant Hall in 1945. Douglass had been established in Kansas City, Kansas in 1898, when hospital care was generally closed to African-Americans, and its nursing school had been affiliated with Western since 1915. One by one, the buildings on the Western campus were demolished, to be replaced in the 1960s by institutions that were affiliated with Douglass -- Primrose Villa elderly housing and Bryant-Butler-Kitchen nursing home. But Douglass itself was closed in 1978, an ironic victim of integration. Grant Hall, the last remaining Western building on top of the hill, was subsequently demolished in the summer of 1980.

As Western University declined, so did the surrounding area. In the 1930s, parts of the ruins at 5th and Kanzas were still visible, a number of residential structures from the original development of Quindaro were still being lived in (including the Quindaro Brewery building), the residential neighborhood east and south of Western was still thriving, and children from Vernon Elementary School sometimes ventured on picnics and field trips down R Street to the riverfront.

Twenty years later, with Western closed, the area had become a somewhat isolated backwater as Kansas City, Kansas expanded to the west. The buildings of Western became derelict and were eventually demolished to make way. for newer structures, The ruins disappeared under silt and underbrush, and their extent and location was forgotten. Of the original residences, only the Brown/Blachly house remained intact. The others were abandoned to scavengers and the elements, and R Street north of the Brown/Blachly house gradually became impassible.

In the late 1960s, I-635 highway cut a wide swath through the area, taking a corner of Quindaro Park and converting the eastern portions of the townsite into a dumping area for excess fill material. According to residents, a two story, stone house still stood near what -had been 6th and T Streets, only to disappear with the highway construction, No historic studies or attempts at salvage archaeology were made by the state, as Quindaro's significance had largely been forgotten and somehow everyone "knew" that the now vanished Quindaro ruins had been in the valley of Quindaro Creek, a half mile to the west, Apparently no one consulted the older residents of the area.

In order to accomodate the large amount of fill dirt to be deposited and related grading activities, the state had acquired a large block of property extending from North 27th Street to North 18th Street, north of Vernon Avenue, including the A.M.E. Church property lying east of the centerline of North 27th. At the same time, in addition to a corner of Quindaro Park the construction project had also taken property off the west edge of City Park near South 38th Street and Park Drive, and by federal law the highway department was obligated to provide the City with an equal or greater amount of land for park purposes in the same general service area. As a result, once the project was completed the highway department conveyed all of the excess property it had acquired in the Quindaro area to the City. The City of Kansas City, Kansas thus became the owner of much of the original Quindaro-townsite east of Kanzas Avenue and north of the Brown/Blachly house.

The highway only served to isolate the area still further, setting the stage for the approval of Browning-Ferris' proposed landfill by a lame duck Kansas City, Kansas City Commission in 1983, Through lease agreements with both the A.M.E. Church and the City, the landfill was to cover virtually the whole of the original townsite north of Sewell Avenue, with the exceptions of a handful of properties on the north side of Sewell and along either side of 27th. Browning-Ferris also acquired outright several properties adjacent to the western edge of the A.M.E. Church property. A Special Use Permit for the landfill was then approved by the City Commission for those portions of the proposed development that were not publicly owned. Only as something of an afterthought, Browning-Ferris was required as part of the Special Use Permit approval to do an archaeological survey of the landfill area prior to beginning construction. The results surprised everyone, except perhaps for some elderly residents of the city who had probably known all along what lay buried at the foot of North 27th Street, but were never asked.

l. lots were numbered consecutively, so that lot numbers and address numbers were one and the same. This has greatly simplified the subsequent location and identification of building remains. Feature numbers are those numbers assigned to remains found in the course of the archaeological investigation of the Quindaro site. [up]

2. One such strong denial may have been the cause of Mrs. Nichols' resignation as associate editor, as she was never shy regarding her convictions. [up]

3. An ardent abolitionist, the "tough, swart-minded Higginson," as Stephen Vincent Benet described him, would later be an unapologetic backer of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. [up]

4. Originally brought from Nebraska by Owen A. Bassett, the cannon's nickname referred to its habit of disappearing, then "rising from the dead," whenever the Army or territorial authorities came snooping. [up]

5. In 1895 she became the first public librarian in Kansas City, Kansas. She died February 5, 1931, at the age of 94. [up]

6. A major figure in the 19th Century African-American community, Patterson at various times held the elective offices of town marshal, deputy sheriff, and member of the school board in Kansas City, Kansas. [up]

DESCRIPTIONS OF SIGNIFICANT SITES AND STRUCTURES

A. Within the property designated as Western University Lands:

Quindaro Townsite 1856-1862

Much of the developed portion of Quindaro lay within the area that was to be fil1ed by the proposed Browning-Ferris Landfill . Ruins were still visible in the early 1950s. The recent archaeological survey has disclosed more extensive remains than had previously been known to exist, particularly along Kanzas Avenue/27th Street, which functioned as Quindaro's main business street. The other substantially built-up area would appear to have been along Main and Levee Streets paralleling the Missouri River, where commercial buildings were mixed with several large warehouses. That area has been heavily disturbed over the years, first by the construction of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and later by the pipelines feeding into the Fairfax Industrial District, but recent investigations tied to the construction of a new Board of Public Utilities pipeline have disclosed the remains of several large commercial structures east of Kanzas Avenue. At the present time the property is split largely between two owners, with the A.M.E. Church retaining title to the area west of the centerline of North 27th Street, while the property east of the centerline now belongs to the City of Kansas City, Kansas.

Quindaro African-American Cemetery c. 1865

Sited half-way up the bluff on the west side of the valley of Quindaro Creek, this was the cemetery of the African-American community that began forming in the Quindaro area during the Civil War. The first burials were presumably in the mid to late 1860s. Still in use and still maintained, this may be the oldest African American cemetery in the state of Kansas. The cemetery has apparently never had a separate legal existence, but remains part of what was once the Freedman's University property. It should not be confused (although it often is) with the Quindaro Cemetery at North 38th Street and Parallel Parkway.

Pumphouse or waterworks (Feature No, 22) c. 1857/c. 1885

This has been claimed to be the first public waterworks in Kansas. A large spring half way up the Quindaro Creek valley on the east side of the creek emptied into a reservoir created by a low dam. Reportedly the water was then conveyed through tiles following the channel of the creek to cisterns or buildings along the way, including the Quindaro House. The old reservoir may still be seen. A brick structure was built over the adjoining cistern in about 1885, and an engine installed to pump water up the hill to Western University. This remained the school's principal source of water until about 1910.

Quindaro Brewery (Feature No. 34) (originally 45 N Street)
Henry Steiner, builder
1857

The exact site of the first building housing Rev. Blachly's school remains to be determined, The ruin in the valley identified as Steiner and Zehntner's Quindaro Brewery may have housed the school, but an 1870 Wyandotte County map locates the school in the group of commercial buildings on the east side of Kanzas Avenue, a block and one-half north of Rev, Blachly's house. The brewery building was remodeled as a residence in the early 1900s and was still occupied in the 1930s. A substantial portion of the building's front wall remained standing until quite recently, Its vaulted cellar, common to small breweries of the period and extending back into the hillside behind the main building, continues to fuel speculation about tunnels, in a misunderstanding of what the Underground Railroad actually was.

Western University
North 27th Street and Sewell Avenue (originally Kanzas Avenue and 8th Street)
Various architects
1891-1948

All of the buildings of Western University have been demolished, the last in 1980. The only remaining physical artifacts are a few cornerstones and the John Brown statue. In 1958, Ward Hall, the oldest of Western's buildings, was torn down to make way for Primrose Villa, an elderly housing project. (This property is now in private hands as a result of a tax sale.) As the statue stood in the way of the new construction, it was proposed to move it to the north end of the new building. This generated a great deal of opposition, and consequently the statue was instead placed between Primrose Villa and Sewell Avenue. The move was botched, resulting in serious damage to the statue: the nose and one coat tail were broken off, and reportedly the head was broken off in its entirety, although that damage is not now visible.

The statue was again moved in the spring of 1978, to the northwest corner of 27th and Sewell, where it became the focus of a memorial plaza dedicated to the memory of Western University and the town of Quindaro, Architects for the new memorial were Buchanan Architects and Associates, and the work was initiated and funded through the historic preservation component of the Kansas City, Kansas Community Development Program, The mover was required to post a bond of $75,000, a measure of the value that the community still places on its most famous memorial.

B. Within the corporate limits of Quindaro:

Brown/Blachly Residence
3464 North 26th Street (originally 83 R Street)
Builder unknown
Circa 1850

By oral tradition, this house was built by a member of the Brown family, Michigan Wyandot relatives of Nancy Brown Guthrie. If so, it may be the oldest remaining structure in Wyandotte County. The house is a severe, two-story rectangle with a centered entry and a low pitched, hipped roof. The stone walls are 18 to 24 inches thick, and the floor joists consist of roughhewn logs, lending credibility to the belief that construction predates that of the town of Quindaro. In the years of Quindaro's development it was the home of Fielding Johnson, a merchant and businessman who also served as Delaware Indian Agent in the early 1860s. Rev. Blachly purchased the house from Johnson's son-in-law and business partner, George W. Veale, in 1868, and it was there that he died in an upstairs bedroom in 1877. The house has been added to, and the walls stuccoed over, but the original structure remains substantially intact.

Quindaro Cemetery
North 38th Street and Parallel Parkway 1852

This property was given to the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church by Lucy B. Armstrong in 1849 or 1850 to serve as the site of a new mission church, following the split in the Wyandot congregation over the issue of slavery. The first burial in the cemetery was that of Eliza S, Witten, wife of the Methodist missionary, on January 3, 1852. The second known burial was that of Sally Frost, born Catherine "Caty" Sage, who died on January 21, 1853, at the age of 66. Kidnapped as a child and subsequently adopted by the Wyandots, she was the widow of Tarhe, Between-the-Logs, and Frost, and had been one of the first converts at the Wyandot Methodist Mission in Ohio.

With the Treaty of 1855, two acres were set aside in the Wyandot Allotments for the church and cemetery. The church itself was burned by a drunken mob on April 8, 1856, in the general turmoil that swept Kansas over the slavery issue (an event which may have helped contribute to Quindaro's founding). It was not rebuilt on this site, but the property subsequently became the municipal cemetery for Quindaro, and after Quindaro's demise became the Quindaro Township cemetery. Rev. Blachly is buried here, along with other notable citizens of both Quindaro and Wyandott such as Lucy B. Armstrong and Vincent J. Lane. When the Huron Indian Cemetery was threatened with sale and removal in the early 1900s, it was proposed that the graves be moved to this location,

Quindaro Park
North 32nd Street to North 34th Street and Sewell Avenue to Parkview Avenue (originally L Street to I
Street and 8th Street to 10th Street)
1857

This park was part of the original plat of Quindaro, and there is some indication in contemporary accounts that it was actually so used. When Quindarols incorporation was revoked in 1862, it became the property of Quindaro Township. J. J. Squires, a Kansas City, Missouri banker, attempted to claim the property as his but the Township's title was upheld in federal court. The area was annexed by Kansas City, Kansas on December 1, 1923, and the park was deeded over to the City by the Township on February 8, 1924, In the late 1960s, the southeast corner was taken for the construction of I-635, This is the oldest park in the county.

Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church 3421 North 29th Street
Architect/builder unknown
1914

Allen Chapel is the oldest African-American congregation in the Quindaro area. It was founded in 1869, with the Rev. Skylar Washington of Wyandott as pastor. The original church was of logs and stood on the northeast corner of J and 8th Streets, near the present 33rd and Sewell. The church was eventually able to acquire the stone building that had housed the Quindaro Congregational Church at 27th and Sewell. A tornado destroyed that structure, and the congregation began meeting in the adjacent stone school house, A new frame church was built on the Congregational Church site in 1893, followed by a larger building on the same site in 1910. Disaster then struck in the form of a fire in 1911 or 1912. The present building, built two blocks to the west in 1914, is thus the sixth to house the congregation. Many members of the present church can trace their descent to the former slaves who originally settled the area and founded Allen Chapel in the 1860s.

Bishop William Tecumseh Vernon Residence
2715 Sewell Avenue
Architect/builder unknown
1918

W. B. Kennedy Residence
2725 Sewell Avenue
Architect/builder unknown
1911

Dr. High Tower Kealing Residence
2805 Sewell Avenue
Architect/builder unknown
1916 (demolished 1995)

Bob Ransom Residence
2821 Sewell Avenue
Architect/builder unknown
1922

These four residences, all built in the early years of this century, originally housed faculty and students of Western University, and faced the campus to the north across Sewell Avenue. The home of Bishop Vernon is surprisingly modest, given the range of his accomplishments, The largest, and architecturally the most interesting, was that of Bishop Vernon's successor at Western, Dr, Kealing, with its bell-cast gable and extensive veranda. Following Dr. Kealing's death, the house passed to his daughter and son-in-law, who at one point hoped to convert it into a museum, Unfortunately, the vacant Kealing residence became seriously deteriorated in recent years, to the point where its demolition was ordered by the City's Chief Building Inspector in 1994. The other three structures would appear to be basically sound but in need of maintenance, with few, if any, alterations.

Vernon Elementary School
2700 (sic) Sewell Avenue
Joseph W. Radotinsky, Architect
1935-36

This property was originally the site of the Quindaro Congregational Church. The Colored School of Quindaro, with its own school district (No. 17) and an all-black school board, was subsequently built adjoining the church in 1868. The original stone school was replaced by a four-room brick structure sometime after the turn of the century, later renamed in honor of Bishop Vernon, The school lay outside the city limits of Kansas City, Kansas and eventually became part of the Washington Rural School District. At some point following construction of the present Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church in 1914, the former church property was added to that of the school . The present building was built by the W.P.A. in 1936 as a segregated school for African-American students. Designed by one of the most noted local architects of the period, it features an interesting piece of Art Deco bas relief sculpture over the main entry. Following the annexation of 1967 and the consolidation of Washington District with Kansas City, Kansas District 500, use of the school was discontinued and its pupils transferred to Quindaro Elementary School two blocks to the south (which is itself descended from the all-white Quindaro School), The building now houses a neighborhood center.

A Note on "Happy Hollow" and Orrin McKinley Murray, Sr.

In recent years, it has become a commonplace to state that Happy Hollow was the name given by the African-American refugees arriving in the Quindaro area to the valley of Quindaro Creek, and that the name subsequently was attached to the refugee settlement that grew up there. There is some evidence, however, that this belief is mistaken, the result of an oral tradition being misinterpreted by a later generation.

The grandfather of the late Orrin M. Murray, Sr. brought his family out of slavery in Platte County, Missouri, to settle in Quindaro in 1863, Mr. Murray was born in the Quindaro area in 1900. He was a member of Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, attended both the District 17 school and Western University, and was present at the dedication of the John Brown Memorial. He became a teacher and subsequently taught at Western in the years before its closing, In later years he was active in the Western University Alumni Association, serving as the group's historian. He collected extensive materials concerning Quindaro and Western, produced several publications regarding the history of the area, and served as a special consultant to the City when the study The Afro-American Community in Kansas City, Kansas was produced with Community Development funding in 1982.

According to Mr. Murray, Happy Hollow was not the valley of Quindaro Creek, but was rather the next valley to the west, on what was then the farm of Elisha Sortor and is now the location of Bell Crossing Drive. He stated that the valley received its name from slaves escaping out of Missouri, as they knew that once they reached the Sortor property they were at least temporarily safe from recapture. From a strictly logistical standpoint this explanation of the name makes sense, as escaping slaves prior to the Civil War would not have been likely to show up in the valley of Quindaro Creek, as that was in the heart of the developed and inhabited area of the town.

That there was a real danger from slave catchers is evident from both the story of the kidnapping of area resident Jesse Hope's great-grandfather's sister on the Happy Hollow road (another indication that Happy Hollow was probably on the Sortor property, not in the middle of the developed part of town), as well as the Mudge incident of February 23, 1862. In the latter instance, a family of escaped slaves was being sheltered by Benjamin F. Mudge, Three Missourians attempted to recapture them, but were dissuaded when Mudge produced a shotgun that he had borrowed from the Rev. Sylvester Dana Storrs. The family was then escorted to the safety of Fort Leavenworth, as Mudge believed Col. Alton C. Davis of the locally-stationed 9th Kansas Volunteer Infantry to be pro-slavery in his sympathies. (Davis, a resident of Wyandott, had served as attorney for slave catchers brought to trial in Quindaro in 1860 for kidnapping a free man, C. W. Jones.)

CONCLUDING REMARKS

At the request of neighborhood residents intent on fighting the proposed Browning-Ferris landfill, the Quindaro and Western University Historic District was approved by the Kansas City, Kansas City Council on March. 1, 1984. That approval was for all the historic district applied for by the petitioners, except for those portions for which a Special Use Permit for a landfill had already been granted to BrowningFerris Industries, Thus, of the above noted sites and structures, the following have been included in the historic district as approved: the portion of the Quindaro townsite east of the centerline of North 27th Street (Kanzas Avenue) that was previously owned by Freedman's University and is now the property of the City of Kansas City, Kansas; the site of Western University including the John Brown statue; the Brown/Blachly house; Quindaro Park; and the school, houses and church along the south side of Sewell Avenue between 27th and 29th Streets. In addition, although not part of the district, the Quindaro AfricanAmerican Cemetery was given a surveyed boundary and was supposed to remain undisturbed by the landfill operation.

It should be noted that the local historic designation of the A.M.E. Church property west of North 27th Street that was leased to Browning-Ferris was never denied. Instead it was put on indefinite hold, and with the landfill permit now voided could presumably be brought back before the Unified Government Board of Commissioners for reconsideration.

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church. Souvenir Program of the 97th Anniversary. Kansas City, Kansas: 1966.

Archives, Wyandotte County Historical Society & Museum, Bonner Springs, Kansas.

Brill, Tom. "A General Survey of the Negro Community of Kansas City, Kansas, for the Years 1890, and 1900" (and) "The Educational Policies of Western University," Unpublished thesis, no place, 1971.

Collins, Steve, "In the Eye of the Border Storm: The Quindaro Regional Underground Railroad Stations." Unpublished manuscript, no place, 1999. A thorough examination of information regarding the Underground Railroad in Quindaro, this includes the Tappan-Higginson letter, as well as extensive material on the activities of slave catchers in the area.

Eklund, Mark. "Quindaro Area Was Haven for Slaves." Heritage: The Magazine of Wyandotte County History, February, 1976.

Farley, Alan W, "Annals of Quindaro: A Kansas Ghost Town." The Kansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. XXII, No. 4 (Winter, 1956): 305-320.

Greenbaum, Susan. The Afro-American Community in Kansas City, Kansas: a history. Kansas City, Kansas: City of Kansas City, Kansas, 1982.

Harrington, Grant W. Historic Spots or Mile-Stones in the progress of Wyandotte County, Kansas. Merriam, Kansas: The Mission Press, 1935.

Heisler and McGee, "Map of Wyandotte County, Kansas, Compiled from Official Records & Surveys, and Published by Heisler & McGee, Wyandotte, Kansas, 1870." Chicago: Ed. Mendel, 1870.

Lastelic, Joseph A. "Fate Unkind to 'Kanzas' Schoolteacher." The Kansas City Times, January 30,1976.

Staff Writer. "Life in 'Kanzas' Alien to Young Woman." The Kansas Cit-Y Star, January 29, 1976. This was the first of two articles containing extensive excerpts from the diary of Elizabeth May Dickinson.

Lees, William B, Interim Report: An Intensive Archaeological Inventory of Browning-Ferris Industries' Proposed Wyandotte Landfill Proiect, Kansas City, Kansas. Kansas City, Kansas: Environmental Systems Analysis, 1984.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-81. Wyandot Agency, 1843-1863; 1870-1872. Microfilm, Rolls 950, 951, 952. Washington, D.C.: The National Archives, 1959.

McKay, Joyce and Larry J, Schmits, The Euro-American and Afro-American Communities of Quindaro: Phase III Archaeological and Historical Evaluation of Browning-Ferris Industries' Wyandotte County, Kansas Landfill. Kansas City, Kansas: Environmental Systems Analysis, 1986.

Mudge, Melville R. "Benjamin Franklin Mudge: A Letter from Quindaro." Kansas History, Vol, 13, No. 4, Winter 1990-1991: 218-222.

Murray, Orrin McKinley, Sr, The Rise and Fall of Western Universit-Y. Kansas City, Kansas: self published, 1960.

The Quindaro Chin-do-wan, May 13, 1857 to June 12, 1858.

Reid, Sandra. "Quindaro City, Kansas Territory." Unpublished thesis, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 1969.

Schmits, Larry J, "Quindaro: Kansas Territorial Free-State Port on the Missouri River," The Missouri Archaeoloqist, Vol. 49, December 1988 (1991): 89-145.

Smith, Thaddeus T. "Western University, a Ghost College in Kansas." Unpublished M, A, thesis, Pittsburg State College, 1966.