Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/737

 been in the hands of any officer against any citizen of Lawrence. No arrest had been attempted, and no writ resisted in that town. The rescue of Branson sprang out of a murder committed thirteen miles from Lawrence, In a detached settlement, and neither the town nor its citizens extended any protection to Branson's rescuers. On the contrary, two or three days after the rescue, S. N. Wood, who claimed publicly to be one of the rescuing party, wished to be arrested for the purpose of testing the territorial laws, and walked up to sheriff Jones and shook hands with him, and exchanged other courtesies. He could have been arrested without any difficulty, and it was his design, when he went to Mr. Jones, to be arrested, but no attempt was made to do so. It is obvious that the only cause of this hostility is the known desire of "he citizens of Lawrence to make Kansas a free state, and their repugnance to laws imposed upon them by non-residents.

Your committee do not propose to detail the incidents connected with this foray. Fortunately for the peace of the country, a direct conflict between the opposing forces was avoided by an amicable arrangement. The losses sustained by the settlers in property taken and time and money expended in their own defense, added much to the trials incident to a new settlement. Many persons were unlawfully taken and detained—in some cases, under circumstances of gross cruelty. This was especially so in the arrest and treatment of doctor G. A. Cutter and G. F. Warren. They were taken without cause or warrant, 60 miles from Lawrence, and when doctor Cutter was quite sick. They were compelled to go to the camp at Lawrence, were put into the custody of "Sheriff Jones." who had no process to arrest them—they were taken into a small room kept as a liquor shop, which was open and very cold. That night Jones came in with others, and went to "playing poker at twenty-five cents ante." The prisoners were obliged to sit up all night, as there was no room to lie down when the men were playing. Jones insulted them frequently, and told one of them he must either "tell or swing." The guard then objected to this treatment of the prisoners, and Jones desisted. G. F. Warren thus describes their subsequent conduct:

"They then carried us down to their camp; Kelly, of The Squatter Sovereign, who lives in Atchison, came round and said he thirsted for blood, and said he should like to hang us on the first tree. Cutter was very weak, and that excited him so that he became delirious. They sent for three doctors, who came. Doctor Stringfellow was one of them. They remained there with Cutter until after midnight, and then took him up to the office, as it was very cold in camp."

During the foray, either George W. Clark or Mr. Bums murdered Thomas Barber, while the latter was on the highway on his road from Lawrence to his claim. Both fired at him, and it is impossible from the proof to tell whose shot was fatal. The details of this homicide are stated by an eye witness.

Among the many acts of lawless violence which it has been the duty of your committee to investigate, this invasion of Lawrence is the most defenseless. A comparison of the facts proven, with the official statement of the officers of