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A HOMECOMING AND A COMEBACK Formerly embattled KU coach Mark Mangino talks about new job, losing weight. 1B

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QUANTRILL’S RAID 150TH ANNIVERSARY

The raid: It’s still personal

Bus tour follows path of Quantrill’s raiders By Giles Bruce gbruce@ljworld.com

Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo

LAWRENCE RESIDENTS MIKE MYERS, his wife, Nancy Cayton Myers, and her mother, Pat Kehde, are all descendants of Lawrence residents involved in William Clarke Quantrill’s infamous Aug. 21, 1863, raid on Lawrence. Kehde is pictured with a photograph of her great-grandmother, Jetta Graham Dix, wife of Kehde’s great grandfather, Ralph Dix, who was killed in the raid. Myers is pictured with a photo of his great-great-grandfather, Brinton W. Woodward, who survived the raid. For more about Quantrill’s Raid, see our complete guide to commemorative events at ljworld.com/quantrill150.

Descendants share perspectives

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or Chris Nelson, Quantrill’s Raid is no longer about words in a history book. It is about hastily scrawled names on the pages of his family’s Bible. Nelson’s great-greatgreat- great-grandfather ripped the pages containing the family tree from the Bible on Aug. 21, 1863. He gave the pages to his wife and children to take with them as they went to hide in the woods. He went to deposit himself at the bottom of his farm’s well, hoping Quantrill and his raiders wouldn’t think to look there. It is not entirely clear why he didn’t give his family the entire Bible. Maybe he thought he would have a need for it. For Cheryl Harrod, the raid is about a jacket. It had 13 bullet holes in its

Lawhorn’s Lawrence

Museum events commemorate raid anniversary cvdoornbos@ljworld.com, nwentling@ljworld.com

A Lawrence Coffell painting of Quantrill’s Raid, date unknown.

clawhorn@ljworld.com

back and was worn by her great-great-grandfather on that day. For Pat Kehde, it often is about a trip to the Lawrence Public Library. Her great-grandfather was shot and killed on the spot right across from the library’s home at Seventh and Vermont streets. Soon, on Wednesday,

Please see TOUR, page 5A

By Caitlin Doornbos and Nikki Wentling

Courtesy of the Douglas County Historical Society

Chad Lawhorn

There were plenty of signs that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore: the William Clarke Quantrill T-shirts; the rock song with the “I’m gonna burn Lawrence down to the ground” lyric; the men on horseback screaming, “Let’s torch Lawrence!” I came to western Missouri to retrace the path of Quantrill’s raiders, as part of a guided bus tour commemorating the event that changed the course Quantrill of both states’ histories: the Aug. 21, 1863, raid of Lawrence. I learned just how differently the massacre of about 200 men and boys is remembered on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri state

it will be 150 years since that day. A long time, but not long enough for it to stop being personal. If you had an ancestor who was involved in the raid, this series of commemorations taking place in Lawrence may feel a little different. You’re likely to have your own 150th commemoration ceremony, complete with family memories and

a few questions of “whatif?” But for the rest of us, there will be plenty of words to hear from stages, concerts, lectures and such. That’s well and good, Kehde said. But if we’re going to talk about that day, she hopes we use a few words that cut right

Lawrencians and others took advantage of unseasonably pleasant weather Saturday to spend time downtown learning about and reflecting upon the events 150 years ago that shaped the city. As a prelude to Wednesday’s 150th anniversary of Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, the Watkins Museum of History sponsored a string of Saturday events. Those interested in learning more about the raid, its aftermath, its victims and its survivors had the chance Please see EVENTS, page 5A

Commemoration tonight The City of Lawrence is holding a Quantrill’s Raid 150th anniversary commemoration tonight, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in South Park, in Downtown Lawrence.

Please see ANCESTORS, page 2A

School district officials explain nearly $17M cushion in capital By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com

Lawrence school officials offered a more detailed explanation this week of how they plan to spend nearly $17 million they’ve budgeted for bigticket purchases and expenses next year, and why

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the budget documents they published may give a misleading picture of that fund. The Lawrence school board formally approved its budget for the 201314 school year Monday night. The $17 million is included in what’s called the “capital outlay” fund

— money that state law allows districts to use for a long list of purposSCHOOLS es such as building construction and maintenance and furniture

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or new computers and equipment. That budget figure raised eyebrows among observers because it is more than twice the amount that the Lawrence school district typically spends for capital outlay in a given year. Last year, the district

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spent just $5.4 million from that fund, but the average over the last five years has been about $8.3 million, according to district spokeswoman Julie Boyle. Kansas statutes allow districts to levy up to 8 mills of property tax for their capital outlay funds,

and the Lawrence district budget calls for using that full authority. Going into this year, however, the district reported having $9.1 million of unencumbered cash in that account. A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000

Still going strong Ross Freese, a Lawrence resident, placed second in the 50-55 age group in the USA Triathlon Nationals and qualified for the World Triathlon.

Please see BUDGET, page 6A

Vol.155/No.230 32 pages


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