Seneca, Kansas, 1870.
Samuel Lappin was prominent in Kansas political affairs and was tried for forgery, counterfeiting, and embezzlement.
Lappin was born near Cumberland, Ohio, on January 4, 1831, the son of Finley Lappin.
He moved to Kansas from Louisiana during the winter of 1856-57, initially settling in White Cloud before relocating to Seneca in the autumn of 1857. He was one of the town’s founders and was elected as justice of the peace on May 5, 1858. Later, on November 8, 1859, he was elected register of deeds for Nemaha County, a position he held until 1861. He became a member of the first State Senate from 1861 to 1862 and subsequently served in the lower house of the State Legislature. He returned to the House in 1859 and also held the roles of director and president of the Northern Kansas Railroad and Telegraph Company.
During the Civil War, he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster with the rank of captain in the Union Army on November 26, 1862. He served in that capacity until he was mustered out on September 20, 1865.
He was elected Kansas State Treasurer in 1874.
On December 9, 1875, school-fund commissioners discovered that forged school bonds of Jewell, Mitchell, and Republic Counties had been bought with money from the state treasury. Upon investigation, two commission members were convinced that Lappin was the forger of the bonds and the recipient of $19,050. Governor Thomas Osborn was notified on December 11 and demanded Lappin’s resignation, which was at once tendered and accepted.
On December 21, 1875, Samuel Lappin was sued for “forgery, counterfeiting, and embezzlement.”
On December 31, Lappin was allowed to go to Seneca, in charge of a deputy, to arrange for a bond. After gaining one, he left for Chicago, Illinois. However, Lappin was short $830 in his cash account, and the governor ordered his arrest. He was arrested in Chicago on January 13 and returned to Topeka.
In the meantime, Charles G. Scrafford of Seneca, his brother-in-law and business partner, left on December 13 and fled to Peru. Their conspiracy to defraud the state dated from about August 1, 1875.
Lappin attempted to escape from jail on the night of June 10, 1876, but was caught crawling through a hole in the floor of his cell—a difficult feat considering his weight, which was 235 pounds. On July 11, he escaped through the window and had a horse team and wagon waiting for him. He eventually made his way to South America.
He returned to the United States in 1880. He was recognized in Washington Territory and, on October 23, 1884, was brought back to Kansas for trial. The state’s claims were finally satisfied through the sale of Lappin’s property, and on December 24, 1885, the case was dismissed.
Lappin again lived in Seneca, Nemaha County, but later moved to La Center, Washington, where he died on August 4, 1892.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated June 2025.
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