T. D. Bancroft | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bancroftc. 1900 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas David Bancroft (1837-08-12)August 12, 1837 Elyria, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | November 23, 1917(1917-11-23) (aged 80) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Accidental gas poisoning |
| Resting place | Avon, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Susie Archer Elida Smith |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Jayhawker Union Army |
| Battles/wars | Bleeding Kansas American Civil War |
Thomas David Bancroft (August 12, 1837 – November 23, 1917) was an Americantemperance movement activist, writer, and public speaker. An eyewitness to theassassination of Abraham Lincoln, he toured the United States giving lectures aboutAbraham Lincoln.
Born inElyria, Ohio, Bancroft was raised inNew York before moving to theKansas Territory at age 18. He was aJayhawker duringBleeding Kansas and fought to prevent Kansas from becoming a slave state. After the war, he returned to New York in 1860 to attend college and became involved in the campaign to electAbraham Lincoln as president. In theAmerican Civil War he served in a group of Kansas militia men assigned to protect Washington D.C. and then in theUnion Army under GeneralPhilip Sheridan.
Bancroft later achieved national prominence for his lecture tours on Lincoln's death. InKansas City, Kansas, he founded a Christian school, created several public libraries across Kansas, and established the first public library inHot Springs, Arkansas. An activist in the temperance movement, he worked for theAnti-Saloon League nationally. He lived his later life inLos Angeles County,California, before dying inProvidence, Rhode Island, during a lecture tour.
The son of David Bancroft and his wife Louisa Bancroft (née Thomas),[1] T. D. Bancroft was born inElyria, Ohio, on August 12, 1837.[2] His father was a mason who worked on the initial building ofOberlin College.[2] His parents were originally from the state of New York, and moved back when Bancrott was two years old.[1] At the age of 18, he moved toKansas Territory; traveling first by train to Chicago and thenAlton, Illinois. He then travelled by boat from Alton toLeavenworth, Kansas; traversing theMississippi andMissouri Rivers. He next travelled by foot toLawrence, Kansas, along a difficult journey which he achieved successfully only due to aid he received from a local tribe ofDelaware people inTonganoxie, Kansas, who provided him with food and shelter along his journey.[2]
Due to the unpopularity of men from the Northern United States which was against slavery, Bancroft initially concealed that he was from the free state of Ohio and told his fellow Kansans he was from Kentucky. He had no money upon reaching Lawrence, and obtained work in that city as a construction worker. His first job was assisting the building of B. W. Woodward & Co. drug store.[2]
The events ofBleeding Kansas impacted Bancroft's life. While traveling with two friends toWakarusa, Kansas, Bancroft, now 19 years old, was assaulted by a pro-slavery band and one of his friends was killed. Bancroft and his other friend, a Mr. Cooke, escaped. After this he returned to Lawrence and became involved in the anti-slavery militia.[2] He became aJayhawker; serving underJim Lane and the abolitionistJohn Brown in their Free-State army. He spent the summer of 1856 fighting in the Border War to prevent the Territory of Kansas from becoming a slave state.[1] He continued to fight for the duration of theBorder War of the 1850s.[2] His friend Cooke was executed by hanging with Brown in 1859.[2]
After the end of the era of Bleeding Kansas, Bancroft left that territory to pursue a university education atGenesee Wesleyan Seminary inLima, New York[1] where he enrolled in 1860.[2] While in college he became involved in the efforts to getAbraham Lincoln elected as president,[2] and ultimately dropped out of school on January 28, 1861, when he left for Washington D.C.[1]
Bancroft became a friend to Lincoln. He was present at thefirst inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861,[2] and that same year married Susie Archer in Washington D.C.[1] She died a year later, not long after the birth of their son William T. Bancroft.[1] During the early part of theAmerican Civil War, he served as one member of a group of 110 militia men from Kansas who protected Washington D.C.[2] This group was also led by Jim Lane who at the time was concurrently serving as one of the first United States senators from Kansas. During the war, this militia from Kansas was quartered in theEast Room of theWhite House. Eventually, the Union Army took over the defense of Washington D.C. and the Kansas militia group was disbanded.[1]
Bancroft then became a volunteer soldier in theUnion Army and fought in roughly twenty or more battles during the war. He served under GeneralPhilip Sheridan.[1]
On April 14, 1865, Bancroft was in the audience atFord's Theatre whenAbraham Lincoln was assassinated.[3] As Lincoln's body was being carried from the theatre, some of the president's blood fell on a program, and Bancroft kept it. He later had that program framed, and gave it to theKansas State Historical Society in 1901.[4]
After the American Civil War, Bancroft worked as a traveling salesman.[1] He returned to Kansas and became invested in a mining company inSalida, Colorado.[2] After reading several books and attending sermons given by the preacherThomas De Witt Talmage, he became involved with Christian ministry and philanthropic work.[1] He spent some time visitingBrooklyn, New York where he befriended Talmage and became an official member of his church, the Brooklyn Tabernacle.[1] He lived for many years inKansas City, Kansas, where he was head of a Christian organization that built the Bancroft Tabernacle on State St in the late 19th century.[6] He founded that organization in 1888 as a Christian school.[1] He lived in Kansas City with his second wife, Elida Smith, in a home located at 713 Trout Ave. They married in 1880.[1]
Bancroft was active in the temperance movement in Kansas where he lectured on prohibition.[7] In 1887, he was hired by theAnti-Saloon League to oversee the establishment of temperance clubs across the entire United States.[8][9] He was involved in evangelical ministry to the poor and was involved in other charity work. He notably founded several public libraries in Kansas, and also established the first public library inHot Springs, Arkansas.[1]
Bancroft was the author of a pamphlet about Lincoln published in recognition of the centennial of the United States. In it Bancroft emphasized Lincoln's relationship to the temperance movement. The piece also included a previously unpublished photograph of Lincoln's dog,Fido, and discussed his relationship with his pet. The story captivated readers of the period who found the tale a humanizing insight into the former president that had previously not been written about. Bancroft later returned to the subject of Lincoln and his dog in a 1909 pamphlet in which he detailed the dog's death by stabbing from a drunken man; connecting the assassination of the dog to that of his master.[5]
In his later life he lived inEl Monte, California.[10] He died inProvidence, Rhode Island, on November 23, 1917, while on a lecture tour.[11][7] The cause of death was by accidental gas poisoning.[10] He was buried inAvon, New York.[12]