Fort Titus

While touring the Territorial Capital Museum I saw this little display for Fort Titus. This is considered the first battle of the conflict that ends slavery and ends in 1865. This battle was August 16, 1856 when anti-slavery men from Lawrence came to pro-slavery Lecompton to raise hell. Before they reached Lecompton they passed Fort Titus, which was not much more than the thick walled home of Colonel Henry Titus. The pro-slavery men at Fort Titus lost two killed and five wounded. A total of 34 men surrendered. The anti-slavery force lost wight wounded including Captain Henry Shombre who was mortally wounded.

In the chapel part of the museum there was this painting of the battle, which was featured on the sign downstairs. This chapel is also where Dwight D. Eisenhower's parents were married in 1885.

After the tour we took the advice of the tour guide and went to Kroeger's for lunch, which was quite good. We had a variety of things, a sausage sandwich, a hot dog, bbq beef and ham salad (Kroeger's is the town's main shop and sells a bit of everything from books to lunch to liquor, the meat is all made on site as it is also a butcher shop). I would strongly recommend it for anyone else touring Lecompton, and as you will find out there really are no other options for lunch in the area. While there the proprietor also told us where to find the location of Fort Titus. So when we left I talked the car into one small final detour. He said the fort/house was where the propane storage is now. No markers commemorate the place but this is clearly the propane storage area. Where exactly the fort was I have no idea but apparently it was in this general vicinity.

Lecompton

After talking my family into a side trip to Springfield I was sure my detours were at an end but somehow I also convinced them to stop at Lecompton, Kansas. There we saw Constitution Hall and the Territorial Capital Museum.

Constitution Hall is neat but didn’t really require much time. It has a good amount of exhibits on the days of 1850s. It is neat as a building because it is all original. You get to stand on the very wooden floors that the legislature stood on in 1855. You get to stand in the small rooms that they used. I love standing exactly where history happened and this is a beautiful spot to do it.

Originally there was a staircase on the outside of the building at the back (left side of the picture). It is now inside.

A copy of the Kansas constitution that was written on the second floor of Constitution Hall. You can see the original floor boards under the display case.
The original exposed studs.

A collage of the men who wrote the constitution. This is a remarkably large group considering the size of the room they worked in (next picture).

Then we went to the Territorial Capital Museum. It is also interesting but functions more as a city history museum than a Civil War era history museum. There are all sorts of other exhibits that the 1850s is just a small part of the collection.

In the basement is this display of a school history fair from 2003. The displays are still there. It was neat to see the work the students did.

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the Territorial Capitol. This view shows what it was supposed to look like. The money ran out early in the project so it was only finished to the bottom of the first floor windows. It was later finished but it is missing the columns and the fancy roof treatment. I guess I have to go there again to get that one picture.

This diorama shows the town. The Territorial Capitol is the large building in the right center. If you click on the picture the larger version will reveal a #1 on the building. Constitution Hall has a #2 on it and is the white building directly to the left of the Territorial Capitol. It is two streets to the left, the street to the left of the street that goes to the bridge.

I’m glad I went to Lecompton but I doubt I’d go back unless I heard about some new exhibits or something similar. Or to get that one missing picture.

I'm back

As I stated in my last post I was on vacation last week. My grandmother’s 80th birthday was March 13th so we went back there to surprise her. My parents had flown out earlier in the week to give her a party but no one knew we were coming too. We drove through the night and got to Oshkosh, Wisconsin in time for the party and gave everyone a surprise they won’t soon forget. That weekend we also saw many of my cousins on my father’s side. They had met my wife and son last year at my grandfather’s funeral but this was a much better reunion.

Saturday we went to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. My son loves trains so he was in hog heaven. He got to climb on many old trains. There were not any trains from the Civil War but there were some interesting things to see anyway. Later that day we stopped at one of Oshkosh’s Civil War monuments, this one is for Camp Bragg that gave soldiers of the 21st and 32nd Wisconsin Infantry their first brush with the realities of being a soldier.

Later in the week we started to head home but had decided we would not drive straight through. Somehow I convinced my family to detour through Springfield, Illinois so I could soak up some Lincoln history. Time was of the essence so I decided to just see the new Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (I would only do the museum part). It’s a great place. You follow the life of Lincoln from boy to death. Springfield is amazing. It was a last minute addition to our trip so I hadn’t planned for it at all. I had no list of things to see. After the museum I ran through a few sites downtown like his law office and the Old State Capitol where he gave his House Divided speech. It was obvious that there is a ton to do in Springfield but I didn’t have the time so I grabbed brochures and hope to get back when I can devote 2 or 3 days as that’s what I think it will really require to do a good tour of Springfield.

Then we headed down the road towards home. We passed around St. Louis, which is an accomplishment as the last time I went through St. Louis I had to get a different car to complete the journey. The next morning I convinced everyone to stop at Lecompton, Kansas. There we saw Constitution Hall and the Territorial Capital Museum. These were both neat to see. I’m glad I went to Lecompton but I doubt I’d go back unless I heard about some new exhibits or something similar.

Some shots from the road:

Grandpa driving Big Boy (world's largest steam engine)

A big boy driving something not as big as the Big Boy

Stuck in the top of the caboose

"Trains and cannons in the same day?! Wow!"

Lincoln showing the way to his museum

Constitutional Hall