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The Brunswicker, a pro-slavery newspaper out of Brunswick, Missouri, reported on the mob violence against Park's newspaper. The paper published this article on April 21, 1855 declaring George S. Park and his partner traitors and that they "should be dealt with as such."
George Shepard Park was born in Vermont on October 28, 1811. He then went to teach school in Ohio for a year before journeying to Illinois. There, in 1827, he and his father bought some land near Magnolia, Illinois. He was a student at University of Illinois in Jacksonville, but he left after his junior year. He began wandering again, eventually joining the Texans in the Texas Revolution (1835—1836).
The first town he founded was Parkville, Missouri in 1840. He also founded the town's newspaper The Industrial Luminary. Interestingly, though he was not an abolitionist (he had slaves of his own), he believed in Kansas’ right to self-determination and spoke of these beliefs in his paper. This helped lead to his founding of Polistra in 1854.
The Kansas City Journal, upon Park's death, wrote of an incident that occurred in 1855. A pro-slavery mob attacked his newspaper building while Park was away in Manhattan, with the intention of killing Park. Though Park returned to town shortly after the mob violence, he quickly and quietly fled Parkville in fear for his life. He did not return until 1864.
He eventually left Parkville as well, donating his property to establish Park College in 1875. He went back to Magnolia, Illinois, where he died in June 1890 at the age of 78. After his death, he was returned to and buried in Parkville’s Walnut Grove Cemetery.
Originally from Augusta, Kansas, Allana Parker received a B.S. in History along with a minor in Leadership Studies from Kansas State University and M.A. in Museum Studies from the University of Kansas. She served as Curator of Design with the Riley County Historical Museum for ten years and currently serves as treasurer for the Kansas Museums Association and member of the Kansas State Historical Society Foundation board.
In this presentation, Allana teaches us about the events and individuals around the early founding of Manhattan, Kansas through the letters and diaries of early pioneers, as well as some of the historic landmarks that still stand in our community today.
"Highly Important from Parkville! -- Park Escaped, Patterson at Large." The Brunswicker (Brunswick, MO), April 21, 1855. https://www.newspapers.com/embed/148830579/
"Laid to Rest." Kansas City Journal (Kansas City, MO), June 10, 1890. https://www.newspapers.com/embed/145169011/
"Week in Missouri History." Savannah Reporter and Andrew County Democrat (Savannah, MO), April 15, 1932, https://www.newspapers.com/embed/145176475/
Jack, Lowell. Neighbors of the Past: A Sesquicentennial Project of the Manhattan Mercury. Manhattan, KS: Manhattan Mercury, 2005.
Olson, Kevin G. W. Frontier Manhattan: Yankee Settlement to Kansas Town, 1854–1894. University Press of Kansas, 2015.
Willard, J.T. "Bluemont Central College: The Forerunner to Kansas State College." Kansas Historical Quarterly 13, no. 6 (1945): 323--357, https://www.kshs.org/p/bluemont-central-college/12997.
Photograph of George S. Park, undated. Courtesy of the Frances Fishburn Archives and Special Collections at Park University, Parkville, MO.
In the fall of 1854, the settlement of Polistra was established along the Kansas River by Colonel George Shepard Park. Colonel Park was a land speculator and the founder of Parkville, Missouri.
The unusual name of Polistra is thought to be derived from the Greek word, polis, referring to a city-state, and variations in spelling have been recorded throughout history, such as Poliska and Poleska.
Colonel Park, with help from Reverend Charles Blood and Seth Child, erected the first Euro-American log cabin built within the current city boundaries. This cabin, used as a blacksmith shop with living quarters, was located near the junction of the Kansas River and Wildcat Creek.
In the same month that Park’s cabin was built, November 1854, Samuel Dexter Houston and four other men established the Canton settlement at the foot of Bluemont Hill. In March of the following year, Isaac Goodnow and the New England Emigrant Aid Company arrived and developed a small settlement between Canton and Polistra.
The three settlements merged in April 1855 to form the Boston Town Association and named their new town Boston. Shortly after its establishment, Colonel Park left the area.
Colonel Park, along with other early settlers, advocated education and was involved with the establishment of Bluemont Central College, which later became Kansas State Agricultural College and lastly, Kansas State University.
In June 1855 the steamboat, Hartford, ran aground near the newly established town. The settlers with the Cincinnati and Kansas Land Company merged with Boston provided that the town’s name be changed to Manhattan.
Next Marker: The Hartford Steamboat
