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University Daily Kansan
Friday, Nov. 6, 1964
Hotel Rates Place in Kansas' Bloody History
By Tom Moore
The Eldridge Hotel of Lawrence has had a long and eventful journey in Kansas history since it played an important part in the Free State movement in Kansas in the late 1850's.
The founder of the Eldridge Hotel (once known as the Eldridge House), was Col. Shalor W. Eldridge, who was born and raised in Massachusetts. In his early thirties he joined the New England and Emigrant Aid Society (NEEAS). He became deeply involved in the anti-slavery movement and moved to Kansas Territory to help further its cause. Like other crusaders of anti- and proslavery, Eldridge had only meant to help solve the slavery issue in Kansas and then go home. Like them he stayed.
On his journey west he was greeted at Westport Landing (now the heart of Kansas City) and was escorted by wagon to a small town of about 300 people some 40 miles west.
At the time of his initial visit, Lawrence consisted of a scattering
of houses, a saw mill, three crudely constructed hotels, and a stout building known as the Free State Hotel which the NEEAS had built. NEEAS had come to Kansas for the purpose of making the country better for homesteaders and ranchers from the East. To make the country better, some felt it was necessary for Kansas to enter the Union as a free state.
Lawrence was the center of the free state movement, and Le-crompton was the center of the pro-slavery movement.
Eldridge quickly became the leader of the free state movement and in 1856 leased the Free State Hotel. It was this hotel that was to keep him here for the remainder of his life.
Eldridge returned to New England to purchase $40,000 worth of furniture and luxuries which he had shipped to Lawrence. Six months later, he and his friends were causing trouble with their free state movement in Douglas County (Douglas County at that time extended from what is now part of Kansas City to what is now
Topeka) and the sheriff was sent by the pro-slavery men to straighten things out in Lawrence. Douglas County Sheriff Jones was sent in to arrest certain leaders of the free state movement on May 21, 1856. Sheriff Jones and his posse arrested their victims peacefully and then proceeded to carry out the rest of the pro-slavery men's plans: to destroy the two free state printing shops and the Free State Hotel. Jones gave Eldridge two hours to empty the Free State Hotel of valuables and said that he would then burn it down.
Eldridge and his family moved most of the portable things to friends' homes on the other side of Lawrence The sheriff had come to Lawrence prepared for trouble with a battery of brass cannons, left over from the Mexican War. The presence of the cannons on Mount Oread (about the location of the freshman women's dormitories) may have attributed to the quick arrest of the free state men and the evacuation of the hotel.
As soon as the two hours were up, and the hotel cleared, the
sheriff's men emptied the remaining heavy furniture from the hotel into the street. Jones then gave the order for the cannons to fire on the hotel. The first cannon belched and the shot, being poorly aimed, landed west of the hotel, hitting a settler's cabin.
The rest of the shots hit their mark and leveled the hotel. The cannons having done their work, Jones then set fire to the collapsed hotel.
After watching his hotel destroyed, Eldridge became even more dedicated to the free state cause. After the fire died, Eldridge marched up to Jones and said, "You may burn it down, but I'll erect another hotel in its place and add another story."
Fldridge raised $80,000 and in 1857 a red brick hotel occupied the old site of the Free State Hotel. True to his word, it was one story higher (four stories in all),
These few words spoken in haste almost broke Eldridge. Eldridge was to rebuild the hotel two more times during his lifetime.
and more elegant than the first. It became the headquarters for the free state men for the long struggle from 1857 until 1860 to make Kansas a free state. Among the more famous free state men who visited the Eldridge House were: Charles Robinson, James H. Kane, John Speer, Sam Woods, and the infamous John Brown.
On August 21, 1863, the young Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill, and his band of about 210 men attacked Lawrence. They killed about 150 male citizens and burned down the Eldridge House.
Eldridge rebuilt the Eldridge House for about $40,000. The new hotel was a story shorter and somewhat simpler in furnishings. It was a three story building with 50 rooms.
Eldridge out lived the war, but was never able to accumulate enough money to make his oath to Sheriff Jones come true.
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While in Lawrence, you can enjoy a delicious buffet. Make your choice from 4 meat entries, 8 tempting salads, fluffy potatoes, steaming-hot vegetables, hot rolls and butter, and homemade desserts. Drink is included.
THE LITTLE BANQUET
Dine today (breakfast, dinner,and supper) at
Plenty of Free Parking on the Malls 711 West 23rd (Highway 10)
HOMECOMING
KU Colors; Individually Boxed;
Delivered Fri. or Sat. a.m.
1
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