John Allen Wakefield and his family was one of the first settlers to come to the newly created

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

. Free soilers, they arrived in western

Douglas County, Kansas Douglas County (county code DG) is located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 118,785, making it the fifth-most populous county in Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Lawrence. Histor ...

, in July 1854, one month after the territory was opened to settlement. They built a large log house to serve primarily as their living quarters. It had six rooms and was west of the free-state stronghold of

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

. For protection the family built loop holes for guns into the sides of the house. Wakefield became the justice of the Squatters' Court, when it was organized August 26, 1854. Because of his position, he was thereafter known as Judge Wakefield. He tried cases involving both northern and southern settlers and until spring 1856 both groups got along without much trouble. That spring southern partisans in the area began a picket of men assigned to watch the house. In August 1856 much trouble erupted between the free-state men and the southern men in eastern Kansas. Free-state men at times garrisoned Judge Wakefield's house. At 2 A.M. on August 16 southern partisans, including

Henry T. Titus Henry Theodore Titus (February 13, 1823 – August 7, 1881) was a pioneer, soldier of fortune, and the founder of Titusville, Florida. His military adventurism included expeditions to Cuba and Nicaragua, fighting on the side of pro-slavery forc ...

, attacked the fortress home, but they were unable to take it. Later that day free-state men attacked and destroy the fortress home of Titus, called

Fort Titus Fort Titus was the fortress residence of pro-slavery advocate Henry T. Titus, built in Kansas in April 1856, during a period when forces aligned with Titus came into conflict with free-state settlers. The wider conflict, which emerged from a po ...

. The southern partisans sought retaliation for their string of defeats in August, when not only

, but

New Georgia's fort New Georgia's Fort was located in Miami County, Kansas, southeast of Osawatomie. During the partisan warfare in Kansas Territory in 1856 commonly known as Bleeding Kansas, a colony of Southerners, possibly all Georgians, established New Georgia. ...

Franklin's Fort Franklin's Fort was a small fortification that had been erected in Franklin, Douglas County, Kansas by pro-slavery settlers. During the "Bleeding Kansas" period, the fort was the site of two minor battles between pro- and anti-slavery factions. ...

and

Fort Saunders Fort Saunders, southeast of Clinton, Kansas, and southwest of Lawrence, Kansas, was owned by James D. Saunders, a militia captain. What little was left of Clinton disappeared during construction of the Clinton Lake in the 1960s; only an outbui ...

were all taken by free-state partisans. On the night of September 1, 1856, the southerners burned six houses and one other building, including Judge Wakefield's house. The family lost all their possessions. Later another house and some farm buildings were constructed at the site. Judge Wakefield lived there until his death in June 1873."John A. Wakefield," ''Lawrence Daily Journal-World'', June 19, 1928, p. 4.

References

{{Reflist Forts in Kansas Buildings and structures in Douglas County, Kansas 1854 establishments in Kansas Territory Bleeding Kansas