Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/722

 The judges appointed by the governor opened the polls, and some persons offered to vote, and when their votes were rejected on the ground that they were not residents of the district, the crowd threatened to tear the house down if the judges did not leave. The judges then withdrew, taking the poll-bookj with them. The crowd then proceeded to select other persons to act as judges, and the election went on. Those persons voting who were sworn were asked if they considered themselves residents of the district, and if they said they did, they were allowed to vote. But few of the residents were present and voted, and the free state men, as a general thing, did not vote.

Several hundred Missouriaus from Buchanan, Platte, and Andrew counties, Mo., including a great many of the prominent citizens of St. Joseph, came into the XIVth district the day before and on the day of election, in wagons and on horseback, and encamped there. Arrangements were made for them to cross the ferry at St. Joseph free of expense to themselves. They were armed with bowie-knives and pistols, guns and rifles. On the morning of the election, the free state candidates resigned in a body, on account of the presence of the large number of armed Missourians, at which the crowd cheered and hurrahed. Gen. B. F. Stringfellow was present, and was prominent in promoting the election of the pro-slavery ticket, as was also the Hon. Willard P. Hall, and others of the most prominent citizens of St. Joseph, Mo. But one of the judges of election, appointed by the governor, served on that day, and the crowd chose two others to supply the vacancies.

The evening before the election, some two hundred or more Missourians from Platte, Buchanan, Saline, and Clay counties, Mo., came into the Doniphan precinct, with tents, music, wagons, and provisions, and armed with guns, rifles, pistols, and bowie-knives, and encamped about two miles from the place of voting. They said they came to vote, to make Kansas a slave state, and intended to return to Missouri after they had voted.

On the morning of the election, the judges appointed by the governor would not serve, and others were appointed by the crowd. The Missourians were allowed to vote without being sworn—some of them voting as many as eight or nine times; changing their hats and coats, and giving in different names each time. After they had voted, they returned to Missouri. The free state men generally did not vote, though constituting a majority in the precinct. Upon counting the ballots in the box and the names on the poll-lists, it was found that there were too many ballots, and one of the judges of election took out ballots enough to make the two numbers correspond.

The election in the XVth district was held in the house of a Mr. Hayes. On the day of election, a crowd of from 400 to 500 men collected around the polls, of which the great body were citizens of Missouri. One of the judges of election, in his testimony, states that the strangers commenced crowding around the polls, and that then the residents left. Threats were made before and during the election day that there should be no free state candidates, although there were nearly or quite as many free state as pro-slavery men resident in the district. Most of the crowd were drinking and carousing, cursing