3. Civil War Period: The Alversons & Babbs

nov-dec 1855 The Wakarusa War was a skirmish that took place in Kansas Territory during November and December 1855 as part of the "Bleeding Kansas" violence between Free-Staters and pro-slavery militias. It centered on Lawrence, Kansas, and the Wakarusa River Valley

Still in Lawrence April 26 1856

sacking of Lawrence May 21 1856

May 23-26 The Pottawatomie massacre occurred from May 23rd and continued until May 26th, 1856, with the killings occurring on the night of the 24th and morning of the 25th. In reaction to the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas, by pro-slavery forces on May 21, and the severe attack on May 22 on Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner for speaking out against slavery in Kansas ("The Crime Against Kansas"), John Brown and a band of abolitionist settlers—some of them members of the Pottawatomie Rifles—made a violent reply. Just north of Pottawatomie Creek, in Franklin County, Kansas, they killed five pro-slavery settlers, in front of their families. This soon became the most famous of the many violent episodes of the "Bleeding Kansas" period, during which a state-level civil war in Kansas Territory was a Tragic Prelude to the American Civil War which soon followed. "Bleeding Kansas" involved conflicts between pro- and anti-slavery settlers over whether Kansas Territory would enter the Union as a slave state or a free state. It is also John Brown's most questionable act, both to his friends and his enemies. In the words of abolitionist Frederick Douglass , it was "a terrible remedy for a terrible malady."^[2]:371

November 1862 Horatio Woodruff arrives SF with a relative.

Dec 11, 1862 – Dec 15, 1862 Battle of Fredricksburg, Anson Alverson

July 1, 1863 Gettysburg

August 21 1863 - Quantrill's Raid - Massacre

December 24, 1863 Emery Johnson marries Widow Jane Bewley (Murdured minister's widow) near Lawrence Kansas,

Anson E Alverson

Surnames: ALVERSON, STRONG, SEABROOK, ACKLEY, BABB

Anson E. ALVERSON, son of Emory and Mary A. (STRONG) ALVERSON, was born in Gerry, N. Y., Sept. 17, 1832. His grandfather, James R. ALVERSON, a soldier in the War of 1812 and a native of Connecticut, came to Gerry from Vermont at a very early day. He held town offices and raised a large family. Emory ALVERSON, born in Brattleboro, Vt., in 1806, married Mary Ann, daughter of Gilbert STRONG, about 1830. In 1836 he removed to Gowanda and purchased a manufactory for making pails and tubs. In 1850 he exchanged this for the old Point Peter farm. In 1856 he joined his son Anson E. in Lawrence, Kan., and died in Clay county, Kan., in 1881. Mrs. ALVERSON died in 1857. Anson E. ALVERSON finished his education in the academy at Ellington, N. Y. April 26, 1852, he married Melissa, daughter of Ira W. and Mary (SEABROOK) ACKLEY, and settled on the homestead, when he went to Lawrence, Kan., and joined the Emigrant Aid Society from Massachusetts, being one of the 107 founders of that settlement. In the summer of 1859 he and his father made an overland trip to Denver, Col., with four ox-teams. Mr. ALVERSON is a natural mechanic and assisted his father-in-law as a millwright. In 1860 he returned to this county and settled in Cattaraugus village. In July, 1861, he enlisted in Co. A, 64th N. Y. Vols., and was discharged Feb. 23, 1863, for disability. He served as private, corporal, and sergeant. In Oct., 1863, he went to the oil regions of Rouseville, PA., where he was a laborer, a well-driller, and an oil producer until 1875. He then removed to Cattaraugus. In 1888 he visited Virginia, Chicago, Duluth, and Washington territory, where he remained four years. He is now a farmer just outside the corporation of Gowanda. Mr. ALVERSON served as highway commissioner of New Albion in 1883 and built the first iron bridge in that town. Children: Rollin A., born in 1853, died in Lawrence in Aug., 1855; Mary U., born in 1856, married Thomas BABB, of Cattaraugus, and resides in Chicago; Corlin E., born in 1860; George S., born in 1864; Nathan A., born in Dec., 1869; and Chanley W., born in 1875.

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Bio from:

Historical Gazetteer and Biographical Memorial of Cattaraugus Co. NY, ed by William Adams, pub 1893

History of the Town of Persia – Chapter XLII (42)

Page 987

Ira Wilbur Ackley

Surnames: ACKLEY, SEABROOK, ALLEN, WHITE, ALVERSON, CRANDALL, WELLS, SILLIMAN, AVERILL

Ira W. ACKLEY, born in Lancaster, N. Y., in 1806, married Mary SEABROOK, a descendant of the English family who settled SEABROOK Island, South Carolina. He early settled in Hidi, and being a millwright assisted Ahaz ALLEN in building the first saw-mill there. Soon after he purchased 100 acres of woodland on lot 57 where his son John S. now lives. The place he chose for his home was near a large spring, which was evidently a resort of the Indians. The present proprietor has found numerous arrowheads, stone axes, and stone implements for skinning game, a stone rasp, and other curiosities. Mr. ACKLEY was elected to several town offices. He was deputized by Sheriff WHITE to call out the militia and went with them to the Dutch Hill war. He joined the Emigrant Aid Society of Massachusetts at the time of border ruffian troubles in Kansas and was one of the original founders of the city of Lawrence, and was also the millwright in building the first mill in that city. He died where his daughter, Mrs. ALVERSON, now lives in 1888. Mrs. ACKLEY died about 1875. Children: Orlando A.; Melissa E. (Mrs. ALVERSON); John Seabrook, who married Alzina, daughter of William CRANDALL, of Persia; Thomas B. (deceased); and Mary, widow of Luther N. WELLS.

Kansas Territory