Prohibition Timeline from Smith's Prohibition in Kansas

Prohibition Timeline from Robert Bader Smith’s Prohibition in Kansas 

1706--Society of Friends, New England

1826—American Temperance Society—first temperance society in New England turned into a national organization.  

1830’s—local option laws

March 1855—Bylaws of the Topeka Town Association adopted that banned the sale or purchase of spirituous liquor on property deed by the association. A conveyance clause was included in the deed of sale.  Liquor that was used for medical, mechanical or sacramental purposes was excepted.  

August 1855—Bogus legislature passes an Act to restrain dram shops and taverns, and to regulate the sale of intoxicating liquor.  Act provided for a local option vote every 2 years to determine whether any liquor licenses should be granted within the voting unit.  If received a majority vote, a successful applicant or a license had to present a petition signed by a majority of householders, males, recommending the applicant.  Penalties for selling without a license, on Sundays and to Indians and to slaves without the owner’s consent.  (Note US Government forebode selling liquor to Indians)

1855—Big Springs meeting gives birth to the Free State party that participated in the Topeka and Wyandotte constitutions.  Lead by Dr. Amory Hunting.

1856—a dozen leading women led by Mrs. Sam Wood and Miss Sue Spencer formed a vigilante committee armed with axes, hatchets and hammers and spilled liquor (presumably in Lawrence)

1856--Central Kansas Total Abstinence Society forms

1856--First Kansas lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars organized in Iowa Point.  By 1860 this grew to have 0ver 7,500 members and over 200 lodges.

1857--Mob lead by John Richie attacked stores known to sell liquor

1859—Amended dramshop act dropping the local option vote and exempting towns of 1,000 or more from the petition provision.  Injured wife/child could seek civil recovery against anyone who sold liquor to an intoxicated person and made it unlawful to sell to a married man against the known wishes of the wife. 

1861—State Temperance Society comes into being with Lt. Gov. Joseph Root as president

1861—State constitution does not refer to prohibition.  

1862—Federal Taxation on alcohol 

1867—legislature submits a constitutional amendment for women suffrage to vote a vote of the people and amended the dramshop act in two ways:  it repealed the provision that exempted towns of 1,000 or more from the petition requirement and the applicant for a license would have to present to the local governing body a petition signed by a majority of adult residents, both male and female of the township/ward.  The Legislature also passed a bill prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquor in the unorganized counties of the state.  

1868—Exemption of cities with populations over 2,000 from the petition provision of the act, retaining the allowing females to sign petitions and prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors w/o parental consent and continued ban on sales to Indians who were not citizens. 

1869—national Prohibition party comes into being—non-temperance reform proposals included woman suffrage, a  federal income tax and direct election of US senators. 

1874—Kansas Women’s Crusade 

Mid 1870s –Murphy Movement led by Francis Murphy was a temperance movement in which people adopted the blue ribbon badge to abstain from intoxifiying liquors.

1878—Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WTCU) organized on a statewide basis

1879—Kansas State Temperance Union organized with St. John as president. Replaces the Kansas Temperance Society.  

August 1879—Bismark Grove National Temperance Camp Meeting organized by the Kansas State Temperance Union

Late 1870s –Mary Griffiths organizes 12 Good Templar lodges among blacks affiliating them with the International Order.

April 1866—Charles Langston (Langston Hughes’s grandfather ) chairs the Colored Men’s Convention in Lawrence encouraging blacks to move to Kansas and supporting  prohibition as a way to elevate our race.  

Fall 1880—an amendment to the state’s constitution was submitted to a vote from the citizens of the state that would prohibit the manufacture and sale of all intoxicating liquor and passes, enforcement based on local option laws.

1888-- The Woman's Christian Temperance Union founded a girl's reformatory in Beloit

 July 4th, 1888—group organized to enforce the Topeka Town association’s ban on the sale of ardent spirits, knocked the whiskey barrelheads and ignited them providing the town’s first fireworks.  

1903—Kansas State Temperance Union organizes a law enforcement department to secure uniform observance of the all.  35 out of 105 counties in the state openly violated the law. All but two large counties in the state were in open collusion with and taking revenue in the form of fines, thus permitting the sale.  JK Codding and John Marshall attorneys with the KSTU began enforcement in counties where it was not enforced and assisted in other counties.  

1905—Attorney General CC Coleman began to assist temperance forces with enforcement of the law and taking cases to the Supreme Court. Fred Jackson the next attorney general continues.

1908—Kansas City, population 100,000 has 256 joints that were paying $90,000/year in revenue. 

Feb. 1917—Gov. Capper signs the “bone dry law” it became unlawful for anyone "to keep or have in his possession, for personal use or otherwise," any intoxicating liquors. The lone exception was communion wine.

Notes:

Kansas Pacific Railroad—becomes Union Pacific

Leavenworth Freie Presse—state is leading German language newspaper, no friend of temperance

Kansas Issue—Kansas Temperance Union’s newspaper

Knight of the White Apron—saloon keeper

Wassernarren—water fools (refers to temperance people, German)