Topeka ? Lecompton will be the center of state government on Friday.

State leaders will be on hand at 8:30 a.m. in Constitution Hall to sign a proclamation that recounts the role the town played in state and national history.

Lecompton was the territorial capital of Kansas. The town has been called the “Birthplace of the Civil War — Where Slavery Began to Die.”

The pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution was rejected by Congress and led to a split in the Democratic Party, which allowed Republican Abraham Lincoln to win the presidency with 39 percent of the vote.

Paul Bahnmaier, president of the Lecompton Historical Society, has been pushing for recognition of the town as part of Kansas’ 150th anniversary of statehood.

He said Gov. Sam Brownback and legislative leaders will attend the ceremony.