Pottawatomie Township, Franklin County, Kansas

Pottawatomie Township
Pottawatomie Township
	Township
	; Location in Franklin County
	Coordinates: 38°26′00″N095°07′16″W / 38.43333°N 95.12111°W Coordinates: 38°26′00″N095°07′16″W / 38.43333°N 95.12111°W
Country	United States
State	Kansas
County	Franklin
Area
• Total	39.01 sq mi (101.04 km2)
• Land	38.83 sq mi (100.58 km2)
• Water	0.18 sq mi (0.46 km2) 0.46%
Elevation	889 ft (271 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	669
• Density	17.2/sq mi (6.7/km2)
GNIS feature ID	0477613

Last updated May 03, 2019

Pottawatomie Township is a township in Franklin County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 669.

A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a county. The term town is used in New England, New York, and Wisconsin to refer to the equivalent of the civil township in these states. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both, the boundaries often coincide and may completely geographically subdivide a county. The U.S. Census Bureau classifies civil townships as minor civil divisions. Currently, there are 20 states with civil townships.

Franklin County is a county located in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 25,992. Its county seat and most populous city is Ottawa. The county is predominantly rural. Formerly it was a part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, but was removed in 2013.

Kansas is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita, with its most populated county being Johnson County. Kansas is bordered by Nebraska on the north; Missouri on the east; Oklahoma on the south; and Colorado on the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native Americans who lived along its banks. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the (south) wind" although this was probably not the term's original meaning. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison.

Geography

Pottawatomie Township covers an area of 39.01 square miles (101.0 km²) and contains one incorporated settlement, Lane. According to the USGS, it contains three cemeteries: Baker, Lane and Needham.

Lane is a city in Franklin County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 225.

United States Geological Survey Scientific agency of the United States government

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.

The streams of Hahn Branch, Mosquito Creek, Pottawatomie Creek, North Fork Sac Branch and South Fork Sac Branch run through this township.

History

On May 24, 1856, during the Bleeding Kansas period of it was in Pottawatomie Township (north of Lane) at Dutch Henry's Crossing, on the Pottawatomie Creek, where the infamous Pottawatomie massacre took place. John Brown led a raid on a pro-slavery family's cabin in response to the Sacking of Lawrence. Five pro-slavery people were killed by Brown and his men. This attack was widely reported around the nation at the time and was one of several incidents that eventually led to the American Civil War.

Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in the United States between 1854 and 1861 which emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas. The conflict was characterized by years of electoral fraud, raids, assaults, and retributive murders carried out in Kansas and neighboring Missouri by pro-slavery "Border Ruffians" and anti-slavery "Free-Staters".

The Pottawatomie massacre occurred during the night of May 24 and the morning of May 25, 1856. In reaction to the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas by pro-slavery forces, John Brown and a band of abolitionist settlers—some of them members of the Pottawatomie Rifles—killed five pro-slavery settlers north of Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas. This was one of the many violent episodes in Kansas preceding the American Civil War, which came to be known collectively as Bleeding Kansas. Bleeding Kansas involved conflicts between pro- and anti-slavery settlers over whether the new Kansas Territory would be slave or free.

John Brown was an American abolitionist who believed in and advocated armed insurrection as the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States. He first gained attention when he led small groups of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis of 1856. He was dissatisfied with the pacifism of the organized abolitionist movement: "These men are all talk. What we need is action—action!" In May 1856, Brown and his supporters killed five supporters of slavery in the Pottawatomie massacre, which responded to the sacking of Lawrence by pro-slavery forces. Brown then commanded anti-slavery forces at the Battle of Black Jack and the Battle of Osawatomie.

Related Research Articles

The Pottawatomie Rifles was a group of about one hundred abolitionist Kansas settlers of Franklin and Anderson counties, both of which are along the Pottawatomie Creek. The band was formed in the fall of 1855, during the Bloody Kansas period, as an armed militia to counter growing proslavery presence in the area and along the Missouri border.

The Battle of Black Jack took place on June 2, 1856, when anti-slavery forces, led by the noted abolitionist John Brown, attacked the encampment of Henry C. Pate near Baldwin City, Kansas. The battle is cited as one incident of "Bleeding Kansas" and a contributing factor leading up to the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865.

Osage Township is one of twelve townships in Allen County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 258.

Rock Creek Township may refer to the following townships in the United States:

Walker Township is a township in Anderson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 668.

Benton Township is a township in Atchison County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,014.

Eagle Township is a township in Barber County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 42.

Robinson Township is a township in Brown County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 452.

Hickory Township is a township in Butler County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 90.

Pottawatomie Township is a township in Coffey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2000 census, its population was 217.

Coldwater Township is a township in Comanche County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 1,086.

Oberlin Township is a township in Decatur County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 91.

Wakarusa Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,318. It was named for the Wakarusa River which flows through Douglas County from Wabaunsee County to the Kansas River near Eudora.

Greenfield Township is a township in Elk County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 321.

Victoria Township is a township in Ellis County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 876.

Greenwood Township is a township in Franklin County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 429. Greenwood Township contains the cemeteries of Central, Davidson, Greenwood, Hard Fish, and Keokuk.

Harrison Township is a township in Franklin County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 445.

Payne Township is a township in Gove County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 315.

Washington Township is a township in Jackson County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 516.

References

USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

External links

This article about a location in Franklin County, Kansas is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

v t e Municipalities and communities of Franklin County, Kansas, United States
County seat: Ottawa
Cities	Lane Ottawa Pomona Princeton Rantoul Richmond Wellsville Williamsburg	Map of Kansas highlighting Franklin County
Unincorporated communities	Centropolis Homewood Imes LeLoup Peoria Ransomville Richter
Ghost towns	Minneola Norwood Silkville
Townships	Appanoose Centropolis Cutler Franklin Greenwood Harrison Hayes Homewood Lincoln Ohio Ottawa Peoria Pomona Pottawatomie Richmond Williamsburg

Pottawatomie Township
Township
Location in Franklin County
Coordinates: 38°26′00″N095°07′16″W / 38.43333°N 95.12111°W / 38.43333; -95.12111 Coordinates: 38°26′00″N095°07′16″W / 38.43333°N 95.12111°W / 38.43333; -95.12111
Country	United States
State	Kansas
County	Franklin
Area
• Total	39.01 sq mi (101.04 km²)
• Land	38.83 sq mi (100.58 km²)
• Water	0.18 sq mi (0.46 km²) 0.46%
Elevation	889 ft (271 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	669
• Density	17.2/sq mi (6.7/km²)
GNIS feature ID	0477613