Learn more about the involvement of A.T. Still, MD, DO, in the abolitionist movement in Kansas

Before the Civil War, the United States was deeply divided between its proslavery and antislavery citizens. Beginning with the Missouri Compromise of 1820, attempts to compromise on slavery sought to maintain a balance between free and slave states, particularly regarding the expansion of slavery into new territories. The acquisition of new territory because of the United States-Mexican War (1846-48) resulted in new legislation, the Compromise of 1850, which was soon replaced by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

This new piece of legislation allowed the residents of the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide whether to permit slavery as they became states. The question of how Kansas would enter the Union—enslaved or free—would determine movement toward or away from a legislative majority capable of ending slavery nationwide.

In the summer of 1855, the first Kansas Territorial Legislature, infamously known as the “Bogus Legislature,” was formed following fraudulent votes from residents of Missouri. This legislature was composed of mostly pro-slavery border ruffians from Missouri, and this assembly fraudulently produced pro-slavery legislature.

In 1857, a new election resulted in the voting out of the pro-slavery majority, putting the control into anti-slavery hands. J.B. Abbott, secretary of the newly formed Free State Party, issued a broadside announcement calling for candidate nominations. This political faction opposed to the expansion of slavery would play a crucial role in the abolition movement.

Persuaded to run by his good friend Secretary Abbott, 29-year-old A.T. Still, MD, DO (note that around this time, he was in the process of becoming a physician), was nominated along with 40 other Free State candidates. He was elected to represent the town of Palmyra (today Baldwin City) in Douglas County, Kansas. Once seated, the new legislature rushed to pass the laws necessary for Kansas to enter the Union as a free state. Dr. Still served a single two-year term. Had it not been for the death of his first wife, Mary M. Still (Vaughn), in September 1859, he might have served for longer.

Below are more details about Dr. Still’s role in the enactment of the state of Kansas as a free state, as well as his critically important support of Abbott, one of the key figures in the abolitionist movement in Kansas.

The successful election of an anti-slavery legislative majority in the fall of 1857 gave momentum to the hope that Kansas would enter the Union as a free state. General James H. Lane, a prominent figure in the abolition movement, escorted the Free State Party entourage into the legislature following a short ride along the Kaw (Kansas) River.

Dr. Still predicts the end of slavery

On the way to take his seat in the new Legislature, Dr. Still arrived in Lecompton ahead of Lane and the entourage. He was confronted by proslavery men from Missouri, known as “bushwhackers.” When the bushwhackers demanded to know what Dr. Still’s plans were, he responded, “We propose to break every link in the proslavery chain and do all Jim Lane requires to make Kansas free from master and slave.”

Those who accompanied Dr. Still warned him that the bushwhackers appeared eager to gang up on him. However, within a few minutes, the men heard the approach of the Kansas State Militia (KSM), several hundred men and a band commanded by General Lane. Most of the bushwhackers fled at the approach of the large military force. Later, a few remaining bushwhackers, who planned to disrupt the legislature, were removed by force, thus making way for the first legal vote of what was now an antislavery legislature.

Dr. Still’s friendship with Abbott

At the very moment of seating the free state legislature, General Lane stood before the crowd outside and gave a rousing speech, “shouting defiance into the convention’s ears and the battery’s muzzles at Constitution Hall” in Lecompton, Kansas.

There are many accounts of skirmishes and battles between Missouri and Kansas. J.B. Abbott soon found himself embroiled in one such encounter, which became known as the Wakarusa War. He soon found himself a wanted man, with a warrant issued for his arrest, and turned to his trusted friend, Dr. Still, for assistance. Adept at navigating the backwoods of the Wakarusa region of Douglas County, Kansas, where he was already renowned for his medical expertise and frontier scout experience, Dr. Still helped Abbott to hide along the Kaw (Kansas) River during the most dangerous times.

Dr. Still credited his friendship with Abbott and the time they spent together in hiding as an inspiration that would “change his life.” While facing danger together, they had long discussions about many topics, including the practice of medicine. The well-read Abbott encouraged Dr. Still to imagine a new way of practicing medicine, and, later in life, Dr. Still always gave credit to his friend for stimulating his thoughts and motivating him to envision osteopathic medicine.

After bitter strife, slavery ends in Kansas

Dr. Still worked to end slavery in Kansas Territory and bring a new free state into the Union. Following his parents, Dr. Still had brought his young family to Kansas Territory in May of 1853. They were among the first abolitionist families in the area. Five years later, Dr. Still and Lane’s KSM prevented a much-reduced band of bushwhackers from disrupting the legislative session that produced in March 1858 what Still described as “territorial law that was all new … I went home to follow the practice of medicine and saw lumber … except the time spent in the legislature.”

The Kansas Territorial Legislature crafted the Wyandotte Constitution in July 1859, prohibiting slavery in Kansas. The Kansas abolition movement was successful, and voters adopted the new constitution on Oct. 4, 1859, by a two-to-one vote (10,421 to 5,530). At the signing of the Wyandotte Constitution, the radicals and extremists on both sides were nowhere to be seen, and no Missourian was present at the meetings. Kansas sent the Constitution to the United States Congress for ratification.

President James Buchanan was completing his last days in office when he decided to sign the bill approving the Wyandotte Constitution. On Jan. 29, 1861, Kansas became the 34th state admitted to the Union, a momentous occasion toward ending slavery in the United States.

The Wyandotte Constitution was considered progressive not only for freeing enslaved African Americans but for provisions that protected settlers from bankruptcy and granted limited suffrage to women. The new Constitutional rights of women included:

• The right to own property
• The right to vote on the election of school boards
• Equal custody of children in case of divorce

In the mid-19th century, the inclusion of these progressive provisions was rare.

Dr. Still was at the center of the bitter conflict in the Kansas Territory and, with much strife, helped to bring an end to slavery in the “Free State” of Kansas. The violent conflict over slavery was not over though, as southern states seceded and the country devolved into the Civil War. “During the fall of 1860 we elected Abraham Lincoln to champion the coming conflict between Slavery and Freedom—not of Kansas alone, but of all North America,” Dr. Still wrote.

As Lincoln was elected president, the Border War continued. Afterward, the Civil War began and raged on for several years, even after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation brought further liberty to enslaved African Americans in 1863.

Equality in early osteopathic medicine

Dr. Still’s support of equality continued when he opened the American School of Osteopathy in 1892 and included five women in the school’s first class. In 1921, a woman, Meta L. Christy, DO, graduated from what is now the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, becoming the nation’s first Black osteopathic physician.

This history helped to shape the evolution of osteopathic medicine through the years to the inclusive medical profession that it is today.

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