Foundation of Quindaro

The New England Aid Company also helped to establish Quindaro as well as other free-state towns, such as Lawrence, Topeka, and Manhattan. The Company was established to protect and aid anti-slavery emigrants from New England or Europe who wanted to settle in the West. Quindaro was named after Nancy Quindaro Brown Guthrie, granddaughter of Chief Adam Brown. In the Wyandot language, Quindaro directly translates to “a bundle of sticks,” but is often more symbolically translated to mean “strength in numbers.” The site of Quindaro was particularly important, because it allowed for the creation of a free port on the Missouri River. Guthrie was married to Abelard G. Guthrie. They met in Ohio where Mr. Guthrie worked as the registrar of the U.S. Land Office on the Wyandot land. He followed the tribe to Kansas after they were forcibly removed and became vice-president of the Quindaro Town Company. Dr. Charles Robinson was the treasurer of the Company and the future governor of Kansas.