C.L Rood to Governor John St. John
Creator: Rood, C.L.
Date: October 14, 1879
C. L. Rood encourages Governor St. John to attend the October 21st "grand Temperance Demonstration" in Newton, Kansas.

C.L. Rood to Governor John St. John
Creator: Rood, C.L.
Date: September 19, 1879
Anxious for Governor St. John to address a temperance picnic in his community of Newton, Kansas, C. L. Rood requests the Governor come between September 19th and October 15th.

Daniel James McGrath, World War I soldier
Date: 1918
Around 1919, the Kansas State Historical Society and the American Legion solicited biographical information from returning veterans (primarily members of the 35th and 89th infantry divisions) and the families of those who died in service, notably from the Gold Star Mothers. Each veteran or family member was asked to provide letters, photographs, a biography, and military records. This file contains information on Daniel James McGrath, Company E, 314th Engineers, 89th Division.

Willard Gray McLane, World War I soldier
Date: 1918-1924
Around 1919, the Kansas State Historical Society and the American Legion solicited biographical information from returning veterans (primarily members of the 35th and 89th infantry divisions) and the families of those who died in service, notably from the Gold Star Mothers. Each veteran or family member was asked to provide letters, photographs, a biography, and military records. This file contains information on Willard Gray McLane, 339th Field Artillery, 88th Division. Willard died of pneumonia on October 18, 1918, at the Base Hospital in Royat, France.

Arthur Paul Whitesell, World War I soldier
Date: 1919
Around 1919, the Kansas State Historical Society and the American Legion solicited biographical information from returning veterans (primarily members of the 35th and 89th infantry divisions) and the families of those who died in service, notably from the Gold Star Mothers. Each veteran or family member was asked to provide letters, photographs, a biography, and military records. This file contains information on Arthur P. Whitesell, Company K, 139th Infantry, 35th Division. Whitesell was killed in action in the Battle of the Argonne Forest on September 27, 1918.

George R. Schertz, World War I soldier
Creator: Schertz, George R.
Date: 1918-1919
Around 1919, the Kansas State Historical Society and the American Legion solicited biographical information from returning veterans (primarily members of the 35th and 89th infantry divisions) and the families of those who died in service, notably from the Gold Star Mothers. Each veteran or family member was asked to provide letters, photographs, a biography, and military records. This file contains information on George R. Schertz, Company K, 139th Infantry, 35th Division.

Alexander Jackson Baker
Creator: Stovall
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
A photograph of Alexander Jackson Baker. He farmed near Richmond in Franklin County, Kansas. His account books and diaries are in the Kansas State Historical Society's manuscript collection.

Standard atlas of Harvey County, Kansas
Creator: Geo. A. Ogle & Co.
Date: 1918
This atlas shows maps of each township with the names of landowners. It has a patrons' directory, and plats of towns as of the year of publication, a map of the state, United States, and world. It has illustrations, portraits and photographs of homes, farms and the courthouse.

Ralph R. Chambers, World War I soldier
Date: 1919
Around 1919, the Kansas State Historical Society and the American Legion solicited biographical information from returning veterans (primarily members of the 35th and 89th infantry divisions) and the families of those who died in service, notably from the Gold Star Mothers. Each veteran or family member was asked to provide letters, photographs, a biography, and military records. This file contains information on Ralph R. Chambers, 2nd Development Company, 164th Depot Brigade. Ralph died from pneumonia while at Camp Funston on October 12, 1918.

Newton, Kansas
Creator: Morse, D. D
Date: 1878
A colored lithograph of Newton, Kansas. The map shows Newton located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway line, 135 miles southwest of Topeka, Kansas. The lithgraph shows the location of buildings, churches, hotels, railroad, and river. A legend is provided to identify some of the buildings.

Pocket watch
Creator: American Watch Company
Date: between 1861 and 1885
According to the inscription, this watch was presented to Lt. Colonel Thomas J. Jackson sometime after the Battle of Fort Pillow, Tennessee, April 12, 1864. Jackson served with the 11th US Colored Infantry Regiment, known as the 7th US Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment at the time. During the Battle of Fort Pillow or "Fort Pillow Massacre," many colored troops were killed and Jackson received a severe head wound. After recovery, he returned to combat in the Civil War only to be taken prisoner of war on two occasions. Jackson moved to Newton, Kansas in 1885 and served in the Kansas Legislature.

Kansas in 1875
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: 1875
A pamphlet produced by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company to promote Kansas and its resources. It focuses on the Cottonwood and Arkansas Valleys of Kansas. Also included is a map of ATSF railroad connections with an advertisement of land for sale.

Negro loses; can't swim in Newton pool
Date: March 8, 1942
This newspaper clipping addresses the case of D.E. Kern of Newton, Kansas. Newton, an African American, was refused the right to swim in Newton's pool "on the ground that his general reputation for morality in the community was bad." The Kansas Supreme Count ruled against Kern but claimed that it was not "passing on the general question as to whether Negroes could use municipal pools."

Main Street, Newton, Kansas
Date: November 23, 1912
A black and white photograph showing the delivery of twenty International Harvester Company manure spreaders on Main Street in Newton, Kansas.

Main Street, Newton, Kansas
Date: 1909
A black and white photograph of Main Street in Newton, Kansas. The city of Newton, founded in 1871, is located in Harvey County and is about 25 miles north of Wichita, Kansas.

Main Street, Newton, Kansas
Date: 1908
A postcard showing Main Street in Newton, Kansas. The city of Newton, founded in 1871, is located in Harvey County and is about twenty-five miles north of Wichita, Kansas.

Harvey County organization records
Creator: Kansas. Secretary of State
Date: 1872
In order for an unorganized county to be recognized by the state of Kansas, a certain number of householders/legal electors had to petition the governor. The governor would appoint a census taker. Initially, unorganized counties were required to document that they had at least 600 inhabitants in order to be recognized as a county by the state legislature. Over time the number of residents needed to organize a county changed to 1500 and later to 2500 residents. The census was submitted to the governor who then issued a proclamation indicating that the requirements had been met, appointing county commissioners and a county clerk, and naming a county seat. Not all of these documents are available for each county. Included in this file is the memorial to the governor, the 1872 Harvey County census, and the proclamation from the governor naming county officials and designating Newton as the temporary county seat.

Main Street, Newton, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1909
A sepia colored photograph showing Main Street in Newton, Kansas. The city of Newton, founded in 1871, is located in Harvey County and is about twenty-five miles north of Wichita, Kansas.

U.S. commissioner drops Schrag case
Creator: Newton Evening Kansan-Republica
Date: December 27, 1918
This article, published in the the Newton Evening Kansan-Republican, covers the case of Burton, Kansas, resident John Schrag. Schrag, a wealthy farmer of German ancestry, was accused of violating the Espionage Act because he refused to salute the American flag.

Kansas suffrage mass meetings for June
Creator: The Farmer's Wife
Date: May 1894
This article lists the upcoming suffrage meetings for June and their locations. The first section's meetings will have Carrie Chapman-Catt, Annie Diggs, and Theresa Jenkins as the speakers; the second section's meetings will be addressed by Susan B. Anthony, Anna Howard Shaw, Helen Kimber and Rachel Child.

Members of the Kansas Photographers' Club
Creator: Scott Studio
Date: January 25, 1925
A photograph showing members of the Kansas Photographers' Club, taken in Newton, Kansas. Brar Gustaf Grondal, who owned a photography studio in Lindsborg, Kansas, is seated on the far left of the front row and Fred A. Loomis, who owned a studio in Emporia, Kansas, is the fifth from the left on the back row. The photograph was taken by a photographer from Scott Studio, Independence, Kansas. The Club met annually with each photographer taking a turn hosting the event.

Mennonite persecution now a forgotten chapter in state history
Creator: Hutchinson News
Date: August 31, 1975
This article published in the Hutchinson News details the difficulties German Americans, especially Mennonites, faced in Kansas during World War I.

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America and Governor Henry Allen correspondence
Creator: Allen, Henry Justin, 1868-1950
Date: January 5 - 11, 1920
In response to the proposed legislation for the Kansas Court of Industrial Relation or the "anti-strike law", the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders writes to Kansas Governor Allen, "we stand true to the dictations of our International Officers and should they order us to protest this legislation, should it be enacted, by striking, or by other means, we would not hesitate to obey their orders". Governor Allen responds by saying there are two classes of labor, one class is patient and so their interests will be considered and another class who likes to use intimidation, but he warns "...by strike nor by other means, shall we bow to the threat of violence and make the law the handmaiden of intimidation."

William L. Brooks
Date: Between 1870 and 1874
A portrait of William L. (Billy) Brooks, a stage coach driver, marshal of Newton, Kansas, policeman in Ellsworth, Kansas, and criminal. Brooks was marshal of Newton and policeman in Ellsworth in 1872. In several incidents, Brooks was reported to have shot and killed men. According to several newspaper articles, Brooks was killed stealing horses and interferring with the transportation of U.S. Mail.

Minutes of the first, second, third and fourth annual meetings of the Kansas Equal Rights Suffrage Association
Creator: Kansas Equal Suffrage Association (1884-1913)
Date: January 6, 1887
This pamphlet contains the minutes of the first four annual meetings of the Kansas Equal Rights Suffrage Association. The meetings were held in 1884 in Topeka, in 1885 in Salina, in 1886 in Topeka, and in 1887 in Newton. The minutes for the 4th annual meeting contain a paper presented to the convention by F. G. Adams titled "The Women's Vote in Kansas." Adams, who was secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society at the time, compiled information about Kansas women voting the elections of April 1887. The minutes for each annual meeting include details of the meeting, the speakers, and who attended. The publication includes information on suffrage activities in all parts of the state and on women working suffrage. This was an important period for women's suffrage in Kansas because the voters in Kansas amended the constitution to permit women to vote in municipal elections in 1886.