Legislative War Artifacts

The status of the House of Representatives was much foggier, however, with both Populists and Republicans claiming control of that chamber. The Populists charged the Republicans with election fraud, and a strange situation came to pass.

Both a Populist-led and a Republican-led House were seated in early 1893. Both were called to order, and both sent messages to the governor and Senate that they were ready to do business. They sat in the same chamber, agreeing to meet at separate times. The Populist governor, Lorenzo Lewelling, and the Populist-controlled Senate naturally recognized only the Populist House.

On February 14, 1893, the clerk of the Populist House, Ben Rich, was arrested for disturbing the peace, a complaint generated by Republicans. After Rich was rescued by his friends, both sides began to organize their supporters for a confrontation.

The next morning the Republican House, led by Speaker George L. Douglass, marched on the Capitol and demanded entry to the House chamber. Using the sledge hammer (pictured on display in the museum gallery at top, left), they smashed the doors and took control of the chamber. The Populists met in another room in the Capitol. On February 16, Shawnee County Sheriff J.M. Wilkerson deputized several hundred citizens to maintain order in the city.

While they both continued to meet, the Republic and Populist houses passed legislation regarding use of a secret ballot and changes in the state's mortgage laws. A measure for railroad regulation passed by the Populists was not recognized by the Republicans.

Eventually, the Kansas Supreme Court decided in favor of the Republican House, and the Populist House disbanded.

The Kansas Museum of History owns several artifacts from what has come to be known as the "Legislative War." Republican House members John Seaton and Alexander Warner paid for new doors to the House chamber, laying claim to the shattered ones. Seaton's door was donated in 1908. Warner's door, after a stay in Connecticut, found its way back to Kansas in 1924.

George Douglass kept the sledge hammer he used to smash the doors, and gave it to the museum in 1923. A club (pictured at bottom, left) carried by George Fair, one of the county's deputized citizens, was donated after peace was restored in 1893. A picture frame (center, right) made from scraps of the shattered doors (and containing a photo of Republicans peering through the smashed doors) was donated in 1964. All these artifacts may be seen in the museum's Main Gallery.

One Legislative War artifact not on display is the flag of the Robinson Independent Rifles of Lawrence. Organized in the late 1880s at the Lawrence Business College, this state militia unit formed under Kansas' military law, and trained with regular national guard companies. It was named for the first Kansas governor, Charles Robinson, who presented the unit with a silk flag featuring the Stars and Stripes on one side and the unit's name and state seal on the other. When Populist Governor Lewelling called national guard trooops to Topeka to maintain order in 1893, the Robinson Rifles answered the call. They were quartered in the Capitol below the governor's office as a presence to protect the governor. This flag is now part of the Save the Flags! effort.

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