Hiram Warner Farnsworth

Hiram Warner Farnsworth (October 13, 1816, in Brattleboro, Vermont[1] – July 26, 1899, in Topeka, Kansas[2]) was an abolitionist, Kansas pioneer, educator, Indian agent and community leader.

As the political turmoil increased he decided on a course of action inspired by the New England Emigrant Aid Company of Boston.

The New England Emigrant Aid Company was formed to help fund resettlement of abolitionist sympathizers in Kansas prior to referendums to determine if Kansas would be a slave state.

didn't leave New England until March 4, 1856[5] with his new wife who was pregnant and with his two small daughters from his first marriage.

helped found and became one of the first deacons of "The First Free Congregational Church of Topeka".

was then elected on December 6, 1859, to the first Territorial Senate of Kansas prior to statehood.

[6]: 158 After much turmoil, Kansas was admitted to the union as a free state on January 29, 1861.

resigned from the Kansas Senate May 1, 1861, in order to accept an Indian Agency appointment in Morris County at Council Grove, Kansas, and in June 1861 President Abraham Lincoln appointed him as agent to the Kaw Indians.

[b] Joseph James (Joe Jim), a mixed-blood Kaw Indian, was an interpreter for H.W.

was still living with his family at the Council Grove Indian Agency June 3, 1868.

was appointed on March 13, 1862, for six months to be Commissioner on the part of the United States to negotiate treaties with the Kansas Indian tribes.

Treaties concluded at the Kansas Agency with about one hundred tribes were signed by H.W.

In October 1866 he was replaced as Indian Agent by President Andrew Johnson and then in December appointed by the president to be one of three commissioners to visit and inspect Indian schools.

declined that honor because he felt the Indians were being cheated of their lands and hence he did not wish to be associated with such an endeavor.

's interpreter, Joe Jim, is credited for giving the name of Topeka to that town.

signed a petition to the state of Kansas which supported voting rights for women and blacks.

[4] In 1876 he was elected Secretary (clerk) of the Board of Education of Topeka[1] which office he held until his death.

In 1876 he was elected secretary of the Topeka Masonic Lodge,[1] a position he filled for the rest of his life.