1904
Amos Dresser – A Lane Rebel
Amos Dresser was a very strong supporter of two causes dear to Kansans’ hearts: free speech and the abolition of slavery. He was born in Peru, Mass., in 1812. In the early 1830s he enrolled in Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. During his tenure there the issue of freedom of speech arose. He and several other students were against slavery and wanted to express their opinions, but the seminary would not allow that to happen. As a result, he and his fellow students left the seminary for Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. This group was known as the Lane Rebels. At Oberlin, they formed the Anti-Slavery Society in 1835 as a continuation of the Lane Rebels.
He was at Oberlin from 1834-1839, studying to be a minister. One of his first assignments was to go into the South and hand out religious information. This was mistaken for anti-slavery literature and, as a result, Amos was “tarred and feathered” and sent home. In Ohio he assisted in Underground Railroad activities transporting slaves from Ohio to Canada.
This activity brought him to southeastern Nebraska, where there were escape stations at Brownsville and Nebraska City. After this was over, he stayed in Nebraska working as a minister and helped found several churches, including Doane College and Franklin Academy in Nebraska. Amos and his wife, Anne Jane, moved to Lawrence in 1903 to be near their son. Anne Jane died in 1903 and Amos died in 1904. Both are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Mary Burchill is a distant cousin of Amos Dresser.
Step Sponsored By: Brower and Mary Burchill