In his 1856 speech on affairs in Kansas, Ralph Waldo Emerson asked, "Is it an exaggeration, that Mr. Hopps of Somerville, Mr. Hoyt of Deerfield, Mr. Jennison of Groton, Mr. Phillips of Berkshire, have been murdered?"

Mr. Hoyt is David Starr Hoyt, Free State gunrunner (see Islay's "The Sharps Rifle Episode in Kansas History"), but who is this Mr. Jennison of Groton, Mass? His story is briefly told by the New York Times, but there is no mention of his first name. Given that a Hoyt and a Jennison would feature prominently in the later Kansas 7th, Red Legs, and 15th, it's interesting that Hoyt and Jennison are mentioned together by Emerson.

Does anyone have information on this Jennison of Groton, especially whether he is related to CR Jennison? Thanks.

New York Times account of Jennison's death: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E02E5D81339E134BC4A53DFBF66838D649FDE