OTTAWA — Kansas probably had its largest number of veterans in the early years of statehood. Because of the “Bleeding Kansas” battles that helped ignite the Civil War, Kansas had the highest number of soldiers enlist in Union armies on a per-capita basis, said Grady Atwater, Osawatomie’s John Brown Museum historian. And after the Civil War ended, many more Union veterans, encouraged by free and cheap land offered to ex-soldiers, flocked to Kansas, Deb Barker, Franklin County Historical Society executive director, said. As a result, most men in the area were veterans, she said. Every community in Franklin County had a Grand Army of the Republic veterans’ post, and each post dominated community, political and business life, she said. The Ottawa GAR chapter had its own room on the third floor of the Franklin County Courthouse, which was designed by Ottawa architect George Washburn, who was a top officical in the GAR, she said. And because the Republican Party was Abraham Lincoln’s party and because Democrats were frequently tarred with charges of treason and defending southern interests, most of those veterans in Kansas were Republicans, cementing the party’s identification with Kansas early in the state’s history, Atwater said.
Thursday, Nov. 10, 3 p.m.
