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Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA



 


Notizen:
Wikipedia 2016:

Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the state of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, it is approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Topeka, and 35 mi (56 km) west of the Missouri state border. Lawrence is situated along the banks of the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 87,643. Lawrence is a college town and is the home to the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University.

Lawrence was founded by the New England Emigrant Aid Company and was named for Amos Adams Lawrence who offered financial aid and support for the settlement. Lawrence was central to the Bleeding Kansas era and was the site of the Wakarusa War, the sacking of Lawrence, and the Lawrence Massacre.

Lawrence had its beginnings as a center of Kansas politics. However, its economy soon diversified into many industries including agriculture, manufacturing, and ultimately education, beginning with the founding of the University of Kansas in 1866, and later Haskell Indian Nations University in 1884.

History:

Prior to Kansas Territory being opened to settlement in May 1854, most of Douglas County was part of the Shawnee Indian Reservation. The Oregon Trail followed the Kansas River through what would become Lawrence and Mount Oread was used as a landmark and an outlook.

Dr. Charles Robinson and Charles Branscomb were sent by the New England Emigrant Aid Company to scout for a location for a city. They arrived in the vicinity of Lawrence in July 1854 and noted the beauty of the area and felt the area was well suited for a town.

The original “pioneer party” left Massachusetts on July 17, 1854 and consisted of 29 men. They arrived at the site Robinson and Branscomb selected on August 1. The second party arrived in Lawrence on September 9 after leaving August 9. The town was officially named Lawrence City on October 6. Original names for the settlement were Wakarusa, Yankee Town, New Boston and Plymouth but Lawrence was chosen to honor Amos A. Lawrence, a valuable benefactor of the Emigrant Aid Company and because “the name sounded well and had no bad odor attached to it in any part of the Union." The main street of the town was named Massachusetts to commemorate the origins of the pioneer party.

The first post office in Lawrence was established in January 1855.

In March 1857, the Quincy School was started in the Emigrant Aid office before moving to the basement of the Unitarian Church in April. The Plymouth Congregational Church was started in September 1854 by Reverend S.Y. Lum, a missionary sent to Kansas.

Shortly after Lawrence’s founding, two newspapers were started: The Kansas Pioneer and the Herald of Freedom. Both papers touted the Free State mission which caused problems from the people of Lecompton, then the pro-slavery headquarters, located about ten miles northwest of Lawrence, and land squatters from Missouri. The Kansas Free State began in early January 1855.

On November 21, 1855, Charles Dow was shot and killed by Franklin Coleman in Hickory Point about fourteen miles south of Lawrence. Shortly after, a small army of Missourians led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel L. Jones entered Kansas to attack Lawrence. John Brown and James Lane had hustled Lawrence citizens into an army and erected barricades but no attack happened. A treaty was signed and the Missouri army reluctantly left.

Harassment by Sheriff Jones and other Southern sympathizers continued unabated. The Herald of Freedom, the Kansas Free State and the Free State Hotel were indicted as being “nuisances.” On April 23, 1856 Sheriff Jones was shot while trying to arrest free-state settlers. On May 21, Sheriff Jones and a posse of 800 Southern sympathizers converged on Lawrence. Dr. Robinson’s house on Mount Oread was taken by the federal marshal as headquarters and the newspaper printing presses were damaged and thrown in the river. The Free State Hotel was also destroyed.

Despite the constant presence of impending war, Lawrence continued to grow. Its 1860 population was estimated at 2,500 although the official Census recorded 1,645. Lawrence became the county seat of Douglas County in 1857, prior to that Lecompton had been the seat and even when the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, Lawrence was still a magnet to conflict. William Clarke Quantrill and 300-400 Confederate guerillas rode into Lawrence and sacked the city at dawn on August 21, 1863. Most houses and businesses in Lawrence were burned and between 150 and 200 men and boys were murdered.

Attempts to begin a university in Kansas were first undertaken in 1855, but it was only after Kansas became a state in 1861 that those attempts saw any real fruition. An institute of learning was proposed in 1859 as The University of Lawrence, but it never opened. When Kansas became a state, provision was included in the Kansas Constitution for a state university. From 1861 to 1863 the question of where the university would be located—Lawrence, Manhattan or Emporia—was debated. In February 1863, Manhattan was made the location of the state's land-grant college, leaving only Lawrence and Emporia as candidates. The fact that Lawrence had $10,000 plus interest donated by Amos Lawrence plus 40 acres (160,000 m2) to donate for the university had great weight with the legislature and Lawrence beat out Emporia by one vote. The University of Kansas officially opened in 1866 with 55 students.

Facing an energy crisis in the early 1870s, the city contracted with Orlando Darling to construct a dam across the Kansas River to help provide the city with power. Frustrated with the construction of the dam, Darling resigned and the Lawrence Land & Water Company completed the dam without him in 1873; however, only when J.D. Bowersock took over the dam in 1879 that the constant damage to the dam ceased and repairs held up. The dam made Lawrence unique which helped in winning business against Kansas City and Leavenworth. The dam closed in 1968 but was reopened in 1977 with help from the city, which wanted to build a new city hall adjacent to the Bowersock Plant.

In 1884, the United States Indian Industrial Training School was opened in Lawrence during a time when Native American boarding schools were used to undermine Tribal Nations. Boys were taught the trades of tailor making, blacksmithing, farming and others while girls were taught cooking and homemaking. In 1887, the name was changed to the Haskell Institute, after Dudley Haskell, a legislator responsible for the school being in Lawrence. In 1993, the name was changed again to Haskell Indian Nations University.

Ort : Geographische Breite: 38.9716689, Geographische Länge: -95.23525010000003


Geburt

Treffer 1 bis 2 von 2

   Nachname, Taufnamen    Geburt    Personen-Kennung 
1 Green, Joseph Bryant  12 Sep 1949Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA I147831
2 Moys, May Elizabeth  18 Dez 1861Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA I211170

Tod

Treffer 1 bis 4 von 4

   Nachname, Taufnamen    Tod    Personen-Kennung 
1 Geissler, Vernon Victor  24 Jul 2000Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA I80173
2 Klundt, Roland Victor  7 Jun 2008Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA I111140
3 Laughrey, Eugene Wheeler  20 Okt 2003Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA I106476
4 Roberson, Jerry Lynn  12 Nov 1982Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA I51590