History of Kansas United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Kansas, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Biographies:

Samuel J. Crawford, governor of Kansas, was born in Lawrence county, Ind., April 15, 1835. He studied law in Bedford, Ind., was admitted to the bar in 1856, was graduated from the Cincinnati law school in 1858, and removed to Garnett City, Kan., in 1859. He was elected to the Kansas legislature in 1861; was captain of the 2d Kansas cavalry in the civil war from May, 1861, to Nov. 1, 1863, when he became colonel of the 83d U.S. colored troops; resigned from the service Nov. 7, 1864, and was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, March 13, 1865. He was governor of Kansas, 1865-69. He died in (Colorado, Jan, 29, 1891.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Samuel J. Crawford was one of the first members of the Kansas State Legislature, by service on the field of battle attained the rank of brigadier-general during the Civil war, and was the third governor of the state. He was one of the history makers of early Kansas, and what he did to influence the early political development of Kansas must be told on other pages. Following is a brief sketch of his personal career.

He was born in Lawrence County, Indiana, April 10, 1835, grew up on a farm, attended the graded schools of Bedford, Indiana, and the law school of Cincinnati College. His parents were William and Jane (Merrow) Crawford, who were natives of North Carolina and had moved to Indiana Territory in 1815. His paternal grandparents were James and Mary (Fraser) Crawford, his grandfather having been a Revolutionary soldier. In remote ancestry the Crawfords were Scotch.

Samuel J. Crawford arrived in Kansas Territory and began the practice of law at Garnett on March 1, 1859. He had the personal courage, the mental talents and other qualities so essential for leadership in the troubled country of Kansas at that time, and he did not long remain a struggling lawyer in Garnett. In May of the same year of his arrival he attended the Ossawatomie convention and participated in the organization of the republican party in Kansas. In September of the same year he was a delegate to the republican stats convention at Topeka, which placed in nomination state officers under the Wyandotte constitution. Then, in November, 1859, he was elected a member of the first state Legislature, and assisted in putting the state government into operation.

Toward the close of the first session the country was involved in war. He resigned his legislative seat to become captain in the Second Kansas Volunteer Infantry. He participated in those Southwest Missouri campaigns led by General Lyon, and took part in all the engagements, including the crucial battle of Wilson Creek. In March, 1862, Captain Crawford was assigned the command of Troop A, Second Kansas Cavalry, and soon afterwards the command of a battalion in the same regiment.

With the Second Kansas he was with General Blunt in Southwest Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian Territory until early in the fall of 1862. During that time he participated in the battles of Newtonia, Old Fort Wayne, Kane Hill, Bald Peak, Cove Creek, Prairie Grove and Van Buren. At old Fort Wayne he led his battalion in the charge which resulted in the capture of an entire battery of artillery.

On March 12, 1863, he was assigned to command the Second Kansas Cavalry and soon afterwards joined Blunt at Fort Gibson for an expedition south through the Choctaw Nation. This campaign ended with the taking of Fort Smith and Colonel Crawford was instrumental in capturing a number of prisoners, wagons, horses, a Confederate paymaster and $40,000 of Confederate money.

In November, 1863, he was appointed colonel in the Eighty-third United States Colored Infantry. In March, 1864, he joined General Steele on an expedition to the Red River under the general command of General Banks. At Jenkins Ferry his command lost heavily and his own horse was shot.

While still in active service, on September 8, 1864, Colonel Crawford was nominated for governor of Kansas. On October 1st he was granted a leave of absence, the first he had had since entering the service at the beginning of the war, but on arriving in Kansas learned of Price's raid through Missouri. Instead of entering the canvass for office, he at once reported to and was assigned to the staff of General Curtis, and he was with the Union forces in every battle of this campaign from Westport to Mine Creek. Of Kansas soldiers General Crawford was one of the greatest. It was for meritorious services on the field of battle that he was brevetted brigadier-general on April 13, 1865.

In the meantime, on November 8, 1864, he was elected governor, and on January 9, 1865, took the oath of office. On September 5, 1866, he was re-elected governor, and was the first executive of the state to be honored with re-election.

It is not the purpose of this sketch to review the conditions of Kansas when Governor Crawford took his seat in the governor's office. All that is told on other pages. But as some of the distinctive accomplishments of his administration it should be recalled that during that time the State University, the Agricultural College, the Normal School, the Deaf, Mute, Blind and Insane asylums were opened, and not only these institutions but many enduring Kansas policies saw their beginning while he was in the gubernatorial chair.

About the time he retired from the office of governor he organized a regiment of cavalry and joined General Sheridan in November, 1868, in the campaign against the Indians. This campaign was made in the dead of winter and under the greatest of difficulties, but the Indians were overtaken and compelled to surrender the captives of their raid.

After retiring from the governorship Mr. Orawford was in the real estate business at Emporia until 1876, when he removed to Topeka and undertook the prosecution of certain claims against the United States for indemnity school lands, and in this he rendered much aid to Kansas. Subsequently he moved to Washington, D. C., and practiced law there for a number of years. Among other activities Governor Crawford published Kansas in the '60s, a work which attracted much attention as a picture of conditions in early Kansas history, and which will always be an important source of history.

Governor Crawford died October 21, 1913. On November 27, 1866, he married Isabel M. Chase. His only daughter Florence is now the wife of Governor Arthur Capper.

From: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans by Wm E Connelley; New York: 1918.

Lyman Underwood Humphrey, governor of Kansas, was born in Stark county, Ohio, July 25, 1844; son of Col. Lyman Humphrey, a lawyer of distinction, who died in 1852. At the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted as a private; at the age of seventeen, in the 76th Ohio infantry. He was promoted first lieutenant and acting adjutant of his regiment, and was captain of a company for a full year before he was out of his minority. He was in the battles of Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, the siege of Vicksburg and the several conflicts around that city, at Chattanooga and the campaign around Atlanta. He was with Sherman in his march to the sea, and participated in the capture of Savannah; was wounded at Pittsburg Landing and again at Chattanooga, and took part in the battle of Bentonville and in the capture of General Johnston's army. During his four years service he was not absent from his post in the army for a single day, and when wounded at Chattanooga he refused to leave the field, and participated in the battle till the close. When the war ended he attended Mount Union college and studied law at the University of Michigan, 1866-67, but did not graduate. In 1868 he was admitted to the bar, and soon afterward removed to Independence, Ken., where he became connected with the Southern Kansas Tribnae. In 1876 he was chosen to represent his district in the state legislature. In 1877 he was nominated by the Republican state central committee for lieutenant-governor, to fill a vacancy, and was elected by a largo majority. In 1879 he was re-elected to the same office by over 40,000 majority. In 1884 he was elected state senator from Montgomery county, and in 1888 was elected governor, receiving 72,000 majority, the largest popular majority that had ever been given to a governor in Kansas. He was re-elected in 1890 by a large plurality, serving as governor, 1889-93.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Sidney Clarke, representative, was born in Southbridge, Mass., Oct. 16, 1831; son of Joseph and Sally (Heath) Clarke, and grandson of Jeptha Clarke, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father served in the war of 1812. Sidney was educated in the public schools, and in 1854 became the editor of the Southbridge Press which he published for five years. He settled in Lawrence, Kan., in 1859, and was a member of the Kansas legislature in 1862. He was appointed assistant adjutant-general with the rank of captain of volunteers, Feb. 9, 1863, and resigned Feb. 20, 1865. He served as assistant provost-marshal-general and superintendent of volunteer recruiting service for Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Dakota and on the staff of Major-General S. R. Curtis. He was a representative from Kansas in the 39th congress, 1865-67, and served on the committees on the Pacific railroad and on Indian affairs. On the death of President Lincoln he accompanied the remains to Illinois. He was a delegate to the Loyalist convention, Philadelphia, 1866, and was re-elected to the 40th and 41st congresses. In 1879 he was a member of the Kansas legislature and speaker of the house of representatives. He was prominently connected with the movement for the organization of Oklahoma Territory, and settled at Oklahoma city in 1889.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Kansas

Biographies:

Local History and Genealogy Links: