To the editor:

We noticed in Peter Hancock’s Sunday coverage of the U.S. Senate race the following statement: Sen. Pat Roberts’ “great-grandfather, J.W. Roberts, founded the Oskaloosa Independent, which Roberts likes to point out was nearly destroyed during Quantrill’s Raid in northeast Kansas in 1863.” The first part is true enough; the latter not at all, as far as we can tell from the historical record.

Upon what sources does the senator base the statement that his ancestor’s newspaper “was nearly destroyed” during Quantrill’s raid? Quantrill got no closer to Oskaloosa than Lawrence. Is that Sen. Robert’s definition of “nearly”? The Independent was published every Saturday, and in August 1863 its presses did not miss a beat. Its Aug. 22 issue failed to mention the raid on Lawrence of a day before — one would not expect otherwise of a weekly located in a small town far removed from the action. Editor Roberts’ coverage of “the Lawrence Massacre” came on Saturday, Aug. 29, when he devoted page two to “the inhuman butchery perpetrated by the fiends under Quantrell at Lawrence” and its aftermath.

On the one hand, in the larger context of a crucial senatorial election contest, this is a small matter, of course. On the other hand, the use and all too common abuse of history is an issue that should concern us all. And we all should distinguish between verifiable historical fact, family lore and those things we just wish were true about our families, our communities, our state and our nation.