American Legion members, Rossville, Kansas
Date: 1961
The Rossville American Legion Jimmie Lillard Unit 31 color guard and firing squad give their respects to fallen veterans on Memorial Day of May 1961. This photograph is provided through a pilot project to host unique cultural heritage materials from local libraries on Kansas Memory and was accomplished by mutual agreement between the Northeast Kansas Library System, the Rossville Community Library, and the Kansas Historical Society.

J. R. Brinkley
Date: Between 1850s and 1900s
Matted tintype portrait of J. R. Brinkley.

World War I toy soldier
Date: between 1914 and 1925
This figure represents a World War I shooting a rifle. Made of lead, he is part of a set of toy soldiers dating from 1914 to 1925.

World War I toy soldier
Date: between 1914 and 1925
This figure represents a World War I soldier carrying a rifle with a bayonet. Made of lead, he is part of a set of toy soldiers dating from 1914 to 1925.

Joseph Benner
Date: 1860s
Cased ninth plate ambrotype portrait of Joseph Benner dressed in Civil War uniform.

George Edward Lowry
Date: May 02, 1861-September 03, 1864
A photograph showing George Edward Lowry in military uniform. He served as a private in Company E, 4th Regiment of the West Virginia Infantry from May 2, 1861 to September 2, 1863. Lowry then served as a private with Company A, 140th Regiment of the Ohio Infantry (National Guard). He was honorably discharged at Gallipolis, Ohio, on September 3, 1864. After serving in the Civil War, he moved to Macon County, Missouri, where he farmed. In 1885, he moved to Muscotah, Kansas, and worked as a mail carrier at Horton, Kansas. He married Elizabeth Lamb on October 7, 1857 at Middleport, Meigs County, Ohio, and they had ten children. After the death of his first wife, he married Della Moose on September 3, 1893. George Edward Lowry died December 3, 1906 in Horton, Kansas.

Soldiers with a supply wagon
Date: Between 1895 and 1905
A photograph showing soldiers with a mule drawn supply wagon. Visible in the photo is a soldier with a rifle walking in front of the mules. The photograph was possibly taken in New Mexico.

Army unit, Cimarron, Kansas
Creator: Hungate, Frank
Date: Between 1950 and 1959
A photograph of an unidentified Army unit, possibly National Guard, posed with their weapons and a United States' flag in Cimarron, Kansas.

Members of the 44th United States Volunteer Infantry, Company B
Date: 1900
A photograph showing soldiers of Company B, 44th United States Volunteer Infantry at Tubigon-Bohol Philippine Islands. They are (left to right): Sgt. Thompson, Cordell, Sidlow, Crow, Howland, unidentified, Hunt, Irvin, Bean, and Jesse Garver, Larned, Kansas. The men were mustered in September 1899 at Fort Leavenworth. The regiment participated in 144 skirmishes and battles between 1899 and 1901.

Enlisted men's barracks, Fort Leavenworth
Date: Between January 01, 1872 and December 31, 1872
Photo of the interior of the enlisted men's barracks showing Springfield rifles locked in stands.

George Armstrong Custer
Creator: Reveille
Date: 1872
This is a copy of a 1872 studio portrait of George Armstrong Custer, 1839-1876, and Duke Alexis, as published in the February 15, 1895 issue of "The Reveille."

Platt Potter to C. P. Williams, H. H. Van Dyck, B. R. Wood, Deodalus Wright
Date: March 12, 1856
Potter, writing from Schenectedy, New York, expresses his antislavery opinions to members of the New York State Kansas Committee. He is critical of the Franklin Pierce administration's handling of the Kansas issue. Potter believes that antislavery settlers in Kansas should defend themselves against proslavery violence in Kansas.

John Brown's rifle
Creator: Martin, H. T.
Date: 1880s
A photograph showing a Sharps carbine owned by John Brown, abolitionist and Free State advocate. The rifle was possibly given to Brown by a member of the Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony in Wabaunsee, Kansas.

Charles Robinson to Reverend Edward Everett Hale
Creator: Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894
Date: April 9, 1855
Charles Robinson, writing from Lawrence, Kansas Territory, to Edward Everett Hale, commented that Free State supporters were forming military companies in response to perceived "outrageous conduct" by Missourians during the March 30, 1855, election of representatives for the territorial legislature. Robinson asked Hale to send two hundred Sharp's rifles and two cannon for the use of Lawrence settlers.

Albert D. Searl to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Searl, Albert D
Date: August 21, 1856
The author wrote from Tabor, Iowa to Thaddeus Hyatt, president of the National Kansas Committee. He began the letter by mentioning a skirmish between pro-slavery and free state forces somewhere between Lawrence and Topeka. This correspondence also deals with emigrant settlements within the territory, the shipment of weapons and provisions, and the morale among the emigrants as they struggled to make ends meet. Furthermore, Searl mentioned a great deal about James Lane and his activities within Kansas Territory.

Milton C. Dickey to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Dickey, Milton C.
Date: October 23, 1856
This letter to Thaddeus Hyatt of the National Kansas Committee, written by Milton Dickey from Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, informed Hyatt of Dickey's journey west. The author described the hardships endured by Kansas settlers, as well as the enthralling tale of a free state man who escaped from the prison at Lecompton.

Robert L. Mitchell to Cyrus Kurtz Holliday
Creator: Mitchell, Robert L.
Date: October 12, 1856
Robert L. Mitchell wrote from Topeka, Kansas Territory to Cyrus K. Holliday, president of the Topeka Town Association, who was in Pennsylvania. Holliday had returned to his home state, nicknamed "Key stone," to speak on behalf of the free state cause and John C. Fremont. Mitchell requested Beecher Bibles and reported arrests of free state men, including [Carmi William] Babcock, the Lawrence postmaster. Mitchell withheld details since Holliday's name had gained notoriety in Missouri. A post script mentioned the October 6th election and discussed the upcoming trial of John Rich[ie] and Charles A. Sexton.

Hiram Hill to Dear Brother
Creator: Hill, Hiram, 1804-
Date: December 7, 1855
Hiram Hill, a resident of Williamsburgh, Massachusetts en route to Kansas City and ultimately to Lawrence, Kansas Territory, wrote from Richmond, Missouri to his brother. He relayed the murder of an unnamed free state man (likely Charles W. Dow), the gathering of 1,100 free state and 800 proslavery men at Lawrence, and other Wakarusa War events. Hill, a free state supporter, felt that the information he received from Missourians was inaccurate or exaggerated. He doubted reports that 60 proslavery men had been killed at Lawrence, or of abolitionists driving proslavery settlers from their homes. Hill reported the arrests of free state men including Judge Johnson and General Pomeroy, who he heard had escaped.

Hiram Hill to Dear Wife
Creator: Hill, Hiram, 1804-
Date: December 7, 1855
In a brief letter similar to the one written to his brother on the same date, Hiram Hill told his wife that he would continue to Kansas Territory. Hill was in Richland (possibly Richmond), Missouri, on his way to Kansas City and ultimately to Lawrence, where he had heard that 1,100 free state and 800 proslavery men were prepared to fight. The governor of Missouri had called for 3,000 more to oppose the free state "Rebils." Hill, a free state supporter, assured his wife of his well-being.

Hiram Hill to Dear Wife
Creator: Hill, Hiram, 1804-
Date: December 8, 1855 - December 9, 1855
Hiram Hill wrote from Westport, Missouri to his wife as he received new information concerning the Wakarusa War at Lawrence. Hill was frustrated by these reports, which conflicted and were from the proslavery perspective, and which concerned the number of free state and proslavery soldiers, the status of the war, and government action taken to prevent conflict. Hill was also troubled by shameless "traveling and drinking and swearing" and gunshots on the Sabbath. The last page of the letter expresses his relief at news of peace in Lawrence, where he would learn "the other syde of the story" upon arrival. The murder of Thomas W. Barber, who rode outside Lawrence and was shot by a proslavery supporter on December 6th, was mentioned. Hill also described an eventful stagecoach journey.

Charles A. Wright to Hiram Hill
Creator: Wright, Charles A.
Date: June 16, 1856
Charles Wright wrote from Lawrence, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill. Wright spoke passionately about the free state cause after the Sack of Lawrence and the Pottawatomie Massacre, imploring "eastern friends" for help. In Wright's words, "talk will do no good that time is past what we now need is men money and rifles". He added that southerners were "using every effort" to drive free staters from the Territory. U.S. Troops were attempting to disband the ruffians, though according to Wright they only dispersed and reorganized elsewhere.

Charles Robinson to Eli Thayer
Creator: Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894
Date: April 2, 1855
Charles Robinson, writing from Lawrence, Kansas Territory to Eli Thayer in Worcester, Massachusetts, described voting irregularities in the March 30, 1855 election of members to the territorial legislature. Robinson maintained that the election was "controlled entirely by Missourians" who came to the territory, took over the polling places, and cast illegal ballots to ensure that proslavery supporters were elected to the legislature. Robinson also reported that free staters in Lawrence had formed themselves into four military companies, and urged Thayer to send Sharps rifles and cannons for these forces.

Issac Tichenor Goodnow to unknown recipient
Creator: Goodnow, Isaac Tichener, 1814-1894
Date: January/February 1856
In the wake of the Wakarusa War, Isaac Goodnow wrote to an unknown recipient regarding recent skirmishes and negotiations between proslavery and free state supporters. According to Goodnow, Governor Shannon had demanded that the free state men surrender their Sharp's rifles and obey the laws of the "bogus" legislature. Governor Robinson had responded, telling his men to "keep the rifles, but surrender their contents." Goodnow also commented on the "determined heroism" of the free state women, and recounted the incident of voter fraud which occurred in the Delegate to Congress election between former Governor Reeder and J. W. Whitfield.

Narrative, the Murder of Charles Dow, by Isaac Tichenor Goodnow
Creator: Goodnow, Isaac Tichener, 1814-1894
Date: 1856
This written account reports on the incidents surrounding the murder of Charles Dow, including various skirmishes and military action which followed, leading up to the Wakarusa War. Dow was a free state supporter and was murdered by Franklin Coleman, who, according to Goodnow, had turned proslavery only after coming to Kansas Territory.

Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Creator: Notman Photo Co.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson was an ardent Northern abolitionist. He also served as an agent for the Massachusetts Kansas Aid Committee, procuring rifles, powder, cartridges and other materials for free state settlers in Kansas. He was from Worcester, Massachusetts, but he made a trip to Kansas in 1856.