The Tale of Two Buttons

LecomptonKSIn the News, Lecompton History

Between 1854 and 1857, the Lecompton area was a hive of activity as pro-slavery Southerners arrived with the goal of expanding slavery to the new Kansas Territory.  While many Southerners came to establish homes, others had little intent on settling in the territory for the long term.  They instead arrived as militia groups, intent on running out nearby abolitionists in … Read More

First Free State Legislative Assembly of the Kansas Territory

LecomptonKSIn the News, Lecompton History, Museum News

In 1857, Lecompton went from being known as the Proslavery Capital to the Free State Capital of the Kansas Territory with the defeat of the Proslavery Party by Kansas voters. Victorious Free State legislators triumphantly march into Lecompton, accompanied by a raucous free state mob, to celebrate their victory at Constitution Hall with a special session of the first Free … Read More