Daniel Read Anthony
Born: South Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on August 22, 1824. Married: Anna Eliza Osborn in Edgar, Massachusetts, on January 21, 1864. Died: Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas, on November 12, 1904.
Daniel Read Anthony was the fourth child born to Daniel and Lucy (Read) Anthony in South Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on August 22, 1824. His father was a Quaker, abolitionist, and temperance advocate, who strayed from his religious community numerous times; eventually he was dismissed from membership. His marriage to Read, a Baptist, was one such offense. Her seven children were raised with Quaker traditions and simplicity. They were all taught to be responsible, self-reliant, and business-minded. Several of the children went on to become reformers. The second born, Susan B. Anthony, is among the most well-known woman’s rights advocates. The fifth child, Mary, and seventh child, John Merritt, along with Daniel Read, were fierce activists for social change.
The Anthony family moved to Battenville, Washington County, New York, when Daniel was about two. There his father managed cotton and flour mills. Daniel attended the local school. The Panic of 1837 brought financial ruin to the Anthonys. In search of better prospects, they moved to Hardscrabble, New York. There Daniel attended the Union school. The Anthonys settled in Rochester, New York, in 1845. There they found a like-minded community of reformers. Their Sunday dinners often brought together 15-20 other abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Amy (Kirby) and Isaac Post, William and Mary (Post) Hallowell.
When Daniel Read had completed school, he joined his father, working in the mill, then taught school, and following his father into the insurance business. He became motivated to join efforts to stop the spread of slavery in the new Kansas Territory. Eli Thayer organized the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company in early 1854. Daniel Read joined the first envoy as it passed through Rochester on July 21, 1854. The party had been warned that arrival in Kansas City could be met by proslavery supporters. “But how different the result on landing! Many of the best citizens met us, extending to us a hearty welcome, expressing a wish that the thousands yet to come from the free states, would come immediately. Even E. M. McGee, a slave-holder . . . hearing that the party wished to purchase oxen, horses, wagons, &c., called at the hotel with his span of bays and carriage, and took two of our party to his home, and sold them property to the amount of $300,” Anthony later recalled.
Anthony remained to support the founding of Lawrence, Kansas Territory, on August 1, 1854. That fall he returned to Rochester, New York, and continued his work in insurance. He returned to Kansas Territory in June 1857, settling in Leavenworth. He worked in banking, exchanges, and collections before becoming a publisher. He founded the Leavenworth Conservative newspaper on January 26, 1861, days before Kansas was admitted to the Union. With no telegraph service west of Leavenworth, he rode 32 miles on horseback to Lawrence to deliver the news on January 30.
The Conservative ran a column in its June 12, 1861, issue on the adventures of Kansas soldiers who had made a night right to Iatan, Missouri, across the river to claim a secessionist flag. The article recounted Anthony’s role in the mission. The next morning an angry Anthony tracked down Robert Satterlee of the Daily Leavenworth Herald for his editorial suggesting the Conservative’s version was inaccurate and Anthony was a coward. Arriving with real estate agent Robert W. Hamer, Anthony confronted Satterlee on the street, pistols were pulled, and six or seven shots fired. All missed Anthony, Hamer was seriously wounded. Satterlee received a mortal wound and died shortly after on June 13, 1861. “The excitement occasioned by this sad affray, was and is most intense, and we appeal to our people to abide patiently the issue . . . While we mourn the dead, our pity centers around these poor children and their widowed mother,” the Daily Leavenworth Herald reported.” Anthony was acquitted in the shooting.
When Colonel Charles R. Jennison began recruiting a Kansas cavalry regiment in summer 1861, Anthony mustered in and coordinated recruitment in Leavenworth. Called First Kansas Cavalry, then Seventh Kansas, the regiment was nicknamed Jennison’s Jayhawkers, and organized on October 28, 1861, As lieutenant colonel, Anthony distinguished himself at the Battle of the Little Blue in Missouri, on November 11, 1861, successfully leading his men in a charge against Confederate guerillas four times the number. Anthony went on to serve in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Alabama in 1862. Commanding General Mitchell's brigade at Camp Etheridge, Tennessee in June 1862, he issued "Order No. 26," prohibiting Southern men passing through the Union lines to search for fugitive slaves. General Mitchell demanded Anthony countermand the order. Colonel Anthony refused and was placed under arrest. The U. S. Senate and investigated and General Halleck issued an order restoring Colonel Anthony to duty; he soon resigned his post and returned to his civilian duties in Leavenworth, including his appointment as postmaster, to which President Lincoln had assigned him in 1861.
The Leavenworth Conservative, which Anthony had founded, was sold to Abel Carter Wilder and Daniel Webster Wilder in July 1862. He was elected mayor of Leavenworth in 1863 by a large majority. One focus was to clear the town of Southern sympathizers. Several were known to live on the outskirts of town. He directed their buildings to be burned to the ground, believing the severe remedy was justified to reach the means he hoped to achieve. General Thomas Ewing, commander of the border district, placed the city under martial law, arrested Anthony, then released him after a few hours.
Anthony returned east for his marriage to Anna Eliza Osborn in Edgar, Massachusetts, on January 21, 1864. The Anthonys soon arrived in Leavenworth, where they would spend their lives, raising four daughters and one son. Annie gained a reputation as gracious host, often welcoming high-profile guests to the Anthony family home. She became active in religious, philanthropic, and social organizations and a valuable supporter in woman’s suffrage activities.
The Leavenworth Bulletin was an established newspaper when Anthony purchased it in March 1864. After four years, Anthony sold the Bulletin four years later. A few years later he purchased the Times that had been united with the Conservative, then the Bulletin again, and the Leavenworth Commercial, to create a monopoly on the city’s media.
A battle emerged in 1875 when Anthony voiced opposition in what he said were commonly held beliefs of city’s newspapers about the typographic union’s overly restrictive employment practices. The Conservative hired nonunion workers. The union’s organ, the Daily Appeal, edited by William Embry, countered Anthony’s claims. The disagreement grew more heated and finally Embry confronted Anthony during intermission at a Leavenworth Opera Theater performance. Embry drew a pistol and fired at close range, striking Anthony below the right collarbone. He withdrew and shot twice more, missing Anthony. The bullet struck and artery and caused life-threatening damage.
A member of the Kansas newspaper editors’ and publishers’ organization, Anthony was named to a committee to form the Kansas State Historical Society and was one of the Society’s five founders in Topeka on December 13, 1875. He served as president from 1885-1886, and he became a lifelong member in the organization.
William H. Bond, a city council member and an opponent of prohibition, had an ongoing disagreement with Anthony. He confronted Anthony and beat him with a horse whip on a city sidewalk. Anthony was not injured and did not press charges.
Anthony continued as publisher and editor of the Times until his death in Leavenworth on November 12, 1904.
Entry: Anthony, Daniel Read
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: February 2025
Date Modified: February 2025
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
