what’s the deal with your name?
Many have asked why our brand is called Free State Oils.
The term free state is used often around here...it is quite simply a tribute to the history of our great state of Kansas and was coined during a time when bloodshed and division ruled our country.
The state of Kansas entered the Union as a free state in 1861 (three months before the Civil War began), by a narrow margin of 8 votes. When Fort Sumter, SC was attacked, marking the official start of the Civil War, 20,000 Kansans enlisted. It was a remarkable showing for an infant state with only 30,000 men of military age.
These Kansas men, who fought to defend the rights of slaves, were known at the time as “free-staters.”
FIRST KANSAS COLORED VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
COMPANY E,
8TH KANSAS INFANTRY
Kansas soldiers fought in campaigns in Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas in addition to the 120 soldiers from Kansas that protected President Lincoln inside the White House.
More devastating than any battle between regular troops in Kansas were the raids and pillaging of non-santioned guerrilla forces. Such raids and atrocities were committed by both sides, but by far the most infamous was at dawn on August 21, 1863 when Missouri Confederate Col. William Clark Quantrill and three hundred of his followers, (including notorious Missouri brothers Jesse and Frank James) attacked Lawrence, Kansas (the home town of Free State Oils), razing most of the town and killing all the men and boys of fighting age — over 200 people.
Kansas soldiers fought for the Union and the abolition of slavery. Kansas suffered nearly 8,500 casualties during the course of the Civil War.
Free State Oils-owned locations honor US Military Veterans by offering a 15% discount on all orders. Free State Oils donates 40% of all net profits to non-profit Freedom Saddles, Inc., a Equine assisted psychotherapy program for Veterans.
A DEPICTION OF QUANTRILL’S RAID, LAWRENCE, KANSAS, 1863
CONFEDERATE COL. WILLIAM QUANTRILL
“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves”
Abraham Lincoln