Bourbon County Biographies
"The Why of Fort Scott"
CAPT. JOHN HAMILTON.
In 1842, Serg. Hamilton, of the 1st U. S. Dragoons,
then stationed at Fort Wayne, Cherokee Nation,
(Arkansas) came with a contingent of one
hundred and twenty men and three officers
in search of a location for a cantonment
to be placed on the newly surveyed Military Road running from Fort Leavenworth to Fort
Gibson. The contingent left Fort Wayne May 26,
1842, under the command of Capt. B. D. Moore,
and reached a point just across the Missouri border,
and camped for the night on Col. Wm. Douglas'
farm. Next morning the officers mounted their
horses, and, guided by Col Douglas, came to view
the ideal spot for a cantonment, as described to
them the evening before, by the Colonel.
The little company was marched over, and
pitched camp at once, May 30, 1842, on
the "ideal spot," the point of the Plaza. Capt.
Moore and the other officers left at once to bring
two more companies of 1st Dragoons, (likely stationed at Fort Leavenworth) to assist in building the
cantonment. They left Serg. Hamilton in charge.
On Capt. Moore's return he assumed command of
the Post. The second commandant was Major Wm.
M. Graham. The honor of felling the first tree for
their log barracks, fell to Serg. Hamilton. He superintended the erection of the permanent buildings
also, completed in 1843. At this time the name was
changed from Camp Scott to Fort Scott.
Later, Serg. Hamilton was ordered to Jassup, La.
On the expiration of his term of service, 1855, he
returned, to reside permanently in Fort Scott. In
1859, he was made captain of the first company of
militia that was raised during the "Border Trouble."
In 1865, he moved to Sheridan Township, Crawford county, Kansas, and was sent from there to
the Legislature in 1868. He died in Independence,
Kansas, February 26, 1876.
G. H. HAYNES.
C. H. Haynes and family came to Fort Scott in
1858. His first interest was in the saw mill at the
foot of Birch street, which he later moved to the
north bank of the Marmaton River. Later he engaged in the grocery business, in which he continued till his death. Farming also attracted him,
later in life, though he continued to reside in town,
running the farm on the shares.
MRS. G. H. HAYNES.
Mrs. Haynes and her husband started from Ohio,
to make a home for themselves in southwest Missouri, but while stopping at Springfield, Mo., they
witnessed a public auction of slaves. They at once
decided to go on to Kansas, where there was more
likelihood of finding a state free from the incubus
of slavery. They were overjoyed at their first sight
of the Plaza, and thankful that they had changed
their minds and come further west. At a meeting
held the evening after their arrival, "noses were
counted" and it was found that there was an equal
number of Free State and Pro-Slavery men in the
town. There were only 150 people in Fort Scott at
that time.
Their first home was an unfinished frame house
on the corner of Bigler St. and Lincoln Avenue, with
no windows, doors or chimney, and they had to put
the cook stove in the yard. Mr. Haynes had
to hold an umbrella over the stove to protect the
cooking food when it rained. They heard of a box
of glass that could be had at Osage Mission, and sent
for it. All the glass was too large, and had to be cut
down. Later they moved to a log house on the east
side of Buck Run, near what is now First and Margrave streets. Mrs. A. Campbell tells of a time when
Mr. and Mrs. Haynes and the baby were all sick
with malaria. It had been arranged that if neither
of them was able to be up, they were to hang out a
signal, a white cloth, which would be seen from the
Smith home on Scott Avenue, and some of them
would go over and assist them. Mrs. Campbell,
then so small that she had to stand on a stool to
work at the table, would go over and wash dishes
and help with the baby. In those days neighbors
were neighbors in deed as well as in propinquity.
At one time Mrs. Haynes was in bed too ill to move
about the room, she saw a rattlesnake in the chinks
of the wall, but much to her relief it decided to
come no further, and turned and crawled away.
Mrs. Haynes taught one of the first schools in an
upstairs room of the Calkins building on Bigler St.
There was just a pathway leading from her house
through the brush to the Plaza and Bigler St. Mrs.
Haynes had come from a family where books were
plentiful, and intellectual pursuits were a matter of
course, and she continued to be interested in all
things pertaining to education. She was one of the
organizers of the first club in the city. Being as enthusiastic in her church work, she was one of the
first members of the Episcopal Church, and often
acted as lay-reader, when no rector was in charge,
and thus kept the interest in the church and Sunday
School from lagging.
Two daughters, Mrs. Redd, of California, and
Mrs. B. Phillips of Springfield, Mo., are living.
LIEUT. COL. L. R. JEWELL.
Colonel Jewell came to Kansas, settling on a claim
near Arcadia and began his farm life in 1859. His
plans for a large colonization on these claims came
to naught when the Civil war broke out and absorbed all of his attention. He was elected captain of
Co. D of the Frontier Battalion in 1861. In August he was mustered into service as Lieut. Col. of
the Sixth Kansas Cavalry, then stationed at Fort
Scott.
It was while commanding the Sixth Kansas Cavalry after the Drywood skirmish that Gen. J. Lane,
leaving him in command of Fort Scott, gave him
the order to burn the town. Colonel Jewell's reply
was very characteristic of him. He said: "When
General Price begins the occupancy of the town, it
shall be burned."
During the winter of 1861-62 the Sixth maintained their headquarters in the town. In the spring the
Sixth Kansas Cavalry took part in the Baxter
Springs, Grand River, Fort Gibson, and Tahlequah
campaigns.
In November the Sixth took part in the Cane Hill
battle. Near the close of the day. General Blunt
called for volunteer officers to lead a cavalry charge.
Colonel Jewell promptly responded. They captured the battery but for want of infantry support, the
enemy recaptured it. It was then that the Colonel
had his horse shot from under him and was mortally wounded and taken prisoner.
He died November 30th, 1862, and his remains
were buried in the National cemetery, with all military honors. In 1903 they were removed to the
Arcadia cemetery.
B. LITTLE.
The year after Fort Scott was abandoned as a
government post, B. Little decided to add himself
and family to the then very small town. He came
in November, 1854. Just across Marmaton Avenue
from the Free State Hotel where the H. R. Roberts
cottage now stands, was a long frame house built
for quartermaster's stores, and used in 1854 for a
store, owned by a Kansas City firm, and run by a
man by the name of Myers. Mr. Little bought out
the store soon after his arrival, paying $1,200.00. A
few days after the purchase, Myers gave out that the
purchase money had been stolen from him, while
he was at a dance at the Free State Hotel. When
asked by Mr. Little, whether he knew who stole it,
Myers replied, "Yes," naming a man, Jones, a
blacksmith, and showed Little the tracks in the
snow. Jones had been past that place, to get his
washing from a cabin nearby. Myers persuaded
some of his friends to take Jones out and string him
up to make him confess. Jones reiterated his denial of the theft. The third time the men started
to run him up, John Little took out his pistol and
said: "The first man who touches Jones, I will
shoot dead. He never stole that money, I am convinced." Little wrote to the Kansas City owner of
the store about the theft and asked him to send an
officer to meet this Myers and search him. He,
Myers, was leaving with his wife, and they could be
intercepted on the Military Road. This was done,
and the money was found, sewed up in Mrs. Myer's
quilted petticoat.
Mr. Little continued in this store until the war
broke out, when he moved back to Alabama where
he died. It was in this store that John Little, a son,
was killed at the time of the Rice trouble, as told
under the caption, "Border Troubles." John Little
was the first U. S. Marshall
Mrs. Mary Brumley, a daughter of B. Little, was
just buried in Fort Scott, aged 82 years.
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This website created August 22, 2011 by Sheryl McClure.
� 2011 Kansas History and Heritage Project
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