Thaddeus Hyatt

In his opposition to slavery, Hyatt organized the efforts of abolitionists in Kansas to have the territory admitted to the Union as a free-state and campaigned for the federal government to aid Kansans afflicted by drought.

[1][3] As an inventor, Hyatt was a wealthy man, profiting from his invention of iron-and-glass vault covers for admitting sunlight to spaces below sidewalks and pavements.

[5][6] Born in Rahway, New Jersey,[2] Thaddeus Hyatt became actively involved in the abolitionist movement after Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.

[9] Hyatt led the settlement of Hyattville, Kansas, by 84 men, hoping to keep the unemployed militiamen from stirring up trouble in Lawrence.

[10][11] For his part, Hyatt maintained that the claims were perpetrated by a "slanderer", and believed that the dispute was a subterfuge to "crush the National Committee".

Originally, the Committee intended for similar organizations to be set up at the state, county, and town level in each and every locality in the Union to direct efforts to fill Kansas with anti-slavery voters.

For example, Thaddeus Hyatt and William Barnes both embarked on simultaneous, but separate efforts to organize counties in New York State.

The document argued that "to compel witnesses to attend before a committee to give information in regard to proposed legislation, is not a power given by the Constitution.

[16] Unimpressed by his argument, the Senate voted to confine Thaddeus Hyatt to the District of Columbia jail until he agreed to testify.

After three months of unsuccessful attempts to interrogate key witnesses regarding Harpers Ferry, the Senate investigative committee was dissolved and Hyatt was released on June 15.

Notable accounts of Bleeding Kansas in the collection include those of S. P. Hand, Alexander McArthur, James Hall, Jerome Hazen, John Ritchie, J.