Today I spent more time reading and transcribing T.C.P. Hyde's letters from Kansas. In addition to the 4 letters, there are handwritten transcriptions presumably made by E. K. Post in the 1920s. Unfortunately, the handwriting on these is just as hard to read as the original.
THE CONNECTICUT KANSAS COLONY OF WABAUNSEE, KANSAS
The company began with a meeting in the New Haven Temperance Hall on February 18, 1856. "Agreement of the Kansas Company: We, the undersigned, do hereby agree to unite in a Company for immigrating to Kansas in the month of March next, & to be governed by, & act upon the following principles. The Company Shall consist of from twenty five to one hundred & fifty men… The business of the Company Shall be So managed as to give equal facilities & advantages, as far as possible, to all to all according to their circumstances. A Majority vote Shall decide all questions in regard to the Companys affairs." (http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/90161 ) That same day a notice was printed in the local New Haven paper, "Notice is hereby given that a company is being formed for the purpose of emigrating to Kansas. Those, therefore, who desire to aid in establishing the Institutions of New England, and to secure for themselves and their families a good home in that delightful country, are requested to communicate with the subscriber as early as practicable. Men of all professions, and especially farmers are needed, but only such as will be able to contribute in some substantial manner to the building up of a flourishing community." (https://www.kshs.org/p/letters-of-charles-b-lines-the-connecticut-kansas-colony/13115)
Neither statement said outright what the newspaper notice only hinted at, specifically “the Institutions of New England,” e.g. the prohibition of slavery. The Kansas Company was an abolitionist attempt to settle in Kansas after the Kansas-Nebraska act called for the territorial inhabitants to decide for themselves the "slavery question." While there were many such companies of interested settlers, the Kansas Company became most well-known because of a gift from Henry Ward Beecher and his Plymouth Church congregation - 25 bibles and 25 Sharps rifles. This signaled a new reality in Bleeding Kansas but aroused much comment in the press at the time, and the colony founded by the Kansas Company was thereafter frequently called the "Beecher Bible & Rifle Colony" and the particular model Sharps rifle was nicknamed a "Beecher Bible." The Kansas Company's colony (also called the Connecticut Colony, the New Haven Colony, or the Beecher Rifle Colony) remains the most well-known among these groups of New England agitators who moved west.
Thomas Cotton Parmalee Hyde was an active member in the Connecticut-Kansas Company from the first meeting back in New Haven. He personally was the 13th man (of 90) to sign the declaration of incorporation and either vouched for or induced 2 others to sign as well (their names are ascribed "per Hyde" or "from Hyde.") He also served as secretary of the Company. T.C.P. Hyde travelled back and forth to Kansas several times and spent at least one year trying to make a go of farm life. The Hyde family papers in my collection are predominantly belonging to his children, but the Hyde siblings knew enough to save four of their father's extant letters from his time in Kansas.
These letters are notable for several reasons. First and foremost, he's a direct eyewitness to history. Bleeding Kansas is a subject that people care about. The University of Kansas And the Kansas State Historical Society collect material from this period. People write theses and books about these colonies. Wabaunsee, KS is on the National Register of Historic Places. But the letters are also important because they give a contrary account to the popular narrative. Charles B. Lines, who founded the Company, seemed to control the ‘messaging’ as well. His reports home dominated newspaper coverage, his personal papers and diaries are used by researchers and his version of the story is generally accepted. But it seems that T.C.P. Hyde had some real problems - both with Mr. Lines and his fellow settlers. Hyde's letters detail difficult winters, internal fighting (someone stealing his tree seeds, someone else stealing his coat…) He is able to add a human dimension to the high-minded story. The settlers founded the town of Wabaunsee and they set out to erect town buildings while also claiming as much land as possible and raising sufficient crops. But it turns out that building a house is hard. Farming is hard. Getting along with your neighbors is hard - especially when they are Pottawatomie Indians or Yale students and New England townsfolk suddenly trying to live a pioneer lifestyle. These two themes dominate the 4 letters of T.C.P. Hyde.
The first letter is dated May 6, 1856 and addressed to “My own beloved Charlotte” (i.e. Charlotte Elizabeth Burnap). This letter refers to a meeting between Mr. Lines and a “Captain K” that both men denied and some further misunderstanding between Lines and Hyde that T.C.P. Hyde is hesitant to detail in writing, other than to say that Lines “has attempted to make a speculation out of his dealings with me – by false accounts” but Hyde is magnanimous at this point, writing that “I do not regard Mr. L with unmixed animosity” and writing cautioning about judging “too harshly of our fellow servants.” The letter goes on to more private topics – it seems that Hyde and Charlotte Elizabeth Burnap were married and possibly in secret before he left for Kansas and he warns her not to publish their marriage in the papers. “We were under peculiar circumstances and must not count it much that we are judged peculiarly by those who had no appreciation of our trials.” Charlotte is apparently dealing with blowback from this elopement from people who “suspects that you were violently carried away from house and married in delaine and calico.”
The next two letters are dated a year later, both on May 1, 1857. The first describes the funeral morning of the local Potawatomi chief, as well as the problems with the still unbuilt church building. Some of the church members are away at the constitutional convention in Topeka. The second letter from that day talks about some of the other Connecticut families in the group. Hyde was away from Kansas at the last harvest and his crop seems to have been lost. He’s only recently arrived back at the colony and he found things “enough to try my faith and patience very much.” In Hyde’s absence, Lines had spread word that he (Lines ) had bought Hyde out and that Hyde wouldn’t be returning. Some fellow colonists then helped themselves to whatever belongings Hyde had left behind. When Hyde did arrive after all, his trunk was broken and other settlers were wearing his clothes. His tools have been stolen and his wagon damaged. His corn crop was destroyed, too, as were all his seeds.
The final letter is undated. At this point a new sawmill is expected and Hyde is scrounging for money and listing who owes him for what and how much. The sawmill is run by agents of Mr. Lines and Hyde apparently thinks they could be doing a better job. His melon seeds have been stolen as well. Hyde goes on to explain that the preemption law the settlers had planned on using to gain lawful ownership of their land will not work for the Colony because they chose to settle in a village and sell lots. So he lists a number of different methods they plan to obtain title. Hyde describes some anecdotes about claim jumpers, too.
