Medium: Text
Date: May 22, 1856
A letter of introduction for J. S. Emery, a correspondent for the New York “Daily Times” assigned to cover events in Kansas Territory. The letter states that any assistance provided…
Medium: Text
Date: March 13, 1855
A list of the individuals and families in the first party to travel to Kansas Territory under the charge of Dr. Charles Robinson. The list identifies the name of the…
Medium: Text
Date: April 4, 1856
Thomas Webb of Boston, Massachusetts, writes J. S. Emery in Brandon, Vermont, to tell him of various places in Maine and New Hampshire that would like someone from Kansas to…
Medium: Text
Date: Between 1856 and 1857
One of many ledger-type listings of donations to and expenditures of the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee for the support of Kansas settlement and the activities of “Capt J[ohn] Brown” and…
Medium: Text
Date: Between 1857 and 1858
This bridge is the first bridge over the Kansas River in Topeka, Kansas Territory, was built in 1857 through the efforts of the Topeka Association. It was destroyed by wind…
Medium: Text
Date: June 1, 1859
This letter, sent by Ed Russell to Franklin Crane, a prominent citizen of Topeka, Kansas Territory, concerns the proposed St. Joseph and Topeka Railroad. Russell is convinced that the people…
Medium: Text
Date: April 1, 1858
A. G. Bradford, writing from Washington, D.C., to Governor James W. Denver, reports that the U.S. House of Representatives passes the Crittenden-Montgomery resolution, which proposed to resubmit the Lecompton Constitution…
Medium: Text
Date: February 1, 1859 through April 30, 1859
This three month excerpt from a personal diary was, probably, written by Willard O. Hubbell. The diary describes Hubbell’s daily activities as a twenty-five year old bachelor working as a…
Medium: Text
Date: 1857
This promotional brochure advertises Lancaster City, which was located in Atchison County, Kansas Territory. It includes the price of lots and features around the city. It describes what had already…
Medium: Text
Date: December 28, 1856
Samuel Cabot, who was directing a Boston effort to send clothing to Kansas Territory, advises Blood he was aware of the goods that “had been stopped at St Louis by…
Medium: Text
Date: October 28, 1856
From Chicago, Illinois, William F. M. Arny, general agent for the National Kansas Committee, informs William Hutchinson of a shipment of relief goods that would arrive soon at Leavenworth, Kansas…
Medium: Text
Date: October 27, 1856
This letter and accompanying list of forthcoming relief supplies (shirts, dresses, over coats, etc.) is directed to William Hutchinson, “Treasurer Kanzas Committee,” by Thomas Wentworth Higginson of Brattleboro, Vermont. Three…
Medium: Text
Date: November 26, 1859
Advertisement of an antislavery meeting to be held on December 2, 1859, in Lawrence, Kansas Territory, on the day that abolitionist John Brown was executed.
Medium: Text
Date: June 9, 1856
This printed circular calls for a “grand mass convention” to be held by the Free State Party on July 3, 1856, to discuss the “perils of the times.” It is…
Medium: Text
Date: July 21, 1855
This item is a printed letter by Governor Andrew Reeder to the legislature, informing them that he had vetoed the bill to incorporate a ferry in Kickapoo, Kansas Territory. Reeder…
Medium: Text
Date: July 5, 1859
A list of the members who attended the Constitutional Convention at Wyandotte, Kansas Territory, on July 5, 1859. The list identifies each member’s name, county, city, birthplace, age, and vocation.…
Medium: Text
Date: July 18, 1857
This printed document includes James H. Lane’s signature and indicates that Lane had been authorized by the Free State government in Topeka, Kansas Territory, to organize militia companies in order…
Medium: Text
Date: February 13, 1855
This promotional circular letter was written by Edward E. Hale on behalf of the Worcester County Kanzas League. It was probably affiliated with the New England Emigrant Aid Company, as…
Medium: Text
Date: December 2, 1860
From Junction City, Kansas Territory, J. B. Woodward informs Samuel Wood that Woodward was “elated with the idea” that Wood might move his newspaper to Junction City, and promises to…
Medium: Text
Date: August 18, 1860
In the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s nomination, May 16, 1860, as the Republican presidential nominee, Deitzler writes from Lawrence that Mark W. Delahay had gone to Springfield, Illinois, on behalf…
Medium: Text
Date: April 17, 1860
From Washington, D.C., Samuel Clarke Pomeroy expresses his concern for the Wood family, who had just lost their “‘House & Effect’” in a fire. But as consolation, Pomeroy informs Wood…
Medium: Text
Date: 1896
This autobiography consists of two sections titled “Border War, Kansas Territory, 1856” and “Hickory Point.” Sketches and watercolors by Reader accompany portions of the text. The Border War section describes…
Medium: Text
Date: January 29, 1860
William Addison Phillips, snowbound in Salina, Kansas Territory, writes to encourage Samuel Wood to look after Salina’s interests in the legislature. He is especially concerned about the potential effort by…
Medium: Text
Date: November 14, 1859
N. S. Storrs of Emporia, Kansas Territory, writes Samuel Wood concerning the ill will that had developed toward Wood in Butler County as a result of the recent (October 12,…
Medium: Text
Date: January 14, 1861
Just two weeks before Kansas would be admitted to the Union, and in the midst of the early secession crisis, Montgomery (Mound City, Kansas Territory) writes Franklin B. Sanborn (Boston,…
