The Kansas Migration

From 1857 until the 1880s, residents of Cumberland County migrated en masse to the plains of central Kansas. The first of these movements was during the Bleeding Kansas conflict, when a dozen Carlisle men led by Andrew Galbraith Ege traveled to Kansas Territory to advocate for the cause of slavery.¹ Although Ege and his men ultimately lost this cause, Ege optimistically declared that Kansas was “in richness of soil and all the elements to constitute a wealthy and prosperous State.”¹

As the country entered into the Civil War, migration to Kansas stilled. However, beginning in the late 1860s until the 1880s, thousands of Cumberland County residents migrated to Kansas in search of a new life. Starting in 1877, trains from Chambersburg left for Kansas once a week during the spring and fall.¹ While some went farther on into the Dakotas, Oregon, and California, the most popular destination for Cumberland County travelers was Kansas.¹

Why so many Cumberland County residents chose Kansas as their destination can be explained by several factors. Perhaps most importantly, central Kansas and southern Pennsylvania share the same geographic latitude and a similar climate, although Kansas has significantly less rainfall.² This climatic similarity stood out as a contrast from other western states like the Dakotas, which had fierce winters.¹ In a letter to the Shippensburg News, a settler described the climate as being “delightful; the atmosphere pure… fevers are unknown.” He further stated that farming required “less labor than in Pennsylvania,” something that was a considerable lure to longtime Pennsylvania farmers.^1,2 Additionally, Kansas had been heavily promoted in local Cumberland County newspapers. The Carlisle Herald frequently reported the journeys of former residents who had migrated out west, mentioning often the “western fever” that had struck so many in the county, igniting the curiosity of those still living in the area.² A man identifying himself as “Oakville” praised Kansas in the Herald: “[Kansas has] no poor soil at all… it is the great centre of attraction.”¹ Furthermore, the 1876 Centennial Exposition, held in Philadelphia, showcased crops that had been grown out in Kansas, which left viewers astonished and hungry to learn more about this land far out west.²

Land, ultimately, was Kansas’s greatest attraction. Beginning in 1873, the United States had been in a recession, and prices for land in Cumberland Count often sold for seventy-five to a hundred dollars an acre.¹ In contrast, land in Kansas rarely cost more than twenty dollars an acre.¹

In 1871, two colonization projects began in Cumberland County. The first of these, the Newville Colonization Society, failed to materialize.¹ The second, which included residents mainly from Penn and Dickinson Townships, was led by Samuel Coover, a Penn Township schoolteacher.¹ This group, numbering 73 families, departed from the Cumberland County Railroad station in Carlisle on April 4, 1872.¹ This group was organized chiefly by members of the German Baptist Brethren Church, although not all who joined the project were adherents of this faith.²  The group settled in Wilson, east of Russell County. Unfortunately, this settlement experienced rough times, with “very light” harvests for the first two years and then suffered from drought and grasshoppers in the succeeding years.¹ This led to the settlers seeking aid from their former Cumberland County neighbors.¹

In 1878, Daniel Keller, a prominent member of the Church of the Brethren, was elected president of a new colonization project known as the Penn Township Colony.¹ The plan was to settle near Wilson, close to the 1872 settlement. Due to a “misunderstanding,”⁴ the group ended up splitting up, departing on separate trains on April 1 and 2, 1878. These colonies were known as the Penn Township Colony and the Keystone Colony. According to an article reprinted from the Kansas City Times in the Carlisle Mirror, the two sections together comprised of over five hundred people from “the best class of Cumberland County farmers – self-reliant, plucky and preserving.”³ They “brought nothing with them but clothing and household goods, and expect to purchase everything necessary for stocking and cultivating their farms when located.”³ Upon arriving at their destination in Wilson, the newcomers were greeted by previous settlers with a grand salute.³ The new settlers immediately settled in to a frame shanty, divided into twenty-eight compartments, one for each family. The wood from this shanty later served as lumber for the personal dwellings of the settlers.³

The new settlers yielded a prosperous crop the first few years, due to a higher than average rainfall.¹ However, this led to the colonists becoming too optimistic about Kansas climate. The pattern of drought having returned, many farmers became discouraged. In 1881, William Mohler wrote to the Valley Sentinel that “our Cumberland colonists have a hard time of it” and reported that they had lost two crops of wheat. Sickness was also plaguing the settlement.¹ Indeed, 1881 was the crucial year; drought had been recognized as part and parcel of Kansas life, and the former Pennsylvanians had to decide whether to adapt to this new climate or move elsewhere. A colony was started to emigrate to Oregon from Kansas. However, according to researcher Clarke W. Garrett, for those that persevered and remained in Kansas, they found “a life as rewarding, culturally and financially, as that which they had left in the Cumberland Valley.”¹