Editing Manhattan, Kansas (section)

===1855: Free-Staters===
In March 1855, a group of New England [[Free-Stater (Kansas)|Free-Staters]] traveled to [[Kansas Territory]] under the auspices of the [[New England Emigrant Aid Company]] to found a Free-State town.<ref name=Olson>{{cite web |title=	When Idealistic New Englanders Moved to Kansas Territory to 'Put an End to Slavery' |url=https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/07/08/new-england-anti-slavery-movement-manhattan-kansas-abolition/ideas/essay/ |website=Zocalo |date=July 8, 2020 |publisher=Zocalo Public Square |access-date=January 6, 2021}}</ref> Led by [[Isaac Goodnow]], the first members of the group (with the help of [[Samuel C. Pomeroy]]) selected the location of the Polistra and Canton claims for the Aid Company's new settlement. Soon after the [[New England]]ers arrived at the site, in April 1855, they agreed to join Canton and Polistra to make one settlement named Boston.<ref name=reference2/> They were soon joined by dozens more New Englanders, including Goodnow's brother-in-law [[Joseph Denison (pastor)|Joseph Denison]].

In June 1855, the [[paddle steamer]] ''Hartford'', carrying 75 settlers from [[Ohio]], ran aground in the [[Kansas River]] near the settlement. The Ohio settlers, who were members of the Cincinnati-Manhattan Company, had been headed {{convert|20|miles|km}} farther upstream to the headwaters of the Kansas River, the location today of [[Junction City, Kansas|Junction City]].<ref>[http://www.jcks.com/aboutus/history.html GEARY COUNTY LEGENDS – jcks.com – Retrieved March 9, 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212141938/http://www.jcks.com/aboutus/history.html |date=February 12, 2012 }}</ref> After realizing they were stranded, the ''Hartford'' passengers accepted an invitation to join the new town, but insisted that it be renamed Manhattan, which was done on June 29, 1855.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Missouri-Kansas Conflict 1854-1865 |url=https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/map/manhattan-kansas |website=Civil War on the Western Border |publisher=The Kansas City Public Library |access-date=October 6, 2020}}</ref> Manhattan was [[Municipal corporation|incorporated]] on May 30, 1857.<ref name=reference2/><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qi9cXyTWt9EC&pg=PA214 | title=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Volume 2 | publisher=Standard Publishing Company | author=Blackmar, Frank Wilson | year=1912 | pages=214}}</ref>