1854: Charles Robinson
Charles Robinson, a medical doctor in Fitchburg and financial agent to the New England Emigrant Aid Society.
In 1854 Robinson and nearly 50 Fitchburg abolitionist supporters went to the Kansas territory to find suitable land for the Emigrant Aid Society to settle a new town focused on the Free State movement. Supporters such as Francis Huntington Snow, Josiah Trask, and many more followed Charles Robinson’s lead. Charles contributions ultimately led to the founding of Lawrence, Kansas. The free-staters, as they were called, participated in a bloody conflict against pro-slavery advocates often referred to as the “Bleeding Kansas” period. Robinson and his supporters helped Kansas become a free state.
Robinson became the first governor of Kansas. Francis Huntington Snow, the son of Fitchburg abolitionist Benjamin Snow Jr, became the first Chancellor of the University of Kansas. Josiah Trask, son of George Trask, pastor of the Trinitarian Congregational Church, died along with 179 others in a pro-Confederate massacre on Lawrence Kansas.
Resources
Fitchburg Past and Present
Wikipedia on Charles Robinson
Notes on Fitchburg in Kansas
The City and the River by Doris Kirkpatrick
Commentary
The conflict on the Kansas Missouri border during this time was very violent and there were massacres on both sides. It is not clear why the people from Fitchburg were so motivated to go to Kansas. They were opposed to slavery but many chose to uproot their families and move west.
Suggestions for Further Research
Look for journals or additional explanation for why people from Fitchburg chose to move to Kansas.