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Samuel L. Adair’s sermon records, 1855-1860

Date: January 14, 1855, through December 30, 1860

Samuel L. Adair’s sermon records identified the biblical text, the date, the place where the sermon was given, and the subject (including funeral sermons) for sermons delivered between 1855 and…

Medium: Text

James W. Denver to his dear wife

Date: January 4, 1858

James W. Denver, Governor of Kansas Territory, wrote from Lecompton, Kansas Territory, to his wife, Louise Rombach of Clinton County, Ohio. The two married in 1856 and had four children.…

Medium: Text

Free State Kansas Fund donation certificate

Date: unknown

This blank certificate was intended to be used to acknowledge contributions for the relief of “Free State Citizens” and for the “establishment of FREEDOM” in Kansas Territory. It has three…

Medium: Text

H. C. Childs’ mining claim certificate

Date: September 19, 1860

J. B. Stansell, recorder for Buckskin Joe’s District, signed this certificate identifying H. C. Childs as owner of mining claim No. 28 SW on the Bates Lode. The certificate was…

Medium: Text

Topeka school house construction agreement

Date: June 9, 1857

In this 1857 document, Charles H. Branscomb, acting on behalf of the New England Emigrant Aid Company, contracted with Abner Doane to construct a school house on Harrison Street in…

Medium: Text

Samuel Lyle Adair’s diary, 1854-1861

Date: September 10, 1854, through February 7, 1861

This diary, written by Samuel Lyle Adair, during the seven year period from 1854 to 1861, contains scattered entries about Kansas Territory and Adair’s ministry. The first entry indicates that…

Medium: Text

Samuel L. Adair to Joseph Gordon

Date: February 19, 1857

This is a copy of a letter written by Samuel Adair from Osawatomie, Kansas Territory. Adair thanks Reverend Gordon for $104 raised in Yellow Springs, Ohio, that was sent to…

Medium: Text

“Leavenworth Journal” equipment lease

Date: April 30, 1858

Dated April 30, 1858, and executed in Leavenworth, Kansas Territory, this handwritten document is an “agreement made and entered into” by John Adams Halderman and Hugh Ewing, representing the “Leavenworth…

Medium: Text

Rush Elmore to James Stallworth

Date: January 11, 1858

Rush Elmore was an associate justice of the Kansas Territory’s supreme court, a leading delegate at the Lecompton Constitutional Convention, and a slave holder. He writes this letter of introduction,…

Medium: Text

Alson C. Davis to John A. Halderman

Date: June 19, 1857

Alson C. Davis, a Democrat legislator and party leader from Leavenworth (later Wyandotte) County, writes from Wyandotte that he strongly favors “the establishment of a first class democratic paper” in…

Medium: Text

John W. Whitfield to John A. Halderman

Date: February 1, 1857

John W. Whitfield, the Kansas Territory’s delegate to Congress until March 3, 1857, writes John Halderman from “Washington City” regarding the “H__l of a fight” they had had “over Lecompte.”…

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Wilson Shannon to John A. Halderman

Date: January 4, 1857

Wilson Shannon was an Ohio Democrat who preceded John W. Geary as governor of Kansas Territory (August 1856–August 1857) and was considered a proslave partisan. Shanon writes John Halderman from…

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Andrew H. Reeder to John A. Halderman

Date: October 22, 1856

Former Kansas Territory Governor Andrew H. Reeder writes to John Halderman from Easton, Pennsylvania, regarding his business affairs and his desire to have Halderman act as his attorney and agent.…

Medium: Text

Lecompton Town Company certificate

Date: July 10, 1856

William L. Blair was issued this certificate for one share of stock in the Lecompton Town Company on July 10, 1856. The certificate is signed by the company’s secretary, Samuel…

Medium: Text

Thomas A. Hendricks to John A. Halderman

Date: January 16, 1856

Thomas A. Hendricks, commissioner, General Land Office, Lecompton, writes J. A. Halderman of Leavenworth, Kansas Territory, regarding a request for information about the preemption laws. Hendricks indicates that circulars are…

Medium: Text

Andrew H. Reeder to John A. Halderman

Date: October 6, 1855

This 1855 letter to John A. Halderman from former territorial governor Andrew H. Reeder of Westport, Kansas Territory, describes a new assessment of $5 per share for the town of…